500!
Posted by Andy on January 13, 2008
I woke up this morning to make my daily post and discovered that this is post #500 for the Baseball-Reference.com Stat of the Day blog! Congratulations to all of us, writers and readers alike, and of course big thanks to Sean for creating the blog. Heck, while we're at it, let's also thank Sean for creating Baseball-Reference.com!
In honor of post #500, here are all the batting seasons since 1901 with exactly 500 at-bats, ranked by most home runs:
Cnt Player **HR** AB Year Age Tm Lg G PA R H 2B 3B RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Scott Rolen 34 500 2004 29 STL NL 142 593 109 157 32 4 124 72 5 92 13 1 7 8 4 3 .314 .409 .598 1.007 *5 2 Hank Greenberg 33 500 1939 28 DET AL 138 604 112 156 42 7 112 91 0 95 2 11 0 8 8 3 .312 .420 .622 1.042 *3 3 Jim Edmonds 30 500 2001 31 STL NL 150 608 95 152 38 1 110 93 12 136 4 1 10 8 5 5 .304 .410 .564 .974 *8/3 4 Harmon Killebrew 28 500 1971 35 MIN AL 147 624 61 127 19 1 119 114 14 96 0 0 10 21 3 2 .254 .386 .464 .850 *35 5 Charlie Maxwell 28 500 1956 29 DET AL 141 592 96 163 14 3 87 79 1 74 2 3 8 5 1 1 .326 .414 .534 .948 *7/9 6 Chili Davis 24 500 1987 27 SFG NL 149 578 80 125 22 1 76 72 15 109 2 0 4 8 16 9 .250 .344 .442 .786 *897 7 Jack Graham 24 500 1949 32 SLB AL 137 573 71 119 22 1 79 61 0 62 4 8 0 12 0 1 .238 .326 .430 .756 *3 8 Nick Johnson 23 500 2006 27 WSN NL 147 628 100 145 46 0 77 110 15 99 13 2 3 12 10 3 .290 .428 .520 .948 *3 9 Kevin Maas 23 500 1991 26 NYY AL 148 592 69 110 14 1 63 83 3 128 4 0 5 4 5 1 .220 .333 .390 .723 *D3 10 Joe Adcock 23 500 1954 26 MLN NL 133 562 73 154 27 5 87 44 0 58 3 11 4 7 1 4 .308 .365 .520 .885 *3 11 Ron Cey 22 500 1985 37 CHC NL 145 564 64 116 18 2 63 58 9 106 4 0 2 10 1 1 .232 .316 .408 .724 *5 12 Charlie Keller 21 500 1940 23 NYY AL 138 609 102 143 18 15 93 106 0 65 0 3 0 11 8 2 .286 .411 .508 .919 *97 13 Mark Quinn 20 500 2000 26 KCR AL 135 544 76 147 33 2 78 35 1 91 3 3 3 11 5 2 .294 .342 .488 .830 *7D/98 14 Deron Johnson 20 500 1973 34 TOT ML 143 574 64 120 16 2 86 64 7 126 2 4 4 12 0 1 .240 .326 .400 .726 *D3 15 Ray Boone 20 500 1955 31 DET AL 135 560 61 142 22 7 116 50 2 49 1 2 7 16 1 1 .284 .346 .476 .822 *5 16 Wally Judnich 18 500 1947 30 SLB AL 144 564 58 129 24 3 64 60 0 62 0 4 0 6 2 5 .258 .338 .426 .764 *38/9 17 Carl Warwick 17 500 1962 25 TOT NL 143 551 67 132 17 1 64 40 1 79 0 5 6 11 4 3 .264 .315 .404 .719 *897 18 Jack Howell 16 500 1988 26 CAL AL 154 558 59 127 32 2 63 46 8 130 6 4 2 8 2 6 .254 .323 .422 .745 *5/87 19 Bobby Doerr 16 500 1941 23 BOS AL 132 549 74 141 28 4 93 43 0 43 0 6 0 6 1 3 .282 .339 .450 .789 *4 20 Clete Boyer 14 500 1966 29 NYY AL 144 558 59 120 22 4 57 46 4 48 2 4 6 9 6 0 .240 .303 .384 .687 *56 21 Matt Lawton 13 500 2005 33 TOT ML 141 585 67 127 30 1 53 69 0 77 12 0 4 10 18 9 .254 .356 .396 .752 *97 22 Joe Rudi 13 500 1976 29 OAK AL 130 557 54 135 32 3 94 41 10 71 3 3 10 14 6 1 .270 .323 .424 .747 *7/8D3 23 Cesar Cedeno 13 500 1975 24 HOU NL 131 576 93 144 31 3 63 62 9 52 7 2 5 12 50 17 .288 .371 .440 .811 *8 24 Dale Mitchell 13 500 1953 31 CLE AL 134 542 76 150 26 4 60 42 0 20 0 0 0 11 3 1 .300 .354 .446 .800 *7 25 Tony Bernazard 11 500 1985 28 CLE AL 153 579 73 137 26 3 59 69 2 72 1 5 4 11 17 9 .274 .361 .404 .765 *4/6 +----+-----------------+------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ Cnt Player **HR** AB Year Age Tm Lg G PA R H 2B 3B RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 26 Johnny Moore 11 500 1934 32 TOT NL 132 548 73 165 35 7 98 43 0 20 1 4 0 7 7 0 .330 .384 .494 .878 *97 27 Paul Blair 10 500 1973 29 BAL AL 146 554 73 140 25 3 64 43 4 72 0 6 5 10 18 8 .280 .334 .402 .736 *8 28 Tito Francona 10 500 1963 29 CLE AL 142 553 57 114 29 0 41 47 7 77 2 2 2 10 9 1 .228 .296 .346 .642 *73/9 29 Dave Robertson 10 500 1920 30 CHC NL 134 555 68 150 29 11 75 40 0 44 1 14 0 0 17 23 .300 .353 .462 .815 *7 30 Dave May 9 500 1972 28 MIL AL 143 556 49 119 20 2 45 47 8 56 3 4 2 12 11 13 .238 .306 .340 .646 *8 31 Ray Mack 9 500 1941 24 CLE AL 145 565 54 114 22 4 44 54 0 69 0 11 0 7 8 4 .228 .303 .342 .645 *4 32 Mike Lowell 8 500 2005 31 FLA NL 150 558 56 118 36 1 58 46 1 58 2 1 9 14 4 0 .236 .298 .360 .658 *5/4 33 Desi Relaford 8 500 2003 29 KCR AL 141 557 70 127 27 5 59 40 1 70 6 8 3 10 20 4 .254 .315 .376 .691 *459/68D7 34 Marty McManus 8 500 1928 28 DET AL 139 565 78 144 37 5 73 51 0 32 1 13 0 0 11 13 .288 .355 .430 .785 *53/6 35 Tris Speaker 8 500 1911 23 BOS AL 141 589 88 167 34 13 70 59 0 0 13 17 0 0 25 0 .334 .418 .502 .920 *8 36 Carlos May 7 500 1971 23 CHW AL 141 574 64 147 21 7 70 62 5 61 6 1 5 16 16 7 .294 .375 .406 .781 *3/7 37 Jimmy Wasdell 7 500 1945 31 PHI NL 134 540 65 150 19 8 60 32 0 11 3 5 0 7 7 0 .300 .346 .412 .758 3978 38 Willie Montanez 6 500 1980 32 TOT NL 142 548 40 136 12 4 64 39 10 55 3 0 6 9 3 5 .272 .325 .348 .673 *3 39 Ross Youngs 6 500 1925 28 NYG NL 130 584 82 132 24 6 53 66 0 51 4 14 0 0 17 11 .264 .354 .372 .726 *9/4 40 Derrel Thomas 5 500 1972 21 SDP NL 130 550 48 115 15 5 36 41 1 73 2 6 1 6 9 9 .230 .290 .310 .600 *46/89 41 Gene Alley 5 500 1965 24 PIT NL 153 540 47 126 21 6 47 32 9 82 4 3 1 11 7 2 .252 .302 .348 .650 *64/5 42 Chico Fernandez 5 500 1957 25 PHI NL 149 543 42 131 14 4 51 31 5 64 1 4 7 21 18 5 .262 .302 .336 .638 *6 43 Benny Meyer 5 500 1914 29 BAL FL 143 593 76 152 18 10 40 71 0 53 4 18 0 0 23 0 .304 .395 .410 .805 *97/68 44 Howie Shanks 4 500 1914 23 WSH AL 143 561 44 112 22 10 64 29 0 51 2 30 0 0 18 16 .224 .269 .332 .601 *78/9 45 Elmer Flick 4 500 1905 29 CLE AL 132 573 72 154 29 18 64 53 0 0 8 12 0 0 35 0 .308 .383 .462 .845 *9/4 46 Homer Smoot 4 500 1903 25 STL NL 129 553 67 148 22 8 49 32 0 0 3 18 0 0 17 0 .296 .342 .396 .738 *8 47 Leo Durocher 3 500 1934 28 STL NL 146 541 62 130 26 5 70 33 0 40 2 6 0 16 2 0 .260 .308 .350 .658 *6 48 Art Fletcher 3 500 1916 31 NYG NL 133 542 53 143 23 8 66 13 0 36 14 15 0 0 15 0 .286 .323 .382 .705 *6 49 David Eckstein 2 500 2006 31 STL NL 123 552 68 146 18 1 23 31 0 41 15 3 3 7 7 6 .292 .350 .344 .694 *6 50 Ted Uhlaender 2 500 1971 30 CLE AL 141 541 52 144 20 3 47 38 5 44 0 0 3 7 3 6 .288 .336 .352 .688 *789 +----+-----------------+------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ Cnt Player **HR** AB Year Age Tm Lg G PA R H 2B 3B RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 51 Cy Perkins 2 500 1923 27 PHA AL 143 579 53 135 34 5 65 65 0 30 2 12 0 0 1 3 .270 .356 .370 .726 *2 52 Jake Daubert 2 500 1923 39 CIN NL 125 556 63 146 27 10 54 40 0 20 4 12 0 0 11 12 .292 .349 .398 .747 *3 53 Walt Weiss 1 500 1993 29 FLA NL 158 591 50 133 14 2 39 79 13 73 3 5 4 5 7 3 .266 .367 .308 .675 *6 54 Roberto Pena 1 500 1968 31 PHI NL 138 546 56 130 13 2 38 34 2 63 2 6 4 11 3 5 .260 .307 .300 .607 *6 55 Jo-Jo White 1 500 1943 34 PHA AL 139 577 69 124 17 7 30 61 0 51 4 12 0 7 12 4 .248 .335 .316 .651 *8/7 56 Greasy Neale 1 500 1919 27 CIN NL 139 585 57 121 10 12 54 47 0 51 7 31 0 0 28 0 .242 .316 .316 .632 *97/8 57 Ed Abbaticchio 1 500 1908 31 PIT NL 146 590 43 125 16 7 61 58 0 0 7 25 0 0 22 0 .250 .336 .316 .652 *4 58 Spike Shannon 1 500 1904 26 STL NL 134 582 84 140 10 3 26 50 0 0 3 29 0 0 34 0 .280 .349 .318 .667 *97/8 59 Mark Belanger 0 500 1971 27 BAL AL 150 590 67 133 19 4 35 73 6 48 7 6 4 9 10 8 .266 .365 .320 .685 *6 60 Lloyd Waner 0 500 1933 27 PIT NL 121 526 59 138 14 5 26 22 0 8 0 4 0 4 3 0 .276 .307 .324 .631 *78 61 Donie Bush 0 500 1918 30 DET AL 128 593 74 117 10 3 22 79 0 31 1 13 0 0 9 0 .234 .340 .266 .606 *6 62 Chick Stahl 0 500 1905 32 BOS AL 134 568 61 129 17 4 47 50 0 0 5 13 0 0 18 0 .258 .332 .308 .640 *8 63 Roy Thomas 0 500 1902 28 PHI NL 138 626 89 143 4 7 24 107 0 0 2 17 0 0 17 0 .286 .414 .322 .736 *8
Lots of good seasons in there, but Hank Greenberg's 1939 takes the cake in my opinion.
January 13th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Congratulations!
That's 686 home runs in 31500 at-bats or 1 every 45.9.
Out of curiosity I checked the AB/HR for every century AB mark.
AB - AB/HR
100 - 100
200 - 57.4
300 - 54.4
400 - 42.9
500 - 45.9
600 - 33.7
January 13th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Delurking to wish y'all a hearty congrats. Been following for some time, love what you're doing. Here's to the next 500!
January 13th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I would say that Scott Rolen's 2004 was the same, of not better, than Greenberg's 1939.
January 13th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Here's another congratulations for the milestone!
I noted that Roy Thomas comes at the bottom (even of the zero's) for hr, but is 4th or 5th in on-base %. As a Phlllie, he was the Richie Ashburn of his day. . . .
January 13th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Well, at first I disagreed, but Rolen had an OPS+ of 157 in 2004, while Greenberg had a 156 in 1939. So, pretty darn close. The difference is that it was a down year for Greenberg, who had 7 years with at least a 163 OPS+, while it was a career year for Rolen, whose next highest totals are 139, 138, and 129.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Tris Speaker and his exceptional CF defense in 1911 must be in the running too. Shame for not peeking further down the HR list.
Eyeballing it, I see 7 players in the HOF for their playing careers, and several others who had very good careers. Seems like a pretty high ratio of talent (though obviously anyone who gets 500 AB had to fool someone that they could play for at least a season).