By Tom Ruane
A while back, I started collecting my Retrosheet posts in a place on the web-site (here and then here). Well, both of those articles got too big, so I decided to start yet another one.
I hope at least some of this is of general interest and, as always:
Thanks for your patience.
What's New
The week of 2012-8-26: Unique Batting Lines (August 26, 2012)
The week of 2012-7-8: Come-From-Behind Wins and Losses (July 8, 2012)
The topic for today is (as the title suggests) come-from-behind wins and losses. Right off the bat, I should define precisely what I mean by one of these things. For the purposes of most of this article, I will define a come-from-behind win as one in which the team trailed at any point from the seventh inning onward. And a loss is what you'd expect: a game in which the losing team led at some point over the same span. (And I realize that such a loss shouldn't be prefaced with "come-from-behind" but rather with something like "gone-from-ahead," but you get the idea.) (And given my definition, perhaps I should have called these "late-come-from-behind" wins, but a) that's a little bit cumbersome, and b) I will discuss earlier and later comebacks in the article as well.) Note that for every one of these wins, there has to be a corresponding loss.
This article will cover all the games played from 1916 to 2011.
With that out of the way, I thought I'd start by looking at how many of these we had in each decade. My feeling is that with the development and refinement of the modern bullpen over the last sixty years or so, we should see a decline over that period of comeback wins (which are also, as the pessimists would be quick to point out, blown leads). Here's the data:
Years Total CFB Pct RPG 1916-1919 4569 670 14.66 7.34 1920-1929 12254 2102 17.15 9.63 1930-1939 12218 2080 17.02 9.88 1940-1949 12274 2001 16.30 8.63 1950-1959 12314 2032 16.50 8.90 1960-1969 15922 2600 16.33 8.08 1970-1979 19791 3272 16.53 8.31 1980-1989 20315 3288 16.19 8.60 1990-1999 21587 3579 16.58 9.35 2000-2009 24286 3906 16.08 9.52 2010-2011 4859 755 15.54 8.67 CFB - come-from-behind wins RPG - combined runs per game
Feel free to make of that what you will.
Note that for the purposes of this analysis I am not counting either tie games or forfeits.
Here are the individual years with the fewest and the most. Let's start with the fewest:
Year Total CFB Pct RPG 1968 1619 228 14.08 6.84 1917 1224 175 14.30 7.20 1946 1233 178 14.44 8.02 1942 1214 176 14.50 8.19 1988 2098 305 14.54 8.28 1919 1113 162 14.56 7.75 1916 1226 181 14.76 7.16 1990 2105 312 14.82 8.51 1976 1939 288 14.85 7.99 2003 2429 361 14.86 9.46
With one big exception (2003), these are all low-offense years, which is another thing you might expect, since the more runs you score, the more likely you are to come from behind.
And here are the most:
Year Total CFB Pct RPG 1957 1230 233 18.94 8.62 1949 1231 232 18.85 9.20 1934 1215 227 18.68 9.84 1970 1943 363 18.68 8.68 1961 1423 259 18.20 9.05 1921 1226 222 18.11 9.72 1932 1228 222 18.08 9.83 1929 1221 220 18.02 10.38 1927 1228 221 18.00 9.51 1994 1599 286 17.89 9.84
All of the years on the "most" list saw more runs scored per game than all of the years on the "least," again with the exception of 2003. So it does seem as if the level of offense, rather than the quality of the late-inning pitching, could be the biggest factor in determine how many of these we see.
So with that as an introduction, what teams had the most come-from-behind wins? Well, I thought I'd look at this two ways, both by the number of wins and the percentage of a team's total wins. Here are the teams with the most:
Overall CFB
Year Team G W L W L TotPct WPct LPct
1977 PIT N 162 96 66 27 10 22.84 28.12 15.15
1927 NY N 154 92 62 25 12 24.03 27.17 19.35
1924 BRO N 154 92 62 24 7 20.13 26.09 11.29
1957 NY A 154 98 56 24 11 22.73 24.49 19.64
1959 PIT N 154 78 76 24 12 23.38 30.77 15.79
1982 SF N 162 87 75 24 12 22.22 27.59 16.00
1998 HOU N 162 102 60 24 12 22.22 23.53 20.00
1934 DET A 154 101 53 23 10 21.43 22.77 18.87
1940 CIN N 153 100 53 23 13 23.53 23.00 24.53
1978 CIN N 161 92 69 23 9 19.88 25.00 13.04
1978 KC A 162 92 70 23 12 21.60 25.00 17.14
Hopefully each of these columns make sense. For each team, I have their overall record, their record in come-from-behind games and three percentages: the percentage of all their games that were either CFB wins or losses, and the percentages of their wins and losses that fall into this category.
And the fewest:
Overall CFB
Year Team G W L W L TotPct WPct LPct
1919 WAS A 140 56 84 2 15 12.14 3.57 17.86
1981 NY A 107 59 48 2 7 8.41 3.39 14.58
2001 STL N 162 93 69 3 7 6.17 3.23 10.14
1928 WAS A 154 75 79 4 11 9.74 5.33 13.92
1935 BOS N 153 38 115 4 17 13.73 10.53 14.78
1942 PHI N 151 42 109 4 9 8.61 9.52 8.26
1943 STL A 152 72 80 4 12 10.53 5.56 15.00
1946 CLE A 154 68 86 4 12 10.39 5.88 13.95
1958 PIT N 154 84 70 4 9 8.44 4.76 12.86
1983 MON N 162 82 80 4 13 10.49 4.88 16.25
1994 TOR A 115 55 60 4 10 12.17 7.27 16.67
1997 MIN A 162 68 94 4 9 8.02 5.88 9.57
2002 TOR A 162 78 84 4 18 13.58 5.13 21.43
2003 TOR A 162 86 76 4 16 12.35 4.65 21.05
So the year before the 1959 Pirates had twenty-four come-from-behind victories, they managed only four.
I was surprised that the difference in quality between these two sets of teams was as large as it is. For some reason, I figured that really good teams might not have as many come-from-behind wins because they would be less likely to be trailing in the late innings. And I figured that the really bad teams would have more opportunities to rally from a deficit.
Special mention should be made of the 1919 Senators, who won only two games all season that they trailed in the late innings. And both of those wins only barely qualified. In the second game of their double-header on June 28th, they scored two runs in the top of the seventh to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead. And on August 15th they also scored two runs in the top of the seventh, this time to tie a game they eventually won. Which means that for the entire (albeit shortened) 1919 season, the Senators never once rallied to win a game that they were losing at the seventh-inning stretch.
And since both the 2002 and 2003 Blue Jays ended up on this list, I thought it might be interesting to look at the worst two-year winning percentages in these games.
Overall CFB
Years Team G W L W L WPct
2002-03 TOR A 324 164 160 8 34 .190
1919-20 WAS A 292 124 168 10 30 .250
2002-03 TEX A 324 143 181 14 36 .280
1925-26 CHI A 306 160 146 14 35 .286
1988-89 ATL N 320 117 203 16 40 .286
1961-62 WAS A 322 121 201 15 37 .288
1993-94 HOU N 277 151 126 12 29 .293
The strange thing is that three of these teams, including the Blue Jays, had a winning record overall.
And the best:
Overall CFB
Years Team G W L W L WPct
1919-20 CHI A 293 183 110 32 8 .800
1954-55 CLE A 308 204 104 37 10 .787
1952-53 BRO N 307 201 106 40 12 .769
2003-04 LA N 324 178 146 32 10 .762
2008-09 NY A 324 192 132 35 12 .745
1960-61 NY A 316 206 110 39 14 .736
1944-45 PIT N 307 172 135 36 14 .720
1984-85 STL N 324 185 139 30 12 .714
2005-06 MIN A 324 179 145 32 13 .711
So how about the teams who rallied to win the highest percentage of their victories?
Overall CFB
Year Team G W L W L TotPct WPct LPct
1949 WAS A 154 50 104 18 20 24.68 36.00 19.23
1948 CHI A 152 51 101 17 15 21.05 33.33 14.85
1934 STL A 152 67 85 22 15 24.34 32.84 17.65
2002 TB A 161 55 106 17 19 22.36 30.91 17.92
1959 PIT N 154 78 76 24 12 23.38 30.77 15.79
1951 CHI N 154 62 92 19 11 19.48 30.65 11.96
1919 PHI A 140 36 104 11 14 17.86 30.56 13.46
1981 PHI N 107 59 48 18 6 22.43 30.51 12.50
1962 NY N 160 40 120 12 21 20.62 30.00 17.50
1964 KC A 162 57 105 17 16 20.37 29.82 15.24
Now this is more like it! With the exception of the 1959 Pirates and the 1981 Phillies, there isn't a good team on the list. And the majority of these are truly horrible,
Time for the losses.
Here are the teams blowing the most late leads:
Overall CFB
Year Team G W L W L TotPct WPct LPct
1973 MIL A 162 74 88 12 31 26.54 16.22 35.23
1928 PHI N 152 43 109 12 26 25.00 27.91 23.85
1984 TOR A 162 89 73 22 25 29.01 24.72 34.25
1999 KC A 161 64 97 8 25 20.50 12.50 25.77
2004 COL N 162 68 94 14 25 24.07 20.59 26.60
1936 PHI N 154 54 100 8 24 20.78 14.81 24.00
1954 WAS A 154 66 88 11 24 22.73 16.67 27.27
1963 SF N 162 88 74 9 24 20.37 10.23 32.43
1973 ATL N 161 76 85 16 24 24.84 21.05 28.24
1986 LA N 162 73 89 6 24 18.52 8.22 26.97
The 1973 Brewers are way ahead of the rest of the field. And the strange thing is that they are actually one of the better teams on this list (although that isn't saying much).
And the fewest:
Overall CFB
Year Team G W L W L TotPct WPct LPct
1919 CHI A 140 88 52 14 3 12.14 15.91 5.77
1942 STL N 154 106 48 8 3 7.14 7.55 6.25
1952 BRO N 153 96 57 19 3 14.38 19.79 5.26
1954 CLE A 154 111 43 20 3 14.94 18.02 6.98
1969 NY N 162 100 62 11 3 8.64 11.00 4.84
1946 NY A 154 87 67 9 4 8.44 10.34 5.97
1960 STL N 154 86 68 18 4 14.29 20.93 5.88
1981 MIL A 109 62 47 9 4 11.93 14.52 8.51
1985 STL N 162 101 61 15 4 11.73 14.85 6.56
1985 SEA A 162 74 88 8 4 7.41 10.81 4.55
1990 OAK A 162 103 59 14 4 11.11 13.59 6.78
2004 LA N 162 93 69 20 4 14.81 21.51 5.80
2006 MIN A 162 96 66 19 4 14.20 19.79 6.06
2007 STL N 162 78 84 14 4 11.11 17.95 4.76
I guess really good teams don't toss away a lot of late leads. Imagine how bad the 2007 Cardinals would have been if they hadn't been so good at the end of games.
And now the same two lists as a percentage of their total losses:
Overall CFB
Year Team G W L W L TotPct WPct LPct
1973 MIL A 162 74 88 12 31 26.54 16.22 35.23
1927 PIT N 154 94 60 13 21 22.08 13.83 35.00
1994 CHI A 113 67 46 12 16 24.78 17.91 34.78
1984 TOR A 162 89 73 22 25 29.01 24.72 34.25
1932 NY A 154 107 47 16 16 20.78 14.95 34.04
1963 SF N 162 88 74 9 24 20.37 10.23 32.43
1985 TOR A 161 99 62 12 20 19.88 12.12 32.26
1929 CHI N 152 98 54 14 17 20.39 14.29 31.48
1977 LA N 162 98 64 12 20 19.75 12.24 31.25
1927 CHI N 153 85 68 11 21 20.92 12.94 30.88
Overall CFB
Year Team G W L W L TotPct WPct LPct
1985 SEA A 162 74 88 8 4 7.41 10.81 4.55
2007 STL N 162 78 84 14 4 11.11 17.95 4.76
1969 NY N 162 100 62 11 3 8.64 11.00 4.84
1933 STL A 151 55 96 10 5 9.93 18.18 5.21
1952 BRO N 153 96 57 19 3 14.38 19.79 5.26
1958 WAS A 154 61 93 13 5 11.69 21.31 5.38
1919 CHI A 140 88 52 14 3 12.14 15.91 5.77
2004 LA N 162 93 69 20 4 14.81 21.51 5.80
1960 STL N 154 86 68 18 4 14.29 20.93 5.88
1946 NY A 154 87 67 9 4 8.44 10.34 5.97
And here are the teams that had the highest percentage of both of these types of games (wins and losses):
Overall CFB
Year Team G W L W L TotPct WPct LPct
1984 TOR A 162 89 73 22 25 29.01 24.72 34.25
1973 MIL A 162 74 88 12 31 26.54 16.22 35.23
1973 MON N 162 79 83 22 21 26.54 27.85 25.30
1981 BOS A 108 59 49 16 12 25.93 27.12 24.49
1994 LA N 114 58 56 12 17 25.44 20.69 30.36
1949 BOS N 154 75 79 20 19 25.32 26.67 24.05
1932 DET A 151 76 75 19 19 25.17 25.00 25.33
1928 PHI N 152 43 109 12 26 25.00 27.91 23.85
1973 ATL N 161 76 85 16 24 24.84 21.05 28.24
1994 CHI A 113 67 46 12 16 24.78 17.91 34.78
1994 NY N 113 55 58 12 16 24.78 21.82 27.59
Fans of the 1984 Blue Jays probably learned not to leave the park (or turn off their TV sets) an inning or two early.
Overall CFB
Year Team G W L W L TotPct WPct LPct
2001 STL N 162 93 69 3 7 6.17 3.23 10.14
1942 STL N 154 106 48 8 3 7.14 7.55 6.25
1985 SEA A 162 74 88 8 4 7.41 10.81 4.55
1997 MIN A 162 68 94 4 9 8.02 5.88 9.57
1946 NY A 154 87 67 9 4 8.44 10.34 5.97
1958 PIT N 154 84 70 4 9 8.44 4.76 12.86
1981 NY A 107 59 48 2 7 8.41 3.39 14.58
1926 PIT N 153 84 69 7 6 8.50 8.33 8.70
1940 BOS N 152 65 87 5 8 8.55 7.69 9.20
1942 PHI N 151 42 109 4 9 8.61 9.52 8.26
Both ends of the 1942 National League are represented here, the first-place Cardinals and the last-place Phillies. One weird thing is that the two teams traded come-from-behind wins on back-to-back days that September.
Okay. Way back at the start of this piece, I promised to look at earlier (and later) come-from-behind victories. Here are the most come-from-behind wins of all varieties. In the table below, the inning column holds the earliest deficit that we included (so all the data above would fall into the "7" column):
Overall CFB Overall CFB Overall CFB
INN Year Team G W L W L Year Team G W L W L Year Team G W L W L
1 2004 NY A 162 101 61 61 25
2 2004 NY A 162 101 61 58 24
3 2004 NY A 162 101 61 52 23
4 2004 NY A 162 101 61 45 20
5 1944 PIT N 153 90 63 35 12 1977 PIT N 162 96 66 35 20 2011 ARI N 162 94 68 35 14
6 1930 PHI A 154 102 52 30 13 1934 DET A 154 101 53 30 13 1996 BAL A 162 88 74 30 13
7 1977 PIT N 162 96 66 27 10
8 1940 BOS A 154 82 72 19 10 1982 SF N 162 87 75 19 8 1998 HOU N 162 102 60 19 9
9 1921 STL A 154 81 73 12 2 1959 CHI A 154 94 60 12 3 1987 STL N 162 95 67 12 3
Six teams won twelve times when trailing in the ninth inning. I've shown the three with the fewest losses.
And the fewest:
Overall CFB Overall CFB Overall CFB
INN Year Team G W L W L Year Team G W L W L Year Team G W L W L
1 1916 PHI A 153 36 117 8 44
2 1916 PHI A 153 36 117 8 36
3 1916 PHI A 153 36 117 8 31
4 1916 PHI A 153 36 117 7 27 1919 WAS A 140 56 84 7 26
5 1919 WAS A 140 56 84 4 23
6 1919 WAS A 140 56 84 3 19
7 1919 WAS A 140 56 84 2 15 1981 NY A 107 59 48 2 7
8 1919 WAS A 140 56 84 0 11
9 1996 TEX A 162 90 72 0 11 1920 WAS A 152 68 84 0 8 1969 MON N 162 52 110 0 8
Twenty-six teams failed to win a game all season in which they trailed in the ninth inning. I've shown the three with the most losses.
On July 19, 1918, the Senators scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the White Sox 6-5. They would not win another game in which they trailed in the ninth inning until June 1, 1921.
The most of these losses:
Overall CFB Overall CFB
INN Year Team G W L W L Year Team G W L W L
1 1998 FLA N 162 54 108 30 66
2 1962 NY N 160 40 120 22 61
3 1962 NY N 160 40 120 22 53 1998 FLA N 162 54 108 24 53
4 1998 FLA N 162 54 108 23 48
5 2003 CLE A 162 68 94 18 41
6 1973 ATL N 161 76 85 21 35
7 1973 MIL A 162 74 88 12 31
8 1973 MIL A 162 74 88 8 23
9 1991 CHI N 160 77 83 6 14
And the fewest:
Overall CFB Overall CFB Overall CFB
INN Year Team G W L W L Year Team G W L W L Year Team G W L W L
1 1918 CHI N 129 84 45 38 12
2 1918 CHI N 129 84 45 36 12 1981 HOU N 110 61 49 18 12
3 1918 CHI N 129 84 45 30 11 1981 HOU N 110 61 49 16 11
4 1918 CHI N 129 84 45 23 10 1960 STL N 154 86 68 36 10
5 1985 SEA A 162 74 88 18 6 2006 MIN A 162 96 66 28 6
6 1985 SEA A 162 74 88 17 5 1990 OAK A 162 103 59 19 5
7 1954 CLE A 154 111 43 20 3 1952 BRO N 153 96 57 19 3 * - happened four times, these had the most wins
8 2006 MIN A 162 96 66 15 1 * - happened ten times, this had the most wins
9 1995 CLE A 144 100 44 11 0 1954 CLE A 154 111 43 8 0 1967 WAS A 161 76 85 8 0
Twenty-six teams failed to lose a game all season in which they led in the ninth inning. I've shown the three with the most wins.
The most consecutive wins:
INN G Year Team Start End Year Team Start End 1-2 8 1930 WAS A 4-20 4-29 2008 CHI N 5-27 6- 3 3-4 7 1965 PIT N 5-22 5-29 1986 CLE A 4-27 5- 5 5 5 2004 SEA A 8-27 8-31 2011 COL N 4-10 4-14 * - happened fifteen times, these are the last two 6 5 1997 SF N 4-14 4-19 1998 TOR A 8- 8 8-13 * - happened four times, these are the last two 7 5 1998 TOR A 8- 8 8-13 8 4 1986 CLE A 5- 2 5- 5 2006 WAS N 8-31 9- 3 * - happened five times, these are the last two 9 3 1998 DET A 9-17 9-19 2009 FLA N 4-17 4-19 * - happened nine times, these are the last two
And losses:
INN G Year Team Start End Year Team Start End 1 9 1949 BOS N 9- 2 9- 8 2 7 1999 ANA A 8-24 8-31 2004 PIT N 6- 7 6-15 * - happened seven times, these are the last two 3 7 1999 ANA A 8-24 8-31 2004 PIT N 6- 7 6-15 * - happened five times, these are the last two 4 7 1939 PIT N 8- 9 8-16(1) 5 6 1926 BOS N 6-23(1) 6-28 1932 PHI N 8- 6(1) 8-10 6 5 1957 BAL A 5-11 5-17 2009 HOU N 9-14 9-19 * - happened four times, these are the last two 7 5 1933 CIN N 7-27 7-30(2) 8 4 1978 SF N 6- 5 6- 9 2008 COL N 4-20 4-23 9 3 2002 TB A 5- 2 5- 4 2009 WAS N 4-17 4-19 * - happened ten times, these are the last two
The 2009 Marlins and Nationals played each other from April 17th to 19th.
Have you ever looked at a strange batting line and wondered if it was unique in baseball history? For example, on August 25, 2011, Curtis Granderson had two hits in four at-bats, scored four runs and drove in five. So his line in the box score looked as follows:
AB R H RBI1
Granderson 4 4 2 5
Was this the first time a line like that had appeared in a major league box score? Well, no. As it turns out, two other players had that line before Granderson, Ron Fairly in 1964 and Devon White in 1998. But there are plenty of others that are unique.
Between the beginning of 1920 (when the RBI became an official statistic) and the end of 2011, there have been 1314 different batting lines. The most common? Well, here are the ten most popular:
# AB R H RBI
431834 0 0 0 0 - note: this doesn't include pitchers who didn't bat due to the DH
364254 1 0 0 0
311768 4 0 0 0
284305 3 0 0 0
225274 4 0 1 0
170275 2 0 0 0
136073 3 0 1 0
109006 4 1 1 0
69407 3 1 1 0
65800 4 0 1 1
To give you some idea of their frequency, there were 156,229 games from 1920 to 2011 and 3,742,416 total lines. That works out to around 24 per game. So the 0-0-0-0 line appeared nearly three times a game, 1-0-0-0 close to two and a third, and so on. The top ten lines occurred 2,167,996 times, or 57.9 per cent of the total.
245 of the batting lines (or 0.0065 per cent) have occurred exactly once. Of course, this could change every year. Prior to 2011, there were 244 unique lines. During the year, there were two new additions:
Player Date AB R H RBI Nelson Cruz 7-22 4 1 4 8 Ronny Paulino 5- 1 7 0 5 1
And one previously unique line was duplicated:
Player Date AB R H RBI Matched By Date Jack Fournier 8-11-1920 7 4 5 1 Corey Patterson 5-28-2011
Before it fell off the list, Fournier's was the third oldest unique batting line. The two oldest occurred in the longest game in major league history, on May 1, 1920:
AB R H RBI
Charlie Pick 11 0 0 0
Tony Boeckel 11 0 3 1
As you may have guessed, the longer a game goes, the easier it is to produce a unique batting line. Here's the breakdown by inning:
INN Unique TotG TotG/Unique 5-8 0 1246 - 9 128 140450 1097.3 10-13 20 13175 693.4 14-17 32 1238 38.7 18+ 65 120 1.8
Seven games have produced three or more unique batting lines. The top game shouldn't be a surprise. Actually, most of these games are pretty well known.
# Teams Date INN Players AB R H RBI
10 PHI A at CLE A 7-10-1932 18 Mule Haas 9 3 2 0
Jimmy Dykes 10 2 3 4
Al Simmons 9 4 5 2
Jimmie Foxx 9 4 6 8
Dick Porter 10 3 3 2
Johnny Burnett 11 4 9 2
Earl Averill 9 3 5 4
Joe Vosmik 10 2 2 1
Ed Morgan 11 1 5 4
Bill Cissell 9 1 4 3
6 MIL A at CHI A 5- 8-1984 25 Cecil Cooper 11 1 2 0
Ben Oglivie 10 1 2 4
Rudy Law 11 1 4 1
Carlton Fisk 11 1 3 1
Tom Paciorek 9 1 5 3
Julio Cruz 11 1 1 1
4 NY N at ATL N 7- 4-1985 19 Wally Backman 10 2 4 2
Keith Hernandez 10 3 4 3
Dale Murphy 8 1 1 3
Terry Harper 10 3 5 4
3 NY N at PIT N 6-15-1929 14 Edd Roush 9 3 5 1
Travis Jackson 7 4 4 7
Lloyd Waner 8 2 6 2
3 CHI N at CIN N 8- 9-1942(1) 18 Lou Stringer 7 3 1 0
Clyde McCullough 10 0 2 2
Eddie Joost 9 0 4 4
3 NY A at DET A 6-24-1962 22 Bobby Richardson 11 2 3 0
Purnal Goldy 10 1 1 3
Rocky Colavito 10 1 7 1
3 SD N at MON N 5-21-1977 21 Mike Champion 9 0 1 2
Dave Cash 11 1 4 2
Pete Mackanin 10 1 3 0
That game from 1932 produced more entries than any other single year. The second biggest year, with nine, was 1977. In addition to the three listed above, here are the others from 1977:
Player Date AB R H RBI George Foster 4-25 4 5 4 7 * Garry Templeton 4-27 7 5 3 1 * Jim Spencer 5-14 3 2 3 8 * Joe Morgan 6-30 2 5 0 0 * Gene Richards 7-26(2) 7 1 6 0 Bill Buckner 7-28 8 2 2 5 * - a regulation game
Only three regulation games have produced more than a single unique batting line:
# Teams Date Players AB R H RBI
2 BRO N at NY N 4-30-1944(1) Mel Ott 2 6 2 1
Phil Weintraub 5 5 4 11
2 CHI N at BOS N 7- 3-1945 Don Johnson 7 5 5 4
Phil Cavarretta 7 5 5 5
2 PIT N at CHI N 9-16-1975 Rennie Stennett 7 5 7 2
Richie Hebner 7 3 2 3
So what player has produced the most unique batting lines? Well, Babe Ruth never had one. But his most famous teammate is the only player with more than two to his credit:
Player Date AB R H RBI
Lou Gehrig 6-12-1928 4 5 4 5 *
7-31-1930 3 3 3 8 *
9- 9-1932(1) 6 2 2 8
* - a regulation game
Surprisingly, his four-homer game did not produce a unique line. He was the first with the 6-4-4-6 mark that he produced in that game, but it has been done seven times since. The second player to do it? Babe Dahlgren, on August 12, 1939.
He had one other line that was unique for nearly fifty years. His 3-4-2-5 line on July 7, 1935 would not be duplicated until Mike Schmidt matched it on August 8. 1983.
Thirteen other players have two unique batting lines.
Player Date AB R H RBI
Don Baylor 8-25-1979 7 3 3 8 *
4-13-1982 9 2 5 1
Barry Bonds 8- 7-1996 1 3 1 4 *
4-18-2000 2 5 1 2 *
Jose Cardenal 5-31-1966 8 1 5 3
5- 2-1976(1) 7 2 6 4
Rocky Colavito 5-15-1957 8 3 2 3
6-24-1962 10 1 7 1
Johnny Damon 8-10-1996 6 1 2 7 *
4-29-2006 5 5 3 3 *
Jimmie Foxx 7-10-1932 9 4 6 8
8-14-1933 5 1 4 9 *
David Ortiz 7- 3-2000 0 0 0 3 *
7-15-2005 6 2 1 5 *
Mel Ott 8- 4-1934(2) 4 6 4 4 *
4-30-1944(1) 2 6 2 1 *
Joe Pepitone 4-16-1967 9 0 4 3
8-15-1967 7 1 2 5
Pete Rose 9-12-1967 6 4 2 4 *
5-17-1979 7 4 3 4
Al Simmons 9- 4-1930 8 1 4 6
7-10-1932 9 4 5 2
Mickey Tettleton 6-27-1989 2 4 1 4 *
4-19-1996 2 3 0 2 *
Lloyd Waner 6-15-1929 8 2 6 2
5-15-1935 6 5 3 0 *
* - a regulation game
Joe Pepitone is the only player with more than one in a single season.
How many pitchers have produced a unique batting line? Only one. My guess would have been Tony Cloninger, who had a 5-2-3-9 line when he hit two grand-slam home runs for the Braves in 1966, but I would have been wrong. Carlos Delgado removed Cloninger from this club when he duplicated his performance on June 27, 2008. Well, he hit only one grand slam instead of two, but his line was the same. The only pitcher left after that was Ellis Kinder who put up a 4-2-1-6 line on August 6, 1950. He hit the only home run of his career in that game, a grand-slam, and those six RBIs were four more than his next best game.
Here are some other pitchers who spent some time in the club:
Player Date AB R H RBI Matched By Date George Uhle 9-24-1921 0 3 0 1 Max Bishop 4-29-1929 Jack Quinn 9-21-1922 1 3 1 3 Tommy Harper 9- 7-1972 George Uhle 5-24-1929 9 1 4 0 Paul Casanova 8- 9-1967 Hank Johnson 8- 1-1928 5 0 5 1 Pinky Higgins 7-25-1934 Bill McCahan 8-10-1948(2) 4 0 1 5 Scott Cooper 7- 1-1995 Blue Moon Odom 5- 4-1969(2) 3 1 3 6 Tim Laudner 7- 3-1985 Robert Person 6- 2-2002 3 3 2 7 John Olerud 8- 2-2003
A few other tidbits and then I'll stop. The 6-4-5-7 line has occurred twice, less than a year apart in 1937 and 1938, both times by Bob Johnson, and both times he hit one double and two home runs. Cap Peterson had a 9-2-4-3 line in a twenty-two inning game on June 12, 1967. Less than two months later, teammate Frank Howard duplicated that feat, this time in twenty innings. That has not been done before or since.
Since 1920, the 5-5-5-5 line has appeared five times, the first in 1921 and the last in 1977. Here they are:
Player Date Earl Sheely 9- 9-1921 Bibb Falk 5-11-1930 Al Simmons 6-23-1930(2) Larry Parrish 5-29-1977 Steve Garvey 8-28-1977
The complete data associated with this article is here.
For a somewhat different look at this topic (she looks at starters and covers the zero, one and two at-bat batting lines), please see the three articles by Diane Firstman: zero at-bats, one at-bat, and two at-bats.
1Yes, I know that modern box scores now list a host of other statistics, and that older box scores didn't list RBIs, but included putouts and assists instead. Still, the kind of box scores I grew up with (and we're talking about the 1960s and 1970s) displayed at-bats, runs, hits and RBIs, and so that's what I'll be talking about.