Giants’ Offensive Ineptitude Historic

From SABR member Jayson Stark at ESPN.com on September 7, 2011:

If life was just one big pitch-off, the 2011 Giants would still be headed for October, just like the champs who came before them.

But the powers that be in this sport continue to insist that these Giants have to hit, too. And that half of their equation isn’t working out so hot.

Until now, though, we bet you never realized just how un-hot it was.

Well, here goes. The 2011 Giants are averaging a mind-boggling 3.39 runs per game. Which means that, if they keep this up, they’re going to score a mere 550 runs this year. And friends, that’s not good. But here’s how really, really not good it is:

Only three teams in the last quarter-century have scored 550 runs or fewer in any full season.

One was last year’s historically inept Mariners, who scored 513 — and lost 101 games.

The second was Jose Offerman’s 1992 Dodgers, who scored 548, lost 99 games and had one player on the roster (Eric Karros) who drove in more than 39 runs.

The third was Jeff Stone’s 1988 Orioles. That team scored exactly 550. It also lost 21 games in a row to kick off the season and finished up 54-107.

Read the full article here: http://espn.go.com/mlb/blog/_/name/stark_jayson/id/6939701/giants-offensive-ineptitude-historic



Originally published: September 7, 2011. Last Updated: September 7, 2011.