Most hitless games in 2007 team wins
Posted by Andy on December 9, 2007
You are probably wondering what the heck I mean by "most hitless games in team wins." Well let me first show you a more straightforward list, then ease our way into the biggie.
First, here are the guys who had at least one hit in the most team victories in 2007.
Year Games Link to Individual Games +-----------------+----+-----+-------------------------+ Matt Holliday 2007 82 Ind. Games Jimmy Rollins 2007 78 Ind. Games Derek Jeter 2007 77 Ind. Games Ichiro Suzuki 2007 75 Ind. Games Mike Lowell 2007 74 Ind. Games Magglio Ordonez 2007 73 Ind. Games Bobby Abreu 2007 73 Ind. Games Grady Sizemore 2007 72 Ind. Games Vladimir Guerrero 2007 72 Ind. Games Eric Byrnes 2007 72 Ind. Games Juan Pierre 2007 71 Ind. Games David Ortiz 2007 71 Ind. Games Victor Martinez 2007 71 Ind. Games Robinson Cano 2007 71 Ind. Games Casey Blake 2007 71 Ind. Games Jose Reyes 2007 70 Ind. Games
No surprise that the following factors are generally favored:
- Teams with more wins (such as Rockies, Phillies, Red Sox, Yankees, Diamondbacks, etc) as that gives individual players more chances to amass games with at least one hit
- Leadoff hitters who have more PAs and therefore a better chance of at least one hit in any given game (helloooo Jimmy Rollins and Ichiro, not to mention Juan Pierre and others)
- Of course, better hitters. The higher the batting average, the more likely of getting at least one hit in a team game.
Interesting to see Mike Lowell so high there. In a year where Manny seemed to decline significantly, Lowell was hugely important to the Bosox, perhaps as important as Big Papi himself.
Now that you've had your warm-up, here's the list I really wanted to show. This is most games with out a hit (in which the player had at least 3 PAs) that his own team won.
Year Games Link to Individual Games +-----------------+----+-----+-------------------------+ Pat Burrell 2007 32 Ind. Games Alex Rodriguez 2007 29 Ind. Games Julio Lugo 2007 28 Ind. Games Josh Bard 2007 28 Ind. Games Nick Punto 2007 27 Ind. Games Brandon Inge 2007 27 Ind. Games Stephen Drew 2007 27 Ind. Games Jose Lopez 2007 26 Ind. Games Omar Vizquel 2007 25 Ind. Games Frank Thomas 2007 25 Ind. Games Andruw Jones 2007 25 Ind. Games Jason Varitek 2007 24 Ind. Games Richie Sexson 2007 24 Ind. Games Travis Hafner 2007 24 Ind. Games Mike Cameron 2007 24 Ind. Games Orlando Cabrera 2007 24 Ind. Games Josh Barfield 2007 24 Ind. Games
Kind of a curious list, huh? Keep in mind that one of the three factors from above is still a factor here: good teams. A player on a team that wins 105 games has many more chances for both hitless games and games with a hit than a player on a team that wins 65 games. So, I'm not sure that A-Rod's name being up there is all that significant. But Pat Burrell and Julio Lugo's names certainly belong, as players who had terrible first halves for good teams. I was surprised to see Orlando Cabrera on there, not to mention Travis Hafner or Frank Thomas. It doesn't seem right that they should be right alongside Andruw Jones and Richie Sexson two guys who had nightmare seasons. But, it is.
Now we know a guy like Pat Burrell walks a lot, and there is some value in that, so here is the list for the exact same set of criteria, except that instead of no hits, it's no times on base (minimum 3 PA per team win):
Year Games Link to Individual Games +-----------------+----+-----+-------------------------+ Jose Lopez 2007 20 Ind. Games Josh Barfield 2007 20 Ind. Games Julio Lugo 2007 18 Ind. Games Yuniesky Betancou 2007 18 Ind. Games Chris Young 2007 16 Ind. Games Miguel Olivo 2007 16 Ind. Games Gerald Laird 2007 16 Ind. Games Khalil Greene 2007 16 Ind. Games Jeff Francoeur 2007 16 Ind. Games Ivan Rodriguez 2007 15 Ind. Games John McDonald 2007 15 Ind. Games Ryan Garko 2007 15 Ind. Games Richie Sexson 2007 14 Ind. Games Alexis Rios 2007 14 Ind. Games Tony Pena 2007 14 Ind. Games Stephen Drew 2007 14 Ind. Games Robinson Cano 2007 14 Ind. Games Adrian Beltre 2007 14 Ind. Games
Three, count 'em, three Seattle Mariners on there. Ouch.
December 9th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
What that says to me is 29 times the Yankees won with ARod in the line-up and he could have sat on the bench. This is another reason why Magglio Ordonez should have been MVP. You don't see Magglio's name up there. Eh?
December 9th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Well, I think your conclusion is far too quickly drawn. In those 29 games, perhaps A-rod had 50 RBIs on groundouts, sac flies, and bases-loaded walks.
Actually, here are those 29 games:
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/Jgp2
He did have 6 RBI, 12 runs, 22 walks, and 9 HBP.
Incidentally, Ordonez had 12 such games this year, with 3 RBI, 3 runs, 9 walks, and 0 HBP. Also, I don't think Ordonez was a bad choice for MVP.
December 9th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
I wonder about RBI-less games in 2007 team wins.
December 10th, 2007 at 9:04 am
I'll check into that and post on it.
December 10th, 2007 at 9:08 am
Also, with regards to your comment about A-rod being on the bench, keep in mind that any great hitter's presence in a lineup has a measurable effect on a game even if he goes hitless. It helps the hitter ahead of him see more/better pitches, and may cause relief pitchers to come in, etc. The threat from a great hitter is always present, even in those cases where he ends up not producing. I am sure any given game would unfold differently (though not necessarily with a different ultimate outcome) if the Yankees put Wilson Betemit in there instead of A-rod.