Most PA in a Season, OBP < AVG

Last week, St. Louis Cardinals blog Fungoes wrote about players in Cardinals history with a lower on base percentage than batting average in a season. It seems weird, but since the formula for OBP is (H+BB+HBP)/(AB+BB+HBP+SF), having a higher batting average than on base percentage is possible if you have more sacrifice flies than walks and HBP's. (EDIT: Zeyes points out my error in the comments: you need two to three times as many SF as BB+HBP.)

Sacrifice flies have only been recorded in the major leagues since 1954 so it would be impossible for a player before then to have an OBP less than their batting average. Since that date, however, 160 players have pulled off the feat in a season. The highest number of plate appearances in a season on the list is 131 (Eddie Bowman, 1963). As might be expected then, most on the list are pitchers who don't bat very much and aren't generally known for plate discipline. However, the occasional position player (including Bowman) also shows up.

Only twenty-three players have eighty or more plate appearances in a season with an on base percentage less than their batting average. I've listed them below, as well as the players on the list for their 2007 season.

Rank	Name	Year	Team	PA	AB	H	SF	AVG	OBP	Position
1	Ernie Bowman	1963	SFG	131	125	23	2	.184	.181	IF
2	Rob Picciolo	1977	CAL	128	119	24	1	.202	.200	IF
3	Fernando Valenzuela	1980	LAD	116	109	24	1	.220	.218	P
	Catfish Hunter	1965	OAK	116	105	23	2	.219	.215	P
5	Tony Cloninger	1961	MLN	114	105	17	2	.162	.159	P
6	Mike Cuellar	1959	BAL	113	103	12	2	.117	.114	P
7	Steve Carlton	1965	PHI	112	102	25	3	.245	.238	P
8	Jim Bunning	1955	PHI	109	99	12	1	.121	.120	P
9	Sam McDowell	1961	CLE	104	92	16	1	.174	.172	P
10	Fernando Valenzuela	1980	LAD	103	97	21	1	.216	.214	P
11	Jim Adduci	1983	MIL	97	94	25	3	.266	.258	LF
12	Pedro Ramos	1955	WSH	96	88	21	1	.239	.236	P
	Rick Reuschel	1972	CHC	96	86	19	1	.221	.218	P
14	Randy Jones	1973	SDP	94	86	15	1	.174	.172	P
15	Bobby Clark	1979	CAL	93	90	19	1	.211	.209	OF
16	Mario Soto	1977	CIN	92	87	18	1	.207	.205	P
17	Phil Niekro	1964	ATL	91	87	17	1	.195	.193	P
18	Bob Forsch	1974	STL	88	76	13	1	.171	.169	P
	Ray Moore	1952	BAL	88	84	18	1	.214	.212	P
20	Midre Cummings	1993	PIT	87	85	19	1	.224	.221	OF
21	Billy Beane	1984	OAK	82	79	19	1	.241	.238	RF
22	Fergie Jenkins	1965	CHC	80	67	10	1	.149	.147	P
	Ron Reed	1966	ATL	80	73	13	2	.178	.173	P

As I mentioned above, two players joined the full list of players last year. Livan Hernandez had a line of .213/.211/.267 in 79 PA for Arizona and Wladimir Balentien had a line of .667/.500/2.000 in a whopping four plate appearances for Seattle.

Only two players are on pace to join the list so far this year. One is Orioles hurler Garrett Olson with his .333/.250/.333 line in five plate appearances. Since interleague play is over, he is unlikely to hit again this year, barring a trade. The other player who may join the list is Arizona outfielder Alex Romero. In 38 major league plate appearances, Romero has a .229/.222/.286 line. He currently finds himself in AAA but may yet find his way back to the big club. Just another quirky thing to keep track of in the second half of the season.