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I have pointless Blue Jays trivia, if anyone wants to play...

I've been poring over the career pitching numbers, in connection with some Future Opus, and for some reason I got absolutely fixated on complete game shutouts.

Over these 30 years, the Jays pitchers have tossed 133 complete game shutouts, and 35 different pitchers were involved. One of them, Dave Stieb, accounted for 30 all by himself. That's the team record least likely to be broken, that and Stieb's career mark for plunking opposition hitters.

Anyway, as Tim the Enchanter once said

"Answer me these questions three."

1. Which Blue Jay pitcher has made the most career starts without ever pitching a shutout?

2. Of the 35 men who have actually pitched shutouts, who has the best ratio of shutouts to starts - i.e., the highest percentage of this guy's career starts were shutouts?

3. Who has the worst/lowest (of the 35 men who have actually pitched a shutout?)

Posted by Magpie on Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 04:05 AM EST.

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The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Zao - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 05:12 AM EST (#163122) #

Might as well throw some names out there...

1. Woody Williams

2. Roger Clemens

3. Todd Stottlemyre

cbugden - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 06:47 AM EST (#163124) #

1) Gustavo Chacin 53 starts, 0 shut outs

2) Pete Vuckovich 8 starts 1 shutout

3) Juan Guzman 195 starts 2 shutouts

Pistol - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 08:21 AM EST (#163125) #

1) Gustavo Chacin 53 starts, 0 shut outs

2) Pete Vuckovich 8 starts 1 shutout

3) Juan Guzman 195 starts 2 shutouts

Correct-o-mondo

Mike Green - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 09:42 AM EST (#163127) #

The other trivia challenge thread is a little long, so perhaps we can continue here. Cbugden, you're up.

Mike Green - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 10:51 AM EST (#163133) #

Well, I got one on the other thread. So, I'm up with a "Who am I?". I was an outfielder who in the middle of my age 27 season was waived. The club that waived me went on to win the World Series that year. Nineteen years later, I was traded for a well-known Latin American catcher; two years after that, my new club won the World Series. Who am I?

More clues to follow, if necessary.

Mike Green - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 11:15 AM EST (#163134) #

The question was inspired by Lew (or Lou) Burdette, who starred in one of the World Series referred to.

Dr. Phil - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 11:24 AM EST (#163136) #

I might be showing my baseball inexperience here, but I'm going to say Julio Franco (27 + 19 = 46 years old) and I know that there are not a whole lot of people that have played that long.

Mike Green - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 11:27 AM EST (#163137) #

Any mention of Julio Franco gets a thumbs up from me, but he's not the correct answer.

Mike Green - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 11:31 AM EST (#163139) #

"I had an association with Goose Gossage with 2 clubs".

Jeremy - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 11:39 AM EST (#163140) #

Might you be Chuck Tanner?

Mike Green - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 11:40 AM EST (#163141) #

Right you are, Jeremy. You're up.

Jeremy - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 11:43 AM EST (#163142) #

Who was the last pitcher to strike out 200 batters in a season with fewer than 10 wins?

lexomatic - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 11:47 AM EST (#163143) #

probably someone since nolan ryan in 87

Jeremy - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 11:52 AM EST (#163144) #

Nolan Ryan in '87 is correct, at least by my Lahman Database. Lexomatic's up

lexomatic - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 12:15 PM EST (#163145) #

wait i have to pose a question?
i don't have one. if someone has something i abidicate. i dont' have time to look stuff up.
i was sure that somene had done it since ryan.

Craig B - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 12:32 PM EST (#163147) #

I can step in.

John Donovan of Sports Illustrated (SI.com) ran a great profile of baseball-reference.com's Sean Forman today. At the start of the article, Donovan asks who was the AL Gold Glove catcher in 1972, then finds that the answer is Carlton Fisk - noting that the 1972 award was the only Gold Glove of Fisk's career.

Fisk wasn't the only AL Gold Glover in 1972 who never won another award. Fully four of the AL Gold Gloves went to players who never won another one.... Doug Griffin at second base, Ed Brinkman at shortstop, and Bobby Murcer in the outfield.

The question : name the other five AL Gold Glove recipients that year!

hugo - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 12:37 PM EST (#163148) #

let's see, gotta be Brooks Robinson at 3rd and George Scott at 1st, and Paul Blair in the OF. and of course Kitty Kaat at P. I can't figure who the other OF is though. Maybe Yaz? he won a bunch.

Craig B - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 01:21 PM EST (#163151) #

Hugo with four of five, very nicely done... Kaat, Robinson, Scott and Blair were the perennial recipients at the time. That leaves us looking for the fifth, unfortunately, since Yaz didn't win in '72, though he had won in '71 (and '67-'68-'69, and would win another in '77).

hugo - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 04:33 PM EST (#163155) #

drat! so close! no idea on number 5 though

actionjackson - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 04:38 PM EST (#163156) #

Total guess, cause I was 2, but was it Al Kaline?

Craig B - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 04:45 PM EST (#163157) #

No, it wasn't Kaline who won his last Gold Glove in '67. Good guess though, as Kaline was still active and playing well.

By the way, I have a Kaline question for someone who was alive at the time. After '67, Kaline's playing time dropped off significantly, even though he remained a very productive player. Was it just people looking at his home run numbers and assuming he'd lost it, or was he injured a lot? Wha' happen'?

actionjackson - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 04:52 PM EST (#163158) #

Well, my boy Al won 10 gold gloves, but not in '72. He was kind of winding down by then. At least it's not a complete muff, he did win 10. As for the actual winner, that's nasty. I've never heard of him, but the further back you go, the more that's the case with me.

Mike Green - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 04:59 PM EST (#163159) #

My guess would have been Joe Rudi, but he began his run a couple of years later. I looked up the answer and it's tough. Craig, I think a clue might be in order.

actionjackson - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 05:05 PM EST (#163160) #

What's stunning for me looking at Kaline's '72 season is that he tied for 24th in MVP balloting with Tommy Harper of Boston, despite playing in 106 games, starting 68 and getting 314 plate appearances. The writers must have loved him. He did decline in '73 and '74 and maybe becoming an average ballplayer for 2 seasons, after his humble first 2 seasons followed by 18 seasons of greatness, told him his time had come. But that's speculation based on stats, so I shall defer to my elders.

Craig B - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 05:14 PM EST (#163161) #

I agree with Mike, a clue is in order. This light-hitting Angel outfielder won one other Gold Glove, in 1970, with a different team.

Craig B - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 05:16 PM EST (#163162) #

Incidentally, I probably couldn't have picked a more obscure guy... of all the outfielders to win AL Gold Gloves from 1965-75, this man is easily the most obscure player. Sorry. :)

Mick Doherty - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 05:16 PM EST (#163163) #

Angels '72 ... I dunno. Ken Berry? He had good leather.

actionjackson - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 05:20 PM EST (#163164) #

Another guess about Kaline retiring is that he appears to have been on the "rocking chair tour" in 1974. Maybe he decided between '73 and '74 that '74 was to be his final season. I mean a first half of .251/.325/.337 in 360 PA does not exactly scream All-Star to me, yet there he was in his 15th and final All-Star game. I smell a tribute to a great player that everyone knew was retiring, and they wanted to see him cavort with the best one last time. The why I don't know though.

Craig B - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 08:08 PM EST (#163167) #

Mick! Mick! Mick! Mr. Doherty seems to have a way with my questions. It was indeed Ken Berry.

You're up, Micholas!

Geoff - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 08:12 PM EST (#163168) #

Speaking of baseball-reference.com, anyone else notice that shutout totals are out of whack for teams?

I notice this on many team year pages: the shutout totals are not totaling properly, such as the 1991 Jays listed with 16 shutouts to lead the league.

Or am I misunderstanding something?

CeeBee - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 08:42 PM EST (#163169) #

Maybe the difference is Team shutouts shared by 2 or more players and complete game shutouts which go to the single pitcher?

Mike Green - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 08:43 PM EST (#163170) #

I actually had a chance to get Ken Berry. I had mentioned his defence a couple of years ago in the Tommy John Hall Watch. Congrats, Mick.

Geoff - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 10:17 PM EST (#163172) #

Yes, right you are. Those are team shutouts as opposed to a total of individual shutouts. You have, er, excelled at that trivia question.

Mick Doherty - Wednesday, February 07 2007 @ 11:29 PM EST (#163174) #

Play enough PC baseball game replays of early 1970s MLB seasons and a guy like Ken Berry isn't "obscure" I guess. Sticking with that timeframe, then (and tying in another thread's topic, loosely) ....

In the 1972 off-season, the Cincinnati Reds acquired 2B Joe Morgan from the Astros. It was an eight-player trade that included Jimmy Stewart (not the actor, the ballplayer) as one of three players that went to the Astros. First, name the two "big names" that went south with Stewart (hint: they were both infielders) and second, name two of the four players (other than Morgan) who went to the Reds (hint: two or the four were regular cogs in "The Big Red Machine" that won the 1975-76 World Series') ...

Okay, long question. Anyone who read all of it still with us and have an answer?

Geoff - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 12:33 AM EST (#163175) #

I thought perhaps Ken Griffey was in there somewhere, but although he debuted in 1973 for the Reds, he didn't arrive via Houston. and it was the 1971-72 offseason, if that helps anyone in the frame of reference.

Barry Bonnell - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 09:55 AM EST (#163177) #

Lee May and Tommy Helms went with Stewart.

Jack Billingham and Cesar Geronimo went the other way with Morgan.

zeppelinkm - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 10:13 AM EST (#163178) #

Money not a concern for the Jays in 07 ?!

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=195380&hubname=

Mick Doherty - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 10:16 AM EST (#163179) #

Barry is correct -- ask a question, Mr. B.

Incidentally, the other two Astros who went with Morgan to the Reds were Denis Menke, later traded back to the Astros for Pat Darcy, and Ed Armbrister. Darcy and Armbrister were both played key roles in the '75 World Series -- negatively for the Reds, who won anyway!

SheldonL - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 10:17 AM EST (#163180) #

I know this is rude because we're still waiting on an answer for the last question, but I've got a BLUE JAY trivia question...got inspired by the SI Blue Jays preview:

Wells became the fourth Blue Jay to hit 20 or more homers in 5 or mor seasons. Name the other three players

zeppelinkm - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 10:35 AM EST (#163181) #

Joe Carter, Carlos Delgado, George Bell ?

Barry Bonnell - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 11:12 AM EST (#163185) #

Here's my question.

Much to my chagrin Barry Bonell was traded by the Jays in 1986. To what team and for whom?

Four Seamer - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 12:07 PM EST (#163186) #

To your chagrin and mine, Barry Bonnell. I was a big fan of his as well - in the early 80s, either the Sun or the Star printed full page posters of each Blue Jay, and Barry Bonnell's had pride of place right over my bed, next to the Shaker.

I think the Jays traded him earlier than '86, though - between the '83 and '84 seasons, if memory serves, and to Seattle for a player I immediately began to dislike with a burning intensity. His name, however, has been lost to the mists of time, so he must be even more obscure than my old friend BB.

Jordan - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 12:37 PM EST (#163188) #

Barry Bonell was traded by the Jays in 1986. To what team and for whom?

To the Seattle Mariners for left-hander Bryan Clarke. Bonnell was soon flying M's owner's George Argyros's airplane. The Jays didn't even get that much value out of Clarke.

Mick Doherty - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 12:43 PM EST (#163189) #

Jordan, you're up!

Jordan - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 12:48 PM EST (#163190) #

Six members of the Blue Jays' first division-winning team in 1985 came to the club via the Rule 5 Draft. Name them.

Mike D - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 12:58 PM EST (#163192) #

I can't get all six, Jordan. Bell and Upshaw for sure; Jim Acker, I think; and if Gruber was called up by '85, then you can add him too. I think Henke was not a Rule V guy. Maybe Cecil Fielder as a fifth?

Jordan - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 01:01 PM EST (#163193) #

Good work, Mike: Bell, Upshaw, Acker and Gruber (he had just 23 AB for the '85 club) are correct. Henke was a free-agent compensation pick from the Rangers (thanks, Texas, for signing Cliff Johnson!), and Fielder arrived via trade with Kansas City (thanks, Leon Roberts!) Two more to go.

Jordan - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 01:08 PM EST (#163195) #

Zao got the last two: Lee and Thornton. Here's the complete list, along with year and victimized team:

Willie Upshaw - NY Yankees, 1977

George Bell - Philadelphia Phillies, 1980

Jim Acker - Atlanta, 1982

Kelly Gruber - Cleveland, 1983

Lou Thornton - NY Mets, 1984

Manny Lee - Houston, 1984

Who's up next? I have a quick and easy one to throw out there, if need be.

Jordan - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 01:13 PM EST (#163200) #

Who's the only player to be a member of the Blue Jays' first ('85) and last ('93) division winners?

Jordan - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 01:16 PM EST (#163202) #

Well done, John! Your question has the floor. I know one answer, but not the other.

Craig B - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 02:18 PM EST (#163206) #

Great job by "Barry Bonnell"! It was Webster and Nicosia. You're up, BB...

AWeb - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 02:47 PM EST (#163210) #

actionjackson has half of it...Delgado missed 100 RBI (in the 90s both times, and didn't he miss it by one once?) twice, but 10 straight 30 HR seasons is right. As I recall, Bonds broke this record with his last 30 hr season, to give him 13 or 14 straight.

And looking it up, both Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez are on 9 straight right now, so more should soon join the group.

Matthew E - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 09:08 PM EST (#163276) #

Okay, I'm guessing about the last half of these.

No-hitters by pitchers who have pitched for the Jays: Dave Stewart, David Cone, David Wells, Pete Vuckovich, Dave Righetti, Jack Morris, A.J. Burnett, Danny Cox, Phil Niekro, Bill Singer, Frank Viola, Al Leiter.

Matthew E - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 09:44 PM EST (#163281) #

I'm not done with this yet.

Doyle Alexander, John Candelaria, Esteban Loaiza?

Matthew E - Thursday, February 08 2007 @ 10:22 PM EST (#163284) #

Well, after my last guess I figured two kicks at the can was enough and I went and looked it up. I *think* I know what you have in mind for the last two, but if I'm right about that then I think the question is worded deceptively.

AWeb - Saturday, February 10 2007 @ 01:26 PM EST (#163351) #

For most outs in a season for the Blue Jays:

Alex Gonzalez hardly ever failed to make an out. So I'm picking him as a starting point. Shortstop would make sense as the position. I recall Fernandez piling up almost 700 ABs one year, and it was the mid-80's (when even good hitters made a lot of outs compared to now) so I'd guess he's the second. So, another shortstop. Manny Lee never played enough games there in one year, I don't think. Same thing for Woodward. So Griffin is the third. He was a bad hitter, really bad. As for the fourth guy, I'll guess Joe Carter : played everyday, hit in a high-turnover lineup. Drove in a lot of runs, and made a lot of outs.

AWeb - Sunday, February 11 2007 @ 12:36 AM EST (#163366) #

Ok, I'll ask one, which often means the end of these threads. Baseballmusings.com
has a thing I hadn't seen before, a listing of players by won/loss percentage in games they appeared in. For instance, the Jays went 55-10 when BJ Ryan appeared in a game last year. Chuck Hartenstein holds the alltime Jays "record" by going 0-13, all in 1977. But the 2-part question:

Among those who appeared in at least 150 games, excluding pitchers, which Jay has/had the highest "winning percentage" ?

and

who are the top 3 all time in appearing in Jays wins ?

AWeb - Sunday, February 11 2007 @ 11:01 AM EST (#163373) #

Calig23 got two of the three : Fernandez and Moseby are the top 2 with 801 and 712 wins respectively. There's only a few more guys to guess there really, so I'll leave it open to more guessing without a hint.

It's not Bell on the winning percentage question, he checked in at a .552 winning percentage. I'll throw out a hint for the leading winning percentage guy : he played in 6 different seasons with the Jays, but never more than 41 games (but not a pitcher).

AWeb - Sunday, February 11 2007 @ 05:32 PM EST (#163381) #

Nope on Carter and Knorr.

Hint : 3rd in total wins guy is the run away leader in total Jay wins with a losing winning percentage.

Winning percentage guy : Bulk of the games in the 1980's.

AWeb - Sunday, February 11 2007 @ 09:34 PM EST (#163397) #

Ducey is correct, the Blue Jays went 114-74 when he appeared in a game. Winfield was next, for his one year.

Delgado is the third choice as well, with 694 wins.

AWeb - Sunday, February 11 2007 @ 09:34 PM EST (#163398) #

Ducey is correct, the Blue Jays went 114-74 when he appeared in a game. Winfield was next, for his one year.

Delgado is the third choice as well, with 694 wins.

AWeb - Sunday, February 11 2007 @ 09:58 PM EST (#163399) #

Ducey is correct, the Blue Jays went 114-74 when he appeared in a game. Winfield was next, for his one year.

Delgado is the third choice as well, with 694 wins.

AWeb - Sunday, February 11 2007 @ 09:59 PM EST (#163400) #

Ducey is correct, the Blue Jays went 114-74 when he appeared in a game. Winfield was next, for his one year.

Delgado is the third choice as well, with 694 wins.

AWeb - Sunday, February 11 2007 @ 10:06 PM EST (#163401) #

Oops...can someone remove those extra posts if they get a chance...the site had frozen for me, but apparently was accepting my comments even though it appeared it was not. Oh, and remove this one too, if you want, just so it won't look like I've started complaining about non-exstent problems

Sorry all.

AWeb - Sunday, February 11 2007 @ 11:17 PM EST (#163408) #

going off of the previous answer:

I'll throw in Whitt at catcher instead, I think he played a lot more games. Delgado at first over McGriff . Moseby in CF, Barfield in Right, Bell in Left? . Setup man...how about Quantrill?

AWeb - Monday, February 12 2007 @ 08:16 AM EST (#163414) #

If it's not Sprague at 3B it must be Gruber I suppose.
2B not Alomar must be someone before that since no one since has been there for any length of time. Someone is slipping through my memory hole, but I'll guess Manny Lee, though that seems very unlikely.

Setup man : I guess that if you count all appearances, including those as closer, Ward had a lot. I don't recall the Jays having many long serving relievers, but it could be a late 70's early 80's guy I don't recall.

Craig B - Monday, February 12 2007 @ 02:38 PM EST (#163432) #

I am assuming this means "wearing a Blue Jays uniform". I'll guess (and it's a total guess) Jesse Barfield.

Craig B - Monday, February 12 2007 @ 07:08 PM EST (#163452) #

zeppelinkm gets the answer! Roberto Alomar went deep in the 1993 All-Star Game.

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