SO > TB, Minimum 200 AB

One of the first quirky things I ever wanted to investigate was the number of players who managed to have a "strikeout percentage" above their slugging percentage in a season. I also wanted to make sure the list only consisted of players who stuck with a team for a significant part of the year, so I set a minimum of 200 AB. I figure that makes up at least half a season for a bench/platoon player. The initial results of this study were posted by me on Brew Crew Ball, so any visitors from there may be familiar with this.

These are all the players from 1901 to 2007 who have accomplished the feat.

Name	Year	Team	Position	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG	TB	SO	OPS+
Bill Bergen	1911	BRO	C	227	.132	.183	.154	35	42	(4)
Billy Consolo	1954	BOS	SS	242	.227	.324	.277	67	69	59
Billy Consolo	1959	BOS/WSH	SS	216	.213	.331	.269	58	59	67
Ernie Fazio	1963	HOU	2B	228	.184	.273	.281	64	70	65
Jerry Kindall	1963	CLE	2B	234	.205	.266	.295	69	71	58
Dave Nicholson	1964	CHW	LF	294	.204	.329	.365	107	126	96
Chris Cannizzaro	1965	NYM	C	251	.183	.270	.231	58	60	46
Don Zimmer	1965	WSA	C	226	.199	.284	.252	57	59	55
Ray Oyler	1966	DET	SS	210	.171	.263	.252	53	62	48
Jerry Zimmerman	1967	MIN	C	234	.167	.243	.192	45	49	26
Ray Oyler	1968	DET	SS	215	.135	.213	.186	40	59	20
George Scott	1968	BOS	1B	350	.171	.236	.237	83	88	40
Dick Tracewski	1968	DET	SS	212	.156	.239	.236	50	51	43
Al Weis	1968	NYM	SS	274	.172	.234	.204	56	63	32
Darrel Chaney	1969	CIN	SS	209	.191	.278	.234	49	75	42
Ray Oyler	1969	SEP	SS	255	.165	.260	.267	68	80	49
Jim Mason	1975	NYY	SS	223	.152	.228	.211	47	49	27
John Hale	1978	SEA	RF	211	.171	.283	.265	56	64	56
Leroy Stanton	1978	SEA	LF	302	.182	.265	.248	75	80	47
Bobby Bonds	1980	STL	LF	231	.203	.305	.316	73	74	72
Tom Donohue	1980	CAL	C	218	.188	.216	.243	53	63	27
Reggie Jackson	1983	CAL	RF	397	.194	.290	.340	135	140	74
Gary Pettis	1987	CAL	CF	394	.208	.302	.259	102	124	53
Jody Davis	1989	ATL	C	231	.169	.246	.242	56	61	39
John Shelby	1989	LAD	CF	345	.183	.237	.229	79	92	36
Jeff Kunkel	1990	TEX	SS	200	.170	.221	.280	56	66	40
Rob Deer	1991	DET	RF	448	.179	.314	.386	173	175	92
Hensley Meulens	1991	NYY	LF	288	.222	.276	.319	92	97	65
Gary Pettis	1991	TEX	CF	282	.216	.341	.277	78	91	75
Andujar Cedeno	1992	HOU	SS	220	.173	.232	.277	61	71	47
Jack Clark	1992	BOS	DH	257	.210	.350	.311	80	87	82
Billy Ashley	1995	LAD	LF	215	.237	.320	.372	80	88	90
Benji Gil	1995	TEX	SS	415	.219	.266	.347	144	147	60
Kimera Bartee	1996	DET	CF	217	.253	.308	.304	66	77	57
Archi Cianfrocco	1997	SDP	1B	220	.245	.328	.355	78	80	85
Mark Johnson	1997	PIT	1B	219	.215	.345	.315	69	78	73
Ryan McGuire	1998	MON	1B	210	.186	.292	.243	51	55	46
Greg Vaughn	2002	TBD	LF	251	.163	.286	.315	79	82	60
Mark Bellhorn	2005	BOS/NYY	2B	300	.210	.324	.357	107	112	81
Mark Bellhorn	2006	SDP	3B	253	.190	.285	.344	87	90	66

Kimera Bartee holds the record for highest batting average among the players listed with .253 in 1996. Jack Clark's .350 in 1992 is the OBP leader. Rob Deer, unsurprisingly, has the slugging record with .386 in 1991. Deer's .700 is the highest OPS, as well. When you use OPS+, however, Dave Nicholson is the leader, with 96 in 1964. Go figure, none of these guys was an average offensive player. Interestingly, Bill Bergen's 1911 campaign scores a -4 OPS+.

Billy Consolo, Ray Oyler and Gary Pettis are the only multiple offenders. Rob Deer (25), Reggie Jackson (14) and Dave Nicholson (13) were the only players with double-digit home runs in their seasons. Bobby Bonds and Dick Tracewski were only one strikeout away from having the same total bases and strikeouts. Darrel Chaney had 26 fewer total bases than strikeouts in 1969 and actually had the same number in both categories in 1973. The only two batters to record over 400 AB in the season were Rob Deer and, of all people, Benji Gil.

There are a few players this season who have a shot at finishing with total bases than strikeouts in over 200 AB.

• Ryan Langerhans has 189 AB with 54 TB and 71 SO and could potentially become the first player to perform the feat while playing for three teams during the year.
• Joe Borchard has 179 AB with 56 TB and 60 SO, but he was recently designated for assignment by Florida.
• Ryan Shealy has 172 AB with 53 TB and 53 SO though he probably won't be called up to get the final 28 AB he needs to make the cut.
• Wily Mo Pena has 59 TB and 56 SO in 151 AB, but he doesn't play often enough to become a serious contender.

If your team is already out of the running or you just need a distraction from the stress of a pennant race, you now have something to check out.