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Best OPS+ Seasons By SS Age 37+ Since 1973

Posted by Steve Lombardi on January 30, 2011

What are the best offensive seasons, in terms of OPS+, for a SS age 37 or older, since 1973?

Here's the leaderboard for that one - using 502 PA for a cutoff:

Rk Player OPS+ PA Year Age Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Ozzie Smith 105 590 1992 37 STL NL 132 518 73 153 20 2 0 31 59 4 34 0 12 1 11 43 9 .295 .367 .342 .708 *6
2 Omar Vizquel 99 651 2004 37 CLE AL 148 567 82 165 28 3 7 59 57 0 62 1 20 6 12 19 6 .291 .353 .388 .741 *6
3 Omar Vizquel 93 659 2006 39 SFG NL 153 579 88 171 22 10 4 58 56 3 51 6 13 5 13 24 7 .295 .361 .389 .749 *6
4 Ozzie Smith 88 603 1993 38 STL NL 141 545 75 157 22 6 1 53 43 1 18 1 7 7 11 21 8 .288 .337 .356 .693 *6
5 Omar Vizquel 82 651 2005 38 SFG NL 152 568 66 154 28 4 3 45 56 0 58 5 20 2 10 24 10 .271 .341 .350 .691 *6
6 Dave Concepcion 78 620 1985 37 CIN NL 155 560 59 141 19 2 7 48 50 3 67 3 3 4 23 16 12 .252 .314 .330 .645 *6/5
7 Larry Bowa 78 544 1983 37 CHC NL 147 499 73 133 20 5 2 43 35 1 30 0 6 4 3 7 3 .267 .312 .339 .651 *6
8 Luis Aparicio 75 561 1973 39 BOS AL 132 499 56 135 17 1 0 49 43 1 33 0 12 7 12 13 1 .271 .324 .309 .633 *6
9 Barry Larkin 74 567 2002 38 CIN NL 145 507 72 124 37 2 7 47 44 9 57 3 6 7 13 13 4 .245 .305 .367 .672 *6
10 Omar Vizquel 61 575 2007 40 SFG NL 145 513 54 126 18 3 4 51 44 6 48 1 14 3 14 14 6 .246 .305 .316 .621 *6
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/30/2011.

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Derek Jeter will be 37-years old when he plays in 2011. Last season, his OPS+ was 90. I wonder what the odds are of him having an OPS+ above 105 this year?

Related posts:

    5+ Seasons Since 1973 With 200+ IP and ERA+ >=120
    Worst Batting Seasons By Catchers Since 1973
    Most 100+ Loss Seasons Since 1973
    Omar Vizquel’s New Position
    Teams With Most .300-Hitters In A Season Since 1973

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 30th, 2011 at 6:44 pm and is filed under Season Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

11 Responses to “Best OPS+ Seasons By SS Age 37+ Since 1973”

  1. MikeD Says:
    January 30th, 2011 at 7:31 pm

    Stand by for a new record in 2011.

  2. MikeD Says:
    January 30th, 2011 at 7:35 pm

    ...since 1973, I should add.

    No, I don't expect Jeter to eclipse Wagner or Appling in OPS+, but a 106 is certainly within reach.

  3. Random Sports Guy Says:
    January 30th, 2011 at 7:43 pm

    By who???

  4. Imbroglio21 Says:
    January 30th, 2011 at 8:51 pm

    Here are the WAR Batting Runs for those players:

    Smith ’92: 3 (tied for best)
    Vizquel ’04: 1
    Vizquel ‘06: 3 (tied for best)
    Smith ’93: -8
    Vizquel ’05 : -11
    Concepcion ’85: -12
    Bowa ’83: -14
    Aparicio ’73: -15
    Larkin ’02: -18
    Vizquel ’07: -29

    ... and Jeter ‘10 at 36: -9.

    Details : http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/ISmKt

  5. J.R. Says:
    January 30th, 2011 at 9:25 pm

    Interesting list... not very many names on here. For Smith, a player ripped (and largely deservedly so) for his anemic offense throughout his career, he actually has what could be considered a great offensive season, both for him, and for SS his age since 73. A bit of a surprise there.

    Doesn't bode well for how historians will look back on the last bunch of years for Omar, however...

    I hate to disagree with MikeD, but with the Yankees and their present slide, I see Jeter staying right at where he was last year, not the marked improvement he is calling for. That, and there are ALREADY the media reports of his changing positions.

    IMO, as long as he wears the pinstripes, he's cemented at SS, no matter what the metrics, or the naked eye, suggest should happen.

  6. DavidRF Says:
    January 30th, 2011 at 10:35 pm

    The cutoff dates always interest me. 1973 is the DH era?

    Going back to 1961 doesn't change the top of the list... 1971-Maury Wills is the highest new entry 91... after that its Wills again the year before with just 80.

    Mike is right in #2. Appling and Wagner are the only other players to crack 100. 1908-Dahlen at 94 is the only other one reasonably close.

  7. Gerry Says:
    January 31st, 2011 at 6:38 am

    From 1984 to 1992, Ozzie Smith was an excellent hitter (for a shortstop) (and not counting 1990).

  8. Steve Lombardi Says:
    January 31st, 2011 at 7:29 am

    DavidRF-

    1973 was just a line I picked.
    Start of the DH. Steinbrenner came into baseball. And, that's when I started following baseball. Could have picked any other year. 1947? 1920? But, I wanted to keep it to guys that I saw play. Totally subjective.

  9. Bob M. Says:
    January 31st, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    I never would have guessed Omar Vizquel and Ozzie Smith would have topped the list. Of course many shortstops switch positions at this stage. I bet Jeter will have an OPS+ near 98-100.

  10. David in Toledo Says:
    February 1st, 2011 at 1:06 pm

    It's reasonable to insist on a full season for the list. But to give props to Barry Larkin, note that in a part-season, at age 40, he hit with ops+ 101.

  11. franco Says:
    February 2nd, 2011 at 11:14 am

    Omar's here twice as often as Ozzie. hmmmm.

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