Parshat Balak Gematria of the Week

This week's Gematria of the Week is 142, the numerical value for בִּלְעָם, one of the main characters in the Parsha.

Three players are tied with a 142 ERA+ (earned run average adjusted to ballpark), good for 11th on the all time list. They are Addie Joss, Johan Santana, and Brandon Webb.

Sandy Koufax is the poster child for short yet dominant careers, but Addie Joss fits the role just as good if not better. Joss' Hall of Fame career lasted just 9 seasons, but his 1.89 career ERA ranks second all time. Joss' played his entire career with the Cleveland franchise in the AL (first called the Broncos, then the Naps), and dominated the American League. He had a 160-97 career record and 234 of his 260 career starts were complete games. His finest season was 1908, when he tossed a perfect game against the Chicago White Sox while using just 74 pitches, and went 24-11 with a 1.16 ERA on the year. Joss no-hit the White Sox again in 1910 and had a 2.26 ERA that season, but his life was cut short by lethal meningitis. He was a great pitcher, and he would have been one of the all-time greats if he had the opportunity to pitch a full career.

We're all familiar was Johan Santana. Santana was a Rule 5 draft pick by the Minnesota Twins from the Houston Astros franchise in 2000. The selected him as a 20 year old from Low-A ball, and they kept him on the major league roster even though he posted a 6.49 ERA in 30 appearances. But Santana went 8-6 with a 2.99 ERA and an 11.4 K/9 (strikeouts per 9 innings ratio) in 2002, and by 2004, he was a Cy Young Award winner, going 20-6 with a 2.61 ERA, 265 strikeouts, and just 54 walks. He won the CY again in '06, going 19-6 with a 2.77 ERA, 245 K's, and 47 walks. After the '07 season, Santana was traded to the Mets in a blockbuster deal, and his first season with the franchise, led the NL in ERA, going 16-7 with a 2.53 ERA, 206 K's, and just 63 walks. But after a 3.13 ERA in 2009 and a 2.98 ERA in 2010, he has been shelved for all of 2011 with a shoulder injury. Will he complete his potential Hall of Fame career?

Just an 8th round pick by the Diamondbacks in the 2000 MLB Draft, sinkerballer Brandon Webb made the majors by 2003 and was already dominant, going 10-9 with a 2.84 ERA. He went just 7-16 with a 3.59 ERA in '04, but he was the NL Cy Young award winner by '06, when he went 16-10 with a 3.10 ERA and allowed just 1 homer every 15.2 innings. After going 18-10 with a 3.01 ERA in '07, Webb went 22-7 with a 3.30 ERA in '08. But Webb suffered a shoulder injury on Opening Day 2009 and hasn't pitched since. Webb has shown promise, but now 32 years old and still on the shelf, there's almost no possibility he'll rebound to make the Hall.

I find these ratio stats like ERA+ very interesting for active players. When they're so great to begin their careers, they set a precedent for the rest of their careers and it's always interesting to see whether they make it or not. Hope you all enjoyed.

Good Shabbos,
Robbie Knopf