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Irrational Fears

Posted by Raphy on February 5, 2009

In  Andy's post Bad OBP in 1990 and the related comments it is mentioned that in 1990 Alfredo Griffin  was walked intentionally 11 times despite having a .258 OBP.  Griffen's IBB were rare in  that they were tied for the most by anyone ever with and OPS under .530.  However, Griffen's accomplishment pales in comparison to the man he tied.  In 1967 John Bateman drew 11 intentional walks.  Not only was Bateman's OPS less than .530, it was less that .500.   Bateman also managed his feat in only 273 PA compared to Griffen's 502.  In fact, in that season Bateman almost had as many IBB (11) as Runs Created (14). Here are Bateman's IBBs and here is Batemans line:

 Cnt Player            **IBB**  RC Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+-------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 John Bateman         11    14 1967  26 HOU NL  76 273 252  16  48  9  0  2  17  17  53   2   0   2   9   0  0  .190  .245  .250  .495 *2

While Bateman managed to have more RC than IBB, other players haven't even been that good.

As far as I can tell the record for most IBB in a season in which a player had as many IBB as RC is by Jim Gosger in 1968.

 Cnt Player            **IBB**  RC Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+-------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Jim Gosger            8     8 1968  25 OAK AL  88 169 150   7  27  1  1  0   5  17  21   0   1   1   5   4  0  .180  .262  .200  .462 78/9

In  1970 J.C. Martin  had the most IBB (7) for a player who drew more  intentional walks than runs created.

  Cnt Player            **IBB**  RC Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+-------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 J.C. Martin           7     6 1970  33 CHC NL  40 100  77  11  12  1  0  1   4  20  11   1   1   1   2   0  0  .156  .333  .208  .541 *2/3

Here the players with 15 or less RC in a season sorted by IBB. Please  note that #20 Rick Miller  played in a league with a DH. Miller was intentionally walked 6 times that year including twice (both with successful results) in one game by Goose Gossage.

One Response to “Irrational Fears”

  1. bravesfan513 Says:

    Bateman was hitting 8th for all but one of those intentional walks. The '67 Astros had 21 IBBs from their 8th place hitters. That doesn't seem to be an especially high number. Their 9th place hitters were pretty normal (98 sOPS+). It should be noted that Bateman had a really good year in 1966, so maybe they were going off that scouting report.