trivial occurrences 2018

In Toronto, we call a 16-run save a "Biagini."

I'm watching the Netflix romantic comedy Set It Up with my wife. At one point, the characters go to a Red Sox/Yankees game, and the announcer says that Andrew Benintendi is at bat, but it is clearly not Andrew Benintendi (the batter is not white). But then later they announce Aaron Hicks and it is Aaron Hicks. A trivial occurrence in 2018.

this was discussed on the Effectively Wild podcast, as are most baseball in movies/TV fuckups.

today the twins won a game without making any plays at first base on defense (no assists or putouts)
6th time since 2000

via BP's Stacey Gotsulias:

The Pirates swept a doubleheader Saturday. Perhaps the biggest key to the sweep: Starling Marte and Polanco hit back-to-back home runs in both games.

They are only the third pair of teammates in MLB history—and second pair of Pirates—to accomplish this feat, and it has been over 50 years since it last happened. The other Pirates were Frank Thomas (not that one) and Dick Groat in 1957. Eleven years later, teammates Sal Bando and Reggie Jackson did it for the Athletics.

today in the dominican summer league:

the pirates 1 (they have two teams) out-hit their opponents 21-8, drew nine walks, went 13-for-33 with runners in scoring position . . . and lost, in nine innings, 14-13. the other team had only 36 at-bats in total

baseball is a weird game

the only winning move is not to play

https://goo.gl/images/WB7A3m

matt carpenter +

The only other player in Major League history to hit 3 home runs and 2 doubles in a game is Kris Bryant (June 27, 2016). #stlcards

— Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) July 20, 2018

nerds are unhappy that it won't continue

Yes, the Cardinals have this game well in hand (it's 15-1), but in the history of Major League Baseball no one has ever had 20 total bases in a game. Matt Carpenter had 16 with at least one (and maybe two) more ABs. And he was pulled.

— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) July 20, 2018

his spot in the order came up while victor caratini was pitching, too!

of course, this enables matt carpenter to end the story with "and i have to say...if i would have had one more chance, i'm pretty sure i would have broken the record that day"

just dreaming about matt carpenter continuing to be amazing and winning the mvp, and realizing he didn't make the all-star team! are there examples of MVPs who didn't make the all-star team? probably there are more than i realize.

(yep, there are a bunch. no spoilers in case people want to guess, but https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/17637/bp-unfiltered-mvps-who-werent-all-stars/)

a hint: several of the examples are also prominent examples of players who shouldn't have won an MVP award

another trivial thing that i can't immediately find: who leads the league in getting picked off? (guessing tommy pham)

Freakish:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-most-consistent-hitter-in-baseball-history/

Harper is the anti-Davis, "tied as the third most volatile hitter ever over a five-year period."

Obviously, batting average is a rather limited way to look at this. When you look at his whole batting line, Davis's OBPs and SLGs bounce around normally.

first teenager since 1898

https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/07/27/juan-soto-home-run-three-straight-games-nationals-video

Just discovered that a) Soto has a nickname already ("Childish Bambino"), and b) we share a birthday.

Top 10 most Home Runs as a teenager:

1. Tony Conigliaro (Boston) 24
2. Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals) 22
3. Mel Ott (NY Giants) 19
4. Ken Griffey, Jr. (Seattle) 16
5. Phil Cavarretta (Cubs) 14
6. Juan Soto (Washington Nationals) 13 <-Turns 20 October 25, 2018
6. Mickey Mantle (NY Yankees) 13
8. Ed Kranepool (NY Mets) 12
9. Robin Yount (Milwaukee) 11
10. Harmon Killebrew (Washington Senators) 9

I'm still tied for last for Most Home Runs as a 56-year-old (but, like Juan, have till Oct. 25, 2018, to make my move).

catcher sal perez with an unassisted double play today

what -- how?

OK I watched the replay haahahahhahhahha

getting conflicting reports on how rare that is, but it's not *common*

only two catchers have ever done it twice in one season -- jorge posada in 2000 and frank crossin in 1914

alex avila did it in 2013, which may or may not be the previously most recent

Yankees have to hit home runs as they do some dumb, dumb stuff on the base paths.

john gant is currently tied with 3 other players for the most career ABs (26) with an on-base percentage of .000

https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2018/7/30/17628794/john-gants-descent-into-despair

i'm assuming that other players have broken this record before, of course, and then gone on to get on base

Jose Reyes, per @EliasSports, is the first player in Major League history to allow multiple home runs in a game, then hit multiple home runs in his team's next game. #Mets

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) August 1, 2018

the white sox selected 2B nick madrigal with the fourth overall pick in june

it's only low A, but he has not struck out in his first 66 PA as a pro

yoan moncada struck out looking four times today

Most strikeouts looking this season
52 Yoán Moncada (4 today)
43 Aaron Judge
42 Chris Taylor

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) August 2, 2018

That Jose Reyes thing--saw something today that said it's the first time since 1884, which may not count as major-league history for some.

if ohtani resumes pitching regularly, i'd expect him to do it again pretty soon.

or maybe bumgarner

when Sam Miller co-hosted the EW podcast, he preferred to mark 1988 as the start of real baseball

Last night Rougned Odor became only the fourth hitter in history to have a five-walk, one-homer game. The others: Henry Aaron in 1972; Mark McGwire in 1997 and Edgar Martinez in 2004.

Odor is, however, the only one whose walks were all unintentional. (He has 27 BB all season.)

Dee Gordon has what would be the lowest walk rate by a qualified hitter since 1922

— Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) August 2, 2018

Dan Straily has drawn one fewer walks than Dee Gordon this year.

— Kazuto Yamazaki (@Kazuto_Yamazaki) July 12, 2018

Update: walks drawn in 2018:

Dee Gordon 6
Dan Straily 5

— Kazuto Yamazaki (@Kazuto_Yamazaki) August 2, 2018

Oliver Drake is on his 5th team of the season; he's the first person to play for 5+ teams in one year https://t.co/7W7LioDkc6

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) August 6, 2018

for the second time this season -- high-a san jose in april and triple-a indianapolis last night -- two teammates hit for the cycle in the same game

this has never happened in the majors. (there have twice been two cycles on the same day -- two dudes in 1920 and adrian beltre + stephen drew in 2008 -- but not in the same game)

it's probably happened in the minors before, but there seems to be no record of it

The @Mets scored a franchise-record 24 runs. They're the first team to score 24+ runs in a game and allow 24+ runs in a game in the same season since 1894, when 4 teams did it.

They're also the first team to score 40 runs in a 2-game span since the 1953 Red Sox. #LGM

— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) August 16, 2018

Andrew Benintendi singled the other night by hitting the ball twice with his bat on the same pitch

I would have thought that would be called a foul ball. Same thing happens in badminton and golf (putting) sometimes, and it's a rule infraction that you're supposed to call yourself on even if no one else notices.

i've seen that happen a few times in the last 45+ years

i remember hunter pence (I think? could've been michael morse) hitting a home run and the bat broke and the ball hit the bat twice, once before and once after the bat cracked. or maybe i'm making this up.

i also remember i think it was pence again hitting a home run with the bat in either one or zero of his hands upon impact. and that time michael morse had to pretend to hit a home run before running the bases. those guys have had some incredibly strange at bats

ok it wasn't a home run but the bat hit the ball THREE TIMES (video here)

http://mlb.mlb.com/images/6/9/2/290567692/081518_nyy_ball_double_hit.gif

yeah pence hat a hit like that gif and it spun the opposite way so the short stop was completely stumped
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmXOZtNjOew

That YouTube clip is amazing. I couldn't see it until near the end, when they slowed everything to a near-stop, and yeah, there it is, plain as day--three times. Makes me think it's not that unusual, just nearly undetectable by the human eye.

pirates hit into seven double plays against the cubs last night, tying the record

There's a reason they're not called "walking champions"...

*grabs crotch, spits chew*

Roberto Pérez just became one of only 9 catchers to play 100 games with 0 passed balls.

I told him that last week and I don't think he knew, and thank god he made it through the last week without my jinx taking him out.

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) September 30, 2019

from the Effectively Wild FB group:

If the Rays beat the Astros (107), Yankees (103) & Dodgers (106) that would have to be the most opposing team wins beaten, right? If so, was there even another year with a possible higher total when the playoffs started (WC game not counting)?

Red Sox have the top 2, 2004 with 298 and 2018 with 295.

Any AL team would take the record if they beat the Dodgers in the WS. If the AL WS team beats the Astros at some point, they’re guaranteed to take the record regardless of NL team.

Assuming he plays on Wednesday, Molina will pass Chipper Jones for the National League record for most postseason games with 94.

They're currently tied for 9th most all-time, with all eight players ahead of them being primarily AL players https://t.co/F4M8gP1s10 pic.twitter.com/IZZRFhJv9f

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) October 8, 2019

"The 6th player to make an error on his birthday in the World Series"

Every single division has won a World Series in the last 6 years. No repeats. Also happened 2001-06.

ok, if the 6 divisions can agree to keep taking turns, and in the same order, we won't have to watch the playoffs any more. and if the teams in each division can agree on taking turns of who wins every year, we don't have to watch baseball at all!

topic A at the winter meetings

rando trivia:

during the 1980s and 90s, there were only two players (in two different seasons) who won the "slash-stat triple crown" (leading the league in BA, OBP, and SLG). who were they, and which years?

larry walker for the latter

yessir

hint: the other one is on the other end of the time period in question

George Brett 1980?

George fucking Brett

four catchers who were with the cardinals are in the hall of fame. who are they?

(note: current hall of famer yadier molina is not one)

nor is darrell porter

nope. and not tim mccarver.

hint: only one of the four got in his for work as a cardinals catcher.

Madison Bumgarner has 19 career HR.

Since 2010, only 3 of SF's 420 draft picks have hit *more* career homers (for any team, combined) than that.

Matt Duffy -- 22 HR (16 w/SF)
Joe Panik -- 38 HR (36 w/SF)
Adam Duvall -- 97 HR (3 w/SF)

(h/t Jason Ratliff of @MLBPipeline)

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) December 16, 2019