Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Lowest OPS by a 3B in a Season Since 1920

Same old, same old -- as for all the positions: the explanation of why I chose to look at seasons since 1920 can be found here. The short story is I wanted to avoid the low-power years of the deadball era while compiling lists of poor-hitting position players.

Qualifiers also remain the same: the player must have qualified for the batting title during the season while playing 75% or more of his games at third base.

NameYearTeamPAAVGOBPSLGOPS
Art Scharein1933SLB522.204.269.244.513
Eddie Mayo1943PHA533.219.278.244.522
Wally Gilbert1932CIN450.214.252.274.526
Brooks Robinson1975BAL539.201.267.274.541
Don Wert1968DET589.200.258.299.557
Travis Jackson1936NYG496.230.260.297.557
Lou Chiozza1937NYG468.232.266.294.560
Aurelio Rodriguez1974DET608.222.255.306.561
Tommy Thevenow1935PIT425.238.261.304.565
Bob Kennedy1942CHW442.231.270.299.569
Milt Stock1924BRO607.242.277.292.569
Clete Boyer1964NYY554.218.269.304.573
Scott Brosius1997OAK526.203.259.317.576
Aurelio Rodriguez1969CAL606.232.272.307.579
Bob Aspromonte1963HOU514.214.276.306.582
Terry Pendleton1986STL626.239.279.306.585
Bubba Phillips1963DET502.246.276.310.586
Lee Handley1946PIT456.238.289.298.587
Charlie Deal1920CHC512.240.285.304.589
Terry Pendleton1985STL602.240.285.306.591

Some notables appear on this list. The National League MVP in 1991, Terry Pendleton, shows up twice, early in his career. On the other side of the coin, Brooks Robinson shows up high on the list in a season at the end of his career. Aurelio Rodriguez shows up twice in the top twenty and two more times in the top 25. Rodriguez had a career OPS of .626 -- since 1920 only sixty third basemen have finished with seasons below that.

Third basemen have hit better recently: only twelve players have put up seasons with an OPS under .700:
  • Vinny Castilla, 2002, .616
  • Jeff Cirillo, 2002, .629
  • Cal Ripken, 2001, .637
  • Mike Lowell, 2005, .658
  • Tony Batista, 2003, .663
  • Aramis Ramirez, 2002, .666
  • David Bell, 2005, .671
  • Scott Brosius, 2000, .673
  • Aaron Boone, 2005, .677
  • Eric Hinske, 2004, .687
  • Brandon Inge, 2007, .688
  • Joe Randa, 2001, .693
Inge, obviously, had the lowest OPS among third basemen in 2007.

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