Miguel Cabrera has 100 RBI for 7 straight seasons
Posted by Andy on August 19, 2010
Miguel Cabrera just hit a 2-run homer against the Yankees to put him into triple digits for RBI this season. He's been over 100 every season since 2004.
The only players to have 100 RBI each season since 2004 are:
| Rk | Yrs | From | To | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Teixeira | 6 | 2004 | 2009 | 24-29 |
| 2 | Alex Rodriguez | 6 | 2004 | 2009 | 28-33 |
| 3 | Albert Pujols | 6 | 2004 | 2009 | 24-29 |
| 4 | Miguel Cabrera | 6 | 2004 | 2009 | 21-26 |
| 5 | Bobby Abreu | 6 | 2004 | 2009 | 30-35 |
A-Rod needs only 3 RBI to make it 7 straight seasons, too. Teixeira is only 12 away, and Pujols is 13 away.
Bobby Abreu, on the other hand, has only 65 RBI this year and would need a very strong finish (and a lot of runners on base ahead of him) to keep his own streak alive.
August 19th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Actually 3 more RBI puts A-Rod at 13 straight years. Albert will be 10 straight years when he get's it this year. Any idea what the record is for consecutive years with 100 rbi?
August 19th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Who knew Bobby Abreu would be on this list? Looking at his numbers, he's been scraping by every year, with 107 the most RBIs he's recorded during his 6-season streak.
August 19th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Yeah I worded my post badly--I just meant that those players have 100 in each of the LAST seven years.
A-rod will get his 13th straight 100-RBI season this year (and his 14th overall, an MLB record.) Since no other player has more than 13 100-RBI seasons, he must be at least tied for the record.
Just checking the list...Jimmie Foxx had 13 straight. So did Lou Gehrig. Babe Ruth had 13 100-RBI seasons but they didn't all come consecutively.
So there you have it. Foxx and Gehrig hold the record and A-Rod will tie them this year.
August 19th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
14 100 rbi years, that's the record and there may be more to come, wow, I wished I liked him more
as far as I can tell Aaron holds the record for most 100 runs scored years with 15, but the all-time ribbie leader "only" had 11 100 rbi years
August 19th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
It always amazed me that Mickey Mantle only had four 100 RBI seasons. Danny Tartabull and Bernie Williams each had five.
August 19th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Leatherman, I was going to mention that, it is almost unbelievable
Also, some of those guys who had long careers and are up there all time had just a few, like Murray (6), Yaz (5), Robinson (6)
Manny had 12 before his paid retirement kicked in...
August 19th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Is it possible that all five of those guys are still underrated? I think so. Of course, I've had a rooting interest in three of them and continue to be amazed by the other two.
August 19th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
@6 Leatherman,
Yes, Mantle had 6 (!) 30+ HR seasons with less than 100 RBI (5 with over 600 PA and 2 with 40+ HR). One of those seasons was only 75 RBI.
He must have been pitched around with runners on (guess).
August 19th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
One problem Mantle faced was for many years the guys hitting ahead of him were lousy at getting on base. Bobby Richardson lead the league in outs made 4 times, 1 second another year and 5th once. Tony Kubek was in the top 10 of outs made 3 times even though he only played more than 138 games in a season twice. Prior to that you had guys like Billy Martin and Andy Carey hitting at the top of the line up who were not exactly on-base machines either.
Put Rickey Henderson or, if you want a more contemporary player, Richie Ashburn at the top of the Yankee order and the Mick would have been driving in 100 runs a year like clockwork.
August 19th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Joe DiMaggio had 28 more RBIs in 2238 less PAs than Mantle.
August 19th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Check Mantle's lifetime BB total and the comment above about him being pitched around is on the money. Also -were the guys hitting 1-2 in the lineup for the Yankees really lousy at getting on base, or were opposing pitchers throwing them nothing but strikes so as not to walk them ahead of Maris, Mantle, Skowron, Berra, Howard? I think that factors in somewhere.
August 19th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
What's the record for consecutive years to start a career?
August 19th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Check Mantle's lifetime BB total and the comment above about him being pitched around is on the money. Also -were the guys hitting 1-2 in the lineup for the Yankees really lousy at getting on base, or were opposing pitchers throwing them nothing but strikes so as not to walk them ahead of Maris, Mantle, Skowron, Berra, Howard?
August 19th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Remember how A-Rod reached (exactly) 100 RBI in 2009 - he entered the final game of the season with 93 RBI and proceeded to have a 2-home-run, 7-RBI game. Amazing.
August 19th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
To Tm {re #8}
Another explanation might be that Mantle was literally surrounded by sluggers most of his career. Men like Maris, Berra, Skowron, McDougald. That ol' Yankee magic ...
August 19th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
Mantle does have a rather strange statistical career, but how does he not win the '60 & '61 MVP?
August 19th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Ellis @14,
In fact it was a 2 HR, 7 RBI Inning aided, in part, by the Rays' decision to pitch around Teixeira in order to preserve the HR lead for Carlos Pena, who had been lost for the season a month earlier after CC Sabathia hit him with a pitch that broke two of his fingers.
August 19th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
I know Andy might be conflicted with my post here:
1) I will not comment on Bert Blyleven, and no condemnations of the WAR stat'
2) I will return to my "gut level" ways of looking at this wonderful game. I live in Detroit and watch Cabrera every day. When he was in Florida, he was invisible to me. Heard of him, knew he was special, forgot about it. Now that I see him everyday, I cannot believe how awesome this guy is. No matter what part of the Tigers falters, he just churns out the death and destruction to other pitchers. He is TOTALLY on track to the HOF as far as I'm concerned.
August 19th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
OK, one last rant:
I suggest a new stat. The HMMPIMP index. It stands for: "He Makes Me Poop In My Pants" index. It would, ideally, measure the intestinal discomfort any player instills in his opponents. As in, "Johnny Damon is a nuisance, but when it comes to the Tigers, Cabrera really makes me poop my pants".
There would be an index voicing the views of both pitchers and batters. The index would be averaged- as much as I love Cabrera, I think opposing pitchers will poop less as the years go on.
I have no no idea behind the sabermetrics or mathematics behind such a complex measure, but I think it would make HOF discussions less debatable.
Got someone to work on that, Andy?
Never mind, buddy. Even a stat like that would only give rise to a whole new cadre of critics. That's why baseball is THE greatest sport EVAR!
August 19th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Maybe Barkfart should just stop talking for a while... sit a few plays out...
August 20th, 2010 at 12:00 am
At #16 Pageup:
He only lost the '61 MVP by one vote! And he had a certain Mr. Roger Maris and his 61 home runs to contend with. Mantle has the better overall stats but it's tough to argue with a guy breaking the home run record.
And in '60 he lost by only 4 voting points, and actually had more 1st place votes than Maris. Crazy, especially given that they played for the same team!
August 20th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
#16,
As far as the 1960 and 1961 MVP's:
In 1960 - maybe some writers didn't want to give the award to Mantle again after winning in 56 and 57
In 1961 - I think the 61 HR secured it for Maris no matter what - however, the voting not have even been as close as it was had Maris not won the previous year.
August 21st, 2010 at 1:24 am
Bark, maybe they can measure intentional walks vs. expectation? Pitching change for lefty/right matchups vs. expectation?
Bonds in 2006 and 2007 had more IBB than in 1992 and 1993 despite far worse production when they pitched to him. That's HMMPIMP.
August 21st, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Re: Mantle's RBI and being pitched around with men on base:
Here are his career walk rates:
-- Bases empty: 15.6% of PAs
-- Any runner on: 19.6%
-- RISP: 23.0%
-- Base open: 28.2%
Other factors in Mantle's low RBI rate:
-- As noted, the Yanks often filled their #1-2 spots with low-OBP guys who also had above-average power, which further decreased Mantle's RBI chances. For instance, in 1958, when Mantle hit .304 with 42 HRs but 97 RBI in 150 games, the Yankee #1-2 hitters had a combined .334 OBP (.320 from the leadoff spot), but with 36 HRs. In '59, a rare non-pennant year when Mantle hit .285/31/75, the #1-2 hitters had a combined .311 OBP and 28 HRs. In 1960 (Mantle: .275/40/94), the #1-2 guys had a .322 OBP with 32 HRs.
-- In his last 4 years (1965-68), the Yankees were a below-average offensive team in a low-scoring era; they ranked between 5th and 10th (last) in runs scored.
-- Some years, Mantle just didn't hit so well with RISP; e.g., in 1959, he hit .206 with RISP, .302 with bases empty; in '65, he hit .181 with 2 HRs with RISP, .284 with 14 HRs with bases empty; in '66, .219 & 4 HRs with RISP, .296 & 15 HRs with bases empty. This was not, however, a career problem, as both his BA and SLG were slightly higher with men on and with RISP than with bases empty. (That of course is true of most hitters and especially lefty or switch hitters, whose BAs go way up when a runner is being held on 1st base.)