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Normally, our labor motto here at Useless Info Central is pretty darned simple: Baseball good, strikes bad.
But for some folks out there in the baseball wilderness, their seasons aren't going so hot. Face it. For those folks, a strike may not be such a bad thing -- the sooner the better, in fact.
We now present a few of those people:
The Mets. For awhile there, we thought the Mets might have gotten confused a couple of weeks ago. They seemed to think that when the union set that strike date, they were supposed to go on strike immediately.
It was bad enough that they lost 12 games in a row. But what made that streak especially, uh, amazin' is that in the entire run, they held a lead after exactly three of 108 innings.
They did rebound to win a couple in Colorado after that. But what's the point of making this team finish the season? They're on a pace to make 147 errors -- which would be the most of any team in the 2000s. They're 28th in the big leagues in runs scored. Their rotation is 4-14 in August. Their entire outfield has been outhomered by Sammy Sosa. So enough already.
The Devil Rays. What we have here is a team that was 15 games out by May 8. What we have here is a team that has gone 16 straight series without winning one -- most since the '97 Phillies. What we have here is a team that owned fewer wins after its first 130 games (43) than any team since the '91 Indians.
What we have here is a team that only a strike can save from becoming the first team since the 1978-79 Blue Jays to lose 100 games in back-to-back seasons. So stop the season. The Devil Rays want to go home.
The Pirates. It started out as a fun little season for the Pirates. Then, unfortunately, the season didn't end on April 21. They were leading the NL Central by 2½ games then. They're 14½ out now, 15 games under .500 and about to become the sixth team in the last half-century to have 10 straight losing seasons (joining the 1993-2002 Brewers, who have already clinched that distinction). At least a strike could save them from losing 90 for the first time since 1999.
The Brewers. No one will ever confuse the history of Bud's Brew Crew with the history of the Yankees. But one thing they've never done, even when they were disguised as the Seattle Pilots, is lose 100 games. Well, they're 40 games under .500 already this year. And if the season continues, they're just about a lock to knock that little claim to fame off their list of accomplishments. So ... eh ... picket signs anybody?
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| 2002 SEASON STATISTICS |
| GM |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
AVG |
| 128 |
23 |
61 |
41 |
163 |
.289 |
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Jose Hernandez. Speaking of the Brewers ... last year, Hernandez had to sit out all but a few innings of the final four games of the season to avoid breaking Bobby Bonds' hallowed all-time strikeout record (189). He still finished with 185, though. And with 163 whiffs already this year, through Monday, he was 11 punchouts ahead of last year's pace -- and right on schedule to become the first member of the 200-K Klub. At least a strike would save Jerry Royster from having to decide whether to bench his second-leading run-producer for, say, the last two weeks of the season.
Ben Sheets, Jamey Wright, Glendon Rusch. It's been 50 years since the same team's starting pitchers finished 1-2-3 in their league in losses. But the top of the Brewers' rotation has a shot to duplicate the work of the 1952 Tigers' threesome of Art Houtteman (20 losses), Virgil Trucks (19) and Ted Gray (17).
Through Monday, Ben Sheets led the league with 15 losses. And only Livan Hernandez (14) stood between Wright and Rusch (13 apiece) and the win-place-and-show award in this derby. But if there's no September, there's no shot.
Tanyon Sturtze. Can anybody want this season to reach the finish line more than this guy? Sturtze is 3-13 (.188 winning percentage) -- which would be the lowest winning percentage by an AL starter with this many decisions since Jim Abbott went 2-18 in 1996. He's allowed the most hits, walks, runs, earned runs and doubles in the league. And he's served up 11.95 hits per nine innings -- the most of any pitcher who worked at least 100 innings since division play began in 1969. At least if there was a strike, it would make him 100 percent unhittable.
Juan Pierre. In the long, trot-filled history of the Rockies, only one man has ever had a season in which he got more than 200 at-bats and failed to hit at least one altitudinous home run. That was the unforgettable Alex Cole (348 ABs, 0 HR) in the Rockies' inaugural season of 1993. Now, though, Pierre is already up to 488 at-bats without a home run. And even though Jay Payton has pilfered some of his playing time, Pierre is in serious jeopardy of becoming the first Rockie ever to go homerless in a season of 500 or more at-bats.
In fact, since the rocketball era arrived in 1993, only three players have had 500-at-bat seasons for any team and gone homerless -- Otis Nixon (589) in 1995, Rey Sanchez (544) last year and Lance Johnson (540) in 1993. So get this man a picket sign -- or some cork.
Ramon Ortiz. It's been a heck of a year for the Angels, a year most of them wouldn't want to see end without a visit to the great baseball Octoberfest. But one guy might make an exception. He's Ramon Ortiz, your resident AL gopherball leader with 35. And he's currently on a pace to serve up 44 home runs.
Since division play began, only one AL pitcher has allowed that many. And that would be Bert Blyleven, the all-time single-season gopherball king, with 50, in 1986. Ortiz has no shot at the half-century club, strike or no strike. But this is still one best-of-the-rest group nobody would want to join. A strike would be the ultimate sinkerball for this guy.
Brian Kingman. Finally, it's hard to think of anyone on the planet who could find more positive aspects to a strike than the Last 20-Game Loser of the 20th Century. It's been 22 years since Kingman lost 20 for Billy Martin's 1980 Athletics. And he's so fond of his dubious place in trivia history, he's even got his own web site now -- www.20gamelosers.com.
Every year, Kingman is forced to sweat out the September assaults on 20 losses by the Omar Daals and Jose DeLeons of his favorite sport. And now, with Ben Sheets, Livan Hernandez, Mike Hampton, Jeff Suppan and Todd Ritchie on his radar screen, this September could be no different. But he was getting nervous in 1994, too. Then his kids told him, "Don't worry, Dad. There'll be a strike." Kingman's memorable response: "I don't want an asterisk next to this thing ... but whatever it takes."
Other useless information
Every year, in the first week of May, we write a column that demonstrates how much April matters. Well, after Sunday's games, we computed what the standings would look like if the season had started on May 1. And here's some of what we found:
The Phillies (eight games over .500) have essentially the same record since April as the Red Sox (nine over) and Astros (eight over).
The Angels (28 over) have the best record in the American League since May 1, even better than the Yankees (25 over), A's (25 over) or Twins (19).
If the season had started in May, the Mariners (15 over) would be 6½ games behind the Angels in the AL West and 5 behind the A's in the wild-card race. The Red Sox would be 8 back in both the AL East and the wild-card race.
The Reds (8 under) would be no factor in any race, and, in fact, have a worse record since May 1 than the Marlins (4 under), Rockies (2 under) or Orioles (1 under).
The Pirates (19 under), who seem on the surface to have had a nice little year, actually have the third-worst record in the National League since April, trailing only Milwaukee (31 under) and San Diego (22 under). And the Mets (15 under) would be fourth-worst.
So how much does April matter? It matters enough to color our perception of a team's entire season. That's how much.
Useless A-Rod information
The amazing Alex Rodriguez has eight multihomer games this season. This year's Hall of Fame inductee, the great Ozzie Smith, had eight multihomer seasons.
A couple of weeks ago, A-Rod hit six home runs in one series. Ozzie never hit more than six home runs in any season.
A-Rod now has 41 more homers (46) than errors (5). And how many infielders (not counting first basemen) have ever had a season like that? How about zero.
Useless box score lines of the month
We've gotten a little behind in our box-score compilations. So it's time to catch up.
Tag-team division
We hadn't seen two pitchers give up 11 runs on the same day since April 29, 1999 (when Roy Halladay and Mel Rojas did it). But it happened again Saturday:
Jose Cabrera vs. Pittsburgh: 5 1/3 IP, 11 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 1 HBP. (Cabrera was only the second pitcher in the last seven seasons to give up 10 runs or more to the Pirates. The other: Matt Clement, on July 28, 2000.)
Jose Lima vs. Oakland: 2 2/3 IP, 9 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 2 HR, 76 pitches to get 8 outs. (It was the third time Lima had given up 10 or more runs in a game in the 2000s. The only other pitcher to do that, believe it or not, is Jamie Moyer.)
Quote of the day (from Lima): "It wasn't Lima Time. It was Oakland Time."
Triumph division
Then there was the Reds' Ryan Dempster. On August 4, he became the first pitcher since we've been keeping track of this stuff to give up 10 runs in a game for two different teams in the same year. (He'd done it June 7 with the Marlins, too.) But that's not all. He also gave up 10 runs in a game his team WON. (The Reds came from five runs back after he left to beat the Padres, 15-10.
Last pitcher to allow 10 in a game his team won: Matt Perisho -- in relief -- for the Rangers, in a 17-16 win over Oakland, on May 4, 2000.
Last starter to give up 10 in a game his team won: Sean Bergman, for the Padres, in a 13-11 win at Coors Field, on July 13, 1997.
Dempster's historic line: 4 IP, 10 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 1 HBP.
Useless Mets information
Let's put the Mets' 12-game losing streak in perspective: The Yankees haven't had a losing streak that long in almost 90 years (since 1913). And of the other major New York professional teams (Knicks, Giants, Jets, Rangers, Islanders), the only other New York franchise that has had a losing streak that long since the '80s is the Jets -- and they had to do it over two seasons (1995-96).
The last losing streak of 12 or more for those other New York teams, according to the Elias Sports Bureau:
Giants -- never.
Jets -- never in the same season (lost 12 in a row over two seasons in 1995-96).
Yankees -- 13 games, May 21 - June 6, 1913.
Rangers - 17 games, Jan 23-March 19, 1944 (lost 19 over two seasons, ending Nov. 9, 1944).
Knicks -- 12 games, March 23 - April 13, 1985 (lost 20 in a row over two seasons, starting with that streak).
Islanders - 12 games, Nov. 22, 1988 - Dec. 15, 1988.
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| 2002 SEASON STATISTICS |
| GM |
W-L |
IP |
H |
K |
ERA |
| 25 |
8-9 |
151.2 |
156 |
87 |
3.86 |
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Useless hot pitcher information
Cory Lidle did more than throw 32 straight shutout innings (a streak that ended Monday with one unearned run allowed). He was the starting and winning pitcher in four straight shutouts. And Elias' Rob Tracy reports that only three other pitchers have done that in the 40-year expansion era: Orel Hershiser (five straight CG shutouts in 1988), Luis Tiant (four straight CG shutouts in 1972) and Gaylord Perry (four straight CG shutouts in 1970). Pretty cool group.
Vicente Padilla isn't going to win any Cy Youngs. But through games of last weekend, he'd made 27 starts and still hadn't lost two in a row. The only other National League pitchers who have started at least 20 games and can make that claim: Randy Johnson, Wade Miller, Roy Oswalt and Jason Jennings.
And Useless Info emissary Danny Knobler, Tigers beat man for Booth Newspapers, reports that Barry Zito has pulled off an even more amazing feat in this unbalanced-schedule (and interleague) day and age:
Zito doesn't have a losing record against any team he has faced this year. In other words, he's 15-5, and he has managed to beat all five teams he has lost to at least once.
We checked every other starter with a winning record and at least 20 starts. Not one other pitcher could make that claim.
Miscellaneous useless info
OK, one final Barry Bonds 600th-homer note: Bonds and his hero, Willie Mays, reached 500 homers in almost exactly the same number of at-bats (Mays hit his 500th in his 7,533rd at-bat, Bonds hit his in his 7502nd AB). To hit their next 100 homers, it took Bonds about 1,300 fewer at-bats than it took Mays. As many times as we think about that, it still blows us away.
Kip Wells just became the Pirates' first 12-game winner in three years (since Todd Ritchie did it in 1999). In that period in which the Pirates had no 12-game winners, the Yankees had eight.
This really happened, in real life, Saturday night, in that 18-2 game between the Padres and Marlins: In the fifth inning, 11 consecutive Padres came to bat with the bases loaded. They went: walk, one-run single, out, one-run single, walk, one-run single, one-run single, one-run single, out, one-run single, final out. Naturally, their only home run in that inning was by the man who led it off, Bubba Trammell.
Five months into the season, Indians catcher Eddie Perez still has only three RBIs. They came on his FIRST SWING of the season -- a three-run double against the Tigers on April 5. He's gone 97 at-bats without an RBI since.
The magic number was one on August 9. Of the 15 games played that day, 10 were one-run games -- only one short of the record for most in a day. According to Elias' Kevin Hines, the only two days in history featuring 11 one-run games were April 14, 2001 (15 games), and July 4, 1918 (16 games, divided into eight doubleheaders).
Heading into his start Monday, Curt Schilling was already up to 43 wins over the last two seasons. The East Valley Tribune's Ed Price reports that even if Schilling's total freezes at 43, that would be the most wins over two years by any National League pitcher since Steve Carlton won 43 in 1976-77.
If Schilling is the ultimate horse, his teammate, Mike Myers, is the ultimate situation left-hander. Myers is on a pace to pitch just 38 1/3 innings -- in 71 games. That gives him a shot to break a record he already shares -- for fewest innings by a reliever who appeared in 70 games or more. It sure wouldn't be his first assault on this hallowed mark. The top five, according to Lee Sinins' fabulous sabermetric encyclopedia:
Player Year IP G
Tony Fossas 1993 40 71
Mike Myers 2001 40 73
Mike Myers 1999 41 71
Mike Myers 2000 45.1 78
Buddy Groom 1999 46 76
If he doesn't make it back to the big leagues this year, Tigers reliever Erik Sabel is going to be the first pitcher of the 2000s to finish a season with an ERA of infinity. He was outrighted to Toledo last week after retiring none of the two batters he faced (double, HR, 2 ER). That gives him a chance to be the first Capt. Infinity since the legendary Brad Pennington faced four batters for the '98 Devil Rays and got none of them out. And Danny Knobler reports that Sabel would be the first Tiger to travel to infinity since Bob Uhl in 1940.
So what's the only current team in baseball with three pitchers who own 100 saves or more? The New York Post's Joel Sherman reports that it's (surprise) the Phillies -- with Jose Mesa, Mike Timlin and the out-for-the-year Ricky Bottalico.
Back in June, when it was clear Alfonso Soriano had a shot to drive in 100 runs as the Yankees' leadoff man, we incorrectly credited the Elias Sports Bureau and our ESPN research department for a list of the five greatest RBI seasons by a leadoff hitter. We've since determined that the original research actually was done in 1991 by the famed baseball historian, Bill Deane, for Herman Krabbenhoft's Baseball Quarterly Review (and since updated by Krabbenhoft). Soriano drove in his 81st run of the season (and 78th out of the leadoff hole) Monday. So Krabbenhoft has checked in with an updated list of all the leadoff men since 1909 with 81 or more RBIs:
Darin Erstad (Angels, 2000), 100
Nomar Garciaparra (Red Sox, 1997), 98
Craig Biggio (Astros, 1998), 88
Johnny Damon (Royals, 2000), 88
Harvey Kuenn (Tigers, 1956), 85
Taylor Douthit (Cardinals, 1930), 84
Dom DiMaggio (Red Sox, 1948), 84
Barry Bonds (Giants, 1973), 83
Eddie Joost (A's, 1949), 81
Tommy Harper (Brewers, 1970), 81
Gerald Williams (Devil Rays, 2000), 81
(All totals prior to 1991 were researched by Bill Deane.)
If Barry Bonds hadn't turned into the Ultimate Walking Machine, the man leading the National League in walks would be ... (guess who?) ... Adam Dunn. At age 22. Dunn was up to an incredible 108 walks through Sunday. And since 1941, only three other players have walked that many times in a season before their 23rd birthday, according to Elias:
Rickey Henderson, 1980, age 21, 117 BB
Eddie Mathews, 1954, age 22, 113 BB
Ted Williams, 1941, age 22, 122 BB (Williams drew 122 walks in 1941 before turning 23 on Aug. 30)
Before the 1990s, only four players in history (Jimmie Foxx, Rocky Colavito, Frank Robinson and Dick Allen) ever hit 30 homers in back-to-back seasons for two different teams. Lee Sinins reports that Jason Giambi just became the 15th to do it SINCE 1990.
In fact, these 10 men have done it just in the last FIVE seasons:
Albert Belle, 1998-99 - White Sox 49, Orioles 37
Jose Canseco, 1998-99 - Blue Jays 46, Devil Rays 34
Rafael Palmeiro, 1998-99 - Orioles 43, Rangers 47
Dean Palmer, 1998-99 - Royals 34, Tigers 38
Greg Vaughn, 1998-99 - Padres 50, Reds 45
Mo Vaughn, 1998-99 - Red Sox 40, Angels 33
Ken Griffey Jr., 1999-00 - Mariners 48, Reds 40
Manny Ramirez, 2000-01 - Indians 38, Red Sox 41
Alex Rodriguez, 2000-01 - Mariners 41, Rangers 52
Jason Giambi, 2001-02 - A's 38, Yankees 30
Our bobblehead czar, loyal reader David Hallstrom, is wondering whether Carlos Beltran may have to have three bobblehead days in his honor in one year. On his first bobblehead day, May 11, the Royals got rained out and only about 5,000 fans showed up to pick up their bobbleheads. So they rescheduled for Aug. 11 -- and drew 15,527. That leaves more than 4,000 Carlos Beltran bobbleheads still to be given away after two tries. Next up: Imitate a bobblehead, win a bobblehead doll?
Who says nothing good ever happens to those Devil Rays? They have four minor leaguers currently leading their leagues in homers. Devil Rays media-relations genius Rick Vaughn reports that no organization has had four minor-league home run champions in 37 years, since the Pirates and Astros did it.
The Rays' leaders also include two brothers -- Joey Gomes (leader in the New York-Penn League) and Jonny Gomes (leader in the California League). And the last time two brothers led different minor leagues in homers was 1929, when Ike Boone led the Pacific Coast League and Dan Boone led the Piedmont League.
Elsewhere in the wilds of the minor leagues, loyal reader Doug Greenwald reports that Modesto A's pitcher Brad Weis set (or tied) the all-time record for fewest pitches by a winning pitcher Aug. 20. He came in, picked a runner off first to end the eighth inning before he threw his first pitch, then got a win out of it when the A's rallied for four runs in the ninth. One win. Zero pitches. What a sport.
Here's a minor-league feat you may never see again: Veteran outfielder Billy McMillon, now playing for Columbus in the International League, hit home runs in the 15th and 17th innings of the same game Aug. 19. The first homer tied the game. The second homer won it, 10-9.
And let's hear it for those Yakima Bears. They finally won Sunday -- for the first time since July. They'd lost 22 in a row before an 8-2 win over Spokane -- the longest losing streak by any team in professional baseball since 1996. The Bears were outscored in the streak, 158-72, and got blown out so many times, they only lost three of the 22 games by one run.
The Sultan's Corner
Until Aug. 4, we'd had almost as many four-homer games this season (two) as three-homer games (three). Then, amazingly, FIVE different players (Russell Branyan, Chris Woodward, Aaron Boone, Sammy Sosa and Mike Lieberthal) made three trots in a game in the next WEEK. The Sultan of Swat Stats, SABR's David Vincent, reports that's the most in any seven-day span in baseball history. Here are all the previous weeks to feature three or more three-homer games:
May 25-31, 1990 (four): Kevin Mitchell, Jeff Treadway, Glenn Davis, Cecil Fielder
May 22-28, 1996 (four): Geronimo Berroa, Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken Jr., Sammy Sosa
July 9-15, 1933: Ben Chapman, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons
Aug. 26-Sept. 1, 1950: Roy Campanella, Hank Sauer, Gil Hodges
May 17-23, 1979: Dave Kingman, Dale Murphy, Al Oliver
July 7-13, 1979: Mike Schmidt, Ben Oglivie, Claudell Washington
July 22-28, 1979: George Brett, Cecil Cooper, Dave Kingman
June 27, 1983: Mark McGwire, Bill Madlock, Brook Jacoby.
Sept. 10-16, 1987: Glenn Davis, Mickey Brantley, Ernie Whitt
April 25-May 1, 1997: Ken Griffey Jr., Matt Williams, Roberto Alomar
Sept. 15-21, 1998: Manny Ramirez, Bret Boone, Mike Lansing
June 5-11, 1999: Vinny Castilla, Jeff Bagwell, Miguel Tejada
June 23-29, 2000: Bret Boone, Bobby Higginson, Jeff Cirillo
Aug. 15-21, 2001: Shawn Green, Jose Ortiz, Sammy Sosa
Sept. 23-29, 2001: Sammy Sosa, Jeromy Burnitz, Richie Sexson
Equally amazing was the historic bashing of the Boone family. The Sultan reports that when Aaron Boone hit three bombs August 9, it made the Boone brothers the first set of brothers in history to own dueling three-homer games.
But even more incredibly, Aaron started his three-homer extravaganza with two home runs in the first inning -- matching a feat by his brother three months earlier. So think about this: In the history of baseball before this year, exactly one player (Von Hayes) had hit two homers in the first inning of any game ever played. And this year, it's been done by two members of the same family. Might be the greatest note of the year.
Meanwhile, Sammy Sosa keeps on cranking out three-homer games himself. But his trifecta August 11 topped them all. Sosa became the second player ever to have a three-homer game in which all three were three-run homers. The other, according to the Sultan: Walker Cooper, on July 6, 1949. But Sosa hit his homers in back-to-back-to-back innings. Cooper hit his in the third, sixth and seventh. Special citation: Mark Whiten, who hit two three-run homers and a grand slam during his four-homer blow-up on Sept. 7, 1993.
Finally, here's to the Phillies' Randy Wolf, who last week became the first pitcher to hit a home run on his birthday since Bob Knepper did it on May 25, 1979. The Sultan presents the 12 previous pitchers since 1900 to blow out their candles on their way around the bases:
Bob Knepper 5/25/1979
Don Drysdale 7/23/1965
Jack Harshman 7/12/1956
Turk Lown 5/30/1956
Bubba Church 9/12/1952
Bob Hooper 5/30/1950
Freddie Fitzsimmons 7/26/1930
Jack Scott 4/18/1923
Howie Camnitz 8/22/1910
Jack Chesbro 6/5/1906
Chief Bender 5/5/1906
Kid Nichols 9/14/1901
Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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