Fact of the Week I: Grand Slams

Every Friday, I am going to introduce a fact that is interesting to me, but may or may not be interesting to you. So this week, I am going to look at grand slams.

So far this year, the Blue Jays have only hit two grand slams. Considering that there have already been 91 grand slams hit so far this season, the fact that the Jays have only hit two is surprising, especially considering they are leading the league in home runs by a wide margin.

Perhaps even more surprising is that the Jays have already given up five grand slams. Since the average major league team should hit and give up the same amount of grand slams (about 3 per team so far), it is interesting that the Jays have given up three more than they have hit (again, especially considering their home run exploits). And from July 3 to July 18, they had actually given up 5 and not hit one, before Yunel Escobar hit his 1st home run of the season (and 1st as a Jay).

So there is the inaugural fact of the week. Grand slams are always interesting, and although so far this year there has been an interesting set of results for the Jays, the data set is simply not yet large enough to conclude that there is a definitive pattern going on. Thus, the grand slam belongs in the fact of the week.