Oldest Game 6 World Series starters
Posted by Andy on November 4, 2009
I'm getting geared up for tonight's game and was curious to see who the oldest Game 6 starters are in World Series history:
Cnt AgeY.D Date Series G Tm Opp GmReslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit Str GmSc IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP ERA +----+------+-----------------+-------------+------+-+---+----+-------+---------+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+--+--+------+ 1 40.167 Dennis Martinez 1995-10-28 WS 6 CLE @ATL L 0-1 GS-5 4.2 4 0 0 5 2 0 82 44 53 21 16 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 2 39.275 Early Wynn 1959-10-08 WS 6 CHW LAD L 3-9 GS-4 ,L 3.1 5 5 5 3 2 1 29 18 14 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13.50 3 39.225 Pete Alexander 1926-10-09 WS 6 STL @NYY W 10-2 CG 9 ,W 9 8 2 2 2 6 0 67 38 36 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2.00 4 38.159 Tommy John 1981-10-28 WS 6 NYY LAD L 2-9 GS-4 4 6 1 1 0 2 0 48 33 48 18 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2.25 5 38.054 Randy Johnson 2001-11-03 WS 6 ARI NYY W 15-2 GS-7 ,W 7 6 2 2 2 7 0 104 66 62 29 27 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.57 6 37.200 Don Sutton 1982-10-19 WS 6 MIL @STL L 1-13 GS-5 ,L 4.1 7 7 5 0 2 2 67 45 27 21 20 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 10.38 7 37.168 Warren Spahn 1958-10-08 WS 6 MLN NYY L 3-4 GS-10 ,L 9.2 9 4 4 2 5 2 58 42 39 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3.72 8 36.246 Dave Stewart 1993-10-23 WS 6 TOR PHI W 8-6 GS-6 6 4 4 4 4 2 1 120 68 46 28 24 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 9 36.182 Claude Passeau 1945-10-08 WS 6 CHC DET W 8-7 GS-7 6.2 5 3 3 6 2 0 48 32 26 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4.05 10 35.309 Bob Shawkey 1926-10-09 WS 6 NYY STL L 2-10 GS-7 ,L 6.1 8 7 6 2 4 0 33 29 24 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 8.53
After tonight, Pedro Martinez is going to be #6 on this list and Andy Pettitte will be the new #8, slotting between Spahn and Stewart (who slide down one spot after Pedro goes in at #6.)
Among the top 10 games above, we don't see a lot of great performances. Only 3 of the starters went at least 7 innings and half the guys gave up at least 4 ER. The starters earned a cumulative 2-4 record and the teams went 4-6 in the 10 games. We know that after tonight, the top 10 record will still be 4-6, as the current #9 and #10 are 1 win and 1 loss, and the same game will slot on the new list with a win for one team and a loss for the other.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
So Shawky and Alexander had a combined age of 75.169 in the 1926-10-09 Game. Will Martinez and Pettitte surpass that total?
November 4th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
wow, I think it's going to be almost exactly the same. Pettitte, I believe is 37 yrs 142 days old today. Pedro, I believe, is 38 years 10 days old today. Together, that's 75 yrs 152 days. Amazingly close.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
If Pettite slots between Spahn and Stewart, and Pedro will be the new #6, won't Pettite fall in at #9 rather than #8?
Also, what are the oldest ages for starters of other games? Is there a way we could get a list for the series as a whole, and/or games 1 and 7?
November 4th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Yeah, Pettitte will be the new #9.
Here are the oldest starters in any World Series game:
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/RYHzS
November 4th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Using just the first page from the link #4 gives us these match-ups from non-game 6s:
77.34 10-22-2005 (Game 1): Roger Clemens 43.079 vs. Jose Contreras 33.320
76.147 10-23-2004 (Game 1): Tim Wakefield 38.082 vs. Woody Williams 38.065 (wow that's close)
November 4th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Quinn/Root from Game 4 of 1929 doesn't beat Clemens/Contreras, but its more than Wakefield/Williams. Root wasn't old enough for the list, but Quinn's 46 years carries the pair.
The only one besides Quinn that's older than Clemens is Moyer and he pitched against the not-yet-25 Garza so that pair isn't close to making the list.
November 4th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
The Martinez start is interesting. On the one hand, he didn't give up any runs, so it's odd to see him lifted before finishing 5 innings. On the other hand, he put on 9 baserunners in (under) 5 innings, so it's odd to see him get away without giving up any runs. So I had a look at the play-by-play. In the 1st, he gave up 2 singles, but a runner was caught stealing. In the 2nd, he gave up 2 walks, but got out of the inning on a double play. In the 4th, he loaded the bases on a double and 2 walks, the first of which was intentional, but he got out of it. In the 5th, he gave up a walk and a single, and his manager had seen enough.
Meanwhile, his opponent, Glavine, had a no-hitter through 5.
November 4th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
I'm sure Contreras is older than listed. That matchup might have been over 80 combined years old.