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Games Scores > 63 in first 3 starts of a career

Posted by Andy on June 18, 2010

Stephen Strasburg, if I did my math correctly, earned himself another 75 Game Score tonight, giving him two 75's sandwiching a 63 in his first 3 starts. Click through for a couple of lists.

There are just 19 players before Strasburg in the PI box score era to register at least a Game Score of 63 in their first 3 career starts:

Rk Player Year #Matching ▾ W L W-L% ERA GS CG IP H ER HR BB SO WHIP
1 Stu Miller 1952 3 Ind. Games 3 0 1.000 0.33 3 3 27.0 16 1 0 9 19 0.93
2 Danny McDevitt 1957 3 Ind. Games 2 1 .667 1.08 3 2 25.0 13 3 0 16 19 1.16
3 Juan Marichal 1960 3 Ind. Games 3 0 1.000 0.96 3 3 28.0 12 3 0 6 24 0.64
4 Don Schwall 1961 3 Ind. Games 3 0 1.000 1.04 3 2 26.0 20 3 0 10 17 1.15
5 Mel Stottlemyre 1964 3 Ind. Games 3 0 1.000 1.01 3 2 26.2 18 3 1 10 4 1.05
6 Bill Champion 1969 3 Ind. Games 1 2 .333 0.72 3 1 25.0 15 2 0 7 13 0.88
7 Wayne Simpson 1970 3 Ind. Games 3 0 1.000 0.36 3 2 25.0 7 1 0 10 20 0.68
8 Bill Parsons 1971 3 Ind. Games 1 2 .333 1.42 3 2 25.1 18 4 1 13 18 1.22
9 Steve Busby 1972 3 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 1.44 3 2 25.0 17 4 0 7 17 0.96
10 Steve Rogers 1973 3 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.69 3 2 26.0 12 2 0 8 8 0.77
11 Jerry Garvin 1977 3 Ind. Games 3 0 1.000 2.08 3 2 26.0 19 6 2 6 18 0.96
12 John Henry Johnson 1978 3 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.42 3 1 21.2 12 1 1 8 9 0.92
13 Craig Chamberlain 1979 3 Ind. Games 3 0 1.000 1.33 3 3 27.0 19 4 1 5 17 0.89
14 Andy Rincon 1980 3 Ind. Games 3 0 1.000 1.08 3 1 25.0 16 3 1 4 18 0.80
15 Jose DeLeon 1983 3 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 1.04 3 1 26.0 9 3 0 9 27 0.69
16 Bob Milacki 1988 3 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.72 3 1 25.0 9 2 1 9 18 0.72
17 Pat Combs 1989 3 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.41 3 1 22.0 14 1 1 5 15 0.86
18 Tim Wakefield 1992 3 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 1.08 3 1 25.0 16 3 0 14 22 1.20
19 Rene Arocha 1993 3 Ind. Games 3 0 1.000 1.66 3 0 21.2 15 4 1 1 11 0.74
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/18/2010.

It's a pretty rare feat although the list of names isn't terribly impressive. There are some very successful folks as well as plenty who didn't have too much major-league success. Note that Strasburg becomes just the second guy on this list not to complete any of his first 3 starts.

Here are the players, minus Strasburg who's not in the database for tonight's game yet, with a Game Score of at least 75 in at least 2 of his first 3 starts:

Rk Player Year #Matching ▾ W L W-L% ERA GS CG IP H ER HR BB SO WHIP
1 Juan Marichal 1960 3 Ind. Games 3 0 1.000 0.96 3 3 28.0 12 3 0 6 24 0.64
2 Spades Wood 1930 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.00 2 2 18.0 11 0 0 3 6 0.78
3 Johnny Marcum 1933 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.00 2 2 18.0 10 0 0 9 7 1.06
4 George Hockette 1934 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.00 2 2 18.0 10 0 0 2 10 0.67
5 Cy Blanton 1935 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 1.00 2 0 18.0 7 2 0 4 17 0.61
6 Cliff Melton 1937 2 Ind. Games 1 1 .500 1.00 2 0 18.0 10 2 0 5 22 0.83
7 Stu Miller 1952 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.50 2 2 18.0 9 1 0 6 13 0.83
8 Al Worthington 1953 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.00 2 2 18.0 6 0 0 5 13 0.61
9 Karl Spooner 1954 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.00 2 2 18.0 7 0 0 6 27 0.72
10 Tom Phoebus 1966 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.00 2 2 18.0 9 0 0 5 15 0.78
11 Wayne Simpson 1970 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.00 2 2 18.0 3 0 0 7 11 0.56
12 Burt Hooton 1971 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 1.00 2 2 18.0 5 2 1 5 20 0.56
13 Bob Shirley 1977 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 1.04 2 0 17.1 7 2 2 4 16 0.63
14 Craig Chamberlain 1979 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 1.00 2 2 18.0 9 2 1 4 10 0.72
15 Andy Rincon 1980 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 1.06 2 1 17.0 8 2 1 4 10 0.71
16 Jose DeLeon 1983 2 Ind. Games 1 0 1.000 0.50 2 1 18.0 5 1 0 5 18 0.56
17 Bob Milacki 1988 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.00 2 1 17.0 4 0 0 6 14 0.59
18 Felix Hernandez 2005 2 Ind. Games 2 0 1.000 0.56 2 0 16.0 8 1 0 1 17 0.56
19 Wade Davis 2009 2 Ind. Games 1 0 1.000 0.56 2 1 16.0 7 1 1 3 19 0.63
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/18/2010.

Some overlap but this is a generally more impressive list, I think.

Related posts:

    Chris Carter starts his career with 11 consecutive 0-hit games
    Plotting all of Greg Maddux’s career Game Scores
    Most Career Starts – Game 1 In Post-Season Series
    Most Career Post-Season Starts With Game Score >70
    13+ Games On Base 3+ Times Within 1st 50 Career Games

This entry was posted on Friday, June 18th, 2010 at 8:25 pm and is filed under Game Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

4 Responses to “Games Scores > 63 in first 3 starts of a career”

  1. Frank Clingenpeel Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 9:28 pm

    Again, I notice, the list of hurlers who scored 63 in their first three starts, or scored 75 for two fo their first three starts, and then continued this success to a Hall of Fame career is pretty short -- Juan Marichal, and ... well, there's Juan Marichal.

  2. Mark Says:
    June 19th, 2010 at 5:58 am

    We should just see if this guy can stay in the MLB. One of the best quotes I ever heard was; "It's hard just to make it to the MLB but even tougher to stay." The guy is good though and I hope he has a great career....but I hope he gets traded to Toronto 🙂

  3. Mark Says:
    June 19th, 2010 at 6:54 am

    Btw, his 14.9 K/9 innings is an awesome number to look at after 3 starts!

  4. BSK Says:
    June 19th, 2010 at 6:26 pm

    My friend, who doesn't really follow baseball but lives in DC, already asked if Strasburg has "fizzled". I said of course not, but inquired why. Her response: "Well, I heard he didn't do that great in his second game." The expectations on this kid are unreal.

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