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The Polaroid Random Thoughts Baseball Thread

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Just so we're clear, Blue Jays commentator Dirk Hayhurst, when the Blue Jays face back-to-back pitchers with ERA's of 5 and 6, it does not mean they have practically guaranteed 2 wins because they are up against an 11 ERA for 2 games.

Those are bad ERA's, true, but that's not how averages work.
 
Interesting Tony Gwynn facts:
3 lifetime strikeouts vs. Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine. Shit most guys did that in 1 series in Atlanta.

His Career batting average went to .300 in his 2nd year and never went below it ever again.

543 career doubles, 434 career strikeouts

Tony Gwynn could have played another 1,862 games--about 12 seasons--as a .250 hitter and STILL had a lifetime .300 batting average.

Gwynn's career .338 batting average is of a different era. As Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan notes, every other hitter with an average of .338 or above started his career before 1940.

In the 14 seasons from 1984 through 1997, Gwynn finished in the top five in the batting race 13 times. And in the only season he didn't -- in 1990 -- he missed by one hit.

In 2,440 career games, Gwynn had only 34 multi-strikeout games. So, the odds were better that Gwynn would get four hits than striking out twice.

More on Gwynn's lack of strikeouts: He faced some great pitchers, but even the cream of the crop had trouble getting him out. Neither Pedro Martinez nor Greg Maddux ever struck him out. Maddux faced Gwynn 107 times and Gwynn hit .415 off Maddux.

Gwynn did top .400 for a 179-game span between July 3, 1993 and May 9, 1995. He hit .403 in 697 at-bats.

In two-strike counts, Gwynn hit .302. That's a statistic that's only been measured since 1988, and since then, Gwynn's mark is easily the best. Wade Boggs, next on the list, hit .260 in two-strike counts. (Via @Castrovince)

No hitter born after 1900 reached 3,000 hits in fewer games (2,284) or at-bats (8,874) than Gwynn. In the history of baseball, only Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie got there faster -- and when they played, the gloves were made of the same material as those trains they rode on.
 
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