Folks, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty much ready for opening day! But since we’ve got to get through three more weeks of spring training, here are a bunch of random baseball nuggets that will perhaps knock about five minutes off the wait.

Besides, where else are you going to find an “Oil Can” Boyd reference today!

—————————————————————————————————————————–

* – Tim Wakefield has not walked the first batter in any of his last 72 starts dating back to September, 2007. He has not done it in a start at Fenway since 2005 (66 home starts).

—————————————————————————————————————————–

* – From 2008 through 2010, while Wakefield didn’t walk ANY first batters in a start, Daisuke Matsuzaka walked the first batter 14 times (tied for second most in the majors in that span) and Jon Lester did it 13 times (tied for fifth most).

—————————————————————————————————————————–

* – Over the last four seasons, Dice-K has allowed multiple walks in the first inning of 17 different starts, the most in the majors in that span:

17 – Daisuke Matsuzaka
16 – Dontrelle Willis
15 – Scott Kazmir
14 – Barry Zito

—————————————————————————————————————————–

* – So which team pitched the most 1-2-3 first innings in 2010? I’m sure you guessed the Mets, who did it 64 times. Two other teams did it 60 or more times, Philadelphia (62) and Toronto (61).

—————————————————————————————————————————–

* – Jonathan Papelbon has allowed four home runs to pinch hitters in his career, tied with Jeff Reardon for the most such homers allowed by a Red Sox pitcher (since 1974). Derek Lowe faced the most pinch hitters without allowing a HR as a Red Sox (99). Active Sox pitchers who have not allowed a pinch homer (and faced at least 10 PH) as members of the Red Sox are Tim Wakefield (44 PH faced), Jon Lester (11), and Daisuke Matsuzaka (10).

—————————————————————————————————————————–

* – One more pinch hitter note: Pinch hitters are 7-for-11 (.636) against Josh Beckett since he came to Boston, but they are just 2-for-22 (.091) against Daniel Bard.

—————————————————————————————————————————–

* – In his career, opponents are 4-for-40 (.100) against Papelbon when the bases are loaded, the lowest such average in the majors since at least 1974 (min. 40 bases loaded opponent at bats):

.100 – Jonathan Papelbon (4-for-40)
.118 – Ryan Franklin (9-for-76)
.119 – Tom Gorzelanny (5-for-42)

His on-base percentage allowed with the bases loaded (.143) is the second lowest ever (same minimums), trailing only old friend Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd.

—————————————————————————————————————————–

* – Opponents have hit eight grand slams off of new Phillies’ co-ace Cliff Lee in just 67 career at bats. That’s 11.9 percent, the highest career percentage allowed by any pitcher since at least 1974 (min. 50 such at bats):

11.9% – Cliff Lee
10.7% – John Henry Johnson
10.4% – Brian Boehringer

It’s well known that former Orioles’ ace Jim Palmer faced 213 batters (184 at bats) in his career with the bases loaded and never allowed a grand slam. Here are the active pitchers with the most bases loaded at bats faced without allowing a slam:

113 – Matt Morris
94 – Freddy Garcia
84 – Juan Cruz
77 – Ervin Santana
72 – Ian Snell

I don’t see any of those guys threatening Palmer’s mark.

—————————————————————————————————————————–

* – Look I know that the Red Sox’ 1967 season was as exciting as all get out, but I didn’t know this: The ’67 Sox went 12-10 from June 14 through July 7, and ALL 10 LOSSES WERE BY ONE RUN. That’s the longest such streak of one-run losses (not in a row) in the majors since 1950.

—————————————————————————————————————————–

* – The Houston Astros never hit three home runs in any of their 81 road games last season, becoming the first team since the 1994 Phillies to turn that trick.

—————————————————————————————————————————–

* – The Red Sox had scored three or more runs in 10 straight games (or more) at least once in every season from 1998-2009, but that streak was snapped in 2010.

—————————————————————————————————————————–

* – Boston lost despite scoring eight or more runs five times each in 2010 and 2009 and six times in 2008. It’s the first time they’ve lost more than two such games in three consecutive years since they began tracking the stat in 1950.

—————————————————————————————————————————–