Wednesday, August 08, 2007

The Futility of History, Part 2

While wasting away hours listening to Bob Carpenter call a game solo cause Don Sutton's too ill to chip in. Buck sez, it's a spot of the ol' Tony Armas "dehydration."

Anyway, here are some more random stats.

Robert Fick has the 9th lowest slugging percentage for all 1B with 140 plate appearances or more. John Black's 1911 is the lowest, and Mike Fiore's 1970 is the most recent. Using the same PT criteria, he has the 151st worst on-base percentage. That leader, also from 1911, is John Black with a .202. Hey, wait a minute! It's the same guy! Wow, he must've sucked. Not-so coincidentally, that was his last year in the majors. (Another thing he has in common with Fick, perhaps? (Please?)) The Browns went 45-107 that year. Historically bad?

Levale Speigner is in rarefied air. Since 1901, he has the 18th highest ERA (8.78) of anyone with 40+ Innings. The all-time leader is Roy Halladay, who had a 10.64 in 2000. So maybe there's hope yet. Second place on that list, by the way, is Micah Bowie and his nightmare 1999. Only 7 of the 18 on the list didn't come from the 90s or later, and four of the others came during the high-scoring 30s.

Matt Chico has the 12th highest Homers per 9 IP of any rookie pitcher with as many IP as he has since 1901. (Rob Bell is the 'leader')

Kory Casto has the 20th lowest batting average for any outfielder to have 54 or more ABs. (Hall of Famer Mel Ott holds the 'record', .074, and amazingly that wasn't his last season). His slugging is 23rd worst -- someone called Herbie Moran holds that honor.

13 Comments:

  • Rob Bell citing! Wooo!

    By Blogger Harper, at 8/08/2007 11:38 PM  

  • I love this stuff! It's like those crazy maths freaks who you can throw 2 random numbers at and they work it out in like Pi of a second.

    Chris - which 2nd year third baseman has made been involved in the least triple plays, having had more than 77 strikes called that were really balls, at their homepark, if that park is on the east coast and higher than 100 feet about sea level, on days over 80 degrees!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8/09/2007 1:51 AM  

  • Anonymous:

    It's Ray Knight, believe it or not.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 8/09/2007 8:33 AM  

  • Perhaps it is wrong to single only one of our Titans this way after reading your entry, but no matter how much they love him, Fick really needs to be let go after the season. How hard could it be to find a better bench player than Fick? If Bowden is still around, he seems to have a talent for mining the scrap heap.

    By Blogger Positively Half St., at 8/09/2007 8:36 AM  

  • Damn you are good. I thought it was Maurice Shannon, but then I remebered that Polo Grounds is below 100 feet.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8/09/2007 8:38 AM  

  • That's a common misconception.

    Coogan's bluff was over 100 feet, but the spectators sat there, not the players.

    Tricky stuff!

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 8/09/2007 9:01 AM  

  • Speaking of great stats, whats the biggest gap ever recorded between predicted losses and actual losses? I am guessing that you'd need to limit the number and quality of predictions used, but I reckon the '07 Nats have a fair chance.

    Gus - I am sick of being Anonymous!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8/09/2007 9:09 AM  

  • Thanks, Gus! I'm sick of the anonymous!

    (If you click the 'other' button, you can just fill in any ol' name)

    Here's today's challenge for you. Find an actual person who made an actual prediction of the team being "historically bad." Fans talked about it, but when push came to shove, the only people I could find were nameless crusty old scouts that Buster Olney cited and the TEAM'S OWN FRONT OFFICE!!!

    Talk about setting the bar low!

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 8/09/2007 9:11 AM  

  • Of course they set the bar low. They're covering their own asses that way. Now they can make us feel like we're getting an added bonus cuz we're not even in last place(much less historically bad
    ), and my $7 Bud light will now be $8 next year.
    And they'll still be bitching that they didnt get enough money from the city .

    By Blogger Rob B, at 8/09/2007 9:35 AM  

  • Buster Olney and the front office weren't the only one's predicting historically bad. King Kauffman's preseason prediction for the NL East:

    Mets
    Braves
    Phillies
    Marlins
    Grand Canyon
    Marianas Trench
    Nationals

    That sounds like "historically bad" without outright saying it.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8/09/2007 11:25 AM  

  • But that doesn't count because its so funny.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 8/09/2007 11:36 AM  

  • Waaay off topic, but yikes! Who would have thought this would have been the team crying in their beer?

    Okay...they aren't that good, but listen to the "Whoa is me".

    Feeling good right now. At least the atmosphere seems decent and there is some prospect for a nice upside.

    By Blogger Jim H, at 8/09/2007 8:04 PM  

  • I duidn't think the Nats wouldb eb "historically bad," but I did look at this team and see a 52-110 record. I'm glad I was wrong.

    By Blogger John O'Connor, at 8/10/2007 7:53 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home