Saturday, April 1, 2017

Unique or at Least Rare Major League Baseball Feats and Records

     The baseball season is nearly upon us, so today I thought I'd discuss some unusual happenings in its history.  And good luck to my Phillies in the upcoming season.  Assuming that their young players progress nicely, and that they don't have too many injuries, I think they could possibly win 75-81 games this year.  (I'm realistic.) (Update--they actually went 66-96, good for 5th place (last) in their division. Plus, only 2 teams in all of Major League Baseball (the Detroit Tigers and the San Francisco Giants) won fewer games in 2017.)  As usual, I'll use some statistical shorthand here and there.  A three part "slash," such as .250/.320/.430 indicates, respectively, batting average/on base percentage/slugging average.  And for position players, a number followed by a plus sign, like 100+ indicates OPS adjusted, or on base plus slugging average, adjusted for time period, stadium, etc., with 100 being average, and above that good, etc.  Positions are abbreviated 1B for first baseman, SS for shortstop, OF for outfielder, P for pitcher, etc.  Let's get to it.

   Sometimes, baseball is a family affair, with brothers, or fathers and sons all having time in the majors.  Here are MLB's 3 generation families:

1) OF Gus Bell (1950-64) sired 3B/OF Buddy Bell (1972-89), who then fathered 3B/PH Mike Bell (2000), and 2B/3B David Bell (1995-2006).

2) 3B/SS/1B Ray Boone (1948-60) fathered C Bob Boone (1972-90), who in turn produced 2B Bret Boone (1992-2005), and 3B/1B Aaron Boone (1997-2009).

3) Then there's the pitching Colemans, with Joe (1942-55), Joe, Jr. (1965-79), and then Casey (2010-14).

4) PH/C Sam Hairston (1951) produced PH/OF/1B Jerry (1973-89), who then sired 2B/OF/3B Jerry, Jr. (1998-2013), and OF/PH/2B Scott (2004-14).

5) SS/2B/3B Dick Schofield (1953-71) produced SS Dick (1983-96), who in turn was the uncle to OF Jayson Werth (2002-present), who's stepdad was 1B/OF/C Dennis Werth (1979-82).

    Sometimes, fathers and sons even played on the same team.  For example, Hall of Fame OF Tim Raines played with his son, Tim, Jr., also an OF, with the Baltimore Orioles in 2001.  OF/1B Ken Griffey (1973-91) played with Hall of Fame OF Ken, Jr. (1989-2010) on the Seattle Mariners together in 1990.  They even hit home runs back to back on Sept. 14, 1990.

     Moving to umpires, Hall of Famer Ed Runge, his son Paul, and his son Brian, all umpired in the Majors.

     On Sept. 15, 1963, the San Francisco Giants had an all-Alou outfield, with Felipe, Matty, and Jesus all playing at the same time.

     Incredibly, 5 brothers from one family all played in the Majors.  Most notably, Hall of Fame OF/1B/2B Ed Delahanty, along with 2B/3B/OF Jim, 3B/2B/SS Tom, OF Frank, and OF/2B Joe, in the late 1890's, early 1900's.  Next up is the O'Neill family, who sent brothers Steve (catcher and manager), C Jack, SS/2B/3B Jim, and P/OF Mike to the Majors in the early 1900's again.  To be fair, if it wasn't for MLB's shameful race barrier from the late 1800's to 1947, the Bankheads might have had 5 major leaguers, too.  Pitcher Dan did make the Majors in 1947, while his brothers Sam (INF/OF), Fred (INF), Joe (P), and Garnett (No positional information) all played in the Negro Leagues.

     Obviously, the most exciting way for a game to end is on a walk-off play, when the home team wins instantly in the last inning.  It's happened eleven times in the final game of a World Series.  Winning teams listed first.

1912 Boston Red Sox vs. New York Giants, Game 8 (Game 2 called for darkness).  Larry Gardner's sacrifice fly wins the championship in the 10th inning, 3-2.

1924 Washington Senators vs. New York Giants, Game 7.  Earl McNeely's double (some sources claim it was a single) knocks in the winning run in the 12th inning, 4-3.

1927 New York Yankees vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, Game 4.  Pittsburgh hurler Johnny Miljus's wild pitch allows Yankee Earle Combs to score the winning run in the 9th inning, 4-3.

1929 Philadelphia Athletics vs. Chicago Cubs, Game 5.  Bing Miller's double in the 9th inning wins the Series, 3-2.

1935 Detroit Tigers vs. Chicago Cubs, Game 6.  A single by Goose Goslin plates the winning run in the 9th inning, 4-3.

1953 New York Yankees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers, Game 6.  Billy Martin's single knocks in the winning run in the 9th inning, 4-3.

1960 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. New York Yankees, Game 7.  Bill Mazeroski hits the first walk off, Series-winning home run in the 9th inning, Pirates winning 10-9.

1991 Minnesota Twins vs. Atlanta Braves, Game 7.  Gene Larkin's single over a pulled in outfield wins the game 1-0, in the 9th inning for the Twins.

1993 Toronto Blue Jays vs. Philadelphia Phillies, Game 6.  Joe Carter's home run in the 9th inning wins the Series for the Jays, 8-6.

1997 Florida Marlins vs. Cleveland Indians, Game 7.  Edgar Renteria's single scores the winning run in the 9th inning, 3-2.

2001 Arizona Diamondbacks vs. New York Yankees, Game 7.  Luis Gonzalez singles in the winning run in the 9th inning, 3-2.

     Two players have hit a grand slam home run on the first pitch they saw in the majors--Kevin Kouzmanoff did it for the Cleveland Indians on Sept. 2, 2006, and Daniel Nava did it for the Boston Red Sox on June 12, 2010.

     The record for the most total bases in one game is 19, set by Los Angeles Dodger Shawn Green on May 23, 2002.  He hit 4 home runs (tied for the all time record), 1 double, and a single.

     The record for most rbi in one game is 12, held by two St. Louis Cardinals players.  Hall of Fame 1B Jim Bottomley got his on Sept. 16, 1924, while OF Mark Whiten did it on Sept. 7, 1993.

     Probably the ultimate sign of respect is when a batter is intentionally walked with the bases loaded, since that guarantees that one run will score.  It's been done 6 times:

1) Abner Dalrymple of the Chicago Cubs, on August 2, 1881.

2) Nap Lajoie of the Philadelpia Athletics, on May 23, 1901.  (He won the Triple Crown that year, leading the league in batting average, home runs, and rbi.)

3) Del Bissonette of the Brooklyn Dodgers, on May 2, 1928.  (I'd never heard of Bissonette, but he hit .320/.396/.543 that year, so it makes sense.)

4) Bill Nicholson of the Chicago Cubs, on July 23, 1944, second game of doubleheader.  (Nicholson had already hit 4 home runs total that day, over the two games, so this is very understandable.)

5) Barry Bonds of San Francisco Giants, on May 28, 1998.  (All time home run leader Bonds was obviously an incredibly dangerous hitter, a sure fire Hall of Famer if he hadn't done PED's.)

6) Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers, on Aug. 17, 2008.
         (One source claimed this was done to Mel Ott, too, but I couldn't confirm it.)

     Toby Harrah did something no other shortstop ever did before, or since, on June 25, 1976.  He played an entire doubleheader while having no defensive chances.

     On August 4, 1982, Joel Youngblood became the only man to get hits for two different teams, in two different cities, on the same day.  He got the first as a New York Met in a day game in Chicago.  Then, he was traded after the game to the Montreal Expos.  He flew to Philadelphia in time to play in their night game vs. the Phillies, and got his second hit.

     Consider poor Larry Yount. On Sept. 15, 1971, while playing for the Houston Astros, he was announced as the next pitcher late in the game.  This was his debut in the majors.  However, he injured himself while making his warm up throws, and had to leave the game without throwing a single pitch.  So by league rules he's credited with appearing in one game, since he was officially announced, but he's the only guy to never actually participate in any game action!  And alas, while he healed up and pitched in the minors afterwards, he never was called up to the majors again.  He's also the older brother of Hall of Fame SS/OF Robin Yount.

     The most batters faced by a pitcher without getting a single out in a career in held by Elmer "Doc" Hamann, with the Cleveland Indians on Sept. 21, 1922 vs. the Boston Red Sox.  He faced 7 batters and gave up 3 hits, walked 3, hit 1 batter, and threw a wild pitch for good measure, giving up 6 runs.

     On a similar note, the highest lifetime ERA for a pitcher (excluding men like Hamann, who's ERA is infinity because he didn't record an out), is 189.00, set by Joe Cleary of the Washington Senators on August 4, 1945.  He gave up 5 hits, 3 walks, 1 wild pitch, and 7 earned runs in one third of an inning.  (He's also the last Ireland-born major leaguer.)  He was relieved by Bert Shepard, in his only major league appearance, who pitched 5 and a third innings, and gave up only 3 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run.  Shepard's unique because due to a war injury he only had one leg!

     The record for most lifetime at bats without a hit, pitchers excluded, is 23, held by 2 players.  Larry Littleton, with the 1981 Cleveland Indians, and Mike Potter, with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1976-77.  Potter did walk once, and Littleton 3 times.

     Continuing with negative individual records, only one guy ever made 4 errors on one play--Mike Grady, with the 1899 New York Giants (couldn't find the exact date, or much detail.)  Reportedly, while playing third be first booted a ground ball for error #1.  Then he threw the ball over the first baseman's head for error #2.  The right fielder then threw the ball to Grady to catch the baserunner near third.  Grady dropped the ball for error #3.  Then, as the runner broke for home, Grady threw the ball over the catcher's head, into the stands, for error #4!  Although he was terrible on this play, Grady was a good player overall, in his career from 1894-1906.  He finished at .294/.374/.425, with an adjusted OPS of 126.  He also helped save a family from a fire about a year later.

     The all time worst choke by a team leading with 2 outs in the 9th inning, and no baserunners, was the Washington Senators vs. the Cleveland Blues (later Indians) on May 23, 1901.  Pitcher Casey Patten had a 13-5 lead, and opened the 9th by getting the first two outs.  Then, he, and a reliever, proceeded to give up 6 singles, 2 doubles, 1 walk, a hit batsman, and a passed ball, total, as well as 9 runs, to lose 14-13!

     Outfielder Rick Bosetti had an obscure career from 1976-82, with the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Oakland Athletics, finishing with a line of .250/.288/.338, and an OPS+ of 72.  However, in 1979 he told the press of his, shall we say, unorthodox accomplishments.  He claimed to have urinated on the grass of every ball park in the league.  In interviews he said this was done before the games, while the stands were empty, but others claimed he sometimes did it during the games, during pitching changes, just to prove that he could do it without being caught (supposedly he stood up against the outfield wall, covered himself with his glove, and went).  Assuming the rumors were true, he certainly risked being arrested for public urination/indecent exposure in one of the more dramatic, weirdest ways possible!

     Enjoy the season.  Thanks to www.baseball-reference.com, several blogs, and "The Baseball Hall of Shame" book series ( by Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo).































































































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