Hitting Pitchers

[Frayed Knot]

Inspired by the game Arizona pitcher Micah Owings had the other day and watching Rick Ankiel on TV: some fun facts courtesy of Baseball-Reference's 'Stat of the Day'



As mentioned in another thread, Owings not only hit 2 HRs, but also had a total of 4 hits, 4 runs scored & 6 RBIs - a combination of Hits, RS & RBIs that no PLAYER had done since ARod some time in 2005.

- His 11 total bases (2 HRs, 1 2B, 1 1B) is the most for a pitcher since Jim Tobin (the only pitcher to hit 3 HRs in one game) had 12 in 1942.
In the "Retrosheet Era" (since 1957) 9 or more total bases by a pitcher had been done just 10 times; included in that were TWO seperate 9 TB games by Lew Burdette 7 years apart, and two from Braves pitcher Tony Cloniger which occured just 3 weeks apart! in 1966. The most recent was Dontrelle Willis at Shea last September (2 HRs + a single). Don Cardwell also had 9 TBs in a game but not as a Met.

- 2 HRs in a game by a pitcher has been done 10 times (now 11) since 1976 including the one by NYM Walt Terrell at Wrigley in 1983. 3 of the other 9 came against the Mets: Willis, Derek Lilliquist (1990), and Larry Christensen (1976).

- 4 times since '57 a pitcher had as many as 6 RBIs, most notably the 9 when Tony Cloniger hit Grand Slams in consecutive ABs.

- Only 10 pitchers have had 4 hits in a game since 1970 including Steve Avery at Shea in 1990. To find a pitcher with 5 hits in a game you have to go back to Mel Stottlemyre in 1964.

- And only Cincy hurler Danny Jackson scored 4 runs in a game during this era.



The kicker to the whole thing is that Owings' game put him on ALL of those lists at the same time - all while pitching a 7 IP, 0 BB, 3-hitter. He did, however, serve up more HRs than he hit as all 3 hits he allowed in the game were solo HRs.

[metirish]

The Owens show looked good on the highlights but it must have been a blast to have been there,those fans might have saw something we might not seen again for years upon years.