There have been 1,383 postseason games through the games of Tuesday, October 8th:
World Series (1903, 1905-1993, 1995-2012) 625
League Championship Series (1969-2012) 438
League Division Series (1981, 1995-2013) 316
Wild Card Series (2012-2013) 4
Given that there have been 206,017 games since the National Association began play in 1871, postseason play is a small slice of baseball history. Tampa Bay made entries into it in two ways in their series-losing loss to the Red Sox.
World Series (1903, 1905-1993, 1995-2012) 625
League Championship Series (1969-2012) 438
League Division Series (1981, 1995-2013) 316
Wild Card Series (2012-2013) 4
Given that there have been 206,017 games since the National Association began play in 1871, postseason play is a small slice of baseball history. Tampa Bay made entries into it in two ways in their series-losing loss to the Red Sox.
The Rays began the game with Jeremy Hellickson
on the mound for the start. The 1st inning was easy, a 12-pitch
3-up-3-down inning, but he got off to a rocky start in the 2nd by
walking David Ortiz and Mike Napoli and giving up a single to Daniel Nava to load the bases. Joe Maddon had seen enough and brought in Jamey Wright to replace him, prompting this tweet:
@ScottLindholm Quickest hook ever not giving up a run & no injury
— Paul MacLennan (@maclennan_paul) October 9, 2013
Beats me, I wasn't watching the game, so
I looked it up--this Baseball-Reference table shows pitchers with
postseason starts that lasted less than 1 inning (i.e., 2 or less outs):
This video makes it very clear that Johnny Cueto's game from last year was injury-related, so that one can be tossed out. John Thomson's game in 2004 has no video, but the play-by-play from that inning is:
The second is even rarer. I started tracking the game on the mlb.com app, which always amuses me with their screen shot for Tropicana Field:
I ruined the surprise with the table, but only four teams in postseason play had used as many as 8 pitchers in a game, and if extra-inning games are included, that numbers increases to 19 teams that used 8 or more pitchers, with two more using 9:
| Rk | Player | Date | Series | Gm# | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | Pit | Str | GSc | BF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Cueto | 2012-10-06 | NLDS | 1 | CIN | SFG | W 5-2 | GS-1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 52 | 1 | 0.00 |
| 2 | John Thomson | 2004-10-09 | NLDS | 3 | ATL | HOU | L 5-8 | GS-1 | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 48 | 3 | 0.00 |
| 3 | Rick Ankiel | 2000-10-12 | NLCS | 2 | STL | NYM | L 5-6 | GS-1 | 0.2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 14 | 40 | 6 | 27.00 |
| 4 | Gil Heredia | 2000-10-08 | ALDS | 5 | OAK | NYY | L 5-7 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 11 | 17 | 7 | 162.00 |
| 5 | Al Leiter | 1999-10-19 | NLCS | 6 | NYM | ATL | L 9-10 | GS-1 | 0.0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 6 | inf | ||
| 6 | Jaret Wright | 1998-10-06 | ALCS | 1 | CLE | NYY | L 2-7 | GS-1 ,L | 0.2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 18 | 22 | 8 | 67.50 |
| 7 | Dwight Gooden | 1998-09-30 | ALDS | 2 | CLE | BOS | W 9-5 | GS-1 | 0.1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 8 | 40 | 4 | 54.00 |
| 8 | Donovan Osborne | 1996-10-17 | NLCS | 7 | STL | ATL | L 0-15 | GS-1 ,L | 0.2 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 13 | 17 | 9 | 81.00 |
| 9 | Steve Avery | 1992-10-11 | NLCS | 5 | ATL | PIT | L 1-7 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 18 | 25 | 6 | 108.00 |
| 10 | John Smiley | 1991-10-17 | NLCS | 7 | PIT | ATL | L 0-4 | GS-1 ,L | 0.2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 16 | 34 | 6 | 40.50 |
| 11 | Rick Reuschel | 1989-10-05 | NLCS | 2 | SFG | CHC | L 5-9 | GS-1 ,L | 0.2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 14 | 23 | 7 | 67.50 |
| 12 | Mark Thurmond | 1984-10-14 | WS | 5 | SDP | DET | L 4-8 | GS-1 | 0.1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 29 | 6 | 81.00 |
| 13 | Ed Whitson | 1984-10-10 | WS | 2 | SDP | DET | W 5-3 | GS-1 | 0.2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 11 | 30 | 7 | 40.50 |
| 14 | Bob Welch | 1981-10-24 | WS | 4 | LAD | NYY | W 8-7 | GS-0 | 0.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 6 | 35 | 4 | inf |
| 15 | Larry Christenson | 1980-10-18 | WS | 4 | PHI | KCR | L 3-5 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 14 | 25 | 6 | 108.00 |
| 16 | Bruce Kison | 1979-10-10 | WS | 1 | PIT | BAL | L 4-5 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 11 | 25 | 7 | 108.00 |
| 17 | Dennis Leonard | 1976-10-14 | ALCS | 5 | KCR | NYY | L 6-7 | GS-1 | 0.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 3 | inf | ||
| 18 | Doug Rau | 1974-10-08 | NLCS | 3 | LAD | PIT | L 0-7 | GS-1 ,L | 0.2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 7 | 40.50 | ||
| 19 | Ken Holtzman | 1973-10-17 | WS | 4 | OAK | NYM | L 1-6 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 6 | 81.00 | ||
| 20 | Vida Blue | 1973-10-06 | ALCS | 1 | OAK | BAL | L 0-6 | GS-1 ,L | 0.2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 7 | 54.00 | ||
| 21 | Bob Moose | 1972-10-08 | NLCS | 2 | PIT | CIN | L 3-5 | GS-0 ,L | 0.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 5 | inf | ||
| 22 | Luke Walker | 1971-10-13 | WS | 4 | PIT | BAL | W 4-3 | GS-1 | 0.2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 6 | 40.50 | ||
| 23 | Jose Santiago | 1967-10-08 | WS | 4 | BOS | STL | L 0-6 | GS-1 ,L | 0.2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 8 | 54.00 | ||
| 24 | Ray Sadecki | 1964-10-11 | WS | 4 | STL | NYY | W 4-3 | GS-1 | 0.1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 4 | 54.00 | ||
| 25 | Joey Jay | 1961-10-09 | WS | 5 | CIN | NYY | L 5-13 | GS-1 ,L | 0.2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 6 | 54.00 | ||
| 26 | Vinegar Bend Mizell | 1960-10-08 | WS | 3 | PIT | NYY | L 0-10 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 5 | 108.00 | ||
| 27 | Art Ditmar | 1960-10-05 | WS | 1 | NYY | PIT | L 4-6 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 5 | 81.00 | ||
| 28 | Bob Turley | 1958-10-02 | WS | 2 | NYY | MLN | L 5-13 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 5 | 108.00 | ||
| 29 | Bob Buhl | 1957-10-05 | WS | 3 | MLN | NYY | L 3-12 | GS-1 ,L | 0.2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 6 | 27.00 | ||
| 30 | Karl Spooner | 1955-10-03 | WS | 6 | BRO | NYY | L 1-5 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 6 | 135.00 | ||
| 31 | Bob Miller | 1950-10-07 | WS | 4 | PHI | NYY | L 2-5 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 4 | 27.00 | ||
| 32 | Harry Taylor | 1947-10-03 | WS | 4 | BRO | NYY | W 3-2 | GS-0 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 4 | undef | ||
| 33 | Howie Pollet | 1946-10-11 | WS | 5 | STL | BOS | L 3-6 | GS-1 | 0.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 4 | 27.00 | ||
| 34 | Hank Borowy | 1945-10-10 | WS | 7 | CHC | DET | L 3-9 | GS-0 ,L | 0.0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 3 | inf | ||
| 35 | Schoolboy Rowe | 1940-10-07 | WS | 6 | DET | CIN | L 0-4 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 5 | 54.00 | ||
| 36 | Charlie Root | 1935-10-03 | WS | 2 | CHC | DET | L 3-8 | GS-1 ,L | 0.0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 4 | inf | ||
| 37 | Guy Bush | 1932-10-02 | WS | 4 | CHC | NYY | L 6-13 | GS-1 | 0.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 5 | 27.00 | ||
| 38 | Johnny Allen | 1932-10-02 | WS | 4 | NYY | CHC | W 13-6 | GS-1 | 0.2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 8 | 40.50 | ||
| 39 | Vic Aldridge | 1925-10-15 | WS | 7 | PIT | WSH | W 9-7 | GS-1 | 0.1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 6 | 108.00 | ||
| 40 | Curly Ogden | 1924-10-10 | WS | 7 | WSH | NYG | W 4-3 | GS-1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 2 | 0.00 | ||
| 41 | Fred Toney | 1921-10-11 | WS | 6 | NYG | NYY | W 8-5 | GS-1 | 0.2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 6 | 40.50 | ||
| 42 | Ray Caldwell | 1920-10-07 | WS | 3 | CLE | BRO | L 1-2 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 5 | 27.00 | ||
| 43 | Lefty Williams | 1919-10-09 | WS | 8 | CHW | CIN | L 5-10 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 5 | 108.00 | ||
| 44 | Reb Russell | 1917-10-13 | WS | 5 | CHW | NYG | W 8-5 | GS-0 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 3 | inf | ||
| 45 | Ed Summers | 1909-10-11 | WS | 3 | DET | PIT | L 6-8 | GS-1 ,L | 0.1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 6 | 0.00 |
This video makes it very clear that Johnny Cueto's game from last year was injury-related, so that one can be tossed out. John Thomson's game in 2004 has no video, but the play-by-play from that inning is:
| Inn | Score | Out | RoB | Pit(cnt) | R/O | @Bat | Batter | Pitcher | wWPA | wWE | Play Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom of the 1st, Astros Batting, Tied 0-0, Braves' John Thomson facing 1-2-3 | |||||||||||
| b1 | 0-0 | 0 | --- | 1,(0-0) | O | HOU | C. Biggio | J. Thomson | -2% | 53% | Groundout: SS-1B |
| b1 | 0-0 | 1 | --- | 1,(0-0) | HOU | C. Beltran | J. Thomson | 4% | 57% | Double to CF (Fly Ball) | |
| Paul Byrd replaces John Thomson pitching and batting 9th (change occurred mid-batter) | |||||||||||
THAT appears to be injury-related as
well, but after that...it looks like bad pitching in the wrong game. The
number of batters faced goes up, the runs and earned runs go up and the
game ERAs begin to enter triple-digit territory, or even worse, the
dreaded infinite. To be fair, Hellickson did NOT join this august group,
but if I expand this list just one more out so as to include all
starters who lasted just one inning it only grows to 68--out of 2,766
opportunities.
The second is even rarer. I started tracking the game on the mlb.com app, which always amuses me with their screen shot for Tropicana Field:
I'm sure you see the mistake as quickly
as I did--they mistakenly show fans in the seats. The official
attendance for the game was 32,807--Wikipedia lists the capacity at 34,078, and 42,735...WITHOUT TARP-COVERED SEATS! Awesome.
Around the 5th inning I noticed the Rays
had already used four pitchers and checked the same B-R Play Index tool
to see the most pitchers used in a postseason game of 9 innings or
less:
| Rk | Date | Series | Gm# | Tm | Opp | Rslt | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | WP | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2013-10-08 | ALDS | 4 | TBR | BOS | L 1-3 | 9.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 163 | 87 |
| 2 | 2002-10-05 | NLDS | 3 | SFG | ATL | L 2-10 | 9.0 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 173 | 104 |
| 3 | 1996-10-05 | ALDS | 4 | TEX | NYY | L 4-6 | 9.0 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 154 | 95 |
| 4 | 1967-10-11 | WS | 6 | STL | BOS | L 4-8 | 8.0 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 5 | 1961-10-09 | WS | 5 | CIN | NYY | L 5-13 | 9.0 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
I ruined the surprise with the table, but only four teams in postseason play had used as many as 8 pitchers in a game, and if extra-inning games are included, that numbers increases to 19 teams that used 8 or more pitchers, with two more using 9:
| Rk | Date | Series | Gm# | Tm | Opp | Rslt | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | WP | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2013-10-08 | ALDS | 4 | TBR | BOS | L 1-3 | 9.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 163 | 87 |
| 2 | 2005-10-25 | WS | 3 | CHW | HOU | W 7-5 | 14.0 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 245 | 140 |
| 3 | 1999-10-17 | NLCS | 5 | NYM | ATL | W 4-3 | 15.0 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
As soon as I saw that Chris Archer had entered the game I actively began to root for Maddon to use a 9th pitcher and he didn't disappoint by bringing in Wesley Wright.
I'm not faulting Maddon, there's certainly no better time to used
platoon pitching than in the last inning of a playoff series, but it's
still pretty amazing.
These two facts very much complement
each other, but it's interesting to note that only one of the quick-hook
pitchers of the first table led to an entry in the second (the Reds
game in the 1961 World Series). These numbers aren't earth-shattering,
but it's intriguing to see where the specialization in pitching is
leading. Last night's game was played in a zippy 3:49, the Reds-Yankees
games in 3:05. The 1961 Series
was televised, but there's no doubt modern games last longer due to
television breaks, but shuttling in 9 pitchers won't speed things along.
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