Now on to relief pitchers and it's not surprising the majority of these season come before the Dennis Eckersley era of closers. In fact you won't find Eck or Mariano Rivera in the Top 20 but the list should give you a better appreciation for Dan Quisenberry. Maybe the most impressive season on the list though is by Eric Gagne's 2003 year as he did it in only 82 1/3 innings. Also reminds you how far he has fallen.
Top 20 Relief Pitcher Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Dan Quisenberry, 1983 - Kansas City Royals 27.8 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB ERA *ERA+ WHIP
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
1983 30 KCR AL 5 3 69 0 0 0 62 45 139.0 118 35 30 6 11 48 0 0 536 2 1.94 210 0.928
2. Eric Gagne, 2003 - Los Angeles Dodgers 25.0
3. Jim Kern, 1979 - Texas Rangers 24.9
4. Doug Corbett, 1980 - Minnesota Twins 24.0
5. Willie Hernandez, 1984 - Detroit Tigers 24.0
6. Dan Quisenberry, 1984 - Kansas City Royals 23.7
7. Dan Quisenberry, 1985 - Kansas City Royals 23.1
8. Bruce Sutter, 1984 - St. Louis Cardinals 23.0
9. Mike Marshall, 1979 - Minnesota Twins 22.7
10. Bruce Sutter, 1979 - Chicago Cubs 22.4
11. Jeff Montgomery, 1993 - Kansas City Royals 22.3
12. Bob James, 1985 - Chicago White Sox 21.8
13. Dan Quisenberry, 1982 - Kansas City Royals 21.5
14. John Wetteland, 1993 - Montreal Expos 21.4
15. Keith Foulke, 2003 - Oakland A's 21.4
16. Mark Eichhorn, 1986 - Toronto Blue Jays 21.0
17. Jeff Shaw, 1997 - Cincinnati Reds 20.9
18. Sid Monge, 1979 - Cleveland Indians 20.8
19. Greg Minton, 1982 - San Francisco Giants 20.7
20. Bob Stanley, 1983 - Boston Red Sox 20.7
OMG two entries in one day, I'm out of control! This year I decided to track the number of games that each team had televised by MLB's three television partners. The final week's schedule was finalized today so figured I'd actually post the final "standings" for the year. I thought it'd be better to post it on the blog rather than the TWiB form because we don't need another debate of the overexposure of two certain teams from the Northeast and God knows I've instigated a few of those debates.
Note there was only one team in MLB that did not have a single game televised by ESPN, FOX, or TBS. Try to guess before scrolling down to find out who. Really shouldn't surprise anyone.
ESPN (76 Games)
17 Games: Cubs, Red Sox
15: Yankees
11: Phillies
10: Dodgers, Mets
9: Rays
7: Angels, Brewers
6: Cardinals, Tigers, White Sox
5: Twins
4: Astros, Braves, Indians
2: Athletics, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Padres, Rangers
1: Giants, Nationals, Orioles, Rockies
FOX (66 Games)
10: Phillies
9: Red Sox, Tigers, Yankees
8: Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers
7: Angels, Cubs, Mets
6: Diamondbacks, Twins, White Sox
5: Brewers, Indians
3: Mariners, Padres, Rays, Reds, Rockies
2: Orioles, Royals
1: Athletics, Marlins, Nationals
TBS (26 Games)
8: Red Sox
5: White Sox, Yankees
4: Phillies
3: Blue Jays, Cardinals, Cubs, Marlins
2: Angels, Braves, Dodgers, Mets
1: Athletics, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Indians, Mariners, Orioles, Rays, Reds, Tigers, Twins
Totals
34: Red Sox
29: Yankees
27: Cubs
25: Phillies
20: Dodgers
19: Mets
17: Cardinals, White Sox
16: Angels, Tigers
14: Braves, Twins
13: Brewers, Rays
10: Indians
9: Diamondbacks
5: Blue Jays, Padres
4: Astros, Athletics, Mariners, Marlins, Orioles, Reds, Rockies
2: Nationals, Rangers, Royals
1: Giants
0: Pirates
You know I should probably finish this up this week being that the 2008 season ends on Sunday which will make these lists out of date. But hey that also means it'll be time to work on my "famous" Bored Player Rankings which will just serve as a painful reminder of how bad the A's offense was this year.
Top 20 Designated Hitter Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Frank Thomas, 1991 - Chicago White Sox 33.8 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
1991 23 CHW AL 158 559 104 178 31 2 32 109 1 2 138 112 .318 .453 .553 180 309 0 2 13 1 20
2. Frank Thomas, 2000 - Chicago White Sox 33.7
3. Edgar Martinez, 1995 - Seattle Mariners 31.7
4. David Ortiz, 2005 - Boston Red Sox 31.6
5. Rafael Palmeiro, 1999 - Texas Rangers 31.1
6. Paul Molitor, 1991 - Milwaukee Brewers 29.6
7. David Ortiz, 2006 - Boston Red Sox 29.4
8. Paul Molitor, 1993 - Toronto Blue Jays 29.4
9. David Ortiz, 2007 - Boston Red Sox 28.9
10. Paul Molitor, 1987 - Milwaukee Brewers 28.6
11. Paul Molitor, 1992 - Milwaukee Brewers 28.4
12. Edgar Martinez, 2000 - Seattle Mariners 28.2
13. Dave Winfield, 1992 - Toronto Blue Jays 26.7
14. Edgar Martinez, 1997 - Seattle Mariners 26.6
15. Hal McRae, 1982 - Kansas City Royals 26.1
16. Jim Thome, 2006 - Chicago White Sox 26.0
17. Manny Ramirez, 2001 - Boston Red Sox 25.1
18. David Ortiz, 2004 - Boston Red Sox 25.1
19. Travis Hafner, 2006 - Cleveland Indians 25.0
20. Frank Thomas, 1998 - Chicago White Sox 24.7
Bored Blog Trivia Question: I really fucking hate one of the players on this list. Which one is it? (Hint: He's a rat piece of shit)
Top 20 Right Fielder Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Sammy Sosa, 2001 - Chicago Cubs 42.4 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2001 32 CHC NL 160 577 146 189 34 5 64 160 0 2 116 153 .328 .437 .737 203 425 0 12 37 6 6
2. Jose Canseco, 1988 - Oakland A's 38.9
3. Tony Gwynn, 1997 - San Diego Padres 38.6
4. Bobby Abreu, 2004 - Philadelphia Phillies 37.0
5. Ichiro Suzuki, 2001 - Seattle Mariners 36.0
6. Magglio Ordonez, 2007 - Detroit Tigers 35.6
7. Brian Giles, 2005 - San Diego Padres 35.4
8. Sammy Sosa, 1998 - Chicago Cubs 35.2
9. Tony Gwynn, 1984 - San Diego Padres 35.0
10. Manny Ramirez, 1999 - Cleveland Indians 34.7
11. Gary Sheffield, 2003 - Atlanta Braves 34.5
12. Gary Sheffield, 1996 - Florida Marlins 34.5
13. Shawn Green, 2001 - Los Angeles Dodgers 34.2
14. Ruben Sierra, 1989 - Texas Rangers 34.2
15. J.D. Drew, 2004 - Atlanta Braves 34.0
16. Dave Winfield, 1979 - San Diego Padres 33.0
17. Gary Sheffield, 2005 - New York Yankees 32.7
18. Lance Berkman, 2004 - Houston Astros 32.3
19. Larry Walker, 1997 - Colorado Rockies 32.0
20. Vladimir Guerrero, 2007 - Los Angeles Angels 31.6
It's 300th Blog Entry Spectacular!
Or just another random list.
Biggest surprise about this list is how little Ken Griffey Jr. shows up on it but he did spend a lot of years in the hitter friendly Kingdome.
Top 20 Center Fielder Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Carlos Beltran, 2006 - New York Mets 38.3 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2006 29 NYM NL 140 510 127 140 38 1 41 116 18 3 95 99 .275 .388 .594 150 303 1 7 6 4 6
2. Rickey Henderson, 1985 - New York Yankees 37.7
3. Jim Edmonds, 2004 - St. Louis Cardinals 36.0
4. Willie McGee, 1985 - St. Louis Cardinals 35.9
5. Ken Griffey Jr., 1997 - Seattle Mariners 35.7
6. Lenny Dykstra, 1990 - Philadelphia Phillies 35.2
7. Andy Van Slyke, 1992 - Pittsburgh Pirates 34.6
8. Fred Lynn, 1979 - Boston Red Sox 34.0
9. Robin Yount, 1989 - Milwaukee Brewers 33.5
10. Ichiro Suzuki, 2007 - Seattle Mariners 33.4
11. Bernie Williams, 1999 - New York Yankees 33.1
12. Dale Murphy, 1984 - Atlanta Braves 32.5
13. Al Bumbry, 1980 - Baltimore Orioles 32.5
14. Lenny Dykstra, 1993 - Philadelphia Phillies 32.4
15. Dale Murphy, 1982 - Atlanta Braves 31.8
16. Dale Murphy, 1983 - Atlanta Braves 31.6
17. Kirby Puckett, 1988 - Minnesota Twins 31.5
18. Tim Raines, 1984 - Montreal Expos 31.5
19. Kirby Puckett, 1992 - Minnesota Twins 31.3
20. Robin Yount, 1988 - Milwaukee Brewers 31.3
Say what you want about Barry Bonds, and really please I insist you say nasty things about him, but he was really, really fucking good.
Top 20 Left Fielder Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Barry Bonds, 2001 - San Francisco Giants 53.9 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2001 36 SFG NL 153 476 129 156 32 2 73 137 13 3 177 93 .328 .515 .863 259 411 0 2 35 9 5
2. Barry Bonds, 2004 - San Francisco Giants 53.0
3. Barry Bonds, 2002 - San Francisco Giants 48.9
4. Barry Bonds, 1993 - San Francisco Giants 46.7
5. Albert Pujols, 2003 - St. Louis Cardinals 41.1
6. Barry Bonds, 1992 - Pittsburgh Pirates 40.8
7. Barry Bonds, 2003 - San Francisco Giants 39.2
8. Barry Bonds, 1996 - San Francisco Giants 39.0
9. Rickey Henderson, 1990 - Oakland A's 38.9
10. Kevin Mitchell, 1989 - San Francisco Giants 37.7
11. Albert Belle, 1998 - Chicago White Sox 37.4
12. Barry Bonds, 1990 - Pittsburgh Pirates 36.7
13. Luis Gonzalez, 2001 - Arizona Diamondbacks 36.6
14. Barry Bonds, 1991 - Pittsburgh Pirates 36.5
15. Barry Bonds, 1997 - San Francisco Giants 36.4
16. Barry Bonds, 1995 - San Francisco Giants 36.1
17. Tim Raines, 1985 - Montreal Expos 35.8
18. Pedro Guerrero, 1985 - Los Angeles Dodgers 34.8
19. Rickey Henderson, 1980 - Oakland A's 33.9
20. Tim Raines, 1987 - Montreal Expos 33.8
Now I know what you're thinking. If A-Fraud had the best third baseman season of the last 30 years, he had to have had the best shortstop season. But thankfully my Judeo-Christian friends we have been saved! But not be Jeter!? This is an outrage! Obviously our Lord and Savior is saving his best for last.
Top 20 Shortstop Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Robin Yount, 1982 - Milwaukee Brewers 38.6 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
1982 26 MIL AL 156 635 129 210 46 12 29 114 14 3 54 63 .331 .379 .578 166 367 4 10 2 1 19
2. Alex Rodriguez, 2000 - Seattle Mariners 37.2
3. Alex Rodriguez, 2001 - Texas Rangers 36.8
4. Cal Ripken, 1984 - Baltimore Orioles 36.7
5. Alex Rodriguez, 2002 - Texas Rangers 35.5
6. Derek Jeter, 1999 - New York Yankees 35.3
7. Cal Ripken, 1983 - Baltimore Orioles 35.3
8. Alan Trammell, 1987 - Detroit Tigers 35.1
9. Alex Rodriguez, 1996 - Seattle Mariners 34.0
10. Cal Ripken, 1991 - Baltimore Orioles 33.7
11. Ozzie Smith, 1987 - St. Louis Cardinals 32.9
12. Derek Jeter, 2006 - New York Yankees 32.7
13. Robin Yount, 1983 - Milwaukee Brewers 32.6
14. Rich Aurilia, 2001 - San Francisco Giants 32.6
15. Alex Rodriguez, 2003 - Texas Rangers 32.5
16. Barry Larkin, 1992 - Cincinnati Reds 32.3
17. Miguel Tejada, 2002 - Oakland A's 32.0
18. Nomar Garciaparra, 1999 - Boston Red Sox 31.6
19. Barry Larkin, 1996 - Cincinnati Reds 30.6
20. Barry Larkin, 1995 - Cincinnati Reds 30.4
This list is a travesty as we have the least clutchiest player in the history of mankind on top. I'm ashamed, your ashamed, and Jeter is ashamed. Now if I did this list during 2007, the #1 spot would have been a big shock.
Top 20 Third Baseman Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Alex Rodriguez, 2007 - New York Yankees 38.7 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2007 31 NYY AL 158 583 143 183 31 0 54 156 24 4 95 120 .314 .422 .645 177 376 0 9 11 21 15
2. Howard Johnson, 1989 - New York Mets 38
3. Scott Rolen, 2004 - St. Louis Cardinals 37.9
4. Ken Caminiti, 1996 - San Diego Padres 37.8
5. Mike Schmidt, 1980 - Philadelphia Philies 37.4
6. George Brett, 1985 - Kansas City Royals 37.3
7. Adrian Beltre, 2004 - Los Angeles Dodgers 37.1
8. Wade Boggs, 1986 - Boston Red Sox 36.8
9. Mike Schmidt, 1982 - Philadelphia Phillies 36.6
10. Alex Rodriguez, 2005 - New York Yankees 36.6
11. George Brett, 1980 - Kansas City Royals 36
12. Mike Schmidt, 1983 - Philadelphia Phillies 35.1
13. Terry Pendleton, 1992 - Atlanta Braves 35
14. David Wright, 2007 - New York Mets 34.4
15. Wade Boggs, 1983 - Boston Red Sox 33.7
16. Miguel Cabrera, 2006 - Florida Marlins 33.6
17. Mike Schmidt, 1979 - Philadelphia Phillies 33.3
18. George Brett, 1979 - Kansas City Royals 32.8
19. Wade Boggs, 1987 - Boston Red Sox 32.5
20. Gary Sheffield, 1992 - San Diego Padres 32.4
We actually had a tie for the top spot among second basemen between a current Hall of Famer and future Hall of Famer but the current one wins out per Win Shares Above Average as they played in six fewer games.
Top 20 Second Baseman Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Ryne Sandberg, 1984 - Chicago Cubs 38.3 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
1984 24 CHC NL 156 636 114 200 36 19 19 84 32 7 52 101 .314 .367 .520 140 331 5 4 3 3 7
2. Craig Biggio, 1997 - Houston Astros 38.3
3. Roberto Alomar, 2001 - Cleveland Indians 37.4
4. Jeff Kent, 2000 - San Francisco Giants 36.9
5. Ryne Sandberg, 1991 - Chicago Cubs 36.6
6. Alfonso Soriano, 2000 - New York Yankees 35.5
7. Roberto Alomar, 1999 - Cleveland Indians 34.8
8. Craig Biggio, 1998 - Houston Astros 34.8
9. Roberto Alomar, 1992 - Toronto Blue Jays 34.2
10. Ryne Sandberg, 1990 - Chicago Cubs 33.8
11. Ryne Sandberg, 1992 - Chicago Cubs 33.1
12. Mark Loretta, 2004 - San Diego Padres 33.1
13. Craig Biggio, 1996 - Houston Astros 32.4
14. Bret Boone, 2001 - Seattle Mariners 31.7
15. Craig Biggio, 1992 - Houston Astros 31.7
16. Chuck Knoblauch, 1996 - Minnesota Twins 31.6
17. Robert Alomar, 1996 - Baltimore Orioles 31.2
18. Steve Sax, 1986 - Los Angeles Dodgers 30.8
19. Craig Biggio, 1999 - Houston Astros 30.7
20. Willie Randolph, 1980 - New York Yankees 30.5
If you had to guess the first baseman who had the best single season of the last 30 years you might guess Frank Thomas, Mark McGwire, Jeff Bagwell, Albert Pujols, Jason Giambi, or maybe even Don Mattingly in his prime. And you'd be wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong...at least according to Win Shares. This player's numbers don't look huge at first glance but they came in a season when in the N.L. the average team only scored 3.94 runs a game, one of only four seasons since '79 that teams average under 4 runs a game in the N.L.
Top 20 First Baseman Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Will Clark, 1989 - San Francisco Giants 43.8 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
1989 25 SFG NL 159 588 104 196 38 9 23 111 8 3 74 103 .333 .407 .546 175 321 0 8 14 5 6
2. Mark McGwire, 1998 - St. Louis Cardinals 40.9
3. Jeff Bagwell, 1996 - Houston Astros 40.7
4. Albert Pujols, 2004 - St. Louis Cardinals 39.7
5. Frank Thomas, 1997 - Chicago White Sox 39.1
6. Albert Pujols, 2006 - St. Louis Cardinals 38.6
7. Albert Pujols, 2005 - St. Louis Cardinals 38.3
8. Jason Giambi, 2000 - Oakland A's 38.2
9. Jason Giambi, 2001 - Oakland A's 37.8
10. Derrek Lee, 2005 - Chicago Cubs 37.2
11. Jeff Bagwell, 1999 - Houston Astros 36.9
12. John Olerud, 1993 - Toronto Blue Jays 36.7
13. Will Clark, 1988 - San Francisco Giants 36.7
14. Carlos Delgado, 2000 - Toronto Blue Jays 36.4
15. Will Clark, 1991 - San Francisco Giants 34.3
16. Jason Giambi, 2002 - New York Yankees 34
17. Jim Thome, 2002 - Cleveland Indians 33.9
18. Lance Berkman, 2006 - Houston Astros 33.7
19. John Olerud, 1998 - New York Mets 33.5
20. Todd Helton, 2003 - Colorado Rockies 33.5
Enough of the worst, it's time for the best. Now instead of OPS+ for these lists I'll be using Win Shares since it rates a player's all around game rather than just their offense, although the defensive measures are very flawed. Just like the worst lists I'm picking a year to start with and this time around I'm going with 1979. The reason is that I was born on October 1, 1978 which was the last day of the 1978 regular season (among the winning pitchers that day were Luis Tiant, Ferguson Jenkins, and Rollie Fingers...ya I'm really getting old), so essentially these are the best single seasons of my lifetime.
Obviously there's going to be one glaring problem with these lists and that's the 1981, 1994, and 1995 strike shortened seasons will all be very underrepresented. And well...fuck it. I'm not going to worry about it.
Note Win Shares Above Average is used to break ties.
Top 20 Catcher Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares)
1. Mike Piazza, 1997 - Los Angeles Dodgers 38.6 Win Shares
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
1997 28 LAD NL 152 556 104 201 32 1 40 124 5 1 69 77 .362 .431 .638 185 355 0 5 11 3 19
2. Gary Carter, 1985 - New York Mets 33.3
3. Mike Piazza, 1998 - Los Angeles Dodgers/Florida Marlins/New York Mets 33
4. Mike Piazza, 1996 - Los Angeles Dodgers 32.9
5. Gary Carter, 1982 - Montreal Expos 31.3
6. Darrell Porter, 1979 - Kansas City Royals 30.8
7. Victor Martinez, 2007 - Cleveland Indians 30.8
8. Joe Mauer, 2006 - Minnesota Twins 30.8
9. Darren Daulton, 1992 - Philadelphia Phillies 30.8
10. Mike Piazza, 1993 - Los Angeles Dodgers 30.5
11. Gary Carter, 1984 - Montreal Expos 30.2
12. Gary Carter, 1980 - Montreal Expos 30
13. Javy Lopez, 2003 - Atlanta Braves 29.7
14. Darren Daulton, 1993 - Philadelphia Phillies 28.6
15. Jorge Posada, 2000 - New York Yankees 28.6
16. Paul Lo Duca, 2001 - Los Angeles Dodgers 27.9
17. Jorge Posada, 2003 - New York Yankees 27.8
18. Terry Kennedy, 1982 - San Diego Padres 27.8
19. Ivan Rodriguez, 1999 - Texas Rangers 27.6
20. Rick Wilkins, 1993 - Chicago Cubs 27.5
Back by popular demand, add another "Worst" list with the worst pitcher seasons since 1961 using ERA+. Checking baseball-reference.com, unlike qualifications for the batting title, it appears the qualification for the ERA title has never changed. In order to qualify a pitcher must pitch at least one inning per team game. Now I could have gone back to 1901 then but again it would been littered with too many early 20th century pitchers that most us have never heard of. The worst ERA+ of all-time was Rube Bressler of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1915 who posted an ERA+ of 56. To put that into context, he had an 5.20 ERA while the league ERA that season was 2.93.
I elected to go with 1961 since that was the beginning of the expansion era of MLB when the Angels and Senators (ver 2.0) were added to the American League. Now on the player lists there were a lot of ties and there would have been a ton for the pitcher list so to make it slightly less cluttered I break the ties by who threw more innings (as in who sucked in a larger sample). And the top of the list is someone who we could never forget, nor can we ever forget his wife's huge tits.
Top 25 Worst Pitcher Seasons since 1961 (per ERA+)
1. Jose Lima, 2005 - Kansas City Royals 63 ERA+ (6.99 ERA in 168 2/3 IP)
2. Jack Lamabe, 1964 - Boston Red Sox 65
3. Eric Milton, 2005 - Cincinnati Reds 66 (186 1/3 IP)
4. Rick Wise, 1968 - Philadelphia Phillies 66 (182)
5. Mark Davis, 1984 - San Francisco Giants 66 (174 2/3)
6. Bob Knepper, 1989 - Houston Astros/San Francisco Giants 66 (165)
7. Jim Deshaies, 1994 - Minnesota Twins 66 (130 1/3)
8. Warren Spahn, 1964 - Milwaukee Braves 67
9. Matt Keough, 1982 - Oakland A's 68 (209 1/3)
10. Steve Arlin, 1973 - San Diego Padres 68 (180)
11. Phil Ortega, 1965 - Washington Senators 68 (179 2/3)
12. Javier Vazquez, 1998 - Montreal Expos 69
13. Vida Blue, 1979 - San Francisco Giants 70 (237)
14. Frank Baumann, 1961 - Chicago White Sox 70 (187 2/3)
15. Pete Broberg, 1972 - Texas Rangers 70 (176 1/3)
16. Joel Pineiro, 2006 - Seattle Mariners 70 (165 2/3)
17. Terry Mulholland, 1995 - San Francisco Giants 70 (149)
18. Dick Ruthven, 1981 - Philadelphia Phillies 70 (146 2/3)
19. Willie Fraser, 1988 - California Angels 71 (194 2/3)
20. Bob Walk, 1993 - Pittsburgh Pirates 71 (187)
21. Bill Singer, 1975 - California Angels 71 (175)
22. Brandon Duckworth, 2002 - Philadelphia Phillies 71 (163)
23. Terry Mulholland, 1994 - New York Yankees 71 (120)
24. Jack Fisher, 1967 - New York Mets 72 (220 1/3)
25. Joe Coleman, 1975 - Detroit Tigers 72 (201)
Now finally finishing off these Worst lists with designated hitters. Since the DH has only been around since 1973 these are the worst DH seasons of all-time. Unlike every other position, there is no additional value to be provided by DH beyond what they do with their bat. They aren't even expected to be threats on the basepaths either as most DH's are aging veterans or guys who are so slow they couldn't even handle first base. The top of the list falls into the aging veteran category as he was a great hitting catcher, who you can make a legit argument for him being a Hall of Famer, but he fell of a cliff offensively in this season at age 34 and goes down as the worst DH season by a wide margin. Not surprising there are a few all-time greats on this list who were the twilight of their careers.
Top 25 Worst Designated Hitter Seasons of All-Time (per OPS+)
1. Ted Simmons, 1984 - Milwaukee Brewers 61 OPS+ (.221/.269/.300)
2. Ruben Sierra, 1996 - New York Yankees/Detroit Tigers 75
3t. Alvin Davis, 1991 - Seattle Mariners 76
3t. Tommy Harper, 1974 - Boston Red Sox 76
5. Joe Carter, 1997 - Toronto Blue Jays 77
6t. Scott Hatteberg, 2005 - Oakland A's 81
6t. Dave Parker, 1991 - California Angels/Toronto Blue Jays 81
8t. Larry Sheets, 1988 - Baltimore Orioles 83
8t. Mitchell Page, 1979 - Oakland A's 83
10. Greg Vaughn, 1995 - Milwaukee Brewers 85
11t. Paul Molitor, 1998 - Minnesota Twins 86
11t. Eddie Murray, 1994 - Cleveland Indians 86
13. Eddie Murray, 1996 - Cleveland Indians/Baltimore Orioles 86
14t. Gerald Perry, 1990 - Kansas City Royals 90
14t. Dave Kingman, 1986 - Oakland A's 90
16. Julio Franco, 1997 - Cleveland Indians/Milwaukee Brewers 91
17t. Edgar Martinez, 2004 - Seattle Mariners 92
17t. Rico Carty, 1979 - Toronto Blue Jays 92
17t. Deron Johnson, 1975 - Chicago White Sox/Boston Red Sox 92
20t. Carl Everett, 2005 - Chicago White Sox 94
20t. George Brett, 1993 - Kansas City Royals 94
20t. Andre Thornton, 1985 - Cleveland Indians 94
20t. Reggie Jackson, 1984 - California Angels 94
24t. Carl Yastrzemski, 1981 - Boston Red Sox 95
24t. Hank Aaron, 1975 - Milwaukee Brewers 95
The worst offensive season by a rightfielder has stood for over 100 years as Jack Dunn in 1902 had an OPS+ of 56 (.211/.256/.249). But for this modern exercise, 1999 was officially The Year of the Shitty Hitting Outfielder as players from that season have topped the list at each outfield spot.
Top 25 (or so) Worst Offensive Rightfielder Seasons since 1957 (per OPS+)
1. Derek Bell, 1999 - Houston Astros 66 OPS+ (.236/.306/.350)
2t. Cory Snyder, 1989 - Cleveland Indians 70
2t. Mike Hershberger, 1964 - Chicago White Sox 70
4. Felix Jose, 1993 - Kansas City Royals 71
5. Mike Hershberger, 1965 - Kansas City A's 72
6. Dave May, 1974 - Milwaukee Brewers 73
7t. Tony Womack, 1999 - Arizona Diamondbacks 77
7t. Hosken Powell, 1980 - Minnesota Twins 77
9t. Jeromy Burnitz, 2002 - New York Mets 80
9t. Steve Finley, 1990 - Baltimore Orioles 80
9t. Glenn Wilson, 1987 - Philadelphia Phillies 80
12. Dave Martinez, 2000 - Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Chicago White Sox/Texas Rangers/Toronto Blue Jays 81
13t. Alex Ochoa, 2001 - Cincinnati Reds/Colorado Rockies 82
13t. Jose Guillen, 1997 - Pittsburgh Pirates 82
13t. Darnell Coles, 1989 - Seattle Mariners 82
13t. Bob Bailor, 1978 - Toronto Blue Jays 82
17. Mark Kotsay, 1999 - Florida Marlins 83
18t. Randy Winn, 2006 - San Francisco Giants 84
18t. Alexis Rios, 2005 - Toronto Blue Jays 84
18t. Juan Encarnacion, 2004 - Los Angeles Dodgers/Florida Marlins 84
18t. Roger Cedeno, 2003 - New York Mets 84
18t. Jose Guillen, 1998 - Pittsburgh Pirates 84
18t. Rob Deer, 1993 - Detroit Tigers/Boston Red Sox 84
18t. Ron Fairly, 1967 - Los Angeles Dodgers 84
25t. Danny Bautista, 2004 - Arizona Diamondbacks 85
25t. Brian Jordan, 2000 - Atlanta Braves 85
25t. Pat Kelly, 1970 - Kansas City Royals 85
25t. Gino Cimoli, 1963 - Kansas City A's 85
The worst offensive season by a centerfielder since 1901 was Alex Metzler in 1930 with an OPS+ of 56 (.236/.313/.302). The player on the top of this particular list came very close to breaking that record in 1999 (the year of shitting hitting outfielders?) and also made my Worst Hitters since 1986 list. Interesting thing about this list is that most of these punchless performances have happened in the last 20 years.
Top 25 (or so) Worst Offensive Centerfielder Seasons since 1957 (per OPS+)
1. Darren Lewis, 1999 - Boston Red Sox 57 OPS+ (.240/.311/.309)
2. Gary Pettis, 1988 - Detroit Tigers 61
3. Marquis Grissom, 2000 - Milwaukee Brewers 63
4. Darren Lewis, 1995 - San Francisco Giants/Cincinnati Reds 64
5t. Endy Chavez, 2003 - Montreal Expos 65
5t. Brian Hunter, 1998 - Detroit Tigers 65
5t. Chuck Carr, 1994 - Florida Marlins 65
5t. Brian McRrae, 1992 - Kansas City Royals 65
5t. Bill Virdon, 1964 - Pittsburgh Pirates 65
10. Peter Bergeron, 2000 - Montreal Expos 67
11t. Juan Pierre, 2002 - Colorado Rockies 68
11t. Gerald Williams, 1997 - Milwaukee Brewers 68
11t. Omar Moreno, 1982 - Pittsburgh Pirates 68
11t. Bill Virdon, 1962 - Pittsburgh Pirates 68
15t. Tom Goodwin, 2000 - Colorado Rockies/Los Angeles Dodgers 69
15t. Tom Goodwin, 1997 - Kansas City Royals/Texas Rangers 69
15t. Eric Yelding, 1990 - Houston Astros 69
18t. Tom Goodwin, 1996 - Kansas City Royals 70
18t. Darren Lewis, 1993 - San Francisco Giants 70
18t. Rick Manning, 1979 - Cleveland Indians 70
18t. Jim Piersall, 1962 - Washington Senators 70
22t. Doug Glanville, 2001 - Philadelphia Phillies 71
22t. Doug Glanville, 2000 - Philadelphia Phillies 71
22t. Chris Singleton, 2000 - Chicago White Sox 71
22t. Bob Dernier, 1985 - Chicago Cubs 71
22t. Rick Manning, 1983 - Cleveland Indians/Milwaukee Brewers 71
The worst offensive season but a leftfielder since 1901 was...wait...just nine years ago!? Speed can kill but it can also keep a guy in the line up who really shouldn't be anything more than a designated pinch runner.
Top 25 Worst Offenisve Leftfielder Seasons since 1957 (per OPS+)
1. Brian Hunter, 1999 - Detroit Tigers/Seattle Mariners 48 OPS+ (.232/.280/.301)
2. Vince Coleman, 1994 - Kansas City Royals 59
3. Vince Coleman, 1986 - St. Louis Cardinals 62
4. Bill Sample, 1984 - Texas Rangers 68
5t. Billy Hatcher, 1989 - Houston Astros/Pittsburgh Pirates 70
5t. Dan Meyer, 1975 - Detroit Tigers 70
7t. Scott Podsednik, 2006 - Chicago White Sox 75
7t. Luis Polonia, 1993 - California Angels 75
9t. Tommy Harper, 1974 - Boston Red Sox 76
9t. Don Buford, 1972 - Baltimore Orioles 76
11t. Rickey Henderson, 2000 - New York Mets/Seattle Mariners 77
11t. Jeffrey Leonard, 1988 - San Francisco Giants/Milwaukee Brewers 77
11t. Ron LeFlore, 1981 - Chicago White Sox 77
14t. Terrence Long, 2003 - Oakland A's 78
14t. Roger Cedeno, 2002 - New York Mets 78
14t. Ricky Ledee, 2000 - New York Yankees/Cleveland Indians/Texas Rangers 78
14t. Gary Ward, 1987 - New York Yankees 78
18t. Reed Johnson, 2004 - Toronto Blue Jays 79
18t. Lou Piniella, 1973 - Kansas City Royals 79
20t. Dan Gladden, 1991 - Minnesota Twins 80
20t. Tito Francona, 1963 - Cleveland Indians 80
22t. Carl Crawford, 2003 - Tampa Bay Devil Rays 81
22t. Troy O'Leary, 2000 - Boston Red Sox 81
22t. Lou Brock, 1977 - St. Louis Cardinals 81
22t. Jim Gilliam, 1958 - Los Angeles Dodgers 81
The worst offensive season by a shortstop of all-time was Jim Levey in 1933 with an OPS+ of 24 (.195/.237/.240). Jim was a teammate of Art Scharein on the St. Louis Browns that year who my three readers will remember that he had the worst offensive ever by a third baseman that year thus teaming up for the undisputed, worst hitting left side of an infield in MLB history. Congratulations guys.
Now on to more modern players and the player at the top of this list takes both #1 and #2 spots in back-to-back seasons which is quite the achievement. In case you were wondering, he was considered a great defensive shortstop but me thinks he probably still played more than he should have.
Top 25 (or so) Worst Offensive Shortstop Seasons since 1957 (per OPS+)
1. Hal Lanier, 1968 - San Francisco Giants 38 OPS+ (.206/.222/.239)
2. Hal Lanier, 1967 - San Francisco Giants 42
3. Alfredo Griffin, 1990 - Los Angeles Dodgers 43
4t. Neifi Perez, 2002 - Kansas City Royals 44
4t. Ivan DeJesus, 1981 - Chicago Cubs 44
4t. Tim Johnson, 1973 - Milwaukee Brewers 44
7. Hal Lanier, 1969 - San Francisco Giants 46
8t. Clint Barmes, 2006 - Colorado Rockies 47
8t. Mike Caruso, 1999 - Chicago White Sox 47
10. Ozzie Smith, 1979 - San Diego Padres 48
11t. Alfredo Griffin, 1981 - Toronto Blue Jays 49
11t. Marty Perez, 1972 - Atlanta Braves 49
13t. Craig Robinson, 1974 - Atlanta Braves 51
13t. Dick Schofield, 1965 - Pittsburgh Pirates/San Francisco Giants 51
15t. Angel Berroa, 2006 - Kansas City Royals 52
15t. Zoilo Versalles, 1967 - Minnesota Twins 52
17t. Rey Ordonez, 1998 - New York Mets 53
17t. Andres Thomas, 1989 - Atlanta Braves 53
17t. Glenn Hoffman, 1982 - Boston Red Sox 53
20t. Ronny Cedeno, 2006 - Chicago Cubs 54
20t. Gary DiSarcina, 1997 - Anaheim Angels 54
20t. Ozzie Guillen, 1986 - Chicago White Sox 54
20t. Alfredo Griffin, 1982 - Toronto Blue Jays 54
24t. Juan Uribe, 2002 - Colorado Rockies 55
24t. Kevin Stocker, 1995 - Philadelphia Phillies 55
24t. Curtis Wilkerson, 1984 - Texas Rangers 55
24t. Don Kessinger, 1967 - Chicago Cubs 55
24t. Ken Hamlin, 1960 - Kansas City A's 55
Out of the way quickly, the worst offensive single season by a third baseman was Art Scharein in 1933 who nearly matched the year with an OPS+ of 34. But we're only concerned with the last 50 years and that mark was set just last season! Why didn't ESPN cover this?
Top 25 (or so) Worst Offensive Third Baseman Seasons since 1957 (per OPS+)
1. Nick Punto, 2007 - Minnesota Twins 52 OPS+ (.210/.291/.271)
2. Scott Brosius, 1997 - Oakland A's 53
3. Brooks Robinson, 1975 - Baltimore Orioles 58
4t. Damion Easley, 1994 - California Angels 59
4t. Clete Boyer, 1964 - New York Yankees 59
6t. Jose Hernandez, 2003 - Colorado Rockies/Chicago Cubs/Pittsburgh Pirates 60
6t. Vinny Castilla, 2002 - Atlanta Braves 60
6t. Aurelio Rodriguez, 1974 - Detroit Tigers 60
9t. Terry Pendleton, 1986 - St. Louis Cardinals 62
9t. Bubba Phillips, 1963 - Detroit Tigers 62
11. Aurelio Rodriguez, 1973 - Detroit Tigers 63
12. Terry Pendleton, 1985 - St. Louis Cardinals 66
13t. Tim Wallach, 1993 - Los Angeles Dodgers 67
13t. Aurelio Rodriguez, 1969 - California Angels 67
13t. Don Wert, 1968 - Detroit Tigers 67
16t. Terry Pendleton, 1996 - Florida Marlins/Atlanta Braves 68
16t. Hubie Brooks, 1983 - New York Mets 68
16t. John Kennedy, 1964 - Washington Senators 68
19t. Tim Hulett, 1986 - Chicago White Sox 69
19t. Manny Castillo, 1982 - Seattle Mariners 69
19t. Brooks Robinson, 1958 - Baltimore Orioles 69
22t. Jeff Cirillo, 2002 - Seattle Mariners 70
22t. Cal Ripken, 2001 - Baltimore Orioles 70
22t. Scott Brosius, 2000 - New York Yankees 70
25t. Geoff Blum, 2001 - Montreal Expos 71
25t. Ken Caminiti, 1990 - Houston Astros 71
25t. Aurelio Rodriguez, 1976 - Detroit Tigers 71
In case you were wondering, and you weren't, the worst hitting season by a second baseman since 1901 was by Del Young in 1923 with an OPS+ of 23 (.194/.235/.231 in 386 plate appearances). The top of this list once again shows that a shitty player may one day become a great manager. Also, anybody know who in the Mets' organization was Doug Flynn blowing in the late 70's and the early 80's to maintain an everyday job? (edit: It was Jesus!)
Top 25 (or so) Worst Offensive Second Baseman Seasons since 1957 (per OPS+)
1. Sparky Anderson, 1959 - Philadelphia Phillies 43 OPS+ (.218/.282/.249)
2. Tommy Helms, 1970 - Cincinnati Reds 44
3. Billy Ripken, 1988 - Baltimore Orioles 48
4. Hal Lanier, 1965 - San Francisco Giants 51
5t. Mike Lansing, 2000 - Colorado Rockies/Boston Red Sox 54
5t. Doug Flynn, 1981 - New York Mets 54
7. Jose Lind, 1992 - Pittsburgh Pirates 56
8t. Mike Chapman, 1977 - San Diego Padres 57
8t. Julian Javier, 1970 - St. Louis Cardinals 57
10. Horace Clarke, 1968 - New York Yankees 59
11t. Delino DeShields, 1996 - Los Angeles Dodgers 60
11t. Rodney Scott, 1981 - Montreal Expos 60
13t. Doug Flynn, 1979 - New York Mets 61
13t. Sandy Alomar, 1973 - California Angels 61
13t. Glenn Beckert, 1965 - Chicago Cubs 61
13t. Billy Gardner, 1958 - Baltimore Orioles 61
13t. Bobby Morgan, 1957 - Philadelphia Phillies/Chicago Cubs 61
18t. Brent Abernathy, 2002 - Tampa Bay Devil Rays 62
18t. Doug Flynn, 1978 - New York Mets 62
18t. Julian Javier, 1960 - St. Louis Cardinals 62
21. Len Randle, 1976 - Texas Rangers 63
22t. Bret Boone, 1996 - Cincinnati Reds 64
22t. Ted Sizemore, 1975 - St. Louis Cardinals 64
22t. Dave Campbell, 1970 - San Diego Padres 64
25t. Ray Durham, 2007 - San Francisco Giants 64
25t. Duane Kuiper, 1979 - Cleveland Indians 64
25t. Sandy Alomar, 1975 - New York Yankees 64
25t. Sandy Alomar, 1969 - Chicago White Sox/California Angels 64
25t. Tony Taylor, 1958 - Chicago Cubs 64
Continuing with more of the worst. Now there are positions in baseball where clubs are very willing to sacrifice defense for offense, middle infielders being most common. If you have an excellent defensive shortstop or second baseman you can often overlook their offensive shortcomings. First base is not one of those positions. Sure a great defensive first baseman is nice to have but if they can't hit, it's not wise to keep them in the line up everyday if you have a better hitting alternative who isn't at least a complete butcher in the field.
The worst hitting season for a first baseman since 1901 was by Ivy Griffin in 1920 who posted a blistering hitting line of .238/.281/.274 for an OPS+ of 47 in 505 plate appearances, which means he'd qualify under the modern rules for the batting title. Now Griffin played on a horrific Philadelphia A's team that lost 106 games. On the other hand the man who posted the worst hitting season for a first baseman since 1957 played on a team who made it to the World Series and you might have heard of him too, no offense to Mr. Griffin. Actually there was a tie for first/worst so the tiebreak was who had more plate appearances.
Top 25 Worst Offensive First Baseman Seasons since 1957 (per OPS+)
1. Pete Rose, 1983 - Philadelphia Phillies 69 OPS+ (.245/.316/.286)
2. Pete Runnels, 1957 - Washington Senators 69
3. Enos Cabell, 1981 - San Francisco Giants 72
4t. Kevin Young, 1993 - Pittsburgh Pirates 73
4t. Whitey Lockman, 1957 - New York Giants 73
6. Darin Erstad, 1999 - Anaheim Angels 74
7. Dave Stapleton, 1983 - Boston Red Sox 76
8t. Mike Squires, 1981 - Chicago White Sox 78
8t. Tony Taylor, 1967 - Philadelphia Phillies 78
8t. Lee Thomas, 1963 - Los Angeles Angels 78
11t. Kevin Young, 2001 - Pittsburgh Pirates 80
11t. Dale Murphy, 1978 - Atlanta Braves 80
13t. Ron Coomer, 2000 - Minnesota Twins 81
13t. J.T. Snow, 1996 - California Angels 81
13t. David Segui, 1994 - New York Mets 81
16. Bill Buckner, 1973 - Los Angeles Dodgers 82
17t. Cecil Cooper, 1986 - Milwaukee Brewers 83
17t. Vic Power, 1957 - Kansas City A's 83
19t. Ken Harvey, 2003 - Kansas City Royals 84
19t. Keith Moreland, 1988 - San Diego Padres 84
19t. Willie Montanez, 1979 - New York Mets/Texas Rangers 84
19t. Rusty Staub, 1963 - Houston Colt .45's 84
19t. Vic Power, 1961 - Cleveland Indians 84
24t. Pete O'Brien, 1983 - Texas Rangers 85
24t. Frank Thomas, 1960 - Chicago Cubs 85
Baseball-Reference.com Play Index is saving this blog with more useless lists1 Today I list the 25 worst individual offensive seasons according to OPS+ since 1957, who qualified for the batting title in their given year. Why 1957 instead of all the way back to the beginning modern era in 1901? Because I'm lazy and because the current guidelines for qualifying for the batting title were adopted in '57. The current rule is a player must average 3.1 plate appearances per total number of games played by their team which with the 162 game schedule works out to 502 plate appearances. Here's a copy and paste of the guidelines through out the years from Baseball-Reference.com:
If we took into account players prior to 1957 it would be littered with early 20th century players, who many of you including myself probably never heard of and wouldn't be able to add comments like "Hey I remember him, he sucked!" In case you were wondering, the worst offensive season ever by a catcher who qualified for the batting title was Bill Bergen in 1909 who had an OPS+ of 1 (.139/.163/.156 in 372 plate appearances). Again like with my last entry a lot these guys played a lot due to superior defense (Bob Boone is on it four times) but some probably shouldn't have been playing much at all.
Top 25 Worst Offensive Catcher Single Seasons (per OPS+)
1. Matt Walbeck, 1994 - Minnesota Twins 37 OPS+ (.204/.246/.284)
2. Brad Ausmus, 2006 - Houston Astros 54
3t. Brad Ausmus, 2003 - Houston Astros 55
3t. Jim Sundberg, 1975 - Texas Rangers 55
5. Joe Girardi, 1995 - Colorado Rockies 58
6t. Jason Kendall, 2007 - Oakland A's/Chicago Cubs 63
6t. Bob Boone, 1986 - California Angels 63
8. Tony Pena, 1991 - Boston Red Sox 66
9t. Michael Barrett, 2001 - Montreal Expos 68
9t. Joe Girardi, 1994 - Colorado Rockies 68
11t. Kirt Manwaring, 1994 - San Francisco Giants 69
11t. Johnny Edwards, 1970 - Houston Astros 69
13. Bob Boone, 1974 - Philadelphia Phillies 70
14. B.J. Surhoff, 1988 - Milwaukee Brewers 71
15. Bob Boone, 1985 - California Angels 72
16t. Butch Wynegar, 1978 - Minnesota Twins 73
16t. Randy Hundley, 1968 - Chicago Cubs 73
18. Joe Oliver, 1993 - Cincinnati Reds 74
19t. Pat Borders, 1993 - Toronto Blue Jays 75
19t. Bob Boone, 1980 - Philadelphia Phillies 75
21t. Benito Santiago, 2001 - San Francisco Giants 76
21t. Benito Santiago, 1993 - Florida Marlins 76
21t. Rick Cerone, 1979 - Toronto Blue Jays 76
21t. John Bateman, 1971 - Montreal Expos 76
21t. John Bateman, 1970 - Montreal Expos 76
A few weeks back I finally decided to purchase a subscription to the Baseball-Reference.com Play Index since I figured it'd be helpful in putting together a few random lists to keep this blog afloat. Of course if I had known there would be a free preview over All-Star week (which ends today) I might I have waited a little longer but oh well. Now several times in the past I've mentioned that all my sports memories begin in 1986 so figured my first random list using Play Index I'd have it centered around that year.
So here are by position the worst hitters according to OPS+ who had at least 2500 plate appearances (about five full seasons) in the Majors since 1986. In fairness the majority of these players lasted as long as they did due to stellar defense. I left off DH because there's only 10 players that qualified with Dave Parker at the bottom with an OPS+ of 104.
Catcher
.239/.293/.344, 4287 PA, 353 R, 925 H, 190 2B, 9 3B, 67 HR, 443 RBI, 266 BB, 795 SO, 64 OPS+
First Base
.257/.301/.386, 3106 PA, 316 R, 733 H, 135 2B, 18 3B, 66 HR, 376 RBI, 181 BB, 552 SO, 88 OPS+
Second Base
.248/.307/.352, 3138 PA, 366 R, 704 H, 128 2B, 17 3B, 44 HR, 271 RBI, 226 BB, 531 SO, 68 OPS+
Third Base
.239/.274/.411, 2766 PA, 304 R, 620 H, 128 2B, 10 3B, 99 HR, 377 RBI, 120 BB, 20 SO, 77 OPS+
Shortstop
.246/.289/.310, 3407 PA, 291 R, 767 H, 129 2B, 17 3B, 12 HR, 287 RBI, 191 BB, 339 SO, 59 OPS+
Leftfield
(since 1986 only)
.263/.324/.346, 5278 PA, 742 R, 1255 H, 156 2B, 79 3B, 27 HR, 306 RBI, 427 BB, 845 SO, 83 OPS+
Centerfield
.250/.323/.322, 4652 PA, 607 R, 1021 H, 137 2B, 37 3B, 27 HR, 342 RBI, 403 BB, 514 SO, 72 OPS+
Rightfield
.272/.315/.409, 2718 PA, 317 R, 685 H, 121 2B, 19 3B, 62 HR, 319 RBI, 149 BB, 409 SO, 83 OPS+
Wow, two entries in one week? I'm gonna need an extended vacation after exhausting myself like this.
Next Sunday the All-Star Game reserves will be selected for this year's extra special, Yankee Stadium Circle Jerk All-Star Game presented by FOX. And hey it counts or something. I originally intended on picking my own All-Star team using all that stat geek crap I typically use but that was going to take longer than I wanted so instead I decided to make predictions for All-Star reserves primarily relying on those Joe Morgan friendly stats (AVG, HR, RBI, Wins, ERA, Saves). Player balloting will be going on this week for picking the reserves so doubt too much of what happens this week will effect the results.
Here are the current vote leaders in the fan balloting as of this past week:
American League
C: Joe Mauer, Twins
1B: Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox
2B: Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
3B: Alex Rodriguez, Yankees
SS: Derek Jeter, Yankees
OF: Manny Ramirez, Red Sox; Josh Hamilton, Rangers; Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners
Only race in doubt is at catcher as Mauer tries to hold off Jason Varitek (really, Red Sox fans?).
National League
C: Geovany Soto, Cubs
1B: Lance Berkman, Astros
2B: Chase Utley, Phillies
3B: Chipper Jones, Braves
SS: Hanley Ramirez, Marlins
OF: Alfonso Soriano, Cubs; Kosuke Fukudome, Cubs; Ken Griffey Jr., Reds
The one race that appears to be coming down to the wire is at shortstop as Ramirez and Miguel Tejada are locked in a tight battle. Outside chance Ryan Braun will slip into the final outfield spot. Now on to my predictions.
My A.L. Reserves Predictions
C: A.J. Pierzynski, White Sox
1B: Justin Morneau, Twins
2B: Ian Kinsler, Rangers; Brian Roberts, Orioles
3B: Mike Lowell, Red Sox
SS: Michael Young, Rangers
OF: Magglio Ordonez, Tigers; Carlos Quentin, White Sox; Vladimir Guerrero, Angels; Jermaine Dye, White Sox
DH: Hideki Matsui, Yankees
SP: Cliff Lee, Indians; Joe Saunders, Angels; Mike Mussina, Yankees; Vicente Padilla, Rangers; Justin Duchscherer, Athletics; Scott Kazmir, Rays; Roy Halladay, Blue Jays
RP: Francisco Rodriguez, Angels; Mariano Rivera Yankees; Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox; Joe Nathan, Twins; Joakim Soria, Royals
My N.L. Reserves Predictions
C: Brian McCann, Braves; Russell Martin, Dodgers
1B: Albert Pujols, Cardinals; Adrian Gonzalez, Padres
2B: Dan Uggla, Marlins
3B: David Wright Mets; Aramis Ramirez, Cubs
SS: Jose Reyes, Mets
OF: Ryan Braun, Brewers; Pat Burrell, Phillies; Carlos Lee, Astros; Xavier Nady, Pirates
SP: Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks; Edinson Volquez, Reds; Ben Sheets, Brewers; Aaron Cook, Rockies; Ryan Dempster, Cubs; Tim Lincecum, Giants; Carlos Zambrano, Cubs; Kyle Lohse, Cardinals
RP: Brad Lidge, Phillies; Billy Wagner, Mets; Kerry Wood, Cubs; Jon Rauch, Nationals
My blog is still not dead...getting closer though. But I remembered the NBA Draft was this week so I can get another Draftback entry in. With the NBA Draft I take different approach as I rank the players using the basketball version of Win Shares. I don't know how reliable the statistic is, and I don't quite agree with all the rankings, but at least it's an objective way to compare these player's careers at this point.
1997 NBA Draft per Career Win Shares
1. Tim Duncan, San Antonio - 399 Career Win Shares (1st Pick)
2. Chauncey Billups, Boston - 252 (3rd)
3. Tracy McGrady, Toronto - 246 (9th)
4. Antonio Daniels, Vancouver - 131 (4th)
5. Derek Anderson, Cleveland - 120 (13th)
6. Keith Van Horn, Philadelphia (traded to New Jersey) - 115 (2nd)
7t. Tim Thomas, New Jersey (traded to Philadelphia) - 94 (7th)
7t. Bobby Jackson, Seattle (traded to Denver) - 94 (23rd)
9. Tony Battie, Denver - 91 (5th)
10t. Kelvin Cato, Dallas (traded to Portland) - 83 (15th)
10t. Brevin Knight, Cleveland - 83 (16th)
12. Austin Croshere, Indiana - 81 (12th)
13. Stephen Jackson, Phoenix - 79 (42nd)
14. Scott Pollard, Detroit - 78 (19th)
15. Alvin Williams, Portland - 61 (48th)
16t. Adonal Foyle, Golden State - 60 (8th)
16t. Anthony Johnson, Sacramento - 60 (39th)
18. Danny Fortson, Milwaukee (traded to Denver) - 57 (10th)
19. Mark Blount, Seattle - 56 (54th)
20. Jacque Vaughn, Utah - 51 (27th)
21. Marc Jackson, Golden State - 38 (37th)
22t. Maurice Taylor, L.A. Clippers - 37 (14th)
22t. Anthony Parker, New Jersey (traded to Philadelphia) - 37 (21st)
24. Ron Mercer, Boston - 33 (6th)
25. Cedric Henderson, Cleveland - 21 (44th)
26. Chris Crawford, Atlanta - 19 (50th)
27. Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Sacramento - 17 (11th)
28. Predrag Drobnjak, Washington - 15 (48th)
29. John Thomas, New York - 9 (25th)
30t. Chris Anstey, Portland (traded to Dallas) - 7 (19th)
30t. Charles Smith, Miami - 7 (26th)
32. Ed Gray, Atlanta - 3 (22nd)
33t. Rodrick Rhodes, Houston - 2 (24th)
33t. Keith Booth, Chicago - 2 (28th)
33t. Charles O'Bannon, Detroit - 2 (31st)
33t. Jerald Honeycutt, Milwaukee - 2 (38th)
33t. DeJuan Wheat, L.A. Lakers - 2 (51st)
38t. Johnny Taylor, Orlando - 1 (17th)
38t. Marko Milic, Philadelphia - 1 (33rd)
38t. Bubba Wells, Dallas - 1 (34th)
38t. Kebu Stewart, Philadelphia (35th)
38t. Jason Lawson, Denver - 1 (41st)
38t. Eric Washington, Orlando - 1 (46th)
The Zero Club
Paul Grant, Minnesota (20th)
James Cotton, Denver (32nd)
James Collins, Philadelphia (36th)
God Shammgod, Washington (45th)
Never Played in the NBA
Serge Zwikker, Houston (29th)
Mark Sanford, Miami (30th)
Eddie Elisma, Seattle (40th)
Gordon Malone, Minnesota (43rd)
Alain Digbeu, Atlanta (49th)
C.J. Bruton, Vancouver (52nd)
Paul Rogers, L.A. Lakers (53rd)
Ben Pepper, Boston (55th)
Nate Erdmann, Utah (56th)
Roberto Duenas, Chicago (57th)
Most Win Shares with Team they were Drafted by
1. Tim Duncan, 399
2. Austin Croshere, 74
3. Keith Van Horn, 60 (draft day trade)
4. Adonal Foyle, 56
5. Brevin Knight, 37
6. Tracy McGrady, 36
7. Cedric Henderson, 21
8. Derek Anderson, 20
9. Chris Crawford, 19
10. Ron Mercer, 15
