Lowest batting average, first two seasons
Posted by Andy on October 24, 2007
REMINDER: Submit your ballot for Game 1 of the World Series Challenge before the first pitch tonight.
Mike Schmidt remains one of my personal all-time favorite players, and I was just perusing his stats, remembering how badly he hit in his first regular season, 1973. In 132 games, he batted .196 with an OPS+ of just 92. (A figure of 92 doesn't sound all that bad until you realize that his career mark was 147.)
It got me to wondering--just how badly does Schmitty rank for batting average at the start of a career?
Well here are the "leaders' for worst batting average over the first two seasons, minimum of 400 at bats:
Cnt Player **BA** AB From To Ages G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS OBP SLG OPS Positions Teams +----+-----------------+---------+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+ 1 Ray Oyler .178 404 1965 1966 26-27 153 454 38 72 14 3 6 22 44 7 123 3 3 0 15 1 0 .264 .272 .536 *6/435 DET 2 Bill Bergen .179 630 1901 1902 23-24 176 668 34 113 14 7 1 53 22 0 0 0 16 0 0 4 0 .207 .229 .436 *2 CIN 3 Tony Smith .183 460 1907 1910 23-26 157 585 43 84 11 2 1 24 87 0 53 3 35 0 0 12 0 .316 .222 .538 *6/5 WSH-BRO 4 Eddie Zimmerman .186 431 1906 1911 23-28 127 484 31 80 10 7 3 37 34 0 37 2 17 0 0 9 0 .248 .262 .510 *5 STL-BRO 5 Chuck Wortman .189 424 1916 1917 24-25 144 476 41 80 8 3 2 25 36 0 45 0 16 0 0 10 0 .252 .236 .488 *6/45 CHC 6 John Gochnauer .189 470 1901 1902 25-26 130 518 46 89 16 4 0 39 39 0 0 0 9 0 0 8 0 .251 .240 .491 *6 BRO-CLE 7 Brandon Inge .194 510 2001 2002 24-25 174 553 40 99 26 3 7 39 33 0 142 4 3 3 9 2 7 .247 .298 .545 *2/D DET 8 Dick Schofield .194 454 1983 1984 20-21 161 514 43 88 12 3 7 25 39 0 87 7 14 0 9 5 2 .268 .280 .548 *6 CAL 9 Joe Dugan .194 545 1917 1918 20-21 164 594 35 106 19 3 3 50 19 0 71 6 24 0 0 4 0 .230 .257 .487 *6/4 PHA 10 Jack O'Neill .194 438 1902 1903 29-30 138 480 36 85 10 2 0 39 26 0 0 10 6 0 0 13 0 .255 .226 .481 *2 STL 11 Matt Williams .195 401 1987 1988 21-22 136 436 45 78 15 3 16 40 24 4 109 3 6 2 12 4 4 .244 .367 .611 /*65 SFG 12 Mike Schmidt .197 401 1972 1973 22-23 145 483 45 79 11 0 19 55 67 3 151 10 1 4 8 8 2 .324 .367 .691 *5/463 PHI 13 Ted Kazanski .198 464 1953 1954 19-20 134 502 46 92 19 5 3 35 30 0 67 3 3 2 11 1 2 .251 .280 .531 *6 PHI 14 Gair Allie .199 418 1954 1954 22-22 121 482 38 83 8 6 3 30 56 0 84 2 3 3 3 1 1 .294 .268 .562 /*65 PIT 15 John Knight .199 578 1905 1906 19-20 162 623 57 115 19 3 6 49 28 0 0 1 16 0 0 10 0 .237 .273 .510 /654 PHA
These are the only 15 guys meeting those criteria who come in under the Mendoza line. The full list is here.
Interesting that adjacent to Michael Jack is another power-hitting third baseman who had a very slow start: Matt Williams. Williams actually hit under .210 in each of his first 3 years, although he never got as many as 300 at-bats in any of them. Year 4, in 1990, he broke out with a .277/.319/.488 year, with 33 HR, 122 RBI, and an OPS+ of 123. People sometimes forget that in 1994, he had 43 HR in 112 games when the strike hit, putting him on a pace for 62, back when 61 still meant something and nobody talked about asterisks (except for those who wanted Maris' mark to have an asterisk for coming in 162 games instead of 154.)
Brandon Inge makes an appearance too. Inge is an interesting guy. He has some value due to his ability to play different positions (although he's been used exclusively at 3B the last two seasons.) Offensively, he tends to be over-rated thanks to a decent season in 2004, but don't you forget that he has a career OPS+ of just 85. Ouch.
Most of the guys on this list went on to have short and unmemorable careers. Other than those already named, the only other career of much significance is that of Joe Dugan, who was a career .280 hitter and member of 5 World Series teams (3 winners) with the Yankees. Dick Schofield is the only other guy there to play more than a handful of seasons.
It doesn't bode well for Inge.
October 24th, 2007 at 7:56 am
I'm curious about something. When I see Ray Oyler, I IMMEDIATELY think of "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton. The same is true whenever I see the names Don Mincher, Steve Hovley, Mike Hegas, Fred Talbot, Gary Bell, Gene Brabender, and of course Dooley Womack.
Is this true for anybody else? I can't think of another sports book that has had such a profound effect. Kids today read it and don't understand--they don't realize what media access was like then versus now, and don't realize that that book changed everything.
October 24th, 2007 at 9:16 am
I always get a ping of sadness when I look up players and find that they are dead. Ray Oyler died in his early 40s. I didn't know he was dead. I stare and examine all these stats, and often know little or nothing about these players as people. I get the same ping when I am at an antique store and the dealer is selling old photos of people long gone. I like whenever I can to know more about these players as people. Oyler's year in Seattle was rather magical and a fun story; Oyler was also part of an interesting story in the 1968 when his manager benched him and played Stanley (who had little experience at shortstop) at shortstop. It's nice to see that his BR page is sponsored by a member of the that Ray Oyler fan club.
P.S. I love "Ball Four" *and* I think Bouton was and continues to be an ambassador of the game.
October 24th, 2007 at 9:39 am
You read Ball Four but didn't know Oyler had died? He mentioned it in the afterword (not the original afterword, of course, but somehow I doubt you read an original printing...)
October 24th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Well, it's been 15 years or so since I've read Ball Four. I can't remember *everything* now, can I?
I was looking closer at Oyler's stats to see if I could find some positive things: like "come on guys, it was the American League in the late 1960s! no one was hitting that well!" but then I looked at his OPS+ which never got over 61.
He was 2 for 8 on the base path; and he struck out in 25% of his plate appearances. His range factor in the field was not all that impressive compared to the league.
He *did* place third in the AL in Sac Hits once. And he *did* have a sac hit in the World Series. He *did* get a World Series ring.
October 24th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
I remember the parallels between Williams and Schmidt being often noted once Williams became a good player. I also remember his great season in '94; the strike may have hurt his legacy more than any other player's. A very good career but he'll be little remembered by our kids.
I give a lot of credit to Detroit for Inge. The guy was an absolutely horrendous hitter and I couldn't understand why they stuck with him. They saw something in him and once he got out from behind the plate, he became a useful utility player and now a very good 3B. The bat is only marginal, but better than it looked it would ever be.