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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- If there was no such thing as a Useless Information Department, we'd have had to invent one for Game 2 of this World Series. So fasten your seat belts. Here we go:
When was the last time you saw both starting pitchers in a World Series game get six outs or fewer? How about Game 3 in 1957 -- when Braves starter Bob Buhl was gonged after two-thirds of an inning (three runs) and Yankees starter Bob Turley was gone with two outs in the second (three hits, four walks, one run).
Even the manager of the Angels (Mike Scioscia) wasn't alive for that one. But his starter, Kevin Appier, and Giants starter Russ Ortiz became the fifth set of starting pitchers ever to get hooked that early in a World Series game. The other three, courtesy of SABR research magician David Vincent:
Game 6, 1921 -- Fred Toney, Giants (2/3 IP, 3 ER) and Harry Harper, Yankees (1 1/3 IP, 3 ER)
Game 4, 1932 -- Johnny Allen, Yankees (2/3 IP, 4 ER) and Guy Bush, Cubs (1/3 IP, 1 ER)
Game 2, 1956 -- Don Larsen, Yankees (1 2/3 IP, 4 R, 0 ER) and Don Newcombe, Dodgers (1 2/3 IP, 6 ER).
The best news we can impart to Appier and Ortiz is this: In his next start, Larsen threw a perfect game.
And by the way, this was Ortiz's shortest start since May 9, 2000 -- 95 starts ago (counting the postseason).
The Angels were the 10th team in World Series history, the first in 23 years, the second in 41 years and the seventh since 1912 to score five runs in the first inning of a Series game. The others, courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau's Rob Tracy:
Orioles (5) vs. Pirates, Game 1, 1979
Yankees (5) vs. Reds, Game 5, 1961
Yankees (6) vs Pirates, Game 3, 1960
Braves (7) vs. Yankees, Game 2, 1958
Yankees (5) vs. Dodgers, Game 6, 1955
Tigers (5) vs. Cubs, Game 7, 1945
Giants (5) vs. Red Sox, Game 6, 1912
Pirates (5) vs. Tigers, Game 3, 1909
But by blowing that 5-0 lead, the Angels also put themselves in danger of becoming the first home team in history to take a lead of four runs or more in the first inning of a World Series game and then lose. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this was the 11th time a team had done that.
Then again, only four teams have ever blown a lead of five or more runs at any point in any World Series game. Here are three others:
1929 Cubs -- blew 8-0 lead to Athletics.
1956 Yankees -- blew 6-0 lead to Dodgers.
1996 Braves -- blew 6-0 lead to Yankees (thanks to Jim Leyritz).
1993 Phillies -- blew 14-9 lead to Blue Jays (thanks to Mitch Williams).
It also takes some doing to score 10 runs and still lose a World Series game. Both teams hadn't scored as many as nine runs in 567 of the previous 569 Series games -- but not this one. And not these two:
Game 4, 1993 (exactly nine years earlier): Blue Jays 15, Phillies 14
Game 3, 1997: Marlins 14, Indians 11
Might as well toss in our handy-dandy list of most runs ever scored in a World Series game, since only four in history ever featured as many runs as this one:
29 -- Game 4, 1993: Blue Jays 15, Phillies 14
25 -- Game 3, 1997: Marlins 14, Indians 11
22 -- Game 2, 1936: Yankees 18, Giants 4
21 -- Game 2, 1956: Dodgers 13, Yankees 8
The Angels now have scored five runs in an inning (or more) four times in this postseason -- and allowed their opponents to score five or more no times.
The first inning was also the fourth time the Angels had batted around in this postseason, according to ESPN research whiz Jeff Bennett -- once against the Yankees, twice against the Twins, once against the Giants. Their opponents had done it no times -- until the Giants did it in the fifth inning Sunday.
The Angels were the first team to bat around in the first inning of a World Series game since the Mets did it at Fenway in Game 3, 1986.
The home runs by Tim Salmon and Barry Bonds in the last two innings were the 10th and 11th in just the first two games of this World Series. Not only is that the most ever in Games 1 and 2 of a World Series, it breaks the old record by four.
And let's not forget Barry. That's his sixth home run of this postseason -- tying the record for most in any postseason (equaled by Troy Glaus the night before). But let's put those six home runs in perspective.
Willie Mays played in six postseason series and hit one homer. Mark McGwire played in 10 postseason series and hit five. Mike Schmidt played in eight postseason series and hit four. And Bonds now has more homers just in this postseason than Schmidt, Mays, Ted Williams and Stan Musial hit in all their postseasons combined (five in 18 series).
Before Jeff Kent's home run in this game, he'd gone eight straight postseason games without an RBI. His longest RBI-less streak during the regular season was seven games (twice).
Then there's Reggie Sanders. He's just a World Series kind of guy, apparently. He got four hits in his first five at-bats in this World Series. He's 3 for his last 33 in the LCS the last two years.
Sanders and Bonds also joined a very cool list of men who have homered in Games 1 and 2 of a World Series. The others, courtesy of the Sultan of Swat Stats, David Vincent:
Ted Simmons 1982
Boog Powell 1970
Hank Bauer 1958
Dusty Rhodes 1954
Mickey Cochrane 1930
Jimmie Foxx 1929
If Reggie is wondering, the only man to homer in Games 1, 2 and 3 of a World Series was Bauer in 1958.
Well, just as we all expected, Brad Fullmer -- who hadn't stolen a base since Aug. 29 -- became the third player in the last 50 years to steal home in a World Series. OK, so it was on the back end of a double steal, but it's still an amazing trio -- Fullmer, Tim McCarver in 1964 (Game 7) and Jackie Robinson in 1955 (Game 1).
Fullmer was the first American Leaguer to steal home since Hank Greenberg in Game 4 of the 1934 World Series.
And Fullmer was only the second player in World Series history to steal home in the first inning. The other, according to Elias: Buck Herzog of Giants in Game 6 in 1912.
The Giants used Shawon Dunston as their DH on Sunday, even though Dunston hit .231, with one homer this year. That's the lowest batting average for a National League DH in a World Series game since the Dodgers used Mike Davis in Game 3 of the 1988 Series, even though he hadn't nosed above the Mendoza Line. Here are all the NL DH's since then, with their season numbers:
2002 -- Tsyoshi Shinjo (.238, 9 HR), Shawon Dunston (.231, 1 HR)
2001 -- Erubiel Durazo (.269, 12 HR)
2000 -- Lenny Harris (.304, 3 HR), Mike Piazza (.324, 38 HR)
1999 -- Jose Hernandez (.266, 19 HR), Keith Lockhart (.261, 1 HR)
1998 -- Jim Leyritz (.276, 12 HR), Greg Vaughn .272, 50 HR)
1997 -- Jim Eisenreich (.280, 3 HR), Darren Daulton (.263, 14 HR)
1996 -- Ryan Klesko (.282, 34 HR), Terry Pendleton (.238, 11 HR)
1995 -- Ryan Klesko (.310, 23 HR)
1993 -- Ricky Jordan (.289, 5 HR), Mariano Duncan (.282, 11 HR)
1992 -- Lonnie Smith (.247, 6 HR)
1991 -- Lonnie Smith (.275, 7 HR)
1990 -- Hal Morris (.340, 7 HR)
1989 -- Ernest Riles (.278, 7 HR)
1988 -- Mike Davis (.198, 6 HR), Danny Heep (.242, 0 HR)
Finally, the Giants' Chad Zerbe added his name to a sensational list of players who played in a World Series whose names start with a Z. Here zey are:
Heinie Zimmerman 1907, 1910, 1917
Rollie Zeider 1918
Tom Zachary 1924-1925, 1928
Al Zarilla 1944
Bill Zuber 1946
Don Zimmer 1955, 1959
Jerry Zimmerman 1961, 1965
Pat Zachry 1976
George Zeber 1977
Gregg Zaun 1997
Todd Zeile 2000
Chad Zerbe 2002
Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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