Pitchers
statistics
We asked a panel of DMBL pitching
greats who they
think should win the Ben McDonald Award, presented
annually to the league's top pitcher.
Pitching Leaders
Wins |
1 |
Sabathia,
ARK
|
19-7 |
2 |
Zito,
CAR
|
18-4 |
3 |
Schilling,
ARK
|
18-6
|
4 |
Halladay,
CAR
|
18-7
|
5 |
L.Hernandez,
COL
|
18-9
|
6 |
Hudson,
CAR
|
17-3
|
7 |
W.Alvarez,
STP
|
17-6
|
8 |
Thomson,
NWK
|
16-10
|
9 |
DuBose,
NWK
|
15-5
|
10 |
Vazquez,
TIJ
|
14-6
|
Earned Run Average |
1 |
Hudson,
CAR
|
2.08 |
2
|
Kim, ARK
|
2.51 |
3 |
C.Zambrano,
CAR
|
3.14 |
4 |
P.Martinez,
ARK
|
3.30 |
5 |
J.Vazquez,TIJ
|
3.42 |
6 |
W.Alvarez,STP
|
3.52 |
7 |
Schmidt,
HON
|
3.54 |
8 |
Halladay,CAR
|
3.62 |
9 |
Santana,PHI
|
3.67 |
10 |
Ponson,COL
|
3.69 |
Baserunners Per 9 |
1 |
Schmidt,
HON
|
10.1
|
2 |
Halladay,
CAR
|
10.2 |
3 |
Hudson,
CAR
|
10.8 |
4t |
Kim, ARK
|
10.9 |
4t |
Schilling,
ARK
|
10.9 |
6t |
Vazquez,
TIJ
|
11.1 |
6t |
Prior,
PHI
|
11.1 |
8 |
C.Zambrano,CAR
|
11.2 |
9t |
M.Morris,
HIL
|
11.8 |
9t
|
Oswalt,
HON
|
11.8 |
Strikeouts |
1 |
Vazquez,TIJ |
245 |
2 |
Wood,
STP
|
236 |
3 |
P.Martinez,ARK
|
223 |
4 |
Prior,
PHI
|
219 |
5 |
Schilling,
ARK
|
215
|
6 |
Mussina,
HBK-STP
|
209 |
7 |
Schmidt,
HON
|
203
|
8 |
Beckett,
TIJ
|
191
|
9 |
W.Alvarez,
STP |
182 |
10 |
Santana,
PHI
|
181 |
Winning Percentage |
1 |
Hudson,
CAR
|
.850 |
2 |
Zito,
CAR
|
.818 |
3t |
Schilling,
ARK
|
.750 |
3t |
DuBose,
NWK
|
.750 |
5 |
W.Alvarez,
STP
|
.739 |
6 |
Sabathia,
ARK
|
.731 |
7 |
M.Morris,
HIL
|
.722 |
8 |
Halladay,
CAR
|
.720 |
9 |
Vazquez,
TIJ
|
.714 |
10 |
P.Martinez,ARK
|
.700 |
Innings Pitched |
1 |
L.Hernandez,COL |
246.1 |
2 |
Ponson,
COL
|
244.0 |
3 |
Vazquez,
TIJ
|
239.1 |
4 |
Halladay,
CAR
|
238.2 |
5 |
Hudson,
CAR
|
234.0 |
6 |
Ru.Ortiz,
HON
|
226.0 |
7 |
Mussina,
HBK-STP
|
225.1 |
8 |
Schmidt,
HON
|
224.0 |
9 |
Colon,
HIL
|
220.2 |
10 |
C.Zambrano,
CAR
|
218.0 |
Relief Points |
1 |
Smoltz,
NWK
|
73 |
2 |
Kim, ARK
|
68 |
3 |
Gagne,
TIJ
|
65 |
4 |
Rivera,
STP
|
62 |
5 |
Mantei,
COL
|
58 |
6t |
Beck,
CAR
|
57 |
6t
|
Urbina,
HON
|
57 |
8 |
Isringhausen,
HBK
|
56 |
9 |
Wagner,
VAN
|
50 |
10 |
Worrell,
WWD
|
47 |
Saves |
1t |
Smoltz,
NWK
|
34 |
1t |
Beck,
CAR
|
34 |
3 |
Kim, ARK
|
33 |
4 |
Rivera,
STP
|
32 |
5
|
Worrell,
WWD
|
30 |
6t
|
Mantei,
COL
|
29 |
6t
|
Wagner,
VAN
|
29 |
8
|
Urbina,
HON
|
28 |
9 |
Isringhausen,
HBK
|
26 |
10
|
Kolb,
PHI
|
25 |
The Usual Suspects
By
Keyser Soze
OK, so it's not fun to watch the same guys win the big awards year
after year. Tom Hanks must be running out of
acceptance speech material. The producers of The
West Wing have so many Emmy Awards they're giving them away this
Halloween. But even if you've won it before, you deserve to be
recognized and celebrated for your achievements, don't you? The
accomplishments of these established stars are all the more impressive
considering that they've been able to sustain their success at such a
high level for season after season! Let's take a look at the big name
hurlers and how they fared in 2004.
Any discussion of "the usual
suspects" for the McDonald has to start with Arkansas's rotation, which
has four former winners -- Kevin Brown (1999),
Roger Clemens (1993), Pedro Martinez (1999-2000) and Curt Schilling (2003). Pedro had another terrific
season, going 14-6 with a 3.30 ERA, 12.2 R/9 and 223 K in 213.0 IP, but
Arkansas's best shot at a McDonald might be the guy who won it last
year: Schilling, who went 18-6 with a 3.83 ERA, 10.9 R/9, and 215 K in
204.2 IP. Brown (13-13, 4.72 ERA, 12.8 R/9) and Clemens (9-9, 4.14 ERA,
12.3 R/9) were solid but not vote-worthy.
But the glory of Arkansas's awesome
rotation may be fleeting, as three hurlers on another Morris Division
squad each has a serious claim to the McDonald Award this season. Tim Hudson is only 27 years old, but this was his
fifth full season in the DMBL -- and the third in which he's been a
serious contender for the McDonald Award! Hudson led the DMBL with a
microscopic 2.08 ERA -- 54 earned runs in 234.0 IP. How close is a 2.08
ERA to the all-time record of 1.909 (57 ER, 268.2 IP), set by Sid Fernandez way back in 1994? With 20.2 more
scoreless innings, Hudson would have set a new league record with a
1.908 ERA. In addition to ERA, Hudson also led the league in winning
percentage (.850) and quality percentage (.879); tied for first in HR/9
(0.4); was second in lowest slugging percentage (.326); tied for second
in shutouts (2); was third in R/9 (10.8); was fifth in innings pitched
(234.0); and was tied for sixth in wins (17). Another Mudcat,
26-year-old Roy Halladay, was impressive last
season (15-9, 3.47 ERA, 1.34 WHIP) but perhaps even better this year
(18-7, 3.62, 1.11). And 25-year-old lefty Barry Zito,
who won the Pat Listach Rookie of
the Year Award in 2001 after going 13-6 with a 3.47 ERA -- and
finished fifth in the McDonald Award balloting after posting a 3.08 ERA
in 216.1 IP last year -- is likely to get plenty of support from the
voters after going 18-4 with a 3.96 ERA, 13.3 R/9 this season.
Columbia's Miguel
Batista has quietly been one of the league's best pitchers over the
last three seasons. Despite a 7-11 record, Batista had a respectable
4.07 ERA and 12.8 R/9, and was 10th in QS% (.594). His secret is to
keep the ball in the park (.379 SLG, 0.8 HR/9)... Veteran Mike Mussina went 13-11 with a 4.43 ERA, 11.9
R/9, splitting his season between Hoboken (9-8, 4.54 ERA, 12.1 R/9,
.435 QS%) and Stanhope (4-3, 4.16, 11.2, .700)... Hillsborough's Matt Morris went 13-5 with a 3.76 ERA and 11.8
R/9 for the league's worst team.
The 2002 McDonald Award winner, Mark Buehrle, likely won't get any votes after a
mediocre campaign for Columbia this year (12-13, 4.36 ERA, 13.5 R/9).
But he had a terrific year compared to three-time winner Greg Maddux (6-14, 4.67 ERA, 12.0 R/9). And let's
not even talk about the 2001 winner, Randy Johnson
(0-2, 25.07 ERA, 4.93 WHIP).
Back From The Dead
By the
Ghost of Darryl Kile
Pitching
every fifth day for the Great Manager in the Sky, I've learned a lot
about baseball. For example, did you know that Cincinnati's Ken Ash
once won a game that he was in for exactly one pitch? In 1930, Ash came
in as a reliever in a 5-2 game, with two on and nobody out, facing
Chicago's Charlie Grimm. Grimm grounded into a
triple play, and in the bottom of the inning Ash came out for a pinch
hitter. The Reds rallied for four runs and Ash got the 6-5 win.
Interesting, huh? Eh, maybe not. Ash has the locker next to mine and
it's the only thing he ever talks about, "Hey, did I tell you about the
time in 1930..." Yes, yes Ken, you did. Sheesh. I mean, the guy's been
up here for 25 years, you'd think he'd have some new stories to tell by
now. What was I saying? Oh yeah, baseball. If there's one thing I
learned over my 10-year, six-team DMBL career, it's how to make a
comeback. Hell, I even pitched in 2003, after I'd been dead for a year!
That's a heckuvalot more interesting than getting a win on just one
pitch, isn't it?
Anyway, I'm not the only guy to have
made a miracle
comeback in the DMBL. Lots of former stars -- and even some former bums
-- have had terrific seasons, just when it seemed every pitching coach
in the league had given up on them. Heck, I went 28-18 in two seasons
with the Sugar Bears, after going 14-28 in the six seasons before that.
Let's hear it for the guys who came out of nowhere to put up big
numbers in '04!
Some sticklers might say that
Stanhope's Wilson Alvarez
didn't exactly "come out of nowhere" to put up great numbers, since his
last season in the DMBL was pretty good (14-11, 3.87 ERA in 198.2 IP).
But remember, his last season in the DMBL was 2000! Alvarez, now 33,
was one of the DMBL's up-and-coming stars 10 years ago, when he went
11-11 with a 5.35 ERA and 162 Ks in 185.0 IP for the Louisiana
Lightning. And he had a great year for the Sugar Bears in 1998, going
18-6 with a 4.48 ERA. But after missing three consecutive seasons due
to arm troubles and an eating disorder, the chunky southpaw burst back
onto the scene this season with an outstanding campaign for the Mighty
Men (17-6, 3.52 ERA, 13.2 R/9, 182 K in 202.0 IP). Other guys who
surprised pundits with strong '04s were Columbia's Livan
Hernandez,
who went 18-9 (4.24 ERA, 12.2 R/9 in 246.1 IP) after going 20-33 with a
5.62 ERA, 1.63 WHIP over his previous six DMBL seasons; another
Rattlesnake, Sidney Ponson (11-16, 3.69 ERA,
11.8 R/9, .636 QS%), who had been 23-26 with a 5.64 ERA, 1.62 WHIP in
his first four DMBL seasons; Tijuana's Javier
Vazquez, who was 15-6 with a 3.42 ERA, 11.1 R/9 (.758 QS%) after
going 29-40 with a 5.26 ERA in four previous DMBL seasons; Honolulu's Jason Schmidt led the league with a 10.1 R/9, was
13-11 with a 3.54 ERA and .742 QS%, and was lights out in the first two
rounds of the playoffs (3-0, 1.89 ERA, 8.1 R/9), after going 36-54 with
a 5.32 ERA over the first six years of his career.
Darryl Kile pitched for the Golden Falcons,
Crusaders, Volcanoes and Sugar Bears before his untimely death at the
age of 33 on June 22, 2002. Defying all medical advice, Kile came back
the following sason, pitching in 15 games for Newark, Philadelphia and
Tijuana. While the results were unimpressive (5-9, 5.79 ERA, 1.44
WHIP), Kile's perseverance proved he has the heart of a champion.
The Young Ones
By Ben McDonald
I guess everybody remembers that I
won the very first
Most Valuable Pitcher award. But, as they say, 'did
you know' that I won it during my rookie campaign?
(Editor's note: It was the league's inaugural
season, so everyone was in one sense a 'rookie', but
McDonald was a true rookie in that 1991 was his first
year of DMBL eligibility.) In 2003, Columbia's Mark
Buehrle became just the second rookie to win the DMBL's top
pitching award, though somehow, he didn't win the Rookie of the Year
Award. Go figure. Anyway, there are a lot of young pitchers -- rookies
and non-rookies -- who could make a splash by winning "my" award this
year.
Arkansas's C.C.
Sabathia, 22, led the league with 19 wins, though his other numbers
were very ordinary (4.78 ERA, 14.0 R/9, .469 QS%); Carolina's Carlos Zambrano, 22, in his second DMBL season
after an inauspicious debut last year (1-4, 5.58 ERA), went just 11-13
but did post a 3.14 ERA, 11.2 R/9 and .606 QS%, with 170 K in 218.0 IP;
Newark's Eric DuBose, a 27-year-old rookie,
went 15-5 (4.05 ERA, 12.5 R/9, .563 QS%); Honolulu's 25-year-old Roy Oswalt was 13-13 with a 4.02 ERA, 11.8 R/9;
Philly's Johan Santana, a 24-year-old lefty,
went 13-8 with a 3.67 ERA, 11.8 R/9, and 181 K in 171.2 IP, while
teammate Mark Prior -- who is still just 22
years old -- went 11-7 with a 3.89 ERA, 11.1 R/9 and 218 K in 187.1 IP;
Phoenix's Brandon Webb, a 24-year-old rookie,
was 9-8 with a 3.79 ERA, 13.4 R/9; Westwood's Odalis
Perez, 26, was 8-9 (3.87 ERA, 13.4 R/9, .615 QS%), the second
straight season in which he posted a losing record despite strong
numbers. Last year, Perez went 10-11 despite posting a 3.60 ERA, 11.4
R/9, .625 QS%.
Honorable mention should go to
Vancouver's Ben Sheets. The 24-year-old
righthander -- who wasn't a rookie, having pitched one game for
Carolina in 2002 -- won his first 10 starts this year (2.72 ERA, 1.12
WHIP), but got pounded regularly after that, finishing the year with
some disappointing numbers (14-10, 5.56, 1.39). And the first overall
pick in this year's draft, 21-year-old Dontrelle
Willis, gets an "A" for effort after surviving a brutal rookie
campaign (4-16, 6.05 ERA, 16.0 R/9, .300 QS%). It can only get better!
Big Ben lasted five years after
his brilliant
rookie campaign, pitching for five different teams,
but no one could harness the raw talent he displayed
in 1991. He took one last turn in Arkansas's rotation
in 1998, going 3-1 with a 3.82 ERA, then retired. He's
now a special adviser to the commissioner's
office.
Screw You All
By Jeff Shaw
No reliever has ever won the McDonald
Award. Ever! And if Newark's John Smoltz
didn't win it last year -- when he set the DMBL records for saves (45),
relief points (94), save percentage (.938) and ERA by a reliever
(0.61). What else can a closer do? If Smoltz didn't get it last year,
how can we even make a case for another reliever this year? In 2000,
Vancouver's Billy Wagner
also got screwed, despite setting what were then the league records for
saves (41) and relief points (86). And we can't forget the all-time
screw job: 1991, when the Iron Fist's Dennis
Eckersley went 15-4 with a 1.13 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP, and got passed
over for the award by Ben McDonald
(17-8, 2.69 ERA, 1.22 WHIP). At this point, what reliever would even
want this award? We'll be satisfied with the glory associated with one
of our own -- the Dennis Eckersley Reliever of the Year Award. And for
a second straight year, that honor -- figured by calculating relief
points (twice your wins plus twice your saves, minus losses and blown
saves) -- goes to Smoltz. So keep your stinking McDonald Award. As much
as Smoltz (8-6, 34 SV, 2.21 ERA, 9.7 R/9, 87 K in 85.1 IP), Tijuana's Eric Gagne (12-1, 22 SV, 1.47 ERA, 7.5 R/9, 148 K
in 97.2 IP), Arkansas's Byung-Hyun Kim (7-4, 33
SV, 2.51 ERA, 10.9 R/9, 138 K in 194.0 IP); Columbia's Matt Mantei (4-4, 29
SV, 1.32 ERA, 10.8 R/9, 70 K in 68.1 IP) or Harrison-Stanhope's Shigetoshi Hasegawa (6-1, 12 SV, 2.66 ERA, 10.0
R/9, .156 IRS%) deserve it, we don't want it!
Jeff Shaw was one of the league's elite closers
between 1998-2001.
Over a six-year, four-team DMBL career, Shaw posted a 3.37 ERA and 1.19
WHIP, with 123 saves against just 23 blown saves. His best season was
probably his 2000 campaign for the Austin Outlaws, when he had 6 wins
and 36 saves with a 3.13 ERA, 1.11 WHIP.
Previous McDonald Award Winners |
year |
pitcher |
team |
W-L |
ERA |
WHIP |
IP |
H |
BB |
K |
2003 |
Curt
Schilling
|
ARK
|
19- 6 |
2.90 |
1.01 |
254.1 |
217 |
40 |
263 |
2002 |
Mark
Buehrle
|
COL
|
18- 9 |
2.32 |
0.98 |
224.2 |
189 |
31 |
124 |
2001 |
Randy
Johnson |
NWK |
18-10 |
3.58 |
1.41 |
221.0 |
227 |
85 |
308 |
2000 |
Pedro
Martinez |
ARK |
22- 7 |
2.51 |
1.10 |
251.1 |
225 |
51 |
347 |
1999 |
Pedro
Martinez |
ARK |
20- 7 |
3.10 |
1.20 |
223.2 |
199 |
69 |
225 |
(tie) |
Kevin
Brown |
ARK |
20- 7 |
3.26 |
1.24 |
243.0 |
245 |
56 |
255 |
1998 |
Greg
Maddux |
VAN |
26- 4 |
2.49 |
1.07 |
260.0 |
246 |
33 |
188 |
1997 |
Greg
Maddux |
VAN |
22- 4 |
3.30 |
1.16 |
267.2 |
240 |
41 |
176 |
1996 |
Greg
Maddux |
VAN |
23- 7 |
2.70 |
1.04 |
260.0 |
238 |
32 |
226 |
1994 |
Sid
Fernandez |
S/A* |
22- 5 |
1.91 |
1.05 |
268.2 |
199 |
84 |
176 |
1993 |
Roger
Clemens |
AUS |
18- 5 |
2.32 |
1.23 |
233.0 |
234 |
52 |
186 |
1992 |
Nolan
Ryan |
AUS |
19- 4 |
1.94 |
1.22 |
227.0 |
154 |
123 |
301 |
1991 |
Ben
McDonald |
ARK |
17- 8 |
2.69 |
1.22 |
227.2 |
199 |
79 |
118 |
*Fernandez split the 1994 season between
Sacramento and Austin. |
|