Most PAs, no homers, active players
Posted by Andy on August 31, 2009
Here are the most plate appearances among active players with no career homers:
Cnt Player **PA** HR From To Ages G AB R H 2B 3B RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions Teams +----+-----------------+---------+---+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+ 1 Reggie Willits 785 0 2006 2009 25-28 280 651 122 173 27 1 49 103 2 133 3 20 8 8 37 12 .266 .365 .310 .675 7/98D LAA 2 Brett Tomko 546 0 1997 2009 24-36 392 455 23 71 9 0 29 19 0 180 0 71 1 5 0 1 .156 .189 .176 .365 *1 CIN-SEA-SDP-STL-SFG-LAD-TOT-NYY 3 Pedro Martinez 509 0 1992 2009 20-37 472 426 22 43 6 2 18 14 0 188 3 63 3 5 0 0 .101 .135 .124 .259 *1/5 LAD-MON-BOS-NYM-PHI 4 Luis Ordaz 496 0 1997 2006 21-30 206 440 51 96 13 0 30 34 1 53 2 15 5 12 12 5 .218 .274 .248 .522 *6/45 STL-KCR-TBD 5 Ben Sheets 492 0 2001 2008 22-29 221 433 12 33 3 0 12 18 0 204 0 41 0 2 0 0 .076 .113 .083 .196 *1 MIL 6 Ryan Dempster 491 0 1998 2009 21-32 449 424 18 40 8 1 13 12 0 173 0 55 0 3 0 0 .094 .119 .118 .237 *1 FLA-TOT-CIN-CHC 7 Brandon Webb 457 0 2003 2009 24-30 199 391 12 44 9 0 29 10 0 182 0 55 1 4 0 0 .113 .134 .136 .270 *1 ARI 8 Jamie Moyer 440 0 1986 2009 23-46 666 354 22 47 5 0 12 31 0 126 1 52 2 5 0 0 .133 .204 .147 .351 *1 CHC-TEX-STL-BAL-TOT-SEA-PHI 9 Doug Davis 422 0 1999 2009 23-33 282 375 12 31 4 2 12 4 0 151 1 42 0 4 0 0 .083 .095 .104 .199 *1 TEX-TOT-MIL-ARI 10 Brett Myers 410 0 2002 2009 21-28 234 346 17 42 9 0 10 19 0 114 0 45 0 8 0 0 .121 .167 .147 .314 *1 PHI 11 Matt Clement 410 0 1998 2006 23-31 239 348 22 33 5 1 12 14 0 174 4 43 1 2 0 0 .095 .139 .115 .254 *1 SDP-FLA-CHC-BOS 12 Josh Fogg 404 0 2001 2009 24-32 244 335 21 40 4 0 11 13 0 113 1 55 0 2 1 0 .119 .155 .131 .286 *1 CHW-PIT-COL-CIN 13 Aaron Cook 388 0 2002 2009 23-30 201 306 20 47 5 1 14 18 0 102 2 61 1 3 0 0 .154 .205 .176 .381 *1 COL 14 Oliver Perez 385 0 2002 2009 20-27 191 332 13 53 1 0 14 13 0 112 0 38 2 2 3 1 .160 .190 .163 .353 *1 SDP-TOT-PIT-NYM 15 Derek Lowe 384 0 1997 2009 24-36 561 316 19 42 5 0 15 20 0 94 0 46 2 6 1 0 .133 .183 .149 .332 *1 TOT-BOS-LAD-ATL 16 John Thomson 381 0 1997 2007 23-33 216 318 20 63 6 1 22 12 0 133 0 48 3 3 0 1 .198 .225 .223 .448 *1 COL-TOT-TEX-ATL-KCR 17 Chris Carpenter 312 0 1997 2009 22-34 272 275 12 29 3 0 6 9 0 88 0 27 1 3 0 1 .105 .133 .116 .249 *1 TOR-STL 18 Tim Hudson 311 0 1999 2008 23-32 309 271 16 44 8 1 21 11 0 85 0 29 0 6 0 0 .162 .195 .199 .394 *1 OAK-ATL 19 Esteban Loaiza 311 0 1995 2008 23-36 379 271 16 46 4 1 18 3 0 59 0 36 1 8 0 1 .170 .178 .192 .370 *1 PIT-TOT-TEX-TOR-CHW-WSN-OAK 20 Wade Miller 308 0 1999 2007 22-30 155 273 20 47 9 0 17 4 0 86 0 30 1 3 0 0 .172 .183 .205 .388 *1 HOU-BOS-CHC
Only Willits and Ordaz are non-pitchers, although it's debatable whether Ordaz can really be considered active since he hasn't appeared in the majors since 2006.
Limiting to non-pitchers, here is the list:
Cnt Player **PA** HR From To Ages G AB R H 2B 3B RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions Teams +----+-----------------+---------+---+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+ 1 Reggie Willits 785 0 2006 2009 25-28 280 651 122 173 27 1 49 103 2 133 3 20 8 8 37 12 .266 .365 .310 .675 7/98D LAA 2 Luis Ordaz 496 0 1997 2006 21-30 206 440 51 96 13 0 30 34 1 53 2 15 5 12 12 5 .218 .274 .248 .522 *6/45 STL-KCR-TBD 3 Bernie Castro 209 0 2005 2006 25-26 66 190 32 48 4 4 17 18 0 28 0 1 0 2 13 4 .253 .317 .316 .633 /*4D7 BAL-WSN 4 Alejandro De Aza 185 0 2007 2009 23-25 67 164 20 38 9 2 11 11 1 42 1 6 3 2 2 0 .232 .279 .311 .590 /*87 FLA 5 Brian Bixler 155 0 2008 2009 25-26 63 141 20 24 7 1 4 8 2 59 4 2 0 1 1 0 .170 .235 .234 .469 /*64 PIT 6 Joaquin Arias 141 0 2006 2009 21-24 41 129 19 38 8 3 10 8 0 15 2 2 0 4 4 2 .295 .345 .403 .748 /*465D TEX 7 Ivan Ochoa 134 0 2008 2008 25-25 47 120 7 24 8 0 3 4 1 28 3 7 0 3 0 1 .200 .244 .267 .511 /*64 SFG 8 Ramon Nivar 133 0 2003 2005 23-25 42 121 13 27 1 2 12 4 0 19 2 5 1 1 5 4 .223 .258 .264 .522 /*8 TEX-BAL 9 Trevor Crowe 121 0 2009 2009 25-25 44 106 16 22 6 1 10 9 0 25 1 3 2 4 4 0 .208 .271 .283 .554 /879 CLE 10 Luis Cruz 106 0 2008 2009 24-25 35 94 8 20 3 0 4 6 1 3 3 2 1 3 1 1 .213 .279 .245 .524 /*64 PIT 11 Mike Rouse 102 0 2006 2007 26-27 49 91 9 15 4 0 6 8 1 24 1 1 1 1 2 1 .165 .238 .209 .447 /456 OAK-CLE 12 Ramiro Pena 100 0 2009 2009 23-23 53 94 14 26 5 1 7 5 0 17 0 1 0 1 3 1 .277 .313 .351 .664 /564D NYY 13 Michael Saunders 97 0 2009 2009 22-22 28 90 10 20 1 1 4 6 0 30 0 1 0 1 3 1 .222 .271 .256 .527 /*7 SEA 14 Nathan Haynes 95 0 2007 2008 27-28 60 89 13 22 0 1 4 6 0 23 0 0 0 1 5 3 .247 .295 .270 .565 /987 LAA-TBR 15 Brian Bocock 93 0 2008 2008 23-23 32 77 4 11 1 0 2 12 0 29 0 4 0 2 4 2 .143 .258 .156 .414 /*6 SFG 16 Roger Bernadina 91 0 2008 2009 24-25 29 80 11 17 2 1 2 10 0 22 0 1 0 3 5 3 .213 .300 .263 .563 /*879 WSN 17 Dane Sardinha 88 0 2003 2009 24-30 31 80 3 10 1 1 6 4 0 29 0 2 2 2 0 0 .125 .163 .163 .326 /*2 CIN-DET 18 Jerry Gil 88 0 2004 2007 21-24 30 86 3 15 2 1 8 0 0 33 1 0 1 2 2 0 .174 .182 .221 .403 /*6 ARI-CIN 19 Chris Heintz 88 0 2005 2007 30-32 34 82 1 19 3 0 9 4 0 18 0 2 0 3 0 0 .232 .267 .268 .535 /*2 MIN 20 Don Kelly 85 0 2007 2009 27-29 44 75 8 16 3 1 3 6 0 12 3 1 0 1 0 0 .213 .298 .280 .578 /76459 PIT-DET
These totals are remarkably low.
Just since 1970, check out all the players with multiple seasons qualifying for the batting title but hitting no homers:
From To Ages Seasons Link to Individual Seasons +-----------------+----+----+-----+-------+------------------------------+ Ozzie Smith 1979 1992 24-37 6 Ind. Seasons Larry Bowa 1970 1982 24-36 6 Ind. Seasons Jerry Remy 1976 1983 23-30 4 Ind. Seasons Frank Taveras 1976 1980 26-30 3 Ind. Seasons Duane Kuiper 1976 1979 26-29 3 Ind. Seasons Roger Metzger 1971 1976 23-28 3 Ind. Seasons Otis Nixon 1994 1995 35-36 2 Ind. Seasons Lance Johnson 1991 1993 27-29 2 Ind. Seasons Gerald Young 1988 1989 23-24 2 Ind. Seasons Pete Rose 1981 1983 40-42 2 Ind. Seasons Tom Herr 1981 1982 25-26 2 Ind. Seasons Alfredo Griffin 1981 1989 23-31 2 Ind. Seasons Rodney Scott 1980 1981 26-27 2 Ind. Seasons Greg Gross 1974 1975 21-22 2 Ind. Seasons Don Kessinger 1973 1975 30-32 2 Ind. Seasons Ron Hunt 1972 1974 31-33 2 Ind. Seasons Enzo Hernandez 1971 1974 22-25 2 Ind. Seasons Mark Belanger 1971 1973 27-29 2 Ind. Seasons
Now, I don't think any of these guys finished their career with zero homers but it seems to me that we should have a number of players with several hundred PAs and no homers, not just 3 players with as many as 200 PAs. Homers are just so incredibly prevalent now compared to years bygone.
August 31st, 2009 at 12:03 pm
What are the longest homerless plate appearance droughts in MLB history? Much was made of Jason Tyner ending his 1220 PA drought a couple of years ago (well, much was made in MN anyways). Can the play index find these streaks?
August 31st, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Sounds like Bill Hobert (19th century catcher) has the record for most career AB's without a HR. 2335 AB, 2396 PA.
Notoriously bad hitter Bill Bergen had a homerless drought of over 2000 PA, but homered in his first season so would never appear on such a list.
Tommy Thevenow has a 3500+ PA streak from 1927-1938. Al Bridwell 3700+ PA from 1905-1912.
I'm just taking stabs in the dark looking for guys with high PA/HR ratios... I don't know what the answer is.
August 31st, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Al Newman went 2252 plate appearances after his only career home run before retiring.
Rafael Belliard went 2044 plate appearances between his only two career home runs.
Those are the longest streaks I could find from 1954-2009.
August 31st, 2009 at 1:47 pm
My apologies for not knowing how to introduce a new subject, but I noted that the Giants' Pablo Sandoval played in his 162nd MLB game on Saturday. Through that game, his career totals included 203 Hits and 330 Total Bases...pretty lofty numbers. In recent years, I could only find similar numbers from Ryan Braun and Hunter Pence. Is there a way to compile a list other than a game-by-game count of the partial season? I'm interested in using 200 H and 324 TB (2x162) as the threshholds. Thanks to all.
August 31st, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Nice find on the streaks. Belliard actually has the lowest career OPS+ (46) of any player with over 1500 PA (despite the fact that had over 2500!). That is, if you don't count some guy named Bill Bergen who played between 1901 and 1911 with a 21 OPS+. Not sure how that could be possible. FYI, Newman's 58 is tied for 78th on the list with, among others, one of my favorite baseball names, Onix Concepcion.
August 31st, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Wikipedia tells me that Thevenow has the record for consecutive AB's without a homer (with a citation of a 1982 baseball digest article)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Thevenow
That's by AB's. Bridwell's PA streak was longer. Bridwell, had a halfway decent walk rate.
August 31st, 2009 at 2:45 pm
The most career PA without a home run of any position player who started his career after 1900 was Tom Oliver, OF for the Red Sox from 1930-1933, who had 2072 PA without a Home Run. He probably would have gotten ROY votes had there been one (led the league in AB, .293 BA) and even received MVP votes the next year.
August 31st, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Huh... Al Bridwell hit the single that was nullified by Merkle's boner. Small world. Can't find anything on the homerless PA streak though. Looks like most other sources use AB's to measure this type of thing.
August 31st, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Actually, it may not have been as common circa 1970 as believed. I did a search, 1960-1980, most AB w/o a home run, non-pitchers only. Ten guys had 500 AB, although one would later homer a bunch of times. Only two have more than 1,000 AB, Tim Johnson and Luis Gomez. The first guy I thought of, Mick Kelleher, was third with 954.
August 31st, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I thought for sure that Rod Carew would be on that last list, but he had only one homerless season. However, it was one of the years in which he won a batting title, 1972. I thought I had read somewhere at the time that he was the only player to win a batting title (at least in the post-1900 era) without hitting a home run. Later, I read that Zack Wheat did so for Brooklyn in the late 19-teens. I just looked it up here, and indeed he hit zero homers in 1918 while leading the lead in batting average. Both 1972 and 1918 were shortened years - 1972 due to a labor dispute that delayed the beginning of the season and 1918 due to ending early because of World War I. So maybe given a little more time, Carew or Wheat would have homered.
Some of these guys who don't have much power, especially in the "dead ball" era, may have hit inside-the-park home runs.
I also noticed that Pedro Martinez, Jamie Moyer, and Brett Myers are among the active players. Now watch all three of them go deep in the same game! (Martinez starts home game at Citzens Bank Park, homers in second inning, rain delay in third, play resumes, Moyer comes in to pitch, homers in fourth, Myers comes into game in top of eighth in a double switch that will allow him to also pitch ninth with less of a chance to need a pinch hitter, Myers' spot comes up anyway with no one warmed up, Myers then homers.)
No one currently in the Phillies' starting rotation has a career regular season home run. I thought Cole Hamels would have one, but I just checked, and he doesn't. Cliff Lee, with admittedly very few opportunities so far, also doesn't have any. Joe Blanton does have that one in the World Series.
August 31st, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Note that the ten guys on the multiple seasons list all date back to 1995 or earlier. Reggie Willits seems to walk a fair bit for someone with so little power. Eorns, Bergen was a catcher with a great defensive reputation, who played for some crappy teams.
September 1st, 2009 at 12:16 am
Just to clarify on my search, it was career AB from 1960-1980, not single season. The number of players who have many homerless seasons may actually end up with quite a few career homers, so you can't base anything on such seasons without looking at the total picture. Ozzie Smith hit 28 homers, Bowa 15. That's a long way from zero. Comparing the guys on the single-season homerless list to guys with 0 on the active career list isn't a fair way to do it. Ozzie homered in his first season. Bowa, it is true, did take nearly three years with lots of ABs, but if you did this same list any time after Aug. 1972, the bulk of his career, he wouldn't show up either.
By the way, possibly my favorite homerless stat: Otis Nixon, all-time leader in 0-30 seasons http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/gyrTW