In 1972, the Padres pitching staff posted the third most team shutouts in the NL, with 17. Problem was, they were also blanked 17 times, which amounted to the second most in the league. However the computations and balances played out, the club finished the year with a dismal 58-95 […]
From 1893 through 2024, the records speak of 228 pitchers who amassed at least 20 starts in a season and finished that campaign by averaging less than a hit and walk allowed per inning pitched. In terms of volume of sub-one WHIP years, Walter Johnson claims the biggest piece of […]
Little time is required to recite the lineage of shortstops who’ve produced at least 50 doubles in a season. Boston’s Joe Cronin was the first to do this, reaching 51 two-base hits in 1938. Cronin was left all by himself for a long time, until a burst starting in the […]
As of right now, the big league leaderboard for OPS fans out to reveal a dozen players with a mark above .900. The reigning MVPs – Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani – are there, holding down the top two slots. Kyle Schwarber makes the cut as he positions himself for […]
All the way back in June of 1929, Mel Ott (all of 20 years old) punished NL pitchers to the tune of a .339/.500/.711 slash line that featured an astounding 47 RBI. The month featuring the start of summer has never since seen one player drive in as many runs […]
When Arizona hosted San Diego on August 7, 2010, the visitors were clearly the superior team: first in the NL West, a full 22 games ahead of the cellar-dwelling Diamondbacks. But, at least for this particular day, the Padres had little shot, for they didn’t have Chris Young (at least […]
Another day, another dinger. Of course, Cal Raleigh hasn’t been that productive, going homerless in 39 games this season. But he has gone yard in 19 of them, 19 contests that have been a little extra elevated by the humming, building consideration of how high, how far the 28-year-old backstop […]
Stan Musial is famous for a lot of things when it comes to feats on the diamond. Considering the abundance his 22-year saga provided, the very beginnings of that journey are perhaps a bit overshadowed by what followed. But like so much of his career symphony, the overture was pretty […]
In 2002, reigning NL MVP Barry Bonds opened the season looking like he had taken a couple of days – rather five months – off. Through the Giants’ first three games for that encore campaign, Bonds collected six hits with five going for extra bases. There was a double and […]
From 1973 through 1981, Richie Hebner participated in eight Opening Days. “Participated,” while accurate, fails to match the power of the corner infielder’s impact in those contests. He went 18-for-33 (.545), scored 13 runs and whammed his way to making a baker’s dozen of those safeties go for extra bases […]