Micah Owings / Offense by a pitcher
Posted by Andy on August 18, 2007
Well Micah Owings just set some records for offense by a pitcher. In his start against Atlanta, he went 4 for 5 with a single, a double, two homers, 4 runs scored and 6 batted in. Click through for the details.
For one, he's got the most total bases (11) in a game as far back as the PI goes (1957.)
Previous performances with at least 9 total bases:
Cnt Player Date Tm Opp GmReslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions +----+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+ 1 Dontrelle Willis 2006-09-20 FLA @NYM W 6-3 4 4 2 3 0 0 2 9 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 2 Randy Wolf 2004-08-11 PHI COL W 15-4 3 3 3 3 0 0 2 9 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 3 Darren Dreifort 2000-08-08 LAD CHC W 7-5 4 4 2 3 0 0 2 9 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 4 Tony Cloninger 1966-07-03 ATL @SFG W 17-3 5 5 2 3 0 0 2 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 5 Tony Cloninger 1966-06-16 ATL NYM W 17-1 5 5 2 3 0 0 2 9 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 6 Lew Burdette 1964-07-23 CHC @SFG W 13-4 5 5 2 4 0 1 1 9 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 7 Don Cardwell 1960-09-02 CHC @STL W 10-4 5 5 3 3 0 0 2 9 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 8 Jim Bunning 1959-05-18 DET @BOS W 14-2 5 4 2 4 0 1 1 9 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 9 Jack Harshman 1958-09-23 BAL WSH W 3-2 3 3 2 3 1 0 2 10 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 10 Lew Burdette 1957-08-13 MLN @CIN W 12-4 5 4 3 3 0 0 2 9 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 9th P 11 Billy Hoeft 1957-07-14(1) DET BAL W 10-2 4 4 3 3 0 0 2 9 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P
It's hard to believe that 11 is the record since 1957, but there you have it folks--Owings is the new record-holder.
The last 10 pitchers before Owings to hit 2 homers in a game:
Cnt Player Date Tm Opp GmReslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions +----+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+ 1 Dontrelle Willis 2006-09-20 FLA @NYM W 6-3 4 4 2 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 2 Randy Wolf 2004-08-11 PHI COL W 15-4 3 3 3 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 3 Robert Person 2002-06-02 PHI MON W 18-3 4 3 3 2 0 0 2 7 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 4 Mike Hampton 2001-06-05 COL HOU W 9-4 3 3 2 2 0 0 2 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 5 Darren Dreifort 2000-08-08 LAD CHC W 7-5 4 4 2 3 0 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 6 Derek Lilliquist 1990-05-01 ATL NYM W 5-2 3 3 3 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 7 Jim Gott 1985-05-12 SFG STL W 5-4 3 2 2 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 8 Walt Terrell 1983-08-06 NYM @CHC W 4-1 3 3 2 2 0 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 9 Randy Lerch 1978-09-30 PHI @PIT W 10-8 2 2 2 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 10 Larry Christenson 1976-09-05 PHI @NYM W 3-1 3 3 2 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P
The only 4 pitchers before Owings since 1957 to have at least 6 RBI:
Cnt Player Date Tm Opp GmReslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions +----+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+ 1 Robert Person 2002-06-02 PHI MON W 18-3 4 3 3 2 0 0 2 7 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 2 Blue Moon Odom 1969-05-04(2) OAK SEP W 11-7 3 3 1 3 1 0 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 3 Dave Giusti 1966-08-21 HOU CIN W 11-0 4 4 0 2 2 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 4 Tony Cloninger 1966-07-03 ATL @SFG W 17-3 5 5 2 3 0 0 2 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P
The last 10 pitchers before Owings to have at least 4 hits in a game:
Cnt Player Date Tm Opp GmReslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions +----+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+ 1 Bobby Livingston 2007-07-16 CIN @ATL W 10-3 4 4 1 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 2 Livan Hernandez 2001-08-11 SFG @CHC W 9-4 4 4 3 4 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 3 Shane Halter 2000-10-01 DET MIN W 12-11 5 5 2 4 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 8th SS C 2B CF 3B RF LF 1B P 4 John Thomson 1997-06-01 COL @FLA W 9-2 4 4 0 4 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 5 Andy Ashby 1996-04-16 SDP @COL W 10-6 4 4 3 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 6 John Smiley 1993-06-07 CIN @MON W 12-3 5 4 2 4 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 7 Steve Avery 1991-06-12 ATL @NYM W 6-1 4 4 1 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 8 Danny Jackson 1988-09-04 CIN @CHC W 17-0 5 5 4 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 9th P 9 Mike LaCoss 1986-05-25 SFG MON W 11-3 4 4 2 4 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P 10 Mike Torrez 1970-07-19 STL ATL W 3-1 4 4 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9th P
Owings batted in the top of the 8th and lined out to first base. Had he gotten a 5th hit, he would have been the first since Mel Stottlemyre in 1964 (box score of that game here.)
And finally, the only other pitcher before Owings since 1957 to score 4 runs or more in a game:
Cnt Player Date Tm Opp GmReslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BOr Positions +----+-----------------+-------------+---+----+-------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+---------+ 1 Danny Jackson 1988-09-04 CIN @CHC W 17-0 5 5 4 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 9th P
A heck of a performance by Owings, and let's not fail to mention that he also pitched 7 innings, giving up just 3 runs on 3 hits, with no walks and 7 K's. Interestingly, all three hits were solo homers, accounting for the 3 runs.
August 19th, 2007 at 12:08 am
The all-time record for TBs by a pitcher is not 11, by the way. Jim Tobin hit 3 HRs in a game in 1942, so the record is at least 12.
August 19th, 2007 at 5:34 am
A reader pointed me to a post about Jack Harshman's 1958 season, which included pitching, hitting, and even pinch-hitting:
http://quomodocumque.wordpress.com/2007/08/18/doing-it-all-yourself-jack-harshman-1958/
August 20th, 2007 at 12:18 am
I'm not sure about the "modern record", but http://www.baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/total_bases_records.shtml has the following information: "...on August 15, 1886, Guy Hecker hit three singles and three home runs for a Major League record (most total bases by a pitcher during a game) fifteen total bases."