CG Ls and NDs
Posted by Andy on July 23, 2008
Here are the most complete game losses anybody has had since 2003:
Games Link to Individual Games +-----------------+-----+-------------------------+ Roy Halladay 8 Ind. Games Randy Johnson 7 Ind. Games Livan Hernandez 7 Ind. Games Jake Westbrook 6 Ind. Games Bartolo Colon 5 Ind. Games Tim Wakefield 4 Ind. Games Javier Vazquez 4 Ind. Games Ben Sheets 4 Ind. Games Mark Redman 4 Ind. Games Mark Mulder 4 Ind. Games Barry Zito 3 Ind. Games C.C. Sabathia 3 Ind. Games Brad Radke 3 Ind. Games Jamie Moyer 3 Ind. Games Matt Morris 3 Ind. Games Kevin Millwood 3 Ind. Games Derek Lowe 3 Ind. Games John Lackey 3 Ind. Games Ryan Franklin 3 Ind. Games Mark Buehrle 3 Ind. Games Joe Blanton 3 Ind. Games
Halladay's got 3 already this year and had 3 last year as well. Can you imagine if he'd been healthy so far in his career? He'd probably be considered the best starting pitcher over the last 10 years.
And here are all compete game no-decisions since 2003:
Games Link to Individual Games +-----------------+-----+-------------------------+ Mike Mussina 1 Ind. Games Pat Hentgen 1 Ind. Games
Trivia question: how does one get a complete game no-decision? Can you figure it out? If not, click on the "Ind. Games" links above and you'll see how.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:17 am
Cool Idea Andy.
Since 1956 there have been 6 pitchers who have thrown a shutout, but did not get a win. 2 of the even went 9 innings.
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/K4q3
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Stumped me. I'm surprised that's only happened once in 5 years.
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I assumed the game got called a tie because the weather did not let up or something. I checked google and came up with a link if anyone wants a spoiler:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=230918101
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I just went back and checked my link from before and noticed this curiosity.
In 1956 Rip Coleman didn't win any games, but he did throw a 5 inning shutout that ended in a tie. Therefore, Coleman finished the season with more shutouts than wins.
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:31 pm
I meant 1957.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:01 am
One of my favorite baseball factoids concerns Warren Spahn's record in 1942; 0-0, with 1 complete game. It wasn't a tie, either.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:36 am
OK Gerry, What was it?
July 24th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
The Spahn game was a forfeit. I think the way it worked was, Spahn's team was losing when, for some reason, the game was forfeited in their favor. Since they were losing, he couldn't get credit for the win, but since he was the only pitcher his team used, he had to get credit for the complete game.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Very interesting, Gerry.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
I own a book that makes reference to a 1942 forfeit by the Giants to the Braves, although it includes no mention of who pitched that game. The game that it describes, which may be completely different from Spahn's CG ND, took place on September 26. The Polo Grounds admitted for free any children who brought in some scrap metal for the war effort, but the promotion backfired when the kids invaded the field in the eighth inning. New York led 5-2 at the time.
July 25th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Retrosheet has a comprehensive listing of forfeits at http://www.retrosheet.org/forfeits.htm . There is only one game mentioned in 1942 (the scrap metal game). It's an interesting list. On more than one occasion a game was forfeited because a team was stalling, hoping the game would be called on account of darkness or curfew before it became official (the Cardinals and Phillies traded stalling forfeits in 1937 and 1954).
July 25th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Whiz, that's a great link. Thanks for that.
I guess that I was wrong about who led in that game, though. Sorry.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:39 am
BunnyWrangler, I'm almost sure that you are right and (although it pains me to write this) retrosheet is wrong about who was in the lead. This is the Spahn game, and if the Braves had been in the lead, there would have been no problem crediting him with the win.
Do a websearch for Spahn forfeit 1942 and you'll find several write-ups.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:14 am
I've asked the good people at Retrosheet to double-check the Spahn game, and they have found that indeed it was the Giants leading at the time of the forfeit. I expect they'll make the change sometime soon (if they haven't already).