Transcript Document

Stolen Victories
Jan Larson
Society for American Baseball Research
Rogers Hornsby Chapter
Austin, Texas
I Was There …
… on August 17, 1976 when George Brett of the
Kansas City Royals stole home in the bottom of
the 10th inning to defeat the Cleveland Indians.
That got me wondering ….
How many games have been won with a walk-off
steal of home?
Since 1901 there have been …
35*
*more on this later
Research Methodology
• Contact SABR members about prior
research
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Lyle Spatz
Chuck Rosciam
Tom Ruane
Dave Smith
• This yielded 16 of the 35 steals*
*asterisk not needed
Research Methodology (Cont.)
• ProQuest global search
– Searched non-Retrosheet years using ProQuest
– Year-by-year using relevant search terms:
• “steals home”
• “stole home”
• This yielded 15 more steals*
*still not required
Research Methodology (Cont.)
• Game-by-game search.
– Identified “candidate” games using Retrosheet.
– ProQuest search.
• Headline, e.g. “DiMaggio Drives in Winner in
Ninth.”
• Game account, e.g. “With the bases loaded, Ruth
drew a pass that brought the contest to finality.”
• Box scores: RBIs, runs scored vs. stolen bases.
• This yielded 4 more steals*
*now we need the asterisk
Statistics
• From 1901 through 2007 there have been …
– 171,814 regular and post-season games
– One game-ending SOH per 4909 games. A player
would have to play more than 30 seasons to expect to
be in one game that ends with a steal.
– 18 in NL, 17 in AL
– 22 in extra innings
– 1 in post-season
– Two games with game-ending SOH also featured a
triple play
Statistics (Cont.)
• Game-ending steals in every decade through
the 1990s
– Six between 1910-1919
– Seven between 1930-1939
• Six by players with fewer than five SBs that
season
• Two by players with fewer than five SBs for
their careers
Statistics (Cont.)
• Game-ending SOHs executed against …
– Starting pitchers : 11 (RHP 8, LHP 3)
– Relief pitchers : 24 (RHP 16, LHP 8)
• Type of steal:
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Straight steal – 28
Double steal – 3
Failed squeeze – 2
Trick play – 1
“Asterisk” - 1
There Have Been Game Ending Steals
by Six Major League Hall-of-Famers …
• Frank Chance, Cubs, April 28, 1906*
• Tony Lazzeri, Yankees, September 13, 1931
• Al Lopez, Dodgers, July 2, 1933
• Rod Carew, Twins, September 1, 1972
• George Brett, Royals, August 17, 1976
• Eddie Murray, Orioles, August 15, 1979
*there it is – stay tuned
… And One Pro Football Hall-of-Famer
• Jim Thorpe, Giants, June 5, 1918
Miscellany
• Eddie Grant, who won a game for the Cubs in 1913, was
killed in action in France during WWI in 1918.
• Vic Power’s game winning steal in 1958 was his second
steal of home in that game.
• Wally Moses completed a game-ending SOH twice – 1940
for the A’s and 1943 for the White Sox.
• Charley Root gave up two game-ending SOHs, both to the
Dodgers, by Al Lopez in 1933 and Gene Moore in 1939.
Types of steals
• Double steals
– Eddie Grant, Phillies, July 15, 1909
– Wilbur Good, Cubs, April 15, 1913
– Jim Thorpe, Giants, June 5, 1918
• Trick play
– Eddie Murray, Orioles, August 15, 1979
• Doug DeCinces broke for second. P Guy Hoffman
stepped off rubber, watched DeCinces while Murray
crossed the plate standing up.
Types of steals (Cont.)
• Failed squeeze
– Marquis Grissom, Indians, October 11, 1997
(ALCS)
• Omar Vizquel bunted but missed Randy Myers’ low
pitch with Grissom coming down the line. The ball
scooted past Orioles C Lenny Webster allowing
Grissom to score winning run.
• Originally scored as passed ball.
• Changed to stolen base according to rule 10.08(a) on
October 12, 1997.
*The Asterisk
• Frank Chance, Cubs, April 28, 1906
– Advanced from second to third on attempted 5-4-3 DP. Play
broken up at second. While Reds 2B Huggins argued for
interference, Chance raced home.
– Chicago Tribune (4/29) and The Sporting Life (5/5) box
scores confirm play scored as a stolen base.
– Baseball Library (baseballlibrary.com) mentions the steal in
Chance’s chronology.
– 1996 Baseball Research Journal article by L. Robert Davids,
lists game among 1-0 games won via a steal of home.
– Not a SB under today’s scoring rules, but who are we to
question scoring decisions a century after the fact?
– Thus, the asterisk.
Acknowledgements
• Research assistance
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Norman Macht
Gilbert Martinez
Patrick Gallagher
John Delahanty
Rod Nelson
Frank Vaccaro
Dave Smith
Jim Sweetman
• Consultants
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Lyle Spatz
Chuck Rosciam
Tom Ruane
Bill Deane
Jim Smith
Bill Gilbert
Monte Cely
Acknowledgements (Cont.)
• References
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Retrosheet (www.retrosheet.com)
Baseball Reference (www.baseball-reference.com)
Baseball Library (www.baseballlibrary.com)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
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New York Times
Chicago Tribune
Boston Globe
Los Angeles Times
Atlanta Constitution
– Paper Of Record (www.paperofrecord.com)
• The Sporting News