off-beat stats.(baseball statistics)(Statistical Data Included)

* Boston's Nomar Garciaparra finished ninth in the American League MVP voting last season after finishing eighth as a rookie in 1997, second in 1998, and seventh in 1999. Garciaparra thus became only the fourth player ever to finish in the top ten in MVP voting in each of his first four full seasons:

 
Player                Years         MVP Finish 
 
Joe Jackson         1911-1914   4th, 9th, 2nd, 5th 
Joe DiMaggio        1936-1939   8th, 2nd, 6th, 1st 
Mike Piazza         1993-1996   9th, 6th, 4th, 2nd 
Nomar Garciaparra   1997-2000   8th, 2nd, 7th, 9th 

* Garciaparra's teammate, Pedro Martinez, followed up arguably the best pitching season ever in 1999 with an even better one in 2000. Although his won-lost record (18-6) and his strikeout total (284) were not quite as impressive as his numbers (23-4, 313 Ks) from the previous season, his microscopic ERA (1.74) tells the true story. This was the American League's best not only for an ERA qualifier, but for anyone who pitched more than three innings! Martinez's mark was an astonishing 1.96 runs better than the league runner-up, Rogers Clemens, and 3.17 runs better than the league average--both by far all-time reocrds, beating his own set in 1999:

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PITCHERS WITH AN ERA 2.25 RUNS BETTER THAN THE LEAGUE AVERAGE, 1913-2000

 
                                           LG 
Year   League     Pitcher, Team     ERA    ERA    Diff 
 
2000   American   Pedro Martinez,   1.74   4.91   3.17 
                    Red Sox 
1999   American   Pedro Martinez,   2.07   4.86   2.79 
                    Red Sox 
1994   National   Greg Maddux,      1.56   4.21   2.65 
                    Braves 
1995   National   Greg Maddux,      1.63   4.18   2.55 
                    Braves 
1997   American   Roger Clemens,    2.05   4.56   2.51 
                    Blue Jays 
1930   National   Dazzy Vance,      2.61   4.97   2.36 
                    Dodgers 
1996   National   Kevin Brown,      1.89   4.22   2.33 
                    Marlins 
1931   American   Lefty Grove,      2.06   4.38   2.32 
                    A's 
1997   National   Pedro Martinez,   1.90   4.20   2.30 
                    Expos 
1937   American   Lefty Gomez,      2.33   4.62   2.29 
                    Yankees 
1997   American   Randy Johnson,    2.28   4.56   2.28 
                    Mariners 

It's easier to top a league ERA by a lot of runs in a high-scoring environment. But Martinez still set a record for the best earned run average over the league ERA on a percentage basis.