Comments on: Hard Luck

By: buckweaver

buckweaver — Sun, 31 May 2009 07:26:08 +0000

Put it this way, Kevin (#49):

If there were no distinction between runs and earned runs, Pedro’s RA would be 3.20 instead of the 2.91 ERA he has now. Maddux’s RA would be 3.56 instead of the 3.16 ERA he has now.

I’d say that’s a pretty significant difference.

And I wouldn’t necessarily agree that scorekeeping, at least at the major league level, is a joke. How many egregious hometown “gifts” do you really see every day? (At lower levels, of course, the quality varies greatly.)

By: Albanate

Albanate — Sat, 30 May 2009 18:24:34 +0000

As a life-long Mets fan, I’ve seen my share of hard luck seasons by pitchers. That season that Craig Swan had in 78 (mentioned by James in post #35)featured 13 no-decisions. In seven of those he pitched at least 7 innings while giving up two runs or less. And, as disappointing as a 9-6 record sounds while pitching over 200 innings and leading the league in ERA it could have been worse: Swan’s record was a dismal 1 – 5 on the Fourth of July despite having a 2.66 ERA through that point in the season.

Nate

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 30 May 2009 14:26:02 +0000

Has there ever been a study done comparing runs allowed vs. earned runs? If they only kept track of over all runs, would we gain or lose any historically significant pitchers? I only ask because scorekeeping seems to be a joke.

[sarcasm] Hit a routine two-hopper to an infielder, he boots it, picks it up, drops it, picks it up and launches it over the first baseman and into the stands and maybe – MAYBE – he gets an error. [/sarcasm]

Are earned runs really distinct and relevant compared to runs in the modern game?

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 30 May 2009 12:54:37 +0000

Pedro had a .343 BABIP in 99′ too!

By: astorian

astorian — Sat, 30 May 2009 12:03:58 +0000

Ah… Bobo and Bob Friend were both outdone by Jack Powell, an old-timer with the St. Louis Browns, who won 245 games but lost 254.

By: astorian

astorian — Sat, 30 May 2009 11:25:25 +0000

Browngoat- I know at least one guy with more wins than Bob Friend, but with a losing record. Bobo Newsom had 211 wins and 222 losses over his career.

By: buckweaver

buckweaver — Sat, 30 May 2009 10:03:02 +0000

Joe, you mentioned Koufax’s great start in ‘66 but you should have mentioned Marichal’s instead. Through his first 10 games that year, the Dominican Dandy’s line was:

9-0, 0.59 ERA, 92 IP, 51 H, 60 K, 8 BB, 3 HR.

Also 8 CG, 4 SHO (including a 14-inning shutout to beat the Phillies on 5/26/66).

Marichal’s 0.59 ERA is the lowest through 10 starts of anyone since the Deadball Era. Hoyt Wilhelm had an 0.83 ERA through 10 starts in 1959. Greinke this year is third, at 0.84 through 10 starts.

By: Snuckles

Snuckles — Sat, 30 May 2009 09:11:14 +0000

[i]I don’t even think Sheets had the hardest luck season of 2004…
Randy Johnson
16-14, 2.60 ERA, 290K’s, 44BB, 177 ERA+[/i]

Check out this run of five consecutive starts from Johnson in June/.July 1999:

9 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 14 K, 1 ER
8 IP, 7 H, 0 BB, 17 K, 2 ER
8 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 12 K, 1 ER
7 IP, 3 H, 4 BB, 11 K, 1 ER
8 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 8 K, 0 ER

TOTALS: 25 hits, 12 walks, and 63 strikeouts in 40 innings, with a 1.12 ERA.

W/L record: 0-4

As we watch Randy dragging his gawky body towards the 300 line, think he’d like some of those pitching lines back?

Free Fun Fact (non-hard luck division): In 2000, Pedro Martinez had a 2.44 ERA in his six losses, a figure which would have won the ERA title in either league.

By: BIP

BIP — Sat, 30 May 2009 06:56:34 +0000

Further proof that pitcher wins are utterly fucking useless.

By: Sully

Sully — Sat, 30 May 2009 04:42:39 +0000

Joe,
First time post and love the site, but no 1978 Guidry? Did a quick scan from Baseball Almanac and the Gator was 7-0, 1.92, 76.2 IP, 1HR, (surprisingly only) 54Ks, 24BB.
I always think RG gets forgotten too often. Plus he threw a shutout against the Sox in September in the Bronx at my first game. so he’s got that going for him.