Most K in Final Season, Since 1901

In keeping with the final season theme but returning to the mound, I took a look at pitchers' strikeouts in their last year. Only one hurler topped 200 strikeouts in his final season and he managed to get past 300 as well (he had almost twice the K's of the second place guy!). He, of course, was Sandy Koufax. Looking at the rest of the list, only ten players struck out 120 or more their last year, and only thirty-seven passed the century mark.

The list of those with 120+ K:

1. Sandy Koufax, 1966, 317
2. Chuck Finley, 2002, 174
3. Britt Burns, 1985, 172
4. Kevin Tapani, 2001, 149
5. Mike Sirotka, 2000, 128
6. Lefty Williams, 1920, 128
7. Larry Jackson, 1968, 127
8. Pete Dowling, 1901, 124
9. Ramon Garcia, 1997, 120
10. John ":-)" Smiley, 1997, 120

Fun Fact: Baseball-Reference.com lists Pete Dowling's age in 1901 as 99. He must be the definition of "ageless lefty."

Here are the older-than-35 players to strike out more than 100 (a nice round number) K in 2007:

1. John Smoltz (40) - 197
2. Andy Pettitte (35) - 141
3. Jamie Moyer (44) - 133
4. Miguel Batista (36) - 133
5. Orlando Hernandez (41) - 128
6. Jose Contreras (35) - 113
7. Tim Wakefield (40) - 110
8. Greg Maddux (41) - 104
9. Curt Schilling (40) - 101
10. Woody Williams (40) - 101

Bonus Fun Fact: Sixty-six pitchers age 35 or older struck out at least one batter this season.

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
  

Highest BA, OBP under .300

I've always kind of liked these guys: players with batting averages very close to their on base percentages. I wouldn't want them on my team necessarily, but I enjoy their inability or unwillingness to take walks.

With that in mind, I looked up the top batting averages in a single season (since 1871) with 400+ PA (to allow for catchers not playing every day) and an on base percentage under .300. Only those seasons featuring batting averages over .275 are listed (22 of 1,959):

Name	Season	AVG	OBP
Charlie Carr	1903	.281	.296
Ivan Rodriguez	2007	.281	.294
Harry Swacina	1914	.280	.297
Dave Foutz	1886	.280	.297
Ozzie Guillen	1993	.280	.292
Don Kolloway	1946	.280	.293
Johnny Estrada	2007	.278	.296
Damaso Garcia	1980	.278	.296
Joe Hornung	1883	.278	.291
Hal Chase	1917	.277	.296
Wayne Nordhagen	1980	.277	.294
Hick Carpenter	1885	.277	.295
Tom Burns	1886	.276	.298
Ron Coomer	1998	.276	.295
Ivan Rodriguez	2005	.276	.290
George Wright	1879	.276	.299
Brian Hunter	1996	.276	.297
Bengie Molina	2007	.276	.298
Rafael Ramirez	1988	.276	.298
Larry Bowa	1974	.275	.298
Jerry Denny	1883	.275	.291
Bill Buckner	1973	.275	.297

I find it interesting three 2007 catchers (Rodriguez, Estrada, and Bengie Molina) made it onto the list.

Most Home Runs in Final Season

Given that home runs have increased since the 19th century, unlike wins by a single pitcher, this record applies to all of baseball history. After looking at pitching wins, I wanted to look at the most proficient final-season home run hitters. Only twelve players have ever hit more than twenty home runs in their final season. Here's the list:

1. Dave Kingman, 1986, 35
2. Mark McGwire, 2001, 29
3. Ted Williams, 1960, 29
4. Hank Greenberg, 1947, 25
5. Jack Graham, 1949, 24
6. Roy Cullenbine, 1947, 24
7. Albert Belle, 2000, 23
8. Kirby Puckett, 1995, 23
9. Phil Nevin, 2006, 22
   
10. Paul O'Neill, 2001, 21
11. Will Clark, 2000, 21
12. Dave Nilsson, 1999, 21

Ted Williams was the only player on the list over 40 (he was 41) and Dave Nilsson was the only player under 30 (he was 29). The average age of the players was 35.2. Will Clark and Phil Nevin were the only two on the list to play for more than one team in their last year.

Here's the players age 35 or older in 2007 to hit 20+ home runs:

• Jim Thome (36 years old) - 35
• Ken Griffey (37) - 30
• Chipper Jones (35) - 29
• Barry Bonds (42) - 28
• Frank Thomas (39) - 26
• Gary Sheffield (38) - 25
• Carlos Delgado (35) - 24
• Raul Ibanez (35) - 21
• Sammy Sosa (38) - 21
• Matt Stairs (39) - 21
• Jeff Kent (39) - 20
• Manny Ramirez (35) - 20
• Jorge Posada (35) - 20
  

I don't know if any of them will retire this offseason, but they'd obviously join the list if they do.

Most Wins in Final Season since 1901

I was playing a historical baseball game today and came across a pitcher named Britt Burns. He threw for the White Sox in the 1980's until traded at the age of 26 to the New York Yankees. Before he threw a pitch in the Big Apple, a chronic hip condition forced him into retirement. In 1985, his final season, he recorded 18 wins. That made me curious as to what pitchers put up the most wins all-time in their final seasons.

Here's the list of all the guys to put up 15 wins or more in their last season:

• Sandy Koufax, 1966, 27
• Lefty Williams, 1920, 22
• Henry Schmidt, 1903, 22
• Eddie Cicotte, 1920, 21
• Britt Burns, 1985, 18
• Chief Johnson, 1915, 17
• Paul Derringer, 1945, 16
• Hugh Bedient, 1915, 16
• Ed Doheny, 1903, 16
• Ted Lewis, 1901, 16
• Mike Sirotka, 2000, 15
• Larry French, 1942, 15
• Monty Stratton, 1938, 15
• George Kaiserling, 1915, 15
• Jay Hughes, 1902, 15
• Win Mercer, 1902, 15

Lefty Williams and Eddie Cicotte were two of the infamous Black Sox. Henry Schmidt came to Brooklyn from the Pacific Coast League in 1903 and after his 22-win season decided he didn't like life east of the Mississippi. He packed his bags, headed west, and never threw a pitch in the major leagues again. His 22 wins place him tied for fifth among first-season pitchers since 1901 so I guess he's the only guy to appear in the top 5 for most wins in both his first and last season.

Thoughts...

I think Ron Darling is growing on me. I usually tune out announcers, but I find his ability to refer to baseball in the terms of the mid-1990's (California Angels, Mile High Stadium, etc.) charming. That said, if he's done with TBS come the end of the Cubs-Diamondbacks series, I won't be upset.

As for this blog, I've got a few ideas based on things I've already posted that I will be compiling and writing about. I'm not sure exactly when they'll be ready, but soon. I've also got a couple of ideas for regular posts, so those will be up shortly. I'm getting things organized and I should have regular updates again soon. In the meantime, if you're interested in the Brewers' won-loss record broken down in far too many ways, check out my recent diary on Brew Crew Ball.

It's not 1996 anymore

Anyone watching the Cubs-Diamondbacks game may be familiar with this, but TBS analyst Ron Darling used an interesting analogy in the seventh inning. Describing Carlos Marmol's delivery, he compared its deceptiveness to that of "Frankie Rodriguez, the California Angel." Kind of makes you wonder how much baseball he's watched since his last game in 1995.

Playoffs!

The playoffs start today. Woo hoo! Since 1903, 59611 batters have gotten themselves out via strikeout, fly out, ground out, etc. I can only hope the media keeps track of what player makes the coveted 60000th out as a batter.

Who made the first out in the 1903 postseason? That would be Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Ginger Beaumont, flying out to center field on a pitch from Boston ace Cy Young.

Another example of the cool things you can find out via Baseball-Reference's Play Index: The last postseason out made in Polo Grounds history was a fly ball to left field off the bat of Vic Wertz on September 30, 1954.

Here's the last players to make an out for each of this year's playoff teams.

• Arizona Diamondbacks - David Dellucci, 4-3 groundout, 10/5/2002
  
• Boston Red Sox - Edgar Renteria, 4-3 groundout, 10/7/2005
  
• Chicago Cubs - Paul Bako, fly ball to left, 10/15/2003
• Cleveland Indians - Juan Gonzalez, 5-3 groundout, 10/15/2001
  
• Colorado Rockies - John Vander Wal, strikeout swinging, 10/7/1995
• Los Angeles Angels - Chone Figgins, 6-3 groundout, 10/8/2004
• New York Yankees - Robinson Cano, 4-3 groundout, 10/7/2006
  
• Philadelphia Phillies - Jim Eisenreich, fly ball to center, 10/23/1993
  

Most PA, SLG under .300

A comment on Brew Crew Ball talking about Joey Gathright made me think of this. The Royals speedster put up a .292 slugging percentage in 445 plate appearances for Tampa Bay and Kansas City in 2006 and I thought it'd be interesting to see who has the record for most plate appearances in a season slugging under .300.

The record is higher than I figured, with nine seasons topping 700 PA:

1. Sandy Alomar, 1970, .293 SLG, 735 PA
2. Donie Bush, 1914, .295, 721
3. Roger Metzger, 1972, .259, 715
4. Ozzie Smith, 1980, .276, 712
5. Tom Brown, 1892, .285, 712
6. Don Kessinger, 1968, .287, 707
7. Woody Williams, 1944, .289, 707
8. Ossie Vitt, 1916, .295, 705
9. Donie Bush, 1915, .283, 703

1,377 players qualified for their league's batting title while slugging under .300. I doubt any won it. Here's another list, this time of the top ten career PA leaders slugging under .300:

1. Mark Belanger, 1965-1982, 6602 PA, .280 SLG
2. George McBride, 1901-1920, 6235, .264
3. Bud Harrelson, 1965-1980, 5516, .288
4. Sandy Alomar, 1964-1978, 5160, .288
5. Cub Stricker, 1882-1893, 5083, .294
6. Al Bridwell, 1905-1915, 4928, .295
7. Roger Metzger, 1970-1980, 4676, .293
8. Rabbit Warstler, 1930-1940, 4611, .287
9. Ossie Vitt, 1912-1921, 4486, .295
10. Tommy Thevenow, 1924-1938, 4484, .294

The active career leader is Greg Maddux with 1750 (slugging .208). The position player leader is 37-year-old catcher Alberto Castillo with a career slugging percentage of .297 in 1173 PA.

Thanks for Playing, Maybe Next Time You'll Hit

The objective of a batter in baseball is to get on base. Most often one accomplishes this by putting the bat on the ball and getting a base hit. Sometimes, though, guys like Laynce Nix pop up for short time on an MLB roster and put up an 0-for-the-year line. They generally don't have that many plate appearances (Nix had 12), but they're still interesting.

Unsurprisingly, the top players in plate appearances for a season with no hits are pitchers. Here's the only five to ever reach 50 PA without a hit:

1. Bob Buhl, 85 PA, 1962
2. Bill Wight, 75, 1950
3. Ernie Koob, 57, 1916
4. Ron Herbel, 54, 1964
5. Karl Drews, 54, 1949

Brett Tomko led all players this year by going hitless in 37 plate appearances.

Let's throw pitchers out of the mix and get an idea of the most hapless position players in a single season. Here's the only guys at or above 25 PA.

1. Hal Finney (C), 35 PA, 1936
2. Larry Littleton (OF), 27 PA, 1981
3. Don Slaught (C), 26 PA, 1997
4. David Ortiz (DH/1B), 25 PA, 1999

The interesting thing about Finney is he didn't even manage to draw a walk or be hit by a pitch in 1936. He managed to drive in three runs and score three runs despite the .000 AVG, OBP and SLG. Fred Tauby (1937), Harry Redmond (1909) and Cliff Carroll (1888) are the only three other position players in major league history to reach even 20 PA without getting on base. Laynce Nix's 12 plate appearances this year tie him, with ten others, for the 28th most by a position player without getting on base in history.

Harry Redmond is atop the career leaderboard for most PA with an OBP of .000, but let's look at the list of guys who simply didn't get hits. Here's the players with 20 or more career PA sans hits:

1. Larry Littleton, 27
2. Mike Potter, 24
3. Cy Wright, 21
4. Harry Redmond, 20

Minor league veteran Josh Labandeira has a chance to join the list as he went 0-for-14 in 2004 for Montreal but still plays (he was in Albuquerque this year for the Marlins).

To finish off this entry, the player with the lowest career batting average above .000 was Skeeter Shelton, a Yankees centerfielder in 1915 who put up a 1-for-40 career line. He had a .025 average, a .071 OBP (2 walks), and a .025 SLG to give him a whopping .096 OPS.