Lots of Homers, not Enough Fear
Posted by Raphy on November 3, 2008
In 1961 Roger Maris hit 61 homeruns without being intentionally walked. Since then only 1 player has hit more homeruns with being intentionally walked than Carlos Quentin did in 2008. Here are the leaders since 1961.
1 Roger Maris 61 0 1961 26 NYY AL 161 698 590 132 159 16 4 142 94 67 7 0 7 16 0 0 .269 .372 .620 .992 *98 2 Alex Rodriguez 42 0 1998 22 SEA AL 161 748 686 123 213 35 5 124 45 121 10 3 4 12 46 13 .310 .360 .560 .920 *6/D 3 Carlos Quentin 36 0 2008 25 CHW AL 130 569 480 96 138 26 1 100 66 80 20 0 3 16 7 3 .288 .394 .571 .965 *7 4 Andruw Jones 36 0 2000 23 ATL NL 161 729 656 122 199 36 6 104 59 100 9 0 5 12 21 6 .303 .366 .541 .907 *8 5 Geronimo Berroa 36 0 1996 31 OAK AL 153 643 586 101 170 32 1 106 47 122 4 0 6 16 0 3 .290 .344 .532 .876 *D97 6 Tony Armas 36 0 1983 29 BOS AL 145 613 574 77 125 23 2 107 29 131 2 0 8 31 0 1 .218 .254 .453 .707 *8D 7 Eric Karros 34 0 1999 31 LAD NL 153 639 578 74 176 40 0 112 53 119 2 0 6 18 8 5 .304 .362 .550 .912 *3 8 Vernon Wells 32 0 2006 27 TOR AL 154 677 611 91 185 40 5 106 54 90 3 0 9 13 17 4 .303 .357 .542 .899 *8/D 9 Ellis Burks 32 0 1997 32 COL NL 119 477 424 91 123 19 2 82 47 75 3 1 2 17 7 2 .290 .363 .571 .934 *8*7 10 Ron Gant 32 0 1990 25 ATL NL 152 631 575 107 174 34 3 84 50 86 1 1 4 8 33 16 .303 .357 .539 .896 *87/9
On the opposite end of the spectrum Omar Vizquel tied for the ninth most IBB in history among players without homerun.
1 Don Kessinger 18 0 1973 30 CHC NL 160 643 577 52 151 22 3 43 57 44 0 7 2 15 6 6 .262 .327 .310 .637 *6 2 Doug Flynn 14 0 1980 29 NYM NL 128 474 443 46 113 9 8 24 22 20 0 6 3 15 2 2 .255 .288 .312 .600 *4/6 3 Ozzie Smith 13 0 1986 31 STL NL 153 609 514 67 144 19 4 54 79 27 2 11 3 9 31 7 .280 .376 .333 .709 *6 4 Jose Lind 12 0 1992 28 PIT NL 135 506 468 38 110 14 1 39 26 29 1 7 4 14 3 1 .235 .275 .269 .544 *4 5 Tim Flannery 10 0 1982 24 SDP NL 122 423 379 40 100 11 7 30 30 32 2 6 6 4 1 0 .264 .317 .330 .647 *4/56 6 Bill Almon 10 0 1978 25 SDP NL 138 442 405 39 102 19 2 21 33 74 0 3 1 6 17 5 .252 .308 .309 .617 *56/4 7 Doug Flynn 10 0 1978 27 NYM NL 156 572 532 37 126 12 8 36 30 50 1 6 3 14 3 5 .237 .277 .289 .566 *46 8 Roger Metzger 10 0 1976 28 HOU NL 152 543 481 37 101 13 8 29 52 63 0 8 2 11 1 1 .210 .286 .270 .556 *6/4 9 Omar Vizquel 9 0 2008 41 SFG NL 92 300 266 24 59 10 1 23 24 29 0 7 3 4 5 4 .222 .283 .267 .550 *6 10 Steve Jeltz 9 0 1986 27 PHI NL 145 510 439 44 96 11 4 36 65 97 1 3 2 9 6 3 .219 .320 .262 .582 *6 11 Tony Scott 9 0 1980 28 STL NL 143 460 415 51 104 19 3 28 35 68 1 5 4 8 22 10 .251 .308 .311 .619 *8 12 Dave Bergman 9 0 1978 25 HOU NL 104 228 186 15 43 5 1 12 39 32 0 1 2 5 2 0 .231 .361 .269 .630 *37 13 Manny Mota 9 0 1973 35 LAD NL 89 327 293 33 92 11 2 23 25 12 1 6 2 11 1 3 .314 .368 .365 .733 *7 14 Rod Carew 9 0 1972 26 MIN AL 142 591 535 61 170 21 6 51 43 60 2 9 2 11 12 6 .318 .369 .379 .748 *4 15 Jake Gibbs 9 0 1969 30 NYY AL 71 245 219 18 49 9 2 18 23 30 0 0 3 3 3 4 .224 .294 .283 .577 *2 16 Dal Maxvill 9 0 1966 27 STL NL 134 439 394 25 96 14 3 24 37 61 2 6 0 11 3 0 .244 .312 .294 .606 *6/47 17 Woody Woodward 9 0 1966 23 ATL NL 144 516 455 46 120 23 3 43 37 54 4 17 3 9 2 2 .264 .323 .327 .650 *4*6
November 3rd, 2008 at 4:55 pm
I checked and 16 of Kessinger's IBB's in 1973 were when he batted 8th, i.e., he was walked to get to the pitcher. And he batted 8th less than half the time that season!
All of Flynn's 14 and Lind's 12 IBB were when they batted 8th. Ozzie's were spread around more (5 in 8th, 5 in 7th and 3 in the 2nd spot). Why walk Ozzie to get to the #3 hitter? Because the player who batted 3rd most often that year for the Cards was that well-known power hitter ... Tommy Herr. The Cards had all of 58 HR (and 262 SB) that year.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Any reason why the guys with 0 IBB weren't ever given the free pass? Some I understand. Maris batted in front of Mantle; Andruw batted in front of Chipper (he actually hit second for most of 2000); Rodriguez was a leadoff hitter in 1998 (I think), so, even though he was in the AL, there probably wasn't a great amount of chances to put him on base. The other guys, though, all seem like they should have had their chances. Anyone have an explanation?
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Armas had the worst season ever (55 RC) for somebody who hit 30+ home runs. He hit .218 with 29 walks. Tack on to that 31 double plays and 131 strikeouts. Additionally, Wade Boggs and Dwight Evans combined to hit behind him in half his games. Combined, the duo hit into 3 double plays in 83 games in the 5 slot. On the season the Red Sox 5th place hitters hit into 8 DP. I don't think anyone was passing on Tony in hopes of getting 2 when a strikeout of Armas was much more likely.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Burks hit second before a monstrous heart of a Mile High lineup.
Arod hit second in front of the best hitter in baseball and another hitter who was up there.
My guess is that Karros and Berroa's high strikeout totals were a factor.
November 19th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Thanks, Raphy! Noone wanted to face Junior then Edgar back in the few, brief rockin' days of the Kingdome (Thank God that place has been laied to rest).