Control Freaks
Posted by Raphy on January 22, 2009
In 2008 Cole Hammels went the entire season without throwing a wild pitch. Hammels also only hit 1 batter. An impressive display of control, no doubt, but there have been players who have done better. Since 1901, 34 pitchers have qualified for the ERA title in their respective leagues without registering a HBP or WP. The most recent was Greg Maddux on 2006. Here is the list ranked by BB/9IP.
Cnt Player **BB/9** WP HBP Year Age Tm Lg G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA ERA+ HR BF AB 2B 3B IBB SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Pit Str +----+-----------------+---------+--+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+ 1 Babe Adams 1.01 0 0 1921 39 PIT NL 25 20 11 2 3 14 5 .737 0 160 155 57 47 18 55 2.64 144 4 646 1 0 2 Huck Betts 1.42 0 0 1932 35 BSN NL 31 27 16 3 3 13 11 .542 1 221.2 229 84 69 35 32 2.80 134 9 913 0 0 3 Red Lucas 1.46 0 0 1927 25 CIN NL 37 23 19 4 11 18 11 .621 2 239.2 231 96 90 39 51 3.38 112 6 974 0 0 4 Red Lucas 1.47 0 0 1931 29 CIN NL 29 29 24 3 0 14 13 .519 0 238 261 110 95 39 56 3.59 104 10 985 1 0 5 Greg Maddux 1.59 0 0 2006 40 TOT NL 34 34 0 0 0 15 14 .517 0 210 219 109 98 37 117 4.20 109 20 862 809 53 5 7 11 5 17 25 6 1 0 .271 .301 .423 .724 86 2798 1873 6 Ken Raffensberger 1.71 0 0 1953 35 CIN NL 26 26 9 1 0 7 14 .333 0 174 200 87 76 33 47 3.93 110 23 734 0 0 7 Ken Forsch 1.77 0 0 1979 32 HOU NL 26 24 10 2 1 11 6 .647 0 177.2 155 67 60 35 58 3.04 116 14 700 657 24 5 2 5 3 16 8 4 0 1 .236 .273 .352 .625 80 8 Jesse Barnes 1.78 0 0 1924 31 BSN NL 37 32 21 4 4 15 20 .429 0 267.2 292 115 96 53 49 3.23 119 7 1109 0 0 9 Lon Warneke 1.79 0 0 1942 33 TOT NL 27 24 13 1 3 11 11 .500 2 181 173 67 55 36 59 2.73 121 10 739 0 0 10 Jim Turner 1.82 0 0 1937 33 BSN NL 33 30 24 5 3 20 11 .645 1 256.2 228 80 68 52 69 2.38 151 13 1031 0 0 11 Dutch Ulrich 1.86 0 0 1927 27 PHI NL 32 18 14 1 10 8 11 .421 1 193.1 201 82 68 40 42 3.17 124 6 805 0 0 12 Jim Barr 1.93 0 0 1978 30 SFG NL 32 25 5 2 2 8 11 .421 1 163 180 69 64 35 44 3.53 97 7 690 640 24 8 6 8 7 12 16 4 2 2 .281 .315 .377 .692 102 13 Craig Swan 2.00 0 0 1982 31 NYM NL 37 21 2 0 6 11 7 .611 1 166.1 165 70 62 37 67 3.35 109 13 691 644 29 4 4 7 3 7 20 9 0 0 .256 .295 .374 .669 93 14 Frank Pastore 2.05 0 0 1980 22 CIN NL 27 27 9 2 0 13 7 .650 0 184.2 161 72 67 42 110 3.27 111 13 744 691 26 5 3 6 5 10 15 8 1 1 .233 .275 .342 .617 76 15 Alvin Crowder 2.12 0 0 1932 33 WSH AL 50 39 21 3 10 26 13 .667 1 327 319 136 121 77 103 3.33 129 17 1356 0 0 16 Whit Wyatt 2.14 0 0 1943 35 BRO NL 26 26 13 3 0 14 5 .737 0 180.2 139 55 50 43 80 2.49 134 5 719 0 0 17 Paul Derringer 2.22 0 0 1937 30 CIN NL 43 26 12 1 12 10 14 .417 1 222.2 240 112 100 55 94 4.04 92 7 963 0 0 18 Erv Brame 2.25 0 0 1931 29 PIT NL 26 21 15 2 4 9 13 .409 0 179.2 211 102 84 45 33 4.21 92 14 781 1 0 19 Red Lucas 2.26 0 0 1928 26 CIN NL 27 19 13 4 6 13 9 .591 1 167.1 164 73 63 42 35 3.39 116 9 693 0 0 20 Guy Bush 2.39 0 0 1937 35 BSN NL 32 20 11 1 7 8 15 .348 1 180.2 201 77 71 48 56 3.54 102 8 774 0 0 21 Luis Tiant 2.44 0 0 1979 38 NYY AL 30 30 5 1 0 13 8 .619 0 195.2 190 94 85 53 104 3.91 104 22 819 756 42 13 1 5 5 9 14 9 0 0 .251 .299 .429 .728 95 22 Denny Galehouse 2.48 0 0 1947 35 TOT AL 30 25 11 3 3 12 10 .545 1 181.1 192 86 77 50 49 3.82 102 10 774 0 0 23 Firpo Marberry 2.58 0 0 1930 31 WSH AL 33 22 9 2 9 15 5 .750 1 185 190 92 84 53 56 4.09 113 15 774 0 0 24 George Blaeholder 2.61 0 0 1934 30 SLB AL 39 33 14 1 5 14 18 .438 3 234.1 276 130 110 68 66 4.22 118 16 1021 0 0 25 Bob Klinger 2.68 0 0 1943 35 PIT NL 33 25 14 3 6 11 8 .579 0 195 185 77 59 58 65 2.72 128 6 809 0 0 26 Fred Hutchinson 2.87 0 0 1946 26 DET AL 28 26 16 3 2 14 11 .560 2 207 184 78 71 66 138 3.09 118 14 853 1 0 27 Tom Glavine 2.97 0 0 2004 38 NYM NL 33 33 1 1 0 11 14 .440 0 212.1 204 94 85 70 109 3.60 119 20 904 811 41 3 10 13 10 17 7 8 3 0 .252 .308 .383 .691 82 3389 1970 28 Al Smith 3.11 0 0 1943 35 CLE AL 29 27 14 3 2 17 7 .708 1 208.1 186 74 59 72 72 2.55 122 7 862 0 0 29 Tom Zachary 3.16 0 0 1930 34 TOT ML 27 25 10 1 1 12 6 .667 0 168 210 106 89 59 58 4.77 102 9 756 0 0 30 Luis Tiant 3.27 0 0 1972 31 BOS AL 43 19 12 6 12 15 6 .714 3 179 128 45 38 65 123 1.91 170 7 713 634 19 2 5 12 3 7 4 7 0 0 .202 .275 .271 .546 63 31 Bob Smith 3.35 0 0 1926 31 BSN NL 33 23 14 4 9 10 13 .435 1 201.1 199 91 84 75 44 3.75 95 10 845 0 0 32 Joe Coleman 3.48 0 0 1947 24 PHA AL 32 21 9 2 9 6 12 .333 1 160.1 171 84 77 62 65 4.32 88 17 689 0 0 33 Jack Knott 3.86 0 0 1938 31 TOT AL 27 22 9 0 3 6 12 .333 0 161 170 89 75 69 43 4.19 117 11 705 1 0 34 Chick Fraser 4.01 0 0 1905 31 BSN NL 39 38 35 2 2 14 21 .400 0 334.1 320 174 122 149 130 3.28 94 8 1409 0 0 Seasons/Careers found: 34.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:59 am
The greatest control season ever, and this is a pretty good way to measure it, was by a 39-year-old. The fifth best is by a 40-year-old. Hope for older pitchers and middle age dreamers for sure!
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:07 am
TheGoof, I don't know if this is such a good way to measure it. I have removed a lot of great seasons because of one errant (even possibly intentionally so) throw.
Nevertheless, the best BB/9IP, which is probably a better measure, also includes a lot of older pitchers. I have also included HBP and WP for comparison purposes.
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/zkxy
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:59 am
I've always been a fan of the wildness triple crown. Leading the league in BB, HBP, and WP. Victor Zambrano did that in 2003, and almost did it again in '04 despite being traded to the NL in mid-season.
Look at Chick Fraser's career. He was throwing tons of WP and hitting tons of guys. Then suddenly, none of either, despite 334 IP in '05. So bizarre, I wondered if perhaps those stats weren't counted in the NL that season, but they were. Still, I almost think there was a clerical error somewhere along the line that has now become part of the permanent record.
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:05 pm
I agree with Ralphy. Perhaps the greatest control freak season in the world is some (mythical) person who gave up 1 BB/9, no WP, and 5 Hit Batters, all in the head, on purpose.