With the above game log, Jose Abreu became the 552nd player since 1914 to make his major-league debut as a starter on opening day, and the only one to do so in 2014. That’s 552 out of more than 14,000 major-leaguers who have debuted in the past 101 seasons (and only the eighth of those 552 with a 4-1-2-1 box score line).

The great majority of major-leaguers debut less auspiciously, perhaps called up mid-season to replace an injured or faltering vet, or as one of a number of hopefuls trying to impress in September. Even those who make the big club coming out of spring training will often see their first action a few games into the season, perhaps as a defensive replacement or pinch-runner, or possibly in a pinch-hitting role in a blow-out game. Only a very few debut in the starting lineup on opening day, baseball’s equivalent of being thrown in the deep end to see if you can swim.

After the jump, more on players who begin their careers as opening day starters.

Continue reading →

Games Notes just wants to stay within itself this year. It’s a long season, and we do this every day….

Mariners 8, @Angels 3 — Seattle’s Joe Beimel earned the year’s first no-pitch Hold. Summoned for Raul Ibanez, Beimel instead picked off David Freese to end the 8th with a 3-run lead. (If only Freese had ever been eyewitness to such basepath blundering….)

Continue reading →

Right on time, late as always…

Phillies 14, @Rangers 10 — Tanner Scheppers (7 runs in 4 IP) didn’t take the loss in his starting debut, but he did match the Texas Opening Day low with a 17 Game Score. At least he’s in good company: Fergie Jenkins and Charlie Hough beat him to that mark. And Scheppers scored better than winning pitcher Cliff Lee (8 R, 5 IP, 13 GSc). Lee’s ERA is 13.50 in two openers, both at Texas, and 8.35 in eight visiting starts there.

Continue reading →

These nine players are the only major leaguers to have a game since 1914 with one of two unusual offensive accomplishments (as indicated by the two columns). Those two accomplishments are quite similar. What are they?

Congratulations to Relief Man and Richard Chester! They quickly (and correctly) deduced that this quiz was likely related to opening day exploits. Like the alchemist turning dross into gold, the first group of 6 players had an opening day game scoring 3 runs without a hit, while the second group scored twice without an official AB. Those games are after the jump.
Continue reading →

We’ve seen three baseball games so far this year, and if that’s a meaningful sample, I think Hyun-Jin Ryu has all the major awards locked up.

We’ve also seen eight plate appearances this season that ended with bunts.  After the jump, a few facts about those bunts, which will accomplish nothing except establishing a baseline for a feature I hope to bring back to these pages with some regularity throughout the summer.

Continue reading →

Here’s how one small group of hitters progressed through their 20s:

Continue reading →

This post is for voting and discussion in the 53rd round of balloting for the Circle of Greats (COG).  This round complete the addition of those players born in 1928.  Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

Appearing on his fortieth, and now final, High Heat Stats Circle of Greats ballot, Lou Whitaker at last joins his longtime double-play partner, Alan Trammell, in the Circle of Greats as our 52nd inductee.  Whitaker edged out Sandy Koufax by a mere two votes.  More on Lou and the voting after the jump. Continue reading →

The Yankees opened their 1956 season on the road, at Griffith Park against the old Senators (now Twins).  Mickey Mantle had two home runs that day, but Yogi Berra, batting immediately after Mantle in the lineup, managed to rack up five RBIs anyway, posting the highest RE24 of any hitter in the majors in an Opening Day game during the 1950s. Yankees/Senators 4/17/1956

RE24, you may recollect if you are regular High Heat Stats reader, is a measure of how much the result of a hitter’s plate appearance increased (or reduced) his team’s run-scoring chances in that inning.  With a man on second and one out, the average number of runs scored in the rest of the inning will be about 0.72.  With a man on second and two outs, that number drops to about 0.35, so a hitter who strikes out with a man on second and one out is given an RE24, for that PA, of -0.37.  But if instead he singles and the man on second scores, the team’s run scoring expectation has increased to the one run that actually did score plus the 0.29 that will score on average given the new base-out condition of one out and no men on.  So the hitter gets an RE24 credit, for his RBI single, of 1.29 minus 0.72, or .57.  More on Opening Day RE24s after the jump.   Continue reading →

Paul Goldschmidt had the longest active hitting streak in the majors going when the regular season ended last year. His streak stood at 19 games in a row with at least one hit.  In Australia, Goldy picked up right where he left off, getting not just one but two hits in each of the first two games of the 2014 season.  That brings his on-going hit streak to 21 games. More numbers inspired these facts are after the jump. Continue reading →