MORE OBSCURE BASEBALL RECORDS
Here are a few records that you probably didn't realize they kept.
MOST FOUL BALLS HIT BY ONE BATTER
The Hall of Fame shortstop of the Chicago White Sox, Luke Appling was famous for his ability to foul off pitches, which drove opposing pitchers crazy. On September 19, 1940, a hot humid day at old Comiskey Park in chicago, Appling came to the plate with 2 runners on base, facing the NY Yankees star pitcher, Hall of Famer Red Ruffing. Appling fouled off the first 4 pitches, took ball 1, fouled off 6 more pitches and took ball 2. With the count even at 2-2, he then fouled off 14 more pitches and took balls 3 and 4 for a walk. As Ralph Berger described it in the Baseball Biography Project, "the profusely sweating Ruffing finally walked Appling and gave up a grand-slam homer to the next batter. Ruffing was in a cool shower immediately after." Appling said, "he cussed me all the way to the dugout." On another occasion during the same season, Appling fouled off 15 pitches against the fireballing Bob Feller (also a Hall of Famer) of the Cleveland Indians.
FEWEST PITCHES IN 9 INNING GAME--APPLING WOULD HAVE USED HALF OF THEM
Righthander Red Barrett of the old Boston Braves pitched a 2-hit shutout on August 10,1944 against the Cincinnati Reds, winning 2-0. He threw only 58 pitches, walking nobody and striking out nobody. He didn't fall vbehind in the count on any batter. His fielders were up to the task. He induced 13 ground ball outs, 5 fly balls, 7 pop-ups (4 were foul) and 2 line drive outs. He finished the game in 1 hour and 15 minutes. Since the game was not televised, there were no commercials to hold up the game.
MOST RUNNERS LEFT ON BASE IN 9 INNING SHUTOUT
Sixteen. This happened twice in recent years. On May 7, 1998, Toronto's Roger Clemens blanked the Seattle Mariners 6-0. The Mariners collected 11 hits, 3 walks and 2 hit batsmen, but couldn't deliver the timely hit. On May 24, 1994, the Philadelphia Phillies, using 4 pitchers, blanked St. Louis 4-0, allowing 9 hits and 8walks.
MOST INTENTIONAL WALKS IN A CAREER TO A PITCHER
This pre-dated the designated hitter rule in the American League, but former Chicago White Sox pitcher Gary Peters received 3 intentional walks in his career. Peters, a fine pitcher and a career .222 hitter was a dangerous pinch hitter who won several games with late inning homers.
FEWEST WILD PITCHES IN CAREER
The Kansas City Royals ace relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry had only 4 wild pitches in his 12 year career, spanning 674 games and 1043 innings. He usually pitched in crucial game saving situations where a wild pitch could be the difference between winning and losing. A significant share of the credit should go to his catcher.
Despite his unorthodox submarine balling delivery, Quisenberry had great control. He gave up only 92 un-intentional walks in his career which ranks him 20th all-time in bases on balls per 9 innings.
Incidentally, the most wild pitches, by contrast were thrown by the great Nolan Ryan 277 times in his 25 year career.
The record for fewest wild pitches in a season is held by an old timer, Joe McGinnity of the NY giants in 1906 with zero in 340 innings pitched. The most wild pitches in a season were thrown by Juan Guzman of the Toronto Blue Jays with 26 in the 1993 season.
MOST TIMES CAUGHT STEALING IN ONE GAME
You'd think he would have given up by the 4th attempt, but the apparently slow footed Robbie Thompson of the San Francisco Giants was thrown out stealing 4 times in a 12 inning game on June 27, 1986. Actually, there's a story behind this record. Despite his ineptness on the bases, the Giants won the game over Cincinnati 7-6, and Thompson was instrumental in the win. He collected 3 hits, drove in 2 runs and threw out a baserunner at third base in the 9th inning to save the game. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the first three times he was thrown out by Reds' catcher Bo Diaz when the next batter, the slumping Jeff Leonard missed the hit-and-run signal. Maybe Manager Roger Craig deserves some share of the blame. Was he giving the signs in a foreign language?
In the 11th inning, Thompson reached base when he struck out on a wild pitch. The pitcher, John Franco then picked him off first base and he raced to second where he was easily thrown out, setting a record which he is not exactly proud of.
FEWEST DOUBLES IN FULL SEASON--150 OR MORE GAMES
The weak hitting St. Louis Cards' shortstop Dal Maxvill hit only 5 doubles in 1970 while compiling a .201 batting average. Maxvill didn't scare many pitchers in his 14year major league career, with a lifetime batting average of .217. He kept his job, not because he was related to anyone in the front office, but because of his slick fielding. Playing a key position like shortstop, it's more important that he can catch the ball. Maxvill played in 3 World Series, and in postseason play 5 times while underwhelming opposing pitchers at a .114 clip.
MOST TIMES GROUNDED INTO DOUBLE PLAYS IN CAREER
Last time we noted that Baltimore Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson hit into 4 triple plays in his career. His teammate Cal Ripken grounded into 350 double plays in his career. Those two Hall of Famers killed off a lot of rallies in their careers. Despite that, the Orioles managed to win a couple of championships in that time. That National League record is held by home run king Hank Aaron with 305 double plays.
ONLY RIGHT HANDED HITTER TO GROUND INTO NO DOUBLE PLAYS IN SEASON
Craig Biggio of the Houston Astros played more than 150 games in 1997 and must have put the ball into the air when hitting with men on base. He did collect more than 3,000 hits in a long illustrious career. His other claim to fame is that he was hit by more pitches than any other player in MLB history.
BATTER WITH MOST CONSECUTIVE STRIKEOUTS
We can forgive this one because pitchers aren't supposed to hit well. The legendary Sandy Koufax, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955, struck out 12 times in a row. He got his revenge for that later in his career by striking out 8 Chicago Cubs in a row while pitching a perfect game. (Interestingly, in that game, the Cubs' Bob Hendley pitched a 1-hitter and lost 1-0. The hit did not figure in the scoring.) Getting back to Mr. Koufax, he was the best pitcher in baseball for several years in the 1960's and set the single season strikeout record, which has since been broken.
I hope you've had enough.
KENNETH SUSKIN
MOST FOUL BALLS HIT BY ONE BATTER
The Hall of Fame shortstop of the Chicago White Sox, Luke Appling was famous for his ability to foul off pitches, which drove opposing pitchers crazy. On September 19, 1940, a hot humid day at old Comiskey Park in chicago, Appling came to the plate with 2 runners on base, facing the NY Yankees star pitcher, Hall of Famer Red Ruffing. Appling fouled off the first 4 pitches, took ball 1, fouled off 6 more pitches and took ball 2. With the count even at 2-2, he then fouled off 14 more pitches and took balls 3 and 4 for a walk. As Ralph Berger described it in the Baseball Biography Project, "the profusely sweating Ruffing finally walked Appling and gave up a grand-slam homer to the next batter. Ruffing was in a cool shower immediately after." Appling said, "he cussed me all the way to the dugout." On another occasion during the same season, Appling fouled off 15 pitches against the fireballing Bob Feller (also a Hall of Famer) of the Cleveland Indians.
FEWEST PITCHES IN 9 INNING GAME--APPLING WOULD HAVE USED HALF OF THEM
Righthander Red Barrett of the old Boston Braves pitched a 2-hit shutout on August 10,1944 against the Cincinnati Reds, winning 2-0. He threw only 58 pitches, walking nobody and striking out nobody. He didn't fall vbehind in the count on any batter. His fielders were up to the task. He induced 13 ground ball outs, 5 fly balls, 7 pop-ups (4 were foul) and 2 line drive outs. He finished the game in 1 hour and 15 minutes. Since the game was not televised, there were no commercials to hold up the game.
MOST RUNNERS LEFT ON BASE IN 9 INNING SHUTOUT
Sixteen. This happened twice in recent years. On May 7, 1998, Toronto's Roger Clemens blanked the Seattle Mariners 6-0. The Mariners collected 11 hits, 3 walks and 2 hit batsmen, but couldn't deliver the timely hit. On May 24, 1994, the Philadelphia Phillies, using 4 pitchers, blanked St. Louis 4-0, allowing 9 hits and 8walks.
MOST INTENTIONAL WALKS IN A CAREER TO A PITCHER
This pre-dated the designated hitter rule in the American League, but former Chicago White Sox pitcher Gary Peters received 3 intentional walks in his career. Peters, a fine pitcher and a career .222 hitter was a dangerous pinch hitter who won several games with late inning homers.
FEWEST WILD PITCHES IN CAREER
The Kansas City Royals ace relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry had only 4 wild pitches in his 12 year career, spanning 674 games and 1043 innings. He usually pitched in crucial game saving situations where a wild pitch could be the difference between winning and losing. A significant share of the credit should go to his catcher.
Despite his unorthodox submarine balling delivery, Quisenberry had great control. He gave up only 92 un-intentional walks in his career which ranks him 20th all-time in bases on balls per 9 innings.
Incidentally, the most wild pitches, by contrast were thrown by the great Nolan Ryan 277 times in his 25 year career.
The record for fewest wild pitches in a season is held by an old timer, Joe McGinnity of the NY giants in 1906 with zero in 340 innings pitched. The most wild pitches in a season were thrown by Juan Guzman of the Toronto Blue Jays with 26 in the 1993 season.
MOST TIMES CAUGHT STEALING IN ONE GAME
You'd think he would have given up by the 4th attempt, but the apparently slow footed Robbie Thompson of the San Francisco Giants was thrown out stealing 4 times in a 12 inning game on June 27, 1986. Actually, there's a story behind this record. Despite his ineptness on the bases, the Giants won the game over Cincinnati 7-6, and Thompson was instrumental in the win. He collected 3 hits, drove in 2 runs and threw out a baserunner at third base in the 9th inning to save the game. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the first three times he was thrown out by Reds' catcher Bo Diaz when the next batter, the slumping Jeff Leonard missed the hit-and-run signal. Maybe Manager Roger Craig deserves some share of the blame. Was he giving the signs in a foreign language?
In the 11th inning, Thompson reached base when he struck out on a wild pitch. The pitcher, John Franco then picked him off first base and he raced to second where he was easily thrown out, setting a record which he is not exactly proud of.
FEWEST DOUBLES IN FULL SEASON--150 OR MORE GAMES
The weak hitting St. Louis Cards' shortstop Dal Maxvill hit only 5 doubles in 1970 while compiling a .201 batting average. Maxvill didn't scare many pitchers in his 14year major league career, with a lifetime batting average of .217. He kept his job, not because he was related to anyone in the front office, but because of his slick fielding. Playing a key position like shortstop, it's more important that he can catch the ball. Maxvill played in 3 World Series, and in postseason play 5 times while underwhelming opposing pitchers at a .114 clip.
MOST TIMES GROUNDED INTO DOUBLE PLAYS IN CAREER
Last time we noted that Baltimore Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson hit into 4 triple plays in his career. His teammate Cal Ripken grounded into 350 double plays in his career. Those two Hall of Famers killed off a lot of rallies in their careers. Despite that, the Orioles managed to win a couple of championships in that time. That National League record is held by home run king Hank Aaron with 305 double plays.
ONLY RIGHT HANDED HITTER TO GROUND INTO NO DOUBLE PLAYS IN SEASON
Craig Biggio of the Houston Astros played more than 150 games in 1997 and must have put the ball into the air when hitting with men on base. He did collect more than 3,000 hits in a long illustrious career. His other claim to fame is that he was hit by more pitches than any other player in MLB history.
BATTER WITH MOST CONSECUTIVE STRIKEOUTS
We can forgive this one because pitchers aren't supposed to hit well. The legendary Sandy Koufax, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955, struck out 12 times in a row. He got his revenge for that later in his career by striking out 8 Chicago Cubs in a row while pitching a perfect game. (Interestingly, in that game, the Cubs' Bob Hendley pitched a 1-hitter and lost 1-0. The hit did not figure in the scoring.) Getting back to Mr. Koufax, he was the best pitcher in baseball for several years in the 1960's and set the single season strikeout record, which has since been broken.
I hope you've had enough.
KENNETH SUSKIN
Labels: BASEBALL
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