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Useless AL West information
If it weren't for that pesky wild card, which will allow both teams to make the playoffs, the A's-Angels race in the AL West might be about to etch itself into the annals of baseball's Greatest Races of All Time.
The A's have gone 32-8 since July 31 and 24-4 since Aug. 13. The Angels have gone 25-7 since Aug. 10 and 17-3 since Aug. 24.
And the last time two teams were tied for first place with this many wins (91) or more following games of Sept. 12 was 1942, when Pee Wee Reese's Dodgers and a young Stan Musial's Cardinals were both at 94-47. The Cardinals had to go 12-2 the rest of the way to win the pennant, with 106 wins.
How amazing are the Angels? Remember, they finished more games out of first place last year (41) than the Devil Rays. If they win the AL West this year, they would be the first team to finish 40 or more out one year and first the next since the 1898-99 Brooklyn Bridegrooms. That team finished 46 back in 1898, then bought out the old Baltimore Orioles and jumped from 54 wins to 101.
Here's another incredible thought: Suppose the A's win 100 games again -- and wind up as the wild-card team again? They only need to go 8-7 to reach 100, but that probably won't be enough to win the division. If that happened, they would be the first team in history to win 100 games in back-to-back seasons but not finish first in either of them.
And the Mariners could make history themselves -- just not the good kind. Of the 10 previous teams since 1900 that won 108 games or more, the biggest drop in wins the following season was 24, by the 1909-10 Pirates (from 110 wins to 86). If the Mariners win eight of their remaining 15 games, they would finish with exactly 92 wins -- tying those Pirates, who also finished third.
Of the other nine teams, five won 100 games the next year, seven at least finished first again and all of them won at least 92. The biggest drop by any of the six previous AL teams to win at least 108 was 19, by the 1954-55 Indians (from 111 wins to 93).
The A's ended a three-game losing streak with Friday's win. But remember, they're still 75-19 after Aug. 1 over the last two years. Let's just put that in perspective: The Devil Rays (with a similar payroll) have won 74 of their last (gulp) 200 games.
More Useless Information
How strange is this? The losing pitcher for the Mets on Sept. 11 -- Steve Trachsel -- lowered his record to (no kidding) 9-11. The Yankees' winning pitcher the night before -- Jeff Weaver -- raised his record to 9-11. And as loyal reader Jerry Beech, of e-sportsnation.com, points out, in the only game played in New York on Sept. 11, the Yankees and Orioles combined for nine runs in 11 innings.
It wasn't just David Wells' back that made people question the wisdom of that two-year, $6.5-million contract the Yankees handed him last winter. It was also his age. But Wells has won 17 games, at age 39. And if you're trying to remember the last Yankees left-hander, or the last AL left-hander, to win that many games at that age, you can put away the Ginko.
In the history of baseball, exactly one previous left-handed pitcher has won that many games in a season at 39 or older -- Warren Spahn. And Spahn did it four times (at 39, 40, 41 and 42).
We still find it hard to believe the Yankees' pitching staff went seven straight games (and 65 innings) without issuing a walk. Then again, four of those games were against the Tigers, a team that sometimes acts as if walking has been banned in 28 states.
Nevertheless, according to the Elias Sports Bureau's Kevin Hines, that Yankees-Tigers series was only the third four-game series in the expansion era (i.e., the 42 seasons since 1961) in which a team went the entire series without walking. The others:
White Sox hitters vs. Red Sox pitchers (in Chicago) on Aug. 5-8, 1968. Dave Morehead, Jim Lonborg, Dick Ellsworth and Ray Culp started for Boston in those games.
Devil Rays hitters vs. A's pitchers (in Oaland) on Sept. 8-11, 2000. Starting pitchers for Oakland: Gil Heredia, Tim Hudson, Barry Zito and Kevin Appier.
A-Rod Note of the Week: Alex Rodriguez went into the weekend with 54 home runs. Jimmy Rollins, Cristian Guzman, Carlos Guillen, David Eckstein, Rafael Furcal, Tony Womack, Jose Vizcaino and Cesar Izturis -- eight men who have each played at least 100 games and are the current starting shortstops for teams with winning records -- have combined for 53.
Randy Johnson Note of the Week: The Unit now has six 300-strikeout seasons. And how many 300-strikeout seasons do all other left-handed pitchers have combined since 1905? Eight (three by Sandy Koufax, two by Sam McDowell, one each by Steve Carlton, Vida Blue and Mickey Lolich).
Barry Bonds Note of the Week: Bonds headed into Saturday's games with no strikeouts in his last 90 plate appearances. The last player to hit at least 30 homers in a season and make that many whiff-less trips to the plate in succession, according to Elias' Kevin Hines, was Don Mattingly in 1987. Mattingly went 91 trips without a K from July 31 to Aug. 23, finally ending the streak with a strikeout against Dave Stewart.
OK, we lied. There's more than one Bonds note. Bonds is now up to 57 intentional walks, 43 homers. So he's set a record for most homers in a season by a guy who had more intentional walks than home runs.
The only two previous men in history who hit 30 or more in a season and had more intentional walks than homers were Willie McCovey (40 INT BB, 39 HR) in 1970 and George Brett (31 INT BB, 30 HR) in 1985. McCovey did have a 45-45 season in 1969, the year he set the intentional-walk record Bonds has just obliterated.
All right, we lied again. Barry Bonds Note of the Week, Part 3: Bonds' box-score line Thursday tells you the story of his year: 0 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI, 5 BB. This was Bonds' first career five-walk game, believe it or not. But over the last two years alone, he has had seven four-walk games and 24 three-walk games. Meanwhile, Randall Simon hasn't even had a five-walk month since July 1999.
Has anybody noticed that Billy Koch seems to pitch every day? He's second in the league in appearances with 74, one behind J.C. Romero. To find a pitcher who led the AL in appearances while also serving as his team's primary closer, you have to go back to 1990, when Bobby Thigpen led with 77 appearances. And he got a save in 57 of them.
Florida's Kevin Millar isn't exactly known as the Ichiro Suzuki of the National League. But Millar does own two 18-game hitting streaks this year. Ichiro beat that last year with two 20-gamers. But Millar is only the fourth National League hitter since 1990 to have two streaks that long in the same season, according to Elias. You've heard of the other guys: Larry Walker (21 and 18) in 1999, Tony Gwynn (20 and 19) in 1997 and Dante Bichette (23 and 19) in 1995.
We're giving Millar extra credit, too, because he went on the disabled list in the middle of the first streak. So it lasted all the way from April 20 to June 7 (48 days)
It never ceases to amaze us that the Diamondbacks lead the National League in runs scored. They have nobody ranked among the league leaders in any major offensive category. And the East Valley Tribune's Ed Price reports that until Monday and Tuesday, they hadn't homered in back-to-back games since Aug. 22 and 23 -- or hit more than two homers in any home game since May 18.
One of our longtime readers, Dan Heisman, reports that Sammy Sosa just became the first player in history to average 50 homers over any eight-season span. The only player before this who'd even averaged 45 was somebody named Babe Ruth.
After Aaron Myette turned himself into a human trivia answer by starting games on back-to-back days last week, Retrosheet's Dave Smith sent us a list, researched by Michael Mavrogiannis, of all the pitchers who have done this in recent years. Here are the nine who have done it since division play began in 1969:
5/3-4/69: Tony Cloninger, Cincinnati (lost first, won second)
6/16-17/69: Dick Selma, Cubs (two no-decisions)
7/12-13/69: Luis Tiant, Cleveland (lost first, won second)
6/9-10/73: Eddie Fisher, White Sox (won first, lost second)
7/20-21/75: Claude Osteen, White Sox (no-decision in first, lost second)
9/6-7/75: Bill Travers, Milwaukee (lost first, won second)
7/8-9/78: Pete Broberg, Oakland (no-decision in first, loss in second)
4/14-15/80: Steve McCatty, Oakland (lost first, won second)
9/3-4/2002: Aaron Myette, Texas (no-decision in first, lost second)
And then there are the two guys who started both ends of a doubleheader:
5/26/71: Al Santorini, San Diego (faced one batter in Game 1, lost Game 2)
7/20/73: Wilbur Wood, CHI AL (lost both)
You'd have to think the Twins would want no parts of the A's in the playoffs. Before Mike Maroth and the Tigers showed up at the Metrodome on Monday, the Twins had gone 31 straight innings without scoring against left-handed starting pitchers at home. The perpetrators: Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, Kenny Rogers, Jarrod Washburn, Mark Buehrle and Jamie Moyer.
When Andy and Alan Benes pitched against each other last week in that Cubs-Cardinals series, it wasn't even the first time they'd opposed each other this year. (Andy beat Alan for Memphis, in Iowa, on July 3.) But this was their first duel in the big leagues (also won by Andy, 11-2).
It marked the 20th pitching matchup involving seven sets of brothers in big-league history. Here are all the previous meetings, courtesy of Retrosheet.org's Dave Smith:
Virgil and Jesse Barnes 5 times (1924-26)
Phil and Joe Niekro 9 times (1967-82)
Gaylord and Jim Perry 1 time (July 3, 1973)
Greg and Mike Maddux 2 times (1986-88)
Pat and Tom Underwood 1 time (May 31, 1979)
Ramon and Pedro Martinez 1 time (Aug. 29, 1996)
And the five most recent brother matchups, with box-score lines:
Aug. 29, 1996
Ramon Martinez (LA) 8 3 1 1 5 7 - WP
Pedro Martinez (Mont) 9 6 2 2 1 12 - LP
July 31, 1988
Greg Maddux (Cubs) 6 10 6 6 1 6 - LP
Mike Maddux (Phil) 7 6 3 2 1 4 - WP
(Offensive note: Both brothers singled off each other.)
Sept. 29, 1986
Greg Maddux (Cubs) 7 2/3 10 3 3 0 7 - WP
Mike Maddux (Phil) 3 6 3 3 1 1 - LP
Sept. 13, 1982
Joe Niekro (Hou) 9 10 3 2 1 3 - WP
Phil Niekro (Atl) 7 1/3 9 5 4 1 9 - LP
(Offensive note: Phil singled off Joe.)
May 11, 1980
Joe Niekro (Hou) 5 9 7 6 1 2 - LP
Phil Niekro (Atl) 9 7 4 4 6 3 - WP
(Offensive note: Joe doubled off Phil.)
And speaking of Madduxes, Greg's 4-0 win over the Expos last Saturday was the Braves' third straight shutout. And while it might seem as if they do that every month or so, Elias reports it actually was their first shutout trifecta since June 21-24, 1992 (wins by Mike Bielecki, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz), not to mention the first by any team since the 1996 A's (Aug. 28-30, with the wins coming from the long-lost trio of Don Wengert, Dave Telgheder and Willie Adams).
Finally, it's always great to see a furious two-headed pursuit of an all-time baseball record. It's just a little bizarre that the record being chased is: Most players used, one season, one team, American League.
Booth Newspapers' Danny Knobler reports that when the Tigers start Jason Beverlin on Sunday against Kansas City, he'll be their 56th different player of the season. That would tie the AL record, set in 1915 by Squiz Pillion's Philadelphia Athletics -- unless, that is, the Cleveland Indians tie or break that record first.
The Indians had used 54 players through Thursday -- but then called up four more Friday who haven't played for them yet (Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, Dave Maurer and Brian Tallet). Phillips played on Friday, making it 55.
There will be no more pivotal player in those record assaults than Beverlin -- because he will have played for both teams this year.
And both teams are chasing the all-time record for either league, set by ... the 2002 Padres, who have used 59 different players, including a remarkable 37 different pitchers (including infielder D'Angelo Jimenez).
The Sultan's Corner
Eric Munson hit a home run in Yankee Stadium last Saturday. The Sultan of Swat Stats, SABR's David Vincent, reports it was the first homer by a Munson at The Stadium since Oct. 6, 1978, when Thurman hit a memorable game-winning ALCS homer off the Royals' Doug Bird, in the famous game in which George Brett hit three home runs. Last regular-season homer by a Munson at The Stadium: Aug. 9, 1978.
The Mariners hit three home runs in the 11th inning last Sunday in Kansas City -- only the fourth time three or more homers had been hit in an 11th inning. The others, courtesy of the Sultan:
May 2, 1964, Twins (four - by Tony Oliva, Bob Allison, Rich Hall and Harmon Killebrew)
May 16, 1969, Pilots (three - by Tommy Harper, Wayne Comer and John Kennedy)
Aug. 7, 2001, Giants (three - by Barry Bonds, Andres Galarraga and Marvin Benard)
The Mariners' other big home run feat came the next night in Texas, when their first two hitters of the game (Ichiro Suzuki, Desi Relaford) homered -- and they still lost. Here, according to the Sultan, are the nine other times that has happened in the last decade:
June 12, 1993 -- A's (2) vs. Twins ( 7)
Rickey Henderson and Craig Paquette off Jim Deshaies
June 22, 1994 -- Braves (2) vs. Mets (5)
Roberto Kelly and Jeff Blauser off Pete Smith
April 16, 1996 -- Phillies (6) vs. Expos (7)
Lenny Dykstra and Mickey Morandini off Jose Paniagua
Sept. 9, 1996 -- Reds (2) vs. Dodgers (7)
Thomas Howard and Hal Morris off Ramon Martinez
May 7, 1999 -- Rangers (6) vs. Blue Jays (9)
Tom Goodwin and Mark McLemore off Pat Hentgen
May 16, 2000 -- A's (7) vs. Royals (8)
Terrence Long and Randy Velarde off Chad Durbin
July 4, 2000 -- White Sox (7) vs. Royals (10)
Ray Durham and Jose Valentin off Chad Durbin
June 6, 2001 -- Orioles (4) vs. Yankees (7)
Jerry Hairston and Mike Bordick off Ted Lilly
July 21, 2002 -- Indians (12) vs. Royals (13)
Chris Magruder and Omar Vizquel off Darrell May
And finally, our favorite home run note of the week: Phillies call-up Marlon Byrd hit the first homer of his career Wednesday -- against (who else?) the Marlins.
So the Sultan has determined it's the first time a player hit had his first career homer against a team whose name is pronounced and/or spelled like his name since Red Rolfe made his first trot against (yep) the Reds, on June 2, 1935.
Here are the other four men to do this, followed by the homers by active players against their team namesakes:
First career homers
Red Corriden against the Reds -- Sept. 20, 1910
Red Downs against the Reds -- Aug. 19, 1907
Red Owens against the Reds -- May 23, 1905
Socks Seybold against the White Sox -- June 24. 1901
Other active players
Phil Nevin (6 vs. Phils)
Tyler Houston (5 vs. Houston)
Jay Gibbons (5 vs. Blue Jays)
Ray Durham (4 vs. Devil Rays)
Jay Bell (3 vs. Blue Jays)
Marlon Anderson (2 vs. Marlins)
And the all-time record-holder in this name-game department, in case Marlon Byrd is interested in chasing him: Jay Buhner (19 vs. Jays).
Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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