12 interesting stats about the stacked Hall of Fame class of 2015
Hall of Fame day has arrived, which means the remarkable legacies of Craig Biggio, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz are only hours away from being soon be cemented forever with enshrinement into baseball’s most elite class.
The star-studded quartet makes up the largest class of new inductees since 1955. That fact, in and of itself, makes them interesting and noteworthy.
The personalities involved add a whole different layer of intrigue and interest. For as outspoken and in-your-face as Pedro Martinez could be, Randy Johnson was every bit as laid back and reserved. While John Smoltz was the very definition of a bulldog on the hill, Craig Biggio was just the same at the plate and in the field. It’s all a part of who they are and what helped them sustain elite level production.
[Related: Who’s your favorite 2015 MLB Hall of Famer?]
In the end though, baseball is a results based business driven by numbers and stats. That’s why we figured it would be interesting to look at some of the more unique stats each Hall of Famer compiled during his career. Not career strikeouts totals or 3,000 hits or stats that are common knowledge. But fascinating numbers that float under the radar.
Check them out.
• In 2000, Martinez became the first starting pitcher to have more than twice as many strikeouts in a season (284) than hits allowed (128). That was his third and final Cy Young season.
• Martinez was the first pitcher in MLB history to post 300-strikeout seasons in each league. He first did it for the Montreal Expos in 1997 and later the Boston Red Sox in 1999.
• From August 24 to Sept 15, 1999, Pedro Martinez struck out 14 batters in four different starts. Red Sox pitchers have combined to do it three times since.
• Johnson holds the record for most strikeouts in a relief appearance. Taking over for Curt Schilling during a suspended game, Johnson went on to strikeout 16 San Diego Padres over seven innings. He also earned the win.
• Johnson struck out 18 or more batters in a single game four times, more than any other pitcher in MLB history.
• According to Baseball Reference, Johnson is the oldest player to hit his first career home run at 40 years, nine days. He also served up the home run hit by the oldest player, when 48-year-old Julio Franco took him deep on May 4, 2007.
• Biggio finished his career with 3,060 hits, but that wasn’t the only way he was known to get on base. Biggio led the league in hit-by-pitches five different times and finished with 285 overall, two short of the all-time record.
• Biggio had at least one hit from every spot in the order except fourth. In fact, he never even started a game in the clean up spot, but he did go 0-for-4 there as a pinch-hitter and late-game replacement.
• Biggio is just one of three players with more than 2,500 hits, more than 500 doubles, more than 400 stolen bases and more than 250 home runs. The others are Barry Bonds and Rickey Henderson.
• Smoltz was the 16th pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts. Only five have done it in fewer innings. Two of them were Martinez and Johnson. The other three were Nolan Ryan, Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens.
• Amazingly, Smoltz only topped 17 wins one time in his career. That was his 24-win season in 1996, which earned him his only Cy Young award.
• Smoltz made 41 postseason appearances, posting a 15-4 record with a 2.67.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
