This article is a look at the fascinating numbers, unexpected performances, and season projections from the first half of Major League baseball’s 109th season.
.454 – Josh Hamilton’s batting average in the month of June.
18 – Days the NL West leading San Diego Padres have spent out of first place. Since April 19, they have been in first place for 70 out of 74 days.
82 – The number of All-Stars this season.
.143/.238/.286 – All-Star David Ortiz’s batting line in April. Since May 1 it is .297/.420/.630
103 – Projected wins for baseball’s top team, the New York Yankees.
52-110 – Win/loss pace of the Baltimore Orioles after they ended the first half on a four game win streak.
17 for 30 – The success rate of Oriole closers this year.
24 – Number of losses separating the Pittsburgh Pirates from their 18th consecutive losing season. This would extend their own dubious, American professional sports record.
135 – League leading number of home runs smashed by the Toronto Blue Jays thus far (19 more then second place Boston). The 1997 Seattle Mariners hold the single-season record with 264 home runs. The Blue Jays could easily have eight players hit 20 or more home runs. That would also be a major league record.
97-63 – The record of the NL East leading Atlanta Braves since they traded Jeff Francouer on July 10, 2009.
9.5 – Number of games out of first place the Chicago White Sox were on June 9. Thirty-two days later, on the last day of the the season’s first half, they moved into first place in the AL Central.
.990 – Tigers’ rookie sensation Brennen Boesch’s OPS. This would be the highest OPS posted by a rookie since some guy named Albert Pujols in 2001. Giants rookie Buster Posey, who does not yet have enough plate appearances to qualify, currently has a .959 OPS.
4.46 – Runs per game during the season thus far, which would be the lowest since 1992. 1992 is also the most recent year with a ERA lower than this season’s 4.16.
7 – Combined number of games separating first from second for the three divisions in both the American and National League.
4.5 games – The largest division lead in baseball; held by the surprising Texas Rangers.
28 – Ubaldo Jimenez’s projected win total, which would be the highest total since Denny McLain famously won 31 games in 1968.
16 – Wins for the Atlanta Braves in their final at-bat. (Read about them here —warning shameless self-promotion contained within)
2112 – League high number of pitches thrown by Diamondbacks ace Dan Haren.
16.8 – Strikeout per nine rate of Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol.
12 – The number of teams with payrolls lower than this year’s combined salaries of Alex Rodriguez (33m), Derek Jeter (22.6m), and Mark Teixeira (20.6m). The division leading Rangers, Padres and the wild-card leading Tampa Bay Rays are among them.
148 – Projected RBI total for Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera.
5.3 – Wins above replacement (WAR) of Justin Morneau, the highest in baseball during the first half. Josh Johnson and Roy Halladay lead all pitchers with a WAR of 4.9 each.
-1.7 – Pedro Feliz’s wins above replacement and the worst in all of baseball.
72.9mph – Average speed of Tim Wakefield’s pitches, the lowest in baseball. Jamie Moyer’s pitches are 8.1 mph faster.
11 – Number of times the Cleveland Indians have drawn fewer then 12,000 fans this year. They are last in the league in attendance.
8 – Number of home runs Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista has already exceeded his career-high by (24 to 16).
15.167 – Cliff Lee’s strikeout to walk ratio. The record is 11.0, set by Bret Saberhagen in 1994.
3 – Home runs Alex Rodriguez needs to hit in the second half to join Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr. in the 600 home run club.
.152 – Carlos Pena’s batting average if you subtract his 18 home runs from his hit total. He’s hitting .203 this year with a .738 OPS.
20,500 – Average increase in attendance for the Washington Nationals during Stephan Strasburg’s five home starts.
61 – The highest number of strikeouts for any pitcher on the Washington Nationals. The pitcher leading the team—Steven Strasburgh (a feat accomplished in only 42 2/3 innings).
26 – Number of players who have already stolen 15 or more bases in 2010.
278 – League leading number of outs produced by the Mariner’s Jose Lopez (Derek Jeter is second with 276 outs).
1.055/.799 – Adrian Gonzalez’s home/road OPS split in the first half. For his career Gonzalez has produced an OPS 152 points higher on the road than at Petco Park. Somebody needs to rescue this guy and allow him to be recognized as the major star he is.
1.29 – Josh Johnson’s ERA since his third start of the season, a span of 16 starts.
10 – Seasons Mariano Rivera will have recorded a sub-2.00 ERA if he maintains his 1.05 ERA.
15.9 – Percentage of pitches Bobby Abreu has swung at outside of the strike zone. The percentage makes Abreu the hitter with the best batting eye in the game.
.071 – The National League’s batting average against Ubaldo Jimenez’s fastball.
9,000,000 – Number of dollars the normally cash-strapped Tampa Rays are paying Pat Burrell not to play for them this season.
103.5 – Percentage of seats sold at Philadelphia Phillie home games this season. I’m not sure how this is possible.
228 – Mark Reynolds’ projected season strikeout total after fanning 122 times in the first half. This total would break Reynolds’ own record of 223, set just last year, and give Reynolds 663 strikeouts in the last three seasons. That’s more then Albert Pujols has in his entire career.
74 plus playoffs (if applicable) – Number of games left in the career of Hall of Fame Braves manager, Bobby Cox. Cox has announced this will be his final season on the bench. He is baseball’s longest tenured manager at 21 years.
3 – Number of perfect games we should acknowledge and remember as being hurled in first half of 2010.
Also if you had the Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds, and San Diego Padres leading their divisions at the midway point of the season, please post some stock picks in the comments, you’re a prophet.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy the second half.
Please feel free to post one of the thousands of other fascinating stats from the first half which I overlooked.
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