Saturday, September 28, 2019

Yet More Major League Baseball Trivia, Some About the Biggest Postseason Upsets

     The regular season of Major League Baseball is just about over, so I thought I'd do another article on some trivia about it.  I'll start with a list of the biggest upsets in the playoffs.  Note that these cover the period between 1903 and 2018, since the postseasons before that were only quasi-official.  Also, bear in mind that I determined this list based on the largest differences in winning percentages.  Since MLB teams played a 154 game schedule from 1903-1960, and a 162 game schedule from 1961 on, I thought this was the fairest way.  (You'll also note that because some games were rained out, and not always re-played, etc. that some teams occasionally play a game or two more or less than the 154 or 162 games in the regular season.)  Anyway, here we go.  These will go in inverse order, with the number #1 being the biggest upset, and so on.  There were also several ties:

10) 1990 World Series--Cincinnati Reds (91-71, .562 winning percentage) defeated the Oakland Athletics (103-59, .636), for a difference of .074.  And to the A's discredit, they didn't even win one game in the Series, losing 4-0.

9) 2011 National League Divisional Series--St. Louis Cardinals (90-72, .555 winning percentage), beat the Philadelphia Phillies (102-60, .630), for a difference of .075

8) (tie) 1987 American League Championship Series--Minnesota Twins (85-77, .525 winning percentage) over the Detroit Tigers (98-64, .605) for a difference of .080.

8) (tie) 2003 National League Divisional Series--Chicago Cubs (88-74, .543 winning percentage) beat the Atlanta Braves (101-61, .623), for a difference of .080.

5) (tie) 2006 National League Championship Series--St. Louis Cardinals (83-78, .516 winning percentage) beat the New York Mets (97-65. .599), for a difference of .083.

5) (tie) 2008 National League Divisional Series--the Los Angeles Dodgers (84-78, .519 winning percentage) defeated the Chicago Cubs (97-64, .602), for a difference of .083.

4) 1954 World Series--New York Giants (97-57, .630 winning percentage) beat the Cleveland Indians (111-43, .721), for a difference of .091.  This Series was also a sweep for the Giants.

3) 1973 National League Championship Series--New York Mets (82-79, .509 winning percentage) beat the Cincinnati Reds (99-63, .611), for a difference of .102.

2) 2001 American League Championship Series--New York Yankees (95-65 .594 winning percentage) over the Seattle Mariners (116-46, .716) for a difference of .122.  Granted, the Yankees had won the past 3 World Series at the time, and 4 of the last 5, so in that way it wasn't so surprising, but mathematically, it was the second biggest upset.

1) 1906 World Series--the Chicago White Sox (93-58, .616 winning percentage) defeated the Chicago Cubs (116-36, .763), for a difference of .147.  In case you're wondering, this Cubs team had the highest winning percentage in MLB history for the period we're discussing.  Also, that White Sox team was known as the "Hitless Wonders."

     So, as you can see, anything can happen in a short series, even more so when they're best of 5, or best of 1.

     Staying on the playoffs, obviously the named Most Valuable Players is almost always a member of the winning squad.  However, every so often, a player on the losing side is so spectacular that they're designated the MVP.  Here are the four times it's ever happened:

1) 1960 World Series, Bobby Richardson, second baseman, New York Yankees.  This was the incredible Series that lasted 7 games, and ended with Bill Mazeroski's dramatic walk-off home run.  However, Richardson was great, as he "slashed" (batting average/on base percentage/slugging average) .367/.387/.667, for an OPS of 1.054, with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, and 12 rbis.  Teammates Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford would have been justifiable choices, too.

2) 1982 American League Championship Series, Fred Lynn, center fielder, California Angels.  The Angels lost the five game series after leading 2-0, but Lynn wasn't the reason.  He slashed a marvelous .611/650/.889, for an OPS of 1.539, with 2 doubles, 1 home run, and 5 rbi.

3) 1986 National League Championship Series, Mike Scott, starting pitcher Houston Astros.  The Astros only won 2 games in this Series, both by Scott.  He pitched two complete games, with 1 being a shutout.  In 18 innings he only gave up 1 run, 8 hits, and 1 walk, for an ERA of .050, and a WHIP of .500, with 19 strikeouts.

4) 1987 National League Championship Series, Jeff Leonard, left fielder, San Francisco Giants.  Leonard slashed .417/.500/.917, for an OPS of 1.417, and hit 4 home runs, and drove in 5.  He also pissed off the Cardinals royally, with his slow, "Flaps Down" home run trots.  Additionally, Leonard had a great nickname, given his un-smiley demeanor--"Penitentiary Face."

   
     Moving on, I wanted to do a list of the guys who stole home in the playoffs.  However, that's tough to do.  Online research didn't provide this--even in 2019, some statistics aren't complete.  Therefore, I'm listing what I could find.  If any reader has more information, please let me know in a comment, and I'll update this.  I did find a stat that steals of home have been successful 19 out of 70 times, so I guess I'm missing 12.

Steals of home in a World Series.  (Note, most of these were parts of double steals, only Robinson's and maybe Cobb's were the more difficult, "straight" steals.)

1) 1906 World Series, George Davis, Chicago White Sox vs. Chicago Cubs, game 5.

2) 1909 World Series, Ty Cobb, Detroit Tigers vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, game 2.

3) 1955 World Series, Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodgers vs. New York Yankees, game 1.

4) 1964 World Series, Tim McCarver, St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Yankees, game 7.

5) 2002 World Series, Brad Fullmer, Anaheim Angels vs. San Francisco Giants, game 2.

     As for all playoffs, in the American League the last guy to steal home was Elvis Andrus of the of the Texas Rangers, in Game 2 of the ALCS in 2010.  In the National League, it was Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs, in Game 1 of the NLCS in 2016.


     Leaving the postseason, here's some trivia about one of the rarest plays in baseball, the triple play:

1) An unassisted triple play is incredibly rare, more so than even a pitcher's perfect game, as there have been 15 of the former, and 23 of the latter.  The last one was done by Eric Bruntlett of the Philadelphia Phillies, vs. the New York Mets on August 23, 2009.  He caught a line drive by Jeff Francoeur for out #1, then stepped on second base to get out#2 on Luis Castillo.  Then he tagged Daniel Murphy, who was running toward second base for out #3.  This was also only the second time that a triple play ended a game.  Finally, this rare, good play made up for two Bruntlett mistakes--he'd committed two errors to enable Castillo and Murphy to be on base.

2) Only one guy has hit into a triple play on his last at bat in his major league career--the New York Mets catcher Joe Pignatano, on September 30, 1962, vs. the Chicago Cubs.

3) The record for hitting into the most triple plays in a career is 4, by Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, who played for the Baltimore Orioles.


      The record for most hits in a game is 9, held by a wonderfully obscure player, Johnny Burnett.  Burnett played from 1927-35, and he accumulated a slash of .284/.345/.366, for an adjusted OPS of only 81 (100 is average).  However, on July 10, 1932 vs. the Philadelphia Athletics he got 9 hits in 11 at bats, in an 18 inning game.


 
     Another stat which isn't recorded that definitively is catcher's interference, wherein the catcher interferes with the batter, usually by hitting the bat with his glove during a swing attempt.  The batter is then awarded first base, unless he wants the result of the play instead.  Certain players seem to have a knack for getting this called, by waiting until the last minute before swinging.  Here's the list of the best at it in their entire careers, as far as I can determine:

1) 31 times, Jacoby Ellsbury.   And although he's missed the past 2 seasons with injuries, he may play some more, and add to this total.

2) 29, Pete Rose.

3) (tie) 18 Dale Berra.
3)  18 Julian Javier.

5) (tie) 17 Roberto Kelly.
5)  17 Carl Crawford.
5) 17 Andy Van Slyke.

     Milt May appears to hold the record for committing catcher's interference the most times in a career, with 15.

     Once again, this next record isn't entirely definitive, so I'll change this if I find out otherwise.  But, that said, evidently only 1 pitcher has picked off 3 base runners in one inning.  Tippy Martinez of the Baltimore Orioles took the mound on August 24, 1983, with a runner on first.  It was a weird situation--because the Orioles had used most of their players already, they had outfielders playing some of the infield positions, and utility infielder Lenn Sakata catching, something he'd never done before.  Therefore, the Blue Jays were aggressive with their leads, thinking Sakata wouldn't be able to throw them out on steal attempts.  However, Martinez promptly picked off the first runner, who was caught in a run down near second.  Then, a second batter reached first, and was again picked off by Martinez.  Then, a third Blue Jay did the same thing.  In the Orioles half of the inning, Sakata eventually won the game with a 3 run home run.


     I'll wrap this up with two types of more progressive trivia.  First, there's one woman who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, in 2006.  That was Effa Louise Manley, who was an executive with the Negro Leagues, serving as a co-owner, owner, and treasurer.  She was also a civil rights activist.

     Staying with the Negro Leagues, unlike the Major Leagues, they had 3 women who played.  It wasn't all altruistic and fair--the Negro Leagues in the 1950's were on the decline, and having women play was clearly at least in part a way to garner attention, and fans.  (And, depressingly, due to Jim Crow racist laws these players reportedly had to often stay in brothels instead of hotels on the road.)  But, by all accounts, the 3 women who did play were clearly talented.  Alas, the Negro Leagues, despite being a pro league, didn't keep very good records, so I can't just list their relevant statistics.  But I'll include what I did learn.

1)  Toni Stone, second base, with the Indianapolis Clowns and the Kansas City Monarchs, 1953-54.    One source said she batted .302 in her first season, the other .243.  Apparently she batted .197 overall, in 71 at bats.

2) Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, pitcher, Indianapolis Clowns, 1954-55.  The only stat I could find was that she had a won-loss record of 33-8.  Won-loss record is a weak way to determine pitching effectiveness, of course, but it does suggest that Johnson was pretty good, though.

3) Connie Morgan, second base, Indianapolis Clowns, 1954.  Supposedly batted .178 in 45 at bats.



     That's it.  Enjoy the postseason--maybe something unique, and incredible, will happen this year!





















































   





















































































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