No hits but lots of walks in major-league debut
Posted by Andy on August 4, 2011
I recently came across a mention of Steve Adkins, who had a very unusual major-league debut. Since 1919, here are pitchers who gave up no hits but a bunch of walks in their first big-league game:
| Rk | Gcar | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | BF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Steve Adkins | 1990-09-12 | NYY | TEX | L 4-5 | GS-2 ,L | 1.1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 11 |
| 2 | 1 | Clay Roe | 1923-10-03 | WSH | PHA | L 8-12 | 1.2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 12 | |
| 3 | 1 | Al Milnar | 1936-04-30 | CLE | NYY | L 1-8 | 0.2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 | |
| 4 | 1 | Brad Springer | 1925-05-01 | SLB | CHW | L 5-9 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 10 | |
| 5 | 1 | Kevin Whelan | 2011-06-10 | NYY | CLE | W 11-7 | 8-8 | 0.2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 | 1 | Miguel Asencio | 2002-04-06 | KCR | CHW | L 0-14 | 8-7 | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | 1 | Scott Cassidy | 2002-04-01 | TOR | BOS | W 12-11 | 4-5 | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| 8 | 1 | Gary Wayne | 1989-04-07 | MIN | BAL | W 8-3 | 9-9f | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 9 | 1 | Mike Walker | 1988-09-09 | CLE | BOS | L 4-7 | 4-6 | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
| 10 | 1 | Ray Daviault | 1962-04-13 | NYM | PIT | L 3-4 | 8-9f | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
| 11 | 1 | Zach Monroe | 1958-06-27 | NYY | KCA | W 10-3 | 3-6 | 3.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 13 |
| 12 | 1 | Ralph Beard | 1954-06-29 | STL | CIN | L 4-11 | GS-3 | 2.0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 11 |
| 13 | 1 | Cy Twombly | 1921-06-25 | CHW | DET | L 6-7 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 13 |
Kevin Whelan became the first guy in a while to toss at least 4 walks with no hits in his MLB debut. Steve covered this when it happened.
August 4th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Others have mentioned it here before, but: Miguel Asencio, 4 BF, 4 BB, 16 pitches (including a wild pitch). B-r-r-r-r-r.
August 4th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
I know this is off-topic but wanted to ask: Saw a stat that Dan Uggla is making history by having the lowest BA ever for a player with a 20+ game hit streak (his streak is currently at 25 games and his BA at.215). Tried to validate this via the play index but the query kept timing out (at work so it might be me).
Again, sorry for the off-topic comment but couldn't find any other place to ask about Uggla's odd streak/BA combo (and I did a search and didn't see it mentioned in previous blog entries).
August 4th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
Cy Twombly, number 13 on this list, was the father of the artist Cy Twombly, who died last month. Just a fun little fact. As far as I know, there's no relation between Scott Cassidy and Butch Cassidy, Zach Monroe and James Monroe, Clay Roe and Tommy Roe, Mike Walker and Johnny Walker, Gary Wayne and Bruce Wayne, or Brad Springer and a springer spaniel.
August 4th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
@2, CKS -- I've been trying to check on that long-hitting-streak / low-season-BA combo, but the Play Index is not cooperating with my filtered search attempt.
BTW, Streak Finders will often time out if they cover more than 20 years at a time.
August 4th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
@3:
I'm guessing that, after that scintillating debut, Brad Springer may have gone home and kicked his springer spaniel.
August 4th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
Ray Daviault's debut came in the expansion Mets' second regular-season game in 1962. There was still a whole lotta fun ahead for everyone on that club.
August 4th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
Morten Jonsson @ 3 We need a like button on these posts. That was excellent.
August 4th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
I've been trying to check on that long-hitting-streak / low-season-BA combo, but the Play Index is not cooperating with my filtered search attempt.
It would be nice to have a set streak choice in the player streak finders
Something like "streak no lower than..." or "show streaks only over..." and then you would put in the game total
Most consecutive games with a hit:
Show streaks only over 30 games
August 4th, 2011 at 10:54 pm
@3 - Well done, Morton. I had been wondering about the Cy Twombly connection. Given that the father finished his one-season career with 25 walks and only 7 strikeouts, I'd have to say the son was better at painting the outside corner!
August 5th, 2011 at 8:13 am
I have to say that the sponsor of the Steve Adkins page is pretty funny.
August 5th, 2011 at 10:40 am
1892 Bumpus Jones pitched a 9 inning no hitter, walking 4, in his first career game