P Travis Wood triples in his second career game
Posted by Andy on July 6, 2010
Friend of Baseball-Reference.com Steven H texted me to ask how often a rookie pitcher triples in a game. Last night, Travis Wood of the Reds, in his second career game, hit a triple off Mike Pelfrey. (Steven was at the game.)
Wood became the 3rd player in 2010 to triple in his first 2 games:
| Rk | Gcar | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Travis Wood | 2010-07-05 | CIN | NYM | W 8-6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | Starlin Castro | 2010-05-07 | CHC | CIN | W 14-7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 2 | Austin Jackson | 2010-04-07 | DET | KCR | L 2-3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | 2 | Matt Wieters | 2009-05-30 | BAL | DET | L 3-6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | 2 | Gerardo Parra | 2009-05-15 | ARI | ATL | L 3-4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | 2 | Bobby Scales | 2009-05-08 | CHC | MIL | L 2-3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Within the PI box score years, here are all the pitchers to triple in at least one of their first two games:
| Rk | Gcar | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Travis Wood | 2010-07-05 | CIN | NYM | W 8-6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | Joel Hanrahan | 2007-07-28 (2) | WSN | NYM | W 6-5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | John Stuper | 1982-06-01 | STL | SFG | L 3-4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | 2 | Scott Munninghoff | 1980-04-22 | PHI | NYM | W 14-8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 2 | Eduardo Rodriguez | 1973-09-03 (1) | MIL | CLE | W 13-5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 1 | Doug Rau | 1972-09-02 | LAD | STL | W 5-1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | 2 | Lance Clemons | 1971-08-17 (2) | KCR | NYY | L 5-8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 1 | Bob Moose | 1967-09-19 | PIT | HOU | W 11-7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | 2 | Mike Adamson | 1967-07-05 | BAL | CHW | L 2-3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | 2 | Jack Meyer | 1955-04-24 (2) | PHI | PIT | W 3-0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 1 | Arnie Portocarrero | 1954-04-18 (2) | PHA | BOS | L 3-4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | 1 | Jim Henry | 1936-04-23 | BOS | PHA | L 1-9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | 2 | Thornton Lee | 1933-09-24 (2) | CLE | CHW | W 12-6 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | 1 | Van Mungo | 1931-09-07 (2) | BRO | BSN | W 2-0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | 2 | Spades Wood | 1930-08-23 (1) | PIT | BSN | W 5-0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | 1 | Al Grabowski | 1929-09-11 (1) | STL | BSN | W 11-4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 2 | Ossie Orwoll | 1928-04-24 | PHA | BOS | W 11-6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | 2 | Ray Moss | 1927-09-23 (2) | BRO | CIN | W 4-3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | 1 | Hal Deviney | 1920-07-30 | BOS | CLE | L 4-13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Not exactly a Who's Who of All-Star pitchers.....hmm...
July 6th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
I think its safe to conclude that triple-ing in your first or second career game is not a sure-fire way into the hall of fame
July 6th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
But if you're Van Lingle Mungo, you get a catchy novelty tune out of it.
Mungo only pawn in game of baseball...
July 6th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
The Reds seem to be courting pitchers who know which end of the bat to hold -- first Owings, and now Wood. Now if we could just figure out how to get Jay Bruce to reach his potential with the stick.
July 6th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
I actually remember Eduardo Rodriguez's triple. It was in the second game in his career in which he appeared as a batter, but it was in his 25th career game, some of which were starts, even complete games.
Once upon a time, the Milwaukee Brewers were in the American League, and Rodriguez's triple is the only one by an American Leaguer in a non-interleague game in the DH era. It looks like the Brewers made a bunch of moves in a blowout in which they were on the high-scoring side:
George "Boomer" Scott (batting 4th) from 1B to the bench
Dave "Turnpike" May (batting 3rd) from CF to the bench
John Vukovich (I never knew he played for a team other than the Phillies, let alone the one for which his almost-namesake Pete Vuckovich had his best year) from the bench to 1B, batting 3rd
Bob Coluccio (batting 2nd) from LF to CF
Bobby Mitchell (batting 8th) from DH to LF
And with the DH moving to the field:
The pitcher, first Jim Slaton and then Rodriguez, to the cleanup spot in the order.
It looks like Slaton didn't get a plate appearance, but Rodriguez did.
Rodriguez also got swapped into the batting order in a game against the Angels on August 7 of that year but apparently did not get a plate appearnce then. So he tripled in his first major league plate appearance.
July 6th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Thornton Lee wasn't anywhere near a hall of famer, but he had a pretty decent career:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leeth01.shtml
His best year was 1941 with World War 2 looming in Europe, Ted Williams was batting .406 and Joe DiMaggio having his 56 game hitting streak, Thornton Lee was leading the American League with a 2.37 ERA and 30 Complete Games!!!. He was 22-11 that year with 300.1 innings pitched
He started slipping in 1942 thru 1944, possibly injured, can't remember. I did see him pitch personally 1 time at old Comiskey Park during those years.
In 1945 at age 38 when players started coming home from the War, he had his last good year 15-12, with a 2.44 ERA., 19 Complete games 228.1 Innings Pitched.
July 7th, 2010 at 8:35 am
I was a POW in Chicago for a few years as a kid; and I remember that, whenever the Yankees came into Chicago for a series at Commiskey, Lee and Ted Lyons were the two guaranteed starters -- and that wasn't just throwing someone out for a sacrifice.
P.S. -- No anti-White Sox aspersions intended here -- I was just a temporarily misplaced Reds fan.