Another week of Chicago baseball is in the books, including a Crosstown series. Let’s take a look back at the week that was in baseball oddities.
C Note
On Wednesday, Kris Bryant was the 35th player in MLB history whose 100th Major League home run was hit while wearing a Cubs uniform. He did it in career game number 487. Among those who started their career with the Cubs --and hit home run No. 100 with the Cubs—Bryant was the quickest to hit the century mark (Ernie Banks did it in his 500th game).
However, among the 35 players whose 100th came with the Cubs, it’s the second quickest overall. Hank Sauer took only 456 games to reach the milestone, even if he was 33 years old at the time of No. 100. Here’s the catch: the first 234 of those games – and the first 46 home runs – came while with the Cincinnati Reds. Sauer had a late start to his career and also missed a few seasons due to World War II. Sauer’s story can be found here.
Bryant’s 100th blast came on the third anniversary of his first Major League home run. The last player to hit his 100th on the anniversary of his first? Buddy Bell, who hit No. 1 on April 22, 1972 and No. 100 on April 22, 1981.
Always on Base
Kris Bryant reached base five times on Friday: two hits, two walks and a hit by pitch.
MLB
Through Sunday, Bryant has reached base five or more times in a game 14 times in his 490 career MLB games. The last player with more games reaching at least five times through 490 career MLB games? Ted Williams (16 through 490 games)
Bryzzo: Back in Business
Bryant and Anthony Rizzo homered in the same game for the 20th time (including twice in postseason) on Wednesday. The Cubs are 18-2 in those games.
Willson Goes Wild
Perhaps the biggest story for the Cubs last week was Willson Contreras.
Wednesday: 3-for-5, double, two triples .
First two-triple game by a Cubs Catcher since Steve Swisher 8/11/1976
Friday: 4-for-5, two doubles, two home runs.
-First time a Cubs player followed up a two-triple game with a two-home run game (or vice versa) since Andre Dawson May 4-5, 1989
-First Cub with three extra-base hits in consecutive games since Billy Williams September 8-10, 1968 (and Billy sang the seventh inning stretch on Friday!)
-First Cubs catcher with four extra-base hits in a game since George Mitterwald April 17, 1974
-First Cub with seven extra-base hits over two game span since AT LEAST 1913 (thanks to STATS)
Saturday: 3-for-5, home run.
First Cub with six+ total bases in three straight games since Aramis Ramírez July 17-19, 2005
Became first catcher with 26 total bases over three-game span since Randy Hundley in 1966 – also with Cubs – thanks to STATS
Contreras’s Friday-Saturday RBI total of 10 is one more then he had in his first 30 games combined.
Sunday: 0-for-3, run, walk, stolen base.
No hits, but he became the first Cub to steal a base on his birthday since Tony Campana on May 30, 2012 (Campana did it the year prior as well)
About that stolen base—Contreras and Rizzo became the first Cubs catcher-first base combo to each steal a base in the same inning since Lloyd McClendon (first base) and Damon Berryhill (catcher) on a double steal (Berryhill stole second, McClendon stole home) in the fifth inning May 19, 1989 versus the Reds.
WC goes deep…
The Cubs and White Sox both started their catchers batting sixth on Friday.
Both have the same initials – WC – and both have an unusual spelling of their first names.
Welington Castillo (one fewer L than usual)
Willson Contreras (one more L than usual)
They both had multi-home run games last week: Contreras on Friday, Castillo on Tuesday.
It was Castillo’s second multi-home run game of the season, putting him in select company. He’s only the sixth White Sox catcher with two multi-home run games in a season
| Les Moss | 1956 |
| Sherm Lollar | 1959 |
| Carlton Fisk | 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991 |
| Ron Karkovice | 1993 |
| Tyler Flowers | 2014 |
| Welington Castillo | 2018 |
No White Sox catcher has ever had three multi-home run games in a season. We’ll have to keep our eyes on that.
Roller Coaster of Run Scoring
Following Saturday’s win, the Cubs had a five-game winning streak, which followed a five-game losing streak, which followed a five-game winning streak.
But what was more crazy was the run distribution.
| April 26-30 | 5-0 | 12 runs |
| May 1-6 | 0-5 | 14 runs |
| May 7-12 | 5-0 | 50 runs |
All over a 15-game span.
Giolito: Effectively Wild
On Sunday, Lucas Giolito walked seven, added three wild pitches and still got the win.
He was the first pitcher to do that since the Pirates’ Don Robinson on May 19, 1982 and the first American League pitcher to do so since “Sudden Sam” McDowell on September 12, 1964 (against the White Sox). Giolito is the only White Sox pitcher since at least 1908 to pull that off.
Davidson Dingers
This season Matt Davidson has one home run at home and ten on the road.
This season at Wrigley Field: two home runs in 12 plate appearances.
This season at Guaranteed Rate Field: one home run in 60 plate appearances.
Of course, seven of those home runs on the road were at Kauffman Stadium.
The White Sox have played 37 games and Davidson has 11 home runs and 22 walks. That’s a pace of 48 home runs and 96 walks.
Davidson has 37 home runs in 153 career games (still not a full season’s worth) in a White Sox uniform.