Crazy Stuff Reality V. Simulation

Reality is Crazier

info lifted from ESPN.Com

Pitching Lumps of Coal

• Fifth prize: Florida's Ricky Nolasco became the only pitcher in the past 50 years to do this (April 17 versus Atlanta):

9 hits, 9 extra-base hits, 0 singles (4 HR, 4 doubles, 1 triple)


• Fourth prize: Colorado's Mark Redman had two box score lines in one bizarre start, April 26 in Dodger Stadium:

First inning: 1 IP, 6 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 4 BB, 0 K, 1 WP, 1 HBP, 1 Matt Kemp grand slam

Innings 2-6: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Redman's claim to fame: First pitcher in modern history to give up 10 runs in the first inning and be left in to throw another pitch, let alone another five innings.

• Third prize: No pitcher since 1900 had ever crammed all these hits, all these earned runs and all these homers into a game in which he only got three outs, until the Reds' Bronson Arroyo did it, June 24 versus the Blue Jays:

1 IP, 11 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 3 HR, 1 WP

Quote of the day: Asked afterward if he could forget this game, Arroyo retorted, "Can I forget it? I forgot it three hours ago."

• Second prize: Until Jimmy Gobble walked out of the Royals' bullpen July 21 and unfurled this line, no relief pitcher in 60 years had given up 10 runs in an inning or less. But not anymore:
1 IP, 7 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 4 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 45 pitches to get three outs

• First prize: Amazingly, Gobble didn't even compile the messiest box score line of the year by a Royal. That honor goes to Brian Bannister, for his Aug. 17 nightmare in Yankee Stadium:

1 IP, 10 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 3 HR, faced 16 hitters, got 3 outs

Only the Royals Dept.: Just one other pitcher in the past 50 years has pitched to as many as 16 hitters and gotten only three of them out -- and that was a fellow Royal, Flash Gordon, on Oct. 1, 1995.

Only the Royals Dept., Part II: The Elias Sports Bureau reports that Bannister and Gobble made the Royals the first team since 1900 to have two different pitchers in the same season who gave up 10 runs in a game in which they lasted no more than one inning.

Five Craziest Games of the Year - 2008

• Hey Nineteen -- Aug. 12: Red Sox 19, Rangers 17. Games don't get much goofier than this. In the first inning of Red Sox pitcher Charlie Zink's career, his team scored 10 runs for him -- and he didn't get a win out of it (because he got knocked out in the fifth inning). Somehow, the Rangers came all the way back to take a 16-14 lead. And the good news was, that got their starter, Scott Feldman, off the hook in a game in which he gave up 12 runs -- but didn't lose. (He was the first starting pitcher to do that since 1918.) But the bad news for Texas was, Kevin Youkilis mashed a game-winning homer in the eighth. So the Red Sox wound up winning anyway, breaking a 522-game losing streak by AL teams that had given up 17 runs (or more) in one game. "The roller-coaster ride in Boston," laughed Youkilis, "is always fun."


• Don't Walk This Way -- Sept. 5: A's 11, Orioles 2. Last year, on the day the Orioles announced they were bringing back interim manager Dave Trembley, they lost a 30-3 game. This year, the day they announced they were extending Trembley's contract, they allowed an eight-run inning -- on one hit. How'd that happen? How 'bout six walks, including four with the bases-loaded, plus a hit batter and a grand slam -- by a guy (Rajai Davis) who had entered the game as a pinch runner. So the Orioles became the first team since the 1959 A's to give up eight runs in an inning on one lousy hit, and the first since the 2004 Dodgers to issue four bases-loaded walks in an inning. And loyal reader Eric Orns reports that Davis was the first guy to hit a slam in an inning he started as a pinch runner since Gene Stephens did it for the Red Sox on July 13, 1959 (after running for Ted Williams). "I've never seen an inning like that," Trembley told the Baltimore Sun's Dan Connolly. "Ever."

• Got Change For a 20 -- April 17: Rockies 2, Padres 1, in 22 scintillating innings. What a game. No extra-base hits until the 13th. No runs for either team until the 14th. Seven different pitchers batted -- including Glendon Rusch, who was allowed to go up and make the final out of the game. Both pitching staffs launched more than 300 pitches (658 of them altogether), for the first time in any game since 1991. The Rockies struck out 20 times -- and won. Brad Hawpe became the first man in 35 years to go 0 for 22 innings but still drive in a run (on a sac fly). Troy Tulowitzki went 0 for the first 19 innings but still wound up with a multihit game (including the game-winning double in the 22nd). And both catchers -- Yorvit Torrealba and Josh Bard -- caught all 22 innings. But the free-thinking Torrealba actually claimed he was disappointed it ended so, um, fast: "I want to catch eight more," he told the Denver Post's Troy Renck. "I wanted to get 30 innings in today."

• Suspended Animation -- April 28 (with Part 2 on Aug. 26): Orioles 4, White Sox 3, in 14 innings (over 17 weeks). This wasn't the best game of the year, but it sure was the most complicated. It got weathered out April 28 in Chicago, then finished Aug. 26 in Baltimore. But officially, in baseball's technicality-obsessed eyes, it all happened in April. So that means: Orioles rookie Lou Montanez got the first hit of his career on April 28 -- even though he wasn't called up until Aug. 5. And he got it in Chicago, even though he has never played there. History will also tell us that Orioles pitcher Alberto Castillo won his first big league game on April 28, even though he didn't arrive in the majors until July 8. And Orioles reliever Rocky Cherry collected his first save 3½ months before his call-up, too. Junior Griffey walked, meaning he officially reached base for two teams in the same day. (He also singled for the Reds on April 28.) And because the grand finale was part of a "doubleheader" in Baltimore, the Orioles managed to occupy first and last place on the same day. By winning "Game 1," they moved into first on April 28. But by losing "Game 2," they were still right back in last place on Aug. 25. Try that on your Xbox sometime.

• Star Power -- July 15: American League 4, National League 3, in 15 magical All-Star innings (and 4 hours, 50 minutes of total insanity). Who knows where to start? This classic set All-Star records for longest game ever, most players (63), most pitchers (23) and most strikeouts (34). The National League blew leads in the seventh (2-0) and eighth (3-2). But that just enabled the NL to become the first team ever to squirm out of a bases-loaded, no-out All-Star jam (in the 10th) -- and throw out the winning run at the plate in the 11th. Florida's poor Dan Uggla had the All-Star Night From Hell, joining the rarified 3-Error, 3-Strikeout Club, and as a bonus he also grounded into a double-play. The losing pitcher (Brad Lidge) was a guy who went into the weekend with no losses and no blown saves during the entire regular season. And if he hadn't lost it -- at 1:37 a.m. in the East -- the next two pitchers were going to be David Wright and Evan Longoria. Neither of whom has been confused lately with Cy Young or Walter Johnson. Asked how stressful those final innings were to manage, AL quotesmith Terry Francona summed it up eloquently: "I have acne on my forehead," he announced.


Impossible Stuff That Really Really Really Happened This Year

• The only Padre to steal a base in July was noted burglar Greg Maddux.

• Willy Taveras stole five bases in one game June 14 -- and still didn't score a run.

• CC Sabathia is tied for the lead in shutouts in both leagues in the same season.

• The Giants just became the first team since the 1983 Dodgers to field an entire lineup of nine rookies.

• The Tigers whiffed Angels rookie Sean Rodriguez on Sept. 4 -- on a 4-and-2 pitch -- when everybody lost track of the count, including the umpires and Rodriguez. "That's a new trick of ours," said manager Jim Leyland.

• Uber-efficent Rockies pitcher Aaron Cook threw a nine-inning complete game in just 79 pitches July 5. That's fewer pitches than 12 different pitchers threw this year without making it out of the third inning.

• The Rangers had a winning record in July -- even though their ERA for the month was 6.63.

• Two different Rays switch-hitters homered right-handed in the same game Sept. 17 -- but it was against a right-handed pitcher (Tim Wakefield), the first time that had ever happened in the 48-season expansion era.

• On Aug. 22, the Diamondbacks became the first team ever to have a 6-foot-10 pitcher (Randy Johnson) get relieved by a taller pitcher (6-11 Jon Rauch).

• Sure hope you didn't miss Jhonny Peralta's homer off Joel Peralta (Aug. 21), or Miguel Cabrera's homer off Daniel Cabrera (July 19), or Jose Reyes' two homers off Jo-Jo Reyes in one week (Sept. 13 and 19). Not to mention that Rays-Angels game Aug. 19 in which James Shields was the winning pitcher and Scot Shields was the losing pitcher.

• And I still can't believe Johan Santana had that at-bat Tuesday in which his bat hit the same ball twice -- first in the batter's box, and then again just before Cubs shortstop Ronny Cedeno was about to dodge the broken barrel and field it. "It should count for two hits," Santana said.