15th June 2009
For the past few days , every time I turn on the radio it seems that invariably someone will ask "have you ever seen such a thing?" in reference to Friday night's Luis Castillo play. Well, let's take a look. Here are all the times since 1954 that a batter whose team was losing with 2 outs reached on an error to win the game.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Event Finders | 25 Comments »
27th May 2009
When Jimmy Rollins homered on the first pitch of the Phillies game with the Yankees on Friday, I got to wondering whether leadoff homers (not necessarily on the first pitch) happen more or less freqeuently than all homers in the game.
Here's what I mean.
In 2008, there were 52 leadoff homers. This counts only the visiting team batting in the top of the first, and not the home team batting in the bottom. In 2008, there were 2428 games. That means that 52/2428 = 2.14% of games featured a leadoff homer, and since each game has exactly one leadoff plate appearance, there was a 2.14% chance of a player hitting a leadoff home run in 2008. Now, checking out the major league batting totals for 2008, we see that there were a total of 187,614 plate appearances and 4878 home runs. That works out to 2.60%, meaning any plate appearance (including the leadoff spot) had a 2.60% chance of ending up as a home run.
That means that, very roughly, the leadoff batter of a game has roughly a 20% lower chance of hitting a homer than for any other average batter during the game. This result is not surprising given that leadoff hitters usually want to try to simply get on base by any means possible and swinging for the fences is usually not the first choice.
By comparison, let's look at walks in 2008. There were 165 walks to lead off games in 2008. Coming in those 2428 games means the leadoff batter waked 6.80% of the time. Looking back at the league-wide data, we see that there were 16,337 walks in those 187,614 plate appearaces. That means that on average, batters walked 8.70% of the time. So, again, leadoff batters were about 20% less likely to walk.
Incidentally, on the league-wide page, you can see data on the first batter of the game right here. In this case, that's first batter of the game for each team, so it includes the guy batting first in the bottom of the first inning.
Posted in Event Finders, Game Finders | 3 Comments »
19th May 2009
I'm very pleased to announce that as part of our licensing agreement with SABR, we have acquired the online rights to the Tattersall/McConnell Home Run Encyclopedia. This database contains data for every major league home run hit from 1876 on. This has allowed us to create home run logs for all pitchers and batters (excepting those exclusively in the National Association, if someone wants to fill in the blanks for those 200 or so HR, we are definitely interested).
UPDATE @ noon ET, Wednesday: I just got the 2009 home runs working and the site is regenerating those pages, so you will see active players updating over the next 15-20 minutes. Now next up is a summary page and front-end for the general db.
Posted in Announcements, Event Finders | 22 Comments »
18th May 2009
Along with the minor league data, we licensed the SABR Home Run Encyclopedia which is quite frankly a stunning accomplishment in baseball history. I'm working on getting this together for everybody (and I do mean everybody back to 1876). If you want to brainstorm what you would like to be able to do with this in the comments, go ahead. First order of business, is to add a nice summary similar to what we have for the event finders. I'm make a full announcement in the next few days when it is live on the server.
Posted in Announcements, Event Finders, History | 9 Comments »
13th May 2009
Fernando Tatis just hit a grand slam for the Mets.
It's impossible to mention "Fernando Tatis" and "grand slam" in the same sentence without recalling that Tatis is the only guy ever to hit two slams in the same inning.
Here is his home run log from 1999:
Car# Yr# G# Date Tm Opp Pitcher Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc. +-----+----+---+-------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+ 20 1 1 1999-04-05 STL MIL Chad Fox down 2-7 b 8 --- 0 0-0 1 1 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF) 21 2 1 1999-04-07 STL MIL Steve Woodard ahead 2-1 b 6 --3 2 2-0 3 2 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF); McGwire Scores 22 3 1 1999-04-08 STL MIL Jim Abbott tied 3-3 b 5 12- 2 2-1 4 3 Home Run (Fly Ball); McGwire Scores; Davis Scores 23 4 1 1999-04-21 STL @MIL Rafael Roque down 0-1 t 4 --- 1 0-0 1 1 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF Line) 24 5 1 1999-04-23 STL @LAD Chan Ho Park down 0-2 t 3 123 0 2-0 3 4 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF); Bragg Scores; Renteria Scores; McGwire Scores 25 6 2 STL @LAD Chan Ho Park ahead 7-2 t 3 123 2 3-2 6 4 Home Run (Fly Ball); Jimenez Scores/unER; Bragg Scores/unER; Renteria Scores/unER; Tatis Scores/unER 26 7 1 1999-04-24 STL @LAD Ismael Valdez down 0-6 t 7 --- 0 1-2 4 1 Home Run (Line Drive to Deep LF Line) 27 8 1 1999-05-01 STL @MON Mike Thurman ahead 1-0 t 1 --3 1 2-2 6 2 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF); McGwire Scores/unER 28 9 1 1999-05-02 STL @MON Miguel Batista tied 0-0 t 1 12- 1 2-2 5 3 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF); Drew Scores; Lankford Scores 29 10 1 1999-05-04 STL @ATL Justin Speier ahead 8-0 t 7 --- 0 1-0 2 1 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF) 30 11 1 1999-05-06 STL PIT Todd Ritchie down 0-2 b 2 1-- 0 1-2 6 2 Home Run (Line Drive to Deep LF-CF); Lankford Scores 31 12 1 1999-05-21 STL @LAD Onan Masaoka ahead 6-4 t 7 --- 0 2-1 4 1 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep CF-RF) 32 13 1 1999-05-22 STL @LAD Darren Dreifort down 2-6 t 4 -23 0 1-0 2 3 Home Run (Fly Ball); McGwire Scores; Lankford Scores 33 14 1 1999-05-26 STL SFG Kirk Rueter down 1-7 b 7 --- 0 3-1 5 1 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF) 34 15 1 1999-06-09 STL @KCR Alvin Morman down 5-7 t 7 --- 2 2-2 5 1 Home Run (Fly Ball) 35 16 1 1999-06-16 STL MON Miguel Batista ahead 4-0 b 3 --- 0 0-0 1 1 Home Run (Fly Ball) 36 17 1 1999-06-29 STL @HOU Shane Reynolds tied 0-0 t 2 --- 1 0-0 1 1 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF) 37 18 1 1999-07-10 STL @SFG Russ Ortiz down 1-3 t 7 --- 1 2-1 4 1 Home Run (Fly Ball) 38 19 1 1999-07-17 STL CHW James Baldwin tied 0-0 b 2 --- 1 3-2 6 1 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF) 39 20 1 1999-07-19 STL MIN Mike Lincoln ahead 2-0 b 3 1-- 2 2-0 3 2 Home Run (Fly Ball); Lankford Scores 40 21 2 STL MIN Benj Sampson ahead 6-2 b 4 1-- 2 2-1 4 2 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF); Lankford Scores 41 22 1 1999-07-22 STL @CIN Brett Tomko ahead 1-0 t 1 -2- 2 3-2 7 2 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF); Lankford Scores 42 23 2 STL @CIN Danny Graves down 4-5 t 9 1-- 1 2-1 4 2 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF); Lankford Scores 43 24 1 1999-07-31 STL COL Bobby Jones down 2-4 b 3 --- 0 0-1 2 1 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF) 44 25 1 1999-08-09 STL @PHI Billy Brewer ahead 7-2 t 4 123 0 0-0 1 4 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF); McGwire Scores; Lankford Scores; Howard Scores 45 26 1 1999-08-13 STL CHC Kyle Farnsworth ahead 3-1 b 4 --- 1 1-1 3 1 Home Run (Fly Ball) 46 27 1 1999-09-11 STL PIT Chris Peters tied 0-0 b 2 --- 0 0-1 2 1 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF) 47 28 1 1999-09-15 STL MIL Bill Pulsipher ahead 2-0 b 1 --- 1 2-1 4 1 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF) 48 29 1 1999-09-17 STL HOU Jose Lima ahead 8-4 b 4 --- 2 3-0 4 1 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF) 49 30 1 1999-09-21 STL @CHC Bobby Ayala ahead 3-1 t 8 --- 2 2-0 3 1 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF) 50 31 1 1999-09-26 STL @CIN Juan Guzman down 0-1 t 2 --- 2 1-1 3 1 Home Run (Fly Ball) 51 32 2 STL @CIN Danny Graves down 2-4 t 9 1-- 0 0-0 1 2 Home Run (Fly Ball); Marrero Scores 52 33 1 1999-09-29(2) STL SDP Andy Ashby down 4-5 b 6 --- 1 0-2 3 1 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF Line) 53 34 1 1999-10-01 STL CHC Jon Lieber down 1-2 b 5 --- 0 1-0 2 1 Home Run (Fly Ball)
His 5th and 6th homers of the year both came in the 3rd inning, both with the bases loaded, and amazingly both came off Chan Ho Park, who gave up 11 runs in the game (but only 6 earned.)
Tatis' slam today gives him 7 in his career, which is not bad for a guy who was out of the majors for a full year twice in his career.
Posted in Event Finders | Comments Off on Fernando Tatis
3rd February 2009
I grew up within the range of WPIX and therefore watched a lot of Yankee games on TV back in the day. In 1989, when Bucky Dent took over from Dallas Green as manager, Dent moved Mattingly from his customary position in the batting order, 3rd, up one slot to #2.
In the first inning, Mattingly showed bunt. I can't recall whether he actually attempted to bunt, or did bunt, or only showed bunt. What I vividly remember is Phil Rizutto immediately singing Mattingly's praises for adjusting his game along with his new position in the batting order.
I found that box score rather easily, as Mattingly batted in the #2 position in just one game in 1989. See here for the Event Finder search that revealed it.
Now here's where it gets interesting. In Joel Sherman's book that I mentioned in this post, he characterized Mattingly's bunt as his way of ridiculing Dent for moving him to second in the lineup, and recalled some nasty words that Mattingly had after the game.
How interesting to see the different perspectives between Rizutto and the truth, at least as Sherman presents it.
One thing we know for sure...Mattingly was moved back to the #3 hole the next day.
Posted in Event Finders | 1 Comment »
23rd September 2008
Last night, the Mets gave up their second grand slam to a pitcher this year.
Those are the only two this year:
Yr# G# Date Pitcher Tm Opp Batter Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit R Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+--+-------------------------+ 1 1 2008-06-23 Johan Santana NYM SEA Felix Hernandez tied 0-0 t 2 123 2 0-0 1 4 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep CF-RF); Beltre Scores/unER; Clement Scores/unER; Bloomquist Scores/unER; Hernandez Scores/unER 2 1 2008-09-22 Jonathon Niese NYM CHC Jason Marquis tied 2-2 t 4 123 0 0-0 1 4 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF); DeRosa Scores; Johnson Scores; Theriot Scores
And here are back years:
Yr# G# Date Pitcher Tm Opp Batter Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit R Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+--+-------------------------+ 1 1 2006-07-07 Jose Lima NYM FLA Dontrelle Willis down 0-3 t 4 123 0 0-0 1 4 Home Run (Fly Ball); Willingham Scores/unER; Hermida Scores; Treanor Scores
Yr# G# Date Pitcher Tm Opp Batter Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit R Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+--+-------------------------+ 1 1 2002-06-02 Bruce Chen MON @PHI Robert Person down 0-3 b 1 123 2 1-0 2 4 Home Run; Giambi Scores; Lee Scores; Pratt Scores Yr# G# Date Pitcher Tm Opp Batter Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit R Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+--+-------------------------+ 1 1 2001-09-29 Jimmy Haynes MIL @COL Denny Neagle down 6-9 b 4 123 2 0-1 2 4 Home Run (CF-RF); Ochoa Scores; Uribe Scores; Bennett Scores Yr# G# Date Pitcher Tm Opp Batter Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit R Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+--+-------------------------+ 1 1 2000-05-24 Mike Johnson MON @SFG Shawn Estes down 0-7 b 5 123 2 0-0 1 4 Home Run (LF-CF); Kent Scores; Snow Scores; Burks Scores Yr# G# Date Pitcher Tm Opp Batter Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit R Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+--+-------------------------+ 1 1 1998-07-20 Denny Neagle ATL CHC Kevin Tapani down 0-1 t 3 123 2 1-1 3 4 Home Run (Line Drive to Deep LF); Hill Scores; Orie Scores; Servais Scores 2 1 1998-09-02 Jesus Sanchez FLA STL Kent Mercker down 0-3 t 4 123 0 1-1 3 4 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF Line); Gant Scores; Tatis Scores; Polanco Scores Yr# G# Date Pitcher Tm Opp Batter Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit R Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+--+-------------------------+ 1 1 1996-09-07 Andy Ashby SDP @STL Donovan Osborne tied 1-1 b 5 123 1 - 4 Home Run (Deep CF-RF); Mabry Scores; Pagnozzi Scores; Alicea Scores
Yr# G# Date Pitcher Tm Opp Batter Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit R Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+--+-------------------------+ 1 1 1995-05-29 Shane Reynolds HOU @FLA Chris Hammond ahead 2-0 b 2 123 1 1-1 3 4 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF); Pendleton Scores; Whitmore Scores; Johnson Scores 2 1 1995-06-27 Jim Bullinger CHC PIT Denny Neagle tied 2-2 t 6 123 2 - 4 Home Run (Deep LF-CF); Merced Scores; Garcia Scores; Liriano Scores 3 1 1995-08-25 John Cummings LAD @PHI Jeff Juden down 2-10 b 4 123 2 2-2 5 4 Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF Line); Webster Scores/unER; Hayes Scores/unER; Van Slyke Scores/unER; Juden Scores/unER
I had no idea that Denny Neagle hit two slams.
These are all the grand slams by pitchers going back to 1987, excluding any possible ones hit by pitchers playing positions other than P (such as, for example, PH.)
Posted in Event Finders | 5 Comments »
9th September 2008
The other day, Gregg Zaun hit a walk-off salami when his team was down by a run. Here are all the walk-off slams so far this season:
Yr# G# Date Batter Tm Opp Pitcher Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+ 1 1 2008-04-07 Torii Hunter LAA CLE Joe Borowski down 2-4 b 9 123 1 1-0 2 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF Line); Matthews Scores; Guerrero Scores; Anderson Scores 2 1 2008-06-08 Mark Ellis OAK LAA Chris Bootcheck tied 3-3 b12 123 2 0-0 1 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF Line); Petit Scores; Davis Scores; Buck Scores 3 1 2008-06-11 Dan Uggla FLA PHI Tom Gordon tied 2-2 b 9 123 1 3-1 5 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF); Ramirez Scores; Cantu Scores; Helms Scores 4 1 2008-07-20 Aaron Miles STL SDP Bryan Corey tied 5-5 b 9 123 1 2-1 4 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF); Pujols Scores; Molina Scores; Schumaker Scores 5 1 2008-08-04 Marlon Byrd TEX NYY Damaso Marte tied 5-5 b 9 123 2 0-0 1 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep CF-RF); Metcalf Scores; Laird Scores; Hamilton Scores 6 1 2008-09-06 Gregg Zaun TOR TBR Troy Percival down 3-4 b13 123 2 0-0 1 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF); Wells Scores; McDonald Scores; Rolen Scores
Zaun and Hunter are the only two to do it when his team was behind. Everybody else, of course, was tied.
Here are all the walkoff grand slams from last year:
Yr# G# Date Batter Tm Opp Pitcher Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+ 1 1 2007-04-07 Alex Rodriguez NYY BAL Chris Ray down 6-7 b 9 123 2 1-2 4 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep CF-RF); Cano Scores; Jeter Scores; Abreu Scores 2 1 2007-04-21 Russell Martin LAD PIT Shawn Chacon tied 3-3 b10 123 1 1-2 4 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF); Pierre Scores; Kent Scores; Gonzalez Scores 3 1 2007-05-12 Ryan Zimmerman WSN FLA Jorge Julio tied 3-3 b 9 123 2 1-0 2 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF); Bergmann Scores; Flores Scores; Lopez Scores 4 1 2007-06-28 Carlos Lee HOU COL Brian Fuentes down 4-5 b11 123 2 0-0 1 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF Line); Biggio Scores; Pence Scores; Berkman Scores
Also two were come-from-behind
And finally, all of them from 2006:
Yr# G# Date Batter Tm Opp Pitcher Score Inn RoB Out Cnt Pit RBI Play Desc. +-------+---+-------------+-----------------+---+----+-----------------+-----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------------------------+ 1 1 2006-05-13 Jeff Francoeur ATL WSN Chad Cordero down 4-5 b 9 123 2 1-0 2 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball); Giles Scores; Renteria Scores; Jones Scores 2 1 2006-06-13 Jason Kubel MIN BOS Julian Tavarez down 1-2 b12 123 1 3-2 7 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball); Cuddyer Scores; Morneau Scores; Hunter Scores 3 1 2006-06-30 Adam Dunn CIN CLE Bob Wickman down 5-8 b 9 123 2 1-0 2 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive); Phillips Scores; Freel Scores; Lopez Scores 4 1 2006-08-08 Richie Sexson SEA TBD Seth McClung tied 1-1 b10 123 1 1-0 2 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball); Suzuki Scores; Beltre Scores; Ibanez Scores 5 1 2006-08-27 Gary Bennett STL CHC Bobby Howry tied 6-6 b 9 123 2 1-0 2 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball); Encarnacion Scores; Belliard Scores; Miles Scores 6 1 2006-09-24 Nomar Garciaparra LAD ARI Luis Vizcaino tied 1-1 b 9 123 2 2-1 4 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball); Anderson Scores; Furcal Scores; Lofton Scores
Three more come-from-behind, including Dunn's when his team was down by 3 runs.
Posted in Event Finders | 6 Comments »
3rd May 2008
Tony LaRussa is up to his old tricks again, batting pitchers 8th quite often this year.
Check it out here--these are all the times this season a pitcher has faced another pitching batting in the 8th spot. I did it as a Team Pitching Event Finder instead of as a Team Batting Event Finder because it easier to come up with the list of teams who have done it this year:
| STL | 79 |
| MIL | 60 |
| CHC | 4 |
| ARI | 1 |
Those are the opposition teams batting the pitcher 8th. There are some cases where a pitcher ends up batting 8th because he came in as part of a double-switch with the player who was originally batting 8th, and then stays in the game and bats for himself. That's a rare event, but it does happen over the course of the season, usually in extra innings when a manager may be reluctant to pinch-hit for a reliever if he thinks he might need him for a few more innings. So the one time Arizona has done it was in this game. What happened there was really strange and probably not worth going into, but suffice it to say that it was extra-innings madness.
What I described above is exactly what happened when Kevin Hart of the Cubs ended up batting out of the 8 hole in this game. And Jon Leiber has batted 8th three times, all when coming in on a double-switch and staying in the game later to bat.
But all the rest of those PAs, the ones with St Louis and Milwaukee, are because Tony LaRussa and Ned Yost have been routinely batting certain pitchers 8th in their lineup. It makes a lot of sense to me. Hey, for an extreme example, would anybody have a problem if Micah Owings batted 6th or 7th? I sincerely doubt it. Even after an 0-fer last night, Owings is still hitting over .400 this year after hitting .333 last year with 4 homers, 7 doubles, a triple, and 15 RBI in 60 AB.
Here are pitchers batting 8th in past years.
2007:
| STL | 116 |
| MIN | 3 |
| ARI | 1 |
| KCR | 1 |
| CHC | 1 |
| COL | 1 |
| WSN | 1 |
2006 has just one such PA by Ryan Vogelsong of the Pirates.
2005:
| FLA | 5 |
| SDP | 1 |
| CIN | 1 |
| COL | 1 |
| WSN | 1 |
Mostly courtesy of Dontrelle Willis.
And check out here for the 31 times it happened in 1965.
Posted in Event Finders | 11 Comments »
3rd April 2008
File this under: Silly but fun things that you can do with Baseball-Reference.com’s Play Index (Pitching Event Finder), Excel, and a few minutes time. (In addition to: Shameless cross promotion not so cleverly hidden in a PI example...)
In the Yankees game last night, Mike Mussina and La Troy Hawkins both allowed hits on an 0-2 count.
This had me wondering: How many 0-2 hits have Yankees pitchers allowed since I started writing WasWatching.com (on April 20, 2005)?
Here’s the answer: 222 hits allowed on 0-2 counts.
Randy Johnson allowed 35 such hits and Mike Mussina, including last night, has allowed 30 (in this time).
Click here to see the entire list of 222 hits allowed.
Posted in Event Finders | 1 Comment »