TK note #2: Fewest pitches to 1 ER
Posted by Andy on March 11, 2008
(Note: if you don't know what TK notes are, please refer back to this post.)
Note #2 is in regards to a 2005 start by John Halama, where he was yanked by Frank Robinson in the 1st inning after giving up just 1 ER. The Nationals went on to lose 12-1, and Halama got the loss, but perhaps undeservingly since he did give up just that one run.
I did a PI search for fewest pitches in a start when giving up just 1 run. Here are the results. Halama, with 24 pitches ties for "only" 57th on this list. Pedro Astacio wins, though, with a 1-pitch start giving up 1 ER. He must have gotten injured, of course, either by the batted ball or by pulling a muscle or some such.
By looking at the "batters faced" column, you can find games where the pitcher was likely pulled, as opposed to being removed due to injury. Here's one that was a doozie. Todd Stottlemyre gave up 1 first-inning run on 2 hits and a walk. In the bottom of the first, that man (Pedro Astacio again) started the game with 3 straight singles and a 3-run homer. So Stottlemyre was off the hook, but he didn't come back for the second inning, instead being replaced by the ageless Mike Morgan.
Anyway, check out that list. There are tons of neat games on there.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:32 am
That first link goes to editing the post, not the post. Should be http://www.baseball-reference.com/sotd/archives/602
March 11th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Thanks, Tom. Fixed.
March 11th, 2008 at 10:37 am
It should be noted that the pitch count data is only complete going back 10-15 years(?) and sporadic before that.
March 11th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Did you ever see this bizarre stretch of games by Stan Williams? He was yanked very early for four straight starts.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/gl.cgi?t=p&n1=willist02&year=1958#24:27:sum
Three years later, he set a record(?) for most pitches (207) in a game.
March 11th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Obviously they were saving his arm for that big start against the declining Braves.
It's certainly not a record. In '65 Marichal supposedly threw 227 pitches in that 16-inning game vs. Spahn. I don't know what sourcing Forman requires to accept pitch counts as legitimate. Nolan Ryan threw a 13-inning game with 19 Ks and 10 BBs that could have been 250 pitches. There's so many big-inning games from the '60s and '70s with no counts, and God knows how many pitches might have been thrown in some early 20th century games. Even if you just look since 1893, I'll bet someone threw over 300 pitches in a game. Unfortunately we'll never know for sure, for most of them.
March 11th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Hey, got a question for you...
What is the highest batting average under 1.000 for any player at any point in a season in history? I was wondering if anyone has ever stepped up to the plate hitting .900 or something absurd. You see 1.000 all the time, but .900?
March 11th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Here are the highest full-season batting averages of .999 or less:
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/FyHr
I am willing to bet there have been in-season averages as high as .900, maybe even as high as .950. that would for 19-for-20, so if somebody started a season with 4 or 5 consecutive 4-hit games, that would do it.
March 11th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
George Bell started the 1988 season going 8-for-9, for an .889 average. That's the highest I've found so far.
March 11th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
In 1974, Greg Gross started the season going 7-for-9, but in the second game, he was 4-for-4 befoer making an out his fifth time up. That means he was 7-for-8 going into that last at-bat, or .875.
March 11th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Craig Biggio started the 2001 season 7 for 8.
March 11th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I found another 8 for 9. Eli Marrero in 2002. We still haven't hit .900, though.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Chris Stynes 1997: 8 for his first 9 ...
March 12th, 2008 at 1:16 am
I don't understand how Halama can get the loss when he starts & gives up 1 run in a game his team loses 12-1. The loss ought to go to the guy that gave up run #2, no?
March 12th, 2008 at 4:08 am
The loss goes to the pitcher who gives up the run that allows the other team to go ahead for good. Since the Marlins took the lead when they scored off Halama and never relinquished that lead, Halama take the loss. Unless they tied the game, the number of runs the Nationals scored is irrelevant.
March 12th, 2008 at 9:39 am
In the one-pitch Astacio start, he was nailed in the hand by the base hit that he allowed.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2000/09/06/cubs000906.html
March 12th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Thanks, Raphy - I should have known - but it strikes me as very peculiar.
Aardvarks 1 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wombats 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
and the Wombat who gave up the run in the first gets the loss, but
Aardvarks 1 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wombats 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
and the Wombat who gave up the 11th run gets the loss. Whether the starter gets the loss depends not just on how many runs his team scores & gives up after he leaves, but on the temporal distribution of those runs. One more reason why won-loss figures can't be taken on face value.