Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Off Base Percentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy: Candy Maldanado



Dodgers 3, Diamondbacks 1. Reason No. 463 why the All Star Game is silly: Hong-Chih Kuo isn't on this year's NL team. Kuo struck out six of the seven batters he faced in two scoreless innings Sunday, moving his season totals to a 1.03 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP in 26 1/3 IP. After smelling like old cheese for nearly a month, Matt Kemp seems to be coming alive of late. The CF, 9-for-22 (.409) with 3 HR and 7 RBIs in his last five games, hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the eighth off Aaron Heilman, and the AZ bullpen finally had a bad night.

Orioles 6, Redsox 1. Brian Matusz somehow held Boston to a pair of hits in seven shutout innings. Rhyne Hughes: DNP.

Rockies 4, Giants 3 (15). San Francisco used nine pitchers Sunday and only one of them stunk. Unfortunately, it was the last pitcher. Guillermo Mota pitched 1 1/3 innings and walked five, two intentional, which led to Todd Helton's walk-off sac fly and Colorado winning the four-game series. Helton was due: he entered the game in the ninth and grounded into a double play to end the 10th and struck out with the bases loaded to end the 13th. That was like the time I entered an adult league baseball game in the 6th, struck out on three pitches, the last of which bounced, then was pinch-hit for in the 8th.

Mariners 8, Tigers 1. Cliff Lee finally had an off night. He struck out 11 and allowed one earned run in eight innings, snapping his complete game streak at three starts. That sound you heard was Jaret Wright's nostrils exploding.

I Looked at Walter Johnson's Stats for a While Today

Sometimes it's therapeutic to go to baseballreference.com, spend an hour and a half reading an early-1900s player's statistics and fawn over them like they're the Jenny McCarthy Playboy Video Centerfold.

Today we look at the Big Train, Walter Johnson.



Raw statistics

5,914 1/3 IP, 2.17 ERA, 1.06 WHIP


Why the win statistic was stupid even in 1909: In his first three seasons with the Senators, historically one of the worst franchises in baseball history, Johnson went 32-48, but in 663 innings he had a 0.94 WHIP.

The 3-year plan: From 1912-1914, Johnson allowed 172 earned runs in 1,086 innings. That's pretty much Jaret Wright's career, but with 378 less earned runs.

Did I mention the 1913 season?: Johnson's 1913 season was so ridiculous it should have its own post, complete with screaming fans waiting outside an airport. His 0.78 WHIP (232 hits and 38 walks in 346 innings pitched) is third all-time for a single season. If you like wins, and what guy named John Kruk doesn't, Walter won 36 in '13.



I can go nine innings, skip: You know how much applause a pitcher gets nowadays for a complete game or how durable a 200-inning season is considered? Big Train completed 531 games in his 21-year career. His lowest single-season total was seven, in his final season in 1927 when he pitched in 107 2/3 innings. Johnson threw more than 256 innings in 17 seasons and more than 320 innings in nine consecutive seasons (1910-1918).

Strasburg 103 years ago: Big Train broke in at age 19 and threw 110 1/3 innings in 1907. He completed 11 of his 12 starts that year and had a 1.08 WHIP, earning him the posthumous Offbase Rookie of the Year award. (We'll cover our second recipient, Hideki Matsui in 2003, in our next edition of Whining).

Award givers were dumb in the 30s, too: Johnson was a part of the first Hall of Fame class, along with losers like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner. Johnson was on 83% of the ballots, which means he wasn't on 17% of the ballots. Johnny Kling was on 3.5% of the ballots, they couldn't have pushed that 3 1/2 over to Johnson?

The 12 worst days of Andy Hawkins' life

1990 was not a good year to be a Yankees fan. I cried in my basement on more than 65 occasions that spring and summer. July 1 was the worst of the days: Andy Hawkins throws eight no-hit innings at Comiskey Park and loses, 4-0 to the Whitesox.

I don't mean to bring up old, horrifying memories; encourage anyone to remember Stump Merrill....but take a look at Hawkins' two starts after the lost no-hitter:


July 6: the Yanks lose game one of a doubleheader to the Twins, 2-0 in 12 innings (we couldn't stop Gene Larkin: 3-for-4, RBI). Hawkins went 11 2/3 innings before allowing run-scoring singles to Brian Harper and Larkin.

11 2/3 innings!

I think it took Jaret Wright five starts in 2006 to get to 11 2/3 innings.

July 12: Hawkins gives up eight earned in 4 1/3 innings in an 8-0 loss. Whitesox pitcher Melido Perez, later a Yankee, throws a no-hitter in six rain-shortened innings.


Quick recap:


Start No. 1 - Throws no-hitter; loses 4-0

Start No. 2 - Pitches 11 2/3 innings, allows two runs with two outs in the 12th inning; loses 2-0

Start No. 3 - Allows eight runs in 4 1/3 innings; loses 8-0; opposing pitcher throws no-hitter



Andy Hawkins autographed 1989 Donruss card [Estimated value: four nose hairs]