Baseball Beat/WTNYApril 12, 2006
Baseball With the Numbers
By Rich Lederer & Bryan Smith

Larry Borowsky wrote a guest column last week called Baseball Without the Numbers. It was a refreshing piece in an era dominated by statistics. But enough with the refreshments. Man needs his meat and potatoes, too. If you like baseball with the numbers, then this piece is for you. If you don't, be sure to check back this summer as we're bound to come up with another numberless article.

Numbers, numbers, numbers. We have 100 of them for you. Yes, we've got something for every number from 0 to 99. Baseball With the Numbers.

00: the number of HR Jason Kendall will hit for the second straight year.

01: Nap Lajoie hits .426, the highest batting average since 1900.

02: how many different times San Francisco fans get to pay for the day/night doubleheader between the Astros and Giants on Thursday, April 13.

03: the size of the Angels' lead when K-Rod comes into the game.

04: hits, runs, RBI, and SB combined Brandon Watson has in 23 AB this year (but all's not lost--he has 2 CS).

05: starts until the Red Sox regret letting Curt Schilling throw 231 pitches in his first two outings.

06: hitters Will Ohman faced, and let on base before being taken out of Tuesday's loss to Reds.

07: years since Ken Ray -- the Braves new set-up man -- last appeared in the Major Leagues.

08: the number of saves Chris Ray will have at the end of April.

09: consecutive home openers the Yankees have won.

10: more baserunners Kyle Lohse has allowed in the same number of innings as Francisco Liriano.

11: walks allowed by the Daniel and Fernando Cabrera in their first outings this year, totaling 2 1/3 IP.

12: hits by Florida Marlins outfielders in 54 at-bats.

13: a lucky number for Derrek Lee and David Ortiz.

14: days until we expect George Steinbrenner to issue his first statement.

15: Win Shares we suspect David Wright has earned through the Mets first five wins.

16: number of players fighting at the bat rack to face Glendon Rusch.

17: strikeouts, including Spring Training, Chan Ho Park has recorded in 13.1 innings since his great World Baseball Classic.

18: number of strikeouts among six Brewers starters in 130 at-bats.

19: number of strikeouts between Geoff Jenkins and Prince Fielder in 53 at-bats.

20: Happy Birthday, King Felix.

21: how many BB the Brothers Giles have thus far.

22: how many BB the Brothers Molina will have all year.

23: men left on base by Juan Encarnacion this season without an RBI.

24: Philadelphia's run total after seven games.

25: baserunners Andy Pettitte has allowed in two starts this season.

26: Spring Training hits (in 60 AB) that earned Josh Barfield the Padres 2B job.

27: games into the season it took in 2005 for Jose Reyes to match his current walk total.

28: days since Roger Clemens last pitched in a baseball game.

29: consecutive years Tony LaRussa has been managing in the big leagues.

30: groundball outs Mark Mulder has induced in 15 innings thus far.

31: reader's choice.

32: scrabble points in Doug Mientkiewicz's last name.

33: home runs Barry Bonds hit in 1990, when he won his first MVP award.

34: Babe Ruth's last year with the Yankees.

35: strikeouts that Leo Mazzone's pitching staff has through 63 innings, six less than their total number of walks.

36: the most extra-base hits Ozzie Guillen ever had in a single season.

37: reader's choice.

38: consecutive games in which Vladimir Guerrero has gotten a hit vs. the Texas Rangers.

39: years since the last Triple Crown winner.

40: Greg Maddux's age as of Friday.

41: weeks since Eric Gagne last struck out a Major League hitter.

42: games it took Jim Thome to hit his first four home runs in 2005.

43: percent of the time the Detroit Tigers have been successful on the basepaths in 2006.

44: games into the season it took for COL to win the same number of road games last year as it has won this year.

45: regular season home runs Brandon Wood has hit since 2005, spanning 573 at-bats.

46: Nolan Ryan's age when he pummelled then 26-year-old Robin Ventura in 1993.

47: reader's choice.

48: Julio Franco's age by season's end.

49: what's 7x7 (just checking to see if you're still following along).

50: games until Ramon Ramirez, Waner Mateo, Ryan Rafferty and Justin Mallet will be playing baseball again.

51: number of pitches Ronny Cedeno has seen in his first six games, lowest in the Majors.

52: Barry Bonds' uniform number...oh thit...25!

53: reader's choice.

54: the fewest number of career wins by a pitcher (Bill Stoneman) with two no-hitters.

55: games before anyone will notice that Ramon Ramirez, Waner Mateo, Ryan Rafferty and Justin Mallet are back.

56: Mickey Mantle.

57: hits the Colorado Rockies have collected in four road games, in which the team is 4-0.

58: appearances between Johan Santana allowing 10 or more hits in a game, a streak which ended on Opening Day.

59: how many wins Jim Leyland needs over the next like number of games to get his lifetime record up to .500.

60: shutouts Bert Blyleven threw during his 22-year career.

61: batting average for Jeff Francoeur's 2-for-33 start.

62: number of days before the Atlanta RF is back in the minors.

63: pitches Jon Papelbon has needed to cruise through his first five appearances, including four saves.

64: batters University of Washington right-hander Tim Lincecum has faced in his last two starts, 30 of which ended in strikeouts.

65: errors that defensive specialist -- and $20.2 million man -- Jack Wilson projects to have in 2006.

66: the inning in which Cal State Fullerton ace Wes Roemer walked his first batter of the season.

67: after Tuesday, the percent of Khalil Greene's hits that have gone for home runs, the highest in the Majors west of Bronson Arroyo.

68: 1.12.

69: number of years since the last NL Triple Crown winner.

70: Pete Rose and Ray Fosse.

71: reader's choice.

72: Steve Carlton. 27 of Phillies 59 wins, 1.97 ERA, 310 K's, 346.1 IP.

73*: Billy Crystal's next movie?

74: Mike Marshall pitches 106 games and 208.1 IP--all in relief--and wins the Cy Young award.

75: percent of Atlanta's four wins earned by Oscar Villarreal.

76: average speed of Tim Wakefield's fastball last year.

77: Reggie...Reggie...Reggie.

78: reader's choice.

79: "We are Fam-i-ly!"

80: Mike Schmidt and George Brett.

81: home runs that the San Francisco Giants currently project to hit this season.

82: how many victories it will take to win the NL West.

83: reader's choice.

84: J.T. Snow's uniform number this year in honor of his dad, Jack, who died in January.

85: highest OPS+ that Neifi Perez has posted in a single season.

86: how many months before Hank Aaron's career HR record is broken.

87: the approximate average speed of a Freddy Garcia fastball in two starts.

88: walks plus hits allowed by the Kansas City Royals in 53 innings.

89: days until the All-Star Break.

90: last full season in which the Braves didn't finish in first place.

91: days until we know for sure that the AL has home field advantage (again) in the World Series.

92: Kansas City losses by Labor Day.

93: number of intentional walks Todd Helton is currently on pace for, which would still fall 27 behind the single-season record.

94: did baseball really not have a World Series that year?

95: career OPS+ of Twins third baseman Tony Batista in over 4,500 career plate appearances.

96: average speed of A.J. Burnett's fastball last year.

97: last year in which the Yankees failed to win the AL East.

98: reader's choice.

99: Wayne Gretzky. All right, all right. So this is a baseball site. Sue us.

Please feel free to add your best ideas in the comments section to the numbers marked "reader's choice." Don't be afraid to have some fun with this "contest."

Comments

98: Number of losses the Royals hope to reach.

#99

You have disgraced the immortal legend of So Taguchi!

86 months until Aaron is surpassed?

So I guess you're going with A-Rod.

37 years since I got my first real look at what Nolan Ryan was capable of in the 69 Series.

infinity: number of years until the cubs win a world series

31-Denny McLain, pre-fat convict
47-Now batting for Brooklyn, # 42
71-Vida Blue vs. 4 Oriole 20 game winners
83-wins to be NL West Champs

78: Number of days Ken Griffey Jr. will spend on the DL this year.

78: Bucky Dent.

98: Number of times Adrian Beltre will flail away at that low and away slider

#53 - Mr. Ann Meyers, aka the Big D

98:

- Albert Belle's last year with the Chisox.
- a speed Eric Gagné won't hit anymore

Hm, must be something better in there somewhere...

83 - last time the O's won the series.

31 - Pitching changes Felipe Alou would make if he had 32 pitchers on his roster.

37 - Percent chance I have of being able to sit through more than a half-inning of any White Sox WGN telecast.

47 - Consecutive curse words I uttered when the USA lost in the second round of the World Baseball Classic (knowing I had tickets to the semi-finals and finals in San Diego).

53 - Total number of people in America who thought at the time that the Kazmir-Zambrano deal was a good one for the Mets.

71 - Average attendance at a Marlins home game come about mid-August.

78 - Consecutive times I've laughed when I heard the name "Jimmy Gobble" mentioned.

96 - "Mientkiewicz" using a Triple Word Score.

98 - Percent chance that a "closer of the future" will not develop into a closer.