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View Full Version : Strange Baseball Stat Puzzler: 1942


Clay Dreslough
10-11-2007, 05:43 PM
I already know the answer to this. But I thought some of you stats nuts would be amused by this little puzzle.

First, tell me what's "wrong" with Warren Spahn's 1942 season stats. In other words, what is it about his pitching stats for 1942 that don't seem to make sense?

http://www.sportsmogul.com/Encyclopedia/Players/s/spahnwa01.html

(I thought it was a bug in Mogul's output code, until I looked into the problem a little more).

Second, try to explain what happened to allow Spahn to accrue stats that don't seem to add up.

Clay
HoustonGM
10-11-2007, 06:08 PM
Well, the only thing that I really see is that the ERA doesn't seem right.

ERA = ER / IP * 9, and 10/15.2 * 9 = 5.92, not 5.74.

I have no idea what would cause this though.
Clay Dreslough
10-11-2007, 06:12 PM
Well, the only thing that I really see is that the ERA doesn't seem right.

ERA = ER / IP * 9, and 10/15.2 * 9 = 5.92, not 5.74.15.2 is shorthand for 15 and 2/3. That works out to 5.74.
HoustonGM
10-11-2007, 06:18 PM
True, didn't even realize that. Hm.
jtgoffe
10-11-2007, 06:18 PM
He threw a complete game...did he win or lose it? He was 0-0 that season.
HoustonGM
10-11-2007, 06:20 PM
Nice catch! Hm...now the second question.
jtgoffe
10-11-2007, 06:27 PM
Was that his actual pitching stat line for '42? That's not that long ago, wouldn't someone research it and fix it?
metsguy234
10-11-2007, 06:34 PM
Nice catch! Hm...now the second question.

Maybe he threw 9+ innings out of an extra inning game, but another guy got the win by pitching near the end...
jtgoffe
10-11-2007, 06:35 PM
Maybe he threw 9+ innings out of an extra inning game, but another guy got the win by pitching near the end...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In baseball, a complete game (denoted by CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game himself, without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A complete game can be either a win or a loss.
lkcostas
10-11-2007, 07:39 PM
Maybe he threw 9+ innings out of an extra inning game, but another guy got the win by pitching near the end...

Under certain rare circumstances a game can end in a tie. I believe this happens if a league has a curfew rule (no inning can start after this time), and if it's tied at that point, and it's the last time those two teams play that season, and finishing the game isn't necessary to resolve who wins the pennant - then it ends in a tie. I think.
Logansdad
10-11-2007, 07:40 PM
September 26 Youngsters‚ admitted free for bringing scrap metal to aid the war effort‚ get restless and invade the field at the Polo Grounds in the 8th inning of the 2nd game with the Giants leading 5-2. Umpire Ziggy Sears forfeits the game 9-0 to the Braves. Boston P Warren Spahn is not charged with a decision‚ although he was losing at the time of the forfeit. But he is given credit for a complete game‚ his only one in 4 appearances for the year.

http://www.baseballlibrary.com/chronology/byyear.php?year=1942
asianinvasion
10-11-2007, 08:05 PM
wow
lkcostas
10-11-2007, 08:16 PM
September 26 Youngsters‚ admitted free for bringing scrap metal to aid the war effort‚ get restless and invade the field at the Polo Grounds in the 8th inning of the 2nd game with the Giants leading 5-2. Umpire Ziggy Sears forfeits the game 9-0 to the Braves. Boston P Warren Spahn is not charged with a decision‚ although he was losing at the time of the forfeit. But he is given credit for a complete game‚ his only one in 4 appearances for the year.


Never heard that one. :D Now I'm thinking about the disco destruction rally at Comiskey in '78
HoustonGM
10-11-2007, 08:50 PM
That's crazy O_o
dabruinss
10-11-2007, 09:02 PM
awesome job logansdad. i'm not sure if that is true but dam it sounds good.:D
ohms_law
10-12-2007, 01:27 AM
neat!

I was figuring that it had to do with the curfew issue for sure. We are talking about 1942 here, after all. It's amazing that there was even a season at all, for a couple of years there.
Anyway, check out: http://www.retrosheet.org/forfeits.htm

09/26/1942 - Boston at New York - NL - In the second game of a doubleheader with the score 5-2 in favor of the Braves, hundreds of children swarmed on to the field after the final out of the 8th inning. The children were the guests of the Giants as part of a promotion. They had brought scrap metal to the game for the war effort. The field could not be cleared and umpire Ziggy Sears called the game for the visitors. - Washington Post; 09/27/1942, p SP4 (Boston Braves)
There's some great stories on that page.
:)