Sunday, December 2, 2007

Lowest OBP to Qualify for the Batting Title

I'm kind of punting on the post today. I'm sure this is a list you can find elsewhere, but I thought it was worth posting here.

Lowest On Base Percentages by Batting Title Qualifiers Since 1901
(the history of requirements to win a batting title can be found here)
  1. Bill Bergen, 1909, .163
  2. Bill Bergen, 1906, .175
  3. Bill Bergen, 1908, .189
  4. Ossee Schreckengost, 1904, .199
  5. Bill Bergen, 1901, .199
  6. Bill Bergen, 1904, .204
  7. Bert Adams, 1918, .214
  8. Bill Bergen, 1902, .214
  9. Ed Gagnier, 1914, .219
  10. Hal Lanier, 1968, .222
  11. Billy Sullivan, 1909, .226
  12. Andres Thomas, 1989, .228
  13. Joe Dugan, 1918, .230
  14. Bones Ely, 1901, .232
  15. Hobe Ferris, 1909, .232
  16. Fred Raymer, 1905, .232
  17. Mickey Doolan, 1918, .233
  18. Del Young, 1937, .235
  19. Billy Sullivan, 1907, .235
  20. Billy Sullivan, 1908, .235
I think Bill Bergen may be single-handedly responsible for the stereotype that catchers that play well defensively are anemic hitters at best. It probably says something that so many players on this list put up their seasons before 1920, so let's look at the leaderboard after the deadball era.

Lowest On Base Percentages by Batting Title Qualifiers Since 1920
  1. Hal Lanier, 1968, .222
  2. Andres Thomas, 1989, .228
  3. Del Young, 1937, .235
  4. Jim Levey, 1933, .237
  5. Hal Lanier, 1967, .239
  6. Skeeter Webb, 1944, .242
  7. Alfredo Griffin, 1981, .243
  8. Pete Suder, 1943, .243
  9. Matt Walbeck, 1994, .246
  10. Todd Cruz, 1982, .246
  11. Ray Berres, 1940, .246
  12. Ray Berres, 1941, .247
  13. Doug Flynn, 1981, .247
  14. Cookie Rojas, 1968, .248
  15. Zoilo Versalles, 1967, .249
  16. Bobby Mattick, 1940, .250
  17. Cory Snyder, 1989, .251
  18. Wally Gilbert, 1932, .252
  19. Buster Maynard, 1943, .252
  20. Billy Hunter, 1953, .253

2 comments:

nick2slick said...

How about Jim Leyland putting Ivan Rodriguez in the leadoff spot last night?

The guys ahd a sub-.300 OBP last season!

I'd have a hard time looking at that if I was a Tigers fan.

I wrote about this on my blog, www.baseball-addiction.com

Theron Schultz said...

Ick. Nothing like being a "veteran hitter," huh?