Random unbelievable baseball facts, trivia, and/or oddities

[Skipscards]

Satchel Paige faced Joe DiMaggio 8 times.

Joltin' Joe went 0 for 8 with 3 Ks. Of all pitchers DiMaggio faced at least 8 times, his 37.5% strikeout percentage is the highest he had against any pitcher.

On the other end of the spectrum, Satchel faced Mickey Mantle 12 times.

The Mick went 6 for 11 with 1 HR and 2 Ks.

[Stifle]

Originally Posted by Skipscards

On 8/31/68, Pirates reliever, Roy Face, tied Walter Johnson’s MLB record of pitching in 802 career games for the same team. After he walked off the field having retired the 1 batter he faced, the 40 yr old was informed he’d been sold to Detroit for $100K.

Roy Face, still the leader in winning % as a 15 game winner since 1901 at .947 in 59. Pitched in 9 straight games, 5 games in 4 days.

[Stifle]

Don Baylor in 79 for the Angels was considered the first DH to win the award but had only 293 PA’s as a DH and 429 as a position player. What is odd is that Baylor had 167 Total Bases with a 1.089 OPS as a DH vs 166 total bases and under a .780 OPS as a position player.

Don Baylor has 277 career home runs, none of them ever went opposite field. A pure pull power hitter.

[rms13]

There are currently two players in MLB named Max Muncy. They aren't related but they have the same birthday 12 years apart

[wiper]

Originally Posted by Stifle

Don Baylor has 277 career home runs, none of them ever went opposite field. A pure pull power hitter.

lol that’s awesome.

[rats60]

After the 1946 season, the Pirates traded for the 1946 AL HR champion Hank Greenberg. When Greenberg saw the dimensions of Forbes Field, Greenberg threatened to retire unless the Pirates moved the fences in. So the Pirates put up a temporary fence up in left and left center field to mimic the dimensions of the Tigers' stadium and put both teams' bullpens behind the new fence. This area was nicknamed Greenberg Gardens.

Now with "normal" outfield dimensions in left and left center, Forbes Field saw a dramatic rise in HRs. The next 7 seasons, 550 HRs were hit into Greenberg Gardens, 51% of the 1083 HRs hit in Forbes Field those 7 season.

The beneficiary of the new temporary fence was not Greenberg, who only played one season for the Pirates, then retired. It was Ralph Kiner who in 1946 hit 23 HR with an OPS+ of 117. The next 6 seasons, Kiner would hit 271 HRs, averaging 45+ per season, with an OPS+ of 165. After 41 games in the 1953 season, Kiner was traded to the Cubs. After the 1953 season, the temporary fence was removed. In 1975 Kiner was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame because of those 6 seasons.

This illustrates how difficult it was for hitters to play in Forbes Field. Giving ~40% of the stadium "normal" dimensions caused the number of HRs to more than double.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by 7nohitter

From here on in, only NOLAN RYAN related information will be accepted.

Nolan Ryan struck out 1,183 DIFFERENT batters in his career. There are 26 active players on a roster--so there are 780 active players in the MLB at any given time, including of course pitchers. Nolan Ryan could strike out every active player in MLB and would still need to strike out another 403 different players to reach his total.

Nolan Ryan struck out 163 different batters at least 10 times.

Fathers and sons struck out by Nolan Ryan:
1) Sandy Alomar Sr., Sandy Alomar Jr., & Roberto Alomar
2) Bobby Bonds & Barry Bonds
3) Tito Francona &Terry Francona
4) Ken Griffey Sr. & Ken Griffey Jr.
5) Hal McRae & Brian McRae
6) Tony Perez & Eduardo Perez
7) Ducky Schofield & Dick Schofield
8) Maury Wills & Bump Wills

[rms13]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Nolan Ryan struck out 1,183 DIFFERENT batters in his career. There are 26 active players on a roster--so there are 780 active players in the MLB at any given time, including of course pitchers. Nolan Ryan could strike out every active player in MLB and would still need to strike out another 403 different players to reach his total.

Nolan Ryan struck out 163 different batters at least 10 times.

Fathers and sons struck out by Nolan Ryan:
1) Sandy Alomar Sr., Sandy Alomar Jr., & Roberto Alomar
2) Bobby Bonds & Barry Bonds
3) Tito Francona &Terry Francona
4) Ken Griffey Sr. & Ken Griffey Jr.
5) Hal McRae & Brian McRae
6) Tony Perez & Eduardo Perez
7) Ducky Schofield & Dick Schofield
8) Maury Wills & Bump Wills

Missed opportunity with the Boones. He overlapped with Brett for two years but they never faced each other. Brett was not an every day player yet. But he got Bob multiple times.

[hxcmilkshake]

There are 2 Max Muncys now.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

[Stifle]

Tom Brady was the last athlete to retire after being drafted by the Montreal Expos. Montreal drafted Brady in 1995.

[PuddleMonkey]

Originally Posted by hxcmilkshake

There are 2 Max Muncys now.

Is the other one fat too?

[Stifle]

It’s been 75 seasons since a MLB player scored at least 150 runs & drove in 150 RBI’s in the same season. Ted Williams 1949.
A. Judge even with it being just 7 games into the season. 14 runs & 17 RBI’s. A great start to ending this drought.

[7nohitter]

I read the other day that the Mariners had two different guys named Luis Castillo pitch on back to back days. Different middle names.

[Bosoxfan5990]

Originally Posted by 7nohitter

I read the other day that the Mariners had two different guys named Luis Castillo pitch on back to back days. Different middle names.

Really had gamblers in a tizzy.

[Skipscards]

Originally Posted by rms13

Missed opportunity with the Boones. He overlapped with Brett for two years but they never faced each other. Brett was not an every day player yet. But he got Bob multiple times.

He also missed Grandpa Ray by 6 years.

[Stifle]

Roger Maris pulled 59 of his 61 home runs in 1961 with 1 CF & 1 Opposite Field home run.

[Stifle]

The least amount of hits by a first ballot Hall Of Fame position player member was Johnny Bench with 2,048 & then another catcher Joe Mauer with roughly 100 more. Outside of catchers the lowest hit total for a first ballot player is in the 2,300’s.

[Stifle]

Roberto Clemente hit over 53% of his home runs to the opposite field making him the highest documented player with over 100 home runs. Forgot to look up when home runs were documented for location.

[quackhead]

In his MLB debut, Tony Gwynn's first RBI came before his first hit. He drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, before doubling to right field in the third.

[NYBBFAN]

Any player in MLB that has hit a HR in their debut has played at least one more game.

Meanwhile, John Paciorek showed up to the majors with an Ichiro-like stat line and never played again.

[jhssketchcards]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Nolan Ryan struck out 1,183 DIFFERENT batters in his career. There are 26 active players on a roster--so there are 780 active players in the MLB at any given time, including of course pitchers. Nolan Ryan could strike out every active player in MLB and would still need to strike out another 403 different players to reach his total.

Nolan Ryan struck out 163 different batters at least 10 times.

Fathers and sons struck out by Nolan Ryan:
1) Sandy Alomar Sr., Sandy Alomar Jr., & Roberto Alomar
2) Bobby Bonds & Barry Bonds
3) Tito Francona &Terry Francona
4) Ken Griffey Sr. & Ken Griffey Jr.
5) Hal McRae & Brian McRae
6) Tony Perez & Eduardo Perez
7) Ducky Schofield & Dick Schofield
8) Maury Wills & Bump Wills

Keeping with the family theme…
Nolan Ryan struck out sets of brothers…
Alou - Felipe, Matty, Jesus
May - Carlos and Lee
Brett - George and Ken
Aaron - Hank and Tommy
Boyer - Clete and Ken
Forsch - Ken and Bob
Neikro - Phil and Joe
Perry - Gaylord and Jim

HOF pitchers
Bob Gibson
Jim Palmer
Don Sutton
Gaylord Perry
Steve Carlton
Greg Maddux
John Smoltz
Tom Glavine
Pedro Martinez
Goose Gossage
Bruce Sutter
Vida Blue
Catfish Hunter
Phil Neikro
Don Drysdale

CY winners
Dwight Gooden
Roger Clemens
John Denny
Orel Hershiser
Bret Saberhagen
Steve Carlton
Bob Welch
Vida Blue
Sparky Lyle
Bruce Sutter
Catfish Hunter
Ron Guidry
Bob Gibson
Mike Cuellar
Denny McLain
Don Drysdale

3,000 hit victims
Pete Rose
Hank Aaron
Al Kaline
Roberto Clemente
Rod Carew
George Brett
Paul Molitor
Robin Yount
Wade Boggs
Carl Yazstrzemaki
Dave Winfield
Eddie Murray
Rickey Henderson
Lou Brock
Cal Ripken Jr
Tony Gwynn
Rafael Palmeiro

Craig Biggio, a member of the 3,000 hits club, caught for Nolan Ryan. He was the catcher for Nolan Ryan’s 100th win as an Astro.

Tony Gwynn struck out only 434 times in his career over 20 years. Nolan Ryan struck Gwynn out 9 times, more than any other pitcher.

Nolan Ryan struck out 19 batters three times.
In 1974, vs the Tigers, Ryan struck out 19 batters in 11 innings… and lost 1-0.

Nolan Ryan has the most games with 10+ Ks all-time with 215. Closest active pitcher is Max Scherzer with 113.

Nolan Ryan struck out a total of 37 hitters in 3 straight starts In 1973. He did it again 3 straight starts in May 1973.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Stifle]

Ralph Kiner is one of the few Hall Of Fame inductees to have played only 10 years with under 1,500 hits (1,451), under 400 Home Runs (369). Not many people realize that at the time Kiner was in his 10th and last ballot. To be voted in took 272 and he ended up with 273.

[jlzinck]

Griffey Jr, Ortiz and Palmeiro all ended their careers with 1192 Extra Base hits

[stevebay]

The highest batting average since 1941 (not including Gwynn's 1994 strike year of .394) was George Brett's .390, but Brett did not lead his own team in hits, having a whopping 55 fewer hits than Willie Wilson's 230 (who batted .326)!

[Burghman]

Originally Posted by Stifle

The least amount of hits by a first ballot Hall Of Fame position player member was Johnny Bench with 2,048 & then another catcher Joe Mauer with roughly 100 more. Outside of catchers the lowest hit total for a first ballot player is in the 2,300’s.

This one got me thinking about players, including pitchers, with the lowest hit totals. Mariano Rivera and Jack Morris are the only HOFers elected as players with 0 hits (Walter Alston also has no hits, but he only had 1 AB and is in as a manager). The real oddity is that Morris has 1 plate appearance, 0 hits, and 4 runs. That appears to make him the only HOFer with more runs than both PAs and hits.