Selected observations on Monday’s action.

Mariners 8 @ Indians 10 Yan Gomes was the hero with a walk-off 3-run HR in the 10th, overcoming a solo shot by Seattle’s Justin Smoak in the top of the inning. It was Gomes’ second long ball of the day, giving him 4 for the season in just 55 PAs. Gomes is one of just 13 hitters so far this season who does NOT have more strikeouts than extra-base hits (min. 5 XBH). In 2012, just 3 players (Albert Pujols, Jose Reyes, Salvador Perez) managed that feat with a minimum of 20 extra-base hits.

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Congratulations to the following readers on solving the quizzes:

Part 1: wlcmlc, Dr. Doom and Richard Chester teamed up to identify that all of these players had a season with equal totals for walks, runs and RBI, numbering at least 40 (or any number from 38 to 43).

Part 2: Richard Chester and Bix identified that these players had a season with identical totals for doubles and HRs that also equaled their age on June 30 of that season

Part 3: Richard Chester identified that these players had 3 or more seasons of 30 or more walks and more than 3 times as many RBI as walks

The lists of players and their seasons for the three quizzes are after the jump.

My favorite player for this sort of thing is Butch Nieman. He played just 3 seasons for the Braves during World War II, but managed to compile these weird and wacky totals:

• 1943: 39 runs, walks and strikeouts. RBI = 46 = BB (39) + HR (7)
• 1944: 65 runs and RBI. 47 walks and strikeouts. 16 doubles and HR. RBI = 65 = BB (47) + HR (16) + 2
• 1945: 43 runs and walks. RBI = 56 = BB (43) + HR (14) – 1

Incidentally, with those 37 career homers, Nieman’s rate of 1 HR per 32 PAs ranked 10th best in the majors for 1943-45, among those with 30+ HR for the period.

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Back in 2010 the New York Yankees were in possession of a pair of talented minor league catchers by the names of Jesus Montero and Austin Romine. Both players were considered top-100 prospects by Baseball America and both players appeared to be on their way to long, prosperous careers. Romine was considered the finer defender of the two, topping out at #86 in Baseball America’s rankings while Montero was thought to be a powerhouse offensive force, ranking among the top 5 minor league players in the game. While Yankee fans spoke well of Romine they positively salivated at the idea of putting Montero’s prodigious power behind the plate as visions of 35 homer seasons danced in their heads.

There was a catch however. Montero’s defense was considered to be so shaky by the Yankees brain trust that rumors of him becoming a full-time DH were already circulating before he could even advance past Double-A Trenton. Scouting reports pegged Montero’s glove work as shoddy and his throw times to 2nd base as well below Major League average.

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Yeah, weird title, I know.

On my way to work every day, I pass a womens’ health clinic that offers, among many other services, abortions. Most days there is a small contingent of protesters outside the clinic, and one of them is usually holding a sign that reads “Women regret abortions.”

This sign always makes me think of baseball and statistics. If I saw someone holding up a sign reading “Joe Carter had over 100 RBI in his age 37 season!!” I would feel compelled to roll down the window and shout “but he sucked horribly that year with a 77 OPS+….77!!!”

Don’t get me started on the loon heralding Dante Bichette’s second-place MVP finish in 1995.

These are all examples of cherry-picked statistics that give the wrong impression without the complete picture. Joe Carter and Dante Bichette DID do those things, but they also sucked those seasons. Women who have abortions probably do experience feelings of regret, but how much more might they regret giving birth to a child they don’t want for some reason? I don’t think the sign about women regretting abortions presents anything close to the full picture.

Just to be clear, I’m not taking any side on the abortion issue–I’m just pointing out an everyday example of the type of statistical misuse we’re accustomed to seeing in baseball.

@Phillies 3, Reds 2: Did I read this right? With a 1-run lead, Aroldis Chapman started the 9th by walking Delmon Young, on 4 pitches. Then Cliff Lee pinch-ran — and got picked off. But never mind; Erik Kratz homered to tie it …

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Did I miss the fanfare? I found no mention of it in the news accounts. But according to the B-R Split Finder, when he led off the 6th inning Friday, David Ortiz became the all-time leader in plate appearances as a designated hitter.* He passed Harold Baines in his 3rd trip to the plate that night, which also became his 3rd single of the game. He later walked to help produce the winning run.

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Game of the Day

@Indians 5, Mariners 4: What disaster? On a shirtsleeve day in Cleveland, the unflappable Tribe shook off the top-half’s shocks and went straight to their work in the last of the 9th, and the lunchpail gang wound up with on-field congrats for the 2nd time in 18 hours.

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LOOGY, referring to the lefty one-out guy, a term coined by Rob Neyer when they became quite popular in the early 1990s.

Here’s a chart looking at single-batter lefty-reliever appearances over the years. Continue reading →

This basic plot shows the fraction of game starts made by left-handed pitchers.

Before making the plot, I had expected this percentage to generally increase over time. That’s clearly not the case.

I’m particularly interested in the major dip starting in 1993. This seems to coincidence with the Steroids Era. Does this suggest that the increase in offense during this period is due, in part, to lack of availability of left-handed starters? Or were fewer left-handed starters used for some other reason?

Bunch of exciting games today. You know which one I watched, so the rest of you gotta help me out!

Mets 3, @Cubs 2: Thirty-four years ago Friday, visiting SP Randy Lerch homered to cap a 7-run Philly 1st. He was knocked out after 6 batters in the bottom half. This afternoon, Matt Harvey gave up some loud drives early and one infield hit that scored 2 runs in the 1st. But the wind was blowing in, and he retired 20 of the next 21.

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