This is our old blog. It hasn't been active since 2011. Please see the link above for our current blog or click the logo above to see all of the great data and content on this site.
«
»

More RBI than hits

Posted by Andy on January 2, 2010

Steve's post about players with some RBI but no career hits got me to thinking.

Here are the players with the most career RBI, where they have at least as many RBI as career hits:

Rk Player RBI H From To Age G PA AB R 2B 3B HR BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Tm
1 Mike Busch 23 22 1995 1996 26-27 51 105 100 11 4 0 7 5 0 40 0 0 0 2 0 0 .220 .257 .470 .727 /*53 LAD
2 Mike Hart 17 17 1984 1987 26-29 47 116 105 7 2 0 4 7 0 21 0 2 2 1 1 5 .162 .211 .295 .506 /*879 MIN-BAL
3 Arquimedez Pozo 14 14 1995 1997 21-23 26 80 74 4 4 1 1 2 0 15 1 1 2 1 1 0 .189 .215 .311 .526 /*54 SEA-BOS
4 Ray Poat 14 14 1942 1949 24-31 116 133 122 9 3 1 1 7 0 56 0 4 0 2 0 0 .115 .163 .180 .343 *1 CLE-NYG-TOT
5 Jeff Juden 13 13 1991 1999 20-28 147 132 119 5 3 0 1 1 0 60 1 11 0 3 0 0 .109 .124 .160 .284 *1 HOU-PHI-TOT-MON-CLE-MIL-ANA-NYY
6 George Canale 13 12 1989 1991 23-25 44 88 73 15 4 0 4 12 0 15 0 1 2 5 0 2 .164 .276 .384 .659 /*3 MIL
7 Zeb Eaton 12 9 1944 1945 24-25 35 43 42 3 1 0 2 1 0 8 0 0 0 1 0 0 .214 .233 .381 .614 /*1 DET
8 Rick Lancellotti 11 11 1982 1990 25-33 36 68 65 4 2 0 2 2 0 18 0 0 1 0 0 0 .169 .191 .292 .483 /379 SDP-SFG-BOS
9 Charlie Barnabe 11 7 1927 1928 27-28 29 32 27 6 4 0 1 4 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .259 .355 .519 .873 /*1 CHW
10 Joe Koshansky 10 9 2007 2008 25-26 35 55 50 5 4 0 3 3 0 22 1 0 1 2 0 0 .180 .236 .440 .676 /3 COL
11 Casey Parsons 10 10 1981 1987 27-33 63 61 53 9 1 0 2 3 1 11 2 2 1 2 0 0 .189 .254 .321 .575 /987D3 SEA-CHW-CLE
12 Bob Rice 10 8 1926 1926 27-27 19 59 54 3 0 1 0 3 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 .148 .193 .185 .378 /*564 PHI
13 Bobby Keefe 10 10 1907 1912 25-30 75 125 107 11 2 1 0 11 0 36 0 7 0 0 0 0 .093 .178 .131 .309 /*1 NYY-CIN
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/1/2010.

Here are the single-season leaders for the same category:

Rk Player RBI H Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R 2B 3B HR BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Mark McGwire 147 145 1999 35 STL NL 153 661 521 118 21 1 65 133 21 141 2 0 5 12 0 0 .278 .424 .697 1.120 *3
2 Jason Giambi 113 113 2006 35 NYY AL 139 579 446 92 25 0 37 110 12 106 16 0 7 10 2 0 .253 .413 .558 .971 *D3
3 Mark McGwire 90 87 1995 31 OAK AL 104 422 317 75 13 0 39 88 5 77 11 0 6 9 1 1 .274 .441 .685 1.125 *3D
4 Paul Sorrento 79 76 1995 29 CLE AL 104 378 323 50 14 0 25 51 6 71 0 0 4 10 1 1 .235 .336 .511 .847 *3/D
5 Mark McGwire 73 72 2000 36 STL NL 89 321 236 60 8 0 32 76 12 78 7 0 2 5 1 0 .305 .483 .746 1.229 *3/467
6 Mark McGwire 64 56 2001 37 STL NL 97 364 299 48 4 0 29 56 3 118 3 0 6 7 0 0 .187 .316 .492 .808 *3
7 Eddie Robinson 42 36 1955 34 NYY AL 88 215 173 25 1 0 16 36 7 26 5 0 1 7 0 0 .208 .358 .491 .849 *3
8 Greg Norton 37 37 2002 29 COL NL 113 195 168 19 8 1 7 24 0 52 0 1 2 4 2 3 .220 .314 .405 .719 53/7D
9 Charlie Keller 36 36 1947 30 NYY AL 45 193 151 36 6 1 13 41 0 18 1 0 0 3 0 0 .238 .404 .550 .954 *7
10 Archi Cianfrocco 31 31 1995 28 SDP NL 51 132 118 22 7 0 5 11 1 28 2 0 1 3 0 2 .263 .333 .449 .782 *36/9457
11 Frank Fernandez 30 23 1968 25 NYY AL 51 170 135 15 6 1 7 35 2 50 0 0 0 3 1 0 .170 .341 .385 .726 *2/9
12 Bobby Hofman 30 28 1954 28 NYG NL 71 148 125 12 5 0 8 17 0 15 1 3 2 3 0 0 .224 .317 .456 .773 34/5
13 Don Padgett 30 30 1946 34 TOT NL 63 138 128 8 4 0 3 9 0 11 0 1 0 1 0 0 .234 .285 .336 .621 *2
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/1/2010.

It seems like McGwire always sneaks onto lists like this, but until now Jason Giambi's 2006 had entirely escaped me. I think that most of the players making this list had one or both of the following true: they hit a lot of homers, hence a lot of RBI per hit, or they played for good offensive teams and thus had a lot of runners on base, making it easier to score multiple runners with a single hit.

Going back to career totals, if we set a cutoff of 80%, meaning RBI total is at least 80% of hits total, just a few players make it with significant playing time:

Rk Player RBI H From To Age G PA AB R 2B 3B HR BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Tm
1 Mark McGwire 1414 1626 1986 2001 22-37 1874 7660 6187 1167 252 6 583 1317 150 1596 75 3 78 147 12 8 .263 .394 .588 .982 *3/D54967 OAK-TOT-STL
2 Ryan Howard 640 750 2004 2009 24-29 732 3145 2687 465 136 11 222 406 105 878 25 0 27 50 10 3 .279 .376 .586 .961 *3/D PHI
3 Frank Colman 106 130 1942 1947 24-29 271 624 571 66 25 8 15 49 0 66 2 2 0 9 0 0 .228 .291 .378 .669 /937 PIT-TOT-NYY
4 Jack Harshman 65 76 1948 1960 20-32 258 522 424 46 7 0 21 72 0 119 0 18 8 8 0 0 .179 .294 .344 .638 *1/38 NYG-CHW-BAL-TOT-CLE
5 Kevin Roberson 51 61 1993 1996 25-28 165 345 309 44 10 1 20 27 0 93 7 0 2 6 0 2 .197 .275 .430 .706 /978 CHC-NYM
6 Julio Zuleta 36 43 2000 2001 25-26 79 191 174 24 11 0 9 10 1 51 6 0 1 5 0 2 .247 .309 .466 .774 /*37 CHC
7 Frank Secory 36 37 1940 1946 27-33 93 186 162 21 5 0 7 17 0 24 0 7 0 3 1 0 .228 .302 .389 .691 /798 DET-CIN-CHC
8 Jim Breazeale 33 40 1969 1978 19-28 89 197 179 20 5 0 9 16 1 25 0 0 2 4 0 1 .223 .284 .402 .686 /3D5 ATL-CHW
9 Landon Powell 30 32 2009 2009 27-27 46 155 140 19 7 0 7 14 0 36 0 0 1 3 0 0 .229 .297 .429 .725 /*23D OAK
10 Mike Busch 23 22 1995 1996 26-27 51 105 100 11 4 0 7 5 0 40 0 0 0 2 0 0 .220 .257 .470 .727 /*53 LAD
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/1/2010.

This is one of the things that bugs me about Ryan Howard. I feel like his RBI totals have been inflated by virtue of high home run totals and because the Phillies have been a very good offensive team. I have not felt that Howard is as productive as his numbers suggest. This is a moot point if he continues to hit at least 45 HR per season but if his long ball numbers fall, his overall seasons might not look quite so good anymore.

Let me expand the above list by droppnig the requirement to 70%. Here are all players with at least 500 career RBI where their RBI total is at least 70% of their hit total.

Rk Player RBI H From To Age G PA AB R 2B 3B HR BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Tm
1 Babe Ruth 2217 2873 1914 1935 19-40 2503 10616 8398 2174 506 136 714 2062 0 1330 43 113 0 2 123 117 .342 .474 .690 1.164 971/83 BOS-NYY-BSN
2 Lou Gehrig 1995 2721 1923 1939 20-36 2164 9660 8001 1888 534 163 493 1508 0 790 45 106 0 2 102 101 .340 .447 .632 1.080 *3/976 NYY
3 Jimmie Foxx 1922 2646 1925 1945 17-37 2317 9670 8134 1751 458 125 534 1452 0 1311 13 71 0 69 87 72 .325 .428 .609 1.038 *352/7196 PHA-BOS-TOT-CHC-PHI
4 Manny Ramirez 1788 2494 1993 2009 21-37 2207 9437 7962 1506 531 20 546 1283 212 1748 103 2 87 237 37 32 .313 .411 .591 1.002 79D CLE-BOS-TOT-LAD
5 Mike Schmidt 1595 2234 1972 1989 22-39 2404 10062 8352 1506 408 59 548 1507 201 1883 79 16 108 156 174 92 .267 .380 .527 .908 *53/64 PHI
6 Harmon Killebrew 1584 2086 1954 1975 18-39 2435 9831 8147 1283 290 24 573 1559 160 1699 48 0 77 243 19 18 .256 .376 .509 .884 357D/49 WSH-MIN-KCR
7 Jim Thome 1565 2138 1991 2009 20-38 2284 9463 7706 1486 412 24 564 1619 162 2313 66 1 71 145 19 20 .277 .404 .557 .961 3D5 CLE-PHI-CHW-TOT
8 Willie McCovey 1555 2211 1959 1980 21-42 2588 9686 8197 1229 353 46 521 1345 260 1550 69 5 70 176 26 22 .270 .374 .515 .889 *37/9D SFG-SDP-TOT
9 Carlos Delgado 1512 2038 1993 2009 21-37 2035 8657 7283 1241 483 18 473 1109 186 1745 172 0 93 152 14 8 .280 .383 .546 .929 *3D/72 TOR-FLA-NYM
10 Mark McGwire 1414 1626 1986 2001 22-37 1874 7660 6187 1167 252 6 583 1317 150 1596 75 3 78 147 12 8 .263 .394 .588 .982 *3/D54967 OAK-TOT-STL
11 Jose Canseco 1407 1877 1985 2001 20-36 1887 8129 7057 1186 340 14 462 906 64 1942 84 1 81 178 200 88 .266 .353 .515 .867 D97/81 OAK-TOT-TEX-BOS-TOR-TBD-CHW
12 Juan Gonzalez 1404 1936 1989 2005 19-35 1689 7155 6556 1061 388 25 434 457 74 1273 62 2 78 184 26 19 .295 .343 .561 .904 9D78 TEX-DET-CLE-KCR
13 Jason Giambi 1330 1871 1995 2009 24-38 1952 8135 6625 1159 376 9 409 1262 88 1388 164 2 82 145 18 11 .282 .405 .527 .932 *3D7/59 OAK-NYY-TOT
14 Hank Greenberg 1276 1628 1930 1947 19-36 1394 6096 5193 1051 379 71 331 852 0 844 16 35 0 66 58 26 .313 .412 .605 1.017 *37 DET-PIT
15 Albert Belle 1239 1726 1989 2000 22-33 1539 6673 5853 974 389 21 381 683 91 961 55 4 78 193 88 41 .295 .369 .564 .933 *79D CLE-CHW-BAL
16 Dave Kingman 1210 1575 1971 1986 22-37 1941 7429 6677 901 240 25 442 608 72 1816 53 16 75 139 85 49 .236 .302 .478 .780 37D59/1 SFG-NYM-TOT-CHC-OAK
17 Rudy York 1152 1621 1934 1948 20-34 1603 6720 5891 876 291 52 277 792 0 867 12 25 0 155 38 26 .275 .362 .483 .845 *32/57 DET-BOS-TOT-PHA
18 Greg Vaughn 1072 1475 1989 2003 23-37 1731 7070 6103 1017 284 23 355 865 54 1513 37 11 54 101 121 59 .242 .337 .470 .807 *7D/89 MIL-TOT-SDP-CIN-TBD-COL
19 David Ortiz 1068 1458 1997 2009 21-33 1451 6055 5172 889 380 14 317 795 90 1107 29 2 57 117 10 5 .282 .377 .545 .922 *D3 MIN-BOS
20 Hack Wilson 1063 1461 1923 1934 23-34 1348 5556 4760 884 266 67 244 674 0 713 20 102 0 15 52 5 .307 .395 .545 .940 *879/4 NYG-CHC-BRO-TOT
21 Cecil Fielder 1008 1313 1985 1998 21-34 1470 5939 5157 744 200 7 319 693 76 1316 43 0 46 169 2 6 .255 .345 .482 .827 *3D/547 TOR-DET-TOT-NYY
22 Darryl Strawberry 1000 1401 1983 1999 21-37 1583 6326 5418 898 256 38 335 816 131 1352 38 1 53 64 221 99 .259 .357 .505 .862 *9D/78 NYM-LAD-SFG-NYY
23 Jay Buhner 965 1273 1987 2001 22-36 1472 5927 5013 798 233 19 310 792 41 1406 56 12 54 123 6 24 .254 .359 .494 .852 *9/D873 NYY-TOT-SEA
24 Richie Sexson 943 1286 1997 2008 22-33 1367 5604 4928 748 260 17 306 588 31 1313 52 0 36 145 14 13 .261 .344 .507 .851 *37/D9 CLE-TOT-MIL-ARI-SEA
25 Pat Burrell 891 1257 2000 2009 23-32 1428 5864 4947 700 269 15 265 842 49 1392 28 0 47 110 7 1 .254 .363 .475 .838 *7D/39 PHI-TBR
Rk Player RBI H From To Age G PA AB R 2B 3B HR BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Tm
26 Roy Campanella 856 1161 1948 1957 26-35 1215 4816 4205 627 178 18 242 533 30 501 30 30 18 143 25 15 .276 .360 .500 .860 *2 BRO
27 Gorman Thomas 782 1051 1973 1986 22-35 1436 5486 4677 681 212 13 268 697 41 1339 18 41 53 84 50 49 .225 .324 .448 .772 *8D9/735 MIL-TOT-SEA
28 Adam Dunn 777 1101 2001 2009 21-29 1290 5417 4417 780 230 8 316 913 97 1433 62 2 23 65 59 20 .249 .383 .520 .903 *739/D CIN-TOT-WSN
29 Gus Zernial 776 1093 1949 1959 26-36 1234 4561 4131 572 159 22 237 383 3 755 24 3 20 106 15 7 .265 .329 .486 .815 *7/39 CHW-TOT-PHA-KCA-DET
30 Charlie Keller 760 1085 1939 1952 22-35 1170 4604 3790 725 166 72 189 784 0 499 10 20 0 50 45 23 .286 .410 .518 .928 *79 NYY-DET
31 Dick Stuart 743 1055 1958 1969 25-36 1112 4363 3997 506 157 30 228 301 34 957 22 6 37 118 2 7 .264 .316 .489 .806 *3/75 PIT-BOS-PHI-TOT-CAL
32 Ryan Howard 640 750 2004 2009 24-29 732 3145 2687 465 136 11 222 406 105 878 25 0 27 50 10 3 .279 .376 .586 .961 *3/D PHI
33 Rob Deer 600 853 1984 1996 23-35 1155 4512 3881 578 148 13 230 575 27 1409 32 2 22 38 43 31 .220 .324 .442 .766 *97/3D8 SFG-MIL-DET-TOT-SDP
34 George Selkirk 576 810 1934 1942 26-34 846 3322 2790 503 131 41 108 486 0 319 23 23 0 10 49 32 .290 .400 .483 .883 *97/8 NYY
35 Carlos Pena 566 776 2001 2009 23-31 929 3713 3136 495 153 20 202 495 33 973 47 4 31 47 18 13 .247 .355 .502 .858 *3/D7 TEX-TOT-DET-BOS-TBD-TBR
36 Jim Gentile 549 759 1957 1966 23-32 936 3479 2922 434 113 6 179 475 54 663 45 5 32 69 3 1 .260 .368 .486 .854 *3 BRO-LAD-BAL-KCA-TOT
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/1/2010.

Now perhaps you can see what I mean about Howard. Yes, there are some of the most talented offensive players in the game on this list. However, we also see a bunch of names of players who, while productive, did not have excellent all-around offensive talent. These are guys who typically didn't hit a lot of extra-base hits other than homers and didn't have particularly good batting averages. Among the players I'm referring to are Kingman, Vaughn, Fielder, Buhner, Sexson, Burrell, Thomas, Dunn, and Deer. Right now, I'm worried that Howard is going to end up in this group. Hopefully that will not be the case.

Related posts:

    Most hits with no extra-base hits

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 at 7:28 am and is filed under Season Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

4 Responses to “More RBI than hits”

  1. DoubleDiamond Says:
    January 2nd, 2010 at 10:57 am

    Jeff Juden's appearance on the first list is no doubt helped by the fact that that one home run was a grand slam.

  2. richard Says:
    January 2nd, 2010 at 3:40 pm

    "I have not felt that Howard is as productive as his numbers suggest."

    Not sure what this shot is about. Does anyone really think RBI is a true measure of talent anyway? Aside from old school writers, of course.

  3. SpastikMooss Says:
    January 2nd, 2010 at 10:54 pm

    For some reason, the 1990's in my head featured an Arquimedez Pozo who played eight to ten seasons with about 125 homeruns and some big time games to his credit. The 1990's in my head is way off though - I guess I must have just had a lot of the guy's cards or something.

  4. merizobeach Says:
    January 4th, 2010 at 1:38 am

    If you look at McQwire's career numbers with STL only, he totaled MORE RBI than Hits, as well as more walks than hits.

    STL (5 yrs) 545 G, 469 H, 473 RBI, 470 BB, (220 HR, 553 SO, .270 BA/.427 OBP/.683 SLG/1.111 OPS)

«
»