While at the airport flipping through the pretty charts and graphs in USA Today, I came across a "Fewest Pitches Seen per Plate Appearance" Leaderboard. Somewhat surprisingly, the top two spots belonged to the Milwaukee Brewers. Johnny Estrada on average sees only 2.99 pitches per plate appearance!?! A floor lamp placed in the batter's box would average more. Think about it.
| Rank | Player | Team | Pitches/PA |
| 1 | Johnny Estrada | MIL | 2.99 |
| 2 | Kevin Mench | MIL | 3.05 |
| 3 | Jason Tyner | MIN | 3.07 |
| 4 | Pablo Ozuna | CWS | 3.11 |
| 5 | Paul Bako | BAL | 3.13 |
| 6 | Jay Payton | BAL | 3.13 |
| 7 | Kenji Johjima | SEA | 3.15 |
| 8 | Matt Diaz | ATL | 3.15 |
| 9 | Corey Patterson | BAL | 3.15 |
| 10 | Moises Alou | NYM | 3.19 |
| 11 | Juan Castro | CIN | 3.20 |
| 12 | Mike Sweeney | KC | 3.23 |
| 13 | Aaron Miles | STL | 3.26 |
| 14 | Jay Gibbons | BAL | 3.27 |
| 15 | Juan Pierre | LAD | 3.27 |
But at least Estrada never bats leadoff. The free swinging Juan Pierre, on the other hand, was the top Dodger on the list at #15 overall. Seeing 14 other names ahead of him clearly motivated Pierre, as he promptly went out and made 4 outs on 9 pitches the night the list was published.
In case you're wondering, the only other Dodger in the top 50 was Jeff Kent at #45 with 3.47 pitches/PA. The only Dodger in the top 50 Most Pitches Seen per Plate Appearance was Wilson Betemit (#23 with 4.23 pitches/PA). Here are the complete lists.
2 comments:
For the purposes of the strike zone, where are the knees of the floor lamp?
Good question. I guess as long as the ump calls it consistently, both pitcher and lamp should be cool -
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