In 2011, a player in the NL East had a two-piece statistical combination that had only been done twice before in MLB history.
- Both stats are basic counting stats that you would have found on the back of a 1950s baseball card.
- Both stats are of the “more is better” variety; the combination was a “good news, bad news” story.
- One of the two previous players did it as a rookie; the other was a grizzled veteran.
Who did what?
(Note: The mystery has been solved — congrats to jsg — click “Read the rest…” for the answer.)
Answer:
Anibal Sanchez had 202 strikeouts and just 8 wins, tying Nolan Ryan (1987) and Bob Johnson (1970) for the fewest wins with 200+ Ks:
Rk | Player | Year | SO | W | WAR | IP | Age | Tm | Lg | G | GS | CG | SHO | GF | L | SV | H | R | ER | BB | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Anibal Sanchez | 2011 | 202 | 8 | 106 | 3.4 | 196.1 | 27 | FLA | NL | 32 | 32 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | .471 | 0 | 187 | 85 | 80 | 64 | 3.67 |
2 | Nolan Ryan | 1987 | 270 | 8 | 142 | 5.5 | 211.2 | 40 | HOU | NL | 34 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | .333 | 0 | 154 | 75 | 65 | 87 | 2.76 |
3 | Bob Johnson | 1970 | 206 | 8 | 121 | 4.1 | 214.0 | 27 | KCR | AL | 40 | 26 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 13 | .381 | 4 | 178 | 82 | 73 | 82 | 3.07 |