The Jays' recent rash of injuries (is that the proper collective noun) have led me to wondering: is this the worst the Jays have ever had?
(Warning: this is not an exceptionally scientific study. Amendments cheerfully welcomed.)
The answer, clearly, is yes. Here is the best list I could create of Jays players who have lost significant time to injury. For position players, a minimum of 20 games lost is needed. For pitchers, I didn't define an arbitrary cutoff, but just listed pitchers who were originally part of the team's rotation or core bullpen, then missed significant time due to injury.
2004 Delgado, Woodward, Cash, Myers, Catalanotto, Miller, De Los Santos, Speier (Wells 9G, Hudson 19G, Halladay 2 starts)
2003 Stewart, Woodward, Hinske, Walker
2002 Cruz, Carpenter
2001 Bush, Hamilton, Parris
2000 Bush, Stewart, Mondesi, Carpenter, F. Castillo
1999 Cruz, Carpenter, Hamilton
1998 Santiago
1997 Gonzalez, Merced, Crabtree, Guzman, Hanson, Risley
1996 Guzman, Williams
1995 White, Knorr
1994 Ward
1993 Griffin, Stewart, Morris
1992 D. Bell, Mulliniks, Guzman, Stottlemyre, Stieb, Timlin
1991 Gruber, Mulliniks, Stieb, Dayley, Henke
1990 Key
1989 Lee, Ducey, Myers, Leiter
1988 Borders, Campusano, Key, Musselman
1987 none (Fernandez only missed 16 games, Whitt fewer)
1986 Lavelle, Filer
1985 B. Martinez, Clancy
1984 Fernandez
1983 Morgan
1982 Nordhagen
1981 none
1980 Bosetti, Velez
1979 Lemanczyk, Buskey, Clancy
1978 Singer, Kirkwood (who?)
1977 Howell, Bailor, Cerone, Singer, Hartenstein
The 2004 list is shorter than you might think: Hudson fell just short of the minimum time out, Wells hasn't been out long enough yet (though he will probably make it), and Halladay only missed two starts. Even with these people not added, the Jays' casualty list for this year is worse than for any other Jays team in history.
The next question: is the Jays' current casualty list historically bad? To answer this, I took out my Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, which conveniently puts notations beside players who get hurt. (I don't have data for after 1998, as my edition is old, but I don't recall any recent teams that have been hurt by injuries as much as this year's Jays. The 2003 Mets, a team of creaky geriatrics, lost Piazza, Alomar, Burnitz, Vaughn and Astacio.) By my reading, this year's Jays have had the worst injury bug of any team in the last twenty years. I had to go back to the 1983 California Angels, another team of creaky geriatrics, who lost Grich, Foli, DeCinces, Valentine, Downing, Beniquez, Kison, Zahn, and Aase, and went 70-92.
Other teams badly hit by injuries between now and then:
The 1996 San Francisco Giants lost Thompson, Dunston, Williams, Hill, Javier, Manwaring, and Lampkin to injuries and finished in last place with a 68-94 record. In 1997, they went 90-72 and won the division after acquiring Jeff Kent.
The 1996 Philadelphia Phillies lost Jefferies, Eisenreich, Dykstra, Jordan, and a fling of pitchers: Schilling, Mike Grace, S. Fernandez, D. West, Munoz, and Green. They went 67-95 that year. In 1997, they were healthy and not much better, finishing 68-94.
The 1994 Phils lost Stocker, Hollins, Dykstra, Daulton, Rivera, Greene and Schilling, and went 54-61. (The Phillies' injury problems were much commented on at the time; Jim Fregosi was often blamed for them.)
The 1994 Milwaukee Brewers lost Listach, Seitzer, Hamilton, Harper, Surhoff, Wegman, Miranda, and - worst of all - the immortal Jeff Bronkey, and finished 53-62.
The 1993 Cincinnati Reds were in a world of hurt: they lost Morris, Roberts, Larkin, Kelly, Mitchell, Greene, Browning, Smiley, Roper, and Dibble, and went 73-89, costing Tony Perez his job in the process.
The 1993 Mets lost Bogar, Johnson, Bobby Bo, Coleman, D. Jackson, Gooden, Saberhagen, Fernandez, and Franco, and went 59-103, costing Jeff Torborg his job.
The 1992 Kansas City Royals lost Miller, Howard, Eisenreich, McReynolds, Shumpert, Gubicza, Aquino and Boddicker, and went 72-90.
The 1990 Seattle Mariners lost O'Brien, Vizquel, Buhner, Valle, Jones, Holman, Swan, Schooler, and Bankhead. They went 77-85.
The 1989 Cincinnati Reds lost Oester, Larkin, Sabo, O'Neill, Daniels, Rijo, Jackson, Ron Robinson, Jeff Sellers, and their manager, a guy named Rose. They went 75-87, but went on to win the World Series in 1990.
The 1986 Giants lost Clark, Brown, Gladden, Leonard, Blue, Minton, Mason, Gott and Hammaker. They went 83-79 anyway, and went on to win the division title in 1987.
The 1984 Kansas City Royals lost White, Brett, Wilson, Washington, Lynn "King Pine" Jones and Dennis Leonard, and won the AL West anyway. They won the world title next year (sob).
As you can see, there are grounds for optimism. Several teams that have lost regulars one year have bounced back the next. Since the Jays are a young team, and most of the injuries aren't career-threatening, it makes sense to give Ricciardi and Tosca a mulligan for this year, and check back in 2005.
(Warning: this is not an exceptionally scientific study. Amendments cheerfully welcomed.)
The answer, clearly, is yes. Here is the best list I could create of Jays players who have lost significant time to injury. For position players, a minimum of 20 games lost is needed. For pitchers, I didn't define an arbitrary cutoff, but just listed pitchers who were originally part of the team's rotation or core bullpen, then missed significant time due to injury.
2004 Delgado, Woodward, Cash, Myers, Catalanotto, Miller, De Los Santos, Speier (Wells 9G, Hudson 19G, Halladay 2 starts)
2003 Stewart, Woodward, Hinske, Walker
2002 Cruz, Carpenter
2001 Bush, Hamilton, Parris
2000 Bush, Stewart, Mondesi, Carpenter, F. Castillo
1999 Cruz, Carpenter, Hamilton
1998 Santiago
1997 Gonzalez, Merced, Crabtree, Guzman, Hanson, Risley
1996 Guzman, Williams
1995 White, Knorr
1994 Ward
1993 Griffin, Stewart, Morris
1992 D. Bell, Mulliniks, Guzman, Stottlemyre, Stieb, Timlin
1991 Gruber, Mulliniks, Stieb, Dayley, Henke
1990 Key
1989 Lee, Ducey, Myers, Leiter
1988 Borders, Campusano, Key, Musselman
1987 none (Fernandez only missed 16 games, Whitt fewer)
1986 Lavelle, Filer
1985 B. Martinez, Clancy
1984 Fernandez
1983 Morgan
1982 Nordhagen
1981 none
1980 Bosetti, Velez
1979 Lemanczyk, Buskey, Clancy
1978 Singer, Kirkwood (who?)
1977 Howell, Bailor, Cerone, Singer, Hartenstein
The 2004 list is shorter than you might think: Hudson fell just short of the minimum time out, Wells hasn't been out long enough yet (though he will probably make it), and Halladay only missed two starts. Even with these people not added, the Jays' casualty list for this year is worse than for any other Jays team in history.
The next question: is the Jays' current casualty list historically bad? To answer this, I took out my Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, which conveniently puts notations beside players who get hurt. (I don't have data for after 1998, as my edition is old, but I don't recall any recent teams that have been hurt by injuries as much as this year's Jays. The 2003 Mets, a team of creaky geriatrics, lost Piazza, Alomar, Burnitz, Vaughn and Astacio.) By my reading, this year's Jays have had the worst injury bug of any team in the last twenty years. I had to go back to the 1983 California Angels, another team of creaky geriatrics, who lost Grich, Foli, DeCinces, Valentine, Downing, Beniquez, Kison, Zahn, and Aase, and went 70-92.
Other teams badly hit by injuries between now and then:
The 1996 San Francisco Giants lost Thompson, Dunston, Williams, Hill, Javier, Manwaring, and Lampkin to injuries and finished in last place with a 68-94 record. In 1997, they went 90-72 and won the division after acquiring Jeff Kent.
The 1996 Philadelphia Phillies lost Jefferies, Eisenreich, Dykstra, Jordan, and a fling of pitchers: Schilling, Mike Grace, S. Fernandez, D. West, Munoz, and Green. They went 67-95 that year. In 1997, they were healthy and not much better, finishing 68-94.
The 1994 Phils lost Stocker, Hollins, Dykstra, Daulton, Rivera, Greene and Schilling, and went 54-61. (The Phillies' injury problems were much commented on at the time; Jim Fregosi was often blamed for them.)
The 1994 Milwaukee Brewers lost Listach, Seitzer, Hamilton, Harper, Surhoff, Wegman, Miranda, and - worst of all - the immortal Jeff Bronkey, and finished 53-62.
The 1993 Cincinnati Reds were in a world of hurt: they lost Morris, Roberts, Larkin, Kelly, Mitchell, Greene, Browning, Smiley, Roper, and Dibble, and went 73-89, costing Tony Perez his job in the process.
The 1993 Mets lost Bogar, Johnson, Bobby Bo, Coleman, D. Jackson, Gooden, Saberhagen, Fernandez, and Franco, and went 59-103, costing Jeff Torborg his job.
The 1992 Kansas City Royals lost Miller, Howard, Eisenreich, McReynolds, Shumpert, Gubicza, Aquino and Boddicker, and went 72-90.
The 1990 Seattle Mariners lost O'Brien, Vizquel, Buhner, Valle, Jones, Holman, Swan, Schooler, and Bankhead. They went 77-85.
The 1989 Cincinnati Reds lost Oester, Larkin, Sabo, O'Neill, Daniels, Rijo, Jackson, Ron Robinson, Jeff Sellers, and their manager, a guy named Rose. They went 75-87, but went on to win the World Series in 1990.
The 1986 Giants lost Clark, Brown, Gladden, Leonard, Blue, Minton, Mason, Gott and Hammaker. They went 83-79 anyway, and went on to win the division title in 1987.
The 1984 Kansas City Royals lost White, Brett, Wilson, Washington, Lynn "King Pine" Jones and Dennis Leonard, and won the AL West anyway. They won the world title next year (sob).
As you can see, there are grounds for optimism. Several teams that have lost regulars one year have bounced back the next. Since the Jays are a young team, and most of the injuries aren't career-threatening, it makes sense to give Ricciardi and Tosca a mulligan for this year, and check back in 2005.
