Archive for the 'Event Finders' Category

The big news yesterday before Game 1 started was that the Yankees added Eric Hinske to their post-season roster. This gives Hinske the chance to take part in something extremely rare: making the last out in two consecutive World Series.

Using the post-season batting event finder, it's easy to create a list of the final play of every World Series. I'm putting the entire list after the jump if you want to see it. Hinske made the last out as a member of the Rays in 2008 and although I wouldn't bet on it, Hinske has at least an outside shot to do it again this season. After all, last year Hinske came in as a pinch-hitter against Brad Lidge and struck out, ending Game 5 and the World Series. The Yankees added Hinske to their roster to serve as a late-inning pinch-hitter, so who kn0ws--if the Phillies win the World Series again we may very well see Hinske make the last out.

Some notes about this list:

• Of the 102 World Series, ten of them ended with one or more runs scoring as a walk-off win. The other 92 ended in defeat for the team at bat.
• Only one player has ever ended two consecutive World Series: Boss Schmidt in 1907 and 1908, as the Tigers lost twice in a row to the Cubs.
• Amazingly, two players have both made the last out in one World Series and drove in the winning run in another: Edgar Renteria made the last out in 2004 and won it in 1997. Before that, Goose Goslin made the last out in 1925 and won it in 1935. Interestingly, Goslin had a much better year in 1925 than he did in 1935--but I bet he was happier at the end of 1935.

Anyway, I'll be watching to see if Hinske can do it too!

Here's the full list (after the jump):

Read the rest of this entry »

Here are a few lists and links to get you prepared for Game 1 of the World Series:

Starting with a Blast

• Chase Utley's 1st inning home run off Scott Kazmir in Game 1 of last year's World Series was the first 1st inning home run by a visiting player in Game 1 of the World Series since Frank and Brooks Robinson did it in 1966. Utley and the Robinsons are joined by Mickey Mantle (1956) and Roger Maris (1960) as the only players to accomplish this feat.
• Home players have been much more successful with a total of 12 1st inning game 1 home runs. However, this is a somewhat "recent" development. When the Robinsons hit their home runs in '66, visiting players had a 4 to 1 edge in this category.
• Teams that hit game 1 first inning home-runs were 12-4 in those games also won the whole series 12 times. In fact, the last 8 teams to hit a game 1 1st inning home run have gone on to win the World Series.

Multiple Home Runs

In World Series history, 8 players have hit 2 home runs in a game 1. Their teams have combined for a 5-3 record. In all other WS games, there have been 38 multiple home run games. Those teams went 35-3. (34-3 if you don't double count the game in which Ruth and Gehrig both did it.) Here are the players who went yard twice in a game 1:

  Cnt Player            Date          Series G Tm   Opp GmReslt PA AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions
+----+-----------------+-------------+------+-+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+
    1 Troy Glaus        2002-10-19    WS     1 ANA  SFG L  3-4   4  4  2  2  0  0  2   2  0   0  1   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 5th 3B

    2 Greg Vaughn       1998-10-17    WS     1 SDP @NYY L  6-9   4  4  3  2  0  0  2   3  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   1  0  0 3rd LF

    3 Andruw Jones      1996-10-20    WS     1 ATL @NYY W 12-1   4  4  3  3  0  0  2   5  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 7th LF

    4 Willie Aikens     1980-10-14    WS     1 KCR @PHI L  6-7   4  4  2  2  0  0  2   4  0   0  1   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 4th 1B

    5 Davey Lopes       1978-10-10    WS     1 LAD  NYY W 11-5   5  5  2  2  0  0  2   5  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 1st 2B

    6 Gene Tenace       1972-10-14    WS     1 OAK @CIN W  3-2   3  3  2  2  0  0  2   3  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 7th C

    7 Ted Kluszewski    1959-10-01    WS     1 CHW  LAD W 11-0   4  4  2  3  0  0  2   5  0   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 4th 1B

    8 Joe Collins       1955-09-28    WS     1 NYY  BRO W  6-5   4  3  3  2  0  0  2   3  1   0  0   0  0  0   0   0  0  0 5th 1B

1-0 in Game 1:

The first game of the World Series has been won 1-0 of five occasions. Three of them occurred in consecutive years (1948-1950).:

  Cnt Date          Series G Tm   Opp GmReslt  PA  AB  R  H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS LOB Batrs
+----+-------------+------+-+---+----+-------+---+---+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+-----+
    1 1986-10-18    WS     1 BOS @NYM W  1-0   36  31  1  5  0  0  0   0  5   2  8   0  0  0   1   1  0  0   8    12

    2 1950-10-04    WS     1 NYY @PHI W  1-0   37  31  1  5  1  0  0   1  4   1  0   0  2  0   1   0  0  0   9    11

    3 1949-10-05    WS     1 NYY  BRO W  1-0   29  29  1  5  2  0  1   1  0   0 11   0  0  0   0   0  0  0   4     9

    4 1948-10-06    WS     1 BSN  CLE W  1-0   29  24  1  2  0  0  0   1  3   1  2   0  2  0   0   0  1  0   4    11

    5 1918-09-05    WS     1 BOS @CHC W  1-0   33  28  1  5  0  0  0   1  3   1  6   0  2  0   0   0  0  1   5     9

Trivia: Winning Game 1 More Than Once

12 pitchers have won game 1 of the World Series more than once. If you would like to test yourself, I have created this Sporcle quiz. Otherwise, you can click here for the information.

Mike Scioscia's decision to intentionally walk Alex Rodriguez with the bases empty has worked out well so far. However, it is interesting to note that historically this has been a pretty risky proposition. Prior to this year, a post-season bases-empty intentional-walk was successful in preventing a run in only four of the seven times it was tried. Including Arod's walks, there have now been 9 bases empty post-season IBB. Here they are with their results:

                                       Mangers Who Looked Like Geniuses
 Car#  G# Date          Series G Batter            Tm   Opp Pitcher           Score       Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc.
+-----+---+-------------+------+-+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+
     1   1 1978-10-07    NLCS   4 Greg Luzinski     PHI @LAD Rick Rhoden       tied   3-3  t 8 ---   2 3-0   4   0 Intentional Walk
           Luzinski was singled to second, but stranded there. The Dodgers won in 10.
     4   1 2003-10-03    NLDS   3 Barry Bonds       SFG @FLA Ugueth Urbina     tied   2-2  t 9 ---   2 3-0   4   0 Intentional Walk
           Bonds was singled to third, but stranded there. The Marlins won in 11. 
     5   1 2003-10-04    NLDS   4 Barry Bonds       SFG @FLA Carl Pavano       tied   5-5  t 8 ---   2 3-0   4   0 Intentional Walk
           Bonds was forced at second to end the inning. The Marlins scored 2 runs in their half of the 8th and won the game 7-6. 
     7   1 2006-10-19    NLCS   7 Albert Pujols     STL @NYM Aaron Heilman     tied   1-1  t 8 ---   2 3-0   4   0 Intentional Walk
           Pujols was stranded at first. However,the Cardinals scored 2 in the 9th and won 3-1. 
     8   1 2009-10-19    ALCS   3 Alex Rodriguez    NYY @LAA Brian Fuentes     tied   4-4  t 9 ---   2 3-0   4   0 Intentional Walk
           A-rod was stranded at first. The Angels won in 11.
     9   1 2009-10-22    ALCS   5 Alex Rodriguez    NYY @LAA Brian Fuentes     down   6-7  t 9 ---   2 3-0   4   0 Intentional Walk
           A-rod's IBB was followed by a BB and HBP. However, Nick Swisher popped up and the Angels won. 


                                         Managers Who Looked Foolish
  Car#  G# Date          Series G Batter            Tm   Opp Pitcher           Score       Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc.
+-----+---+-------------+------+-+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+
      2   1 2002-10-13    NLCS   4 Barry Bonds       SFG  STL Rick White        tied   2-2  b 8 ---   2 3-0   4   0 Intentional Walk
            Benito Santiago drove in Bonds with a 2 run homer. The Giants won 4-3.
      3   1 2003-09-30    NLDS   1 Barry Bonds       SFG  FLA Chad Fox          ahead  1-0  b 8 ---   2 3-0   4   0 Intentional Walk
            Bonds stole second and scored on an Edgardo Alfonzo double. The Giants won 2-0
      6   1 2006-10-06    ALDS   3 Frank Thomas      OAK  MIN Dennys Reyes      ahead  4-2  b 7 ---   2 3-0   4   0 Intentional Walk
            Thomas's IBB was followed by a BB,E3,BB,2B. The A's scored 4 runs in the inning and won 8-3.

Via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Post-Season Batting Event Finder - All the "final" Plate Appearances in "Sudden Death" post-season games where the score was tied and the batter won the game...

  Car#  G# Date          Series G Batter            Tm   Opp Pitcher           Score       Result Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc.
+-----+---+-------------+------+-+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+
     1   1 1912-10-16    WS     8 Larry Gardner     BOS  NYG Christy Mathewso  tied   2-2  Out    b10 123   1  -        1 *ENDED GAME*:Flyball: RF/Sacrifice Fly; Yerkes Scores/unER
     2   1 1924-10-10    WS     7 Earl McNeely      WSH  NYG Jack Bentley      tied   3-3  2B     b12 12-   1  -        1 *ENDED GAME*:Double to LF (Ground Ball); Ruel Scores/unER;
     3   1 1960-10-13    WS     7 Bill Mazeroski    PIT  NYY Ralph Terry       tied   9-9  HR     b 9 ---   0  -        1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Deep LF)
     4   1 1976-10-14    ALCS   5 Chris Chambliss   NYY  KCR Mark Littell      tied   6-6  HR     b 9 ---   0  -        1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (CF-RF)
     5   1 1991-10-27    WS     7 Gene Larkin       MIN  ATL Alejandro Pena    tied   0-0  1B     b10 123   1 0-0   1   1 *ENDED GAME*:Single (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF); Gladden Scores;
     6   1 1997-10-26    WS     7 Edgar Renteria    FLA  CLE Charles Nagy      tied   2-2  1B     b11 123   2 0-1   2   1 *ENDED GAME*:Single to CF (Ground Ball thru SS-2B); Counsell Scores/unER;
     7   1 2001-10-14    NLDS   5 Tony Womack       ARI  STL Steve Kline       tied   1-1  1B     b 9 -2-   2 2-2   7   1 *ENDED GAME*:Single to LF; Bautista Scores
     8   1 2001-11-04    WS     7 Luis Gonzalez     ARI  NYY Mariano Rivera    tied   2-2  1B     b 9 123   1 0-1   2   1 *ENDED GAME*:Single to CF (Fly Ball to Deep SS-2B); Bell Scores;
     9   1 2003-10-16    ALCS   7 Aaron Boone       NYY  BOS Tim Wakefield     tied   5-5  HR     b11 ---   0 0-0   1   1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball)

Just nine times...but, oh, what a feeling it must have been for these nine men!

Edit/Add-On, 10/25/09, 11:37 am ET: alkeiper  has a good point. Here are some more heroes to end a post-season "Sudden Death" game where their team was losing and the batter won the game...

  Car#  G# Date          Series G Batter            Tm   Opp Pitcher           Score       Result Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc.
+-----+---+-------------+------+-+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+
     1   1 1992-10-14    NLCS   7 Francisco Cabrera ATL  PIT Stan Belinda      down   1-2  1B     b 9 123   2 2-1   4   2 *ENDED GAME*:Single to LF (LD to Short LF); Justice & Bream Score
     2   1 1995-10-08    ALDS   5 Edgar Martinez    SEA  NYY Jack McDowell     down   4-5  2B     b11 1-3   0 0-1   2   2 *ENDED GAME*:Double to LF (Line Drive); Cora Scores; Griffey Scores

Tonight (last night?), Alex Rodriguez's 11th inning round-tripper off of Brian Fuentes tied the game for the Yankees and extended the never-ending classic that is currently being played. A-rod became the 3rd player in postseason history to hit a game tying extra inning home run. Here are the previous 2:

  Car#  G# Date          Series G Batter            Tm   Opp Pitcher           Score       Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc.
+-----+---+-------------+------+-+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+
     1   1 1986-10-15    NLCS   6 Billy Hatcher     HOU  NYM Jesse Orosco      down   3-4  b14 ---   1 3-2   6   1 Home Run (Deep LF Line)
     2   1 1995-10-03    ALDS   1 Albert Belle      CLE  BOS Rick Aguilera     down   3-4  b11 ---   0 2-2   7   1 Home Run (Line Drive to Deep LF)

Aguilera played in both of those games. He wasn't secretly singed by the Angels, was he?

In the  history of Major League Baseball there have been 245 postseason series completed. 27 of those series (see here, here and here) were won by the offense, with an exciting walk-off win. The remaining 218 (see here and here) were won with the pitcher on the mound. While the pitcher who has been in the middle of the celebration the most is obvious,  the runner-ups are not:

Limiting this list a little further does turn up a bit of interesting trivia. Here are the pitchers who have ended more than 1 post-season series with a strike-out:

Notice something a little strange about this list?  Mariano Rivera has finished off 12 post-season series, but only once with a strikeout. In fact (present and future) Hall of Fame closers Rivera, Gossage and Eckersley, who have combined to complete 21 series,  combined to end a series with a strikeout as many times as starter Orel Hershiser did it by himself.

My thanks to Sean for providing me with the list of post season games ended on a play that was not a PA.

When Vladimir Guerrero drove in two runs with his ninth inning single last night, he became the 10th player in postseason history to come to bat  with his team losing with 2 outs in the ninth and hand his team the lead:

  Car#  G# Date          Series G Batter            Tm   Opp Pitcher           Score       Result Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc.
+-----+---+-------------+------+-+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+
     1   1 1941-10-05    WS     4 Charlie Keller    NYY @BRO Hugh Casey        down   3-4  2B     t 9 12-   2  -        2 Double to RF; Henrich Scores/unER; DiMaggio Scores/unER 
     2   1 1947-10-03    WS     4 Cookie Lavagetto  BRO  NYY Bill Bevens       down   1-2  2B     b 9 12-   2  -        2 *ENDED GAME*:Double to RF; Gionfriddo Scores; Miksis Scores 
     3   1 1985-10-16    NLCS   6 Jack Clark        STL @LAD Tom Niedenfuer    down   4-5  HR     t 9 -23   2 0-0   1   3 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF); McGee Scores; Smith Scores 
     4   1 1985-10-20    WS     2 Terry Pendleton   STL @KCR Charlie Leibrand  down   1-2  2B     t 9 123   2 2-1   4   3 Double to LF (Line Drive to LF Line); Clark Scores; Landrum Scores; Cedeno Scores 
     5   1 1986-10-12    ALCS   5 Dave Henderson    BOS @CAL Donnie Moore      down   4-5  HR     t 9 1--   2 2-2   7   2 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF); Gedman Scores 
     6   1 1988-10-04    NLCS   1 Gary Carter       NYM @LAD Jay Howell        down   1-2  2B     t 9 12-   2 0-2   3   2 Double to CF (Line Drive); Strawberry Scores; McReynolds Scores 
     7   1 1988-10-15    WS     1 Kirk Gibson       LAD  OAK Dennis Eckersley  down   3-4  HR     b 9 -2-   2 3-2   7   2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive to Deep RF); Davis Scores 
     8   1 1992-10-14    NLCS   7 Francisco Cabrera ATL  PIT Stan Belinda      down   1-2  1B     b 9 123   2 2-1   4   2 *ENDED GAME*:Single to LF (Line Drive to Short LF); Justice Scores/unER; Bream Scores/unER; Berryhill to 2B 
     9   1 2005-10-17    NLCS   5 Albert Pujols     STL @HOU Brad Lidge        down   2-4  HR     t 9 12-   2 0-1   2   3 Home Run (Deep LF); Eckstein Scores; Edmonds Scores 
    10   1 2009-10-11    ALDS   3 Vladimir Guerrero LAA @BOS Jonathan Papelbo  down   5-6  1B     t 9 123   2 0-0   1   2 Single to CF (Line Drive to Short CF); Figgins Scores; Abreu Scores; Hunter to 2B 

It has also be done once in extra innings by Ivan Rodriguez in Game 3 of the 2003 NLDS.

  Car#  G# Date          Series G Batter            Tm   Opp Pitcher           Score       Result Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc.
+-----+---+-------------+------+-+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+
     1   1 2003-10-03    NLDS   3 Ivan Rodriguez    FLA  SFG Tim Worrell       down   2-3  1B     b11 123   2 1-2   5   2 *ENDED GAME*:Single to RF (Line Drive); Gonzalez Scores/unER; Pierre Scores/unER; Castillo to 2B 

During last night's ALDS game between the Twins and Yankees, Mariano Rivera walked Nick Punto in the top of the 9th inning, with two outs, and the Yankees ahead in the game.

I doubt Joe Girardi was sweating Rivera issuing that walk, since the Yankees were up by five at the time, and, after all, it's Mo Rivera on the hill. But, in general, I would expect that it must kill a manager to see his "closer" issue a two-out walk in the 9th inning of a post-season game...when his team has the lead. This led me to wondering how often this situation happens. And, thanks to Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Post-Season Pitching Event Finder, the answer is easy to find. What I found interesting was the "leader board" for allowing 2-out walks in the 9th inning of a post-season game when pitching with a lead. Here it is:

Jason Isringhausen 4
Tom Henke 3
Mariano Rivera 3
Brad Lidge 3
Fernando Valenzuela 2
Rawly Eastwick 2
Armando Benitez 2
Red Ruffing 2

Granted, Rivera is high on this list partly because he's thrown in so many post-season games. But, still, it's interesting that he's issued this type of base-on-balls three times in his career - and is knocking on the door of becoming the all-time leader of doing this...er...for a lack of a better word..."sin."

In any event, Nick Punto now joins Bret Boone and David Justice as the only batters in baseball history to work Mariano Rivera for a 2-out walk in the 9th inning when their team was trailing. I guess that's something Punto can tell his grand-kids about someday...

According to Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Post Season Batter Events Finder - only 4 post-season games, to date, have ended via an error. Here's the details on each situation:

  Car#  G# Date          Series G Batter            Tm   Opp Pitcher           Score       Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc.
+-----+---+-------------+------+-+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+
     1   1 1914-10-12    WS     3 Herbie Moran      BSN  PHA Joe Bush          tied   4-4  b12 12-   0  -        0 *ENDED GAME*:Reached on E1 (throw to 3B)/Sacrifice Bunt; 
     2   1 1969-10-15    WS     4 J.C. Martin       NYM  BAL Pete Richert      tied   1-1  b10 12-   0  -        0 *ENDED GAME*:Reached on E1 (throw to 1B)/Sacrifice Bunt; 
     3   1 1986-10-25    WS     6 Mookie Wilson     NYM  BOS Bob Stanley       tied   5-5  b10 -2-   2 3-2   9   0 *ENDED GAME*:Reached on E3 (Ground Ball); Knight Scores/unER
     4   1 1996-10-02    ALDS   2 Charlie Hayes     NYY  TEX Mike Henneman     tied   4-4  b12 12-   0 0-0   1   0 *ENDED GAME*:Reached on E5 (throw to 1B)/Sacrifice Bunt 

Many know about Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.  But, how many remember Game 2 of the 1996 ALDS or Game 4 of the 1969 World Series?  And, for sure, I don't think many today can call upon Game 3 of the 1914 World Series from their own personal eye-witness memory.

Poor Joe Bush, Pete Richert, Bill Buckner and Dean Palmer - for making those errors.  Gotta be a player's worst nightmare, right?  Of course,  all these games were already tied when these errors occurred...so, it's not like any of these miscues turned a "W" into an "L."  Now, that would really leave a mark...no doubt.

Note: Three of these puppies came on bunts. So, maybe that's a smart play, when you're at home, in October, in extra innings, with the score tied?

I've been making some updates and improvements to the postseason stats on the site.

First off, the playoff stats on the player and postseason summary pages now match what we have in our pbp database. In the past, these were essentially two different sources with some crossover. It all now jibes with our pbp database. The main changes are that 1981 is not messed up for pitcher IP's as it was, the recent years have full stat lines, we now have wpa info for the 1914 WS. The fact the Braves played in Fenway messed things up and we got that fixed.

Second, I have added a best_of column to our database, so you can now search for just game 7's (or 5's) in the Game Finders and Postseason Event Finders.

I've re-run all of the postseason pages, so they should be ready to roll for next week.