Surprising baseball facts

[John1941]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Jesse Fowler went by Pete and spent most of his adult life institutionalized.

What source do you have for his having been institutionalized? I couldn't find anything online referring to it.

A surprising fact about Jesse Fowler that I do know is that the age difference between him and his brother Art Fowler (MLB 1954-64) was 23 years, the largest in MLB history. Jesse's professional career began in 1922 and Art's ended in 1970.

[Mungo Hungo]

Originally Posted by Spike

Three players hit a homer in their only PA for a franchise

* Les "Buster" Narum (BAL) May 3, 1963
* Jamie Quirk (CLE) Sept 27, 1984
* Gustavo Chacin (HOU) May 31, 2010

Narum and Chacin were taken out for pinch hitters at what would have been their next at bat.

Quirk was the only player to hit a walk off HR in his only PA for a franchise. He beat the Twins with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

That HR was enormously important for a team he had played for as recently as two years earlier and would play for again the following year (the Royals), as the Royals and Twins were in a tight AL West pennant race. His former and future teammates had asked him just a few days earlier to help them out if he got the chance.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by molenick

When I was a kid learning about baseball history, I thought it was cool that several records matched the years they were set in: Alexander's 16 shutouts in 1916, Hornsby's .424 in 1924*, Maris's 61 in 1961.

* When I was learning about baseball stats, this was considered to be the highest single season average. This was before the Macmillan Encyclopedia which adjusted Lajoie's 1901 average from .422 to .426 (if I remember correctly) and which brought more recognition to 19th century statistics, which sometimes were excluded (people would say Hornsby had the "modern record" and Duffy was more of a footnote).

Finally! Somebody else who did this!

I remember having a list of several besides the three you mentioned but the only one coming to mind right now is:

Lefty Grove, 31 wins in 1931

[Tabe]

Ted Williams:

- won two Triple Crowns
- won two MVPs
- hit .400
- hit .388
- led the majors with 145 RBI

ALL of these were accomplished in different seasons.


Joey Gallo:

Achieved 100 career home runs before 100 career singles, the only player to ever do that.


2019 LA Angels:

Until Trevor Cahill threw 4 innings at the end of September across 3 appearances, the Angels were on track to become the first team ever to have no pitchers with 100 IP. Cahill finished with 102.1.


Phil Niekro:

Led the NL in both wins AND losses in 1979 with a record of 21-20. He finished 6th in Cy Young voting and won a Gold Glove.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by John1941

What source do you have for his having been institutionalized? I couldn't find anything online referring to it.

A surprising fact about Jesse Fowler that I do know is that the age difference between him and his brother Art Fowler (MLB 1954-64) was 23 years, the largest in MLB history. Jesse's professional career began in 1922 and Art's ended in 1970.

First-hand family accounts. You're not going to find that information online.

Also, his nickname of Pete was originally "Peach". He fell out of a peach tree as a kid. At some point, "Peach" morphed into Pete.

By the time Art was born, Pete had aready been married for nearly four years.

[Yoda]

Mark, brilliant. I loved it; however, whatever may have happened between Penny and me is a taboo subject. A gentleman never tells.

[Lobo Aullando]

I had to look it up on Baseball Reference, not that I don't believe folks, it's just cool to see the line. But something else caught my eye.

He only had four PAs that year, and an average of .333... and an OBP of .250. A sac fly on 7/21 batted in the game-winning run for the White Sox (not the Indians, even). I suppose there's a good one for "lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Edited to add, it was a White Sox victory over the Indians, to boot.

Originally Posted by Mungo Hungo

Quirk was the only player to hit a walk off HR in his only PA for a franchise. He beat the Twins with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

That HR was enormously important for a team he had played for as recently as two years earlier and would play for again the following year (the Royals), as the Royals and Twins were in a tight AL West pennant race. His former and future teammates had asked him just a few days earlier to help them out if he got the chance.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by Tabe

Ted Williams:

- won two Triple Crowns
- won two MVPs
- hit .400
- hit .388
- led the majors with 145 RBI

The truly astounding thing is that both seasons Williams won the Triple Crown, he was robbed of MVP. The media's undying hatred for the man was astounding. A top 3 hitter in our game.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by Seven

The media's undying hatred for the man was astounding.

...but understandable. The guy wasn't the easiest personality to deal with, not to mention the ego. Basically DiMaggio with a mouth.

Mantle had an ego and a mouth, but the personality and his personal character flaws seemed so much more human and relatable vs. the other two guys. It explains a lot about Mick's continued popularity as compared to the waning popularities of Williams and DiMaggio.

That's not to say that Williams and Joe D. didn't have humane and decent sides to them. The fact that they often tended to keep hush-hush about their kind deeds says so much.

All three were complex personalities in their own ways. Sometimes heartwarming, often infuriating, but endlessly fascinating.

[molenick]

Originally Posted by Tabe

Finally! Somebody else who did this!

I remember having a list of several besides the three you mentioned but the only one coming to mind right now is:

Lefty Grove, 31 wins in 1931

Yeah, in my mind there was others as well, but I can't think of them now. 31 wins in 1931 is a good one.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by G1911

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/n...nd-birthdates/

Presumably it’s a result from the brothers lying about birth dates to seem younger and more attractive to MLB, and is not true.

Or they're half-brothers, which would also help explain some of the other discrepancies.

EDIT: Apparently not, just likely an uncorrected false date for Wilton's birth.

[Cory]

Somewhere on Twitter (or Facebook?) I always see crazy Tony Gwynn stats. Haven't committed any to memory, so I had to look some up (link below)-

Gwynn finished his career batting .302 with two strikes. That's easily the best mark for any player since numbers were first tracked by count in the mid-1970s. Wade Boggs comes in second at .262. In fact, in 1994, Gwynn batted an absurd .397 in two-strike counts. This one is mind-blowing to me - a 300 hitter with 2 strikes over a 20 year career.

Including postseason play, Gwynn faced 18 Hall of Fame pitchers for a total of 541 plate appearances. That’s essentially a full season’s worth of plate appearances exclusively against Hall of Famers. Gwynn batted .331/.371/.426.

Gwynn batted .300 in every season but his rookie year, giving him a record 19 straight seasons above .300. J.D. Martinez is the current leader with four straight .300-plus seasons.

Gwynn faced Greg Maddux 107 times in his career -- more than any other pitcher. He batted .415/.476/.521 against the four-time Cy Young Award winner and Hall of Famer. That's easily the highest average against Maddux for any player with at least 70 plate appearances. - I include this one as everyone needs to google the Maddux interview about Tony Gwynn.

https://www.mlb.com/news/19-facts-ab...ynn-c177069734

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by Cory

Gwynn batted .300 in every season but his rookie year, giving him a record 19 straight seasons above .300.

Cobb had 23 seasons + .300.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Seven

The truly astounding thing is that both seasons Williams won the Triple Crown, he was robbed of MVP. The media's undying hatred for the man was astounding. A top 3 hitter in our game.

Williams and Ruth, presumably. Who is your other top 3 hitter?

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Cory

Somewhere on Twitter (or Facebook?) I always see crazy Tony Gwynn stats. Haven't committed any to memory, so I had to look some up (link below)-

Gwynn finished his career batting .302 with two strikes. That's easily the best mark for any player since numbers were first tracked by count in the mid-1970s. Wade Boggs comes in second at .262. In fact, in 1994, Gwynn batted an absurd .397 in two-strike counts. This one is mind-blowing to me - a 300 hitter with 2 strikes over a 20 year career.

Including postseason play, Gwynn faced 18 Hall of Fame pitchers for a total of 541 plate appearances. That’s essentially a full season’s worth of plate appearances exclusively against Hall of Famers. Gwynn batted .331/.371/.426.

Gwynn batted .300 in every season but his rookie year, giving him a record 19 straight seasons above .300. J.D. Martinez is the current leader with four straight .300-plus seasons.

Gwynn faced Greg Maddux 107 times in his career -- more than any other pitcher. He batted .415/.476/.521 against the four-time Cy Young Award winner and Hall of Famer. That's easily the highest average against Maddux for any player with at least 70 plate appearances. - I include this one as everyone needs to google the Maddux interview about Tony Gwynn.

https://www.mlb.com/news/19-facts-ab...ynn-c177069734

Gwynn has a lot of wild stats.

Maddux and Pedro never managed to strike him out even once in significant sample sizes.

Struck out 3 times in a game only once. Struck out twice in a game only 34 times in 2,440 games.

Went 20 consecutive games or more without a strikeout 11 different times in his career.

Made every all star game from 1984 to 1999 except for 1988, a year in which he won the batting title and was 11th in MVP voting.

He would have to get 0 hits over more than 1,100 at bats to drop below a .300 average.

[Fred]

When it comes to (not) K-ing as a batter, the answer is Joe Sewell. Gwynn is probably the best of his era with avoiding the K, but gotta defer to Sewell as the king of not K-ing.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Fred

When it comes to (not) K-ing as a batter, the answer is Joe Sewell. Gwynn is probably the best of his era with avoiding the K, but gotta defer to Sewell as the king of not K-ing.

It's kind of amazing that with his .014 K rate Sewell only hit .309 in an era when .309 was not that much over the league average. There could be a whole thread for odd Sewell stats and figures alone

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by G1911

It's kind of amazing that with his .014 K rate Sewell only hit .309 in an era when .309 was not that much over the league average. There could be a whole thread for odd Sewell stats and figures alone

Sewell just using one bat over his entire career is just plain nuts. Modern day bats seem to shatter after just a couple dozen plate appearances. It is somewhat like the credit card I had recently that basically was almost unusable because it was deteriorating while being in my wallet for just two years, whereas those good old fashioned credit cards were in it for the long haul.


Brian (not that credit cards can hold a candle to bats when it comes to durability. The newer credit cards do have their uses though, especially nowadays when you can not only swipe, but also insert or tap...how convenient is that!)

[Orioles1954]

There have been three players named Aurelio in MLB history: Monteagudo, Lopez and Rodriguez. Each was killed in traffic accidents between the ages of 44 and 52.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by Eric72

Williams and Ruth, presumably. Who is your other top 3 hitter?

I flip-flop constantly. Cobb, Gehrig and sometimes Bonds. Cobb was such a complete threat, dominated the deadball era. Bonds, well the numbers speak for themselves but he truly didn't become God-Like until he was aided by some chemical assistance later in his career. Gehrig tends to hold the spot most often, however. Tremendous power, and able to hit into the gaps as well. Walked a good amount and hit for a high average on a consistent basis. Had the chips fallen, differently and he'd not contracted ALS I think we can safely assume he'd total at least in the mid 500's for homers and 3000+ hits.

That's the tough thing about these debates. I always have Ruth and Williams one and two. The hard part is choosing three!

And don't get me started if we're allowed to factor in Negro League Ballplayers! Josh Gibson and Oscar Charleston would certainly enter the conversation as well!

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by Cory

Somewhere on Twitter (or Facebook?) I always see crazy Tony Gwynn stats. Haven't committed any to memory, so I had to look some up (link below)-

Gwynn finished his career batting .302 with two strikes. That's easily the best mark for any player since numbers were first tracked by count in the mid-1970s. Wade Boggs comes in second at .262. In fact, in 1994, Gwynn batted an absurd .397 in two-strike counts. This one is mind-blowing to me - a 300 hitter with 2 strikes over a 20 year career.

Including postseason play, Gwynn faced 18 Hall of Fame pitchers for a total of 541 plate appearances. That’s essentially a full season’s worth of plate appearances exclusively against Hall of Famers. Gwynn batted .331/.371/.426.

Gwynn batted .300 in every season but his rookie year, giving him a record 19 straight seasons above .300. J.D. Martinez is the current leader with four straight .300-plus seasons.

Gwynn faced Greg Maddux 107 times in his career -- more than any other pitcher. He batted .415/.476/.521 against the four-time Cy Young Award winner and Hall of Famer. That's easily the highest average against Maddux for any player with at least 70 plate appearances. - I include this one as everyone needs to google the Maddux interview about Tony Gwynn.

https://www.mlb.com/news/19-facts-ab...ynn-c177069734

I responded to a blog hosted live by Tony Gwynn while we were living in San Diego and was answered by Tony himself. That is among my treasures. I also was in attendance when his number was retired by the Padres. He was a ballplayer anyone could look up to. He passed away horribly and way, way too young.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by jingram058

I responded to a blog hosted live by Tony Gwynn while we were living in San Diego and was answered by Tony himself. That is among my treasures. I also was in attendance when his number was retired by the Padres. He was a ballplayer anyone could look up to. He passed away horribly and way, way too young.

Learning all these facts about Gwynn has been simultaneously jaw-dropping and heartwarming. He was such a decent guy. I'm afraid I took Gwynn for granted amidst the other stars of his era. Quite ridiculous in retrospect.

[molenick]

It is not an uncommon name, but there have only been two major league players named George Burns and they played at nearly the same time: George Joseph Burns (N.L. George Burns) from 1911-1925 and George Henry "Tioga George" Burns (A.L. George Burns) from 1914-1929.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Makes you wonder what the most common MLB name is. Offhand, I know there were five different Tom Hughes and at least seven Bob Smiths.

[G1911]

There were 3 Bob Millers in 1957 and 1958, and 2 of them played for the 1962 Mets. Must have awfully confusing for the roster.

[71buc]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Roberto Clemente is the only MLB player to hit a walk-off inside-the-park grand slam. His hit gave the Pirates a 9–8 win over the Chicago Cubs at Forbes Field on July 25th, 1956.

Brian

His first homer was of the inside the park variety as well

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by 71buc

His first homer was of the inside the park variety as well

Cool, he must have been an exciting player to watch.

I should have referred to his walk-off inside the park home run as instead a 'run-off' inside the park home run, because walking wouldn't have done the trick unless all 3 outfielders were to collapse.

Brian

[Eric72]

The movie Major League is one of my favorites. Here’s one of Bob Uecker’s many, many memorable quotes:

“Just a reminder, fans, comin' up is our "Die-hard Night" here at the stadium. Free admission to anyone who was actually alive the last time the Indians won a pennant.”

Here’s the surprising baseball fact:

The release date of Major League is closer to the Indians winning that pennant than it is to modern day.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

There have been three players named Aurelio in MLB history: Monteagudo, Lopez and Rodriguez. Each was killed in traffic accidents between the ages of 44 and 52.

And two of them played for Detroit.

[Mungo Hungo]

Originally Posted by G1911

There were 3 Bob Millers in 1957 and 1958, and 2 of them played for the 1962 Mets. Must have awfully confusing for the roster.

On the flip side, there were two players named Jeff D'Amico, born a year apart. Both were pitchers and both played in 2000 (the only year Jeff D'Amico was in the majors).

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Mungo Hungo

On the flip side, there were two players named Jeff D'Amico, born a year apart. Both were pitchers and both played in 2000 (the only year Jeff D'Amico was in the majors).

I remember them well! In 2001 I was 10 and buying packs with my allowance and cash I could scrape up. Jeff D'Amico (the Brewers version) seemed to be in every single pack I bought at Target and Wal-Mart that year. I didn't get a full set, but I got 15+ D'Amico (Brewers). He was the bane of my set building existence

[Mungo Hungo]

Looking at the above two cards, who would have thought they were different players, except for the few people who knew of the existence of Jeff D'Amico no. 2? In the photos, they even look alike.

[doug.goodman]

Roy Gleason
1.000 lifetime batting average
2.000 slugging

[seanofjapan]

Isao Harimoto is the only professional baseball player in history to have a nuclear bomb dropped on him (as a kid he was in Hiroshima in 1945 when the bomb was dropped. His sister died in the blast).

In an unrelated earlier incident when he was four years old his hand was severely burned in an accident which severely disfigured it, forcing him to play ball left handed for the rest of his life.

He would go on to become Japan’s all time career hits leader (until overtaken by Ichiro, though he still holds the NPB record).

And he is still alive today.

Nothing can stop that guy.

[irishdenny]

In 1909 Mr. Ty Cobb Hit 9 Home runs an was the Home Run Leader...

None of them went over a fence !*

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Roy Gleason
1.000 lifetime batting average
2.000 slugging

Well in 5 times as many plate appearances John Paciorek batted, slugged and had an OBP all of 1.000

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Well in 5 times as many plate appearances John Paciorek batted, slugged and had an OBP all of 1.000

Yeah, Paciorek was where my mind went as well. I've never really looked in to his story, but how do you have such a formidable debut and then...nothing?

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Yeah, Paciorek was where my mind went as well. I've never really looked in to his story, but how do you have such a formidable debut and then...nothing?

Apparently he had a back injury.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/b.../John_Paciorek

[JimC]

Despite his famously gaudy 1956 stat line, the Mick had a higher WAR in 57.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Yeah, Paciorek was where my mind went as well. I've never really looked in to his story, but how do you have such a formidable debut and then...nothing?

There's a book about Paciorek but it's really bad. It's pretty obviously an 8-page magazine article stretched, stuffed and filled to become a book.

[Topnotchsy]

Yogi Berra played baseball in New England under a pseudonym towards the end of the WWII. (Years ago I won a few Cranston Firesafes programs with Cusano in the lineup. Interestingly, they spelled his name differently in different programs).

https://newenglandhistoricalsociety....-assumed-name/

[Peter_Spaeth]

Bumping my thread for a new one I just noticed -- for all his outstanding seasons including 18 wins last year, and the fact that he's been around for well over a decade, Chris Sale has only 138 lifetime wins.

[BobbyStrawberry]

He has missed significant time with injuries in his career. Still, I would have guessed a higher number for sure.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Bumping my thread for a new one I just noticed -- for all his outstanding seasons including 18 wins last year, and the fact that he's been around for well over a decade, Chris Sale has only 138 lifetime wins.

Note that surprising really, considering how starting pitchers are used these days. Jacob deGrom only had 84 wins in 3 less seasons.

Currently, there are only 20 active pitchers with 100 or more wins. Sale is actually 7th on the list.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

This is one of the most jaw-dropping baseball facts I ever personally unearthed:

While researching a bunch of players during a very hectic week of going over the Heilbroner Baseball Bureau information cards when they were together in their entirety for the final time, I took thousands of photos of cards of interest. These cards all had the players' home addresses on them from when they first started in pro ball.

There was a gentleman named Rollie Miller whose MLB career consisted of 2 IP for the 1941 Senators. He grew up in a tiny house in St. Louis.

I have this curiosity about certain blighted US cities in relation to former addresses of ballplayers. If I'm dealing with cities like St. Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, and the like, I hop on Google Streetview to see if the house still stands and what the neighborhood looks like in the present day. I did this with Rollie Miller's childhood home. It was in shambles, and was at the time listed for some paltry sum of $14 or $19K. Its most memorable feature was this green metal awning over one window which had a white letter monogrammed on the front.

Time goes by. Maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months. I'm still poring over these photos I took of the Heilbroner cards. Another MLBer with a St. Louis address comes along in my research. Again, I type the address into Streetview. It's the exact same house as Rollie Miller's! Same green monogrammed awning, same asking price. Rollie Miller was white. His parents must have sold the place and at some point the neighborhood transitioned from white to black, and this later, black player's family moved into the Rollie Miller house and spawned a Major Leaguer of their own!

Unfortunately, I can't for the life of me recall who this player was, but have a recollection that he debuted in the late 1950's. That, coupled with his ethnicity and living in St. Louis definitely narrows it down, but I can not locate the photo I took of his Heilbroner card with the same address. It will turn up again when I'm researching something unrelated.

Just think of that! This has to be the only case of two completely unrelated Major Leaguers being raised in the same house, a generation apart. This is something that nobody would have ever known if it wasn't for my unrelated interest in blighted neighborhoods.

[packs]

Long thread and this might have been posted, but in 1987 Don Mattingly set the record for most grand slams in a single season with six. He never hit another grand slam in any other season and those are the only grand slams of his career.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by packs

Long thread and this might have been posted, but in 1987 Don Mattingly set the record for most grand slams in a single season with six. He never hit another grand slam in any other season and those are the only grand slams of his career.

He also tied Dale Long's record with a homer in 8 straight games that year.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Related to my Chris Sale post, Johnny Cueto who hasn't done shit in 9 years, and who many may not know is still pitching, has more wins than Sale.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Related to my Chris Sale post, Johnny Cueto who hasn't done shit in 9 years, and who many may not know is still pitching, has more wins than Sale.

I looked it up, saw the stats, still think this is made up. He's gotta be 47 years old.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Not that surprising to me. Cueto was on all those winning Giants teams. Sale has been on not great teams for most of his career

Edit, looked it up: only a couple of playoff years with the Giants, actually. Some of his Reds teams were good though, too.