Most AB in a season without a hit
Posted by Andy on November 23, 2007
So, I wrote a post the other day about most runs scored without a hit. That led me to thinking about near no-hitters, which made me think about Harvey Haddix. I remember hearing Bob Buhl, then a pitcher for the Braves, say many years later that they were stealing signs from the Pittsburgh catcher during that game, and yet still managed just the one hit off Haddix, coming in the 13th inning. And finally that reminded me that I had once heard that Buhl held the record for the most ABs in a season without getting a hit. Is that true? Let's check the PI Batting Season Finder.
Cnt Player **AB** H Year Age Tm Lg G PA R 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+-------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Bob Buhl 70 0 1962 33 TOT NL 35 85 2 0 0 0 1 6 0 36 1 7 1 0 1 1 .000 .090 .000 .090 *1 2 Bill Wight 61 0 1950 28 CHW AL 30 75 2 0 0 0 2 4 0 17 0 10 0 1 0 0 .000 .062 .000 .062 *1 3 Ron Herbel 47 0 1964 26 SFG NL 41 54 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 30 0 5 0 2 0 0 .000 .041 .000 .041 *1 4 Karl Drews 46 0 1949 29 SLB AL 31 54 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 22 0 1 0 1 0 0 .000 .132 .000 .132 *1 5 Randy Tate 41 0 1975 22 NYM NL 26 47 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 22 0 5 0 0 0 1 .000 .024 .000 .024 *1 6 Ernie Koob 41 0 1916 23 SLB AL 33 57 4 0 0 0 1 15 0 24 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .268 .000 .268 *1 7 Joey Hamilton 40 0 1994 23 SDP NL 16 48 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 24 0 5 1 0 0 0 .000 .047 .000 .047 *1 8 Ed Rakow 39 0 1964 29 DET AL 42 46 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 16 0 4 0 1 0 0 .000 .071 .000 .071 *1 9 Darryl Kile 38 0 1991 22 HOU NL 37 45 2 0 0 0 1 3 0 23 0 4 0 1 0 0 .000 .073 .000 .073 *1 10 Harry Parker 36 0 1974 26 NYM NL 40 41 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 20 0 3 0 0 0 0 .000 .053 .000 .053 *1 11 Hal Finney 35 0 1936 30 PIT NL 21 35 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *2 12 Steve Stone 34 0 1971 23 SFG NL 24 42 1 0 0 0 2 5 0 19 0 3 0 1 0 0 .000 .128 .000 .128 *1 13 Vicente Palacios 33 0 1994 30 STL NL 31 36 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 3 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 14 Ed Lynch 33 0 1982 26 NYM NL 43 37 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 18 0 3 0 0 0 0 .000 .029 .000 .029 *1 15 Russ Kemmerer 33 0 1960 28 TOT AL 39 46 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 15 0 8 1 2 0 0 .000 .105 .000 .105 *1 16 Miguel Batista 32 0 1998 27 MON NL 56 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 0 2 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 17 Luke Walker 32 0 1969 25 PIT NL 31 37 3 0 0 0 1 2 0 19 0 3 0 0 0 0 .000 .059 .000 .059 *1 18 Ellis Kinder 32 0 1952 37 BOS AL 23 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 19 Brett Tomko 31 0 2007 34 TOT NL 41 37 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 20 0 5 0 0 0 0 .000 .031 .000 .031 *1 20 Don Carman 31 0 1986 26 PHI NL 50 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 2 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 21 Bob Miller 31 0 1969 30 MIN AL 48 34 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 17 0 2 0 1 0 0 .000 .031 .000 .031 *1 22 Kris Benson 30 0 2003 28 PIT NL 18 37 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 11 0 6 0 1 0 0 .000 .032 .000 .032 *1 23 Claudio Vargas 30 0 2003 25 MON NL 23 35 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 15 0 4 0 0 0 0 .000 .032 .000 .032 *1 24 Rick Wise 30 0 1966 20 PHI NL 23 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 25 Karl Adams 30 0 1915 23 CHC NL 26 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1
Indeed, he holds the record, and by a pretty big margin. He also holds the records for most PAs in a season without a hit, but obviously not the most PAs without getting on base (he walked 6 times in 1962.)
Almost everybody on that list was a pitcher, but not quite everyone. If we eliminate pitchers from consideration, here are the leaders for most AB in a season without a hit:
Cnt Player **AB** H Year Age Tm Lg G PA R 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+-------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Hal Finney 35 0 1936 30 PIT NL 21 35 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *2 2 Larry Littleton 23 0 1981 27 CLE AL 26 27 2 0 0 0 1 3 0 6 0 0 1 2 0 0 .000 .111 .000 .111 *7/89 3 David Ortiz 20 0 1999 23 MIN AL 10 25 1 0 0 0 0 5 0 12 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000 .200 .000 .200 /*D3 4 Don Slaught 20 0 1997 38 SDP NL 20 26 2 0 0 0 0 5 0 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 .000 .200 .000 .200 /2 5 Kevin Elster 20 0 1994 29 NYY AL 7 22 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .048 .000 .048 /*6 6 Fred Tauby 20 0 1937 31 PHI NL 11 20 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 /879 7 Bill Plummer 19 0 1971 24 CIN NL 10 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 /25 8 Ron Hansen 19 0 1958 20 BAL AL 12 22 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 1 1 1 0 0 0 .000 .048 .000 .048 *6 9 Chuck Harmon 19 0 1956 32 TOT NL 33 21 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .095 .000 .095 /9837 10 Harry Redmond 19 0 1909 21 BRO NL 6 20 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 /*4 11 Jim Driscoll 18 0 1972 28 TEX AL 15 20 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .100 .000 .100 /45 12 Ron Slocum 18 0 1971 25 SDP NL 7 20 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 1 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .053 .000 .053 /*5 13 Cy Wright 18 0 1916 22 CHW AL 8 21 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 0 2 0 0 0 0 .000 .053 .000 .053 /*6 14 Gerald Williams 17 0 2002 35 NYY AL 33 19 6 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 1 2 0 .000 .105 .000 .105 *9/78 15 Nelson Liriano 17 0 1998 34 COL NL 12 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 /46 16 Tommy Hinzo 17 0 1989 25 CLE AL 18 21 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 6 0 2 0 0 1 2 .000 .105 .000 .105 /46 17 Dave Bergman 17 0 1975 22 NYY AL 7 19 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .105 .000 .105 /*9 18 Bill McNulty 17 0 1969 22 OAK AL 5 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 /*7 19 Shag Thompson 17 0 1916 23 PHA AL 15 24 4 0 0 0 0 7 0 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .292 .000 .292 /879 20 Nigel Wilson 16 0 1993 23 FLA NL 7 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 /7 21 Larry Owen 16 0 1981 26 ATL NL 13 17 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .059 .000 .059 *2 22 Mike Potter 16 0 1976 25 STL NL 9 17 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .059 .000 .059 /7 23 Ramon Conde 16 0 1962 27 CHW AL 14 19 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000 .158 .000 .158 /*5 24 Frank Leja 16 0 1962 26 LAA AL 7 18 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 0 1 0 1 0 0 .000 .059 .000 .059 /*3 25 Les Fleming 16 0 1939 23 DET AL 8 16 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 /97 26 Herman Bronkie 16 0 1912 27 CLE AL 6 19 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 .000 .059 .000 .059 /*5
Wow, there's a list you probably didn't expect to see David Ortiz on.
So, Hal Finney holds the record. Definitely a shame for the guy to finish out his career with a -100 OPS+ season.
And finally, here is the record for most PAs in a season with zero times getting on base:
Cnt Player **PA** TOB Year Age Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+-------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Vicente Palacios 36 0 1994 30 STL NL 31 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 3 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 2 Hal Finney 35 0 1936 30 PIT NL 21 35 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *2 3 Miguel Batista 34 0 1998 27 MON NL 56 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 0 2 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 4 Bill Stafford 34 0 1965 25 NYY AL 22 29 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 12 0 4 1 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 5 Don Carman 33 0 1986 26 PHI NL 50 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 2 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 6 Ellis Kinder 32 0 1952 37 BOS AL 23 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 7 Rick Wise 31 0 1966 20 PHI NL 23 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 8 Karl Adams 31 0 1915 23 CHC NL 26 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 9 John Fulgham 30 0 1980 24 STL NL 16 27 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 0 3 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 10 Dan Warthen 28 0 1976 23 MON NL 23 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 11 Sandy Koufax 27 0 1957 21 BRO NL 34 26 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 12 Von McDaniel 27 0 1957 18 STL NL 17 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 13 Mike LaCoss 26 0 1981 25 CIN NL 20 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 7 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 14 Kevin Ritz 25 0 1994 29 COL NL 15 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 5 0 2 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 15 Chris Short 25 0 1960 22 PHI NL 42 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 16 Bill Chappelle 24 0 1914 33 BTT FL 16 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 17 Sterling Hitchcoc 23 0 2000 29 SDP NL 11 22 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 12 0 1 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 18 Al Leiter 22 0 2005 39 TOT ML 33 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 4 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 19 Brian Meadows 22 0 2002 26 PIT NL 11 18 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 10 0 3 1 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 20 Geraldo Guzman 22 0 2000 27 ARI NL 13 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 3 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 21 Dean Chance 22 0 1971 30 DET AL 31 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 22 Dutch Leonard 22 0 1951 42 CHC NL 41 21 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 23 Joe Beggs 22 0 1942 31 CIN NL 38 21 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 24 Art Decatur 22 0 1923 29 BRO NL 36 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1 25 Fred Anderson 22 0 1918 32 NYG NL 18 19 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 3 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 *1
Some of these guys, such as #13 Mike LaCoss, still had somewhat productive years at the plate. Sure he didn't get on base, but he did have 7 sacrifices and didn't ground into any double plays. And at least Hal Finney had 3 RBI that year.
November 23rd, 2007 at 9:56 am
I clicked on Larry Littleton's name only because he was relatively recent and I hadn't heard his name. The '81 season was his only one in the BIGS, is it possible then, that he holds the career record for most AB's without a hit? I know Herb Washington has appeared in the most games without a hit, but then he never got an AB either!
November 23rd, 2007 at 10:03 am
Sorry to be off-topic, but this question turned up on the SABR listserve and it's relevant to the results you posted several days ago:
'"By the crude measure of at bats minus hits (AB - H), NL MVP,
Jimmy Rollins, made the most outs in baseball this year."
Are Rollins and Frank McCormick (1940) the only players
to be named MVP while leading the league in outs?'
Also, have you explored seasons in which a batter had 500 official AB's and fewer than 10 walks? (Surely no HofF candidate did that except for I-Rod.)
November 23rd, 2007 at 10:42 am
Honorable mention to Sandy Alomar (the elder one) who in 1967 went 0-22 in 22 PA for the Mets, He could have made the list, but ruined by getting sent to the minors in May, and being traded to the White Sox who called him up in August where he went 3 for 18 and ruined his perfect season.
November 23rd, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Some of the guys on that last list did get on base, usually via a sacrifice.