On Wednesday’s NLCS game, Tom Verducci remarked on this factoid.

Above is a list by team of the number of 2014 post-season games with 4 or fewer batting strikeouts. So, where is the rest of the list, you ask? Actually, that is the whole list. The Giants have had no more than 4 batting strikeouts in 5 of their 10 post-season games. The other 9 playoff teams – nada.

Verducci has expressed how impressed he is by the Giants’ ability to score without the need of a base hit, a knack he attributes to their low strikeout total. The rationale is that fewer strikeouts mean more balls in play, more pressure on the defense and, therefore, more runs scored. Is he right? Let’s find out.

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The players in this quiz were all well traveled. But, what career accomplishment distinguishes them from all other players since 1901?

Congratulations to Richard Chester! He knew right away that only these players were regulars for three different franchises, and had a season playing 100 games at a different position with each of those teams. For the players in this group, those positions were 2B, 3B and SS, with Denis Menke adding in a season at 1B for good measure. More on these in-demand and versatile players after the jump.

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One of the nice things about playoff baseball is the opportunity to watch teams that you don’t see that often and, in so doing, see some players that may have flown under your radar. One such player is the Angels’ Joe Smith, a pitcher with a profile as anonymous as his name, but with a very different pedigree.

More after the jump on an anything but ordinary Joe.

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Kansas City’s 29-year absence from the post-season has ended with a bang. But, this is not your typical playoff team.

More after the jump.

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This season marks only the fifth time in major league history that three active players have had three or more seasons with a particular batting accomplishment. The players involved on those occasions are shown below. What is this unusual batting feat?

Congratulations to Richard Chester! With some help from others, he correctly identified that only in the years indicated were there three active players who had then compiled  3 seasons of 6 WAR, 35 home runs and 100 walks. Three such seasons is quite rare, with only two players achieving that feat in addition to those above. At no time have more than 3 active players concurrently achieved that distinction. More after the jump.

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Jordan Zimmerman notched his first career no-hitter on Sunday thanks to a great catch (5:00 mark) by left-fielder Steven Souza to end the game.

With boxscores courtesy of baseball-reference.com and video from mlb.com, here’s a sampling of other stellar plays on the final out of a no-hitter.

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Last Tuesday at Wrigley, Jake Arrieta fanned 13 Reds and faced only one batter over the minimum in a masterful one-hit shutout. That game crowns an impressive campaign in which Arrieta has posted this line, with every one of his rate stats a career best.

More on Arrieta’s breakout year after the jump.

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A new tool in the Baseball-Reference Play Index allows analysis of player and team performance over any contiguous portion of a season, bounded by team game numbers. Thus, with every team having played at least 149 games as of Sep 15th, here is how this year’s playoff contenders have fared over the twenty games from 130 to 149.

How have past playoff teams fared going down the stretch? Do hot teams stay hot, or does just making the playoffs render a team vulnerable to an October letdown? Are teams which clinch early better advised to coast down the stretch, or keep the pedal to the metal? More after the jump.

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These are the only pitchers since 1920 with an unusual season pitching accomplishment. What is it?

Congratulations to donburgh and BryanM! They teamed up to identify the quiz players as the only pitchers since 1920 with a 20 win season aged 35 or older in the first year with a new team (or teams). Thus, they paid off on the gamble that was made in acquiring a proven but aging veteran. More after the jump.

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What is the career accomplishment that is shared only by these players since 1901?

Hint: Jackie Robinson is the one HOFer who almost made this list

Congratulations to Artie Z.! He knew that these players always came up roses because they never came up short. Or, rather, as shortstop. The quiz players are part of a larger group of 63 players who all played 250+ games at both 2nd base and 3rd base since 1901, but only these seven never played a game at shortstop. Included in the larger group are 3 HOFers – Jackie Robinson who played shortstop once, and Paul Molitor and Frankie Frisch who both did so 50+ times. More after the jump.

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