BaseballReference.com oddities

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94chem
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In reply to McInnis • 10:39a, 9/5/25
McInnis said:
Drunken Overseas Bettor said:
McInnis said:
Drunken Overseas Bettor said:
McInnis said:
Drunken Overseas Bettor said:
'79 was was the first year the Angels made the playoffs after 19 years of sucking, so that was probably the real tipping point in the MVP race. '79 ...


There were four expansion teams in the early 60s. Baseball was rough on expansion teams then. There was no free agency then so teams couldn't buy a roster like they can now. So they struggled. It took Houston and New York 8 years before breaking .500 for the first time, and Washington (now Texas) 9 years. But improbably the Angels did it in their second year finishing in 3rd place with a record of 86-76.

I think I posted earlier this year about how the Mets have never reached .500 as a franchise because of how bad they were from 62-68. It's also ironic that the year that the Angels finally made the playoffs was the year that Nolan was a free agent. He walked to the Astros and was then on the Astros' first-ever playoff team the next year (80). That has probably happened again, but was I'm sure a rarity back in that era.


And Nolan was on the Met's first playoff team as well.

Wow that is nuts and he was on that Ranger team that .... oh, nevermind.

You went there! Had the same thought, but thought better of it.

Edited to be fair. If Nolan had pitched just three more years he would have been part of the first playoff team of all four expansion franchises of the early 60s.

Well, to get technical but ugly, TEX was in first place in '94, 10 games under .500, when the strike happened. So Nolan was only one season away from being on a first place team.
94chem,
That, sir, was the greatest post in the history of TexAgs. I salute you. -- Dough
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AgRyan04
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7:16p, 9/5/25
Ron Wright

Saw this and I had to look it up myself.

One career game. Three plate appearances. Accounted for six outs! Strikeout, double play, triple play. Never to be seen again!

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wrighro02.shtml
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Smeghead4761
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10:59p, 9/7/25
Until Saturday, no team in MLB history had carried a no hitter for 8 2/3 innings and then gone on to lose the game.

The Dodgers managed it Saturday night against the Orioles. (And as I Giant's fan, I am chortling gleefully.)
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AgRyan04
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In reply to Smeghead4761 • 11:02p, 9/7/25
I saw that.....and I'm pretty surprised that hasn't happened before
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Smeghead4761
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In reply to AgRyan04 • 3:59a, 9/8/25
I do find it kind of odd that the Dodger manager lifter the starter after the HR that broke up the no hitter. They were still up by 2, and Yamamoto had been dominant. So it was really the bullpen (the two pitchers after the starter failed to record the lone remaining out) that blew the game.

Cue the pitch count debate: Yamamoto was over his high count for his MLB career (112, previous MLB high 110), although not for his overall career (138 in Japan.)
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Drunken Overseas Bettor
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In reply to AgRyan04 • 11:10a, 9/8/25
AgRyan04 said:
I saw that.....and I'm pretty surprised that hasn't happened before

I thought the same thing, especially in days of yore when there were a ton of 1-0 games. Just having a guy on with a walk in a 1-0 could turn into a no-hitter / walkoff with someone hitting a homer.
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AgRyan04
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8:27a, 9/11/25

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Smeghead4761
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11:21p, 9/13/25
Friday night, Patrick Bailey of the Giants became the first player to hit a walk-off inside the park HR and a walk-off grand slam in the same season.
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W
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3:01p, 9/15/25
AG
random oddity...

in 1992 Steve Finley at age 27 hit 5 home runs in 607 at-bats for the Astros

averaged 1 HR per 121 AB's that year

finished his career with 304 homers
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Drunken Overseas Bettor
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In reply to W • 3:57p, 9/15/25
W said:
random oddity...

in 1992 Steve Finley at age 27 hit 5 home runs in 607 at-bats for the Astros

averaged 1 HR per 121 AB's that year

finished his career with 304 homers

Steve Finley and Luis Gonzalez's careers post-Astros are total bull*****

Finley - 4 years in Houston, 4 in San Diego, 6 in Arizona
32 HR in Houston, 85 in SD, 153 in Ari. Slugging % went from 406 to .458 to .500.
Caminiti was so juiced up winning the MVP in '96 for the Padres that no one seemed to notice Finley go from 10 HR and 44 RBI in 95 to 30 Hr and 95 RBi a year later.

Totally normal to e hitting 10 HR when you're 29, but then 36 HR when you're 39.


Gonzalez - 7 years in Hosuton, 2 with the Cubs,then 8 with Arizona

62 HR in Houston - highest was 15; 22 HR in Chicago, highest was 15. 224 HR in Arizona, with totals of 26, 31, 57, 28, 24, 17 (105 games), 24, 15. He never drove in more than 79 runs in a year - tha with the Cubs in 96, then had 111, 114, 142, 103, and 104 for the Diamondbaks.

I find his 57 HR in 2001 far more disgusting than Bonds hitting 73.

At least the HOF voters agreed.
Gonzo finished with 2,591 hits and 354 HR and got 5 votes (0.9%) in 2014. Hideo Nomo got 6 for a career record of 12-109 and a career ERA of 4.24.

A year before, Finley got even less of a percentage - 0.7% - with 4 votes, one fewer than David Wells and his 4.13 career ERA.
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jja79
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10:59p, 9/16/25
AG
I found this not really odd but interesting. Robert Redford and Don Drysdale graduated from the same high school in 1954.
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W
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1:25p, 9/17/25
AG
it is interesting looking back...

how some steroid era home run hitters got very lucky in that their age 28, 29, 30 seasons lined up with 1999, 2000, 2001;

so their HR increases could be explained (or explained away) by occurring in the "prime years" of their career
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Drunken Overseas Bettor
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In reply to jja79 • 2:39p, 9/17/25
jja79 said:
I found this not really odd but interesting. Robert Redford and Don Drysdale graduated from the same high school in 1954.

Gotta tell the Don Drysdale story that's in Nolan Ryan's book on pitching now.

Dodgers are playing the Phillies in 1960. Drysdale pitching against Robin Roberts. Drysdale plugs a couple of the Phillies so Philadlephia's manager - Gene Mauch - who I guess lived to be about 300 years old since he was also managing the Angels in the 80s - tells Robin Roberts - hit Drysdale when he comes up.

Robin Roberts is buddies with Drysdale and won't do it, do Mauch yanks him out of the game and puts Turk Farrell (future Astro) in the game with the express instruction to hit Don Drysdale with a pitch.

Farrell is so nervous he throws the first one 10 feet over Drysdale's head. Mauch comes up on the top step of the dugout and yells, " I SAID HIT HIM!" so everyone knows it's coming.

Farrell is really nervous now and throws it right down the middle by accident. Drysdale hits a double into the gap. Gets to 2B and yells, "Hey, Farrell! There's your gotdamn brush back pitch!"

Farrell doesn't like being shown up, so he before the next pitch he turns like he's going to pick Drysdale off and pegs him in the back with ball and yells, "Hey Drysdale, there's your gotdamn double!"

Benches clear, Farrell is thrown out, etc.

Fast-forward to May 1961, Farrell is traded to the Dodgers.

He figures he better go try to nip the problem in the bud so first day there, he goes right to Drysdale and says, "Mr. Drysdale, I want to apologize for last year, I was just following my manager's orders and I lost my cool."

Drysdale shakes his hand, says he appreciates the apology, takes his hat off, reaches under the brim and takes out a folded piece of paper.

Unfolds it and Farrell sees a list of names - including his - on it. Drysdale take a pen and scratches out Farrell's name. Farrells says, "Uh, what is that?" Drysdale shrugs - "It's a list of guys I'm going to bean this year."
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McInnis
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In reply to Drunken Overseas Bettor • 9:34p, 9/17/25
AG
Cool story. I would love to see video of a game with Drysdale and Gibson the starting pitchers.
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07ag
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3:36p, 9/26/25
AG
if you search for 'george costanza' on bbref, it will take you to jason alexander's page
https://ts.la/eric59704
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AgRyan04
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2:52p, 9/29/25
Paul Goldschmidt has more Silver Sluggers at first base than any other player
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Corporal Punishment
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5:16p, 9/29/25
AG
Hall of Famer Tony Perez never led the league in any hitting statistic…except for grounding into double plays in 1980.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/perezto01.shtml
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Drunken Overseas Bettor
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In reply to Corporal Punishment • 11:35a, 9/30/25
Corporal Punishment said:
Hall of Famer Tony Perez never led the league in any hitting statistic…except for grounding into double plays in 1980.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/perezto01.shtml

That's a great one. His his best season - 1970 - he didn't even lead his own team in HR (40) or RBI (129) because Johnny Bench went thermonuclear with 45 HR and 48 RBI.
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Smeghead4761
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8:20p, 9/30/25
Minor statistical oddity, but Rafael Devers (BOS/SFG) played in 163 regular season games this season, without any tie breaker play-in.
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McInnis
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8:12a, 10/1/25
AG
On this day in history, in 1903, the first World Series game was played with the Pittsburg Pirates beating the Boston Red Sox 7-3.

And that game gave rise to a pretty cool trivia question: who was the first pitcher to lose a World Series game?

It was Cy Young.
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W
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9:29p, 10/3/25
AG
here's another one...

Dante Bichette -- one of the original Mile High and Coors Field rockstars -- posted the following career numbers:

1,906 hits
401 doubles
274 HR's
1,142 RBI
152 stolen bases

.299 career BA
.835 career OPS

plus 4-time all-star

and everything added up to a career WAR of 5.7 -- that's it
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AgRyan04
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In reply to W • 11:31p, 10/3/25
His 1999 season WAR is maybe the most baffling stat I've ever seen
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Fuzzy Dunlop
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In reply to AgRyan04 • 8:38a, 10/4/25
AG
He was a terrible defender. Had the NL used the DH, he would have been a great one.
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AgRyan04
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In reply to Fuzzy Dunlop • 8:46a, 10/4/25
Sure I get that....but I also think it's wild that a bad defender who is willing to play in the field is a "worse" player than someone who never touches a glove.

Could someone like Lance Berkman possibly be in the HOF if he played DH rather than play outfield for those years because his team needed him there?
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W
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9:11a, 10/4/25
AG
Bichette had 128 outfield assists in his career

and 80 errors
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GrapevineAg
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10:51a, 10/25/25
AG
Apologies if this has already been posted here, but this is a pretty cool and obscure stat…

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AgRyan04
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In reply to GrapevineAg • 3:54p, 10/25/25
He was so damn good
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Smeghead4761
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In reply to AgRyan04 • 11:27p, 10/25/25
AgRyan04 said:
He was so damn good

I saw a video clip recently about how he would call his own pitches, using how he caught the ball coming back from the catcher and a couple other things as signs.

Apparently nobody ever caught on.
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GrapevineAg
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In reply to Smeghead4761 • 3:47p, 10/26/25
AG
https://fansided.com/posts/braves-greg-maddux-genius-greater-than-we-realized

One of my favorite Maddux stories, and it's related to him calling his own pitches.
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jkag89
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4:15p, 10/28/25
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AgRyan04
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In reply to jkag89 • 7:57p, 10/28/25
That is incredible
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McInnis
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In reply to AgRyan04 • 8:45a, 10/29/25
AG
Really one of the most on brand posts of this entire thread. That just defies any kind of probability. I wonder if Warren ever even realized this.
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AgRyan04
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10:55a, 11/9/25
Ruben Sierra played the final THIRTEEN seasons of his career with a -3.8 WAR....how did he keep getting contracts?
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AgRyan04
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9:37p, 11/10/25
Not specifically BaseballReference, but was just watching this clip and I couldn't help but wonder how much the modern league batting average would go up if the defense wore those gloves?

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AgRyan04
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8:23a, 11/18/25
Tom Candioti from 1986 to 1993 with Cleveland, Toronto, LAD was pretty underrated. No CY votes, no All-Star appearances.

Averaged a 4.43 WAR over those 8 seasons on some AWFUL clubs. He got traded to Toronto in 1991 during his best season (7.1 WAR) and that was the only team over that stretch that made the post season.

1986 4.9
1987 0.9
1988 5.7
1989 4.7
1990 2.8
1991 7.1
1993 4.4
1993 4.9

Interesting....never realized he was that good
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