Just a quick Saturday morning note. The September Call Ups category is now called Rated Rookies. This category has been and always will be rookie focused. We just felt Rated Rookies was a better name and well, we just love those Rated Rookie Donruss baseball cards from years back.
Classic
Last night, Detroit Tigers’ RHP Justin Verlander once again flirted with history. Verlander was going for his third career no-no and carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but with one out in the ninth inning, Verlander hung a curveball to Josh Harrison and Harrison singled cleanly up the middle.
Verlander retired the last two batters he faced and had to settle for his first career one-hitter. Verlander now has three games where he has allowed one-hit or less. That’s impressive, but he has a long way to go to catch Nolan Ryan. Ryan pitched 20 games where he gave up one-hit or less. As great as Verlander is and I believe he is the one pitcher in the game today who takes no-hit stuff to the mound every time he takes it, he won’t even come close to Ryan’s record.
I think Verlander will be hard pressed to get to Randy Johnson’s seven games with one-hit or less or even Dave Stieb’s six games. Regardless, Verlander is a special talent and he has gotten to the point in his career where every time he takes the mound, it’s an event. Only a handful of pitchers in Major League history can lay claim to event status.
Here is the list of the 37 pitchers in baseball history who have more than three games of giving up one-hit or less in a nine inning or more game.
| Rk | Player | #Matching | W | L | GS | CG | SHO | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nolan Ryan | 20 | Ind. Games | 19 | 0 | 0.05 | 20 | 19 | 16 | 180.1 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 73 | 239 | 0.48 |
| 2 | Bob Feller | 14 | Ind. Games | 14 | 0 | 0.21 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 126.0 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 64 | 115 | 0.60 |
| 3 | Jim Maloney | 7 | Ind. Games | 7 | 0 | 0.00 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 64.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 73 | 0.53 |
| 4 | Randy Johnson | 7 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 0.00 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 63.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 85 | 0.35 |
| 5 | Virgil Trucks | 6 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 0.00 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 54.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 45 | 0.31 |
| 6 | Don Sutton | 6 | Ind. Games | 5 | 0 | 0.16 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 55.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 34 | 0.42 |
| 7 | Dave Stieb | 6 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 0.00 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 54.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 36 | 0.37 |
| 8 | Tom Seaver | 6 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 0.17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 54.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 56 | 0.37 |
| 9 | Jim Palmer | 6 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 0.00 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 54.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 33 | 0.37 |
| 10 | Sandy Koufax | 6 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 0.17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 54.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 65 | 0.33 |
| 11 | Steve Carlton | 6 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 0.17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 54.0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 50 | 0.31 |
| 12 | Bert Blyleven | 6 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 0.16 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 55.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 41 | 0.40 |
| 13 | Vida Blue | 6 | Ind. Games | 5 | 0 | 0.17 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 54.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 42 | 0.35 |
| 14 | Rick Wise | 5 | Ind. Games | 5 | 0 | 0.00 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 45.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 18 | 0.36 |
| 15 | Lon Warneke | 5 | Ind. Games | 5 | 0 | 0.20 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 45.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 29 | 0.36 |
| 16 | Bobo Newsom | 5 | Ind. Games | 4 | 1 | 0.20 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 46.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 37 | 0.67 |
| 17 | Whit Wyatt | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.50 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 36.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 26 | 0.31 |
| 18 | Bob Turley | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 31 | 0.61 |
| 19 | Warren Spahn | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 30 | 0.19 |
| 20 | Mike Scott | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 37 | 0.22 |
| 21 | Anibal Sanchez | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 36.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 34 | 0.39 |
| 22 | Steve Rogers | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.25 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 36.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 24 | 0.39 |
| 23 | Jerry Reuss | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.25 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 36.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 20 | 0.22 |
| 24 | Ken Raffensberger | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 0.31 |
| 25 | Billy Pierce | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.25 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 36.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 28 | 0.56 |
| Rk | Player | #Matching | W | L | GS | CG | SHO | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | |||
| 26 | Hideo Nomo | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 44 | 0.33 |
| 27 | Mike Mussina | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 48 | 0.19 |
| 28 | Jack Morris | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 36.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 28 | 0.39 |
| 29 | Sam McDowell | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 39 | 0.58 |
| 30 | Pedro Martinez | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.25 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 36.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 48 | 0.14 |
| 31 | Juan Marichal | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 34 | 0.25 |
| 32 | Carl Hubbell | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.25 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 36.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 22 | 0.25 |
| 33 | Ken Holtzman | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 20 | 0.36 |
| 34 | Woodie Fryman | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 28 | 0.33 |
| 35 | Danny Darwin | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.25 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 36.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 26 | 0.33 |
| 36 | Mike Cuellar | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 21 | 0.33 |
| 37 | David Cone | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 33 | 0.22 |
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The Harvard Baseball Team started it with their rendition of “Call Me Maybe.” Their YouTube video went viral and was soon challenged by the SMU Rowing Team. Now another baseball squad as gotten into the “Call Me Maybe” craze.
The University Florida Baseball Team now gives us their version of Call Me Maybe.
Impressive, but they didn’t do much to separate themselves from what Harvard did. And yes, my life has come to this. Critiquing Carly Rae Jepsen songs. Just awesome.
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Detroit Lions’ WR, Calvin Johnson, one of the best WR’s in the NFL, took some batting practice at Comerica Park and looked pretty darn good doing it. Megatron, who played baseball in high school in Georgia, has a little bit of a hitch in his swing, but his follow through was not bad at all. One of his swings resulted in a ball going over the left field wall.
Video courtesy of FOX Sports…
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I have always had a theory that everyone loves tater tots. You offer tater tots on a menu and everyone orders them. It’s a no-brainer. I have also had a theory that everyone loves aircraft carriers. The G.I. Joe aircraft carrier was the coolest toy ever. Watching UNC vs. Michigan St. on the USS Carl Vinson was just awesome. And the idea of having a Home Run Derby off of an aircraft? Well, that’s just fantastic.
The USS Yorktown
The opening round of the South Atlantic League’s Home Run Derby will take place on the flight deck of the USS Yorktown in Charleston Harbor. There will be kayakers and personnel on jet skis to retrieve the balls hit into Charleston Harbor. The U.S. Coast Guard will assess and note the longest homers to determine the finalists and will radio the results to officials stationed on the Yorktown.
There will be 10 participants and the four leaders at the end of the first round will advance to the second round, which will take place at Riley Park. Riley Park is the home of the Charleston RiverDogs.
This is just an amazing, amazing idea and one that should be applauded. Yes, this is a gimmick, but there are good gimmicks and bad gimmicks. A shoot out at the end of a regulation NHL game is a terrible gimmick as it takes away from the game. Having home-field advantage in the World Series is a terrible gimmick. And of course, Terry Taylor as the Red Rooster was a terrible gimmick.
But this is a good gimmick. This adds something to this event without giving a “What the heck is going on here?” feel to it.
I doubt this will be televised, but I for one can’t wait to see the highlights.
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Kerry Wood‘s career came to an end today at Wrigley Field and his career ended in appropriate fashion — with a strikeout.
Wood struckout Dayan Viciedo on a wicked curve and then was removed from the game Jamie Quirk, who was acting as manager because Dale Sveum was ejected in the fifth inning. Wood left to a standing ovation and was greeted by his son as he walked off the field.
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