Looking at the length of Twins games from 1961-2015

Clock baseballjpgSome time ago I did a piece on the length of MLB games after the league announced its changes to quicken the pace of play prior to the 2015 season that I called Looking back at the pace of play in 2015. You can read that article here. Today I want to take a look at the entire history of Minnesota Twins game duration’s going back to 1961.

First off we are going to note of some rule changes that baseball implemented since 1961 that may or may not have had an impact on the length of games. I am not saying I have them all listed here but I listed as many as I am aware of. I appreciate Stew Thornley’s help in compiling this list

1961 – 162 game schedule implemented
1966 – artificial turf first implemented (Astrodome)
1969 – mound lowered 5 inches
1969 – strike zone was shrunken to the area from the armpits to the top of
the batter’s knees
1969 – saves rule added
1969 – playoffs started
1971 – all players must wear protective helmets
1973 – AL DH started
1973 – glove sizes standardized
1975 – ball was permitted to be covered with cowhide because of the shortage
of horses
1995 – wild card team added to playoffs
1997 – interleague play introduced
2008 – limited instant replay introduced on August 29
2013 – In addition to interpreters taking the mound with the pitching
coach/manager, two other rule changes of note were implemented. 1. A seventh
coach will be permitted to suit up and sit in the dugout, one more than in
previous seasons. This change comes as a result of several teams hiring an
assistant hitting coach, most of whom were forced to sit out games in the
clubhouse last year. 2. The fake-to-third, throw-to-first pick-off move that
almost never works will now be considered a balk. The “trick move” was voted
out by the Playing Rules Committee last year — giving MLB the authority to
bar the move but approval by the player’s union would make the ban
unilateral.
2014 – MLB’s new system of instant replay dictates which plays are subject
to review, how instant replay will be initiated by field managers and how
the review process will be conducted. As a part of the expansion of instant
replay, Clubs will now be allowed to show all replays on the ballpark
scoreboard, regardless of whether the play was reviewed. Home plate rules
were also changed.
2015 – MLB introduced new pace of game rules 1. With certain exceptions,
hitters must keep one foot in the batter’s box between pitches throughout
their at-bat. 2. Each ballpark now has between-inning countdown timers to
ensure that the next half-inning starts promptly.
The timers are set at 2 minutes, 25 seconds for most games and 2:45 for
nationally televised games. Pitchers and hitters have been encouraged to be
ready to go when the clock reaches 20 seconds. 3. Managers can now signal
instant-replay challenges to umpires from the dugout area, instead of from
the field.
2016 – Netting behind home plate to reach out to dugouts. Possible strike
zone change?

My personal definition of a long game is one that last 3 hours or more. I love watching baseball but when the game drags on and there is a modicum of action than I start to get bored. For the most part I would rather watch a 2 1/2 hour game over a 3 1/2 hour game but there are exceptions, a high scoring back and forth game can be fun just as a 2 hour and 20 minute game with no action can be boring. For my purposes here I will consider games that last 3 hours or more as long games. The chart you will see tracks game duration averages as well as games that last 3 hours or more. Games of less than nine innings are excluded in my study.

Baseball Triple Doubles

Triple Double StarsThe other day SABR member Clem Comly who also follows basketball wondered who the  “triple doubles” leader might be in baseball history. His search defined a “baseball triple double” as a player that had 2 or more runs, 2 or more hits, and 2 or more RBI in a single game. His used Retrosheet (1913-2014) in his calculations and determined that the all-time baseball leader in triple doubles was Babe Ruth with 247. Lou Gehrig was second with 204, Willie Mays and Alex (A-Rod) Rodriguez were tied for third with 191 and Hank Aaron was fifth with 188.

I though it might be fun to run a similar search for all of baseball during the time period of 1961 through 2014 since 1961 is the year the Minnesota Twins came into existence. I cut the list off at 100 meaning that you had to have at least 100 “triple double” games to make the list. It turns out to be a Whose Who of baseball hitting. You can almost use this list to see who might deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, assuming of course you excluded things like position played, fielding and the whole steroid situation.

Rk Player #Matching
1 Alex Rodriguez 191
2 Barry Bonds 184
3 Sammy Sosa 158
4 Manny Ramirez 157
5 Albert Pujols 152
6 Ken Griffey 143
7 Jim Thome 142
8 Chipper Jones 137
9 Gary Sheffield 134
10 Vladimir Guerrero 134
11 Frank Thomas 127
12 Jeff Bagwell 127
13 Hank Aaron 124
14 Jim Rice 123
15 Frank Robinson 122
16 Eddie Murray 122
17 Willie Stargell 121
18 Carl Yastrzemski 120
19 Mike Schmidt 119
20 Carlos Beltran 118
21 Billy Williams 117
22 Jason Giambi 117
23 Rafael Palmeiro 116
24 Carlos Delgado 115
25 Dave Winfield 114
26 Juan Gonzalez 113
27 Jose Canseco 113
28 Larry Walker 112
29 David Ortiz 111
30 Mark McGwire 111
31 Albert Belle 111
32 Todd Helton 109
33 Andre Dawson 109
34 Mike Piazza 107
35 Willie Mays 107
36 Reggie Jackson 107
37 Joe Carter 107
38 Willie McCovey 103
39 Jeff Kent 103
40 Andres Galarraga 102
41 Jim Edmonds 102
42 Cal Ripken 101
43 Alfonso Soriano 100
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/29/2014.

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The top five highest active players are Albert Pujols with 152, Carlos Beltran with 118, Jason Giambi with 117, David Ortiz with 111 and Alfonso Soriano with 100. Future Hall of Famers? We will have to wait and see.

2006 - present script logo for BP

I also used the same “triple double” criteria to determine who the Minnesota Twins “triple double” leaders are and I used a cutoff of 30 games.

I am surprised to see Jacques Jones on this list. Larry Hisle only played in Minnesota for five seasons but he put up some nice numbers during his stay here and a lot of Twins fans have no idea who he is.

This day in Twins history – May 17

5/17/1963 – Outfielder Bob Allison becomes the first Twin to ever hit 3 home runs in a single game when he bangs out 3 against the Indians in Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland.

5/17/1998 – David (Boomer) Wells pitched the 13th perfect game in modern major league history as the New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0 at Yankee Stadium in front of nearly 50,000 fans on Beanie Baby Day.

5/17/2002 – In a game they would rather forget, the Twins score three times in the top of the 14th at Yankee stadium to take a 13-10 lead, Jason Giambi hits a one-out grand slam off reliever Mike Trombley to give the Bronx Bombers a one-run victory.

Harmon Killebrew5/17/2011 – The face of the Minnesota Twins, the man that every baseball fan in Minnesota knew, the greatest slugger in Twins history, Hall of Famer, Harmon Clayton Killebrew passed away today in Scottsdale, Arizona at the age of 74 after suffering from esophageal cancer. The Twins, who were in Seattle wore a number “3” on their right sleeve and will continue to do so for the rest of the season. The Twins players also announced that they will wear their 1961 throw back jerseys for all their remaining home games. The Twins grounds crew painted a large white number “3” behind second base and dug up home plate and placed a picture of Harmon Killebrew batting under home plate and then replaced home plate at Target Field. By the way, the Twins beat the Mariners 2-1 with Killebrew’s number “3” jersey hanging in the dugout. A sad day for sure.