Stark: Weird and Wild, The Rays, Red Sox zombie apocalypse edition – The Athletic

Wow. What a week.

The Cubs outscored Da Bears. We learned, definitively, how not to give up a walkoff. And how overrated is that thing we know as The Home Run? Just ask the Orioles.

But none of that was the Weird and Wild highlight of this week. Oh, no. How could they possibly top

We knew someday that baseballs Zombie Apocalypse was coming. We didnt know when. We didnt know where. We didnt know how. But it was coming, all right.

So lets transport you now to Tropicana Field last Saturday, where zeroes filled the hits column and zombie dread filled the air or whatever that is we find ourselves breathing inside the Trop.

Six no-hit innings, from that unhittable Rays bullpen, had gone by. And then seven. And now here came the eighth. No Red Sox hits were on the board. But no Rays runs were on the board. So up in the broadcast booth, Rays TV analyst/witticist Brian Anderson was feeling prescient.

Hey, guys, he thought to himself as the Rays came to bat in the eighth, still tied at 0-0, its time to get going. Were running out of time. Or its about to get gimmicky.

Gimmicky, huh? He was referring, of course, to that ever-popular extra-inning gimmick known as the Zombie Runner. Never in history had we seen a no-hit bid get tangled up in that extra-inning rule. So never in history had we seen a no-hitter get foiled by Zombies. But here it was, lurking. It was a scene Quentin Tarantino would have been proud of.

So I said to myself, This is gonna become a thing, Anderson told the Weird and Wild column. Its gonna become a thing because of these runners.

Oh, it became a thing, all right. A quick recap of how this classic ended:

So what should we make of that one-of-a-kind, Zombie-fied baseball game? Lets do this in two parts.

PART ONE WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED!

Time for a little No-Hit Zombie Time history which is a sentence never before typed in sportswriting history, incidentally.

Teams like the Rays never win these games for reasons that defy all rational brain function. According to Dirk Lammers, creator of the invaluablenonohitters.com site, the Rays were the 15th team in history to have a no-hitter broken up in extra innings. And the previous 14 had gone 2-12 in those games! But one of those wins was by the 1904 Cubs which meant teams in the Rays position had gone a ridiculous 1-11 in extra innings in the previous 117 seasons despite being literally unhittablebefore extra innings. So that also means

Kevin Kiermaier did what no man had ever done hit a walkoff home run to help his team win a game in which it had just lost its no-hitter in extra innings. Yes, none of those other 14 teams in this situation had ever won via walkoff after giving up that first hit let alone after also falling two runs behind. Incredible. But even more incredible because

There were only two hits by both teams combined through nine innings! And in the nearly half a century of STATS Performs complete play-by-play data, dating back to 1974, there hadnt been a singlenon-no-hitterto feature fewer hits than that. The only others that even had two hits through the first nine innings:

7/26/1991 Expos (2 hits allowed) at Dodgers (0 hits), Mark Gardner vs. Orel Hershiser

10/1/1982 Mets (1 hit allowed) at Phillies (1 hit), Terry Leach vs. John Denny

But clearly, neither of those games had to worry about

Two Zombie Runners scoring! But thats what happened in this game. No regular runners scored in the first nine innings. But 100 percent of all Zombie Runners scored in extra innings (Jackie Bradley Jr. for the Red Sox on Dalbecs triple, Randy Arozarena for the Rays on Storys error). And how Weird and Wild was that?

It meant the game-winning run was almost scored, against a team that had thrown nine hitless innings, by a guy who had done zilch to wind up on base. And thats just bizarre. But it also brings us to

PART TWO LETS TALK AVERTING ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!

Its time now to bring Brian Anderson, the voice of Bally Sports Sun, back into this conversation, because somebody had to make sense of this thing and the chances of it being me werent good.

We should begin by revealing that, in ordinary times, Anderson kind of likes that Zombie Runner rule, as a way to liven up the action and strategy of extra innings. He admitted that freely. But he also feared (rightly) that when Zombie Runners and no-hitters mix, trouble can ensue.

ANDERSON: So I dont mind them. But I knew that they had a chance to screw up that whole game, no doubt.

WEIRD AND WILD: Im totally with you on this. I mostly like this rule myself. But I want you to think about this before you answer this question. Which would have been more historic to have a no-hitter foiled by zombies, or an actual no-hitter?

ANDERSON: Hmmm. I hate to say it, but I think the answer actually is pretty obvious. It would be the no-hitter foiled by Zombies, because thats never happened before. No-hitters have happened. Even perfect games not many of them but theyve happened. But a no-hitter foiled by Zombies? Thats a first. Thats historic. And theres your answer.

WEIRD AND WILD: Very good. You pass the test. You aced your Zombie exam. I wonder what you should win for acing the Zombie test.

ANDERSON: How about I get mentioned in your article?

WEIRD AND WILD: I can help with that. But first, back to our program. So wasnt this everyones worst fear about this rule is youre going to throw a no-hitter someday and youre still going to lose, because of those Zombie Runners?

ANDERSON: Right. But there was so much at play that day. And it started with this a no-hitter with six pitchers.Its not like, OK, (the starter) goes six, and then you close out with another (reliever) for three. This is a six-pitcher, spring-training no-hitter. It almost didnt feel real. In fact, this is the gods honest truth, we got into the sixth inning, and in between innings somebody said something about a no-hitter. I didnt say anything, but Im like, Who has a no-hitter? So I look at the scoreboard and Im like, We havent given up a hit. I had no idea, because it was a pitching change every inning.

So I mean, thats goofy, in and of itself. And then, oh by the way, regardless of what you think about that, if we get into extra innings, its about to get real weird.

WEIRD AND WILD: Very weird. Ive been worrying about this for a long time. In fact, when this rule first came into being, I talked to the Elias Sports Bureau and said, What are you going to do if somebody throws a perfect game and loses? And they promised me that will never happen. So this wasnt a perfect game. But it was still a no-hitter, and we were working on that.

ANDERSON: It absolutely is a possibility. And that would be interesting to see.

WEIRD AND WILD: Oh, no. Nobody would find that interesting. Im sure of that. But heres the most important question. Did Kevin Kiermaier just avert baseballs first Zombie Apocalypse?

ANDERSON: He did and thank God. It saved the day for the Rays. And it took out those Zombies.

WEIRD AND WILD: And think of the odds of it happening the way it happened. Trevor Story never throws that ball away. And Kiermaier had never hit a walkoff homer, anywhere, in his life, according to him. And then he hits one there with the Zombies ready to just erupt? Is that the baseball gods? Is that the zombie gods? What the heck happened there?

ANDERSON: Thats baseball protecting itself because thats baseball. Goofy things happen all the time.

WEIRD AND WILD:So justice was served? Just not Zombie justice?

ANDERSON: Right. Everybody wins. You (Zombies) got your little time in the limelight and then baseball saved itself.

WEIRD AND WILD: I like it. I think this is definitely a major motion picture waiting to happen. Executive zombie producer: Brian Anderson.

21-0.

We knew Saturday was going to be a Weird and Wild kind of day when the scoreboard at Wrigley Field read: Cubs 21, Pirates 0.

Theres some stuff you need to know about this game. Im here to help you with that stuff.

There hadnt been a 21-0 game in baseball since Aug. 13, 1939! It was Yankees 21, As zip, at the late, great Shibe Park in Philadelphia that day. And that one was the only 21-zilch game in AL/NL history since Sept. 15, 1901 (Tigers 21, Cleveland Blues nada). Which clearly means

It was the first 21-0 game ever at Wrigley, right? Wait! Thats wrong! Lets all jump in the time machine and head back to Nov. 5, 1944. And why would we do that? Because that was the date of Da Bears last 21-0 win in any regular-season game. Sid Luckman threw for two scores and ran for another, against the extremely pre-Aaron Rodgers Packers. But where was that game played? Where else? At Chicagos favorite football emporium Wrigley!

So 21-0 is a football score, right? Wait! Thats wrong again! How many 21-0 games were there in the NFL last season? None. How many the year before that? None again. How many the year before that? Also none. And Da Bears only previous 21-0 win in the last eight decades, besides that Sid Luckman Classic, was on Jan. 5, 1986, in a playoff thumping of Bill Parcells New York Football Giants. Which means the Cubs have won more 21-0 games over the last 35 years than Da Bears. But hey one more thing

We had very cool Wrigley history because it always seems impossible for something to happen at a ballpark that opened in 1914 that had never, ever happened before. But here goes: In all those years/decades/centuries, this was the Cubs biggest victory margin ever at Wrigley Freaking Field. The old record was 19 (set three times) although the 41 Bears once beat Whizzer Whites Lions at Wrigley by 49! But this isnt the football Weird and Wild column. So back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Its already clear theres going to be a spectacular battle this season for the right to gather the most ping pong balls in the new 2023 draft lottery. So I thought youd want to know how its been going for three of the teams in the thick of that race to the bottom.

SEEING RED You cant win if you never hold a lead. Pretty sure Miller Huggins said that once. Or possibly Whizzer White. But whatever. That adage definitely applies to the 2022 Reds, who just did something amazing.

They lost 11 games in a row and

They never held a lead at the end of any inning! And if youre adding along at home, you know that means all 99 of them!

So how rare is that, you ask? Hoo boy. You really want to know? Thanks to tremendous research by Joel Luckhaupt, the sensational Reds statistician for Bally Sports Ohio, we can report that

Only one other team since 1901 has had a single-season losing streak of 11 games or more without ever holding a lead at the end of any inning in the streak. That was Smead Jolleys 1932 Red Sox (103 straight innings, also in an 11-gamer).

There are some asterisks here, involving the 2021 Rangers and 1916-17 Pirates, who avoided holding a lead for more total innings over longer streaks. But you get our drift!

O NOOOO The good news for those 2022 Orioles is, theyre 6-6 this month in games in which they havent hit a home run. So theyre obviously a pesky little squad, right? Except

Heres the bad news. Theyve won none of the games in which they have hit a home run (as in 0-7). And that is one strange way to open a season. In fact, its historically strange.

I asked my friends from STATS Perform to look into this. And if we dont count strike-delayed seasons, no team since 1951 has had an April in which it won no games in which it homered but won multiple games in which it didnt hit a homer. Got that? Heres the list since 1920 (minimum: 10 games):

2022

Baltimore Orioles

0-7

6-6

1951

New York Giants

0-7

3-5

1951

Philadelphia Athletics

0-5

1-7

1948

Philadelphia Athletics

0-5

5-0

1936

St. Louis Browns

0-5

3-7

1925

Boston Red Sox

0-5

2-5

Source: STATS Perform

Obviously, no team in the live-ball era has ever won as many homerless games in April as the Orioles, while also losing all their games with a homer. So even though Ive obviously jinxed this feat by writing about it, its still quite something.

ANOTHER FAILED STARTUP IN PITTSBURGH As recently as 2015, Gerrit Cole won four April starts for the Pirates all by himself. I promise I didnt bring that up to torture Pirates fans by reminding them that Gerrit Cole once hung out in Pittsburgh. I bring it up because

Were now 19 games into this season. And how many games have Pirates starters won this month by which I mean all the Pirates starters? That, friends, would be none. And thats not just hard to do. Its historically really, really hard to do.

In fact, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Pirates are the first team in modern National League history to do it. And the only other team to go 19 games or more into any season without having any starter win a game was a team that infamously won no games, period, until Game 22 Jay Tibbs 1988 Orioles (covered by industrious fledgling beat writer Ken Rosenthal).

So heres a bit of historical perspective to keep in mind: If your team ever gets mentioned in the same sentence as Ken Rosenthals 1988 Orioles, that cant possibly be good.

YOUNG FRANCO-STEIN On April 19, Wander Franco hit a home run at venerable Wrigley Field, a ballpark that was a mere 87 years older than he was. Last Aug. 12, that same Wander Franco hit a home run at Fenway Park, a ballpark that was 88 years older than he was.

So I got to thinking, which is always dangerous: Was this dude the youngest visiting player ever to homer at both Wrigley and Fenway? Well, he was close. Heres what I found:

HIT HR AT WRIGLEY AND FENWAY AT 21 OR YOUNGER*1) ANDRUW JONESAt Wrigley: 7/22/97 (20 years, 90 days)At Fenway: 8/31/97 (20 years, 130 days)

2) WANDER FRANCOAt Wrigley: 4/19/22 (21 years, 49 days)At Fenway: 8/12/21 (20 years, 164 days)

3) RONALD ACUA JR.At Wrigley: 6/25/19 (21 years, 189 days)At Fenway: 5/26/18 (20 years, 159 days)

SOURCE Baseball Reference/Stathead (*-visiting players)

But because it was really Wander lore I was hunting for, I then twisted this into a slightly different research project. As in how many visiting players have ever homered at two parks that were a combined175 years older than they were? And that answer is only one: Wander Franco.

JUAN OF A KIND I know how much the Ted Williams Fan Club enjoys my never-ending series of Juan Soto is the New Ted Williams tidbits. So Ive got another one. Youre welcome!

When our man Soto collected the 500th hit of his career last week, I had a thought: I wonder who reached base more times through his first 500 hits Ted or Juan? Uh-oh. Heres that answer.

MOST TIMES REACHING BASE, FIRST 500 HITSSoto 896 times (500 H, 389 BB, 7 HBP)Williams 789 times (500 H, 281 BB, 8 HBP)

SOURCE: Baseball Reference

I was prepared for the possibility that Soto might have reached base slightly more times than Ted in that span. I was not prepared for the news that Soto actually reached baseover 100 more timesthan Ted in that span. Baseball is weird, isnt it? But Juan Soto is special.

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Stark: Weird and Wild, The Rays, Red Sox zombie apocalypse edition - The Athletic

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero