59 posts tagged “stat of the day”
Via RAB --
Joe Girardi was ejected twice in 2008. The Yankees won both games with "walk-off" hits.
Here were my game notes from the one on May 22nd (Robinson Cano hit a walk-off in this one) and the one from July 6th (Brett Gardner hit a walk off in that one).
Hey, maybe we can convince General Joe to do this every game.
Via Baseball-Reference --
A player has walked and struck out 120+ times in the same season twenty times in major-league history. This "feat" has been accomplished twice by a member of the New York Yankees.
The first came in 1958 when Mickey Mantle walked 129 times and struck out 120 times (he was actually the first player ever to accomplish this "feat"). The next Yankee to do it? Jason Giambi in 2003, when he walked 129 times and struck out 140 times.
Bobby Abreu walked 124 times and struck out 138 times in 2006, but he only spent two months as a member of the Yankees.
And as far as the player that has done this the most - that would be Jim Thome, who has been a member of the 120/120 club in four seasons - 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2002.
The number of wins posted by the members of the Yankees' projected starting rotation was 61 last year. Here are the breakdowns:
Sabathia: 17
Burnett: 18
Wang: 8
Pettitte: 14
Chamberlain: 4
Assuming all five stay healthy throughout the year (which is unlikely), is it unreasonable to think that these five could combine for 75 wins? I don't think so.
In 2008, Jason Giambi led the Yankees with 76 walks.
When was the last time a player led the Yankees with 76 or fewer walks? You have to go back to 1983, when Dave Winfield and Roy Smalley each led the team with 58 walks.
There were so many different factors that went into the Yankees' underachieving 2008 season, but you have to figure that a lack of patience - especially from the middle of the order - played a big part in their third-place finish.
Yogi Berra and Joe DiMaggio stole 60 total bases combined (30 each) in their careers. You always hear in Yankeeographies how DiMaggio used to be one of the fastest guys of his era (little known fact: he was never thrown out running first to third), but it's amazing to think that him and Yogi stole just 60 bases in 32 combined seasons.
Now granted, the 1940's and 1950's were not known for players with speed, but I would have thought the two of them would have made more of an impact on the bases.
I saw this stat on tonight's episode of Baseball's Seasons (1968) on the MLB Network:
In 1968, Bob Gibson had an ERA of 1.12. At one point, he gave up one earned run over a span of 65 innings.
Has there ever been a better display of pitching dominance than that? Sure, there have been some amazing pitching feats in the history of the game, but put that into perspective - one earned run in sixty-five innings, by a starting pitcher. Unbelievable.
I doubt we'll see anything like that again in our lifetime.
Here's an interesting one, via Baseball Reference --
The only 20-game winner in major-league history that walked more batters than he struck out was Mike Torrez in 1975. Torrez went 20-9 while walking 133 and striking out 119.
The closest Yankee to "accomplish" this feat was Mel Stottlemyre in 1969, when he walked 97 and struck out 113 during a 20-14 season.
Players just don't have seasons like that anymore.
While we're on the subject of the Hall, check out this stat, via Baseball Reference --
Only three players in major league history have had 400+ home runs and 300+ stolen bases: Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, and Andre Dawson.
That's some company, eh?
Via Ben Hoffman, from SPA --
Jason Giambi hit 209 home runs as a Yankee in seven years. The only other Yankees to eclipse this mark in that time period were Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, and Babe Ruth.
For all the grief the fans have given him over the years, I'd say that he was a valuable commodity for the Yanks over those seven years. Granted, they didn't win a World Series, but much of that can be blamed on the pitching.
I don't think Giambi lived up to his contract in that he wasn't a $120 million player. He was no Mattingly or Tino, but still, he was a solid player during his tenure in pinstripes.
Via Baseball Reference --
Mark Teixeira has the most career homers through his first six seasons for a guy to play for at least three teams during that period.
Take a look at the top 10:
1) Mark Teixeira: 203
2) Roger Maris: 191
3) Jason Bay: 149
4) Preston Wilson: 140
5) Kevin Mitchell: 135
6) Jason Thompson: 130
7) Tony Batista: 125
8) Dolph Camilli: 122
9) Cory Snyder: 118
10) Jimmie Hall: 116
Let's just hope that Teixeira has a better career than Dolph Camilli did.
