MORE OF BASEBALL'S DUBIOUS HONORS
FEWEST STRIKEOUTS BY A PITCHER
That dubious honor goes to Ted Wingfield of the 1927 Boston Red Sox who, in 75 innings pitched, struck out exactly 1 batter. My research didn't uncover the identity of that unlucky hitter, or whether or not he was called out on strikes. I've seen more hitters strike out in Tee-ball! Mr. Wingfield won 1 and lost 7 for the season with an ERA of 5.06. Look at it another way: he faced 346 hitters and 345 either walked or put the ball in play. One needs to consider that, unlike today, most hitters of that era were contact hitters who didn't swing for the fences. Two seasons earlier, Mr. Wingfield had pitched 254 innings and struck out only 30. Among modern day pitchers, Dan Serafini of the 1999 Chicago Cubs struck out only 17 in 62 innings, while walking 32. As you can imagine, he didn't stick in the majors for long.
MOST WALKS ALLOWED BY PITCHER IN NO-HITTER
A no-hitter is a good thing, of course, but today's managers will remove a pitcher after 100-110 pitches even if he is working on one. On August 19, 1965, Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds pitched a 10-inning no-hitter against the hapless Chicago Cubs but walked 10 batters (and struck out 12). Maloney threw 187 pitches in the game. Actually, it was his second 10-inning no-hitter of the season. On June 19th, Maloney shut down the NY Mets for 10 innings but lost the game when John Lewis led off the 11th inning with a homer. Maloney struck out 18 batters in that game but walked only 3. He also pitched a one-hitter against the Braves on Opening Day.
LAST INFIELDER WITH A SUB .900 FIELDING AVERAGE FOR A FULL SEASON
Third baseman Butch Hobson of the Boston Red Sox made 43 errors and fielded .899 in 1978 in 133 games in the field. It wasn't his lack of experience--it was his third full season in the majors.
MOST ERRORS BY A TEAM IN A SEASON
The 1883 Philadelphia Phillies made 639 errors in only 99 games, an average of more than 6 per game. Keep in mind that fielders didn't wear gloves in those days. In modern times, with improved equipment, teams don't make a lot of errors. The last team to commit more than 200 errors in a season was the 1963 last place NY Mets with 208 in 162 games.
WORST HITTER
Ron Herbel, a pitcher with the San Francisco Giants, had the worst career batting average for all players with over 100 at bats--a pathetic .029 over his 8 year career. He began his career by going hitless in 55 at bats. After he got a hit, he went hitless another 53 times. Thus, he started his career 1 for 109. He collected a total of 6 hits in 206 at bats, including 2 doubles over his career. Herbel's other claim to fame was that on June 21, 1967, he served up a grand slam homer to third string catcher and notoriously weak hitter, Bob Uecker, now a radio and TV personality and the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers. Uecker frequently tells humerous stories about his lack of hitting prowess during his playing career. Herbel's dubious distinction was that he gave up the only grand slammer of Uecker's career.
Mr. Herbel made Bob Buhl look like a good hitter. Buhl, a good starting pitcher for the Milwaukee Braves and Chicago Cubs, won 166 games in his 14 year career. But in the 1962 season, mostly with the Cubs, Buhl went oh for 70, although he did have 7 sacrifice bunts, 1 sac fly and even stole one base. Over two seasons, Buhl eventually batted 88 times without a hit. He did get 76 hits in his career with a lifetime batting average of .089.
MOST GAMES BY A BATTER WITHOUT CROSSING HOME PLATE
The great pinch hitter, Smoky Burgess of the Chicago White Sox batted in 148 games between June 30, 1965 and June 23, 1967 without scoring a run, until he hit a home run. During that period, he batted a respectable .283 with an on-base percentage of .373. But than, the overweight Burgess was extremely slow and was always removed for a pinch runner. (see KENSUSKINREPORT June 1, 2008)
Among regular players, Mario Guerrero of the Oakland A's batted at least twice in 42 straight games without scoring a run. He batted 150 times between August 11, 1978 and April 30, 1979 without crossing the plate. In the 1978 season, Guerrero had 546 plate appearances and scored only 27 runs, although he batted a solid .275. Place the blame on the inept hitters who followed him in the batting order.
The baseball season is winding down, the Sox and Cubs aren't in danger of making the playoffs, so let's work on football.
KENNETH SUSKIN
9/28/09
That dubious honor goes to Ted Wingfield of the 1927 Boston Red Sox who, in 75 innings pitched, struck out exactly 1 batter. My research didn't uncover the identity of that unlucky hitter, or whether or not he was called out on strikes. I've seen more hitters strike out in Tee-ball! Mr. Wingfield won 1 and lost 7 for the season with an ERA of 5.06. Look at it another way: he faced 346 hitters and 345 either walked or put the ball in play. One needs to consider that, unlike today, most hitters of that era were contact hitters who didn't swing for the fences. Two seasons earlier, Mr. Wingfield had pitched 254 innings and struck out only 30. Among modern day pitchers, Dan Serafini of the 1999 Chicago Cubs struck out only 17 in 62 innings, while walking 32. As you can imagine, he didn't stick in the majors for long.
MOST WALKS ALLOWED BY PITCHER IN NO-HITTER
A no-hitter is a good thing, of course, but today's managers will remove a pitcher after 100-110 pitches even if he is working on one. On August 19, 1965, Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds pitched a 10-inning no-hitter against the hapless Chicago Cubs but walked 10 batters (and struck out 12). Maloney threw 187 pitches in the game. Actually, it was his second 10-inning no-hitter of the season. On June 19th, Maloney shut down the NY Mets for 10 innings but lost the game when John Lewis led off the 11th inning with a homer. Maloney struck out 18 batters in that game but walked only 3. He also pitched a one-hitter against the Braves on Opening Day.
LAST INFIELDER WITH A SUB .900 FIELDING AVERAGE FOR A FULL SEASON
Third baseman Butch Hobson of the Boston Red Sox made 43 errors and fielded .899 in 1978 in 133 games in the field. It wasn't his lack of experience--it was his third full season in the majors.
MOST ERRORS BY A TEAM IN A SEASON
The 1883 Philadelphia Phillies made 639 errors in only 99 games, an average of more than 6 per game. Keep in mind that fielders didn't wear gloves in those days. In modern times, with improved equipment, teams don't make a lot of errors. The last team to commit more than 200 errors in a season was the 1963 last place NY Mets with 208 in 162 games.
WORST HITTER
Ron Herbel, a pitcher with the San Francisco Giants, had the worst career batting average for all players with over 100 at bats--a pathetic .029 over his 8 year career. He began his career by going hitless in 55 at bats. After he got a hit, he went hitless another 53 times. Thus, he started his career 1 for 109. He collected a total of 6 hits in 206 at bats, including 2 doubles over his career. Herbel's other claim to fame was that on June 21, 1967, he served up a grand slam homer to third string catcher and notoriously weak hitter, Bob Uecker, now a radio and TV personality and the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers. Uecker frequently tells humerous stories about his lack of hitting prowess during his playing career. Herbel's dubious distinction was that he gave up the only grand slammer of Uecker's career.
Mr. Herbel made Bob Buhl look like a good hitter. Buhl, a good starting pitcher for the Milwaukee Braves and Chicago Cubs, won 166 games in his 14 year career. But in the 1962 season, mostly with the Cubs, Buhl went oh for 70, although he did have 7 sacrifice bunts, 1 sac fly and even stole one base. Over two seasons, Buhl eventually batted 88 times without a hit. He did get 76 hits in his career with a lifetime batting average of .089.
MOST GAMES BY A BATTER WITHOUT CROSSING HOME PLATE
The great pinch hitter, Smoky Burgess of the Chicago White Sox batted in 148 games between June 30, 1965 and June 23, 1967 without scoring a run, until he hit a home run. During that period, he batted a respectable .283 with an on-base percentage of .373. But than, the overweight Burgess was extremely slow and was always removed for a pinch runner. (see KENSUSKINREPORT June 1, 2008)
Among regular players, Mario Guerrero of the Oakland A's batted at least twice in 42 straight games without scoring a run. He batted 150 times between August 11, 1978 and April 30, 1979 without crossing the plate. In the 1978 season, Guerrero had 546 plate appearances and scored only 27 runs, although he batted a solid .275. Place the blame on the inept hitters who followed him in the batting order.
The baseball season is winding down, the Sox and Cubs aren't in danger of making the playoffs, so let's work on football.
KENNETH SUSKIN
9/28/09
Labels: BASEBALL
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