Most Home Runs, SLG < .300

It's getting harder to have a slugging percentage under .300 and play a lot in a single season. Only four players since 2000 have qualified for the batting title (502+ PA) with a slugging percentage under .300; only twenty-one got as many as 300 plate appearances. That makes it unlikely these records will be broken anytime soon, but you never know.

I thought it would be interesting to see the highest home run totals among players with slugging percentages of .300 or below. It's obvious that there's no way to increase your slugging percentage faster than to hit a home run, so anyone who hits a decent number of home runs would have to be pretty bad at getting any other hits to qualify. The guys below certainly hit badly.

Most HR in a Season, SLG < .300

Rank	Name	Year	HR	SLG
1	Don Wert	1968	12	.299
2	Dave Valle	1991	8	.299
	Roger Repoz	1969	8	.288
4	Jose Oliva	1995	7	.284
	Mike Pagliarulo	1989	7	.299
	Barry Foote	1975	7	.295
	Mike Andrews	1972	7	.297
	Jimmy Wynn	1971	7	.295
	Ray Oyler	1969	7	.267
	Dave Duncan	1968	7	.293
	Bill Robinson	1967	7	.281
	Sam Bowens	1965	7	.296
	Bobby Knoop	1964	7	.280
	Roy McMillan	1961	7	.293
	Harry Chiti	1960	7	.296
	Jack Dittmer	1952	7	.291
	Travis Jackson	1936	7	.297

In his twelve home run season, Wert had 107 hits in 536 at bats, for a .200 batting average. He had 15 doubles and 1 triple to go with his dozen homers. To me, the most impressive season on the list is Ray Oyler's 1969 for the Seattle Pilots. I already knew he was an incredibly bad hitter, showing up three times on this list of futility. In 1969, however, he reached a career high in home runs while putting up a .165/.260/.267 line in 255 at bats.

The career list for home runs while slugging below .300 is more interesting. There are a lot of pitchers on the list, which makes sense because they tend to have longer careers than position players who don't hit well. The names of the players on the list who weren't pitchers are written in red text.

Most Career HR, SLG < .300

Rank	Name	HR	SLG
1	Warren Spahn	35	.287
2	Bobby Wine	30	.286
3	Don Drysdale	29	.295
4	Mike Ryan	28	.280
5	Julio Cruz	23	.299
6	Johnnie LeMaster	22	.289
	Tom Egan	22	.299
7	Dick Schofield	21	.297
8	Mark Belanger	20	.280
	Milt Pappas	20	.197
10	Bruce Benedict	18	.299
	Hector Torres	18	.281
12	Early Wynn	17	.285
13	Jim Kaat	16	.267
	Billy Hunter	16	.294
14	Gene Michael	15	.284
	Don Cardwell	15	.216
	Ray Oyler	15	.251
	Pedro Ramos	15	.240
	Joe Nuxhall	15	.292
	Dick Donovan	15	.248
	Johnny Antonelli	15	.271
	Claude Passeau	15	.274
	Al Glossop	15	.291
	Hal Schumacher	15	.287
	Lefty Grove	15	.207