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Quick hits

Posted by Andy on January 29, 2010

A few quickies today:

  • From the "Did You Know" file--did you know that two different players with the last name McCutchen made their MLB debut for the Pirates in 2009?
  • On a recent post we talked about scoring 5+ runs and how some teams still lost often. For 2009, winning teams scored 15,486 runs in 2,430 victories (6.37 runs per win) while losing teams scored 6,933 runs in 2,430 losses (2.85 runs per loss.) I'm surprised a bit by the wide margin, but I guess it's true that winning teams never score zero runs and also sometimes score 10, 15, or 20 runs, while losing teams score as many as 10 runs pretty rarely. Both factors tend to push the winning run total up and keep the losing run total down.
  • Via Raphy, there were two sets of players this year to each get a hit where both players had the same first and last names. Can you figure out who they were? (Answer #1 and answer #2.)
  • Also via Raphy, Grady Sizemore set an interesting record in 2009. He had the fewest games played for a player qualifying for the batting title in a season with 162 games. Here's the link, but you have to ignore the strike-shortened seasons of 1981, 1994, and 1995. Sizemore's 2009 is 214th on the list but the first not from one of those 3 years. As one would expect, he batted primarily leadoff, the only way I could imagine such a thing happening. No word on where his coffee mug was during that time.
  • Finally, if you haven't already added your baseball memories to my recent post about the moment that made you a fan, please do so. We have lots of great contributions there already but I'd like to read even more.

3 Responses to “Quick hits”

  1. Matt Says:

    Neither 2009 Pirate can hold a candle to James "Doc" McCutchen McJames.

  2. kingcrab Says:

    the pirates also had 2 laroche's that batted back to back. Daniel McCutchen got 12 plate appearances, i wonder if all 4 ever got to bat in a single inning?

  3. JDV Says:

    Regarding the Sizemore record, I browsed both batting and fielding statistics from 2009 and found kind of the opposite extreme. Gerald Laird of the Tigers made 123 defensive starts in 2009 and still failed to reach the minimum number of PAs to qualify for the batting title. Melvin Mora of the Orioles also came up short despite 122 defensive starts. I haven't checked any previous seasons yet to find out if Laird is close to a record in that category, but it seemed notable. It didn't surprise me that a catcher (particularly a lighter-hitting one) topped the list because that's the most likely late-inning substitute position, thus fewer PAs.