Baseball, Baseball, Baseball -- what else?
With baseball well into its season, it is time to offer up some interesting numbers. Yes, most of them relate to my Detroit Tigers; but if you aren't a Detroit fan read on, you will find some fun facts at the bottom of the blog.
I can hear my friends saying, "OK, Dan, your Tigers have won seven-straight and now you jump back on their wagon." OK, I get that. I know you will point to a whiny post (two weeks ago) that I made recently on Facebook about my Detroit Tigers. But as I have previously admitted, I am self-deprecating about my teams to a fault. Sorry, truth hurts. Yet, I will stay with the Tigs through my own definition of "thick and thin," even as I cast an occasional glass half-empty comment.
Somehow, I have a feeling that my Twins friends must be voicing their own derogatory statements after losing their 14th game in the last 17 outings including eight straight (Tigers also have a seven-game losing spin this season). That is a tough streak for the team picked my many baseball prognasticators to win the Central.
With that context, let's return to numbers about the "Motor City Kiddies," using information delineated from Tigers.com and the Detroit Free Press.
After going 12-17 in the first 29 games, Detroit has rebounded with 10 wins in 11 starts. It is the best streak since April and May of 2007 when the Tigers won 11 of 12.
If Detroit defeats Toronto at home on Monday, they will have their longest winning streak in a generation. They are sending Max Scherzer (6-0) to the mound for his seventh straight win to open the season. They haven't won eight in a row since 1984 when they won nine games in a row -- at the start and end of a 35-5 run. If you remember, the 1984 Tigers defeated San Diego, 4-1, to win its fourth World Series title (1935, 1945, 1968, 1984). Detroit, which was one of eight charter members of the American League, last won a pennant in 2006, one of 10 they have won since being established in 1894 as part of the old Western League.
This recent success has been built in part due to its success at home in Comerica Park. Detroit, which is 11-7 in 2011, has compiled a 113-66 mark since 2009, which is the second-best mark in the American League during that span.
Credit Detroit's pitching and hitting for the swing in fortunes. Over the last 11 games when Detroit is 10-1 they have a 1.67 ERA. The Tigers' pitching staff has a 2.69 ERA in its last 13 home games. They rank among the league's best with 18 wins and 26 quality starts and have a 15-8 mark and 2.85 ERA among starters in their past 30 games. Detroit leads the league with six shutouts and is tied for third in saves with 10 and strikeouts with 280.
After 40 games, Detroit is tied with Kansas City for A.L. lead with 187 runs scored (numbers taken before the start of play on Sunday). They are also fourth in walks with 142, fifth in hitting at .257 and second in hits with 350 (L.A. Angels, 384). The Tigers are the only team in the majors with an extra base hit in all of its games (40) and it is their longest streak since 1986 when they had a 51-game span.
Shortstop Jhonny Peralta, who is hitting .411 during a 11-game hitting streak, recorded his 1,000 career hit in a 3-0 win against Kansas City on Saturday. Peralta, now hitting .307, received a standing ovation from the Comerica faithful, even if it was just his 94th hit as a Detroit Tiger.
It is noteworthy to mention that Detroit is 10-1 since Scott Sizemore took over second base duties. However most would point to the return of catcher/DH Victor Martinez as one of the keys to the surge. Detroit is 9-1 since he returned to the starting lineup. Martinez has a 13-game hitting streak in which he has hit .468 with two home runs and 15 RBIs.
This and That...
No-hit stuff -- The current Baseball Digest provides a list of the 11 World Series winning teams that were victims of in-season no-hitters the following season. Of that group, the L.A. Dodgers were the last one when Tom Browning of Cincinnati stopped them on Sept. 16, 1988. Of the returning champions held without a hit, it is interesting that the Chicago White Sox were victimized twice in 1917; both by St. Louis Brown pitchers on consecutive days in May (5,6 by Ernie Koob and Bob Groom). It is the only time that one team that won the World Series were no-hit twice in the following season.
On MVPs: Lefty Groves of the Philadelphia A's was the first MVP of the American League while Frankie Frisch of the St. Louis Cardinals won it first in the NL, both in 1931. The Yankees have the most MVPs in history with 20 followed by St. Louis with 17 and then the San Francisco/New York Giants and Cincinnati Reds have 12 MVPs. They are followed by Philadelphia/Oakland A's with 11, Red Sox and Dodgers with 10 and then the Tigers at eight. Barry Bonds won the most MVPs with seven while nine others had three MVPs (Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Yogi Betta, Roy Campanella, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriquez and Albert Pujols). Amazingly Willie Mays, who I consider the game's greatest player, had just two MVP seasons. Bonds of San Francisco was the oldest MVP when he won it at age 40 in 2004 while Vida Blue of Oakland was the youngest at age 22 in 1971.
Shutouts by losing pitcher: Baseball Digest provided an interest factoid about pitchers with shutouts. Three pitchers are tied with record for most shutouts by a losing pitcher. All of them had eight shutouts, including Christy Mathewson of the Giants, who was 14-17 in 1902 with a 2.11 ERA. In 1906 Rube Waddell of the A's was 15-17 with a 2.21 ERA. Then, there was Camilio Pascual of the Twins, who was 15-16 with a 3.46 ERA in 1962.
Rookies in Hall of Fame: Once again supplied by Baseball Digest, we find that 14 players who were Rookie of the Year were later Hall of Fame inductees. The list includes Jackie Robinson (1947), Willie Mays (1951), Frank Robinson (1956), Rod Carew (1967), and Cal Ripken, Jr. (1982), among others.
Obscure? I'd say yes: In its article, "Obscure but not Forgotten," Baseball Digest noted that Joe Sewell had 115 straight games without striking out with Cleveland in 1929. More recently, George Brett of Kansas City had six straight three-hit games in 1976 when he hit .692 during that span.
I can hear my friends saying, "OK, Dan, your Tigers have won seven-straight and now you jump back on their wagon." OK, I get that. I know you will point to a whiny post (two weeks ago) that I made recently on Facebook about my Detroit Tigers. But as I have previously admitted, I am self-deprecating about my teams to a fault. Sorry, truth hurts. Yet, I will stay with the Tigs through my own definition of "thick and thin," even as I cast an occasional glass half-empty comment.
Somehow, I have a feeling that my Twins friends must be voicing their own derogatory statements after losing their 14th game in the last 17 outings including eight straight (Tigers also have a seven-game losing spin this season). That is a tough streak for the team picked my many baseball prognasticators to win the Central.
With that context, let's return to numbers about the "Motor City Kiddies," using information delineated from Tigers.com and the Detroit Free Press.
After going 12-17 in the first 29 games, Detroit has rebounded with 10 wins in 11 starts. It is the best streak since April and May of 2007 when the Tigers won 11 of 12.
If Detroit defeats Toronto at home on Monday, they will have their longest winning streak in a generation. They are sending Max Scherzer (6-0) to the mound for his seventh straight win to open the season. They haven't won eight in a row since 1984 when they won nine games in a row -- at the start and end of a 35-5 run. If you remember, the 1984 Tigers defeated San Diego, 4-1, to win its fourth World Series title (1935, 1945, 1968, 1984). Detroit, which was one of eight charter members of the American League, last won a pennant in 2006, one of 10 they have won since being established in 1894 as part of the old Western League.
This recent success has been built in part due to its success at home in Comerica Park. Detroit, which is 11-7 in 2011, has compiled a 113-66 mark since 2009, which is the second-best mark in the American League during that span.
Credit Detroit's pitching and hitting for the swing in fortunes. Over the last 11 games when Detroit is 10-1 they have a 1.67 ERA. The Tigers' pitching staff has a 2.69 ERA in its last 13 home games. They rank among the league's best with 18 wins and 26 quality starts and have a 15-8 mark and 2.85 ERA among starters in their past 30 games. Detroit leads the league with six shutouts and is tied for third in saves with 10 and strikeouts with 280.
After 40 games, Detroit is tied with Kansas City for A.L. lead with 187 runs scored (numbers taken before the start of play on Sunday). They are also fourth in walks with 142, fifth in hitting at .257 and second in hits with 350 (L.A. Angels, 384). The Tigers are the only team in the majors with an extra base hit in all of its games (40) and it is their longest streak since 1986 when they had a 51-game span.
Shortstop Jhonny Peralta, who is hitting .411 during a 11-game hitting streak, recorded his 1,000 career hit in a 3-0 win against Kansas City on Saturday. Peralta, now hitting .307, received a standing ovation from the Comerica faithful, even if it was just his 94th hit as a Detroit Tiger.
It is noteworthy to mention that Detroit is 10-1 since Scott Sizemore took over second base duties. However most would point to the return of catcher/DH Victor Martinez as one of the keys to the surge. Detroit is 9-1 since he returned to the starting lineup. Martinez has a 13-game hitting streak in which he has hit .468 with two home runs and 15 RBIs.
This and That...
No-hit stuff -- The current Baseball Digest provides a list of the 11 World Series winning teams that were victims of in-season no-hitters the following season. Of that group, the L.A. Dodgers were the last one when Tom Browning of Cincinnati stopped them on Sept. 16, 1988. Of the returning champions held without a hit, it is interesting that the Chicago White Sox were victimized twice in 1917; both by St. Louis Brown pitchers on consecutive days in May (5,6 by Ernie Koob and Bob Groom). It is the only time that one team that won the World Series were no-hit twice in the following season.
On MVPs: Lefty Groves of the Philadelphia A's was the first MVP of the American League while Frankie Frisch of the St. Louis Cardinals won it first in the NL, both in 1931. The Yankees have the most MVPs in history with 20 followed by St. Louis with 17 and then the San Francisco/New York Giants and Cincinnati Reds have 12 MVPs. They are followed by Philadelphia/Oakland A's with 11, Red Sox and Dodgers with 10 and then the Tigers at eight. Barry Bonds won the most MVPs with seven while nine others had three MVPs (Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Yogi Betta, Roy Campanella, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriquez and Albert Pujols). Amazingly Willie Mays, who I consider the game's greatest player, had just two MVP seasons. Bonds of San Francisco was the oldest MVP when he won it at age 40 in 2004 while Vida Blue of Oakland was the youngest at age 22 in 1971.
Shutouts by losing pitcher: Baseball Digest provided an interest factoid about pitchers with shutouts. Three pitchers are tied with record for most shutouts by a losing pitcher. All of them had eight shutouts, including Christy Mathewson of the Giants, who was 14-17 in 1902 with a 2.11 ERA. In 1906 Rube Waddell of the A's was 15-17 with a 2.21 ERA. Then, there was Camilio Pascual of the Twins, who was 15-16 with a 3.46 ERA in 1962.
Rookies in Hall of Fame: Once again supplied by Baseball Digest, we find that 14 players who were Rookie of the Year were later Hall of Fame inductees. The list includes Jackie Robinson (1947), Willie Mays (1951), Frank Robinson (1956), Rod Carew (1967), and Cal Ripken, Jr. (1982), among others.
Obscure? I'd say yes: In its article, "Obscure but not Forgotten," Baseball Digest noted that Joe Sewell had 115 straight games without striking out with Cleveland in 1929. More recently, George Brett of Kansas City had six straight three-hit games in 1976 when he hit .692 during that span.
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