Walk-off hit by pitch
Posted by Andy on September 12, 2010
Last night, Mariano Rivera was the losing pitcher in a game that ended when he hit Jeff Francoeur with a pitch.
This is the first time a game ended on a HPB since 2008, when it happened 3 times:
| Date | Pitcher | Tm | Opp | Batter | Score | Inn | RoB | Out | Pit(cnt) | R | Play Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-06-05 | Scott Schoeneweis | NYM | @SDP | Paul McAnulty | tied 1-1 | b9 | 123 | 1 | 1 (0-0) | 1 | *ENDED GAME*:Hit By Pitch; Hairston Scores; Giles to 3B; Kouzmanoff to 2B |
| 2008-06-12 | Jeff Ridgway | ATL | @CHC | Reed Johnson | tied 2-2 | b11 | 123 | 0 | 1 (0-0) | 1 | *ENDED GAME*:Hit By Pitch; Ramirez Scores; Fukudome to 3B; Soto to 2B |
| 2008-07-19 | Lenny DiNardo | OAK | @NYY | Jose Molina | tied 3-3 | b12 | 123 | 1 | 4 (1-2) | 1 | *ENDED GAME*:Hit By Pitch; Jeter Scores; Rodriguez to 3B; Sexson to 2B |
There were also 3 such games in 2007:
| Date | Pitcher | Tm | Opp | Batter | Score | Inn | RoB | Out | Pit(cnt) | R | Play Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-04-05 | Roberto Hernandez | CLE | @CHW | A.J. Pierzynski | tied 3-3 | b9 | 123 | 0 | 2 (1-0) | 1 | *ENDED GAME*:Hit By Pitch; Mackowiak Scores; Crede to 3B; Iguchi to 2B |
| 2007-05-27 | Carlos Marmol | CHC | @LAD | Juan Pierre | tied 1-1 | b11 | 123 | 0 | 5 (2-2) | 1 | *ENDED GAME*:Hit By Pitch; Martinez Scores; Betemit to 3B; Furcal to 2B |
| 2007-09-06 | Anthony Reyes | STL | PIT | Josh Phelps | ahead 16-4 | t9 | --- | 0 | 6 (3-2) | 0 | *ENDED GAME*:Hit By Pitch |
Before that, it happened most recently once in 2005.
Incidentally, last night's performance killed Rivera's chance of finishing the season with an ERA under 1.00. Here are the guys to finish with an ERA under 1.00, minimum 40 IP, since 1901:
| Rk | Player | Year | IP | Tm | G | GS | SV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joey Devine | 2008 | 0.59 | 45.2 | OAK | 42 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Dennys Reyes | 2006 | 0.89 | 50.2 | MIN | 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Jonathan Papelbon | 2006 | 0.92 | 68.1 | BOS | 59 | 0 | 35 |
| 4 | Chris Hammond | 2002 | 0.95 | 76.0 | ATL | 63 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Dennis Eckersley | 1990 | 0.61 | 73.1 | OAK | 63 | 0 | 48 |
| 6 | Rob Murphy | 1986 | 0.72 | 50.1 | CIN | 34 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Rich Gossage | 1981 | 0.77 | 46.2 | NYY | 32 | 0 | 20 |
| 8 | Cisco Carlos | 1967 | 0.86 | 41.2 | CHW | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| 9 | Bill Henry | 1964 | 0.87 | 52.0 | CIN | 37 | 0 | 6 |
| 10 | Barry Latman | 1958 | 0.76 | 47.2 | CHW | 13 | 3 | 0 |
| 11 | Earl Hamilton | 1918 | 0.83 | 54.0 | PIT | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| 12 | Ferdie Schupp | 1916 | 0.90 | 140.1 | NYG | 30 | 11 | 1 |
| 13 | Dutch Leonard | 1914 | 0.96 | 224.2 | BOS | 36 | 25 | 3 |
| 14 | Buck O'Brien | 1911 | 0.38 | 47.2 | BOS | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| 15 | George McQuillan | 1907 | 0.66 | 41.0 | PHI | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| 16 | Nick Maddox | 1907 | 0.83 | 54.0 | PIT | 6 | 6 | 0 |
Dutch Leonard in 1914...geez! (Keep in mind that this is not the same Dutch Leonard who was an All-Star in the 1940s.)
September 12th, 2010 at 7:07 am
That sucks about Joey Devine. He had an awesome short career! Anyone know what happened? He hasn't even played in the minors it looks like.
September 12th, 2010 at 7:15 am
He is currently on the A's 60-dl. He had TJ surgery last spring and hasn't made it back yet.
September 12th, 2010 at 7:23 am
He had the surgery in April 2009 so it seems to be taking him an unusually long time to recover.
September 12th, 2010 at 7:41 am
That third game in 2007... was it called due to rain after that HBP, or what?
September 12th, 2010 at 7:43 am
The 9/6/07 was not really a walk-off HBP. It had been raining progressively heavier during the last few innings of that game, and the umps finally had to call for the tarp after Josh Phelps was hit to lead off the Top of the 9th, with his team down by 12 runs. With the score so lopsided, they didn't wait very long to just call the game....
September 12th, 2010 at 7:44 am
Ha! I was answering as you were adding your comment Fantusta...
September 12th, 2010 at 8:58 am
Not typical Rivera. He sure wasn't on his game. Only 9 strikes compared to 12 balls.
Not being a Yankees fan, I noted with satisfaction the WPA for the event, -0.778. And after Kerry Wood and the rest of the bullpen had mostly done a decent job in holding the Rangers down.
Rivera, is easily the biggest name reliever on the 2005-9 list, which goes to show, perhaps, that put any closer in a late-game situation often enough and an improbable event like this will happen.
But is a bases-loaded hit batter really any worse than a bases-loaded walk in the same circumstances? And that has happened more often, I would think.
September 12th, 2010 at 9:29 am
I think the bases loaded-HBP is a lot worse than the bases loaded-BB. If you don't hit the guy, at least you gave the batter a chance to get himself out (by swinging at pitches that would otherwise be called balls). With the HBP, the batter didn't even have to decide whether to swing or not.
September 12th, 2010 at 9:52 am
@8
You may be right, Dave V. I missed the fact that Rivera hit Franceur on the first pitch of the at-bat, supporting your point about not giving the batter a chance to fail.
I haven't watched Sportcenter yet to see the AB, but I assume Franceur was trying to get out of the way, not striding into the pitch.
September 12th, 2010 at 11:05 am
I remember one of these from when I was kid... Game 4 of the 1986 ALCS, the Red Sox bring in Calvin Schiraqldi, who was a real stud - at the time - and he plunks... I think it was Brian Downing... with the Bases loaded to force in the winning run. He pitched well later in that series but it was a portent of things to come for Schiraldi, not only in the '86 World Series (losing pitcher in games 6 AND 7) but really in ANY pressure situation for the rest of his career. In any save opportunity he took on the look a middle schooler who forgot to study for the algebra test.
September 12th, 2010 at 11:42 am
Normally, I would say an HBP and a walk are about even, but considering Jeff Francouer was the batter, the HBP is much worse, for the simple reason that Mariano Rivera probably wouldn't be able to walk Jeff Francouer if he tried.
September 12th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Ferdie Schupp? With a name like that and a two-year stretch like he had in 1916-17, including with a pennant winner in New York, how the hell have I never heard of him? Those two years are amazing!
September 12th, 2010 at 11:54 am
@12
Goof, can you imagine what Bob Shepherd would have done with that name when introducing him?
September 12th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
@12
Ferdie Schupp was not near as good as some stats would appear, he was probably the luckiest starting pitcher ever
September 12th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Nice one, Neil. I said for years that they should record Sheppard doing every single combination, then use a Robo-Sheppard upon his retirement so that we'd never lose having him at the Stadium.
From what I can tell, Schupp had the second lowest ERA over a two-season span in NY (minimum 400 IP). Big Six had a 1.31 from 08-09 or 1.55 if you go 09-10. Schupp had 1.59 in 16-17. Mathewson also had 1.67 04-05, and 1.68 07-08. Also under 4, Hubbell 33-34 (1.98), Chandler 42-43 (1.96), Russ Ford 10-11 (1.95) and Chesbro 04-05 (1.97). Nobody from Brooklyn, and Seaver and Gooden fell short.
Curious about elsewhere, but it doesn't look like an easy search on the PI.
September 12th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
TheGoof - You weren't the only one. And some of the others were people who were capable of doing just that.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/25706746/Will_New_York_Yankees_Use_Announcer_Bob_Sheppard_Forever
September 12th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Don't forget Homer Simpson pinch-hitting for Darryl Strawberry in the company softball league during the 1991-92 TV season.
September 12th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
On NY sports radio today, a host (who is obviously familiar with both Frenchy and Mo) about how Mo had a guy up who swings at everything and still managed to hit him. Had the pitch not been aimed directly at Franceouer, he likely would have swung. Rather ironic. And unfortunate.
September 12th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
If Hong-Chih Kuo didn't have that disastrous 3-run blown save against the Braves on August 16, he may have had a chance to join the 1.00 club.
September 12th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Good One DaHook, I was thinking the same thing when I saw this post.
September 12th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
#18
BSK.. respect your knowledge a lot. However, bad karma is bound to happen to any player once in a career.
It is more a fluke than indicative of any large decline in Mariano's control or ability to handle late-inning pressure, I think.
Who's the next closer to be victimized by a walk-off HB, Trevor Hoffman?
True that it is highly painful against a free-swinging batter like Franceouer who probably felt the pressure more that Rivera but still an anomaly nevertheless.
September 12th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Andy, your initial post contains two unrelated ideas, both of which are interesting.
Pitchers who lost on a walk-off HB and pitchers who had a season ERA under 1.00.
WRT pitchers with an ERA under 1.00, we should probably leave out the 1907-1918 part of the list because of the run environment, but I was looking at a couple of the other careers.
Although I recognized most of the modern names on the list, I was trying to make sense of Barry Latham's career from the stats. His 1958 season as a 22-year old was amazing but it looks like managers couldn't decide how to use him.
His games/games finished/complete games/saves are an enigma. It must an interesting story and he is now 74 years old.
September 12th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
@14 - 86 Ks and 79 H in 140.1 IP at a time when nobody struck out...that's certainly more than just luck.
September 12th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Neil @21-
There is no doubt it was a fluke. I wasn't making any attempt to conclude anything, at all, from one at bat. Just noting the observation of another (which I agree with), that if we were making a list of potential batter/pitcher combos for this to occur with, Mo and Frenchy would be one of the last on our lists. And I don't think the fact that it happened changes that.
September 12th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
OK, I cannot find easily where I can ask this question, but somebody here has to be smarter than I am. What tool was used to obtain this information about HBP ending a game? I thought I was pretty good with the Play Index, but that judgment is out the window now after 15 frustrating minutes trying to figure this out. Thx to anybody who can help.
September 12th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Forget it . . . I just figured it out. Duh!
September 12th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
@17 @20
Can the Mets sign Homer as a free agent next year? He might help! {Sorry, did I say that}
September 12th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
@21 - It wouldn't surprise me if Brad Lidge were to be the next one, assuming the injury that's been keeping him out the past few days is not permanent. The Phillies won by three today in a game I missed entirely (no, not due to anything NFL-related but to a theatre matinee) and haven't read much besides the final score yet, so I don't know if Lidge made a closer appearance.
September 13th, 2010 at 4:41 am
Joey Devine's ERA+ that year was 706. That looks like a bad OPS for a hitter!
September 13th, 2010 at 11:53 am
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS198605190.shtml
Forgettable Red Sock backup C Marc (son of GM Haywood)Sullivan, certainly a worse hitter than Francoeur, had his biggest contribution to the Sox '86 pennant when he got his large posterior in the way of a once-great-but-heading-toward-the-pitchers'-grave Ron Davis pitch.
September 13th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
BSK, along the lines of "how did that happen?" -- Don Larsen caught Dale Mitchell looking to end the perfect game. Mitchell is one of 10 guys with 4,000 PA and under 2.75% K/PA. Turned out to be the last pitch Mitchell would see as a major leaguer, too.
September 13th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Turned out to be the last pitch Mitchell would see as a major leaguer, too.
No, Mitchell grounded out as a pinch-hitter in Game 7.
September 13th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
@30
Nice one, Eric. I had almost forgotten about poor 'ol Ron Davis. Ah, the cruelty of high-pressure situations. It magnifies both success and failure.
Your post reminded me of old-time players, before the big-money era made injuries so costly to a career, who would use the HBP as a kind of offensive weapon, sacrificing their bodies. Wasn't Al Oliver such a player?
September 13th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
All this "What are the odds?" could lead to an interesting post, wherein we post what reasonably possible situation is least likely to occur given a certain context. Obviously, we could get too whacky and stretch the bounds of rationality. But, spinning off the current example, we could examine a situation where a pitcher with an absurdly low BB rate (ie Cliff Lee) walks in a run facing a batter with an incredibly low BB rate (ie Frenchy, though I'm sure there are worse). It'd be fun just to see what people could come up with, especially if there was a way of actually calculating the odds (presuming the context arose, obviously).
September 13th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
BSK, I wonder about things like that. Like when a high-K pitcher faces a high-K batter, are the odds of a K increased exponentially? I'm sure people can point out individual examples of matchups where that seems to be the case, but I wonder how it works out overall. It's probably been studied somewhere but I don't remember seeing it.
September 14th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Give Dutch Leonard credit. If he had that season in another era, there's no way he would have been under 1.00, but he still had one of the all-time great pitching seasons, regardless of era. A 279 ERA+ (with a 0.89 WHIP) in 224 innings doesn't just grow on trees, not even in the dead-ball era.
September 19th, 2010 at 11:08 am
[26]
OK .... *I'm* trying to figure this out ... how *do* you compile such a list?
September 19th, 2010 at 11:34 am
@37
PI Event Finder - Batting by Team
2010- All Teams- Hit by Pitch, click "Get Report"
Click on "Go Ahead" and "Game Ending" and click "Get Report" again
Keep changing the year to find the results for other seasons.
September 19th, 2010 at 11:48 am
thanks!