A weblog of baseball news and analysis
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Willis pitches second straight shutout. The Marlins' team ERA is now 1.36. They have four complete games; the other 29 teams have a grand total of two. (Yahoo!)
Roger Out. "In the best game of the young year, Kazuhisa !sh!! reined in his control to play gunslinger with official Pro-Bites sponsor Roger Clemens. The fat-headed Texan threw smoke (but no splintered bats) and shut the Mets down through seven. !sh!! did the same and should be commended for it even though the Astros have one of the worst lineups in the National League..." (East Coast Agony)
The 1957 Kansas City Athletics.
Roger Out. "In the best game of the young year, Kazuhisa !sh!! reined in his control to play gunslinger with official Pro-Bites sponsor Roger Clemens. The fat-headed Texan threw smoke (but no splintered bats) and shut the Mets down through seven. !sh!! did the same and should be commended for it even though the Astros have one of the worst lineups in the National League..." (East Coast Agony)
The 1957 Kansas City Athletics.
The 1957 Athletics led their league in home runs, with 166, and they led by a wide margin: the second-best team hit 153, and the average of the seven other teams in the league was 123. Yet the A’s were dead last in their league in runs scored, with 563, and by a wide margin: the next-to-worst offense scored 597, and the average of the seven other teams in the league was 664.(The Hardball Times)
Question: How exactly does a team solidly lead the league in home runs, and yet solidly trail the league in runs scored? Answer: With difficulty. If it happened at any other time in major league history, I’m not aware of it, and the 1957 Athletics accomplished the feat with a flourish.