Batting Order Season Records

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Last night, the Yankees put Alex Rodriguez in the second spot in the batting order for the first time in years. However, he’s not exactly a novice in that spot. Indeed, he is tied for the record for most RBI in a season from the #2 spot in the batting order:

Most RBI in a Season, From Each Spot in the Batting Order (1916-2013)
#1 spot: Darin Erstad (2000) 100 RBI
#2 spot: Alex Rodriguez (1998) and Eddie Mathews (1959) 114
#3 spot: Babe Ruth (1921) 168
#4 spot: Hack Wilson (1930) 191
#5 spot: Jimmie Foxx (1932) 169
#6 spot: Glenn Wright (1925) and Tony Lazzeri (1926) 110
#7 spot: Ken Keltner (1938) 111
#8 spot: Babe Dahlgren (1939) 89
#9 spot: Kevin Elster (1996) 92

After the jump, similar lists for Home Runs, Runs, Runs Created and Hits.

Most Home Runs in a Season, From Each Spot in the Batting Order (1916-2013)
#1 spot: Alfonso Soriano (2006) 39 homers
#2 spot: Eddie Mathews (1959) 46
#3 spot: Mark McGwire (1998) 69
#4 spot: Hack Wilson (1930) 56
#5 spot: Jimmie Foxx (1932) 58
#6 spot: Troy Glaus (2000) 39
#7 spot: Howard Johnson (1987) 28
#8 spot: Del Crandall (1955) 22
#9 spot: Kevin Elster (1996) 21

Most Runs Scored in a Season, From Each Spot in the Batting Order (1916-2013)
#1 spot: Craig Biggio (1997) and Rickey Henderson (1985) 145 Runs Scored
#2 spot: Red Rolfe (1937) 143
#3 spot: Babe Ruth (1921) 177
#4 spot: Lou Gehrig (1936) 167
#5 spot: Jimmie Foxx (1932) 151
#6 spot: Troy Glaus (2000) 102
#7 spot: Pinky Higgins (1933) 85
#8 spot: Wally Schang (1921) and Billy Myers (1939) 77
#9 spot: Harold Reynolds (1987) and Kevin Elster (1996) 72

Most Runs Created in a Season, From Each Spot in the Batting Order (1916-2013)
#1 spot: Darin Erstad (2000) 153.4 Runs Created (baseball-reference formula)
#2 spot: Derek Jeter (1999) 147.2
#3 spot: Babe Ruth (1921) 228.1
#4 spot: Lou Gehrig (1927) 208.3
#5 spot: Jimmie Foxx (1932) 202.3
#6 spot: Troy Glaus (2000) 118.3
#7 spot: Gabby Hartnett (1930) 107.4
#8 spot: Wally Schang (1921) 92.9
#9 spot: Kevin Elster (1996) 74.6

Most Hits in a Season, From Each Spot in the Batting Order (1916-2013)
#1 spot: Ichiro Suzuki (2004) 251 Hits
#2 spot: Lloyd Waner (1929) 234
#3 spot: George Sisler (1922) 243
#4 spot: Joe Medwick (1937) 237
#5 spot: Jimmie Foxx (1932) 213
#6 spot: High Pockets Kelly (1922) 192
#7 spot: Pinky Higgins (1933) 177
#8 spot: Jim Levey (1932) 156
#9 spot: Gary Disarcina (1998) 149

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Thomas

10 years ago

Man, who knew how historic Kevin Elster held so many records!

Also, a little surprising to me that 5 of the 9 home run spots are pre-90’s. And Elster’s ’96 season was still at the very beginning of that home run explosion of the late 90’s/early 00’s.

Great post!

Author

birtelcom

10 years ago

Reply to Thomas

I think the prominence of pre-1990’s seasons on these lists may indicate that it used to be more common to stick certain guys in a batting order slot and keep him there. Managers may be more flexible these days in moving guys around in the order during a season, leading to fewer huge season numbers at one particular batting order slot. That’s just a hypothesis though.

Editor

Bryan O'Connor

10 years ago

Reply to Thomas

Elster was worth 1.5 rWAR in ’96, when he scored, drove in, and created more runs than any #9 hitter ever. If replacement level were defined by batting order position, rather than defensive position, how many posWAR would that year be worth? 8? 10? 15?

Mike

10 years ago

Angels really had something working w/Glaus & Erstad in 2000. They were really supposed to take off that year since they’d gotten rid of clubhouse cancer Jim Edmonds.

Dan

10 years ago

I always thought Butch Hobson of the 1977 Boston Red Sox had all of his 30 HR’s that season from the number 9 spot in the order.

Lawrence Azrin

10 years ago

Reply to Dan

@4/Dan, Yes, I’ve heard that one several times on TV. NOT TRUE, not even close. Why do people keep spouting supposed “facts”, when it’s so easy to look things up on B-R? BUTCH HOBSON – 1977 batting order postion/HR results: 3RD: 21 PA, 1 HR 6TH: 49 PA, 1 HR 7TH: 185 PA, 11 HR 8TH: 358 PA, 17 HR 9TH: 24 PA, 0 HR (that’s right, NONE, NADA, ZILCH) Looking over his entire career, Hobson had 26 HRs from the #9 slot, with a high of 11 HR in 1978. Rather unusual, but nothing remotely like hitting 30 HRs… Read more »

Author

birtelcom

10 years ago

Reply to Lawrence Azrin

Hobson’s 11 homers from the 9th spot in 1978 is tied for the 11th highest season total from the 9th spot. One guy, Charles Johnson, topped that figure twice (13 homers from the 9th spot in 1999 and 17 in 2000). Mike Bordick and Rick Dempsey each had 42 from the 9th spot, which is the current record. Hobson’s career total of 26 has been topped by 17 guys, including a number of pitchers.

10 years ago

Reply to Dan

Wait, Butch Hobson’s real first name is Clell??? With a middle name of Lavern???

Author

birtelcom

10 years ago

Reply to Ed

Which I guess makes “Butch” a Hobson’s choice.

Doug

10 years ago

A few more: Plate Appearances 1st: Lenny Dykstra (1993) 773 2nd: Felix Milan (1975) 743 3rd: Jim Rice (1978) 746 4th: Lou Gehrig (1931) 738 5th: Jimmie Foxx (1932) 702 6th: Joe Sewell (1921) 683 7th: Topper Rigney (1922) 643 8th: Tommy Thevenow (1926) 608 9th: Harold Reynolds (1987) 570 The above represent every PA in the season, except for Rigney and Reynolds. Extra-Base Hits 1st: Grady Sizemore (2006) 92 2nd: Dan Uggla (2007) 82 3rd: Babe Ruth (1921) 119 4th: Lou Gehrig (1927) 117 5th: Jimmie Foxx (1932) 100 6th: Troy Glaus (2000) 73 7th: Ken Keltner (1938) 65… Read more »

BryanM

10 years ago

NOooo, Doug, puh-leeze – I was just reconciling myself to Harold Reynolds having a shared MLB record and you come up with 2 more!

Richard Chester

10 years ago

Fewest SO by a #4 batter with at least 502 PA in the #4 position: Joe Sewell with 4 SO in 1925.

Editor

Doug

10 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

Here are the other strikeout marks. Most Strikeouts 1st: Bobby Bonds (1970) 184 2nd: Dan Uggla (2007) 158 3rd: Adam Dunn (2012) 220 4th: Ryan Howard (2007) 197 5th: Jay Bruce (2013) 153 (and counting) 6th: Troy Glaus (2000) 143 7th: Bo Jackson (1988), Jose Hernandez (2002) 102 8th: Ron Karkovice (1993) 125 9th: Benji Gil (1995) 146, Pitchers: Wilbur Wood (1972) 65 Fewest Strikeouts (min. 400 PA) 1st: Lloyd Waner (1933) 7 2nd: Joe Sewell (1932) 3 3rd: Sam Rice (1925), Lou Boudreau (1948) 4 4th: Joe Sewell (1925) 4 5th: Joe Sewell (1927) 6 6th: Homer Summa (1926)… Read more »

Richard Chester

10 years ago

Reply to Doug

In 1946 Sain had 0 SO in 104 PA.

Doug

10 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

Thanks for the correction (I should have remembered that; I think you’ve mentioned it before).

Richard Chester

10 years ago

Reply to Doug

Here’s what I posted on December 4, 2012:
Johnny Sain holds the record for most PA by a pitcher with no strikeouts with 104 PA in 1946. It’s hard to believe a pitcher would accumulate that many PA without striking out. Career-wise he had 856 PA with just 20 SO, 7th best ratio for players with more than 800 PA.

Jim Bouldin

10 years ago

Reply to Doug

Those K numbers are about the most incredible season stats I’ve ever seen. How in the world can somebody strike out < 10 times in 400-600+ PA against MLB pitchers?

Author

birtelcom

10 years ago

Reply to Jim Bouldin

There are about 7.5 Ks per nine innings on average these days — back in the 1920s that number was less than 3 Ks per nine innings. Since the year 2000, the smallest number of Ks in a season with at least 400 Ks is David Eckstein’s 22 Ks in 2007.

Darien

10 years ago

I’m startled not to see the name “Bonds” on any of these lists.

10 years ago

Reply to Darien

I wondered about this too. We know he doesn’t have a shot at the hits or RBI lists because of all the walks and he didn’t play on an offensive machine like Ruth and Gehrig, so runs are out of the question too. Bonds’ lack of 50-HR seasons outside of 2001 means we only have his 73 homers from that year to work with. He batted third that year but had seven homers from other spots in the order, meaning he falls short of McGwire’s total. He also had 230 runs created that year, but clearly those games not batting… Read more »

Artie Z.

10 years ago

Reply to RJ

Most Walks 1st: Eddie Yost (1956) 150 2nd: Joe Morgan (1973) 109 3rd: Babe Ruth (1923) 170 4th: Barry Bonds (2004) 226 5th: Norm Cash (1961) 122 6th: Troy Glaus (2000) 93 7th: Willie Kamm (1925) 83 8th: Wally Schang (1921) 80 9th: Brian Downing (1975) 73 The Eddie’s have it for leadoff walks – Yost, Joost, and Stanky combine for the top 7 seasons in leadoff walks. Of the 19 seasons in which a player batting leadoff has walked 120+ times, guys named Eddie (now adding Eddie Lake) have 13 of those seasons. Bonds in the 4th spot has… Read more »

Richard Chester

10 years ago

Reply to Artie Z.

Led by Teddy and the Eddies the 12 year time period from 1945 to 1956 was the most prolific in the ML for walks.

10 years ago

Reply to Artie Z.

Troy Glaus’ 2000 season: .284/.404/.604/1.008, 120 R, 102 RBI, 37 2B, 47 HR (led the league)… zero MVP votes. All this while playing third base (and well). The thing is, the lack of MVP support isn’t even all that that ridiculous. Of those who did receive MVP votes: -Seven others had OPSs over 1.000 -Fourteen had batting averages over .300 -Five had over 40 HRs -Thirteen had over 100 RBI -Thirteen had over 100 R Oh, and Pedro Martinez had just put up the second greatest season by ERA+ of all time. WAR doesn’t even think Glaus was the most… Read more »

Artie Z.

10 years ago

Reply to RJ

And fewest walks (min 400 PAs): 1st: Tito Fuentes (1966) 7 (503 PAs) 2nd: Garry Templeton (1977) 10 (480 PAs) 3rd: Buck Weaver (1919) 9 (444 PAs) 4th: Bengie Molina (2009) 12 (487 PAs) 5th: Hi Myers (1922) 11 (599 PAs) 6th: Ivan Rodriguez (2007) 8 (420 PAs) 7th: Emil Verban (1945) 11 (432 PAs) 8th: A.J. Pierzynski (2002) 10 (419 PAs) 9th: Alfredo Griffin (1984) 4 (434 PAs) Getting 7 walks out of your leadoff guy has to be a killer – yet the 1966 Giants won 93 games and were 2 games behind the Dodgers for the pennant.… Read more »

Author

birtelcom

10 years ago

Reply to Artie Z.

Those ’66 Giants (and the 1960s Giants teams generally) were dripping with all-time greats — Mays, McCovey, Marichal, Perry, and had to trade Cepeda as surplusage. Jim Ray Hart and Tom Haller were no slouches either. But they kept falling just short because they couldn’t manage to fill huge holes where even mere replacement level would have been sufficient. The Hall-of-Famers on that club should have sued management for malpractice. OTOH, I was rooting for the Koufax/Drysdale Ddogers in those days, so I was OK with it.

no statistician but

10 years ago

It’s good to see Wally Schang get a little recognition. Although well-known to anyone with an interest in the development of the game, I suspect that those without such interest have never heard of him. Well—he was a great player, even by modern measure, garnering 45.0 WAR in a career that lasted 19 years but, because of the practice of the time of resting catchers a lot, included only 1251 games started and only 6431 PAs. He was the frontline backstop on 6 WS teams, and caught the Yankees’ first 19 WS games. He took part in three dynasties: The… Read more »

Richard Chester

10 years ago

Reply to no statistician but

Supposedly he was the first player to hit HR in a game (since 1901) both left-handed and right-handed.

Richard Chester

10 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

And he holds the record for most BB from the #8 position with 80 in 1921.

Doug

10 years ago

Reply to no statistician but

Schang also is part of a record that has stood for over 80 years, teaming up with Jack Quinn on July 8, 1930 to form the oldest-ever battery, a combined 87 years, 327 days. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA193007082.shtml Charlie Hough was a regular in the White Sox rotation in 1991 and 1992 and could have broken the mark with teammate Carlton Fisk. But, Fisk apparently didn’t catch knucklers – the two of them never formed a battery. Schang and brother Bobby (who played only 82 games in his career) were both catchers, and the only brothers among 33 players since 1916 to catch… Read more »

Richard Chester

10 years ago

Reply to Doug

That oldest-ever battery mark was bested in one of those typical end-of-the-season shenanigan games at Washington on 10-4-13. Clark Griffith and Jack Ryan combined for 88 years and 276 days. They played as a battery for one inning. The way I see it, it doesn’t count.

Doug

10 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

I see it the same way, Richard.

I was ignoring that one. Basically, it was the owner/manager and a coach on the team suiting up for a lark on the last day of the season.

e pluribus munu

10 years ago

Reply to Doug

Consult with the rest of us before you take Eddie Gaedel out of the record book too!

Editor

Doug

10 years ago

Some interesting batting lines for the Angels in Tuesday’s ambush of the Blue Jays. Mark Trumbo had just the 20th searchable 5 for 5 game with 5 runs scored, and the first by an Angel. With 3 doubles and a homer, it was also the 20th searchable 9-inning game with those extra-base hits among 5 hits or more, and again the first by an Angel. The Angels’ 1 and 2 hitters were a combined 1 for 12, another Angel first in a 9-inning game (think about it – a team isn’t likely to get 6 AB in a 9-inning game… Read more »

10 years ago

Reply to Doug

Only a triple 5 for Mr. Trumbo??? Check out this game by Bibb Falk – 5 for 5 with 5 runs AND 5 RBIs!!! http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE193005110.shtml Four others – Steve Garvey, Larry Parrish, Al Simmons and Earl Sheely have done the same but Falk is the only one to do it without the benefit of a homerun. Oddly, Garvey and Parrish both did it in 1977 and Falk and Simmons both did it in 1930. Odder still, both Garvey and Parrish did it against the Cardinals and both times Bob Forsch was the starting pitcher. And when Sheely became the first… Read more »

Fireworks

10 years ago

Jim Bouldin: striking out infrequently was lots easier back then due to the nature of the game in earlier eras.

oneblankspace

10 years ago

On Big Mac’s 69 HR out of the 3-hole in 1998: The other one was in one game where he appeared as a pinch-hitter.