Quiz – Pitching Paradox

Here’s an unusual collection of pitchers. There are starters and relievers. Their careers ranged from two seasons to more than twenty. They pitched in ten decades, from the 1910s to the 2000s. There are players you probably have never heard of – and there’s a HOFer.

But these pitchers, and only these pitchers, have accomplished a feat no other pitcher has achieved. What common thread unites this group?

The quiz has been solved. Congratulations to the team of Richard Chester and Nadig!

 

 

 

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Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago

At the risk of coming up with the essential clue without actually solving the puzzle once again, I think it has something to do with Starting and Finishing games in the same season…

Ted B
Ted B
12 years ago

something to do with ks?

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago

It is not about the postseason.
Not about hitting triples.
Not about having a great moustache.

And can someone tell me why auto-corrects do not recognize the word ‘moustache.’ ?

Devon
12 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

I’m guessing it’s ’cause you have the en-US dictionary for your auto-correct. That pobably wouldn’t recognize the British spelling of the word.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago
Reply to  Devon

mustache…

Oh. I had no idea that was even an option.

That doesn’t look right.
Moustache looks right.

J. B. Rainsberger
12 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

The word is French; “moustache” would be the only way to spell it in French.

MikeD
MikeD
12 years ago

I was looking at the BB and SO percentages, noting many had seasons with more walks than strike outs. Can’t imagine they’re the only ones to do that, though.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago
Reply to  MikeD

Yes, they are mostly extreme at BB/K, but Borbon, Mays, and Gossage seem to derail that one.

Ted B
Ted B
12 years ago

Boland struck ruth out three times in the same game before

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago

In 1970 Borbon had 2 losses:
His first appearance of the season, which was a start.
And his last appearance of the season, which was a GF.

Probably not relevant, though, as we have no way of searching game logs for Standrich…

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago

8 out of 16 of them played Exactly ONE season with a team from St. Louis.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

And the first three guys on the list – Houck, Boland, and Linke, all ended their careers with one season on the Browns.

bstar
bstar
12 years ago

Doug….they all have exactly one season with an ERA+ under 70?

bstar
bstar
12 years ago
Reply to  bstar

Balls! That’s not it.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago

Season with a .700 winning % and an era+ under 100

mthwhite
mthwhite
12 years ago
Reply to  Doug

Season of 1).700 winning %
2)era+ under 100
3) More wins than games started

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
12 years ago
Reply to  mthwhite

Nope. Doesn’t work for Byron Houck. I’m going with my comment below (#25).

bstar
bstar
12 years ago

This is a lot of fun and completely maddening at the same time, especially while trying to watch two or three basketball games simultaneously.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago
Reply to  bstar

Oh yeah? My wife just told me that she doesn’t want to cook tonight. I’m now in the kitchen, trying to contemplate quinoa.

And my auto-spell doesnt know quinoa.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

Awww crap, just got told that we are going out to dinner.
Good luck everybody.

The answer has got to be here:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/standpe01.shtml?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool

bstar
bstar
12 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

Off to the kitchen! I don’t even know what the hell quinoa is. I went for the salami sandwich instead.

Darien
12 years ago
Reply to  bstar

Quinoa is a grain, rather similar to barley. And Voomo got it right even with no autospell. 😀

John Autin
Editor
12 years ago

I’m not going to guess, but I think it’s OK to say that I can’t fit Odell Jones into the puzzle.

John Autin
Editor
12 years ago
Reply to  Doug

Odell’s only winning season with an ERA+ below 100 was 5-0 with a 92 ERA+. Byron Houck suggests the W% requirement cannot be over .700.

So, I search for 5+ wins, ERA+ 92 or less, W% .700 or better. And I get 131 seasons. I add a 2-GS minimum, which narrows it down to 72 seasons.

I’ve even tried a relational requirement – W% at least .01 times ERA+ (and at least 5 wins and 2 GS) – yields 20 seasons, with most but not all of the target guys.

Jason Z
12 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

I remember watching a Met’s game in the late 70’s where Mr. Jones
through a pitch directly into the third base dugout.

Was I dreaming?

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
12 years ago

.700+ winning pct., ERA+ 3.75

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
12 years ago

Whoa… that comment didn’t come out right. I meant to say that they each had a season with a 700 winning percentage (or greater), an ERA+ below 100, but an ERA above 3.75.

John Autin
Editor
12 years ago

Name – Beware of using less-than/greater-than symbols in these comments. Sometimes they get interpreted as HTML tags, which ends up swallowing some of your text.

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
12 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

Thanks. You just saved me from serious time checking my antivirus software.

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
12 years ago

Correction: .700 win pct or greater, ERA+ below 100, ERA above 3.50. Standridge’s was 3.61.

bstar
bstar
12 years ago

Season with a winning percentage of .800 or more and an ERA+ under 100?

Insert Name Here
Insert Name Here
12 years ago
Reply to  bstar

Byron Houck’s best winning pct was .700.

DaveR
DaveR
12 years ago

Ed is the common Linke.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago

Yes! Back from dinner and nobody’s got it!

@22
bstar, quinoa is a type of grain from south america. In the goosefoot family. Looks like couscous but the plant itself is actually more closely related to spinach.
But I had spaghetti with lamb at the restaurant.

I still don’t know the answer, though…

John Autin
Editor
12 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

There’s a goosefoot family?

Anyway, I love quinoa, whatever it is.

And I think the keys to the puzzle are Odell Jones and Chad Kimsey.

bstar
bstar
12 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

Thanks, Voomo, I certainly can eat the heck out of some couscous so it sounds tasty. So does your spaghetti and lamb;I opted for a lean cuisine since real food makes me all diabetic and fat. Viva la microwave!

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago

This answer may have come out of Cliff Calvin’s kitchen, but perhaps the 3rd factor is that they all also had an ops+ under 100 as batters.

And there is a strain called Giant Goosefoot whose leaves are more nutritious than spinach, it grows 8 feet tall, and when it bolts (after you are done with it), it feeds birds for weeks.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
12 years ago

W-L% times 100 is greater then the ERA+.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
12 years ago

Make that than, not then.

Nadig
Nadig
12 years ago

That criterion plus at least 80 innings pitched and at least 4 wins.

bstar
bstar
12 years ago

Didn’t they all have a season with a .000 winning percentage? That might be half of it.

MikeD
MikeD
12 years ago
Reply to  Doug

I was just about to guess they were the only pitchers in MLB history to have seasons with a zero winning percentage and a .700 winning percentage, while posting ERA+s of below 80. In other words, I wasn’t even close!

bstar
bstar
12 years ago
Reply to  Doug

Ok, time for a new game. Alex, I’ll take “Halladay’s a lock for 300” for $400. 🙂

MikeD
MikeD
12 years ago
Reply to  bstar

Be as that may, Alex, Halladay and Sabathia are people who have never been in my kitchen.

John Autin
Editor
12 years ago
Reply to  MikeD

Bob Gibson & Don Drysdale woulda’ got in yer kitchen.

Lawrence Azrin
Lawrence Azrin
12 years ago
Reply to  John Autin

Dennis Eckersley actually used to say “I threw a yakker in his kitchen”.

I am guessing that he meant he threw a fastball in a batter’s wheelhouse. Anyone here who can translate Eck-speak??

#50/MikeD – nice reference to the infamous Cliffie Clavin “Jeopardy” episode on Cheers. My first reaction to that list on top was “these are 15 pitchers who have never been in my kitchen”.