BaseballReference.com oddities

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CharleyKerfeld
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11:52a, 11/19/25
Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz were part of the same rotation full-time from 1993-1999

Their records in that time frame:

Smoltz: 100-59 (.629)
Maddux: 126-54 (.700)
Glavine: 114-56 (671)

Total: 340-171 (.665)
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AgRyan04
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9:57p, 12/8/25
Wade Boggs led the AL in OPS in 1988 but only had 5 HRs
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AgRyan04
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8:25a, 12/21/25
The Gold Glove award was introduced in 1957.

In the American League Bobby Shantz and Jim Kaat won 17 of the first 18 awarded to AL pitchers.

The lone year missed was 1961 when Frank Lary of the Tigers won it. Shantz had moved to the NL (where he won four more GG, including 1961). Kaat's streak started in 1962, which coincided with his first AS appearance.
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AgRyan04
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10:48p, 12/22/25
AJ Burnett made his first (and only) All-Star appearance in his 17th season at the age of 38
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AgRyan04
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10:30p, 1/21/26
Jim Thome's 2002
7.4 WAR, 52 HR, 101 R, 113 RBI, .304 BA, 1.122 OPS

Not an All-Star...haha
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CharleyKerfeld
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11:10a, 1/27/26
June 23, 1971 - Rick Wise of the Phillies no-hits the Reds and hits 2 home runs, going 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI while pitching a no-hitter, walking 1 and striking out 3. Only a walk to Dave Concepcion kept him from a perfect game. The Reds' lineup featured 2 future HOFers in Johnny Bench and Tony Perez, along with Peter Rose and future MVP George Foster. Rose lined out to 3B to end the game.

Wise went 17-14 with a 2.88 ERA that year. In the coming off-season, the Phillies got a tempting trade offer from the Cardinals, who were disgruntled by their own young starter, a lefty who won 20 games in 1971, wanted the exorbitant salary of $65,000 for his 1972 salary. The Cards said eff you, and acquired Wise for some guy named Steve Carlton.

The next year, while the Phillies did finish last, Carlton went 27-10 with 1.97 ERA and 310 K.
Wise went 16-16 with 1 3.11 ERA.

Wise only played 1 more year with the Cardinals, then got traded to the Red Sox. He was the winning pitcher in Game 6 against the Reds thanks to Carlton Fisk's home run.

In 1978, he got traded to the Indians in a six-man deal that netted the Red Sox a young Dennis Eckersley.

I don't know the answer, but you have to figure the list is short of guys who were traded for 2 different Hall of Famers in their careers, especially pre-90s.

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AgRyan04
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In reply to CharleyKerfeld • 2:35p, 1/27/26
CharleyKerfeld said:

I don't know the answer, but you have to figure the list is short of guys who were traded for 2 different Hall of Famers in their careers, especially pre-90s.


Excellent question!
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agsalaska
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10:02p, 1/28/26
AG
How about the Texan Wilcy Moore from Bonita. He was a rookie on the 1927 Yankees and led the AL that year in ERA 2.28 and saves with 13. Yes. That's right. 13 saves. He also had 12 starts.

Started his pro career in 1922 with the Fort Worth Panthers.

I bet this games in the North Side of Fort Worth were some wild times.

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CharleyKerfeld
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3:07p, 2/2/26
If the sac fly rule was in place in 1941, Ted Williams would have batted .412 instead of .406.

Also, he finished 2nd for MVP 4 times in the AL. All 4 times he was defeated by a Yankee.
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AgRyan04
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In reply to CharleyKerfeld • 7:32p, 2/2/26
The sports writers hated him.....for hating them
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CharleyKerfeld
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In reply to AgRyan04 • 10:10a, 2/3/26
AgRyan04 said:
The sports writers hated him.....for hating them

The fact they didn't give him MVP i n 1941 when he hit .406 is about the most egregious thing I can think of for an MVP vote.
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AgRyan04
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3:20p, 2/3/26
In 1999 Mark McGwire had more RBIs than hits (147 RBI v 145 H)
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jja79
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In reply to CharleyKerfeld • 7:58p, 2/4/26
AG
Just my opinion but the game by Rick Wise was the greatest ever by a major league player.
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jja79
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8:04p, 2/4/26
AG
Mickey Lolich died at 85 today. He was the other pitcher for the Tigers in 1968 when Denny McLain won 31 games. Lolich pitched 3 complete games in the World Series against the Cardinals. We'll never see anything like it again. He finished with 195 complete games of which 41 were shutouts.
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Corporal Punishment
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In reply to CharleyKerfeld • 8:48a, 2/8/26
AG
CharleyKerfeld said:
If the sac fly rule was in place in 1941, Ted Williams would have batted .412 instead of .406.

Or, put another way, if Joey Gallo would've played in Ted's era his career batting
average would've been only .1938 instead of a respectable .1941.
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Im Gipper
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10:06a, 2/8/26
Terrance Gore has passed away. He played parts of 9 years in mlb, so fast he commonly was picked up for playoff teams.

Career stats:



I'm Gipper
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hawk1689
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In reply to CharleyKerfeld • 8:36p, 2/9/26
AG
CharleyKerfeld said:
AgRyan04 said:
The sports writers hated him.....for hating them

The fact they didn't give him MVP i n 1941 when he hit .406 is about the most egregious thing I can think of for an MVP vote.


I've posted on this thread before about this one. He's the only player to ever lead the league in BA, HR, RBI, BB, and R. He did it twice and he didn't win the MVP either time.
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W
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9:46p, 2/9/26
AG
Sixto Lezcano

in December 1980 he was part of a 7-player trade between the Brewers and Cardinals

Lezcano (and others) went to St. Louis while future Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers and Ted Simmons joined the Brewers

a year later...he was part of a 6-player trade between the Cardinals and Padres

Sixto and Gary Templeton went to San Diego...while Ozzie Smith (and others) went to St. Louis
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jja79
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In reply to W • 11:13p, 2/9/26
AG
Also the only MLB player to hit a grand slam on opening day twice.
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McInnis
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In reply to CharleyKerfeld • 8:31a, 2/11/26
AG
CharleyKerfeld said:
AgRyan04 said:
The sports writers hated him.....for hating them

The fact they didn't give him MVP i n 1941 when he hit .406 is about the most egregious thing I can think of for an MVP vote.


Bill Kenny, in his book "Ahead of the Curve" has a chapter about that. His analysis showed that DiMaggio deserved to win it based on better defense and base running. He made a credible argument but I read it and still thought he was wrong. For the season DiMaggio's WAR was an amazing 9.3. William's was 10.4.
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CharleyKerfeld
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In reply to McInnis • 1:08p, 2/11/26
McInnis said:
CharleyKerfeld said:
AgRyan04 said:
The sports writers hated him.....for hating them

The fact they didn't give him MVP i n 1941 when he hit .406 is about the most egregious thing I can think of for an MVP vote.


Bill Kenny, in his book "Ahead of the Curve" has a chapter about that. His analysis showed that DiMaggio deserved to win it based on better defense and base running. He made a credible argument but I read it and still thought he was wrong. For the season DiMaggio's WAR was an amazing 9.3. William's was 10.4.

I remember reading a stat that Williams had a higher batting average than DiMaggio during DiMaggio's 56-game streak.

Here it is:
https://www.mlb.com/news/1941-joe-dimaggio-hit-streak-ted-williams-c184398148

All the publicity surrounding DiMaggio obscured the simple fact that Williams was a better hitter. Even during the 56 games of DiMaggio's streak, Williams outhit him .412 to .408, with an OPS 43 points higher. By his own description, young Ted was still "a fresh kid" who did "a lot of yakking," but nobody loved the game more. A skinny San Diego native who grew up on the sandlot, Ted would wolf down a sack of French fries every day at lunchtime so he'd have the rest of the hour to play ball. By the time he reached the Majors, he could scarcely wrap his mind around the idea that he was being paid to play.
Entering the All-Star break, Williams was batting .405 with 16 home runs, and he proceeded to hit arguably the most memorable home run in the history of the Midsummer Classic. Trailing, 5-3, in the bottom of the ninth, the American League loaded the bases with one out. DiMaggio hit what seemed like a sure double-play grounder, but hustled to beat it out and give Williams a chance to hit. When the NL pitcher threw a hanging slider, Ted countered with what he called his "all-out home run swing," which proved to be aptly named. He crushed the ball off the facing of the third deck for a walk-off homer, then skipped and clapped his way around the bases like a giddy schoolboy. It was his first memorable moment on the national stage.
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AgRyan04
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7:51a, 2/15/26
I was looking at HOF Chuck Klien's career and it was interesting. I know that Mike Trout gets a lot of hate on the internet for only having a 10 year master class in dominance and then the back half of his career being much more mortal.

In Klien's first 5 full seasons he finished outside the top 5 MVP voting once (including setting the NL HR record one year and a Triple Crown in another, neither of which which won him the MVP).....seasons 6 & 7 were good but not MVP caliber....and then seasons 8-15 he was just a guy.

His injuries and his health were the downfall of his career.

Three years after retiremen he had a stroke and was diagnosed with a central nervous system disease. He died at age 53.
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Smeghead4761
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1:13a, 2/27/26
Something that I've seen pop ups a few times on my FB feed:

Roger Clemens has 7 Cy Youngs but never threw a no hitter.

Nolan Ryan threw 7 no hitters, but never won a Cy Young.
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AgRyan04
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In reply to Smeghead4761 • 7:51a, 2/27/26
That's pretty crazy, isn't it?
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CharleyKerfeld
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10:40a, 3/4/26
The first night game in MLB history was in 1935 at Crosley Field. But five years before that, the Shreveport Sports played a night game in the Texas League in front of 4,000 people - about 1/10th of the city's entire population.
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McInnis
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9:21p, 3/5/26
AG
A friend sent this to me. I don't remember it being posted here, sorry if so. Anyone know if it's true? Considering his best years were during the height of the steroid kongs it seems he would have hade more 3-0 counts than that during international walks.
??

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CharleyKerfeld
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In reply to McInnis • 11:59a, 3/6/26
McInnis said:
A friend sent this to me. I don't remember it being posted here, sorry if so. Anyone know if it's true? Considering his best years were during the height of the steroid kongs it seems he would have hade more 3-0 counts than that during international walks.
??


From Reddit

"Maddux faced 20,421 batters and only reached 3-0 on 310 of them and 177 of those were intentional walks." This is false.
Firstly, count data only goes back to 1988, so if we want to use 3-0 as a mark, we can only say Maddux faced 19,576 batters and intentionally walked 162 from 1988 to 2008.
Secondly, the splits show a 3-0 count for Maddux in 312 plate appearances, but this only accounts for PA that ended on the next pitch. Also, presumably all 162 intentional walks would end on the 4th pitch but we see 153 on B-R so we know the data is incomplete.
Thirdly, the real split to note is "After 3-0" which has 644 PA (and 153 IBB) so that is the minimum figure for the fun fact. 482 unintentional 3-0 counts out of 19,576 is still incredible, 2.5%.
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jja79
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1:45p, 4/1/26
AG
Jose Fernandez hit 2 HR in his debut for the Diamondbacks last night. He's the 6th player since 1906 to do it and the 2nd this year. Chase Delauter for the Indians did it earlier
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Smeghead4761
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1:30a, 4/2/26
Barry Bonds drew 43.6 miles worth of walks in his career.
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AgRyan04
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5:36p, 4/10/26
I just read that only three players have played for all four current and former New York teams (Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Giants)

Jose Vizcaino
Darryl Strawberry
Ricky Ledee
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AgRyan04
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9:29p, 4/22/26
I don't remember if it's been mentioned before but Tim Kurkjian's podcast, "Is This a Great Game or What", is right up this thread's alley
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