Play Index and NCAA Picks

I need to write about a new incredible toy I have recently bought. It is the Play Index from Baseball-Reference.com. With the Play Index, you can literally find any stat you have ever dreamed of. You can find consecutive starts with a Game Score of over 70, number of times Albert Pujols has hit a home run in the 4th inning in his career, or the number of times the Red Sox hit a home run to left field at home in 1983. I cannot think of enough words to describe how incredible this service is, so I’ll just give some examples of why it is amazing. (Streak records go back to 1956).

-The record for longest streak of games with at least one extra base hit is held by Chipper Jones, who got an extra base hit in 14 straight games in 2006. This streak included 8 doubles, 1 triple and 7 home runs, and Jones had a .544 average, 1.088 slugging percentage, and 1.688 OPS. This streak raised his average from .283 to .329 from late June to early July.

-The record for most games in a row with a game score of at least 75 is 8, held by Fernando Venezuela, who did it to begin his legendary 1981 season. In total, he was 8-0 with a 0.50 ERA, with 68 K’s in 72 IP and a 0.83 WHIP. Again, this was done in his first 8 career starts!!!

-Five teams have won a game while getting no hits. The most recent happened on June 28, 2008, when the Angels no-hit the Dodgers, but lost 1-0 due to a couple errors, a steal, and a sacrifice fly. On July 1, 1990, the White Sox actually scored 4 runs while getting no hits, beating the Yankees 4-0.

-Of Mark Grace’s 173 home runs, 61 were hit with no outs, 56 with one out, and 56 with two outs. 39 were hit in three-pitch at bats, 38 were hit to right-center field, 9 were hit at Qualcomm Stadium, 67 were hit behind in the count, 25 were hit in the 6th inning, and 4 were walk-off home runs. He hit one home run to center field at Wrigley while he was ahead in the count and hitting clean-up.

-In 1969, the Chicago Cubs were 66-6 (.904) when leading after 6 innings, but 70-7 (.897) when leading after 7 innings.

-The record for most consecutive games where a team hit a home run is held by the Texas Rangers, who hit a home run in 27 consecutive games from August to September, 2002. They went 17-10 in that span with 55 total home runs, on their way to a 72-90 season record.

As you can see, the list of possible things you can look up is literally endless, and once I really figure out what to look for, it will be incredible. This service is a must-have for any serious baseball stathead.


NCAA Tournament Picks
First Round
Louisville (over Alabama State), Ohio State, Utah, Wake Forest, Dayton, North Dakota State, Boston College, Michigan State, Connecticut, BYU, Purdue, Washington, Utah State, Missouri, California, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, Xavier, UCLA, Villanova, Texas, Duke, North Carolina, Butler, Illinois, Gonzaga, Arizona State, Syracuse, Michigan, Oklahoma

Second Round
Louisville, Wake Forest, Dayton, Michigan State, Connecticut, Purdue, Missouri, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Xavier, UCLA, Duke, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Syracuse, Michigan

Sweet Sixteen
Louisville, Michigan State, Purdue, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse

Elite Eight
Michigan State over Louisville, Purdue over Memphis, Duke over Pittsburgh, North Carolina over Syracuse

Final Four
Purdue over Michigan State, Duke over North Carolina

Championship Game
Purdue 68, Duke 63

I know it looks like I am being a homer here, but I think Purdue can pull this off. Having seen Purdue play in person 26 times this year, I know as well as anyone that if Purdue plays as well as it can, we can compete with any team in the nation. Purdue is finally completely healthy and hit its stride at the perfect time in the Big Ten Tournament. Purdue will need some breaks to fall their way, but any team does to win the National Championship, and it may as well be Purdue this year. That said, I do realize that realistically, Purdue will probably be knocked out around the Sweet Sixteen. But statistically speaking, this bracket is just as likely to happen as any other bracket out there, so I figure I may as well pick my team to go all the way.

Interesting baseball fact of the day, if those other ones were not enough: In 1974, the last year Purdue won a postseason championship (The NIT), the Los Angeles Dodgers had the highest single-game total bases total. They had 48 TB in an 18-8 drubbing of the Cubs, with 4 doubles, a triple, and 6 home runs. The second highest single-game total was 36. The record since 1956 is 58, by the Montreal Expos against the Atlanta Braves on July 30, 1978.