Brewers Opening Day Notes
Not the greatest of days for Wisconsin sports fans yesterday. Here’s a few stat notes from the Brewers 10-0 loss to Colorado on Opening Day. As I mentioned to a friend, I would have never thought that the Brewers would lose by more than the Badgers. Oh well.
* The 10-run defeat yesterday was not the Brewers worst Opening Day loss. That happened in 1970 when the Brewers, who had just moved from Seattle, opened their ’70 season and on Opening Day in the first game as the Brewers, lost 12-0 to California. Yesterday was the third double-digit Opening day loss in the team’s history; they also lost 10-0 on Opening Day in 1973 to the Orioles. Yesterday was also the third time the Brewers have been shutout on Opening Day; they lost 3-0 in 1977 to the New York Yankees.
* Starting pitcher Kyle Lohse lasted only 3 1/3 innings in the contest. He was the seventh starting pitcher in Brewers history to last less than four innings on Opening Day. It was not the shortest starting stint on Opening Day for a Brewers pitcher; that honor belongs to Rafael Roque who started Opening Day in 1999 and lasted only two innings. Here’s a look at those Brewers starting pitchers that lasted less than four innings on Opening Day:
2015: Kyle Lohse, 3.1 innings
2012: Yovani Gallardo, 3.2 innings
2004: Ben Sheets, 3.1 innings
1999: Rafael Roque, 2.0 innings
1975: Jim Slaton, 2.2 innings
1974: Jim Colborn, 2.2 innings
1970; Lew Krausse, 3.0 innings
* Newly-acquired first baseman Adam Lind had three hits in the game. He became the 21st Brewer player to get three or more hits on Opening Day for the Brewers since 1970. Last Brewers player to do so was Carlos Gomez in 2010 when he had four hits on Opening Day. Gomez is one of four Brewers players to have four hits on Opening Day; the others: Jose Valentin (1996), Chuckie Carr (1996) and Dave Nilsson (1994). Only one Brewers player has had three or more hits on Opening Day twice. The player? Jim Gantner. He did it in 1984 and 1987.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Brewers Opening Day stars
One week from today the Milwaukee Brewers will begin the 2015 MLB season. Opening Day is always a great day; every team (and its fans) have unlimited optimism for a great season. It’s a new start for players and teams.
For some players, Opening Day has proven to be a big day in their careers. Case in point: For the Brewers, Sixto Lezcano had a few memorable games on Opening Day; in fact, he is the only player in MLB history to hit a grand slam on Opening Day twice, in 1978 and 1980… both times as a member of the Brewers.
Lezcano tops the Brewers with the most Opening Day home runs and RBIs. Here’s a look at those Brewers players who have the most HRs and RBIs for the Brewers on Opening Day.
Most HRs on Opening Day (Brewers)
3: Sixto Lezcano
2: Jeff Cirillo, Carlos Gomez, Larry Hisle, Ben Oglivie, Richie Sexson, Greg Vaughn, Robin Yount
Most RBIs on Opening Day (Brewers)
11: Sixto Lezcano
8: Cecil Cooper, Robin Yount
7: Paul Molitor
6: Jeff Cirillo
5: Ryan Braun, Larry Hisle, John Jaha, Geoff Jenkins, Don Money, Dave Nilsson, Ben Oglivie, Aramis Ramirez, Greg Vaughn
In looking at records back to 1914, we see that a couple of familiar names top the list of all players with HR and RBI success on Opening Day. Babe Ruth tops the list of most RBIs on Opening Day with 22, while Frank Robinson, Ken Griffey, Jr. and (surprise) Adam Dunn top the list each with eight Opening Day home runs. Here are the players with the most Opening Day HRs and RBIs since 1914.
Opening Day HRs
8: Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey, Jr., Frank Robinson
7: Eddie Mathews, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth
Opening Day RBIs
22: Babe Ruth
21: Adam Dunn
19: Vladimir Guerrero
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
What’s happened to this year’s Opening Day pitchers?
Clayton Kershaw (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published with a focus on stats that go beyond the numbers.
Usually, we think of a team’s Opening Day pitcher as their number one starter in the rotation. In many cases that is true. But in others cases, injuries, contract disputes, or other factors put a team’s best pitcher on the sideline when the season opens.
Let’s take a look at Opening Day 2013. Thirty different pitchers took to the mound as their team’s Opening Day hurler. The question is, how many of those pitchers who took the ball in their team’s first game of the year have had success so far in 2013?
First, did you know that three pitchers who were Opening Day starters this year are no longer with those teams? The three are Ricky Nolasco (he started Opening Day from Miami and was traded to the Dodgers), Ian Kennedy (he started for Arizona and was traded to San Diego, and Bud Norris (he started for Houston and was traded to Baltimore).
At the top end of the scale, two pitchers, Adam Wainwright (St. Louis) and Justin Masterson (Cleveland) have 13 wins so far this season. Seattle’s Opening Day starter Felix Hernandez is the only one of the 30 Opening Day starters who has a winning percentage of .700 or better (he is 12-5, a .706 winning percentage).
At the other end is Matt Harrison. He started Texas’s first game of the year and quickly fell to 0-2 before his season ended with lower back surgery.
Here’s a look at the current pitching records of the 30 Opening Day-2013 starters.
Wins, Pitcher (record, team)
13: Adam Wainwright (13-7, St. Louis); Justin Masterson (13-8, Cleveland)
12: Justin Verlander (12-8, Detroit); Felix Hernandez (12-5, Seattle)
11: Jhoulys Chacin (11-6, Colorado); Clayton Kershaw (11-7, LA Dodgers)
10: Jon Lester (10-7, Boston); C.C. Sabathia (10-10, N.Y. Yankees)
9: Ricky Nolasco (9-9, Miami/L.A. Dodgers); R.A. Dickey (9-11, Toronto)
8: Tim Hudson (8-7 Atlanta); Yovani Gallardo (8-9, Milwaukee); Edinson Volquez (8-10, Cincinnati); Chris Sale (8-11, Chicago White Sox); Bud Norris (8-9, Houston/Baltimore)
7: Matt Cain (7-8, San Francisco); Jason Hammel (7-8, Baltimore); James Shields (7-8 Kansas City); Jered Weaver (7-5, L.A. Angels)
6: Stephen Strasburg (6-9, Washington); Jeff Samardzija (6-11, Chicago Cubs); David Price (6-5, Tampa Bay)
5: Cole Hamels (5-13, Philadelphia); A.J. Burnett (5-8, Pittsburgh)
4: Jonathon Niese (4-6, N.Y. Mets); Johnny Cueto (4-2, Cincinnati); Ian Kennedy (4-8, Arizona/San Diego)
1: Vance Worley (1-5, Minnesota); Brett Anderson (1-4, Oakland)
0: Matt Harrison (0-2, Texas)
In addition:
* Of the 30 Opening Starters in 2013, only 13 have a record of .500 or better; seventeen have a record under .500.
Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp
Sports Stats 'on Tapp' 