Author Archives: Doug

Gary Sanchez – So Good, So Soon

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Yankee catcher Gary Sanchez has been a sensation since his call-up at the beginning of August. So much so that, on Saturday’s Yankees-Red Sox telecast, Fox broadcaster John Smoltz (whom I much admire for his easy-to-listen-to voice and his thoughtful and often insightful commentary) uncharacteristically gushed something to the effect that Sanchez’s month-and-a-half of stellar play leading the Yankees back into the pennant chase was pretty much unheard of for a rookie. That seemed like quite a bold claim and one that would be worth looking into.

After the jump, more on Sanchez and other rookies who started their careers with a short season but a memorable one.

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AL East Heats Up

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The new look Yankees have gone 17-9 since August 9th to join the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Orioles in the hunt for the AL East title. Both AL wild card spots are currently held by these teams, but with most of their remaining games against each other, that may not be the case much longer. For the AL East, it could well be just like the old days: win or go home.

A look at what should be a memorable pennant chase after the jump.

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Pitching Evolution: Starters and Relievers, Part 1

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On a recent post, one of our regular HHS readers wondered about whether today’s highly specialized relief corps really helped preserve wins or prevent losses. That seemed like an interesting idea for a post, one that I’ll look at in two installments. Part 1 looks at starters and relievers across all teams, while Part 2 will focus in on individual pitchers.

More after the jump.

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Late Season Oddities

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With the season finish line in sight, HHS readers have uncovered some odd seasonal achievements that would become even more unusual were they to continue for the full season. Or maybe it’s just an unusual player or team accomplishment in a recent game. If you’ve uncovered something interesting that’s happened recently, this is your opportunity to contribute.

More after the jump.

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Quiz – Baseball Match Game (solved)

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This quiz is about players with a connection to another player. There are two lists of players with each player in the first list matching a player in the second. Your job is to figure out the connection.

Congratulations to No Statistician But! He knew that the matching players were teammates in a season when both (or all) hit their 300th home runs. Those details are after the jump.

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The Vicious Circle – Home Runs, Strikeouts and Disappearing Baserunners

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The Astros and Blue Jays began this month with a four game series in Houston that produced a total of just 15 runs for the two teams, but a bumper crop of 105 strikeouts. The latter figure and Toronto’s share (61 whiffs) are both reported to be records for a four game series. Despite all the swings and misses, Toronto took the set 3 games to 1, outscoring Houston 10-5, with seven of those ten runs coming off solo home runs.

That series is an extreme example but an instructive one on the growing trend in baseball of games dominated by home runs and strikeouts, two of the “three true outcomes” or TTOs (the third is walks), so named because the defense can do nothing to affect the results of those events.

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Decade Dominance – 10 Year Batting Leaders Since 1901

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On ESPN’s Sunday night game this week, I learned that Robinson Cano is the leader in games played over the past ten seasons (2007-16). Indeed, he was the leader as of that date (July 31), but just two games ahead of Adrian Gonzalez, the 10 year leader ending in 2015.

That, of course, made me wonder about other decades and other statistical leaders. If you were wondering too, wonder no more, as those leaders are after the jump.

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