21 Responses to “Teams With Several .300 Hitters”

1. Tmckelv Says:
   September 3rd, 2010 at 11:13 am

   I haven't thought of Roger Cedeno or Reggie Jefferson in a while. I love Baseball-Reference.

   Reggie Jefferson and Eddie Murray were both full-time DH. So at first glance I am inclined to leave them out of this (which would knock the 1997 Red Sox off the list). But at second thought, Murray probably would have played 1st base over Sorrento, and Jefferson could have played left field over Wil Cordero, so you could make a case that they should still be included (although maybe their hitting would have suffered a little, so who knows). Anyway, it is a fun list.

   I wonder if some players could meet the criteria (.300 avg) even though they didn't have enough PA's if you give them outs to build up thier PA's to the appropriate level - like they do for the real batting title (i.e. Tony Gwynn in 1996). The posibillity is that a couple more teams could be added here.

2. Paul Says:
   September 3rd, 2010 at 11:17 am

   I won't be surprised if a team reaches this list in the near future, but it will likely take a great hitter's park and a combination of career years given how few players maintain a .300 average for a career nowadays. For what it's worth, the 2009 Angels showed remarkable depth in terms of batting average. Relaxing the standards signficantly from the original post to min. 400 PA's and .287 BA, the Angels had a jaw-dropping 9 players meet the criteria.

   However, only Morales (.306) and Aybar (.312) hit .300 while qualifying for the batting crown.

   That being said, this was an impressive accomplishment, and it's argubaly more valuable to have 9 regulars hit .287 to .312 than to have 5 every day players exceed .300.

   POS - Player - PA - BA

   1B Kendry Morales 622 .306
   2B Howie Kendrick 400 .291
   SS Erick Aybar# 556 .312
   3B Chone Figgins# 729 .298
   LF Juan Rivera 572 .287
   CF Torii Hunter 506 .299
   RF Bobby Abreu* 667 .293
   DH Vladimir Guerrero 407 .295
   MI Maicer Izturis# 437 .300

3. larry seltzer Says:
   September 3rd, 2010 at 11:21 am

   The 32 Phillies are a hoot. They led the league in BA, OPS, HR and a lot of other stuff but also had the highest ERA. They finished 4th, 2 games over .500.

4. PhilM Says:
   September 3rd, 2010 at 11:24 am

   That 1995 Indians team looks more and more impressive as time goes by. A case can be made that they represented the strongest Indians teams of all time -- and that the 1991 incarnation was actually the worst Indians team ever. An impressive rise from the ashes! And I still consider Albert Belle the AL MVP for '95. . . .

5. DavidRF Says:
   September 3rd, 2010 at 11:40 am

   @2
   There was a day in late August where the Angels had all .300 hitters in the lineup:

   http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE200908180.shtml

   They were talking about this during a recent telecast. The stadium they were playing in had the full lineup listed and someone was smart enough to take a picture of it. If I recall correctly, the team had the photo signed by the nine members of the lineup and they framed it and gave it to the hitting coach.

6. Rich Says:
   September 3rd, 2010 at 12:48 pm

   @3
   Baker Bowl was 300 ft. to right center and 292 or so to right. I can only imagine the pain in the pitchers eyes in that place haha

7. DavidRF Says:
   September 3rd, 2010 at 2:13 pm

   The best website, I've seen for stadium dimension comparison is "Clem's Baseball"

   Here are the 1928 Stadiums (including the Baker Bowl):

   http://www.andrewclem.com/Baseball/Overlay_comparison.php?1928

8. Fireworks Says:
   September 3rd, 2010 at 2:42 pm

   I'm pretty sure most of the guys in the league in the '20s or '30s were on concentrated beet juice extract or something. Freakin' juicers.

9. Fireworks Says:
   September 3rd, 2010 at 2:44 pm

   DavidRF that site is excellent. Thanks.

10. jason Says:
    September 3rd, 2010 at 4:43 pm

    i juust watched an angels game where the announcers mentioned they all were hitting .300 in late august last year. what happened?

11. jason Says:
    September 3rd, 2010 at 4:43 pm

    also, where did boston play in 1894? that was the biggest beanbox ever

12. Neil Says:
    September 3rd, 2010 at 5:24 pm

    With respect to the post-1973 list, the '95 Indians obviously had much more post-season success than the '96 Mets.

    The Indians hitters must have included a lot more power in their averages than the Mets. A glance at the names suggests this.

    @5
    They clearly tailed off by the end of the season. And the good BA's didn't translate into the ultimate post-season success as they couldn't beat the Yankees.

13. Frank Says:
    September 3rd, 2010 at 9:09 pm

    "The 32 Phillies are a hoot"

    I saw my first game and started following the home team in 1964. The Phillies are always a hoot.

14. fordham'13 Says:
    September 3rd, 2010 at 11:54 pm

    I guess we're past the twilight of the "lively ball era," huh?

15. MikeD Says:
    September 4th, 2010 at 12:47 am

    All the modern-era teams were from the hitting-inflated 1990s. Juiced players and/or juiced balls, but it's not a surprise that they are all clustered together, with the exception of one team, the 1976 Reds, the last of the Great Red Machine teams. Further evidence that was one of the greatest teams ever.

16. Dave Says:
    September 4th, 2010 at 11:45 am

    If things like a walk are not considered an at-bat then why are plate appearances (and not "at-bats") the official batting average indicator?

17. Neil Says:
    September 4th, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    @16
    Dave, not quite sure what you are asking. Plate appearances are counted in on-base percentage (OBP) as are walks.

    Do you mean why aren't mininum plate appearances used to quailfy a player for a league batting title rather than at-bats? If so, I don't know the answer, other than tradition. It has always been so.

18. Neil Says:
    September 4th, 2010 at 5:06 pm

    @11
    Jason did you mean "band box", instead of "beanbox"?

19. Leatherman Says:
    September 5th, 2010 at 10:17 am

    @17 Neil - It is a common misconception that plate appearances are used to calculate On Base Percentage, but it simply isn't so. The formula for OBP is this: (H+BB+HBP)/(AB+BB+HBP+SF)

    The formula for Plate Appearances is this: AB+BB+HBP+SF+SH+(Times reached on defensive interference)

    As you can see, the divisor (denominator) for OBP does not include SH or Times reached on defensive interference. A player's OBP doesn't suffer when the batter sacrifices himself via a bunt, or is awarded first base on catcher's interference (or other defensive obstruction).

    Plate appearances are indeed what qualifies you for the batting title (and other "rate" titles), not at bats. A player must have 3.1 PAs for each official game for the player's team. This is usually 502 plate appearances (for a 162 game season). In 2004, Barry Bonds qualified for the batting title with a measly 373 ABs, but had 617 plate appearances (mostly due to 232 walks). Incidentally, he led the NL in hitting that year with a .362 BA.

20. Neil Says:
    September 5th, 2010 at 12:26 pm

    @20
    Leather, thank you for correcting me on both counts.... OBP formula and qualification for batting title.
    Using at bats would of course penalize a hitter with a really good eye or who was pitched around a lot.

21. John Autin Says:
    September 5th, 2010 at 10:27 pm

    No offense intended, but ... Given the knowledge level of this forum, why are we discussing a .300 BA as a meaningful measurement? How many of those teams were well above average in park-adjusted scoring? We don't know.

    How about teams with the most hitters with at least 400 PAs and an OPS+ of 125 or higher? That record was set by the 2009 Yankees, who had an astounding 8 such hitters -- Cano, Damon, Jeter, Matsui, Posada, Rodriguez, Swisher and Teixeira. (All but Posada qualified for the batting title; the weakest link in the order was Melky Cabrera, with a 99 OPS+.) Only 4 other teams have had even 6 such players; the 1976 Reds had 5. The 2009 Yanks also had a higher team OPS+ than the '76 Reds, 122 to 120. And while Cesar Geronimo had a fine year in '76, we know he wasn't really a good hitter; that was his only regular season with OPS+ over 108, and his career mark was 93. All 8 Yankees are legitimately good hitters, with 7 having career OPS+ of at least 119, and Damon at 105. No Yankee led the league in Runs, Hits, Walks, OBP or SLG, yet collectively they led the league in all of those. I think they were the most balanced regular lineup in MLB history.

    P.S. The only other team with 7 regulars with an OPS+ of at least 125 was the 1978 Brewers. They finished just 3rd in the AL East, but they led the league in runs, HRs, BA, OBP and SLG, and won 93 games.