It’s October 1, and that means it’s time for the Baseball Roundtable monthly Wrap Up for September – a look at the stories and statistics that caught The Roundtable’s attention over the past month, as well as the standings, Roundtable Players and Pitchers of the Month, the Trot Index and more. Keep in mind, the stats presented are for September only and do not include games of October 1. As usual, there a few things unusual over the past thirty days: The first rookie with a 25-50 season and the first-ever 40-70 campaign (HR/SB); A 200th career win and a 400th career home run; New records set ..read more

Welcome to  the 18th post in the Baseball Roundtable’s “Who’s Your Daddy?” series, where we take a look at Roundtable-selected lineups that performed exceptionally well against some of MLB’s greatest pitchers. As always, I would stress that the pitchers included in the Who’s Your Daddy? series are among the “best in the business.”  They are selected not because of the players who performed well against them, but rather because success among hitters when they were on the mound was the exception rather than the rule.  We’ve looked at pitchers from a wide range of eras – from Carl ..read more

No one would have been surprised if Astros’ RF Kyle Tucker was calling for oxygen after yesterday’s (September 10, 2023) 12-2 win over the Padres (in Houston). Tucker not only collected two hits, drove in two runs, scored twice  and stole two bases – he also tied one of MLB’s most unique records, hitting two triples in one inning. (Side note:  They were Tucker’s first two triples of the season. The San Diego Padres have two pitchers named Hill (Tim and Rich) on their active 2023 roster and, on September 10, the Astros Kyle Tucker tripled off both of them – in the same inning. Tucke ..read more

In today’s post, Baseball Roundtable takes a look at (possibly) the streakiest team in MLB history. As is the Baseball Roundtable tradition, when I look into baseball events (past and current) “one thing always leads to another.” This journey began with my interest in the remarkable 1916 season of New York Giants’ pitcher Ferdie Schupp (more on that in a bit.) However, I soon became distracted by the remarkably streaky season of the 1916 Giants as a whole. On this date (September 7) in 1916, the aforementioned Schupp started for the Giants against Nap Rucker and the Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) a ..read more

The Dog Days of August are behind us and we’ve moved into September.  That means it’s time for Baseball Roundtable’s August Wrap Up – a look at the stories and statistics the caught Baseball Roundtable’s attention over the past month, as well as the standings, The Roundtable’s Players and Pitchers of the Month, the Trot Index and more. And, there was plenty to see around MLB in August: Two no-hitters; A cycle; A pitcher surrendering home runs on each of his first two MLB pitches; A player getting married and hitting a Grand Slam on the same day; A player stroking a record 17 hits in a fo ..read more

This day (August 22) in 1982, Cardinal’s backup catcher Glenn Brummer  produced an unexpected performance that still stands as a unique moment in Redbird lore. Let’s start this tale with a bit of  a bit of background. First, Brummer was not just the Cardinals’ backup catcher, he was the backup to the backup – with starter Darrell Porter and backup Gene Tenace ahead of him.  He had, in fact, spent part of the early season as a backup catcher at Triple-A until an injury to Porter led to Brummer’s callup (when Porter recovered, the Cardinals kept Brummer on the team as a third-stri ..read more

On Sunday (August 6). Reds’23-year-old righty Lyon Richardson made his MLB debut – starting against the Nationals in Cincinnati.  His performance, while not what he had hoped for, did attract the attention of baseball trivia buffs. Richardson started his MLB career by giving up home runs on each of his first two MLB pitches – to Nationals’ shortstop CJ Abrams (his 11th HR of the year) on a 95.5-mph fastball and to RF Lane Thomas (his 19th) on a 96.7-mph heater.  Ultimately, Richardson went three innings and gave up four hits, three walks and four runs, while fanning two, in the Reds ..read more

Yesterday (August 4, 2023), the Toronto Blue Jays’ 24-year-old rookie 2B Davis Schneider, became the 138th major-leaguer to hit a home run in his very first MLB at bat.  Note:  I expect this list to expand as Negro Leagues’ records from 1920-48 are further documented and incorporated into the MLB record books.  The 138 include 79 National Leaguers, 57 American Leaguers and two from the old American Association.  Schneider’s call up from the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons followed a recent injury to Blue Jays’ SS Bo Bichette. The Blue Jays – in a tight AL-East battle for a playoff ..read more

It seemed appropriate to celebrate my (76th) birthday (August 4) with a blog post. So, I looked for some kind of theme from baseball events that took place on August 4 in years past – at least as a starting point.  As regular readers know, when The Roundtable starts looking into an event or topic “one thing always seem to lead to another.” At any rate, the most unique baseball event to take place on August 4 relates to travel and trades. So, that was my starting point. What’s That Starting Time Again? On August 4, 1982, outfielder Joel Youngblood made MLB history by becoming the only play ..read more

It’s August 1 and that means it’s time for the Baseball Roundtable July Wrap up – the stats and stories that caught The Roundtable’s attention in July – as well as the Players and Pitchers of the Month and the ongoing Baseball Roundtable Trot Index. Notably, there was plenty to write about for July: A triple play; A 250th home run and 250th career win; a 300th home run; A combined no-hitter; A four-strikeout inning; A player swiping second, third and home in one plate appearance; Some “Long Ball “birthday celebrations; Three bases on a strikeout; and More. For the stats and stories, read on ..read more