2+ Opening Day HRs Twice
Posted by Steve Lombardi on March 11, 2011
Since 1920, how many players have hit 2+ homers in their team's first game of a season more than once?
| Rk | Player | #Matching | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Torre | 2 | Ind. Games | 10 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | .500 | .556 | 2.000 | 2.556 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Albert Pujols | 2 | Ind. Games | 10 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 0 | .857 | .800 | 2.571 | 3.371 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Xavier Nady | 2 | Ind. Games | 12 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 2 | .545 | .583 | 1.727 | 2.311 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Raul Mondesi | 2 | Ind. Games | 11 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 1 | .778 | .818 | 2.222 | 3.040 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Eddie Mathews | 2 | Ind. Games | 11 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | .364 | .364 | 1.455 | 1.818 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Juan Gonzalez | 2 | Ind. Games | 8 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | .571 | .625 | 2.286 | 2.911 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Adam Dunn | 2 | Ind. Games | 9 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 3 | .500 | .556 | 2.000 | 2.556 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Juan Gone is the only guy to do it in the American League.
March 11th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
I'm surprised Griffey wasn't on the list, simply because he hit SO many opening day homers.
March 11th, 2011 at 10:21 pm
Griffey would have hit two home runs, but he was kept from playing because he was suffering from gigantism.
March 11th, 2011 at 10:26 pm
BAHAHAHAHAHA! Yes! Simpsons references are always good in my book.
March 11th, 2011 at 11:04 pm
I like lists like this. Definitely a couple of great players and then some very good ones... and then Xavier Nady.
March 11th, 2011 at 11:31 pm
For some reason, I really like the Eddie Mathews entry on this list.
If ever a pair of 2-HR games could be said to constitute the bare minimum in some area, this is the pair.
-- All 4 HRs were solo shots.
-- Mathews had no other hits, runs or RBI, and no other times on base.
-- He used 11 AB -- i.e., he made 7 outs.
-- The Braves lost both games.
In his 2nd such game (4/15/1958), his WPA was 0.072, which is darned low for hitting 2 HRs in a 4-3 game. He homered in the 1st and 3rd innings, first tying the game, then giving Milwaukee a 1-run lead. But the game went 14 innings, and he contributed no further offense.
BTW, in the '54 game, Milwaukee's O.D. starter was not Warren Spahn -- the defending MLB titleist in Wins, ERA & ERA+, and WHIP -- but Bob Buhl, a good pitcher, but ... not in Spahn's class. Maybe Spahnie had trouble getting loose.
March 12th, 2011 at 12:09 am
I distinctly recall Xavier Nady have some ridiculous opening day statistics. Good to see I'm not crazy.
March 12th, 2011 at 10:43 am
Kaz Matsui hit a home run in his first plate appearance of the season three years in a row.
March 12th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
@7 - Pretty cool. And, the 3rd was inside-the-park.
March 12th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
I rarely hear mention of how great a player Joe Torre was.
March 14th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
Hi, Barkie -- I'll suggest a few reasons that Torre tends to be underrated as a player:
-- Most hitting stars of the '60s are underrated due to the depression in raw numbers.
-- Career was split among 3 positions (and 3B, where he won his MVP, was the position he played least).
-- Career was almost equally split between the Braves and the Cardinals.
-- Bad timing in many respects:
-- He missed the Braves' glory years at the start of his career and was traded right before their 1969 division title; he joined the Cards just after their run of 3 pennants and 2 championships in 5 years. He never played in the postseason.
-- His MVP season was his last big year; he didn't really build his reputation from that point.
-- His first stint in a big media market coincided with the fizzling out of his playing career and the start of his managerial career, at a very inopportune time to be the Mets' skipper; Torre took over just as the Mets were in the process of trading away Tom Seaver.
Also, it seems to me that, for players who segue straight into managing, the public memory of them as players tends to fade more quickly.
March 14th, 2011 at 2:41 pm
#9/#10 - John Torre's reputation: As usual, John Autin make a number of excellent points. I will add:
He was considered a barely adequate defensive catcher, and played a number of games every year (after his first two) at other positions to get his bat in the line-up. This is similar to Ted Simmons' reputation, who coincidentally shared time at catcher with Torre in 1970.
Because of his defensive shortcomings at catcher, and his time at other positions, he doesn't get the full "catcher's position" boost most HOF candidates get for their shortened career length. Just a theory...
He's going to get in the HOF as a manager as soon as he is eligible {when?}, so this whole HOF debate will be irrelevant soon.
March 15th, 2011 at 3:09 am
Looking at Torre's numbers for his MVP season got me thinking:
"Man, that would have been a nice season to have him as a fantasy catcher." I know "Roto" had not even been invented yet, but I think a good topic would be to round out a fantasy roster with the greatest fantasy seasons of all time. Standard 5x5 categories for both hitting and pitching, using the players previous season for position eligibility.
I think it would be a nice topic leading up to opening day (and fantasy drafts).
March 15th, 2011 at 11:33 am
@12, Thomas -- I don't know quite how roto rating systems weight the categories, but I'm still pretty sure that Mike Piazza's 1997 season would have to be the greatest roto season by a catcher:
-- .362 BA, 40 HRs, 124 RBI, 104 Runs, 5 SB
The BA is the 3rd-highest qualifying mark ever by a catcher; the HRs are 5th-most.
Offhand, I can't think of any player who was switched from catcher to another position and exploded for a season with more roto value than that one.
Also, you didn't say whether this imaginary roto competition would take place within the player's own context, both in terms of overall league offensive levels and those of other catchers in that year.
March 15th, 2011 at 11:50 am
Followup to Thomas @12:
Off the top of my head, these are the 4 biggest seasons I could find by players who were roto-qualified at catcher the year before (20+ games) but not in the year in question:
-- Joe Torre, 1971: .363 BA / 24 HR / 137 RBI / 97 R / 4 SB
-- Rudy York, 1940: .316 / 33 / 134 / 105 / 3
-- Mike Sweeney, 1999: .322 / 22 / 102 / 101 / 6
-- Brian Downing, 1982: .281 / 28 / 84 / 109 / 2
No doubt, there are others whom I overlooked by focusing my search on career HRs....
March 15th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
@13 and 14
My post was made in a sleepy haze at 3:09am... So not only did I NOT think about a very specific criteria, I also did not bother to do a basic search to see if anyone else had thought of the idea already (which of course - someone had).
Here is a link to Ray Flowers article on The Roto Times:
http://www.rototimes.com/article.php?article_id=4569
This only covers the hitters
C - Ivan Rodriguez in 1999 (.332avg / 35hr / 113rbi / 116r / 25sb)
1B - Lou Gehrig in 1931 (.341-46-184-163-17)
2B - Rogers Hornsby in 1922 (.401-42-152-141-17)
3B - Alex Rodriguez in 2007 (.314-54-156-143-24)
SS - Alex Rodriguez in 1998 (.310-42-124-123-46)
OF - Babe Ruth in 1921 (.378-59-171-177-17)
OF - Ty Cobb in 1911 (.420-8-127-147-83)
OF - Rickey Henderson (.314-24-72-146-80)
The article does not include a DH position, but it does mention a runner-up in each position. It would be nice to have Larry Walker's 1997 (.363-49-130-143-33) on this team.
Now this list is obviously not weighted to each specific time period. I have read enough Bill James to know that Joe Morgan's 1976 season (.320-27-111-113-60) may have been better than Walker's. Heck, Ty Cobbs 8 home runs in 1911 was good enough to tie for second in the league to HR Baker's 11. You could probably argue that if Roto leagues dated that far back that home runs would not even be one of the stats counted.
But I do think this article is a good place to start. Now, pitcher's anyone?
March 15th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
@12 -- I forgot to mention that in Fantasy Baseball each of the 5 categories for hitting and pitching are weighted equally in determining the standings.
I also realized that the team mentioned in Flower's article better play in a dimension that does not test for PEDs.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:10 am
Thomas Court -- Thanks for the followup.
As an aside ... The gulf between Pudge's fantasy value and "real" offensive value in '99 is big enough to drive a truck through. In terms of WAR Batting Runs, his 1999 offensive value was just 17 -- not among the top 200 catcher seasons in modern history, and just the 5th-best total of his own career. His 25 steals had roughly zero value, since he was caught 12 times. His counting stats were inflated by his league, his team (Texas scored almost 6 runs per game), and his refusal to walk (24 BB in 634 PAs). And he had a MLB-high 31 GIDP.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:18 am
P.S. By contrast, A-Rod's 2007 season (ranked as the best fantasy 3B season) also ranks as the best 3B offensive season by WAR -- 69 WAR Batting Runs (tied with Al Rosen 1953), 9.9 oWAR.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:31 am
As to pitchers ... Again, I have no idea what a fantasy player rating system will say, but I'll guess that Sandy Koufax '65 is at least among the top 5, if not the best fantasy season ever: 26 wins, 2.04 ERA, 382 Ks, 0.855 WHIP (led the majors in all 4 categories, and with 336 IP), and 2 Saves.
On the other hand ... A fantasy rater would put a huge premium on a pitcher who racks up both wins and saves. So someone like Dick Radatz '64 might make a surprise appearance on all-time fantasy lists: 16 Wins, MLB-high 29 Saves, 2.29 ERA, 181 Ks. (Does roto count reliever wins, or just SP wins? My leagues never played by roto rules; we counted only SP wins.)
And you couldn't go too far wrong with Lefty Grove '30: Led the majors in Wins (28), Saves (9), Strikeouts (209), ERA (2.54) and WHIP (1.144).
Then again ... Pedro had that insane 0.737 WHIP in 2000, led the league in ERA and Ks -- but had just 18 Wins, 217 IP and no saves.
I'd be curious what the fantasy raters say, but I'm still anticipating that a combo of wins and saves will be crucial.
March 16th, 2011 at 12:37 am
(My previous post assumes that the fantasy ratings would make some adjustment for context; otherwise, the top modern season would have to be Ed Walsh, 1908 -- 40 wins, 6 saves, 1.42 ERA in 464 IP, 269 Ks, 0.860 WHIP, led the majors in all but WHIP. And this will be the last I say about fantasy baseball for now, lest I lose all credibility with the rest of the B-R blog regulars....)