Opening Day game notes!

Fresh from the humidor, it’s … The inaugural edition of Game Notes 2013!

[Cue Gene Rayburn & the funky “Match Game ’77” music. All game feats are “since 1916,” unless noted.]

 

@Dodgers 4, Giants 0: Both aces were dealing, but Matt Cain ran through his deck in 6 innings, while Clayton Kershaw breezed to LA’s first Opening Day home shutout since Fernando ’81. He also cracked the goose-egg cipher in the 8th with his first career HR — to center field. In his conventional chores, Kershaw allowed 4 singles in different innings, and no Giant reached second base after the 1st.

  • Last year, the Giants were 8-3 in games tied after 7 innings.
  • The last Opening Day pitcher’s home run in MLB was in 1988 by Joe Magrane. The last 2 by a Dodger belonged to Don Drysdale, 1965 and ’59. The last Dodgers pitcher to homer off a Giant was Claude Osteen in this 1970 laugher; SF pitchers had hit the last 10 HRs in the series.

Tigers 4, @Twins 2: Was it an April Fools joke? Jim Leyland’s approach to a 9th-inning save situation looked like a simple matter of managing matchups — Joaquin Benoit took the righty, while Phil Coke handled the lefties. But we all know he has to anoint a Closer before the month is out.

  • In 35-degree chill, Justin Verlander left after 91 pitches and 5 scoreless innings, with 7 Ks — his shortest stint ever allowing 1 run or less.
  • Tigers fans hope this is the year that Al Alburquerque lasts a full season. He took on Drew Smyly’s bases-full mess with 1 out in the 7th, and after a hit brought the Twins within one, Al-Al set down the next two on strikes. His 37% K rate is 4th-best ever among those with 50+ innings, but he’s logged just 57 IP in 2+ years with the club.
  • Remember when … On Leyland’s 19909192 division-winning Pirates, the nos. 2 and 3 men always combined for more saves than the number 1 guy.

@Nationals 2, Marlins 0Money. The 21-year-old Don Money had been the youngest to homer twice on Opening Day, 2 months before his 22nd birthday. Bryce Harper chopped 16 months off that record, and trimmed 6 months from Gary Carter’s franchise record for youngest O.D. tater. Each of his blasts carried over 400 feet.

  • In his first Opening Day assignment, Stephen Strasburg hurled 7 brisk scoreless innings, using 80 pitches while whiffing but 3. His previous 7 games lasting 7+ IP averaged almost 10 Ks, with at least 5 in each.

Red Sox 8, @Yankees 2: From 1986-2011, the Bombers had won their last 11 Opening Days at home. But as The Captain once said in another context, “Not this team.”

  • Boston had runners all over the place — 18 ABs with men in scoring position, 6 singles, 5 of them producing 7 runs.
  • First homerless Yanks-BoSox game in the Bronx since July 5, 2008.
  • Believe it or not … 8 is the most O.D. runs against the Yankees at home since 1919, when Boston won 10-0; the 6-run margin also matches the largest since then.

Angels 3, @Reds 1 (13): In the first-ever interleague opener, both teams scored in the 3rd, followed by 9 scoreless innings with a total of 5 hits. In the 13th, J.J. Hoover loaded the bases without a hit. Chris Ianetta, who started the scoring with a HR, ended it with a 2-out, 2-run single in the 13th — the only hit in 18 chances with RISP by the two teams.

  • Jay Bruce went 0-5 with 4 whiffs — 0-4, 3 whiffs with RISP.
  • The game featured 30 strikeouts and 9 base hits.

@Brewers 5, Rockies 4 (10): Each side blew a late lead, but Milwaukee sent the fans home happy, if a little behind schedule, by scoring without a hit.

  • John Axford fanned the first 2 in the 9th on full counts, then allowed Dexter Fowler’s first-pitch tying HR. Last year, Axford’s 10 HRs allowed and 9 blown saves led all 30-save men.

@White Sox 1, Royals 0: Tyler Flowers, Chicago’s first new Opening Day backstop since 2005, connected in a way that A.J. Pierzynski never did. His drive off new KC ace James Shields reached the gloved and coated bleacherites, and Chris Sale & Co. turned it into the second 1-0 opening win in Pale Hose history.

  • The other such game was A.J.’s White Sox debut.
  • The 1906 Hitless Wonders scored 5 on Opening Day.
  • The biggest of Sale’s 7 Ks came in the 3rd against Billy Butler, bags full, 1 out.

Cubs 3, @Pirates 1: Anthony Rizzo provided the early lead with a HR, and Jeff Samardzija kept the Bucs joyless through 8, whiffing 9 and allowing 2 hits. The Cuddlies surmounted .500 for the first time since this April 2010 game that Samardzija won in relief.

  • The ex-footballer made a goal-line stand in the home 1st, stranding men at the corners with 2 of his 9 strikeouts.
  • Carlos Marmol showed midseason form with a 5-piece puupuu platter — strikeout, HBP, steal, scoring hit and walk — before his mates bailed him out.
  • Kyuji Fujikawa threw 2 pitches, got 1 out, and earned the save in his MLB debut.

@Mets 11, Padres 2: The last of New York’s five 2-out RBI hits was Collin Cowgill’s granny. He’s the first to taste salami in his Mets debut, and joins Todd Hundley (1995) as Mets with such an Opening Day feast.

  • The 11 runs were a Mets home O.D. record. Their only other home O.D. with 10+ runs was 1969.
  • Edinson Volquez was ragged after the 1st and rubbed raw by the 3rd, when he reached 72 pitches. But the Pads didn’t clear his spot in their 4th, and Bud Black tried to sneak him through an inning that began with the pitcher. A 4-pitch walk and a ringing double wrote a quick coda for Volquez, and when the dust settled, the Mets had 3 more runs and a 7-1 lead.
  • Black helped disperse the satisfied Mets crowd (not including your humble narrator, harrumph) with a gratuitous pitching change in the 8th, 2 outs and none on, down by 9.

What else happened? Don’t be shy, contestants!

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birtelcom
Editor
11 years ago

Outstanding. Spring has arrived in earnest.

Only Gooden and Seaver have started and gotten the W in a Mets OD game at a younger age than Niese. Impressive given the Mets tend to win on Opening Day more than anyone (though never before by this large a margin).

RJ
RJ
11 years ago
Reply to  birtelcom

How about his 1.000 OBP as well? Have any opening day pitchers done better than reaching safely three out of three times?

birtelcom
Editor
11 years ago
Reply to  RJ

“Fidgety Phil” Collins had four hits and a walk in five PAs for the Phillies on their Opening Day, 1932. He also got the complete game victory for the Phils, albeit surrendering five runs, 11 hits and two walks to the Giants in the process. They were scoring a lot of runs back there in the early 1930s.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  RJ

On 4-12-32 Phil Collins of the Phils reached base 5 times in 5 PA, 4 singles and a walk. On the same day Sad Sam Jones of the White Sox reached base 4 times in 4 PA, 1 single and 3 walks.
On 4-12-27 George Uhle of the Indians reached base 4 out of 4, 2 singles, 1 double and a walk. And on 4-12-16 Harry Coveleskie of the Tigers was 4 out of 4 on 2 singles, a double and a triple.

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
11 years ago

I guess there must be something “in the air tonight” about April 12 for those guys…

RJ
RJ
11 years ago

I wonder what the genesis of that joke was.

Darien
11 years ago

When you say “SF pitchers had hit the last 10 HRs in the series,” are you talking about the all-time series and considering only HR hit by pitchers? Or is this some sort of crazy series that had 11 HR by pitchers and none by position players? Or am I reading this 100% wrong?

RJ
RJ
11 years ago
Reply to  Darien

I’m pretty sure your first sentence is correct. Before today the last 10 homers to be hit by pitchers in SF-LA games have been by Giants.

Doug
Editor
11 years ago
Reply to  RJ

That is correct. And, here they are. Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt 1 Noah Lowry 2006-07-08 SFG LAD W 11-7 2 Jason Schmidt 2005-05-24 SFG LAD W 5-3 3 Jason Schmidt 2004-07-01 SFG LAD L 4-5 4 Russ Ortiz 2002-09-18 SFG LAD W 7-4 5 Russ Ortiz 2002-04-03 SFG LAD W 12-0 6 William VanLandingham 1995-08-04 SFG LAD W 15-1 7 Ed Halicki 1977-09-26 SFG LAD W 9-1 8 John Montefusco 1974-09-03 SFG LAD W 9-5 9 Jim Barr 1974-09-02 SFG LAD W 5-3 10 Juan Marichal 1971-05-25 SFG LAD W 9-1 Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool… Read more »

Doug
Editor
11 years ago
Reply to  RJ

Just to show how quirky these things are, in games between them, the Giants and Dodgers have each had just one game when a pitcher homered twice.

Now the quirky bit – both of those games were in the same season.

Player Date Tm Opp Rslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI
Don Newcombe 1955-04-14 BRO NYG W 10-8 4 4 2 2 0 0 2 3
Jim Hearn 1955-07-09 NYG BRO W 10-2 4 4 2 3 0 0 2 4
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/1/2013.
Doug
Doug
11 years ago

“Last year, Axford’s 10 HRs allowed and 9 blown saves led all 30-save men.”

Axford also joined a crowded group for most career OD blown saves, notching his 2nd in 3 years today.

Doug
Doug
11 years ago

“The last Opening Day pitcher’s home run in MLB was in 1988 by Joe Magrane.

And, the last OD home run by a pitcher throwing a shutout was by Bob Lemon in 1953, the only other occasion since 1916.

Doug
Doug
11 years ago

While the Yankee-Red Sox game ended up as a rout, it almost got interesting in the 7th. The Sox had just extended their lead to 5-2 in the top of the inning and went to lefty Andrew Miller for the home half. Miller proceeded to walk his first two batters with most of his offerings well wide of the mark. After a mound visit, he struck out the next two and then was replaced by Andrew Bailey who struck out Kevin Youkilis to end the threat. My question – why go to Miller? Rightie Koji Uehara had pitched a 1-2-3… Read more »

John Nacca
John Nacca
11 years ago
Reply to  Doug

Since this is the inaugural John Autin “Game Notes” column of 2013, it is also the first time in 2013 I have typed this word…….

OVER-MANAGING!!!!!!

Doug
Doug
11 years ago

“Tyler Flowers … connected in a way that A.J. Pierzynski never did.”

Pierzynski hit safely in 7 of his 8 OD games for the Sox (6 of the 8 against Cleveland), a collective 10 for 29 with 2 walks, 4 RBI and only one strikeout. But, only one of those 10 hits was for extra bases (a double).

So, the statement is true enough, though Pierzynski has hardly been a bust in OD games.

David G.
David G.
11 years ago

Thanks for the post! I hope that these continue all year. Please know that I will rarely comment but I always read the posts and I’m sure the same is true for many so don’t get discouraged if there is a dearth of comments.

Adam Darowski
Admin
11 years ago

John, you are simply the best in the business at what you do. These were magnificent as always.

Evil Squirrel
11 years ago

With the return of the games, I am also pleased to see the return of the Autin Report! While it might be rare I have something to contribute to them, I am always happy to nibble on the wonderful nuggets contained within…

Andy
Admin
11 years ago

How’s this for a sign of the times…players striking out at least 4 times on Opening Day. Done only 34 times ever, but 14 of them in just the last 10 years: Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt PA SO 1 Ike Davis 2013-04-01 NYM SDP W 11-2 5 4 2 Jay Bruce 2013-04-01 CIN LAA L 1-3 6 4 3 Brent Morel 2012-04-06 CHW TEX L 2-3 4 4 4 Matthew Joyce 2012-04-06 TBR NYY W 7-6 4 4 5 Ryan Langerhans 2011-04-01 SEA OAK W 6-2 5 4 6 Carlos Pena 2009-04-07 TBR BOS L 3-5 4 4… Read more »

Doug
Doug
11 years ago
Reply to  Andy

In another thread, Richard Chester identified that the 30 combined strikeouts by the Reds and Angels are the most in an OD game since 1916.

Previous mark was 29 by the Mariners and White Sox in 1996.

The Angles-Reds game was also only the second on OD with both clubs striking out 13+ times. Previous occasion was the Orioles and Indians in 1970, the only OD game with both starters (McNally and McDowell) striking out 11+.

Andy
Admin
11 years ago

The last 20 pitchers to earn a save in his MLB debut: Rk Gcar Player Date Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR 1 1 Kyuji Fujikawa 2013-04-01 CHC PIT W 3-1 9-9f ,S 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 Dale Thayer 2009-05-22 TBR FLA W 15-2 7-9f ,S 3.0 3 1 1 0 0 0 3 1 Emiliano Fruto 2006-05-14 SEA LAA W 9-4 6-9f ,S 3.2 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 1 Brad Thompson 2005-05-08 STL SDP W 15-5 7-9f ,S 3.0 2 1 1 1 2 1 5… Read more »

deal
11 years ago
Reply to  Andy

Unless there is a triple play in there somewhere Fujikawa is the only one to do it on 2 pitches.

Doug
Doug
11 years ago
Reply to  deal

Gracesqui needed 5 pitches and Wohlers needed 7 to retire their lone hitters.

Graceesqui had only 81 pitches for his career.

deal
11 years ago

2 notes on BoSox @ Yanks.

1) If that is the 1st HomeRun Shutout between the squads since 2008, then that is the 1st time it happened at the new stadium. A stretch of 35 games or so. Curious how that compares with last 4 seasons at the old stadium.

2) Is the last OD Home loss for Yanks 1982? – if So HoF Closer Goose Gossage went 3 1/3 that day (and took loss) pretty stretched out for Opening day.

Andy
Admin
11 years ago
Reply to  deal

I believe I counted 40 games with a homer in between yesterday’s game and the one JA cited as the previous homerless game.

Hartvig
Hartvig
11 years ago

Game notes- a surer sign that spring is upon us than any dumb old groundhog or robin ever was.

Only maybe not quite yet in Minnesota- I’m pretty sure that Leyland was more worried about frostbite than he was overworking his arm when he pulled Verlander after 5.

Abbott
Abbott
11 years ago

The A’s set the AL record with their 9th straight opening day loss. The tied the major league mark (1972-1980 Braves and 1893-1901 Giants).

mosc
mosc
11 years ago

What about the HR+Shutout by a starter? I love this combination. I mean it’s not going to happen with 27K’s on 27 faced or anything so you actually need fielders but the thought of telling 8 guys to leave their bats at home for a day has always been noteworthy. When was the last time this happened opening day aside? How often does it happen? Has it ever happened on opening day?

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  mosc

It’s already been mentioned that Bob lemon did it on OD in 1953. It has been done a number of times not on OD. When I have time later I can compile a list unless someone beats me to it.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  mosc

Very quickly I can tell you that on 9-2-71 Sonny Siebert of the Red Sox hit 2 HR to drive in all 3 runs in a 3-0 victory over the O’s.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  mosc

Here are just the games in which the pitcher threw a shutout and homered for the only run of the game:

Bob Welch 6-17-83
Juan Pizarro 9-16-71
Jim Bunning 5-5-65
Early Wynn 5-1-59
Spud Chandler 5-21-38
Red Ruffing 8-13-32

There have been dozens of games in which a pitcher threw a shutout and homered.

mosc
mosc
11 years ago

I sincerely hope those guys get a whole WAR for those games. Though I doubt they will. Maybe this will get Welch some COG 1956 love? Anybody want to vote for him?

mosc
mosc
11 years ago

Unrelated to anything in particular, I have an ERA+ question. We all know the career ERA+ leader minimum 1000 IP. I was wondering, how low an IP threshold do you have to set to pick up a guy with a better ERA+ than Mo? Kimbrel’s got 161.1 IP, there’s got to be somebody who lasted longer than that at their level, right? Or is this turning into Kimbrel is the next Mo post?

mosc
mosc
11 years ago
Reply to  mosc

EDIT: Maybe we should say ERA+ of 200 or better career?

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  mosc

My PI search shows Mo as the only pitcher with an ERA+ of greater than 200 regardless of the number of IP.

Ed
Ed
11 years ago

Are you sure Richard? My PI search is giving me several above 200. Most are still active. But not all. Granted the others all had inconsequential careers.

Among retired players, the most IP for someone with an ERA+ above 200 is Brad Kilby with 25.1.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kilbybr01.shtml

I assume he must have gotten hurt because both his minor and major league careers ended in 2010.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Ed: You are right, I obviously did something wrong for my first search. Even Jimmie Foxx exceeded 200.

mosc
mosc
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Brad Kilby was the name I was looking for apparently. Thanks Ed.

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Kilby’s 413 ERA+ is twice as high as Rivera’s. So obviously Kilby was twice as good! I look forward to voting for him when he’s eligible for the Circle of Greats!!! 🙂

mosc
mosc
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Well, in fairness, here’s the dirt on the career ending injury. Sounds like he landed OK though, I left that part in: ” •Laguna Creek High graduate Brad Kilby has decided to retire from professional baseball after a pair of surgeries on his left shoulder. “I can hit 80 miles an hour and that isn’t fast enough to get anyone out,” the former Sacramento River Cat and Oakland A’s farmhand said Friday night. During the peak of his seven-year professional career, which included a handful of games with Oakland, Kilby could regularly throw in the lower 90s. The left-handed reliever… Read more »

mosc
mosc
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Lets be extra nice to Mr Kilby here. He accumulated 0.9 WAR in his brief 25.1 IP career, what’s the highest IP guy we can find with a lower career WAR?

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Mosc – Just to be clear, I wasn’t making fun of Kilby in my #40. It was a comment on how some fans/writers evaluate players based on a very limited set of criteria.

Anyone who makes it to “The Show” deserves respect. They are among the very best in the world regardless of how long they last or how they perform.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Reply to #42:

A guy named Happy Townsend accumulated 0.5 WAR in 1137.2 IP.

And in case you’re interested in guys with a higher WAR in fewer IP there’s Spike Merena with 1.0 WAR in 24.2 IP and, of course, Jimmie Foxx with 1.0 WAR in 23.2 IP.

Doug
Doug
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

I’d be much happier with Townsend than being stuck in the (Randy) Lerch. Lerch had almost as many innings (1099), and was a -3.7 WAR. And, he really was awful. I remember when Buck Rodgers was managing the Expos and Lerch had been pulled from the rotation in mid-season because he was awful (I said that), but also because a bonus clause would kick in with one more start. Anyway, Lerch was being used strictly for mop-up innings until the last week of the season. The Mets and the Cardinals were going down to the wire and the Expos would… Read more »

Doug
Doug
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Here are the pitchers needing the fewest innings to reach certain career WAR thresholds.

-4, Jerry Stephenson, -4.6/238.1
-3, Hayden Penn, -3.5/82.1
-2, Dean Wilkins, -2.1/31.0
-1, Ace Williams, -1.0/9.0

Ace, there, had quite the career, er game. Despite pitching only those 9 innings, he faced 71 batters (!), allowing 22 hits and 13 walks. He seems to have done rather well to have allowed only 17 runs.

Doug
Editor
11 years ago
Reply to  mosc

Kimbrel is it. Nobody with IP between Kimbrel and Mo has an ERA+ better than Mo’s. Closest are Papelbon (192,499.1) and Billy Wagner (187,903).

mosc
mosc
11 years ago
Reply to  Doug

If you are facing Kimbrel and he gets 2 strikes on you, you have a 65% chance of striking out. He goes up 0-2 in approximately 34%!! of PA’s! Wow. Forget first pitch strikes, Kimbrel is basically 2 strikes ahead when you step in.

bstar
11 years ago
Reply to  Doug

They should just make a new rule where the career minimum to qualify for the ERA+ record for relievers is 500 IP, or even lower. Think about it. If the starter mark is 1000 IP, that’s what, 5 full seasons of work? Well, what is an average full season of work for a reliever? How about 60 or 70 IP? It’s probably less than that, so let’s call it 60. Even if we cut the minimum to 500 IP, that’s over eight full seasons of work. Isn’t that enough? We don’t really need to be comparing ERA+ for relievers and… Read more »

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  bstar

Of course Wagner was kind of the “anti-Rivera” during the playoffs!

Andy
Admin
11 years ago

JA–Adam and I went on a Twitter campaign this morning to try to get you a paid job writing game notes for some publication. Is this something you’d be interested in doing? I can work it for real if so. I’d hate to lose you from here, but certainly wouldn’t hold you back.

mosc
mosc
11 years ago
Reply to  Andy

Noo! Stop taking away my favorite weekly reading!

Jeff
Jeff
11 years ago

Jhoulys Chacin, your Colorado Rockies 2013 Opening Day starter.

And for those teams’ fans who are complaining about their pitching staffs, I’d like to propose a trade. Your entire pitching staff for the entire Rockies pitching staff.

Jeff
Jeff
11 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

Sure, if you look at Chacin’s numbers overall, they’re pretty good. But he’s regressing. He was very spotty last season (even when he was relatively healthy), and this spring he was awful. On Rockies radio they said he was 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA this spring, in 16 IP. To me he always seems like he’s pitching on the edge. At any point he could blow up and give up 4+ runs in an inning. His lack of control doesn’t help. And this is our BEST pitcher? What does it say about the Rockies pitching staff when a guy like… Read more »

bstar
11 years ago

In other action, Chase Utley smacked a fourth-inning solo shot against Atlanta, becoming just the 13th second baseman to record 200 career HR. I was astounded when I looked this up after seeing Utley take Tim Hudson deep. Isn’t 13 an impossibly low number? What’s weird is one of the other 12 second basemen with 200+ HR had already gone deep in the same game. Dan Uggla, looking to shake off a .220 BA, 19 HR season, hit a solo shot of his own in the second for his 210th career blast. Even though Hudson couldn’t make it through five… Read more »

mosc
mosc
11 years ago
Reply to  bstar

The braves are good. The lineup has hit a critical mass of useful pieces where pitchers can’t pitch around to the weaker guys anymore. That makes everyone better top to bottom. Their pitching staff is solid and that bullpen is as good as anybody. They’re not as sexy as the National’s “New Hotness”, but they’re built to succeed.

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  bstar

Actually if you only count home runs hit while playing 2b, then there are 8 – Kent, Sandberg, Morgan, Boone, Whitaker, Biggio, Uggla, and Alomar. Bobby Doerr likely did it as well though he doesn’t come up in the split finder results due to data limitations.

Utley is still 6 short and Cano is 31 away.

Doug
Editor
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Split finder shows only 5 players to hit 200 HRs at shortstop. So, 8 seems about right for 2nd base.

birtelcom
Editor
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Doerr had 221 HRs while playing second, according to David Vincent’s Home Run Log database (you can check it via b-ref’s player page).

Doerr’s career homers break down 145 at home, 78 on the road.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Joe Gordon likely did it also.

birtelcom
Editor
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Hornsby, Doerr and Joe Gordon all hit over 200 homers while playing 2B. 11 guys in total.

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  birtelcom

Thanks Birtelcom and Richard for the additions.

birtelcom
Editor
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

6 guys over 200 when playing short: Ripken, A-Rod, Tejada, Banks, Jeter, and Vern Stephens. Rollins needs 8 more to get to 200.

Doug
Editor
11 years ago
Reply to  bstar

That game had a charged-up atmosphere, even on TV.

The Braves look like they’ll be a fun bunch to watch. Let youth be served.

bstar
11 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

It will be a good thing for baseball if Chase Utley returns to prominence as a second baseman. Asking him to put up 7+ WAR seasons after age 33 might be too much, but his career needs a few more solid campaigns if Chase is going to make it to Cooperstown.

Utley’s 54.7 WAR thru age 33 is 13th all-time, right behind Sweet Lou at 55.3.

Jonas Gumby
Jonas Gumby
11 years ago

Great and fun game notes as always!

e pluribus munu
e pluribus munu
11 years ago

JA Extends OD W Steak
HHS Fans Flock
Free Agency Looms?
Management Tactic Questioned

James Smyth
11 years ago

When Cesar Izturis got into last night’s game for the Reds, he became the second player to appear with all five current NL Central teams (Cubs, Pirates, Cards, Brewers and now Cincy).

Ted Savage http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/savagte01.shtml did it back in the day, but he played with the Brew Crew in 1970 in their first year in Milwaukee as an American Leaguer. Neither Izturis nor Savage played with the former NL-Centraler Astros.

Evil Squirrel
11 years ago
Reply to  James Smyth

One of my favorite trivia oddities is that there is a player who played for six different teams while in the NL West. Anyone know who it is?

Andy
Admin
11 years ago
Reply to  Evil Squirrel

The name that springs to mind is Steve Finley, although I haven’t checked it. Started with the Astros out there and eventually made his way through the current ones.

Evil Squirrel
11 years ago
Reply to  Andy

Steve Finley it is!

RJ
RJ
11 years ago

Oh dear, not even two innings gone in Toronto and already three passed balls for the Dickey/Arencibia combo.

RJ
RJ
11 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

It would also be the second time Houston had been PG’d in two years by a record number of Ks.

RJ
RJ
11 years ago
Reply to  RJ

Justin Castro, Jose Altuve and Brett Wallace spared the ignominy of being being on the receving end of a perfect game twice in just roughly a couple hundred career games each (Castro has just 156 under his belt).

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

And the John Autin jinx lives!!!!