Baseball Facts And Trivia

For no particular reason, here are some random baseball thoughts:

— Since starting the season 2-10, the Red Sox have gone 62-30 entering Saturday’s game. That’s a .674 winning percentage. If they play .674 baseball the rest of the way, that would be 103 wins, despite losing 10 of their first 12 games.

— Four teams in history have won more than 110 games in a season, and only one of them won the World Series — the 1998 Yankees, who went 114-48. The 1906 Cubs (116 wins) and 1954 Indians (111) lost the World Series. The 2001 Mariners (116) didn’t even get there.

— Boston’s franchise record for victories is 105 by the 1912 team, and they have three 100-win seasons in their history — 1912, 1915, 1946. Wow, I’m surprised they haven’t had a 100-win season in 65 years. The Yankees have 19 100-win seasons, and three more with 99 victories.

— Albert Pujols got his 2,000th career hit the other day. Five players have amassed 2,000 hits for the Cardinals. Who are they? (Answer below)

— According to baseball-reference, Jose Bautista’s Offensive Winning Percentage this year is .867. That would be the highest mark in the American League since 1962, when Mickey Mantle’s OWP was .871.

— From the “who-looks-this-stuff-up?” file: On Wednesday, the Rays played their 705th consecutive game with a starting pitcher younger than 30. The streak dates back to May 2007, and it breaks the streak set by the 1913-17 Washington Senators.

— According to baseball-reference, the Yankees’ Brett Gardner has been the most valuable defensive player in baseball this year, credited with 2.0 defensive Wins Above Replacement. That’s what their math says, but it stretches credibility to suggest a left fielder is the most valuable defensive player.

— Trivia answer: Stan Musial, Lou Brock, Rogers Hornsby, Enos Slaughter, and Pujols got 2,000 or more hits with the Cardinals.