Odd Thoughts

MLB Report

The playoff races are still tight. The Mariners inched up a bit against the Red Sox, The Marlins seem to be pulling away in the NL Wildcard race, and the Twins and White Sox are still tied atop the AL Central standings. In addition, the Braves and Giants should clinch their divisions this week. Unfortunately for some, we must bid a fond farewell to the Diamondbacks and the Cardinals. Arizona is now 7.5 out of the wildcard, which was their only hope, and the Cards just got swept by the Astros, putting them 5.5 behind Houston with the Cubs between them. It’s been fun guys.

Now that the Cardinals seem to be out of the playoff picture, I must regretfully announce that I will not be having my first ever 8 for 8 year on playoff predictions. My seven other selections are still in contention, and while I did say the Phillies had a strong wildcard shot, I did ultimately pick the Cardinals to win the wildcard. As for another shot at 8 for 8, I guess there’s always next year.

And now for some facts you may not have known: from 1998 through this very day, the top 10 winningest pitchers are Randy Johnson (106), Greg Maddux (103), Pedro Martinez (99), Tom Glavine (98), Bartolo Colon (95), Andy Pettitte (95), Roger Clemens (94), Mike Mussina (94), Jamie Moyer (93), and Curt Schilling (93). I would have to say I’m surprised to see Colon and Moyer on that list.

Now, Taking that same group of 10 pitchers, here’s how they rank in strikeouts (the order of this list should come as no surprise): Johnson (1,869), Martinez (1,437), Schilling (1,413), Clemens (1,207), Mussina (1,137), Colon (1,045), Maddux (939), Pettitte (819), Moyer (777), and Glavine (768).

Again, the same group; this time winning percentage: Martinez (.780), Johnson (.697), Clemens (.691), Moyer (.660), Maddux (.652), Colon (.638), Pettitte (.638), Schilling (.637), Glavine (.632), and Mussina (.610).

Finally, here’s how these guys stack up in ERA for that same time period: Martinez (2.28), Johnson (2.75), Maddux (3.07), Schilling (3.33), Glavine (3.46), Mussina (3.53), Colon (3.72), Clemens (3.77), Moyer (3.78), and Pettitte (4.19). I guess Pettitte’s ERA shows that there are distinct advantages to pitching for the Yankees. I didn’t have any real reason to research these stats. It got started when I began wondering where Moyer ranked amongst the best pitchers of the last several years. I arbitrarily chose 1998 as my starting point. After doing the research, I thought you fellows might like to know. By the way, Kevin Brown had 86 wins since 1998 despite his significant injuries in ’01 and ’02. Tim Hudson had 79 wins even though he did not even make his major league debut until the middle of the 1999 season.