Sean Casey: So Close Yet So Far

If you've been following baseball transactions recently, you've seen that three-time All-Star first baseman Sean Casey retired earlier this week. He's not leaving baseball behind, however, since he's got a gig lined up with the new MLB Network.

I was looking up his career stats and noticed something interesting. In 1999, Casey had a career high in RBI with 99. He matched that total during the 2004 campaign. This makes him one of only five players in all of major league history to put up two seasons of exactly 99 RBI. The others were Kirby Puckett, Lee May, Bibb Falk, and Ty Cobb. If you don't feel like clicking all those links, he's the only player of the five who didn't ever reach 100 RBI in a season during his career.

Here are the other players whose career high in RBI was 99:

• Troy Tulowitzki (active)
• Raul Mondesi
• Kevin Elster
• Reggie Sanders
• Mark Whiten
• Kevin McReynolds
• Joe Rudi
• Davey Johnson
• Dusty Baker
• Bob Oliver
• Jim Ray Hart
• Chet Laabs
• Arky Vaughan
• George Grantham
• Billy Southworth
• Eddie Brown
• Charlie Grimm
• Ray Grimes
• Carson Bigbee
• Fred Luderus
• John Anderson
• Joe Werrick

I know that RBI isn't a very good way to measure a player's ability. It's more a reflection of lineup spot, teammates, blah blah blah. Still, 100 RBI is a benchmark season in a player's career. If you drive in 100 runs, you get the important run-producer label. It's got to be tough to get so close to that mark and never clear the barrier.

Lowest Batting Average for a League RBI Leader

For a little while now I've been meaning to put together a post with records to watch for in the second half of the season. I haven't actually sat down and looked for anything yet for a number of reasons. Luckily, a comment was posted here yesterday by someone with the intriguing nom de plume of Death:

Ryan Howard is on pace to lead the NL in RBIs with an abysmal .220 batting average. Do you have any idea what the record is for the lowest batting average while leading his league in RBIs for the season? Thanks.

I thought that question was pretty interesting, so I decided to look it up. Howard is now hitting a robust .223 (75 for 337) and his 76 RBI still leads the National League. Below I've listed the fifteen lowest batting averages by a league RBI leader for both the American and National leagues since 1901. I've expanded tied (to three decimal places) batting averages to four decimal places to make the actual order clearer.

Lowest Batting Average by an NL RBI Leader, 1901-2007

1. Jim Nealon, 1906 PIT, .255
2. Howard Johnson, 1991 NYM, .259
3. Andruw Jones, 2005 ATL, .263
4. George Kelly, 1920 NYG, .266
5. Bill Dahlen, 1904 NYG, .268
6. Johnny Bench, 1972 CIN, .2695
   
7. Hank Sauer, 1952 CHC, .2699
8. Darren Daulton, 1992 PHI, .2701
9. Vinny Castilla, 2004 COL, .271
10. Mike Schmidt, 1984 PHI, .2765
11. Matt Williams, 1990 SFG, .2772
12. Mark McGwire, 1999 STL, .278
13. Hank Aaron, 1966 ATL, .279
14. Johnny Bench, 1974 CIN, .2802
15. Sam Mertes, 1903 NYG, .2805
    

Lowest Batting Average by an AL RBI Leader, 1901-2007

1. Harmon Killebrew, 1962 MIN, .243
2. Cecil Fielder, 1992 DET, .244
3. Harmon Killebrew, 1971 MIN, .254
4. Lee May, 1976 BAL, .258
5. Cecil Fielder, 1991 DET, .2612
   
6. Dick Stuart, 1963 BOS, .2614
7. Del Pratt, 1916 SLB, .267
8. Tony Armas, 1984 BOS, .2676
9. Gus Zernial, 1951 CHW/PHA, .2680
10. Roger Maris, 1961 NYY, .269
11. Rudy York, 1943 DET, .271
12. Larry Doby, 1954 CLE, .272
13. Ken Harrelson, 1968 BOS, .2748
14. Jackie Jensen, 1955 BOS, .2753
15. Harmon Killebrew, 1969 MIN, .276
    

So if Ryan Howard manages to keep on top of the RBI leaderboard without improving his batting average, he'll set a record. His batting average looks as though it will see some improvement however: his BABIP sits at .268 while his line drive percentage of 20.3% suggest his BABIP should be about fifty points higher. Once those hits start falling in, his batting average will improve. Going half a season with such a poor batting average, however, means he would have to have an amazing second half to avoid appearing on the above NL list following the season if he keeps driving in runners.

Fewest RBI by a Team Leader, 1988-2007

E-mailer Ken sent me the idea for this post. He noted that Emil Brown of the Kansas City Royals led his team last season with only 62 RBI. He thought that seemed pretty low for a team leader and was interested in a list of the lowest totals to lead a team in the last two decades. It turns out his suspicions were well-founded: Brown had the lowest total of a team leader in that span.

One potential obstacle in this list is the handling of the 1994 and 1995 seasons. In 1994, teams played approximately 115 games each before the players' strike. In 1995, teams played a shortened 144 game schedule. It wouldn't be fair to penalize teams for playing fewer games, so I merely re-calculated RBI totals based on a 162 game schedule. Thus Frank Thomas's 101 RBI in 1994 becomes 101*(162/115) = 142 RBI and his 111 RBI in 1995 becomes 111*(162/144) = 125 RBI. I realize not every team played the exact same number of games and this method isn't exact, but I think it's close enough. Any time a 1994/1995 team appears on the list, I've noted the raw total next to the adjusted total.

With all of that in mind, let's turn to the list over the last twenty seasons:

Fewest RBI by a Team Leader, 1988-2007

Rank	Team	RBI	Team Leader
1	2007 Kansas City Royals	62	Emil Brown
2	1996 Kansas City Royals	67	Craig Paquette
	1988 Philadelphia Phillies	67	Juan Samuel
4	1988 Detroit Tigers	69	Alan Trammell
	1988 Seattle Mariners	69	Alvin Davis
6	1999 Minnesota Twins	70	Marty Cordova
	1995 Montreal Expos	70	Mike Lansing (62 RBI in 144 team games)
	1988 San Diego Padres	70	Tony Gwynn
9	2003 New York Mets	71	Ty Wigginton
	1999 Florida Marlins	71	Preston Wilson
	1990 Houston Astros	71	Franklin Stubbs
12	2003 San Diego Padres	72	Mark Loretta
	1994 Pittsburgh Pirates	72	Orlando Merced (51 RBI in 114 team games)
	1992 California Angels	72	Junior Felix
	1990 California Angels	72	Dave Winfield
16	1992 San Francisco Giants	73	Will Clark
	1990 Philadelphia Phillies	73	Von Hayes
18	1997 Pittsburgh Pirates	74	Kevin Young
	1992 Boston Red Sox	74	Tom Brunansky
	1990 Chicago White Sox	74	Ivan Calderon
21	2003 Cleveland Indians	75	Jody Gerut
	2002 Tampa Bay Devil Rays	75	Randy Winn
	2001 Detroit Tigers	75	Tony Clark
	1993 Kansas City Royals	75	George Brett
	1992 Kansas City Royals	75	Gregg Jefferies
	1991 Montreal Expos	75	Ivan Calderon

Some of the names on the list as team leaders surprised me (Ty Wigginton? Mark Loretta? Jody Gerut?). I'm sure their respective front offices and managers weren't counting on them to lead their team in driving in runs, but injuries and other quirks of fate conspired to put them there. It's strange that certain years like 2003, 1990, and 1988 have more teams on the list but maybe run scoring overall was down in those seasons.

Do you think Emil Brown had any sort of incentive in his contract giving him a bonus if he led the team in RBI? If so, do you think he, or the team, ever thought he'd actually get it?

Most Career RBI, Zero Runs Scored

It's pretty difficult to rack up runs batted in without ever scoring yourself. You have to avoid hitting home runs and generally stay off the basepaths. For this reason, this list has some small numbers on it but any category in which Razor Shines holds the record is postable.

Most Career RBI with Zero Runs Scored Since 1901 (Position Players)

• Razor Shines, 5
• Brandon Jones, 4
  Glenn Redmon, 4
  Mike Krsnich, 4
  Joe Brovia, 4
  George Yankowski, 4
  Wade Lefler, 4
• Pete Zoccolillo, 3
  Mike Moriarty, 3
  Carlos Casimiro, 3
  Matt Stark, 3
  Keith Marshall, 3
  Pat Cooper, 3
  Tony Ordenana, 3
  Bob McNamara, 3
  Joe Jenkins, 3
  Tony Tonneman, 3

Most Career RBI with Zero Runs Scored Since 1901 (Pitchers)

• Tom Hilgendorf, 5
• Micah Bowie, 4*
  Dave Otto, 4
  Steve Busby, 4
  Tom Butters, 4
  Marty Kutyna, 4
  Rex Cecil, 4
  Harry Thompson, 4
• Jay Witasick, 3*
  Anthony Telford, 3
  Jim Abbott, 3
  Bob Myrick, 3
  Al Raffo, 3
  Jay Ritchie, 3
  Ken Hunt, 3
  Webbo Clarke, 3
  Bobo Holloman, 3
  Bill Butland, 3
  Lefty Wallace, 3
  Charlie Bowles, 3
  Alex Mustaikis, 3
  Ensign Cottrell, 3
  Jesse Baker, 3
  Pat Paige, 3

* - active player

Most Career Hits with Zero RBI

Given enough time, pretty much every player lucks into a run batted in somehow. Since the most common way of getting an RBI is via base hits, I want to find the players with the most hits without driving in a single run in their career. As luck would have it, there are only twenty players since 1901 who have reached double digits in career hits with zero RBI.

Most Career Hits, Zero Career RBI (Since 1901)

• Gene Good, 18
• Irv Higginbotham*, 15
• Doug Sanders, 14
  Tom Burgmeier*, 14
  Lefty Hoerst*, 14
  Kid Durbin, 14
• Rickey Clark*, 13
  Billy Reed, 13
  Milo Allison, 13
  Duke Reilley, 13
  Bill Schwartz, 13
• Ricky Horton*, 12
  Dan Pfister*, 12
  Vito Valentinetti*, 12
  Frank Manush, 12
• Rick Matula*, 11
• Tommy Watkins^† , 10
  T.J. Tucker*, 10
  Tim Pyznarski, 10
  Charlie Beamon, 10

* - pitcher
† - active player

Most RBI in Final Season

Whatever your feelings are regarding RBI as a tool for judging players, you have to appreciate players that are put in the position to knock in baserunners and deliver often. While it's true certain players put up gaudy RBI totals without getting on base, more often than not players with high RBI totals aren't terrible.

To keep with the theme of the two posts prior to yesterday's, here are the only fourteen players with 80 or more RBI in their last season:

1. Dave Orr, 1890, 124
2. Joe Jackson, 1920, 121
3. Happy Felsch, 1920, 115
4. Albert Belle, 2000, 103
5. Kirby Puckett, 1995, 99
6. Dave Kingman, 1986, 94
7. Joe Wood, 1922, 92
8. Bill Joyce, 1898, 91
9. Ecky Stearns, 1889, 87
10. Charlie Ferguson, 1887, 85
11. Perry Werden, 1897, 83
12. Ed Konetchy, 1921, 82
13. Rebel Oakes, 1915, 82
14. Jack O'Brien, 1890, 80

Eight of the players had their final season in the twentieth century, though two of those (Jackson and Felsch) were banned from baseball in their prime. Only 228 players in baseball history collected as many as 50 RBI in their final season.

Here are players age 35 or older to collect 50 RBI in 2007:

• Raul Ibanez (35), 105
• Chipper Jones (35), 102
• Jim Thome (36), 96
• Frank Thomas (39), 95
• Sammy Sosa (38), 92
• Jorge Posada (35), 90
• Manny Ramirez (35), 88
• Carlos Delgado (35), 87
• Garret Anderson (35), 80
• Gary Sheffield (38), 75
• Ray Durham (35), 71
• Luis Gonzalez (39), 69
• Barry Bonds (42), 66
• Matt Stairs (39), 64
• Ivan Rodriguez (35), 63
• Kevin Millar (35), 63
• Melvin Mora (35), 58
• Paul Lo Duca (35), 54
• Jim Edmonds (37), 53
• Gregg Zaun (36), 52
• Omar Vizquel (40), 51
• Brian Giles (36), 51
• Mark Grudzielanek (37), 51
• Tony Clark (35), 51
• Craig Biggio (41), 50
  

100+ RBI, OBP under .300

This was inspired by Khalil Greene's season line: .252/.290/.462 with 93 RBI. There's only been nine players ever to collect 100 or more RBI with an on base percentage under .300. Greene likely won't do it, but he's the closest to the feat this season.

1. Joe Carter, 1990, 115 RBI, .290 OBP
   
2. George Bell, 1992, 112, .294
   
3. Tony Batista, 2004, 110, .272
   
4. Tony Armas, 1983, 107, .254!!!
   
5. Joe Carter, 1989, 105, .292
   
6. Jeff Francoeur, 2006, 103, .293
7. Joe Carter, 1997, 102, .284
8. Ruben Sierra, 1993, 101, .288
9. Joe Pepitone, 1964, 100, .281

Pepitone was pretty lonely there on the list for a while. It's pretty interesting how Carter placed on the list three times (Tony Batista missed a second appearance by one RBI in 2003). I think it underscores this Beyond the Box Score article about 100 RBI not always being a benchmark for greatness.

RBI - HR >= 100

Since 1901, a player has finished a season with one hundred or more runs batted in than home runs 230 times. Rather than subject you to the complete list (though you can certainly have the file if you send me an e-mail), I figure I'll share some of the highlights.

Only four players in six seasons have had 130+ more RBI than HR:

Name	Year	HR	RBI
Hank Greenberg	1937	40	183
Lou Gehrig	1931	46	184
Hack Wilson	1930	56	191
Hank Greenberg	1935	36	170
Lou Gehrig	1930	41	174
Chuck Klein	1930	40	170

Note they all occurred during the 1930's. In fact, if you break the list down by decade, you get an interesting table:

Decade	Seasons
1900's	11
1910's	13
1920's	67
1930's	78
1940's	20
1950's	7
1960's	1
1970's	4
1980's	4
1990's	13
2000's	12
Total	230

I think it's interesting that people got/get so up in arms over the excess of home runs in the past decade ruining the game and whatnot, yet the incredible RBI totals of the 1920's and 1930's aren't criticized. Either way, who were the lucky nine from 1960-1989?

Name	Year	HR	RBI
Tommy Davis	1962	27	153
Johnny Bench	1970	45	148
Wes Parker	1970	10	111
Joe Torre	1971	24	137
Don Baylor	1979	36	139
Hal McRae	1982	27	133
Don Mattingly	1985	35	145
Tom Herr	1985	8	110
Pedro Guerrero	1989	17	117

I also want to mention one of the most interesting (to me) of the list: Lave Cross in 1902 drove in 108 runs without the benefit of a single home run.

Here's the longest time in years between such seasons:

1. 8 years, 1962-1970
2. 8 years, 1971-1979
3. 7 years, 1989-1996
4. 6 years, 1956-1962
5. 5 years, 1915-1920

The majors haven't seen a 100+ more RBI than HR season since David Ortiz and Mark Teixeira both accomplished the feat in 2005. That's likely to change in a few weeks since Magglio Ordonez came into today with 27 HR and 132 RBI.

If there's any other breakdowns or questions you want answered, just let me know in the comments.

100 RBI, <10 HR since 1950

I'm almost positive this has been brought up somewhere before, but it's worth another look. For a number of reasons, 100 RBI is one of those statistics that generally signifies a player had a good season to a baseball fan. Maybe he's a phenomenal hitter with runners on base or perhaps he's simply healthy enough to stay in the middle of the lineup every day. Either way, generally the players reaching 100 RBI in a season are sluggers. It didn't always used to be this way, however. From 1920 to 1950, there were sixty-six player seasons featuring over 100 RBI with less than ten home runs. Since 1950, however, it's happened exactly twice. The first occurred in 1985 when Tom Herr of the St. Louis Cardinals had 8 HR and 110 RBI (and 31 SB to boot!). The second came just over a decade later, when Paul Molitor drove in 113 runs with only nine homers for the Minnesota Twins in 1996.

It's pretty unlikely anyone will add their name to the list this year. The current leader in RBI for guys with less than ten home runs is Orlando Cabrera with 81 (on 8 HR).