Harper’s magazine begins each issue with a list of number-oriented factoids called Harper’s Index. Below is VeryWellThen.Com’s second annual series of number-oriented factoids about the Twins baseball season. Here on the Twins-ernet, such a list has to be called “Brian Harper’s Index.”
[It’s said that baseball’s 162 game season isn’t a sprint, but a marathon. For the 2011 Twins it was a triathlon. The Twins almost drown in the opening “swim “stage (the first 54 games), cranked it like Lance Armstrong with a tail wind in the middle “bike” stage, and stumbled like a hamstrung Molina in the homestretch “run” stage. Reflecting this triathlon of inconsistent quality, several stats from this season’s “Brian Harper’s Index” are divided into thirds. ]
Brian Harper’s Index:
Assorted Numbers on the 2011 Twins Season
Twins wins in each third of season: 17/33/13
How each third of season would project in wins over 162 games: 51/99/39
Percentage of games started by season opening rotation for each third of season: 96/93/60
Games per third with Joe Mauer available: 9/41/33
Games per third with Justin Morneau available: 54/1/18
Days of season not spent in 4th or 5th place: 3
Positions played by “Utility Player” Joe Mauer (listed by Baseball-Reference.com as “UT” rather than meeting site standard for single position) : 4
Twins Rank in AL of Catcher OPS in 2010 : 1
Twins Rank in AL for Catcher OPS in 2011: 14
Number of positions where Twins finished last in MLB by team OPS: 3 (C, 2B, LF)
Number of positions where Twins finished in top ten in MLB by team OPS: 2 (1B and P (in 20 At Bats))
Number of RBIs for Delmon Young as a Twin (84 games) compared to RBIs as a Tiger (40 games) : 32/32
Games Started at Second Base for Tsuyoshi Nishioki : 6
Number of players in MLB history named “Rene” : 8
Probable number of put-outs in MLB history from one Rene to another Rene: 1 (Tosini to Rivera (7-2 putout) on August 30)
Number of hits given up by Carl Pavano: 262
Total salary paid to all pitchers who earned one or more of Twins’ 32 team saves: $19.45 Million
Final team OPS for the Twins 2011 (Really!) : .666
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