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And I'm finally done with the best lists, just two days before they are out of date! It is pretty amazing to think that the best season by a pitcher in the last 30 years was by a guy who peaked at age 20. Top 20 Starting Pitcher Seasons since 1979 (per Win Shares) 1. Dwight Gooden, 1985 - New York Mets 32.9 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 +--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+ 1985 20 NYM NL 24 4 35 35 16 8 0 0 276.7 198 51 47 13 69 268 2 6 1065 4 1.53 228 0.965 2. Roger Clemens, 1997 - Toronto Blue Jays 31.9 3. Greg Maddux, 1995 - Atlanta Braves 29.9 4. Pedro Martinez, 2000 - Boston Red Sox 28.9 5. Roger Clemens, 1986 - Boston Red Sox 28.8 6. Randy Johnson, 2002 - Arizona Diamondbacks 28.7 7. Steve Carlton, 1980 - Philadelphia Phillies 28.6 8. Brett Saberhagen, 1989 - Kansas City Royals 28.3 9. Roger Clemens, 1990 - Boston Red Sox 28.1 10. Roger Clemens, 1987 - Boston Red Sox 27.7 11. Greg Maddux, 1992 - Chicago Cubs 27.4 12. Johan Santana, 2004 - Minnesota Twins 27.2 13. John Smoltz, 1996 - Atlanta Braves 27.1 14. John Tudor, 1985 - St. Louis Cardinals 27.1 15. Kevin Appier, 1993 - Kansas City Royals 27.0 16. Pedro Martinez, 1999 - Boston Red Sox 26.9 17. Mike Scott, 1986 - Houston Astros 26.8 18. Pedro Martinez, 1997 - Montreal Expos 26.4 19. Randy Johnson, 1999 - Arizona Diamondbacks 26.2 20. Greg Maddux, 1994 - Atlanta Braves 26.0

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

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

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

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

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