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Omar Vizquel and 20 seasons under 100 OPS+

19th January 2011

Omar Vizquel is coming back next year with the White Sox and there's little reason to think that he'll have an OPS+ of 100 or better given that he hasn't done it since 2002.

Meanwhile, he already holds the post-1901 record for most seasons with an OPS+ under 100 (minimum 50 games in each season): Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Season Finders | 60 Comments »

Gil Meche retires

18th January 2011

Gil Meche announced his retirement today.

He's both the poster boy and anti-poster boy for the Royals. He's the anti-poster boy because the Royals gave him a big-money 5-year contract. He's the poster boy because over 2007-2008 among the 45 pitchers to start at least 60 games, he's one of a handful to have a losing record:

Rk	Player	W-L%	GS	CG	W	L	IP	ERA	ERA+
1	Matt Cain	.333	66	2	15	30	417.2	3.71	120
2	Carlos Silva	.370	61	3	17	29	355.1	5.17	83
3	Daniel Cabrera	.378	64	3	17	28	384.1	5.41	84
4	Ian Snell	.400	63	1	16	24	372.1	4.50	96
5	Scott Olsen	.409	66	0	18	26	378.1	4.95	88
6	Barry Zito	.412	65	0	21	30	376.2	4.83	92
7	Edwin Jackson	.422	62	1	19	26	344.1	5.04	88
8	Paul Maholm	.442	60	3	19	24	384.0	4.31	99
9	Kevin Millwood	.442	60	3	19	24	341.1	5.12	88
10	Greg Maddux	.478	67	1	22	24	392.0	4.18	94
11	Bronson Arroyo	.480	68	2	24	26	410.2	4.49	101
12	Braden Looper	.480	63	1	24	26	374.0	4.52	96
13	Aaron Harang	.489	63	3	22	23	416.0	4.20	108
14	Gil Meche	.489	68	1	23	24	426.1	3.82	117

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/18/2011.

Notice how he started more games than most and had a higher ERA+, and yet he was still in this group of "losers". Over that same time period, 19 pitchers started at least 60 games and had an ERA over 110. Only Meche and Matt Cain had losing records.

Posted in Season Finders | 23 Comments »

Happy Birthday Steve Balboni

16th January 2011

I just logged on to write a totally different post and saw on the front page that today is Steve Balboni's 54th birthday. Well, that changes everything. I am not going to miss an opportunity to write about Bye Bye Balboni.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Season Finders | 20 Comments »

500+ Doubles & SLG% Under .471

15th January 2011

How many players in baseball history have at least 500 career doubles and a lifetime slugging percentage of .470 or less?

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Season Finders | 44 Comments »

2000+ Games Played For One Team Only

13th January 2011

How many players in baseball history have played 2,000+ games in their career - with all those games being for the same team and no one else?

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Posted in Season Finders | 98 Comments »

The most runs scored per time on base over a career

10th January 2011

This would make a heck of a good trivia question, but I've already given away the answer in the title of the post.

Check out the leaders (1901-present, minimum 2000 career plate appearances) in runs scored per time on base:

Rk	Player	TOB	R	PA	From	To	Age	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	HBP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Joe DiMaggio	3050	1390	7671	1936	1951	21-36	2214	389	131	361	1537	790	369	46	30	9	.325	.398	.579	.977	*8/793	NYY
2	Tommy Leach	2784	1260	8401	1901	1918	23-40	1991	255	164	57	737	762	278	31	334	24	.270	.341	.372	.712	85/7694	PIT-TOT-CHC-CIN
3	Earle Combs	2553	1186	6507	1924	1935	25-36	1866	309	154	58	632	670	278	17	98	71	.325	.397	.462	.859	*87/9	NYY
4	Red Rolfe	1930	942	5405	1931	1942	22-33	1394	257	67	69	497	526	335	10	44	20	.289	.360	.413	.773	*5/6	NYY
5	Jack Smith	1657	783	5026	1915	1929	20-34	1301	182	71	40	382	334	348	22	228	67	.287	.339	.385	.724	897	STL-TOT-BSN
6	Pepper Martin	1609	756	4521	1928	1944	24-40	1227	270	75	59	501	369	438	13	146	0	.298	.358	.443	.801	589/71	STL
7	Tom Goodwin	1407	636	4315	1991	2004	22-35	1029	125	39	24	284	365	660	13	369	118	.268	.332	.339	.671	*87/9	LAD-KCR-TOT-TEX-SFG-CHC
8	Gerald Williams	991	474	3323	1992	2005	25-38	780	183	18	85	365	180	530	31	106	57	.255	.301	.410	.711	879/D	NYY-TOT-MIL-ATL-TBD-FLA-NYM
9	Ian Kinsler	961	437	2723	2006	2010	24-28	668	142	12	92	318	262	348	31	106	18	.281	.356	.466	.822	*4	TEX
10	Woody Jensen	861	392	2869	1931	1939	23-31	774	114	37	26	235	69	100	18	20	0	.285	.307	.382	.689	*7/89	PIT
11	Nate McLouth	788	361	2363	2005	2010	23-28	517	128	12	77	254	226	405	45	83	13	.252	.337	.438	.775	*8/97	PIT-TOT-ATL
12	Miguel Dilone	678	314	2182	1974	1985	19-30	530	67	25	6	129	142	197	6	267	78	.265	.315	.333	.648	78/9D5	PIT-OAK-TOT-CLE-MON

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/9/2011.

As a reminder, Times on Base is hits plus walks plus HBP.

These guys all scored runs as least 45% of the time they got on base. The career leader (1901-present) is Red Rolfe, with 0.488 runs scored per time on base. Gerald Williams is #2 at 0.478.

At first guess I suppose that excelling in this stat is helped by having a good offense around you and being a good (and possibly fast) baserunner. Most of these guys were very fast--even Nate McLouth is a quick guy despite stealing only 83 bases in the equivalent of about 4 full seasons. Only Rolfe, DiMaggio, and Jensen didn't steal much, and they all played in high-powered offensive eras.

If you drop the requirement for R/ToB to just 0.42, the list includes 120 guys.

Posted in Season Finders | 63 Comments »