Most TB in Games Playing 2B – First 63 Games of the Season
Posted by Raphy on June 13, 2010
Robinson Cano is turning in an amazing season for the Yankees. The 27 year old second baseman is currently hitting .371 with 19 doubles, 13 homers and a triple. His 151 total bases as a second baseman (defined as playing second base at any point in the game) in his team's first 63 games tie him for the fifth most since 1952. Here was the leader board before today's game. (Cano homered, pushing him into a tie with Soriano '02)
| Rk | Player | Year | H | 2B | 3B | HR | TB ▾ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chase Utley | 2008 | 75 | 18 | 1 | 21 | 158 |
| 2 | Jeff Kent | 2000 | 82 | 20 | 2 | 17 | 157 |
| 3 | Ryne Sandberg | 1990 | 87 | 14 | 0 | 18 | 155 |
| 4 | Alfonso Soriano | 2003 | 84 | 11 | 3 | 18 | 155 |
| 5 | Alfonso Soriano | 2002 | 83 | 21 | 1 | 15 | 151 |
| 6 | Jay Bell | 1999 | 73 | 12 | 2 | 20 | 149 |
| 7 | Dan Uggla | 2008 | 70 | 23 | 1 | 18 | 149 |
| 8 | Bret Boone | 2003 | 78 | 19 | 0 | 17 | 148 |
| 9 | Robinson Cano | 2010 | 90 | 19 | 1 | 12 | 147 |
| 10 | Davey Lopes | 1979 | 72 | 13 | 4 | 17 | 144 |
The leader board for this category from 1920-1939 is predictably dominated by one player:
| Rk | Player | Year | H | 2B | 3B | HR | TB ▾ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers Hornsby | 1925 | 95 | 16 | 3 | 21 | 180 |
| 2 | Rogers Hornsby | 1922 | 97 | 16 | 4 | 16 | 169 |
| 3 | Rogers Hornsby | 1920 | 97 | 21 | 10 | 6 | 156 |
| 4 | Rogers Hornsby | 1927 | 89 | 17 | 5 | 13 | 155 |
| 5 | Charlie Gehringer | 1934 | 100 | 25 | 4 | 7 | 154 |
| 6 | Rogers Hornsby | 1928 | 83 | 21 | 2 | 14 | 150 |
| 7 | Frankie Frisch | 1927 | 100 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 148 |
| 8 | Rogers Hornsby | 1924 | 91 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 146 |
| 9 | Rogers Hornsby | 1921 | 89 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 144 |
| 10 | Charlie Gehringer | 1936 | 94 | 23 | 9 | 3 | 144 |
June 13th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
Jeff Kent is PROBABLY the GREATEST hitting second baseman in the HISTORY of the game!
/Thom Brennaman
June 13th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
I find it difficult to believe that Joe Morgan was ignored in this discussion -- not to mention Larry Lajoie.
June 13th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
Kent is a passing fair batter, but him over the Frenchman??? Lajoie was, is, and probably always will be the best hitting keystoner.
June 13th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
Frank - Johny was making fun of Thom Brennaman for saying that about Kent.
June 14th, 2010 at 12:14 am
It looks like Morgan managed a high of 108 TB in his first 63 games. He walked too much to manage big H/TB totals.
We don't have the game-by-game totals on Lajoie yet.
June 14th, 2010 at 9:18 am
"Sir, we might want to get some living ballplayers... your third baseman has been dead for 130 years." [/smithers]
June 14th, 2010 at 9:30 am
How do I replicate this query? I click your link that says "View Play Index Tool Used", I try to put in the same parameters, and i can only get most TB in a single game, not most TB in the first 63 games. Sample link:
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/EmNgY
What am I missing here?
(On a separate but related note, I wish you could put a link to the play index tool frozen in the same settings you did, so we can see how these queries are constructed. It would be a great learning tool.)
June 14th, 2010 at 11:03 am
Chuck, agreed. I tried replicating the search (to look up Morgan) and I found it a little tricky to figure out as well. Here's what I did: Choose the 2nd option "Find Players with Most Matching Games in a Season." Click the years you want. Choose position of 2B. Under Additional Criteria, set Total Bases equal to or more than 0. In team's first 63 games. Then when you get the results, sort by TB. I think that's it.
June 14th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
I was blissfully unaware that Brenneman said that. My only question now would be what substance Yhom was on when he said it.
June 14th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
@7 and @8 Johnny basically did what I did. You get better results if you use TB>=1. You may need to check a couple of pages to make sure that no players slipped into the second page. (This search actually has that issue. The actual chart you see is artificial created. Once I realized that the leaders were spread over 2 years, I changed the years in the search, so that all the leaders would be on the same page.)
A while back, I used to explain my searches. I never knew if people appreciated them and eventually I just dropped them. If people want I can certainly start including them again.
June 14th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Raphy, I personally would appreciate any explanation you could provide; after all, I am trying to flourish in Y2K with a Fred Flintstone era understanding
June 14th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Y2K is so last decade, Frank. 🙂
June 14th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
Raphy, I think it's a good idea to put an explanation. If not in the post, then in the "notes" if you link to your search. I usually know how to do the searches and most of the time I don't really bother to check them myself, but the site has gotten so big and complex that occasionally I find myself a bit confused as to how to replicate a search. And I assume I have better understanding of the PI than most casual users.
June 15th, 2010 at 8:32 am
Well, Raphy, at least I am hitting the right millenium now!