The St. Louis Cardinals’ run of seven consecutive starts of seven innings or more allowing two or fewer runs ended Tuesday night in Arizona. The team record may be 12, set in 1944.
Though the St. Louis Cardinals’ run of stellar starting pitching performances of seven innings or more while allowing two or fewer runs was broken Tuesday night as the Arizona Diamondbacks got to Kyle Lohse in the third inning, it was an extraordinary set of performances. Not since 1967 had the Cardinals starting staff put together as lengthy a run.
What we believe may be the club record, as researched by Tom Orf, is 12 such games, compiled by the 1944 Cardinals – a club on its way to a world championship. From July 8-21 that season, during a period that included the All-Star break, three double-headers and four different opponents, St. Louis’ starters went a dozen games going at least seven innings while allowing two or fewer runs.
In an oddity, every one of the starters took a decision and 11 times, they went at least nine innings. Ten of them were winners, including Ted Wilks three times, in the first, sixth and 11th games.
30-year-old Blix Donnelly, who had made his MLB debut that May after nine minor league seasons, picked up his first career win in game 7. Sadly, just as with Lohse on Tuesday, the 1944 streak ended with Donnelly. The rookie started what would have been game 13 on July 22, 1944 at Boston, but lasted just three innings. A small consolation was that none of the four runs that scored while he was on the mound that day were earned.
I am pretty sure that in all my years of writing about the Cardinals, this is my first mention of Donnelly, who went somewhere Lohse has yet to go. Following the streak, Donnelly would later pitch in games 1 and 2 of the 1944 World Series. The right-hander picked up the win over the Browns in the 11-inning game 2 with four scoreless innings in relief of Max Lanier, who had earlier won game 9 of the July 12-game streak.
Donnelly went on to win 27 games and lose 32 in an eight-year career with three teams, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Boston, but would never again appear in the World Series. I am pretty sure he was not again part of a 12-game starting streak as in 1944, either!
12 consecutive starts with seven or more innings and two or fewer earned runs, St. Louis Cardinals
| Date | Starter | Decision | Opponent | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| 7/8/1944 | Ted Wilks | W | BOS | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 7/9/1944 (1) | Mort Cooper | W | BOS | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 7/9/1944 (2) | Harry Brecheen | W | BOS | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7/13/1944 | Al Jurisich | W | CIN | 11 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 7/14/1944 | Mort Cooper | L | CIN | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 7/15/1944 | Ted Wilks | W | CIN | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 7/16/1944 (1) | Blix Donnelly | W | CIN | 9 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 7/16/1944 (2) | Harry Brecheen | L | CIN | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 7/18/1944 | Max Lanier | W | at BRO | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 7/20/1944 (1) | Mort Cooper | W | at NY | 9 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 7/20/1944 (2) | Ted Wilks | W | at NY | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 7/21/1944 | Harry Brecheen | W | at NY | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
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Interesting to see Ted Wilks’ name on that chart of starting pitchers. He’s best known, of course, as “The Cork”, after Eddie Dyer made him a relief ace in an age where the concept of “relief ace” was still pretty unusual.
Back then, the feeling was that relievers were “failed starters”, and Wilks was originally reluctant to make the move to the bullpen. “Starting is where the money is,” he said to Dyer.
Dyer’s response was a classic: “Do as I ask, and I’ll get you the money.”
I resisted when I read the article to comment on what I thought was over optimism on your part about Bittle. Now Booher at the Springfield paper is reporting Bittle underwent surgery today. Anyone who saw this guy as anything more than a long shot didn’t seem to have a grasp on reality in my opinion. Not only did he drop to the 4th round, he signed for a ridiculously low amount. Then when he didn’t pitch last year or this Spring the signs were pretty obvious.
Bittle signed for a low amount because a college senior who had to take what the team offered. Degerman was another; he got $100K. The Padres gave $50K to a 4th round senior who did not have a sore shoulder. Health was not a factor in Bittle’s bonus
Bittle had soreness in juco and at Mississippi. The Yankees hoped he was healthy and used a 2nd round pick. The Cards devalued him to the 4th round and decided he was worth a gamble there.
CC, specifically what about the Bittle capsule is overly optimistic? The mere fact that I called him a player to watch? I had the opportunity to watch Bittle throw a bullpen in spring camp and talked to coaches about him. If you are suggesting I lack a grasp on reality because I called him a player to watch with a boatload of caveats, that is BS. If you are talking about someone else, then my immediately preceding comment does not apply.
As recently as three days ago on KTRS, Jeff Luhnow was asked about Bittle. He simply said Bittle was working on improving his arm strength in EST and gave absolutely no hint of impending surgery. I am going back to listen to the interview now to get the exact quotes.
Jumbo, Bittle absolutely DID sign for less than other players in his round and of course health WAS a factor. Even the Cardinals admit that. We discussed the fact that teams do not have full access to players medical details pre-draft. Why in the world would you suggest he did not sign for less and that heath was not an issue?
Further, Bittle was sent to Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, AL in late February and the Post-Dispatch reported they were told surgery was not required. The hot news about it is posted under Bittle’s profile on The Cardinal Nation site.
Either there was a miscommunication or Bittle must have suffered a setback since.
Brian, brace yourself. Prepare yourself for a shock. I hope you are sitting down. Surprise, I know what I am talking about.
Bittle was a college senior. As such, he signed for much less than a college junior or a juco or a high schooler. He had NO negotiating leverage. Its a monopoly employment situation, owing to the draft.
Why did Bryan Anderson collect $250K and Degerman only $100K, though both were in the 4th round. Simple. Anderson had a college scholarship offer, whereas Degerman was a 5th year senior with no fallback options.
IIRC, the Phils signed Oklahoma senior Tyler Mach for $75K in the 4th round. The Padres signed a kid the Cards could not sign in the 15th round the preceding year; Lance Zawadiski (sp). He got only $50K from the Padres in the 4th round, just like David Freese, another college senior, got only $6,000 from the Padres in the 9th round.
If the Cards knew for sure that Bittle’s shoulder was shot, then they would not have popped him in the 4th round. They took a calculated risk. Then they paid him a typical bonus for a college senior in the 4th round, $75,000. If they were confident his shoulder was shot, they would have given him $6,000.
I pay attention to signing bonuses, Carioca pays attention to line drive rates and BABIP stuff. I do not disparage him on that stuff.
So lets recap. The Cards were well-informed about Bittle’s shoulder woes at juco in Houston and at Mississippi. They made a conscious decision to value Bittle, appreciating his shoulder question mark, as a 4th rounder.
I am NOT saying this is right or wrong, I am being neutral here. The Cards thought he was worthy of a 4th round pick, based on what they knew in early June 2009.
The signing bonus is a separate decision. They paid him a fair amount for a 4th rounder who was a college senior and healthy.
If you knew for sure Bittle needed an operation, you would not draft him at all in the 4th round.
The Cards saved about $175,000 in bonus on the 4th round guy, Bittle. The Cards may have used this cost savings from a college senior to help finance Shelby Miller, who ran about $1.2MM over slot.
Jumbo, here are the bonuses paid to 4th rounders in 2009. See if you can pick out Bittle’s bonus from the list…
Pick Bonus
1 $270,000
2 $267,300
3 $600,000
4 $600,000
5 $365,000
6 $254,700
7 $252,000
8 $249,300
9 $245,700
10 $200,000
11 $1,450,000
12 $1,500,000
13 $234,000
14 $230,000
15 $225,000
16 $225,000
17 $222,300
18 $75,000
19 $216,000
20 $200,000
21 $209,700
22 $200,000
23 $204,300
24 $195,000
25 $700,000
26 $195,000
27 $191,700
28 $750,000
29 $140,000
30 $182,700
I will now defend Carioca (a little). Carioca may think the Cards made a mistake on Bittle and are blowing happy talk to reporters about Bittle. The Cards sometimes say overly optimistic things about prospects, like comparing Kozma to Garciaparra on draft day 2007.
CC could think Bittle did not even pitch in summer 2009 and is not playing in 2010, so how healthy can he be? The reporter asks about Bittle, he gets the corporate happy talk. Then just a few days later, Bittle has an operation.
Its not dishonest reporting. But are the Cards being overoptimstic, like they were with Clement?
Brian, regarding your post #8, you have not identified which of these guys are college seniors. As such, its not germane to our discussion. I look into this essential factor and get back to you.
Jumbo, do you honestly suspect that all 29 of the other 4th-rounders were high schoolers or college underclassmen? Not a single one other than Bittle was a senior? Only one of the 29 received as little as double as much as Bittle, with the highest one receiving 20 times more.
Here you go. There were four other seniors in the 4th round of the 2009 draft, averaging over $200K each. Two were taken before Bittle and two after. Check and mate.
Pick Bonus
1 $270,000 SR
10 $200,000 SR
26 $195,000 SR
29 $140,000 SR
Yes, Brian, I do suspect Bittle was the only senior. Here are the picks and the affiliations.
112 player out of Kansas State
113 Long Island U, small college near NY
114 high school
115 high school
116 juco
117 Univ. of Arizona
118 juco
119 Univ. of North Carolina (I know he was a junior)
120 high school
121 Univ of Alabama
122 Clemson U (rare case of a freshman who was draft eligible and he cost a pretty penny to turn pro)
123 high school
124 Univ of Oklahoma
125 San Jose State
126 high school
127 Loylola Marymount
128 U. Conn (junior)
129 Bittle, senior, Mississippi he was cheap because of being a senior
130 Dallas Baptist
131 juco
132 Univ of Minnesota (junior)
133 high school
134 juco
135 U North Carolina (junior)
136 high school
137 Cal Poly
138 Ball State (junior)
139 high school
140 U Kentucky
141 high school
If I knew the college guy was a junior, I noted it.
Chances are, everyone from a 4 year college was a junior. High bonuses will tend to go to high school and jucos with a lot of leverage.
In general, teams prefer college juniors at high rounds. This is why Bittle can be the exception, just like Mortensen may have been one of the few in his round in 2007.
Amateur status and competing offers have a lot of impact on bonuses.
Its not actually a check and mate, because you have yet to explain why Degerman, Mach and Zawadiski were 4th round picks who got bonuses well below normal for the 4th round. All were college seniors, by the way. And they did not have injuries.
Jumbo, you are talking in circles. Here is what you said in post #8:
“Then they paid him a typical bonus for a college senior in the 4th round, $75,000. ”
That is absolutely and positively proven to be WRONG. The “typical bonus” for a 4th round senior in the “germane” draft, 2009, was over $200,000.
The first selection in the 4th round was AJ Morris. He was sophmore eligible for the draft in 2008. He probably had another year of college eligibility left. MLB may have called him a senior in the draft tracker. (Kyle Conley would be a similar case. Conley could have returned to college, so the Cards gave him a commensurate bonus.)
The 10th guy in the 4th round was indeed a senior.
The 26th selection had Tommy John surgery in 2008. I would guess he red-shirted and is a case like Morris and Conley, someone who could have returned to college for a final year.
The 29th selection was also a true college senior who the Cubs gave a full bonus to.
So there were probably three true college seniors in the 4th round, Bittle and the other two. Bittle should have gotten $219K, if he were a healthy college junior, given the 129th selection in the nation. In fact, he got $75,000. Being a senior could fully explain this. I dunno if there was a health discount too. I have seen the Cards chisel other seniors, like Degerman and Mortensen.
Rather than bore readers with more pointless debate, here is a keepsake of Bittle throwing a bullpen during spring camp.
I’m enjoying the debate, the name calling should start pretty soon. Something more creative than ‘dope’ please.
In 2006:
selection 135 bonused $160K
136 was Degerman $100K (college 5th year senior)
137 pick got $210K
138 $209K.
So the Cards saved about $100K on Degerman, by going with a college senior.
In 2007:
Pick 143 Tyler Mach got $95,000 out of the Phils. He passed up signing with the Birds in 06.
Pick 147 Lance Zawadzki got only $50K out of the cheapo Padres.
Pick 148 from a juco got $140K
Pick 149 from a juco got $150K.
So the Padres saved about $100K by selecting a senior in the 4th round.
Neither Zawadzki nor Mach were injured. They just wanted a chance in pro baseball and teams have the upper hand in choosing the bonuses for seniors.
Sorry, bb, not happening. The facts speak for themselves. I rest my case. Comparing values from old drafts cross years to Bittle in 2009 is not, to use someone else’s term, “germane.”
Brian, I would not say i was talking specifically about you but I would also say you weren’t excluded in my thoughts of writing those comments. if you want to hang your hat on the broad based “player to watch” and expect people not to think that has some relationship to their prospect status OK but under that definition I think you could easily list any of 50-80 players. Of course you also called him a “top prospect”.
To rank a player as highly as many have ranked Bittle without him even pitching as a pro makes no sense to me. It would me that all the other major league teams were just totally asleep at the wheel. Also, if one is going to determine prospects based on their potential and ignore injury status I haven’t figured out why no one has been ranking Kopp (who also is supposedly “not injured”) as a top prospect. If you consider that BS so be it.
Actually Jumbo (as I said above) I dont consider Bittle a mistake. We took a reasonable chance, it appears it wont work out. His upside may very well have rated a 4th round pick. How he goes from rating a 4th round pick to being ranked as a top 2-3 round pick without ever pitching is what baffles me.
CC, I don’t think we see things differently in terms of the big picture. It was very specifically called out in the article that Bittle was ranked #21of all players in the system. As you know from participating in the process, Bittle was ranked #23 by the message board community of which you were a part, and #22 by me and #23 by Dustin, all done independently. In my opinion, anyone called out in the top 40 of a system with 300 players might generically be called a “top prospect,” but your mileage may vary… In the article, I selected players with interesting stories, guys with upside, not the top five ranked pitchers. Otherwise, Jaime Garcia would have been first. Sanchez, Hawksworth, Castillo, etc would have been in the article and Kelly and Bittle would not. By specifically listing their numeric rankings, I believe I made the point clear.
While Brian rests his case, here is another example.
In 2007:
Pick 34 was Todd Frazier out of Rutgers, he got $825K from the Reds
Pick 35 got $800K
The Cards went for Clayton Mortensen and paid him $650K in the supplemental round, since he was a senior out of Gonzaga.
Pick 37 however got $832K.
And so we see how up in the money rounds, college seniors, unhurt, get less money, because teams have the leverage to offer a smaller bonus and they guy cannot sign with anyone else. Its not a competitive labor market. DeWitt saved about $160K on Morty.
MLB and agents keep careful track of what people sign for, year to year. Things generally make sense, to those in the know. But I cannot explain to Brian why the Cubs paid a senior $140K at the end of the 4th round in 2009. The Cards would not be so generous.
Actually, I also see that the other two seniors in the 09 4th round took a bonus shave, but it was much smaller than Bitttle’s shave.
Pick 120 collected $245K
Pick 121 got $200K (he was the senior)
Pick 124 got $234K.
Thus 121 got shaved about $40K.
The Cubs gave a senior $140K near the end of the round. But a college junior two picks earlier got $191K. So the Cubs saved about $45,000 on the bonus for their senior.
In general, teams want to give seniors lower bonuses for the same draft pick than for younger players. This creates an economic incentive to encourage college juniors to sign. If they do not sign and come back into the draft, the teams want them to see a lower bonus. The system is designed to encourage juniors to sign.
Tyler Norrick for instance turned down $150K from the Jays as a junior. As a senior, he got $45K from the Cards, though he rose 9 rounds in the draft. DeWitt and Luhnow know how to play the bonus game.
I claim no part of that #23 ranking. He wasn”t in my personal top 40.
What’s the Cards record for series won to start a season?
bb, the Cardinals record was four, now broken.
MLB discloses the signing bonuses for lads in the Top 10 rounds, and I suspect bonuses at lower rounds above a certain threshold like $100K. Its probably part of the union contract.
College seniors and bonuses in the first 10 rounds since 2005:
Stavinoha, rd 7, $15K
Cairns, rd 8, $15K
Roth, rd 10, $2K
2006, Degerman, rd 4, $100K
Norrick, 6, $45K
Craig, 8, $15K
Freese, 9, San Diego, $6K
2007, 1-supplemental, Mortensen, $650K
2008, Kulik, rd 8, $58K
2009, Bittle, rd 4, $75K
One outlier was Kulik in 2008, who got almost 4 times the bonus of Craig or Stavinoha. Its not clear why Kulik who went to a NCAA Division III school scored such a generous bonus.
Did the Cards lower Bittle’s bonus from that given Degerman because of Bittle’s sore shoulder? Maybe, maybe not. Its hard to say. Teams can be mean when it comes to bonuses for college seniors, with Freese only getting $6K and Roth a measley $2K.
Jumbo,
I already said the Cardinals told me Bittle’s money was lower due to injury risk. You ignored that.
I then proved his bonus was far below average despite your erroneous assertion it was not.
Two days later, you are still talking about it to who knows who. Give it up, please.
Brian, I take what the Cards say with a grain of salt. They bonused Degerman, another successful college pitcher, $100K also in the 4th round and since that time MLB has tried to whittle down bonuses, making $75,000 plausible. Its odd we would select a sore armed pitcher and think that lowering his bonus by a trivial $25,000 from Degerman fully compensates for increased health risk.
As always, I talk with myself.
There was quite a bit written on this Jumbo. He took their offer because, he wouldn’t have been signed else where if I recall. The came to that agreement before they picked him. If I recall.
To suggest that it was odd……….coming from this ownership……………. may be exquisitely understated.