Trivia question: What’s their connection? |

What two-tiered achievement is shared by Mike Norris and Dave (Boo) Ferriss, and no other MLB pitcher?

(The mystery has been solved — congratulations to regular contributor Richard Chester. Click through for the answer.)

Answer: Each tossed a complete-game shutout in both his MLB debut and his postseason debut.

Ferriss also went 3 for 3 at bat in his regular-season debut and chipped in 5 assists, including a 1-6-3 DP. His 2nd start was another shutout, of the Yankees this time, plus 2 for 3 with a double and a walk. He finished the season 21-10, 2.96, and batted .267 with 19 walks for a .367 OBP and 110 OPS+. His WS shutout came a year later, in game 3 of the ’46 Series.

Norris threw his debut shutout in the 3rd game of the 1975 season for the World Champion A’s, at the age of 20, just 2 years after he was drafted out of high school. His next start was also a gem — 1 hit and 2 unearned runs in 7 IP — but Paul Lindblad blew the save. And then Norris got injured in the first inning of his next start, and didn’t pitch again until the very end of the season. Four more years would go by before Norris finally realized his potential with a 22-9, 2.53 campaign in 1980. The next year, Norris made his postseason debut in the first-ever “division series” game (in the only year that the name actually fit the series). Norris hurled a 4-hitter, Wayne Gross hit a 3-run HR off Dennis Leonard, and the A’s swept the Royals.

Norris started game 1 of the ALCS and almost worked out of 1st-inning trouble, but Graig Nettles hit an 0-2 pitch for a 3-run, 2-out double, the only runs Norris would allow in the loss, which kicked off a Yankees sweep. Norris got hurt again in ’82 and was never the same.

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Raphy

12 years ago

They both threw shutouts in their first post-season appearance. That still leaves 34 other players. I’m not quite sure where to go from there.

(In case you’re curious – There have been 537 pitchers who have made their post-season debut as a starter, 36 have thrown complete game shutouts.)

Reply to Raphy

Where do you find that information? Doesn’t appear to be in the play index.

Anyway, they both only struck out two batters in said post season performance. Could that have something to do with it? (ie., fewest strikeouts in a post season debut shutout.)

Doug

Reply to Ed

Good thought, Ed, but that’s not it.

8 of Raphy’s 36 pitchers had 2 strikeouts in a post-season debut shutout, and one (Claude Passeau) had just 1 strikeout.

Ed – Use the Pitching Game Finder.
Select Postseason.
Under Starter select SHO.
In the player’s first ___ career game box, put the number 1.

Thanks, I was looking at the wrong part of the play index.

How about:

1) pitching a shutout in a post-season debut game
2) having a season leading the league in HBP or WP

Reply to Doug

Thought of a way to check that. That’s not it.

Richard Chester

1) Pitching a shutout in their ML debut
2) Pitching a shuyout in their post-season debut.

Reply to Richard Chester

Well done, Richard.

That’s it.

Nice job Richard!

Doug’s post #4 was a big help. I had already mentioned Ferriss in an unrelated post.

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John Autin

Yes, Richard got it — well done, sir! As you can guess, the question grew out of comments made on Andy’s “Pitchers with great starts…” post. Lawrence noted Karl Spooner’s double-shutout opening, and Richard added Al Worthington (whom I didn’t know of). Naturally, I had to look up everyone who’d begun his career with 2 shutouts. There are 3 others (in the searchable era), including Ferriss. A peek at his player page reminded me of his WS shutout, which (of course) was his WS debut. Then I had to see if anyone else had a shutout in both regular-season and… Read more »

Hartvig

Reply to John Autin

I find it kind of remarkable that Ferriss thru 12 shutouts in 103 career starts. Among post-1919 career shutout leaders( top 100) only Sandy Koufax’s 40 in 314 career starts (12.74%) beats Ferriss’s 11.65% mark. Allie Reynolds was tied with Ferriss and Mel Stottlemyre at 11.24% was the next closest that I found in a quick & dirty search.

Anyone know if there’s a quicker way to search thru the 545 pitchers with 12 or more career shutouts for the highest percentage?

Reply to Hartvig

Use Pitching Season Finder, Multiple Seasons or Careers, Shutouts >= 12, Shutouts > 0.12*GS.

I found 38 pitchers since 1901 with 12 shutouts and shutouts in 12% or more of starts. However, 33 of these had careers mostly or entirely in the deadball era.

The other 5 are Koufax plus these four, showing shutouts, starts and shutout rate.

Lou Fette, 14/97/14.4%
Spud Chandler, 26/184/14.1%
Mort Cooper, 33/239/13.8%
Tex Hughson, 19/156/12.2%

Among the deadball guys, the highest rate was Ed Walsh with 57 shutouts in 315 starts, or 18.1%.

Chandler, Cooper & Hughson all benefitted a fair bit from WWII, although Chandler not as much as I thought he might. The big surprise for me was Fette. I had never heard of him & was sure that he must have racked his numbers up during the war too but I was wrong. Looks like maybe arm troubles sidelined him in ’40 & ’41 & I’m guessing his apparent minor league comeback in ’42 was then sidetracked by the war. Add that to his being a minor league journeyman until the year prior to his MLB debut at age 30… Read more »

Lou Fette (if he pitched today, he would obviously be known as Bobba) is one of 6 pitchers in the live-ball era with at least 20 wins in his debut season … a group that includes Ferriss.

Three of those six were in 1937, including Fette’s Bees teammate, Jim Turner. Fette was age 30, Turner age 33. Weird.

Ferriss pittched 4 shutouts in his first 6 starts.

Norris’ quick decline from his peak 1980 season may have had something to do with overuse that year by manager Billy Martin. The 5 Oakland starters, all 28 or younger, combined for the phenomenal total of 93 complete games that year. Norris and Kingman were done after the ’83 season, McCatty after ’85 and Langford and Keough after ’86. Norris did make a one-season comeback in 1990 at age 35, and pitched effectively in very limited (27 IP) duty.