The Streak That Beat Moneyball | Baseball Bits

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At the time, we're called the Indians, and before that, we're called the Naps, Blues, and Broncos. But for the next 13 minutes, I'm just going to call them Cleveland. Get it? Got it? Good. The 2017 Cleveland baseball team won 22 games in a row. That's a couple more than the 2002 Moneyball A's. Where's their best-selling book? Where's their movie? That's why I'm proposing a sequel. This summer. Moneyball 2. 2 money, 2 ball. And along the way, we'll be doing some casting for our Cleveland Moneyball movie. You may recall that Brad Pitt played Billy Bean in the original, proving once and for all that hot dudes can make it in Hollywood. Cleveland's general manager Mike Chernoff is a perfectly normal-looking human, but we need to up the ante. Luckily, I keep a dartboard of handsome men around just for these occasions. Letter Rick. Oh, Jake Gyllenhaal. I'll have my people call his people. Cleveland's loss to the Chicago Cubs in the 2016 World Series was deflating to say the least, but they did ultimately return the core of their pennant-winning squad. On August 23rd, 2017, they lost to the Red Sox, dropping their record to 69 wins and 56 losses. Their 4.5 game lead over the Twins in the AL Central was solid, but Cleveland was yet to play to their full potential. At this point in my Moneyball 2 script, Jake Gyllenhaal as Cleveland GM Mike Chernoff would meet with his front office. In the first Moneyball, Jonah Hill played Peter Brand, a character based primarily on Paul Depodesta, who represented the Sabermetrics movement in baseball. Now, we're trying to out-Moneyball the Moneyball here, so what do you do when Jonah Hill isn't available? The same thing the A's did in Jason Giambi's absence. Wait a second, Jason Giambi, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Gad. Josh Gad will be in Moneyball 2 as John Analytics, the inventor of analytics. And when Chernoff meets with John Analytics, he'll learn that beating the snot out of the other team is good, actually. Also, it's a musical number. And so, Cleveland did beat the snot out of everybody, starting on August 24th when they touched up Chris Sale for 7 runs en route to a 13-6 win. Three days later, they beat the snot out of the Royals, winning 12-0 September 1st at Detroit, another shutout slash blowout as Cleveland won 10-0 with every member of the lineup getting at least one hit. In the series finale, they won another game by 10 runs. Jose Ramirez went 5-for-5 with 3 doubles and 2 homers. Their 15th straight win overall was an 11-2 victory over the White Sox, and the final beatdown was once again put on Detroit as Cleveland defeated them 11-0. Believe it or not, and you should believe it because I looked it up, Cleveland had more wins of 7 or more runs in this span than the Padres and Blue Jays had combined in 2017. Comparatively speaking, the 2002 Oakland Athletics had more of a flair for the dramatic. Miguel Tejada walked off the Twins on September 1st for their 18th straight win. It was the most pivotal hit of the streak by win probability added. He struck twice with a walk-off single versus the Royals for win number 19, but the final win of both streaks? Those deserve a closer look. Oakland was up 11-0 on September 4th, 2002. It looked like their 20th consecutive win, an MLB record since integration, would be an easy one. But Hollywood needed a movie script, and the Royals played their part, scoring 5 runs in the 4th inning and 5 more in the 8th. Mike Sweeney's 3-run homer brought the lead down to 1. In the top of the 9th, the ball was handed over to closer Billy Koch, who saved 9 games throughout the streak. Not this one, though. Luis Alessia drove in Kit Pelo with a game-tying single. Wow, those are some serious early 2000s Royals names. Sean Sedlicek! While the A's were blowing the lead versus the Royals, Cleveland was playing catch-up versus the same Kansas City franchise 15 years later. In the 9th inning, down by 1, Kelvin Herrera entered the game for the Royals and retired Yandy Diaz. 1 out. Tyler Naquin singled to give Cleveland a baserunner, but was quickly taken off the base paths by a Francisco Mejia fielder's choice. 2 outs. At this point in the original Moneyball film, Art Howe, played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, motioned for Scott Hattaberg, played by Chris Pratt, to pinch hit. Hattaberg walked it off with a no-doubter to right center field, a moment that was adopted to serve as the film's climax. In Moneyball 2, 2 Money 2 Ball, there'd be a scene in which Terry Francona, played by J.K. Simmons, come on, that's just good casting, has a heart-to-heart with Francisco Lindor before he reaches the on-deck circle. Probably offering some sage, yet practical advice, like, hey, you should really think about hitting a game-tying 2 out double. And so, Lindor did just that, keeping the dream of 22 straight wins intact. The music swells. In terms of WPA, this was the most pivotal play for Cleveland throughout their streak. In the 10th inning, Brandon Mauer failed to record an out, as J. Bruce walked it off with a line-drive double down the right field line. Cleveland had done Oakland not just one better, but two better, with 22 consecutive wins. Many would consider this an MLB record, but not the Elias Sports Bureau. On September 18th, 1916, the New York Giants were in the middle of a 12-game win streak when their matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates was called a tie due to rain and darkness. They went on to win 14 more, meaning they won 26 games without losing. However, I believe a winning streak is different from a not-losing streak, and thus will be awarding Cleveland the record in the foolish sports bureau. Why? Because ties are for soccer. So, it turns out teams are actually composed of individual players. Let's talk about some of them. Throughout their win streak, Cleveland was led by a three-headed monster of Carlos Santana, Francisco Lindor, and Jose Ramirez. Each had a WRC Plus over 200, meaning they were over twice as effective as the league average hitter. The clear standout is Ramirez, who emerged as a superstar during this time frame. Since 2017, he's second among all hitters in F4, trailing only Mike Trout himself. With 8 homers to just 3 strikeouts, he became the third hitter since 2010 to have 8 or more long balls and 3 or fewer punchouts in any 18-game stretch, joining future first ballot hall of famers Adrian Beltre and Albert Pujols. Is this the ideal male body? Throughout their 20-game win streak, the Moneyball A's were led by Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez, who couldn't quite compete with Cleveland's slash lines, but came through in the clutch in terms of win probability added. Tejada would go on to win MVP, and in the movie, he's portrayed by Royce Clayton. Isn't that weird? He's played by another shortstop who he overlapped careers with. And also, Clayton was 41 when the film came out, but playing a Miguel Tejada that was supposed to be 26, but was really 28. I guess we can just cast other baseball players to play baseball players. Fine. Playing the role of Jose Ramirez in Moneyball 2 will be the other Jose Ramirez, who was a big league reliever between 2014 and 2018. Glad we could settle that. Cleveland's pitching in 2017 might have been the real scene-stealers though. The three C's of Carrasco, Clevenger, and Corey were nearly infallible throughout the streak, surrendering just 10 total runs in their 12 starts for a combined ERA under 1. Their team would later become the first to strike out 10 batters per 9 innings over the course of the season. In fact, by F4, the 2017 Cleveland Clevelands are the greatest pitching team in MLB history. One of the more impressive aspects of Cleveland's streak is not who they did it with, rather, who they did it without. Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley were sidelined with injury, Andrew Miller was unavailable for almost the entire streak, appearing in only the 22nd and final win, and Naplage Way, quite frankly, was nowhere to be found. Both Moneyball teams also had major contributions from less expected places. Backup catcher Roberto Perez went absolutely ballistic at the plate during Cleveland's run, and the late Corey Lytle had a .30 ERA in 4 starts, making him Oakland's most effective pitcher during their streak. Especially shocking considering they had 3 bona fide Aces. We're all thinking it, which streak was better? It'd be easy to crown Cleveland based on the extra wins, but were they more dominant, or just a little more fortunate? It would be hard to separate the two offensively, Cleveland did manage to hit over .300 while Oakland settled for .299, but the 9 point difference in WRC plus is erased by the A's scoring more runs per game. Pitching is where Cleveland shined, though. More strikeouts, fewer walks and homers, and far fewer runs allowed, 1.68 per game versus 3.25 for the athletics. With a 1.58 ERA and 199 innings pitched, they collectively pitched like Greg Maddux during 1994, arguably the finest season of his career. The Moneyball A's earned the right to such comparisons as well. In 2001 and 2002, they had 3 pitchers with at least 200 innings, 150 strikeouts, and a 1.25 ERA plus. Hudson, Mulder, and Zito. Only the 96-97 Braves with Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz have met the same criteria across two seasons for the same team. But it also stands that during the 20 game win streaks, the Dodgers and Phillies allowed fewer runs during the same time frame. The average margin of victory for Cleveland was a run higher than Oakland's, mostly because they allowed just 37 runs in 22 games. In the Live Ball era, only 6 teams have allowed such few runs in any 22 game span, from the 1965 Dodgers with Koufax and Drysdale to the 2010 Giants with Kane and Linzicum, and weirdly enough, Barry Zito. If their run totals were extrapolated over a full season, Cleveland would have expected a 9.37 winning percentage versus just 8.24 for Oakland. So while Cleveland had a 24% chance of completing their streak playing the way they were playing, Oakland didn't with just a 2% chance of winning 20 in a row. Cleveland's run was better, but Oakland's run was more storybook. Neither team fulfilled their ultimate goal of winning a World Series. The A's succumbed to the Twins in Game 5 of the 2002 ALDS, and Billy Brad Pitt drove off into the sunset. Cleveland suffered an identical fate versus the Yankees that October. Anyone involved with those streaks would have surely traded them for a chance to raise the Commissioner's Trophy, but 20 game win streaks deserve recognition as well. After all, someone wins the World Series every year, but nobody wins 22 games in a row, except for Cleveland in 2017. Perhaps Francisco Lindor, then the young face of the franchise and hitter of the crucial game-tying double, said it best. 22 in a row is something special. It's going to be there forever. Oh, by the way, in Moneyball 2, Francisco Lindor will be played by Chris Pratt? What? Hey, you reached the end! Thanks for watching!