Baseball: As American As Hot Dogs and Apple Pi

It is March 14, or 3/14, or National Pi Day.

For those of you who are unaware, Pi Day is the quasi-holiday that celebrates the mathematical constant pi (π) 3.14…. This date should not be confused with January 23, which is the date that celebrates National Pie Day for reasons as unknown as the fact that that is also National Handwriting Day.

This is a major celebration of Pi Day because as you extend the never ending number you will see today’s date: of 3/14/15: 3.1415. And there are two times during the day to truly appreciate it: at 9:26 in the morning or the evening because extending pi a little farther gives us 3.1415926.

I look at March 14 as a day to celebrate both Pi and Pie since our nationalism has been described through the years as being as “American as baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie.”

Being someone who only eats vegetarian hot dogs, which are as appetizing as they sound, I am not the one suited to write about hot dogs, other than the ones we see on the field (think Yasiel Puig). But baseball and pi/e are near and dear to my heart, head and stomach.

There have been no shortages of yummy pies in baseball

Yes, there are shaving cream pies in the face for players who have had the big walkoff hit or simply are the butt of a prank during an on-camera postgame interview, but I’m thinking about more traditional pies.

Try these:
• Hall of Famer Pie Traynor is the only player to steal home in the All-Star game.
• Ty Cobb, another HOF-er, was known as the Georgia Peach, and peach pie is yummy.
• Berry pies are great and in Sox camp these days you can find Quintin Berry who played 13 games during the 2013 season and three more in the playoffs where he was 3-for-3 when stealing bases. Berry is 30-for-30 when attempting to steal in regular and postseason games.
• Back in the day, Fenway fans looked to start a rhubarb with a New York Strawberry with their chant of “Darr-yl, Darr-yl.”

I exclude Felix Pie from this discussion because his name is pronounced pee-yay.

But let’s focus on Pi and the numbers 3 – 1 – 4

There are a number of pitchers who finished their careers with about a 3.14 ERA. They include: Mike Cuellar, Wayne Granger, Mike Marshall, and Tug McGraw.

There have been five Red Sox pitchers who had a season with a 3.14 ERA: Ben Van Dyke (1912), Mel Parnell (1948), Frank Sullivan (1954), John Wyatt (1966), and Frank Viola (1993).

Much to my dismay, no pitcher had a season in which he whiffed 314 batters (but old friend Burke Badenhop is one of six pitchers with 314 career strikeouts) but of the seven pitchers who appeared in 314 games, not one pitched an inning for the Red Sox.

On the other hand, Bob Gibson, Jim Bunning, Ed Karger, and Ed Killian each had seasons in which they threw 314 innings. Oddly, Karger is also one of four pitchers with 314 walks allowed in his career.

I am happy to report that Gaylord Perry won 314 games, Robb Nen had 314 saves, and Jason Schmidt, Bill Donovan, and Sandy Koufax each made 314 starts. Of the six pitchers who have appeared in 314 games in relief, the only one who wore Red Sox was Skip Lockwood who finished his career with 23 relief appearances for Boston.

Willis Hudlin had a career record of 158-156 in his 314 decisions which gave him a winning percentage of .503 which is a lot better than Ed Walsh and Hal Elliot who each went 11-24 in their careers giving them a .314 winning percentage.

314 at the plate

A .314 winning percentage is miserable, but there is nothing wrong with a .314 batting average. Luke Appling had three .314 seasons and Robinson Cano so far has two. Five Red Sox had that season total including Mike Greenwell (in 31 games in 1986), pitcher Red Ruffing in 1928, Pete Runnels in 1959, Fred Lynn in 1976, and the fabulously named Matt Batts in 46 games in 1948.

• Three players had 314 career hits: Woody Williams and two players, Rip Williams and Sam Agnew, who spent part of their careers with the Sox.
• Only speedy outfielder Johnny Mostil had 314 extra base hits.
• Reggie Smith hit 149 of his 314 homers with Boston and Pete Fox hit 92 of his 314 doubles with the Sox.
• Ben Broussard, Denard Span, and Sox favorite Marty Barrett each have a career totals of 314 RBI.
• Rafael Furcal has 314 steals and by the time we saw Andre Dawson play at Fenway, he could barely walk, but he too finished his Hall of Fame career with 314 steals.

3 1 4 on their back

3
The greatest number three of all-time belongs to Babe Ruth who wore no number in his Red Sox years. There have been 40 different Red Sox who have worn No. 3 on the back of their Boston uniform. Some had seasons of success, but none really were superstars. With that in mind, I’m going with the guy who wore number three during the 2004 season, Pokey Reese.

1
There have been quite a few players who wore Boston No. 1, but none with more distinction than Bobby Doerr, who has the number retired in his honor.

4
Billy Conigliaro wore both number one and number four for the Sox, but ultimately Boston retired No. 4 as a salute to Joe Cronin.

Now you know about March 14, National Pi Day

So as you celebrate the birthdays of Kirby Puckett, Billy Crystal, Quincy Jones, Michael Caine, and Albert Einstein, have a slice of pie and open up a bag of chips and feast because it’s also National Potato Chip Day.