The Baseball Buffet for 10/3/2025

Issue #414

The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!

⚾ Welcome! ⚾

The 190th day of the season featured Game 3 for three Wild Card Series:

• DET 6, CLE 3 (DET won series 2-1) - In the third inning, with one out and runners on first and third, Kerry Carpenter doubled to drive in Parker Meadows. Cleveland scored one in the bottom of the fourth, the only run given up by Jack Flaherty (4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K). Dillon Dingler gave the Tigers the lead with a solo HR in the sixth, and then they scored four in the top of the seventh, including a bases-loaded 2-RBI single by Wenceel Pérez. Cleveland came back with two in the bottom of the eighth, but it wasn’t enough as Will Vest pitched a scoreless ninth to close it out.

• SDP 1, CHC 3 (CHC won series 2-1) - The Cubs jumped on Padres’ starter Yu Darvish (1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K), scoring two in the first inning. Jameson Taillon did well in a short start (4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K), and Michael Busch added a solo HR in the seventh. The Padres finally scored with a Jackson Merrill solo HR in the top of the ninth, but it wasn’t enough as Andrew Kittredge came in, pitching for the third day in a row, and got the final two outs.

• BOS 0, NYY 4 (NYY won series 2-1) - Red Sox rookie Connelly Early was doing well until the fourth inning when the Yankees scored four, with key hits from Amed Rosario and Anthony Volpe that drove in the first two runs. The big story was New York rookie Cam Schlittler, who threw eight scoreless innings, striking out 12 with no walks and only five hits allowed (all singles). David Bednar pitched a scoreless ninth to combine for the shutout.

Today’s Trivia Question

Cam Schlittler struck out 12 without walking anyone yesterday. Can you name the two pitchers who have had more strikeouts (each had 13) with zero walks in a postseason game?

League Leaders

Taking a look at the final SB leaderboard, it wasn’t a big year with only three players who had 40 or more. The overall stolen bases rate was only slightly below 2024, and still far higher than before the recent rule and field changes that clearly have increased steals from the previous 20 years or so. But we just didn’t have very high individual steal totals compared to having three with 50+ in each of the previous two years, with highs of 67 (Elly De La Cruz) in 2024 and 73 (Ronald Acuña Jr.) in 2023).

• 49 - NYY José Caballero

• 44 - CLE José Ramírez

• 44 - TBR Chandler Simpson

• 38 - PIT Oneil Cruz

• 38 - NYM Juan Soto

• 38 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

• 37 - CIN Elly De La Cruz

• 36 - PHI Trea Turner

• 35 - CHC Pete Crow-Armstrong

• 34 - STL Victor Scott II

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history. Unless otherwise noted, the descriptions are from baseball-reference.com.

📅 On October 3…

• 1920: George Sisler sets a new single-season hits record. In a 16-7 win over the White Sox, George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns collects his 257th hit of the season to set a major league record that will last until the 21st century. He also pitches a scoreless 9th inning in relief for St. Louis.

• 1926: Red Grier throws a postseason no-hitter. “Thirty years before Don Larsen will accomplish the feat, Claude "Red" Grier of the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants pitches a post-season no-hitter against the Chicago American Giants, walking six and striking out eight in Baltimore's Maryland Park. Grier was shelled in the 2nd inning of Game 2 yesterday, but has no trouble today, winning 10-0.”

• 1951: Bobby Thompson hits the shot heard round the world. “Bobby Thomson hits a three-run home run off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers with one out in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the New York Giants a dramatic 5-4 playoff victory and the National League pennant. The blast will become known in baseball lore as the Shot Heard 'Round the World.”

• 1976: Hank Aaron collects his final hit. “Hank Aaron singles in his last major-league at bat and drives in his 2,297th run as the sixth-place Brewers lose to the Tigers, 5-2.”

• 1993: Three Blue Jays finish 1-2-3. “The Toronto Blue Jays become the first team in American League history to have teammates finish 1-2-3 in the batting race. John Olerud leads the league with a .363 batting average. Paul Molitor finishes at .332 and Roberto Alomar closes the season at .326.”

• 2015: Max Scherzer throws his second no-hitter. “Max Scherzer of the Nationals pitches his second no-hitter of the season, 2-0 over the Mets, also striking out 17 batters. Only an error by SS Yunel Escobar keeps him from a perfect game. He is only the fifth pitcher, and the first since Nolan Ryan in 1973, to throw two no-hitters in a season, and his game score of 104 is the highest since Kerry Wood's 20-strikeout performance in 1998. The 17 Ks set a new Nationals team record, and tie Ryan's record for most in a no-hitter.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Dave Winfield (1951)

• Hall of Famer

• Drafted in the first round (4th overall) by the Padres in 1973. Of note, he was such a great young athlete he was also drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA, the Utah Stars in the ABA, and the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL (even though he didn't play college football).

• Played 56 games for the Padres after being drafted in 1973, and then was a full-time player starting in 1974 when he hit 20 HR with 75 RBI.

• 22-year major league career, spanning from 1973-1995

• Hit 20+ HR in 15 seasons, had 100+ RBI eight times, 100+ runs three times, and 20+ SB four times

• 12-time All-Star, and winner of 7 Gold Glove Awards in the outfield

• Overall had 3,110 hits, 465 HR, 1,833 RBI, 1,669 runs, 223 SB, a .283/.353/.475 slash line, and 130 OPS+

Dennis Eckersley (1954)

• Hall of Famer

• 24-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1975-1998

• Was a starter for the first half of his career with the Indians, Red Sox, and Cubs

• Was an All-Star twice during that time, and went 20-8 with a 2.99 ERA in 1978 and 17-10 with a 2.99 ERA in 1979

• Was traded from the Cubs to the A's right before 1987 season began, and became Oakland's closer and was dominating for them from 1988-1992

• Led the AL with 45 saves in 1988 and again with 51 saves in 1992 when he took home the AL Cy Young Award and MVP Award.

• Was a four-time All-Star as a reliever, and had 48 saves with a microscopic 0.61 ERA in 1990

• Had nine seasons with 30+ saves

• Overall had a 197-171 (.535) record, 390 saves, a 3.50 ERA, and a 116 ERA+

Fred Clarke (1872)

• Hall of Famer

• 21-year major league career, spanning from 1894-1915, as a LF with Louisville and Pittsburgh

• Like many players of his era he didn't hit many HR, but did have 10+ triples in 14 seasons

• Had 20+ SB in 14 seasons, with a high of 59 in 1897 when he also hit .390

• Scored 100+ runs five times

• Overall had 1,622 runs, 220 triples, 509 SB, a .312/.386/.429 slash line, and a 133 OPS+

• For most of his career, including 1897-1899 with Louisville, and 1900-1915 with Pittsburgh, Clarke was a player/manager. Won four NL pennants and one World Series in 1909. Overall had a career 1,602-1,181 (.576) record as manager.

Currently active players who were born on October 3 include WAS CJ Abrams and LAD Brock Stewart.

Today’s Matchups

No games today, as teams travel and rest up for the ALDS and NLDS that start on Saturday.

⚾ Get ready for the next round!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

Only Gerrit Cole and Tom Seaver have had 13 K with 0 walks in a postseason game:

• Gerrit Cole - 13 K, 0 BB in the ALWC on 9/29/2020, with the Yankees beating Cleveland 12-3

• Tom Seaver - 13 K, 0 BB in the NLCS on 10/6/1973, but because he allowed two runs, his Mets lost to the Reds 2-1

Good Reads

Here I am providing one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.

• The Division Series matchups are set! Here's what you need to know, at MLB, 10/2/2025

• The shortest nine-inning MLB game ever played, by Mark Kolier at Almost Cooperstown, 10/3/2025

See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!

Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.

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