The double unimportant stat

I feel like that headline should have a weight-ier article behind it. Instead, I'm just here to point out the unusual base Torii Hunter stole in yesterday's 1-0 12th walkoff walk win.

No, it wasn't home - that would be rare, but not unusual. It wasn't first - that would be unusual, but I'm not sure it was possible. It was 2nd base, like he's stolen a hundred times before. It was unusual because of the circumstances.

After a 10th inning 2 out single, Hunter noticed Freddy Dolsi was marching circles around the rubber and second baseman Placido Polanco was pondering something existential that he noticed behind the right field wall. Hunter took off. Dolsi noticed in time to turn and throw, but with nobody available to cover, he couldn't chase Hunter down before Hunter slid safely into 2nd. Jim Leyland came out to argue, but to no avail, as apparently time had never been called.

I call it double unimportant because even after stealing and advancing to 3rd on a wild pitch, Hunter was left stranded, only to be intentionally walked 2 innings later, then forced to 2nd on the walk off walk.

Adam Dunn Never Ceases To Amaze Me

Adam Dunn is one fascinating barnyard animal. He is the owner of two interesting records:

1) He is tied for the record for most WPE points collected with a single swing of the bat with .90. This is of course accomplished by the backyard fantasy scenario of hitting a 2 out, down by 3, bottom of the whatever, walkoff grand slam. Of course he did it against the Indians. Box

2) He is also, fascinatingly, the only batter ever to hit 40+ home runs in a season, yet fail to slug at least .500, thanks to his 2006 campaign in which he whacked 40 jacks, yet slugged but .490. I guess to do that you have to hit for a really low batting average, and not hit very many doubles. A true TTO Hall of Famer. Dunn's BBRef

Ed: He's coming perilously close to doing it again this year!

w00t

For 2008, as Starter, (requiring ER=0 and IP≥5), sorted by greatest Performances matching selected criteria by a Team in a game

youaredj's Notes:
w00t

For 2008, as Starter, (requiring ER=0 and IP>=5), sorted by greatest Performances matching selected criteria by a Team in a game

 Tm  Year Games Link to Individual Games
 ---+----+-----+-------------------------
CLE 2008    14 Ind. Games               
 TBR 2008     8 Ind. Games               
 SFG 2008     8 Ind. Games               
 SDP 2008     8 Ind. Games               
 KCR 2008     8 Ind. Games               
 CHW 2008     8 Ind. Games               
 STL 2008     7 Ind. Games               
 LAA 2008     7 Ind. Games               
 BOS 2008     6 Ind. Games               
 ATL 2008     6 Ind. Games               
 TEX 2008     5 Ind. Games               
 HOU 2008     5 Ind. Games               
 CHC 2008     5 Ind. Games               
 ARI 2008     5 Ind. Games               
 WSN 2008     4 Ind. Games               
 TOR 2008     4 Ind. Games               
 SEA 2008     4 Ind. Games               
 PIT 2008     4 Ind. Games               
 OAK 2008     4 Ind. Games               
 NYM 2008     4 Ind. Games               
 MIL 2008     4 Ind. Games               
 FLA 2008     4 Ind. Games               
 NYY 2008     3 Ind. Games               
 MIN 2008     3 Ind. Games               
 COL 2008     3 Ind. Games                
CIN 2008     3 Ind. Games               
 LAD 2008     2 Ind. Games               
 BAL 2008     2 Ind. Games               
 PHI 2008     1 Ind. Games               
 DET 2008     1 Ind. Games                

Circle the teepees

Which qualified Indian leads the team in batting average? How does our leader compare to the league average?
Grady Sizemore - .264, .006 higher than the overall league average

Who sports a higher OPS, everyday starter Asdrubal Cabrera or recently released Jason Michaels?
Astrocab, by .001

Qualified or not, how many backup catchers rank in our top 5 of OPS?
1 - and it's not starting 1B Ryan Garko.

But at least...
How many pitchers with double digit IPs have an ERA lower than Jesus of the Mound, Joba Chamberlain (14.3 IPs)?
6 - 3 starters and 3 relievers, not including our Cy winner or star reliever, with their lackluster starts to the season

Don't even get me started on Joe Borowski and his .000 fielding percentage...

The Tomfoolery of Carsten Charles Sabathia

Ceeee-Ceee with his ERA inflations,
Eric Wedge's gonna need his medication
when he hears Willis' lame explanations,
There'll be trouble in town tonight!!

"CC!!!!!"

Who are you, and what have you done with Cristian Guzman?

Seriously, this guy was resurrected from baseball purgatory and is absolutely raking this year (well...raking for an NL middle infielder anyway). Probably just a fluke, but he might be fun to watch.