Counsell part of managerial group of sweet 16

Jim Fregosi made his fourth start of the 1978 season -- and the final start of his big league career -- at third base with the Pirates on May 31. He drew a walk leading off the second inning and was stranded on third base, and in the bottom half of the inning, he was replaced in the lineup by Mario Mendoza.

The next day, Fregosi flew to Southern California and became the manager of his original big league team, the California Angels. In 1979, he guided the Angels to the first postseason appearance in the history of the franchise, which was born of expansion in 1961.

Big deal? Yep.

Earlier this week, Craig Counsell became the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. He is one of 16 managers -- including Fregosi -- since the advent of divisional play to get a big league managerial job without coaching or managing in the big leagues or Minor Leagues, according to research whiz Bill Arnold.

Fregosi was the first of six of those managers to advance to the postseason with the team that gave him his first chance to manage. He was joined by: Dallas Green, who managed the Phillies to the 1980 World Series championship; Jim Fanning, who took over the Expos for the final 27 games in 1981 and the only postseason appearance for the franchise while it was in Montreal; Larry Dierker, who took the Astros to the postseason in four of his five years on the job; Mike Matheny, who is seeking his fourth postseason in four years as the Cardinals' manager; and Brad Ausmus, who debuted a year ago by taking the Tigers to an American League Central title.

The others

Joe Torre did eventually wind up in the Hall of Fame for efforts in 29 years as a manager, but his career on the bench began without a winning season with the Mets, and only five winning records in his first 15 years as a manager with the Mets, Braves and Cardinals. Torre did, however, take a team to the postseason in 14 of his final 15 years as a manager -- 12-for-12 with the Yankees and two of three with the Dodgers.

None of the eight others who preceded Counsell -- Walt Weiss, Rockies; Robin Ventura, White Sox; A.J. Hinch, D-backs; Don Kessinger, Cubs; Pete Rose, Reds; Jerry Coleman, Padres; and Buck Martinez, Blue Jays -- advanced to the postseason in their original managerial job or any other.

Torre, Ausmus, Matheny, Dierker and Rose are the only five of the previous 15 to have a winning managerial record for their career.

Kessinger, a player/manager in his debut like Robinson and Rose, didn't even finish a full season. The White Sox were 46-60 when he resigned and retired. Tony La Russa took over as the manager in his first big league job on the way to being inducted into the Hall of Fame as a manager.

Counsell joins Torre, Fregosi, Green, Fanning, Rose and Hinch as the seven who were hired in-season.

Unbeatable

Dellin Betances has joined Whitey Ford as the only Yankees pitchers to start their career 9-0. Ford did it in 18 appearances, nine in relief and nine starts. He won all nine starts, pitching a complete game in seven of them in 1950, his rookie season.

Ford then missed the next two seasons with military service, but he returned to put together a Hall of Fame career in which he was 236-106 with a 2.75 ERA.

Betances, meanwhile, made his big league debut in 2011 and is in his second full season in the big leagues. He has made 93 big league appearances, with one start. All nine victories have come in relief. Betances also has two big league saves -- one last year and one this year.

Video: NYY@BOS: Betances locks down four-out save

Traveling man

Mets right-hander Bartolo Colon is 13-8 lifetime against the Orioles, and last Tuesday's victory was significant in that the Mets became the record-setting seventh team for which Colon has pitched and beat the O's, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He also has wins against the Orioles with the Indians, White Sox, Angels, Red Sox, Yankees and A's.

Video: BAL@NYM: Colon earns fifth win with strong outing

Happy anniversary

Tuesday is the 100th anniversary of White Sox pitcher Red Faber throwing only 67 pitches in a 4-1 complete-game victory against the Senators. Faber retired the Sens in order on three pitches in both the third and fifth innings.

Friday is the 97th anniversary of Walter Johnson of the Senators and Larry Williams of the White Sox both pitching the entire 18 innings of the Sens' 1-0 victory over the White Sox that took two hours and 47 minutes to play. Eddie Ainsworth, who went from first to third on a Johnson single, raced home on a wild pitch.

Quickly

• A bit of nostalgia in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday: Josh Hamilton will make his first appearance on a Minor League rehab with the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate Round Rock, and Barry Zito is the scheduled starter for the Sounds. Hamilton is 1-for-4 with a home run and a strikeout in his big league career against Zito.

• The Mariners' 4-3, 11-inning victory on Friday night against the A's was Seattle's fifth one-run decision in a row, one shy of the cub record set July 1-6, 1991. It was the Mariners' eighth one-run decision in their last 10 games. Seattle had played a Major League-leading 14 games decided by one-run going into Saturday and was 7-7.

Video: OAK@SEA: Morrison blasts walk-off homer in the 11th

• Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels went seven innings and picked up the 3-1 win against the Mets on Friday, ending a streak of 11 consecutive starts at Citizens Bank Park against National League East teams without a victory. Hamels was 0-3 in the 11 games without a victory, despite turning in nine quality starts.