Nyjer Morgan and runners NOT driven in

Nyjer Morgan went 44 games to start this season, before recording his first RBI.

How unusual is that? I’ll take a look after the jump.

Since 1918, here are the non-pitcher streaks of longer than 40 games (min. 1 PA) to start a season.

Rk   Strk Start 6 End Games AB R H 2B 3B HR SO BB BA OBP SLG OPS Tm
1 Nyjer Morgan 2012-04-06 2012-05-31 44 124 18 28 1 0 0 23 7 .226 .289 .234 .523 MIL
2 Matt Stairs 2011-04-03 2011-06-27 43 45 3 5 1 0 0 14 8 .111 .245 .133 .379 WSN
3 Sam Fuld 2009-07-01 2009-10-02 44 94 15 27 5 1 0 10 17 .287 .402 .362 .763 CHC
4 Dave Clark 1998-04-01 1998-06-27 41 73 5 10 2 0 0 27 10 .137 .250 .164 .414 HOU
5 Jesus Tavarez 1996-04-04 1996-07-14 44 67 4 12 2 0 0 13 4 .179 .225 .209 .434 FLA
6 Luis Alicea 1991-06-14 1991-10-06 54 68 5 13 3 0 0 19 8 .191 .276 .235 .512 STL
7 Wallace Johnson 1988-04-07 1988-07-23 47 44 5 12 2 0 0 7 5 .273 .347 .318 .665 MON
8 Rafael Landestoy 1983-04-04 1983-08-31 41 56 3 10 1 1 0 5 3 .179 .220 .232 .452 CIN-LAD
9 Bruce Boisclair 1979-04-10 1979-09-22 47 68 6 12 3 1 0 21 2 .176 .200 .250 .450 NYM
10 Leron Lee 1975-04-12 1975-09-07 51 58 5 9 2 0 0 13 5 .155 .234 .190 .424 CLE-LAD
11 Phil Gagliano 1974-04-04 1974-10-01 45 31 2 2 0 0 0 7 15 .065 .370 .065 .434 CIN
12 Jimmy Stewart 1971-04-05 1971-07-09 42 47 2 8 1 0 0 9 5 .170 .250 .191 .441 CIN
13 Chris Cannizzaro 1965-04-12 1965-06-18 47 110 7 20 4 0 0 29 11 .182 .262 .218 .480 NYM
14 Jim Bolger 1959-04-17 1959-09-15 41 54 1 4 1 0 0 9 4 .074 .138 .093 .231 CLE-PHI
15 Lew McCarty 1920-04-14 1920-08-03 41 45 2 7 0 0 0 2 9 .156 .296 .156 .452 NYG-STL
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/9/2012.

Most of these players were used primarily as pinch-hitters during these streaks. My guess is they weren’t long for that role after starting a season like this.

Since 1901 and prior to the game-searchable era, this is the only season by a non-pitcher of 40 or more games and no RBI.

Rk Player PA RBI Year Age Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
19 Oscar Dugey 47 0 1915 27 PHI NL 42 39 4 6 1 0 0 7 5 .154 .283 .179 .462 4
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/9/2012.

Morgan now has 2 RBI on the season. But, he also has 2 HR. So, he still hasn’t driven in a teammate, going 0 for 18 with 3 BB and 2 HBP in 23 PA with RISP. With men on, he’s batting an even .100 (4 for 40), compared to .283 (28 for 99) with the bases empty.

Here are the seasons since 1901 with no teammates driven in (i.e. RBI = HR).

Rk Player PA RBI HR Year Age Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Nyjer Morgan 154 2 2 2012 31 MIL NL 52 139 22 32 2 0 7 27 .230 .291 .288 .579 *89/7
2 Gene Good 135 0 0 1906 23 BSN NL 34 119 4 18 0 0 13 29 .151 .246 .151 .398 *78
3 Bobby Messenger 130 0 0 1909 25 CHW AL 31 112 18 19 1 1 13 24 .170 .268 .196 .464 *9
4 Fred Marsh 111 2 2 1953 29 CHW AL 67 95 22 19 1 0 13 26 .200 .303 .274 .576 56/34
5 Greg Norton 99 2 2 2004 31 DET AL 41 86 9 15 1 0 12 21 .174 .276 .256 .531 5/D37
6 Steve Staggs 97 0 0 1978 27 OAK AL 47 78 10 19 2 2 19 17 .244 .392 .321 .712 *4/6D5
7 Bill Donovan 96 0 0 1906 29 DET AL 28 91 5 11 0 1 1 33 .121 .130 .143 .273 *1/48
8 Mike Fischlin 95 0 0 1978 22 HOU NL 44 86 3 10 1 0 4 9 .116 .165 .128 .293 *6
9 Eddie Lake 92 0 0 1941 25 STL NL 45 76 9 8 2 0 15 22 .105 .253 .132 .384 65/4
10 John Powers 90 2 2 1958 28 PIT NL 57 82 6 15 1 0 8 19 .183 .256 .268 .524 9/7
11 George Theodore 89 1 1 1974 27 NYM NL 60 76 7 12 1 0 8 14 .158 .247 .211 .458 3/79
12 Lou Camilli 89 0 0 1971 24 CLE AL 39 81 5 16 2 0 8 10 .198 .270 .222 .492 *64
13 Bill Schwartz 88 0 0 1904 20 CLE AL 24 86 5 13 2 0 0 5 .151 .151 .174 .326 *3/5
14 Jim Tyrone 87 3 3 1974 25 CHC NL 57 81 19 15 0 1 6 8 .185 .241 .321 .562 79/85
15 Cesar Gutierrez 87 0 0 1969 26 TOT ML 32 72 9 17 2 0 11 5 .236 .337 .264 .601 *6/5
16 Dan Ford 82 1 1 1985 33 BAL AL 28 75 4 14 2 0 7 17 .187 .256 .253 .509 *D
17 Ruben Amaro 82 0 0 1958 22 STL NL 40 76 8 17 2 1 5 8 .224 .272 .276 .548 *6/4
18 Frank Manush 82 0 0 1908 24 PHA AL 23 77 6 12 2 1 2 12 .156 .188 .208 .395 *5/4
19 Kenny Lofton 79 0 0 1991 24 HOU NL 20 74 9 15 1 0 5 19 .203 .253 .216 .469 *8
20 Luis Alicea 76 0 0 1991 25 STL NL 56 68 5 13 3 0 8 19 .191 .276 .235 .512 4/56
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/11/2012.

And, finally, here are non-pitcher seasons since 1901 with RBI < 2 * HR. Morgan still makes the top twenty sorted by PA.

Rk Player PA RBI HR Year Age Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Barry Bonds 664 137 73 2001 36 SFG NL 153 476 129 156 32 2 177 93 .328 .515 .863 1.379 *7/D
2 Scott Hairston 362 31 17 2008 28 SDP NL 112 326 42 81 18 3 28 84 .248 .312 .479 .791 87/4
3 Chris Duncan 314 43 22 2006 25 STL NL 90 280 60 82 11 3 30 69 .293 .363 .589 .952 *793/D
4 Kevin Maas 300 41 21 1990 25 NYY AL 79 254 42 64 9 0 43 76 .252 .367 .535 .902 *3D
5 Curtis Granderson 265 34 18 2012 31 NYY AL 59 231 43 58 7 1 32 67 .251 .345 .524 .869 *8
6 Wayne Gross 264 18 11 1985 33 BAL AL 103 217 31 51 8 0 46 48 .235 .369 .424 .793 *5D/3
7 Andres Mora 246 14 8 1978 23 BAL AL 76 229 21 49 8 0 13 47 .214 .258 .354 .612 *7/D
8 Luis Aguayo 234 21 12 1987 28 PHI NL 94 209 25 43 9 1 15 56 .206 .273 .431 .703 *6/45
9 Bill Schroeder 226 25 14 1984 25 MIL AL 61 210 29 54 6 0 8 54 .257 .288 .486 .774 *2/D3
10 Eric Anthony 218 22 12 1996 28 TOT NL 79 185 32 45 8 0 32 56 .243 .353 .481 .834 97/8
11 Dave Nicholson 202 15 9 1962 22 BAL AL 97 173 25 30 4 1 27 76 .173 .289 .364 .653 798
12 Chad Kreuter 192 9 5 1989 24 TEX AL 87 158 16 24 3 0 27 40 .152 .274 .266 .540 *2
13 Kirk Gibson 189 16 9 1980 23 DET AL 51 175 23 46 2 1 10 45 .263 .303 .440 .743 *8/D
14 Buddy Bradford 187 15 8 1973 28 CHW AL 53 168 24 40 3 1 17 43 .238 .316 .411 .726 *8/97
15 Sal Fasano 174 20 11 2005 33 BAL AL 64 160 25 40 3 0 9 41 .250 .310 .475 .785 *2/D3
16 Norm Cash 172 12 7 1974 39 DET AL 53 149 17 34 3 2 19 30 .228 .327 .416 .744 *3
17 Ellis Burks 165 24 13 1994 29 COL NL 42 149 33 48 8 3 16 39 .322 .388 .678 1.066 *8
18 Barry Foote 163 11 6 1981 29 TOT ML 49 147 12 26 4 0 11 28 .177 .233 .327 .559 *2/D3
19 Joe Pignatano 163 17 9 1958 28 LAD NL 63 142 18 31 4 0 16 26 .218 .306 .437 .743 *2
20 Nyjer Morgan 154 2 2 2012 31 MIL NL 52 139 22 32 2 0 7 27 .230 .291 .288 .579 *89/7
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/11/2012.

Guess I ruined a really tough quiz question with Bonds and the others on this list.

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nightfly
12 years ago

Wow, Burks was off to a hell of a start in the thin air. I wonder how much the offensive explosion of the 90’s really hurt his HoF chances. The raw numbers really aren’t bad at all, and it looks like he has good numbers outside of Coors as well. (I looked at him and Kirk Gibson side-by-side just now… Burks’ numbers compare well, his WAR (and WAR/PA) were better for longer – he just never had an MVP season or a signature “I don’t believe what I just saw!” postseason moment.) Burks only made two All-Star teams because everybody… Read more »

Lawrence Azrin
Lawrence Azrin
12 years ago
Reply to  nightfly

Burks’ best MVP season was 1996 (3rd), when he played his most games (156) and had the most AB (685). He had only two other seasons with more than 144 games or 606 AB.

As you said, he was quite injury-prone, and if he’d had two/three full seasons remotely comparable to 1996, he’d probably be thought of much more favorably.

His career AIR was 109 ,which means his offensive numbers got quite a boost, esp. from 1994-2001.

Tmckelv
Tmckelv
12 years ago

I started my love of Baseball Cards in the 1970’s, I played most of my Strat-O-Matic in the 1980’s, I enjoyed the majority of my Fantasy Baseball in the 1990’s and I utilized online SABR/Stat encyclopedia in the 2000’s.

Lists like this make me smile for different reasons. Buddy Bradford in the Red-stiped White Sox uniform on his baseball card. Pinch Hitting with Andres Mora during a nip-and-tuck Strat-o-Matic game. Wondering how could I possibly draft Chad Krueter for my Rotisserie team. And now reading great lists to learn about the efforts of Scott Hairston. I love baseball.

Steven Page
Steven Page
12 years ago
Reply to  Tmckelv

I was playing Negamco and Statis-Pro during the same period, and had to endure running the Astros during the 1978 Mike Fischlin season….Situations like that make it easier to understand the need some managers feel to consume alcohol

Abbott
Abbott
12 years ago
Reply to  Steven Page

I played Statis-Pro too! My first year was 1980 (Brad Mills and Matt Alexander were secret weapons in that set. They give you the formulas for creating the cards; now it’s easy to plug everybody’s stats into an Excel spreadsheet, print out the cards, and boom – every year when my brother visits we have tournaments, much to the chagrin of our wives/parents/kids/pets/livers.

GrandyMan
GrandyMan
12 years ago

Not surprisingly, pretty much all of the guys on that first list have atrocious OPS numbers…except for Fuld, who was OPSing .763 in 111 PA. The 15 runs tell me he was batting leadoff most of the time. I guess the Cubs had a really awful back end of the lineup for that to happen.

brp
brp
12 years ago
Reply to  Doug

I remember Fuld was actually playing fairly well, he just never came up with many RBI chances (from what I remember). It was more of a statistical fluke than anything Fuld was doing wrong. However Fuld and Morgan fit the mold for atrocious RBI totals; top or bottom of the order hitters with little to no power.

The more Morgan/Gomez play for Milwaukee the more I wonder why Aoki isn’t starting…

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
12 years ago

I found a guy named Lou Camilli who went the first 89 games of his career without an RBI. I believe that is a record, not counting pinch-runners Herb Washington and Allen Lewis.

Doug
Doug
12 years ago

Nice find, Richard. Camilli’s 89 games were over 4 seasons, which is why he didn’t show up in the streak list (though he is in the RBI=HR list). That first RBI came in career PA 151, compared to Morgan who had 159 PA between RBIs on Sep 20 last season and June 1 this year. Camilli also didn’t get his first career hit until his 36th game and 38th PA. A career .146 hitter in 166 PAs, he was used as a pinch-hitter in more than a quarter of those appearances and batted .119 in that role. Poor Cleveland –… Read more »

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
12 years ago

Maybe that’s why Houston traded Kenny Lofton :>

Though, Lofton batted leadoff all 18 starts, and he was actually 4 for 8 with a runner on first.

birtelcom
Editor
12 years ago

Any consideration of RBI futility should not overlook the 1971 season of Enzo Hernandez. 618 PAs and only 12 RBI: fewest ribbies per PA by a qualifying batter since baseball settled on the four ball/three strike standard. The 1971 Padres scored only 486 runs as a team, and Enzo, in his debut season in the majors, was the team’s everyday leadoff guy despite a .295 OBP (which at least least was better than his .250 SLG). Don’t blame manager Preston Gomez too much for batting Enzo leadoff — that .295 OBP was above-average for that club (team OBP: .293)

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
12 years ago
Reply to  Doug

Hernandez’s RBI/H ratio of 12/122 = 0.098 is the second lowest of batters with > 502 PA. The lowest is 1970 Luis Castillo’s of 17/180 = 0.094.

tag
tag
12 years ago
Reply to  birtelcom

birtelcom,

I referenced this season in my reasons for including Enzo on SD’s Mt. Rushmore in a Janus-like pair with Nate Colbert, his opposite in this RBI regard. It remains one of my favorite statistics of all time. I mean, a lot of players get 12 RBI from sac flies alone in that number of seasonal at-bats. I know the Padres were a low-scoring team, but Enzo must have been allergic to batting runs in or something.

Jimbo
Jimbo
12 years ago

Lol at Matt Stairs 2011. Watching his PA’s it was hard to believe they gave him so many. Any legit fastball was in the catcher’s mitt before his bat got moving.