Originally Published: March 7, 2003

Useless information dept.

Jayson Stark offers the best useless info from the teams in transition, plus a close-up look at closers.

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Stark By Jayson Stark
ESPN.com
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When GMs put their team together in December and January, the last thing they're worried about is how the 1933 White Sox did after making a similar move. But that's where us Useless Infomaniacs come in. We check those historical precedents. Then we spew them out into cyberspace. And here they are:

Losing their rotation
One year after winning 101 games, the Braves will have at least three new starting pitchers -- and possibly four, if Jason Marquis isn't in the rotation. We had a hard time recalling another 100-win team that made that many changes in its rotation, so we asked the Elias Sports Bureau to look it up.

Well, there's a good reason we can't recall another team doing it -- because it has never happened. Elias' Rob Tracy reports there has never been a 100-win team that had three pitchers (or more) who made at least 20 starts for them one year and no starts the next.

Tracking turnover
The Giants, meanwhile, have changed regulars at second base, third base, center field and right field since Game 7 of the World Series. The good news, according to Elias, is that a bunch of World Series teams have overhauled at least half their lineup in recent years. The bad news is, none made it back to the Series the next year. The list:

Year/Team New starters Record next year
1997-98 Marlins 7 54-108, 5th place
1998-99 Padres 6 74-88, 4th place
1999-2000 Braves 5 95-67, 1st place, lost NLDS
2001-02 Yankees 4 103-58, 1st place, lost ALDS

Lack of lefties
With the departure of Chuck Finley, the Cardinals figure to open the season with no lefthanded starters in their rotation. Barring a May return by Finley or a comeback by Rick Ankiel, that would give them a chance to become the first team since the 1984 Tigers to win the World Series while getting no starts by lefthanded pitchers.

Here, according to Elias, are the only three teams since those '84 Tigers to at least make the playoffs without a start by a lefthander:

Year/Team Record next year
1996 Dodgers Lost NL Division Series
1995 Dodgers Lost NL Division Series
1992 Athletics Lost AL Championship Series

Big bang theory doesn't always compute
When the Phillies signed Jim Thome, they became just the sixth team in history to add a thumper who had hit more than 45 homers the season before. The bad news for them is: None of the other five teams made the playoffs (although the '99 Reds weren't eliminated by the Mets until the 163rd game):

Year/Team Slugger (HR previous year) Finish
1999 Reds Greg Vaughn (50) 96-67, 2nd place
1999 Orioles Albert Belle (49) 78-84, 4th place
1997 White Sox Albert Belle (48) 80-81, 2nd place
2000 Reds Ken Griffey Jr. (48) 85-77, 2nd place
1999 Devil Rays Jose Canseco (46) 69-93, 5th place

RBI results

  • The Astros, meanwhile, signed Jeff Kent, a man riding a streak of six consecutive 100-RBI seasons. He's the fifth player ever to change teams after a 100-RBI streak that long. The Astros won't want to hear that none of the previous four teams had a winning record or finished within 20 games of first place. Here goes:

    Year/Team RBI Guy (100-RBI streak) Finish
    1999 Orioles Albert Belle (7 straight) 78-84, 4th place, 20 GB
    1936 Red Sox Jimmie Foxx (7 straight) 74-80, 6th place, 28½ GB
    1933 White Sox Al Simmons (9 straight) 67-83, 6th place, 31 GB
    1930 Reds Harry Heilmann (7 straight) 59-85, 7th place, 33 GB

    Tracking turnover
    The Expos traded a 20-game winner (Bartolo Colon) to the White Sox this winter -- and still have postseason dreams. So, with the help of the Elias Sports Bureau, we decided to take a look at the five other instances since 1978 in which a 20-game winner has gotten traded. Not surprisingly, it tended to work out better for the team trading for the 20-game winner than the team trading him away.

    First, the teams that acquired the 20-game winner:

    Year 20-game winner Record Team Finish
    2001 David Wells 5-7 White Sox 83-79, 4th place
    2000 Mike Hampton 15-10 Mets 94-68, 2nd place **
    1999 Roger Clemens 14-10 Yankees 98-64, 1st place ***
    1992 John Smiley 16-9 Twins 90-72, 2nd place
    1986 Joaquin Andujar 12-7 A's 76-86, 3rd place
    ** = wild card, lost World Series; *** = won World Series

    And now here's what happened to the teams that traded them:

    Year 20-game winner Team Finish
    2001 David Wells Blue Jays 80-82, 3rd place
    2000 Mike Hampton Astros 72-90, 4th place
    1999 Roger Clemens Blue Jays 84-78, 3rd place
    1992 John Smiley Pirates 96-66, 1st place ****
    1986 Joaquin Andujar Cardinals 79-82, 3rd place
    **** = lost NLCS

    Changing closers

  • Of the eight playoff teams last season, two (the A's and Diamondbacks) expect to use different closers this year (assuming Arizona goes through with its plan to convert Byung-Hyun Kim into a starter). But that's nothing new.

    According to Elias, of the 64 playoff teams since 1995, 19 of them changed primary closers the next year. And bothplayoff teams that acquired a new closer before last season -- the Cardinals (Jason Isringhausen) and A's (Billy Koch) -- went back to the playoffs.

    Useless Set-up Man Information

  • We get so hung up sometimes on saves and wins, we forget to peer beneath the big numbers. And nobody gets overlooked like set-up men. So for your edification, these are the five set-up men who allowed fewer baserunners than innings pitched last year (minimum: 40 IP):

    Pitcher Baserunners per 9 IP IP
    Arthur Rhodes, SEA 7.49 69 2/3
    Octavio Dotel, HOU 8.23 97 1/3
    Buddy Groom, BAL 8.42 62
    LaTroy Hawkins, MIN 8.74 80 1/3
    Mike Timlin, STL-PHIL 8.75 96 2/3

    Rhodes, incidentally, led this category for the second straight year -- and was the only set-up man to allow fewer than a runner per inning in 2001 and 2002.

  • Eric Gagne led all closers by allowing just 6.0 hits per nine innings. But seven set-up men, amazingly, did better than Gagne. And most of their names would shock you. Here they are (minimum: 40 IP):

    Pitcher Hits per 9 IP IP
    Jayson Durocher, MIL 5.06 48
    Octavio Dotel, HOU 5.36 97 1/3
    Scott Williamson, CIN 5.59 74**
    Scot Shields, ANA 5.69 49
    Brendan Donnelly, ANA 5.80 49 2/3
    Arthur Rhodes, SEA 5.81 69 2/3
    Lou Pote, ANA 5.90 50 1/3
    ** - Williamson saved eight games

  • Finally, we all know strikeouts are valuable commodities out of the bullpen. So here are the 11 set-up men who averaged at least 10 whiffs per nine innings (minimum: 40 IP):

    Pitcher K's per 9 IP IP
    Alan Embree, SD-BOS 11.76 62
    David Riske, CLE 11.40 51 1/3
    Armando Almanza, FLA 11.23 45 2/3
    Octavio Dotel, HOU 10.91 97 1/3
    Jeff Nelson, SEA 10.84 45 2/3
    Damaso Marte, CHW 10.74 60 1/3 **
    Todd Van Poppel, TEX 10.53 72 2/3
    Arthur Rhodes, SEA 10.46 69 2/3
    Scott Williamson 10.22 74 **
    Tom Gordon, CHC-HOU 10.12 42 2/3
    Scott Sauerbeck, PIT 10.05 62 2/3
    ** - Marte saved 10 games, Williamson saved eight

    More Useless Info

  • Mike Hampton had a 6.15 ERA last year. That ERA is three full runs higher than the pitcher he's essentially replacing in the Braves' rotation (Tom Glavine, 2.96).

    We're assuming Hampton won't lower his ERA by three runs just because he escaped the Rocky Mountains. But we wondered how many qualifying starting pitchers have even improved their ERA by 2.50 from one year to the next. The answer, according to Elias' Rob Tracy: just four in the last 40 years:

    Difference Years Pitchers ERAs
    2.70 1999-2000 Darryl Kile 6.61 - 3.91
    2.70 1988-89 Bert Blyleven 5.43 - 2.73
    2.78 1980-81 Dennis Lamp 5.19 - 2.41
    2.98 1962-63 Dick Ellsworth 5.08 - 2.10

  • Speaking of Hampton, he told us recently he would like to know how visiting pitchers fare in their first start after an outing at always-hospitable Coors Field. So taxing as that is, we're going to prove to him that it IS possible to survive a visit to Coors.

    Here is Elias' list of the 10 best career ERAs by active visiting pitchers in starts AFTER a Coors start (minimum: four starts):

    Pitcher GS Record ERA IP
    John Burkett 6 2-1 1.58 45 2/3
    John Smoltz 4 4-0 1.64 33
    Joey Hamilton 4 2-0 2.25 28
    Kevin Brown 8 3-3 2.55 60
    Rick Reed 6 2-2 2.61 41 1/3
    Livan Hernandez 7 2-4 2.63 51 1/3
    Ismael Valdes 6 2-2 2.66 40 2/3
    Dave Mlicki 4 2-0 2.73 26 1/3
    Tom Glavine 9 3-4 2.74 65 2/3
    Denny Neagle 7 5-0 2.90 49 2/3

  • OK, one last Coors note: Preston Wilson heads for what is supposed to be the inviting climes of Denver this year. But you could understand if he isn't looking forward to it as much as some folks -- since his career average at Coors is .206 (14 for 206), with only three homers and five RBIs.

    Well, here's some good news for him: At least he doesn't have the worst career Coors batting average of any active nonpitcher. He's only fourth on this prestigious list, according to Elias (minimum: 50 AB):

    .175 Sandy Alomar
    .189 Orlando Merced
    .196 Jacob Cruz
    .206 Preston Wilson
    .222 Danny Bautista

  • Elsewhere on this web site, the Baseball Prospectus crew does a great job of analyzing whether teams' spring-training records mean anything. Well, how about for individual players? Here are the numbers last spring for the two MVPs, the two Cy Youngs and the two guys who came closest to those awards but didn't win:

    Barry Bonds .357, 4 HR 10 RBIs, .738 Slg.
    Miguel Tejada .269, 3 HR, 10 RBIs, .448 Slg
    A-Rod .377, 5 HR, 16 RBIs, .705 Slg.

    Randy Johnson 3-1, 3.37 ERA, 26 2/3 IP, 4 BB, 35 K, 21 H
    Barry Zito 1-2, 3.96 ERA, 25 IP, 8 BB, 20 K, 24 H
    Curt Schilling 0-1, 5.61 ERA, 25 2/3, 6 BB, 24 K, 34 H

  • The great Lee Sinins, inventor of the invaluable sabermetric encyclopedia CD-Rom, has just published his first Player Comments book, which oozes with tremendous data. Among our favorite tidbits from the book, which is available at baseball-encyclopedia.com:

  • Of the six pitchers in history with the best career ERAs in relation to the ERAs of the league they played in, four are active -- Pedro Martinez (1st), Randy Johnson (3rd), Roger Clemens (5th) and Greg Maddux (6th). The others sneaking in there: Lefty Grove (2nd) and (surprise) Hoyt Wilhelm (4th).

  • That list doesn't even include Barry Zito, who has the lowest ERA in relation to his league's ERA, of any pitcher in history through age 24 (3.04, versus his league's ERA of 4.55). The runners-up: Herb Score and Bob Feller.

  • Despite averaging 9.22 strikeouts per 9 innings, Phillies pitcher Brandon Duckworth still had a 5.41 ERA -- the highest compared to his league ERA (4.11) of any pitcher in history who averaged more than a strikeout per inning. At least the five guys right behind him include Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan.

  • And of course, we all know an active relief pitcher set the all-time record last year for most consecutive seasons of 70-plus appearances -- the inimitable Buddy Groom (with seven). He'd been tied with fellow lefthanded specialist Mike Myers, whose streak ended at six last year.

  • The Devil Rays, Brewers and Tigers all lost 105 games last year. Despite rampant speculation they could lose as many or more this year, that takes some doing.

    Booth Newspapers' Danny Knobler reports that of the 46 previous teams that lost 105 games or more, only three lost more games the next year -- the 1915-16 A's (109-117), the 1925-26 Red Sox (105-107) and the 1938-39 Phillies (105-106).

    And of the 13 previous teams to lose 105 or more since division play began in 1969, none lost more games, three had winning records (1988-89 Orioles, 1979-80 A's, 1973-74 Rangers), and they improved by an average of 19 wins.

  • That ought to come as particularly good news to the Brewers, whose win total since 1996 has gone from 80 to 78 to 74 to 74 again to 68 to 56. If they can fail to improve that victory count for a sixth straight year, they'll become only the third team in history to do that (not counting strike-affected seasons). The others, according to Elias:

    7  1910-16 Cubs
    6  1900-05 Dodgers

  • How did the Hall of Fame voters on the Veterans Committee compare with the voters in the Baseball Writers Association of America who had previously voted on the same candidates?

    Well, we took the top 10 finishers in the Veterans Committee voting and compared them to the highest percentages they got from the writers. Then we re-ranked them. Here's a look:

    Vets Committee Writers
    1. Gil Hodges 62 % 1. Gil Hodges 63 %
    2. Tony Oliva 59 % 2. Tony Oliva 47 %
    3. Ron Santo 57 % 3. Ron Santo 43.1 %
    4. Joe Torre 36 % 4. Roger Maris 43.0 %
    5. Maury Wills 30 % 5. Maury Wills 41 %
    6. Vada Pinson 26 % 6. Marty Marion 40 %
    7. Joe Gordon 23 % 7. Joe Gordon 29 %
    8. Roger Maris 22 % 8. Joe Torre 22 %
    9. Marty Marion 21 % 9. Vada Pinson 16 %
    10. Carl Mays 20 % 10. Carl Mays 2 %

  • According to baseball's new "red" and "green" books, the all-time career home run leader for 11 of the 30 teams is an active player. Only two of those 11 teams are not expansion teams -- the White Sox (led by Frank Thomas, with 376) and Indians (led by just-departed Jim Thome, with 334). But Sammy Sosa (42 back of Ernie Banks) almost certainly will take over the Cubs' lead, possibly this summer.

    The other teams and their leaders:

    Diamondbacks -- Luis Gonzalez 142
    Rockies -- Larry Walker 236
    Marlins -- Gary Sheffield 122
    Astros -- Jeff Bagwell 380
    Angels -- Tim Salmon 269
    Mariners -- Ken Griffey Jr. 398
    Devil Rays -- Fred McGriff 97
    Rangers -- Juan Gonzalez 348
    Blue Jays -- Carlos Delgado 262

  • As baseball mounts its latest attack on time of game, it ought to know who the culprits are. Here, according to the "red" and "green" books, are the teams that played the longest and shortest games last year on average:

    Longest
    National League:
    Giants 3 hours, 5 minutes
    Phillies 2 hours, 57 minutes
    Mets 2 hours, 56 minutes

    American League:
    Yankees 3 hours, 4 minutes
    A's 2 hours, 58 minutes
    Rangers 2 hours, 57 minutes

    Shortest
    National League
    Brewers 2 hours, 46 minutes
    Pirates 2 hours, 48 minutes
    Dodgers 2 hours, 50 minutes

    American League:
    Tigers 2 hours, 45 minutes
    Royals 2 hours, 46 minutes
    White Sox 2 hours, 47 minutes

  • And finally, if a guy sets a record and no one notices -- for 10 years -- is it still a record?

    Absolutely.

    Our record-holder: Tom Glavine. His record: 505 career starts, zero career relief appearances.

    Since the three runners-up in this fabulous category are all pitchers whose careers started after Glavine's -- Mike Mussina (355), Juan Guzman (240) and Shawn Estes (189), we determined that the record before that was only 176 -- by a guy named Terry Larkin. Who pitched his final big-league game in 1880.

    Which means Glavine broke his record on April 28, 1993. And we just noticed, thanks to ESPN.com eagle-eye Dave Schoenfield. So if they ever show that game on ESPN Classic, can we edit in a scene where he gets some kind of plaque?

    Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

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