35 thoughts on “Perfect 10 Streaks: Pitchers Who Owned an Opponent”

1. Scary Tuna June 26, 2023 at 7:17 pm

   Good work, Doug! This was fun to read.

   Besides being among the youngest on this list, Mudcat Grant and Gary Bell’s streaks ran concurrently for 2-1/2 seasons (the duration of Grant’s streak) as teammates against the same opponent (Senators – Bell’s streak remained active through the 1961 season against the Twins). After Grant’s 12th consecutive win against the Senators, he was still only 14-20 against the rest of the league. He then went 8-6 against Washington/Minnesota the next few years before being traded to the Twins in 1964. Likewise, Bell started 10-0 against the Senators/Twins and just 39-46 against the rest of the league.

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   1. Doug June 26, 2023 at 9:03 pm

      Good observation Scary,

      The Indians were rebuilding their pitching staff in the late ’50s/early ’60s after the Lemon/Feller/Wynn/Garcia years (Garcia was the last to depart, after the ’59 season, in which Cleveland surprised by hanging around in the pennant hunt until late in the season). The ’62 team had a rotation including Grant, Jim Perry and 19 year-old Sam McDowell (Bell was now in the pen), with Tommy John making his debut the next year. That would have been a formidable foursome had the Indians held onto them, but only McDowell (now joined by Luis Tiant) remained by 1965, the same year that Grant and Perry took the Twins to the pennant.

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2. Tom June 27, 2023 at 10:35 am

   Apart from his streak against his former team, Larsen went 69-91 for the rest of his career.

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   1. Doug June 27, 2023 at 5:06 pm

      When he played for the Orioles, Larsen almost couldn’t win, with a 4-23 record. When he played against them, he almost couldn’t lose, with a 13-3 record. With no Orioles anywhere on the field, Larsen was a .500 pitcher, at 64-65.

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3. Doug Post authorJune 27, 2023 at 5:59 pm

   Some interesting line scores in Anaheim’s 25-1 romp over the Rockies.
   — Mickey Moniak’s 5-5-5-4 line was only the third since 1901. Moniak batted 8th while the other two were leadoff hitters. Moniak is the 7th player to bat eighth with 3+ doubles and 1+ HR, all of them since 1997.
   — Mickey David Fletcher’s 6-1-4-5 was the 29th since 1901, but the first for a no. 9 hitter.
   — The Angels had four players with 3+ hits and 4+ RBI, tying the record set last year by Toronto in their 28-5 thrashing of the Red Sox.
   — The Angels are the third team to score 20+ runs despite grounding into three or more double plays.
   — Every Angel starter had at least one hit, one run and one RBI, the 64th time since 1901 and second this season, after this game. It also happened twice last year.
   — LA’s 24 run winning margin is a new franchise record, eclipsing the 22 run margin in this game from 1978.

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   1. Paul E June 28, 2023 at 11:13 am

      Doug,
      At the risk of being “that guy”, I believe that’s “David” Fletcher. I have no idea what he was doing in the the minors “proving” himself with a .383 BA while Rengifo took AB’s in Anaheim at a 65 OPS+ clip. As for Moniak, he is ‘unconscious” at this point considering he didn’t get on base or hit with power in the minors while the Phillies watched him fail….coaching must make a difference, no? Good for him….hopefully it lasts

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      1. Doug Post authorJune 28, 2023 at 1:06 pm

         Thanks for the correction.

         In another tale of two Mickeys, Lolich wanted nothing to do with Mantle, walking him almost 25% of the time (Mantle’s overall walk rate was 18% for the years both were active). That approach may have been a good idea – Mantle was held to just 7 RBI in 58 PA, despite an OPS over 1.000

         Incidentally, Lolich and Mantle both had a Mickey teammate, Lolich with Mickey Stanley for 12 seasons, and Mantle with Mickey McDermott for one. The record number of Mickeys was three on the 1950-52 Senators.

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   2. Doug Post authorJune 28, 2023 at 8:07 pm

      Here’s today’s box score oddity, from the Giants’ 3-0 win in Toronto on Tuesday.
      http://www.highheatstats.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/5-Doubles-and-No-Runs.png

      Thanks to the miracle powers of 17 strikeouts, Toronto was shutout despite stroking 5 extra-base hits. Twentieth time that has happened in a 9-inning game, all but one in the expansion era. That’s 19 times with 5 XBH, and one time with a record 6 XBH, from another game in Canada. Toronto is also the twelfth team to record no runs, no walks and 17+ whiffs in a 9-inning game, all but one of those contests since 1996.

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4. Richard Chester June 29, 2023 at 10:31 am

   A bit off-topic here. I cannot say for sure that I am the only commenter on his site to attend 2 perfect games but for certain I am the only one to see 2 such games nearly 67 years apart. I saw Don Larsen’s perfecto in 1956 and Domingo German’s gem last night in Oakland. I enjoyed the Larsen game more, it was in the WS, Mickey Mantle was playing, it was quite a bit warmer and it was a heck of a lot cheaper.

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   1. Doug June 29, 2023 at 1:30 pm

      Since the post title begins with “Perfect”, I think your comment fits nicely.

      I wonder if you’re the only person to witness two perfectos separated by so much time. Possibly, someone attended the gems by Charlie Robertson and Dennis Martinez (69 years) or Kenny Rogers (72 years), or Addie Joss and Len Barker (73 years). But, the possibilities are pretty limited.

      Glad you had the chance to witness history before the A’s leave town.

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      1. Richard Chester June 29, 2023 at 2:05 pm

         A close friend of mine was also at both of those games.

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   2. Paul E June 29, 2023 at 3:52 pm

      Richard,
      Fantastic! But what is ANYONE doing in the Oakland Coliseum during baseball season? Strangely enough, if you peruse the list of ML perfect games, more than half (?) were pitched against contending teams. Closest I ever came to a watching live a perfect game was Rick Wise retiring 32 in a row after surrendering some early runs versus the 1971 Cubs.

      https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI197109180.shtml

      that was a young Phillies team and an aging Cubs squad

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      1. Doug June 29, 2023 at 4:48 pm

         A 12 inning CG for Wise, plus 3 for 6 at the plate, including the walk-off RBI single. Phillies’ manager Frank Lucchesi used only two subs in the game, so there were lots of bats on the bench when Wise came up:
         — in the 7th, 1 out, bases empty, Phillies trailing by one (strikeout)
         — in the 9th, 1 out, bases empty (double)
         — leading off the 11th (strikeout)
         — in the 12th, 1 out, bases full

         But, Wise was a good hitter, especially in 1971, with .464 SLG (incl. 6 HR!!!) and 102 OPS+. So, I suppose he was just as good an option as most of the bench players.

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   3. Doug June 29, 2023 at 7:29 pm

      Watching the outs from the game, looks like the defensive hero was Anthony Rizzo. Nice diving play on a ball headed down the line into right in the 5th, and a graceful play in the 8th stepping across the baseline to snag an errant throw tailing into the runner.

      German’s 96 game score is the highest by a Yankee since Mike Mussina’s 98 in 2001 on a 1-hit shutout of the Red Sox with 13 K’s and no walks.

      One surprising note is that the Oakland Coliseum and old Yankee Stadium are now tied for hosting the most perfectos, at three apiece.

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      1. Richard Chester June 29, 2023 at 8:39 pm

         Mussina 1 out away from a perfect game.

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         1. Richard Chester June 29, 2023 at 8:40 pm

            Make that “was 1 out away….”

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5. Doug July 3, 2023 at 3:44 am

   Jarren Duran of the Red Sox went 5 for 5 on Sunday, including a record-tying 4 doubles. It was the 50th 4-double game since 1901 by 48 players, with Billy Werber and Albert Belle the only two to do it twice.

   Another Red Sox player has earned a more dubious distinction. Catcher Caleb Hamilton has played 26 games in his career and is still looking for his second hit. I believe he is the first non-pitcher with a single home run and no other hits in 20+ AB over his first 25 career games.

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   1. Paul E July 3, 2023 at 1:30 pm

      Re Caleb H., with a .211 BA in the minors and .223 in college, who would have guessed that major league pitching might have presented a challenge? Maybe he frames pitches well, calls a good game…?

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      1. Doug July 3, 2023 at 3:16 pm

         Looks like Hamilton is all alone with this particular “feat”. Only 16 pitchers have homered with no other hits over their first 25 games, and none of them reached 20 AB over that stretch. Closest was Larry Christensen who reached 20 AB in his 26th game, and got his second hit in game 27. Jeremy Hefner also reach 20 AB in his 26th game, and got his second hit in that same contest.

         The first four hits of Christensen’s career were HR, double, triple, single, in that order. After finally getting his first single in game 35, he stroked three more safeties in game 36.

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6. Doug July 3, 2023 at 3:49 pm

   For some reason, I got to musing about career spans (the period covered by the careers of players that a particular player has played with or against). In the case of Julio Franco, his career span covers my entire life, since Franco batted against Jim Kaat and Adam Wainwright. Kaat debuted two months before I was born and Wainwright, of course, is still active.

   A span like Franco’s of 65+ seasons is quite rare. Another example is the 66 season span of Willie McCovey, who played against Enos Slaughter and Jesse Orosco. Would be fun to try to figure out the longest span, ignoring stunt appearances like Minnie Minoso’s.

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   1. Richard Chester July 4, 2023 at 11:11 am

      By going through my WORD document in which I saved many of my HHS posts I see that I have already gone through that exercise. The most I found was 64 years for Maranville-Cavaretta-Killebrew (1912-1975) and for Cavaretta-Killebrew-Eckersley (1935-1998).

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      1. Doug July 4, 2023 at 5:12 pm

         I found one of 74 seasons, with a little fudging of the rules.
         — Tommy John was a teammate of Early Wynn in 1963. They did not play in the same game together, but they did play in the same series, twice. So, no doubt they were legitimate teammates during the month of September that year, when John was called up.
         — At the other end of the span is John’s final career start for the Yankees on May 25, 1989. That start was at home, and the Yankees were still on that homestand when they faced the Mariners on May 29th. The next day, May 30th, John was released. If you assume that John was still on the active roster on May 29th, and presumably in uniform for the game that night, you could make a case that he “played” against Omar Vizquel, since Vizquel (who did play in that game) and John would both have appeared on the lineup cards for that game.
         — Early Wynn debuted in 1939, and Omar Vizquel played until 2012, a span of 74 seasons.

         Another Kaat connection that might have extended to the present day would be the span for Rickey Henderson, who played against Miguel Cabrera. Kaat and Henderson’s careers overlapped by 6 seasons, but mostly in different leagues. But, they were both playing in the AL in 1979, and Henderson played for the A’s in all 7 games against Kaat’s Yankees that year. Alas, those two series occurred within a two week span in July when Kaat was apparently on the IL, playing on July 4th (two days before first series with A’s) and not returning to action until July 22nd (day after the last series with A’s).

         Some more long ones:
         — Tony Perez batted against Warren Spahn and against Jamie Moyer. So, 71 seasons from 1942 to 2012.
         — Bobby Wallace played against Cap Anson, and played with Rogers Hornsby. So, 67 seasons from 1871 to 1937.
         — Stan Musial played against Johnny Cooney and against Pete Rose. So, 67 seasons from 1920 to 1986.
         — Waite Hoyt played against Bobby Wallace and against Enos Slaughter. So, 66 seasons from 1894 to 1959. Wallace’s Cards and Hoyt’s Giants played a home-and-away double series (9 straight games) in July 1918, with Wallace playing only in the last game in St. Louis, and Hoyt only in the following game, three days later in New York. It was Hoyt’s only game that season, so it’s conceivable he was brought up just for that game. Wallace did play later in that road trip, so he probably was in uniform for Hoyt’s game.
         — Dennis Eckersley played against Hank Aaron and against Bartolo Colon. So, 65 seasons from 1954 to 2018. Eck and Colon played in same series, but not same game.

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         1. Tom July 6, 2023 at 11:01 am

            There are two 66 year streaks with Satchel Paige, if you exclude his 1965 stint with the A’s. He started with the 1927 Birmingham Black Barons. He was a teammate of Bob Turley’s on the 1953 Browns, who was also on the 1963 Red Sox with Carl Yastrzemski. Don Larsen was on the 1953 Browns and the 1967 Cubs with Ferguson Jenkins. Both Fergie and Yaz retired in 1983.

            If you include Satchel’s 1965 game: Yaz faced Satchel in that 1965 game. Dennis Eckersley was on the 83 Sox with Yaz. Eck retired in 1998. That’s a 71 year HoF streak.

            A HoF teammate version without stunts: 60 years– Sam Thompson was on the 1906 Tigers with Ty Cobb, who was on the 1928 A’s with Jimmy Foxx. That cover 1885 to 1945.

            Fudging all the rules: Biz Mackey started in 1920 with the Indianapolis ABCs. He was in the Negro National League II, on the Newark Eagles, when they faced the New York Cubans in 1947. Minnie Minoso was on the Cubans in 1946-47.. Minoso had that 1980 PH AB with the White Sox. Harold Baines was on that team; he retired in 2001. Mackey-Minoso-Baines have a HoF streak of 81 years.

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            1. Doug July 6, 2023 at 1:07 pm

               Nice ones, Tom.

               You know your Negro League players!
7. Scary Tuna July 6, 2023 at 9:01 pm

   In the Blue Jays – White Sox first game today, through ten innings both teams combined to hit 3 for 63. In the 11th, they went 9 for 14.

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8. no statistician but July 7, 2023 at 9:26 am

   Once more out of retirement, I guess.

   Here’s a question for discussion raised by the recent injuries to Aaron Judge and Mike Trout:

   Why are there so many more serious injuries to position players now than in the past, given that current players are presumed to be much better trained and generally fitter than their ancient counterparts?

    In his seventh season as a big-league regular, Judge has played in just three so far without injuries serious enough to keep him from qualifying for the batting title, and the fourth is definitely in doubt. After a good start, Trout has now missed (or probably will miss) that standard for the third straight year, not to mention barley qualifying in 2017(507 PAs) and sitting out the last month of 2019. Giancarlo Stanton? He’s played in one qualifying season since 2018, and he’s a DH.

   These may be extreme cases, of course, but I get the feeling that they are symptomatic. George Springer? Cody Bellinger? Bryce Harper?

   Without doing any serious research, for me to be able to name six high profile players, contemporaries, who have the same proneness to injury—can anyone cite a precedent, much less propose an explanation that isn’t a guess?

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   1. Paul E July 7, 2023 at 12:49 pm

      Guaranteed contracts (hahahaha). I think the Bellinger injury was kind if freakish but, these are getting contracts that won’t age well. Pujols didn;t get hurt at all but wasn;t much of a contributor on a WAR basis shortly after the LAA gave him that contract. Maybe the culprit is resistance exercise/weight training putting extreme stress on tendons and ligaments?
      If you watch the “Ryne Sandberg game” (Cards/Cubs 6/23/1984), you’ll see a bunch of 6′- 6’3″ 175 – 210# guys of ‘average’ build. All these muscles, nowadays, just can’t be good for baseball playin’. Like, does Trout (bad back) really need to weight 235# to play CF, chase fly balls, climb fences, scale walls?
      In the good old days, Clemente, Mays, Aaron, Yaz were all around 5’11” – 6’0″. I read somewhere that the Senators’ scouts of old were looking for 5’11” 185# prospects? By the same token, Ripken played a zillion consecutive games at 6’4″ and 220#. I’ll go with excessive weight training

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      1. no statistician but July 7, 2023 at 4:15 pm

         It’s amazing how many of the prominent teams I spot-checked from the past had line-ups consisting mainly of guys 5’10” to 6’1″ or so and weights from 180 to 205 or so. Now the heights are generally 6’1″ to 6’5″ on all teams and the weights 210-240+. (The 1998 Yankees had some taller guys, but they were all lean). So—the players are taller and they’re carrying more beef, a lot more on average.

         Was it John Kruk who said, “Lady, I’m not an athlete; I’m a ballplayer”? So these guys are maybe training to be athletes, spending more time in the workout room than in the outfield shagging flies? Kris Bryant is another example I thought of after my earlier post, supposedly dedicated to the game (at least while in Chicago) and serious injury plagued. Meanwhile all those promising careers are withering as time passes.

         Well—they’ll always have the money.

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         1. Paul E July 10, 2023 at 11:23 am

            NSB,
            A more recent free-agent era phenomenon is the “beyond expectations” walk-season peak performance. Over the last 40 years, a ton of guys have hit the ball extremely well or pitched lights-out in career season 6 with no prior performance that approached that level.
            Charlie Finley used to say they all should be free agents every year and play on 1-year contracts. That certainly would create “hot stove” interest and player agents would certainly earn their money

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9. Richard Chester July 8, 2023 at 5:52 pm

   After today’s (July 8) Yankee game Josh Donaldson has 10 HR and 15 RBI, a differential of 5. The smallest such seasonal differential for a player with at least 10 HR is 7 by Randy Ruiz in 2009, Zach Walters in 2014 and Wayne Gross in 1985.

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   1. Doug July 9, 2023 at 9:27 pm

      Alas, despite the long ball, Donaldson is hitting just .146, albeit with an ISO over .300.

      According to Stathead, Donaldson is the first player to have two-thirds of his hits be home runs, over a player’s first 30 games of a season (not sure whether I believe that, since Stathead didn’t find anyone, not even Donaldson).

      Having ISO more than double your BA is a seasonal feat mostly reserved for pitchers. The most PA in such a season by a non-pitcher is only 48, by Mickey Tettleton in 1997.

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10. Doug July 9, 2023 at 9:13 pm

    Elly De La Cruz running wild in Saturday’s Reds’ win over the Brewers marks the second time since 1961 (according to Elias) that a player has stolen three bases in the same trip around the diamond. De La Cruz was alone on the bases when he swiped three in as many pitches.

    The other time that happened since 1961 was in this game, by Rod Carew, who also made all three steals in the same plate appearance. But, unlike De La Cruz, Carew had Cesar Tovar on base in front of him, with Tovar stealing 3rd and home ahead of Carew, a total of five steals, all with Harmon Killebrew at bat.

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    1. Tom July 10, 2023 at 11:11 am

       Here’s a list of the players who stole second, third and home in the same inning https://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/stealing_second_third_home.shtml

       Seeing what Elly did, stealing third and home on the same play, brings to mind the stories of Ty Cobb’s baserunning.

       What an athlete De la Cruz is. 6’5″, the fastest man in baseball, a switch hitting infielder who set the Reds exit velocity record in his first week in the majors, who can throw a ball over 97 MPH, and has a high baseball IQ.

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       1. Doug Post authorJuly 12, 2023 at 3:44 am

          Thanks for the list, Tom. Apparently, the claim by Elias must be for stealing three bases in the same plate appearance, not just the same inning (I actually remember watching one of the games on your list, so I should have clued into that).

          So, 55 known instances from 1899 to 2023, but only one of them in the forty seasons from 1929 to 1968.

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       2. Doug Post authorJuly 13, 2023 at 5:45 pm

          De La Cruz is now the first player with 15 XBH and 15 SB over the first 30 games of a career.

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