Team Stats: Strike Outs

The new year means there is less than three months until baseball returns to Chicago.  I thought it would be a good time to revisit, for the first time in six years, the all-time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 1040 games I’ve identified that I have attended.  After a break for the holidays, we continue today on the defensive side of the ball with strike outs.

As always, the White Sox and Cubs are the leaders in this category based on the raw numbers, as they are the teams I’ve seen in action most often.  When you adjust the numbers per game, both teams still fare well, placing fourth and third respectively.  The California version of the Angels lead the way. with an even nine strike outs per game.  The Miami iteration of the Marlins and the Devil Rays bring up the rear with an even five strike outs per game.

Strike Outs

Team Name Strike Outs
Chicago White Sox 5387
Chicago Cubs 3558
Kansas City Royals 463
Minnesota Twins 457
Cleveland Indians 440
Detroit Tigers 407
Houston Astros 350
Milwaukee Brewers 320
Pittsburgh Pirates 295
Seattle Mariners 271
Los Angeles Angels 254
Cincinnati Reds 251
Texas Rangers 247
New York Yankees 240
Boston Red Sox Continue reading →

Team Stats: Doubles

It will just over three months until baseball returns to Chicago, so I thought it would be a good time to revisit, for the first time in six years, the all-time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 1040 games I’ve identified that I have attended.  We continue today on the offensive side of the ball with doubles.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are the teams I’ve seen most often.  When you adjust the numbers per game, the Guardians, Blue Jays, and Rays all come in with more than two doubles per game.  The Miami iteration of the Marlins are at the bottom, with 1 double every other game, followed by the California incarnation of the Angels, who went double-less.

Doubles

Team Name Doubles
Chicago White Sox 1026
Chicago Cubs 757
Minnesota Twins 107
Kansas City Royals 103
Detroit Tigers 99
Houston Astros 98
Cleveland Indians 95
Milwaukee Brewers 74
Pittsburgh Pirates 67
Boston Red Sox 64
Texas Rangers 64
New York Yankees 57
Toronto Blue Jays 57
Baltimore Orioles 55
Los Angeles Dodgers 53
Cincinnati Reds 53
Oakland Athletics 50
St. Louis Cardinals 49
Seattle Mariners 48
Tampa Bay Rays 47
Los Angeles Angels 45
Florida Marlins 38
Philadelphia Phillies 36
San Francisco Giants 35
Arizona Diamondbacks 34
New York Mets 31
San Diego Padres 31
Colorado Rockies 30
Atlanta Braves 29
Washington Nationals 14
Montreal Expos 8
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 8
Cleveland Guardians 7
Anaheim Angels 4
Miami Marlins 1
California Angels 0

Doubles per Game

TeamName Doubles per Game
Cleveland Guardians 2.33333333333333
Toronto Blue Jays 2.11111111111111
Tampa Bay Rays 2.04347826086957
Houston Astros 2
Arizona Diamondbacks 2
Boston Red Sox 2
Anaheim Angels 2
New York Yankees 1.83870967741935
Los Angeles Dodgers Continue reading →

Team Stats: Bases On Balls

With less than four months until baseball returns to Chicago.  I thought it would be a good time to revisit, for the first time in six years, the all-time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 1040 games I’ve identified that I have attended.  We continue today on the defensive side of the ball with bases on balls surrendered.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are the teams I’ve seen the most.  When you adjust the numbers per game, three teams are averaging four or more walks per game, with the Nationals leading the pack with just over four.  The Cubs find themselves, unfortunately, in the top ten at 3.45 walks per game, while the White Sox just make it into the bottom half (or top half, depending on your point of view) with 3.29 walks per game.  The Anaheim version of the Angels and the Miami version of the Marlins bring up the rear as the only teams with less than two walks per game, at 1.5 a piece.

Bases on Balls

Team Name Walks
Chicago White Sox 2208
Chicago Cubs 1509
Kansas City Royals 213
Cleveland Indians 207
Detroit Tigers 164
Minnesota Twins 156
Seattle Mariners 149
Pittsburgh Pirates 141
Cincinnati Reds 139
Baltimore Orioles 138
Milwaukee Brewers 136
Texas Rangers 132
Houston Astros 130
St. Louis Cardinals 111
Los Angeles Angels Continue reading →

The Crime Dog Solves The Case

The new Contemporary Era Committee announced the results of their vote Sunday night, inducting former Cub first baseman Fred McGriff into the Hall of Fame with 100% of the vote.  McGriff, whose 18-year career also included tours with the Blue Jays, Padres, Braves, Devil Rays, and Dodgers, fell off the BBWAA ballot in 2019 after his tenth year, earning just 39.8% of the vote.

With the Cubs becoming surprise contenders in the 2001 season, they acquired McGriff from the Devil Rays.  The Crime Dog held up his part of the bargain down the stretch, putting up a .942 OPS with 12 home runs in 49 games with the Cubs.  Unfortunately, the pitching fell apart as the Cubs went 23-28 in August and September, finishing five games behind the Astros and Cardinals.  At age 38, McGriff returned to the Cubs in 2002, posting a .858 OPS and 125 OPS+ to go along with 30 homers and 103 runs batted in.  The rest of the Cubs, however, were butt, going through three managers and finishing with a 67-95 record.  McGriff became a free agent following the season.

Players needed twelve of the sixteen votes to gain election.  Don Mattingly finished second, with eight votes, followed by Curt Schilling, with seven, and Dale Murphy with six.  Albert Belle, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Rafael Palmeiro each received fewer than four votes.

Fred McGriff’s numbers in games I’ve attended were:

Continue reading →

Team Stats: Triples

It will be just less than four months until baseball returns to Chicago, so I thought it would be a good time to revisit, for the first time in six years, the all-time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 1040 games I’ve identified that I have attended.  We continue today on the offensive side of the ball with triples.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are the teams I’ve seen most often.  When you adjust the numbers per game, the California incarnation of the Angels lead the way with a triple every other game.  The Anaheim iteration of the Angels, alongside the Miami version of the Marlins, the Expos, and the brand-new Guardians bring up the rear with nary a triple between them.

Triples

Team Name Triples
Chicago White Sox 105
Chicago Cubs 81
Cleveland Indians 13
Detroit Tigers 13
Milwaukee Brewers 10
Pittsburgh Pirates 9
Baltimore Orioles 9
Minnesota Twins 8
Houston Astros 7
Seattle Mariners 6
Tampa Bay Rays 6
New York Yankees 5
Florida Marlins 5
Oakland Athletics 4
Cincinnati Reds Continue reading →

Moving On

Jose Abreu, who has been the mainstay at first base for the White Sox since 2014, has reportedly signed a three-year deal with the Astros.  Terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed, but are expected to be around $20 million per year.  He winds up ranking third on the team’s all-time home run list with 243 in his nine seasons with the White Sox.

Abreu, 35, signed with the White Sox in October of 2013, just months after defecting from Cuba.  Along the way, he won Rookie of the Year honors in 2014 and the MVP award in the corona virus-shortened 2020 season.  While still productive, he posted the worst power numbers of his career in 2022 as the White Sox fell to .500.

For the Astros sake, you hope that was a blip and not an indication of decline as Abreu plays through his mid-30s.  The White Sox, meanwhile, turn first base over to some combination of Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets, both of whom have been forced to play out of position in the outfield over the past two years.  The White Sox will face the Astros on Opening Day 2023.

Abeu’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I’ve attended and overall, were:

Continue reading →

Team Stats: Strike Outs

There are just about four months until baseball returns to Chicago.  I thought it would be a good time to revisit, for the first time in six years, the all-time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 1040 games I’ve identified that I have attended.  We continue today on the offensive side of the ball with strikeouts.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are the teams I’ve seen the most.  When you adjust the numbers per game, the Diamondbacks have a commanding lead with over nine strikeouts per game, the only team to average at least a strikeout per inning.  Both the Cubs and the White Sox are in the bottom (or top, depending on your point of view) third, surprising given the number of at bats given to strikeout machines like Sammy Sosa, Jim Thome, and Adam Dunn.  The California iteration of the Angels have the low water mark with a mere four strikeouts per game.

Strike Outs

Team Name Strike Outs
Chicago White Sox 4764
Chicago Cubs 3153
Minnesota Twins 548
Kansas City Royals 510
Detroit Tigers 500
Cleveland Indians 485
Houston Astros 406
Pittsburgh Pirates 384
Milwaukee Brewers 352
Cincinnati Reds 346
Texas Rangers 321
Seattle Mariners 314
New York Yankees 276
Baltimore Orioles 276
St. Louis Cardinals Continue reading →

2023 Hall Of Fame Ballot – The Holdovers

Yesterday, the BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2023.  The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 24th, with induction taking place July 23rd.  David Ortiz was elected in last year’s voting and notable PED suspects Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Sammy Sosa fell off the ballot after reaching their ten-year limit, the new ballot contains fourteen holdovers along with another fourteen newcomers.  For the first time in a decade, the logjam caused by a combination of BBWAA rules limiting the number of votes on one ballot to ten and the ongoing refusal by some writers to vote for players tainted by PEDs has come to an end.

Let’s take a look at the returning candidates today before moving on to the newcomers tomorrow.

Bobby Abreu
Years on ballot: 3
2022 Percentage: 8.6

A miniscule decrease for Abreu last year means he is trending in the wrong direction.

Mark Buehrle
Years on ballot: 2
2022 Percentage: 5.8

A big drop left the former White Sox hurler on the precipice of getting dropped off the ballot.  With the logjam removed and spaces open on ballots that were full last year, we’ll see if he regains some support.

Todd Helton
Years on ballot: 4
2022 Percentage: 52.0

Helton seems to be moving on the right track, getting over 50% for the first time, but I don’t think this will be his year.  He should make it eventually though.

Torii Hunter
Years on ballot: 2
2022 Percentage: 5.3

Hunter had the lowest percentage of the vote while remaining on the ballot from last year’s election.  Things do not look good for the long time Twin and Angel.

Andruw Jones
Years on ballot: 5
2022 Percentage: 41.4

If voters were to stick to his first 11 seasons, Jones looks like a shoe-in for the Hall.  His last 7 seasons, though, were so bad that it makes it hard to consider him.  Despite another big increase in votes, those final seasons seem to be holding sway.

Jeff Kent
Years on ballot: 9
2022 Percentage: 32.7

Continue reading →

Team Stats: Saves

It will be five months until baseball returns to Chicago, so I thought it would be a good time to revisit, for the first time in six years, the all-time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 1040 games I’ve identified that I have attended.  We continue today on the defensive side of the ball with saves.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs are once again the leaders in this category, seeing as they are the teams I’ve seen most often.  When you adjust the numbers per game, the Blue Jays lead the way with a little more than one save every other game.  At the bottom end of the spectrum are the Anaheim incarnation of the Angels, the Miami version of the Marlins, and the Devil Rays, who did not, or have yet to, manage to earn a single save.

Saves

Team Name Saves
Chicago White Sox 145
Chicago Cubs 98
Kansas City Royals 19
Minnesota Twins 17
Detroit Tigers 17
Toronto Blue Jays 14
Cleveland Indians 14
Los Angeles Angels 13
New York Yankees 12
Pittsburgh Pirates 11
Cincinnati Reds 11
Houston Astros 11
Boston Red Sox 10
Philadelphia Phillies 9
Florida Marlins Continue reading →

Team Stats: Walks

With 3 months until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 833 games I’ve identified that I have attended. We continue today on the offensive side of the ball with walks.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are, once again, the teams I’ve seen the most.  When you adjust the numbers per game, however, the California iteration of the Angels lead the way with an exceedingly high 5.5 walks per game.  Only four teams averaged less than three walks per game, cut in half from the last time we looked at these numbers, with the Miami version of the Marlins continuing to bring up the rear with just 2.5 walks per game.

Walks

Team Name BB
Chicago White Sox 2031
Chicago Cubs 1413
Minnesota Twins 212
Cleveland Indians 186
Kansas City Royals 179
Detroit Tigers 178
Milwaukee Brewers 165
Houston Astros 164
Pittsburgh Pirates 158
Cincinnati Reds 151
Texas Rangers 127
New York Yankees Continue reading →