Spahn, then Sain – and then Spahn Again
Pitcher Fatigue
Pitcher Fatigue
There are some things you’ll never notice if you let the computer make your lineup. I came across something surprising just the other day.
Notice anything odd about this pitcher selection screen for the Washington Senators?
That’s right – Sid Hudson, who started and threw 99 pitches on April 18, is available to start on April 20 – on one day of rest.
The Phillies had a similar opportunity with Ken Heintzelman:
But the one I really got a kick out of was the choice I had for the reigning National League champion Boston Braves:
Wait – you mean I can start Warren Spahn on one day’s rest?
Literature
That should remind you of one of the most famous baseball poems:
First, we’ll use Spahn,
Then we’ll use Sain,
Then an off day,
Followed by rain.Back will come Spahn
Followed by Sain
And followed,
We Hope,
By two days of rain.
It’s not surprising that Gerald Hern sketched together this little ditty for The Boston Post back on September 14, 1948. After all, the Braves essentially used a three-man pitching rotation starting on September 6, as Baseball Reference shows us:
As much fun as it is to look at the names of the pitchers, however, look closely at the dates. With really only two exceptions (September 14 - September 17 for Sain and September 15 - September 18 for Spahn), Billy Southworth was actually pitching his best starters with 3 days of rest – presumably ample time in those days of 4-man rotations.
So how did this happen?
Rain
Frank Jackson reflected on this back in 2017 in this Hardball Times piece. Jackson didn’t quite do the legwork, but he did postulate that rain might have played a factor in making this possible.
Thanks to Retrosheet, we have annotated copies schedules for every season in baseball history (except 1876). A quick survey of the 1948 schedule makes a few interesting points clear:
The Braves were not schedule to play on September 7 or 8.
Boston’s games in Philadelphia on September 9 and 10 were rained out; that caused the doubleheaders on the 11th and 12th.
A game on September 20th in Boston against Cincinnati was rained out and never made up.
Boston was originally supposed to play in Brooklyn on September 30; this was pushed to October 1 due to rain.
And that’s it. All of the lore came about because of 4 rainouts in 3 weeks. One was never made up, and the other 3 were made up right away – giving Boston no real advantage. Not only that, but Southworth didn’t really overuse his pitchers – using them on 2 days of rest only once each.
Replay Usage
Now, there is a difference between putting in a starter on short rest in the pennant stretch in September and using him on short rest in April. If you’re going to tax him, you really shouldn’t do it until you’ve hit the do-or-die stretch of the season.
That’s really how pitchers were used in real life. Even in the most extreme seasons of the 20th century, it’s clear that the 4 man rotation was in common use – unless the pennant was on the line.
The most extreme example that came directly to mind was Ed Walsh of the 1908 Chicago White Sox – noted for being the last 40 game winner in history. The White Sox were in the thick of one of the most famous pennant races in history in September and October. Walsh scarcely rested during that period, pitching in relief on almost every “off” day:
But even in this case – even when you had a pitcher who could regularly start and win games on 2 or even 1 days of rest – the White Sox used what looks more like a 4 man rotation in the early season:
I’m not going to go for the bait. I’m going to give Spahn, Sain, and all the rest their extra day of rest, just like it happened in real life. But it’s kind of cool to know that I can fudge it a bit if I need to.
Forum Roundup
Mark Ruckhaus gives us extra inning drama in his 1959 replay.
Meanwhile, the Yankees have all but clinched for Mike Mathias.