FanPost

Cubs who walked, whiffed 3 times in same game

From Opening Day of 1901 through yesterday, individual batters for the Cubs had finished a game with at least 3 strikeouts 2,633 times.

They have done so 25 times already this season, most recently on Sunday, when Christopher Morel fanned 4 times in an 18-4 loss to the Yankees.

Over the same span, individual Cubs have drawn at least 3 walks in a game 1,021 times.

The only one to do it this year was Seiya Suzuki, on April 19, in a 6-5 loss to the Rays.

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623 different batters had games with 3 or more strikeouts, from Sammy Sosa, with 106, to 263 with just 1.

283 batters had 3 or more walks, from Stan Hack, with 33, to 119 with just 1.

Of all those players, over all those years, only 2 ever had at least 3 strikeouts and 3 walks in the same game.

The first of the pair was Topsy Hartsel, who did it in the Cubs' first game of the Modern Era, on Friday, April 26, 1901.

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ROSTER SHAKEUP

Following the 1897 season, the team had parted ways with Cap Anson, its star player for 22 years and also its manager for the last 19.

Sports writers soon began calling the team the Orphans, and that remained their name going into 1901.

They had finished sixth of 8 teams the previous year. During the off season, the Orphans had replaced 3 of the 5 pitchers who had made the most starts, along with 5 of the 8 position players who had appeared in the most games.

Danny Green returned in center field.

Frank Chance took over in right field, where he had played 15 games in 1898, but none since then.

And the new left fielder was 5-foot-5, 155-pound Tully Frederick "Topsy" Hartsel.

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CONTRACT DISPUTE

Hartsel was 26 years old on Opening Day of 1901.

He had been 22 when he made his professional debut in 1897. By the end of the next year, he was playing in National League, for the Louisville Colonels.

Hartsel batted .324 in 22 games, but slumped to .240 through 30 games in 1899 and was sold on June 25 to Indianapolis of the Western League, which renamed itself the American League after the season.

In 1901, he was batting .301 through 104 games, when he was purchased by the Cincinnati Reds. Beginning in mid-September, he played 18 games for the Reds, batting .328.

But James Hart, president of the Orphans, maintained that, prior to his sale to the Reds, Hartsel had signed a contract to join the Orphans, as of Sept. 20, and to play for the team in 1901 as well.

Hartsel said he had been "claimed" by the Reds, but never had signed with them.

Ultimately, the American League voided Hartsel's sale to Cincinnati and upheld his contract with the Orphans.

Hart wanted all games the Reds had won with Hartsel in the lineup to be forfeited, but the National League refused to do so.

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NEW ERA

1901 was the first season in which the American League styled itself equal in stature to the National, and it would come to be recognized as the start of the Modern Era.

The Orphans were supposed to begin the season on April 18, at St. Louis, but were rained out. They won the next day, 8-7, then lost twice.

Bad weather followed them to Cincinnati, where 3 of 4 games were postponed. In the only game played, on Wednesday, April 24, the Orphans were beaten by the Reds.

The same day, the White Sox made their big league debut in Chicago, defeating Cleveland, 8-2, to the delight of an estimated 9,000 fans.

The Sox won again the following afternoon, then were idle on Friday, when the Orphans launched their home schedule against the Reds.

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SMALL TURNOUT

"The other Chicago baseball team opened the season here yesterday, lost the game, and fell to the rear end of the National League race," the Chicago Tribune reported the next day.

"The opening was not of the sort designated as 'grand.' The day was perfect, yet only a scant 3,500 people came out to see the game. . . . Some of the old guard came back, but thousands who have for years ringed the field were missing."

The Reds loaded the bases with 2 out in the top of the first inning but Tom Hughes struck out the next batter.

In the bottom half, the first Orphan was retired, then Hartsel drew a walk. He sprinted to third on a hit, then scored on a dribbler in front of the plate. An error that resulted in a second run.

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REDS ROAR BACK

The score remained 2-0 after Hughes fanned the first 2 batters in the third. Then a pair of walks and a double tied the game. Two singles and 2 more walks put the Reds in front, 4-2, and Hughes was replaced on the mound by Jock Menefee.

Hartsel walked to start the Orphans' half. After an error, he was forced out at third. The Orphans eventually pushed across a run, to close to within 4-3.

But the Reds quickly added 2 runs in the fourth, then neither team scored until the ninth, when a triple and wild pitch left the Orphans trailing, 7-3.

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LAST-DITCH RALLY

"Chicago seemed beaten," said the Tribune, "but, when [Barry] McCormick drew a base and [Johnny] Kling singled, the crowd began to whoop it up for victory."

After a popup, a walk loaded the bases "and the crowd, for the first time in the afternoon, grew exubriantly [sic] noisy.

"Hartsel was up, and he had drawn three bases on balls. This time he waited. Three balls and two strikes were called.

"The next ball pitched was low and six inches outside of the plate. Hartsel started to strike, checked himself, threw away his bat, and started for first base, while the crowd howled with joy.

"[Reds pitcher Doc] Newton seemed 'up in the air.' [Umpire Bob] Emslie declared that Hartsel's bat crossed the plate and called him out on strikes. [Orphans first baseman Jack] Doyle protested, Hartsel argued, and the crowd howled, by Emslie remained firm, and the chances of victory dimmed."

...

Cozy Dolan, up next, slammed a pitch against the wall in right field, clearing the bases. Charlie Dexter followed with a single, driving home Dolan and knotting the score at 7.

An error advanced Dexter to second and brought up Doyle, but he flied out, sending the game into extra innings.

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CALLED OUT AGAIN

"On even terms the teams battled on through the supper hour," the Tribune said. "The tenth passed without event, and the Reds fell easy victims to Menefee's art in the eleventh.

"[Cupid] Childs opened the eleventh for Chicago with a hit, and it seemed allover, but Hartsel allowed himself to be called out on strikes, and then Dolan got caught trying to steal, Dexter failing to hit."

...

In the Reds' 12th, a 2-strike hit, a steal and an out put a runner on third, and he scored moments later on a groundout to the right side.

The Orphans went down in order, completing the 8-7 defeat that dropped their record to 1-4.

Hartsel finished the day 0 for 3, with all of the outs as strikeouts. Those strikeouts were half of the Orphans' total, as were his 3 walks.

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REST OF SEASON

The unusual days' work left Hartsel's average at .350, with 7 hits in 20 at bats. He had 6 walks and 3 strikeouts.

He finished the season with a slash line of .335/.414/.475. Of his 187 hits, 48 went for extra bases: 25 doubles, 16 triples and 7 home runs.

He drew 75 walks, including 3 in a July 25 game at St. Louis.

He struck out 46 times, with more than a quarter of that total coming in just 4 games. Besides the 3 strikeouts in the home opener, he fanned 3 times in back-to-back games at New York in mid-May, then again in a 17-inning battle against Boston in September.

Oddly, the Orphans won each of his later 3-strikeout games.

...

From May 18 through Sept. 2, the Orphans were in last place after every game -- 92 in a row. They fell from seventh to eighth again by dropping 10 of 11 games between Sept. 13 and 25.

But with a win and a loss in their last 2 games, managed to finish sixth, by 1 percentage point over New York, .381 (53-86) to .380 (52-85), and by 1 game over the last-place Reds (52-87).

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REST OF CAREER

Hartsel's OPS+ of 161 had been by far the best among the Orphans in 1901. His .335 batting average had been 87 points higher than the collective .248 of his teammates.

But when Opening Day arrived in 1902, Hartsel no longer was with the Orphans, having signed with Philadelphia of the American League.

His first year with the Athletics, he led the AL in runs scored, steals and walks. Over the next 9 years, he led in walks 3 more times and in on-base percentage twice, helping the A's to win 4 pennants and 2 World Series.

Hartsel was 37 when he played the last of his 1,356 big league games in 1911. He was 70 when he died in 1944.

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TOPSY GETS COMPANY

For more than 116 years, through 18,171 games, no Cub duplicated Hartsel's 3 strikeouts and 3 walks on April 26, 1901.

Then, on Sunday, May 7, 2017, Anthony Rizzo matched Hartsel during an 18-inning loss at home to the Yankees.

After grounding out in the first, Rizzo struck out looking in the fourth, and swinging in the sixth and eighth.

Then he was hit by a pitch with 2 outs and the bases loaded in the ninth, capping a 3-run rally that tied the score at 4.

Rizzo doubled leading off the 12th, but was stranded at third.

He walked with 1 out in the 14th and remained at first, as the next 2 batters struck out.

In the 16th, he was walked intentionally after the count reached 3-1 with 2 out and nobody on.

The Yankees broke the tie with a run in the top of the 18th. The first 2 Cubs were retired. Kris Bryant then walked. Rizzo took 3 balls, then was walked intentionally, his third walk in 5 innings. Kyle Hendricks, pinch hitting for fellow pitcher Pedro Strop, struck out to end the game.

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3-OR-MORE STRIKEOUTS DATA

Most games with at least 3 strikeouts:

106: Sammy Sosa

75: Javier Baez

61: Kris Bryant

42: Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber

37: Willson Contreras and Alfonso Soriano

35: Corey Patterson

33: Ryne Sandberg

32: Anthony Rizzo

31: Ernie Banks

9 players have had 20-29, including Patrick Wisdom (21)

38 have had 10-19, including David Bote (16) and Jason Heyward (13)

Most strikeouts in game:

6: Don Hoak, on May 2, 1956, in 17-inning, 6-5 loss to Giants at home (1 for 7, single, plus walk and sacrifice bunt

5: 10 times, including 3 by Sosa and 2 by Baez

Most recent: Baez, on May 27, 2019, in 6-5 loss to Astros. Baez struck out in all 5 plate appearances, as he also did in his other 5-strikeout game. Others who did that: Adolfo Phillips, Sosa, Geovany Soto and Ted Lilly

4: 216 times, of which 104 were in 1901-99 and 111 have been since 2000

Most recent: Christopher Morel, on Sunday, in 18-4 loss to Yankees. He and Rafael Ortega are the only Cubs with 4 strikeouts in 2022.

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3-OR-MORE WALKS DATA

Most games with at least 3 walks:

33: Stan Hack

28: Mark Grace and Jimmy Sheckard

24: Ron Santo

23: Johnny Evers and Sammy Sosa

21: Jimmy Slagle

16 players have had 10-19, including Ernie Banks, Phil Cavarretta, Gabby Hartnett, Derrek Lee, Anthony Rizzo, Ryne Sandberg, Billy Williams and Hack Wilson.

The most by a current Cub is 3, by Willson Contreras. Jason Heyward has 2.

Most walks in a game:

5: 4 times. Most recent: Eric Young Sr., on June 30, 2000, in a 7-4 win over Brewers. Previous: Rogers Hornsby (1929), Elrod Hendricks (1972) and Andre Dawson (1990). All 5 to Dawson were intentional.

4: 64 times. Most recent: Jason Heyward, on May 23, 2019, in 9-7 loss to Phillies.

Stan Hack had 4 in 5 games; Phil Cavarretta, in 4; and Woody English and Johnny Evers, in 3. Mark Grace, Derrek Lee, Anthony Rizzo, Ron Santo and Kyle Schwarber are among 10 who had 4 in 2 games.

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