A Little Something to Care About, Nerd

About once or month or so a side project of mine which may or may not involve wagering requires me to type up a spreadsheet full of baseball players' statistical minutia (trust me, if it wasn't profitable I wouldn't do it) and every so often I stumble upon a little nugget of information.  This is why, some time ago, I was able to report in this very blog that Joey Votto hadn't hit an infield pop-up in two years and how I found that absolutely amazing since he's a power(ish) hitter. 

Well I have sad news to report.  Some time between the last time I did my spreadsheets and tonight, Joey Votto popped out.  Sad.  And yet we must carry on, so I have found another interesting statistical quirk:  Josh Tomlin of the Indians has allowed 15 home runs, but only 14 walks.  That's right, more HRs allowed than walks.  That has to be rare, right?  To the baseball-reference machininator.....

Wow, Bronson Arroyo has a shot too with 25 and 23, but that's already too many home runs to sustain so he's out.  Join me please in rooting for Josh Tomlin to become just the 16th player in major league history (who qualifies for the ERA title) to allow more homers than walks in a season.  It will at least give us all something to care about as we continue on this hellstorm of a Twins' season.  And really, isn't caring what it's all about?

FACT:  On that list you will find Brad Radke twice, Carlos Silva twice, and Rick Reed twice with five of those seasons occurring as Minnesota Twins.  I don't know if I find that funny sad or funny funny, but either way I'm laughing right now.

FACT #2:  The new Harry Potter is awesome.  If you don't go see it you are a moron.