Lowest OPS by a CF in a Season Since 1920

Center fielders usually have a lower OPS than corner outfielders. Generally this is because they are slap hitters that rely on speed rather than power to get around the bases. There have been some exceptions in baseball history, but it's safe to assume the average quarterback in the outfield is a lesser hitter (in terms of OPS) than the players on either side of him.

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 in center field.

The Top 20 list:

Player	Year	Team	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Del Unser	1968	WSA	690	.230	.282	.277	.559
Gary Pettis	1988	DET	512	.210	.285	.277	.562
Jim Busby	1952	CHW/WSH	589	.236	.273	.305	.578
Dain Clay	1944	CIN	391	.250	.290	.292	.582
Bill Virdon	1964	PIT	511	.243	.287	.298	.585
Brian McRae	1992	KCR	592	.223	.285	.308	.593
Mike Kreevich	1941	CHW	484	.232	.289	.305	.594
Max Carey	1926	PIT/BRO	483	.231	.294	.300	.594
Ray Powell	1920	BSN	666	.225	.282	.314	.596
Dain Clay	1946	CIN	502	.228	.318	.280	.598
Johnny Rucker	1944	NYG	622	.244	.275	.325	.600
Gerald Young	1989	HOU	620	.233	.326	.276	.602
Omar Moreno	1982	PIT	706	.245	.292	.315	.607
Darren Lewis	1995	SFG/CIN	527	.250	.311	.297	.608
Rick Manning	1983	CLE/MIL	615	.246	.292	.316	.608
Willie Davis	1965	LAD	595	.238	.263	.346	.609
Omar Moreno	1983	HOU/NYY	592	.244	.284	.330	.614
Ken Berry	1965	CHW	518	.218	.268	.347	.615
Juan Beniquez	1976	TEX	526	.255	.315	.301	.616
Fred Brickell	1931	PHI	563	.253	.316	.305	.621

A lot of the guys on this list changed teams during the season. I wonder if their original teams were sick of them not hitting well or if their reputation as defenders was such they were coveted.

Since 1920, 66 seasons were put up with a .650 OPS or lower. If you expand that to .700 or below, the number jumps up to 239. Only two players since 2000 had an OPS below .650, but 21 were between .650 and .700 -- since I didn't post yesterday, I'll make it up by putting the whole darn list up. :)

• Marquis Grissom, 2000, .639
• Endy Chavez, 2003, .648
• Doug Glanville, 2001, .660
• Willy Taveras, 2005, .666
• Peter Bergeron, 2000, .669
• Willy Taveras, 2006, .671
• Jeremy Reed, 2005, .674
• Juan Pierre, 2002, .675
• Corey Patterson, 2002, .676
• Scott Podsednik, 2004, .677
• Juan Pierre, 2005, .680
• Doug Glanville, 2000, .681
• Alex Sanchez, 2003, .682
• Chris Singleton, 2000, .683
• Juan Pierre, 2007, .684
• Tike Redman, 2004, .684
• Bernie Williams, 2005, .688
• Terrence Long, 2002, .688
• Endy Chavez, 2004, .689
• Corey Patterson, 2007, .690
• Darin Erstad, 2001, .691
• Jay Payton, 2004, .693
• Tom Goodwin, 2000, .698

Obviously, Juan Pierre had the lowest OPS (.684) among center fielders this past season. Who even knew Corey Patterson was playing enough anymore to qualify for the batting title?