Quiz – Potpourri (solved)

26 Replies

Interesting group of different kinds of players. That’s the attraction of this quiz.

But this ballplayer potpourri are the only players with a season since 1901 with a particular batting accomplishment. What is this unusual exploit?

Rk Player
1 Nap Lajoie
2 Paul Waner
3 Ichiro Suzuki
4 Lou Brock
5 Zack Wheat
6 Phil Rizzuto
7 Curtis Granderson
8 Heinie Manush
9 Pepper Martin
10 Lonnie Smith
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/15/2014.

Congratulations to Artie Z! He correctly identified these players as having the only seasons since 1901 with 120 runs scored and matching triple and HR totals. For whatever reason, having a season with those two totals matching seems to be strongly correlated with going to the HOF. More on this curious quirk after the jump.

This analysis isn’t. Just some fun with numbers. 🙂

Here are the top HR=3B seasons (i.e. the highest matching totals). Half were turned in by HOFers.

Rk Player HR OPS+ 3B Year Age Tm G PA R H 2B RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG Pos
1 Curtis Granderson 23 135 23 2007 26 DET 158 676 122 185 38 74 52 141 .302 .361 .552 *8/H7
2 Frank Schulte 21 157 21 1911 28 CHC 154 687 105 173 30 107 76 71 .300 .384 .534 *9
3 Ryne Sandberg 19 140 19 1984 24 CHC 156 700 114 200 36 84 52 101 .314 .367 .520 *4
4 Joe Medwick 18 123 18 1934 22 STL 149 646 110 198 40 106 21 83 .319 .343 .529 *7/9
5 Sam Crawford 16 167 16 1901 21 CIN 131 559 91 170 20 104 37 45 .330 .378 .524 *9/7
6 Carl Crawford 15 112 15 2005 23 TBD 156 687 101 194 33 81 27 84 .301 .331 .469 *7/8HD
7 Paul Waner 15 133 15 1929 26 PIT 151 704 131 200 43 100 89 24 .336 .424 .534 *9/3H
8 Donn Clendenon 14 129 14 1965 29 PIT 162 676 89 184 32 96 48 128 .301 .351 .467 *3/H5
9 Heinie Manush 14 134 14 1932 30 WSH 149 677 121 214 41 116 36 29 .342 .383 .520 *7/H
10 Zack Wheat 14 142 14 1925 37 BRO 150 671 125 221 42 103 45 22 .359 .403 .541 *7/H
11 Heinie Zimmerman 14 169 14 1912 25 CHC 145 619 95 207 41 99 38 60 .372 .418 .571 *53
12 Nap Lajoie 14 198 14 1901 26 PHA 131 582 145 232 48 125 24 9 .426 .463 .643 *46
13 Enos Slaughter 13 144 13 1949 33 STL 151 655 92 191 34 96 79 37 .336 .418 .511 *7/H
14 Gus Suhr 13 115 13 1934 28 PIT 151 650 67 162 36 103 66 52 .283 .360 .459 *3
15 George Watkins 13 112 13 1931 31 STL 131 541 93 145 30 51 31 66 .288 .336 .477 *9/8H
16 Freddy Leach 13 103 13 1930 32 NYG 126 581 90 178 19 71 22 25 .327 .361 .482 *7/H
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/16/2014.

HOFers (since 1901) to do this in a qualifying season more than once:

Rk Yrs From To Age
1 Paul Waner 4 1929 1942 26-39 Ind. Seasons
2 Ozzie Smith 3 1990 1994 35-39 Ind. Seasons
3 Eddie Collins 3 1918 1925 31-38 Ind. Seasons
4 Robin Yount 2 1977 1978 21-22 Ind. Seasons
5 Luis Aparicio 2 1968 1969 34-35 Ind. Seasons
6 Brooks Robinson 2 1958 1961 21-24 Ind. Seasons
7 Enos Slaughter 2 1948 1949 32-33 Ind. Seasons
8 Red Schoendienst 2 1948 1952 25-29 Ind. Seasons
9 Billy Herman 2 1942 1943 32-33 Ind. Seasons
10 Joe Medwick 2 1934 1942 22-30 Ind. Seasons
11 Jim Bottomley 2 1934 1935 34-35 Ind. Seasons
12 Heinie Manush 2 1932 1934 30-32 Ind. Seasons
13 Zack Wheat 2 1914 1925 26-37 Ind. Seasons
14 George Davis 2 1901 1905 30-34 Ind. Seasons
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/16/2014.

26 thoughts on “Quiz – Potpourri (solved)”

  2. Lawrence Azrin

    es it have to do with a ratio of runs scored to another stat? They all scored at least 120 runs in a season at least once (Waner did it 3 times).

    Reply ↓
        1. Doug Post author

          Bingo.

          Well done, Artie Z.

          Don’t know what it is about matching triple and HR totals, but seems to be a disproportionate number of HOFers in the list. Even taking away the 120 run requirement, 8 of the top 16 HR=3B seasons are by HOFers.

          Rk Player HR 3B Year Age Tm G PA R H 2B RBI BA OBP SLG OPS
          1 Curtis Granderson 23 23 2007 26 DET 158 676 122 185 38 74 .302 .361 .552 .913
          2 Frank Schulte 21 21 1911 28 CHC 154 687 105 173 30 107 .300 .384 .534 .918
          3 Ryne Sandberg 19 19 1984 24 CHC 156 700 114 200 36 84 .314 .367 .520 .887
          4 Joe Medwick 18 18 1934 22 STL 149 646 110 198 40 106 .319 .343 .529 .872
          5 Sam Crawford 16 16 1901 21 CIN 131 559 91 170 20 104 .330 .378 .524 .903
          6 Carl Crawford 15 15 2005 23 TBD 156 687 101 194 33 81 .301 .331 .469 .800
          7 Paul Waner 15 15 1929 26 PIT 151 704 131 200 43 100 .336 .424 .534 .958
          8 Donn Clendenon 14 14 1965 29 PIT 162 676 89 184 32 96 .301 .351 .467 .818
          9 Heinie Manush 14 14 1932 30 WSH 149 677 121 214 41 116 .342 .383 .520 .903
          10 Zack Wheat 14 14 1925 37 BRO 150 671 125 221 42 103 .359 .403 .541 .944
          11 Heinie Zimmerman 14 14 1912 25 CHC 145 619 95 207 41 99 .372 .418 .571 .989
          12 Nap Lajoie 14 14 1901 26 PHA 131 582 145 232 48 125 .426 .463 .643 1.106
          13 Enos Slaughter 13 13 1949 33 STL 151 655 92 191 34 96 .336 .418 .511 .929
          14 Gus Suhr 13 13 1934 28 PIT 151 650 67 162 36 103 .283 .360 .459 .819
          15 George Watkins 13 13 1931 31 STL 131 541 93 145 30 51 .288 .336 .477 .813
          16 Freddy Leach 13 13 1930 32 NYG 126 581 90 178 19 71 .327 .361 .482 .843
          Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
          Generated 1/16/2014.
          Reply ↓
      2. Lawrence Azrin

        @8/Doug,

        That 1901 Nap Lajoie season looks totally freakin’ awesome, like one of the very greatest seasons ever. But by WAR, it’s not even as good as his 1910 (9.8 to 8.4). I don’t understand – every individual component of WAR looks better in 1901 than 1910.

        So what happened – did Nap’s 1901 WAR get reduced for ‘lesser strength of league’, since 1901 was the 1st year of the AL, and it might be called an expansion year, like 1961/62 or 1969?

        Reply ↓
        1. Doug

          I think that’s it. Here are AL R/G (per team):
          1901 – 5.35
          1902 – 4.89
          1903 – 4.10
          1904 – 3.54

          After that, it stabilized in the mid-3’s.

          Must have been some fun ball to watch that first year.

          Lajoie, who had jumped cross-town from the Phillies to the As, played just that one year for Mack. He was declared a free agent the following season and went to Cleveland. Wound up back with the As as a 40 year-old, playing two seasons to close out his career, with the As going 79-226 (Gene Woodling suffered a similar misfortune closing out his career, with the expansion Senators and expansion Mets in 1961-62, teams with a combined record of 101-220).

          Reply ↓
          1. wx

            As I recall, Lajoie had to leave the A’s because he had broken his contract with the Phillies and wasn’t allowed to play in Pa. for anyone but them. So Lajoie had to skip all of Cleveland’s away games against the A’s

          2. Lawrence Azrin

            @11/Doug,

            The ‘Dead Ball Era’ is usually defined as 1901-1919. However, look at MLB R/G averages over these years:

            1900 – 5.21
            1901 – 4.99
            1902 – 4.43
            1903 – 4.44
            ………..
            1904 – 3.72
            1905 – 3.89
            1906 – 3.61
            1907 – 3.52
            1908 – 3.38 (low point)

            Scoring didn’t fall substantially below the historical average of 4.42 R/G until 1904, so _perhaps_ the DBE should be defined as 1904-1919 instead.

            Causes? Foul balls with less than two strikes were called strikes in the NL in 1901, but not till 1903 in the AL. More importantly, the spitball was introduced to MLB by Elmer Strickland in 1904, then used with great success by Jack Chesbro and then Big Ed Walsh, and used by many pitchers till it was outlawed (with users ‘grandfathered’ in) in 1920.

            It’s impossible to know, since everyone around MLB then is long gone, but I also think a lot of the mindset changed from a combination of ‘small ball’ and slugging, to an emphasis almost entirely on ‘inside baseball’ – place-hitting, sacrificing, using the hit-and-run and basestealing to advance baserunners, instead of power-hitting.

    1. Richard Chester

      Since 1901 there have been 26 players, including Smith, who have scored 120+ runs in their only year of 100+ runs scored.

      Here are the top 6:
      Nap Lajoie, 145
      Ellis Burks, 142
      Jesse Burkett, 142
      Roger Maris, 132
      Rocky Colavito, 129
      Rod Carew, 128

      Reply ↓
      3. Richard Chester

        I made a similar run for players with 120+ RBI in their only year of 100+ RBI. There are 23 such players. The top 6 are:

        Tommy Davis, 153
        Walt Dropo, 144
        Jim Gentile, 141
        Don Baylor, 139
        Ed Morgan, 136
        Hal McRae, 133

        Davis’ second best in RBI is 89, a differential of 64 RBI. I believe the record for the greatest such difference is 83 by ALer Jake Jones (96 RBI and 13 RBI).

        Reply ↓
    2. Doug Post author

      Lonnie also had only one 20 HR season (in 1989 when he led the NL in OBP and WAR), but no other season with 10 home runs.

      In 1982, Smith led the NL in R, CS and HBP. Wonder if anyone else has done that.

      Has any other player appeared in the World Series for 4 different teams, or with 3 different WS winners?

      Reply ↓
      1. Lawrence Azrin

        @17/Doug,

        In 1915 Ty Cobb led in runs (144), CS (38), and was 3rd in HBP (10). Lou Brock and Rickey Henderson twice led in runs and CD.

        Kenny Lofton was in the playoffs with six different teams, Rickey Henderson five.

        The B-R P-I was not used for the above.

        Reply ↓
      3. Doug Post author

        Lonnie and 10 others (retired players since 1901) have one 20 HR season and no other 10 HR seasons. The others are:

        Rk
        1 Wally Moses
        2 Roy Smalley
        3 Ken Hunt
        4 Chico Fernandez
        5 Walt Bond
        6 Sam Bowens
        7 Bert Campaneris
        8 Joe Charboneau
        9 Bobby Crosby
        10 Orestes Destrade
        Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
        Generated 1/17/2014.

         
        Can probably add Josh Fields to the list. He’s 31 and hasn’t played in the majors since 2010, and hasn’t had 300 PA since 2007.

        Reply ↓
      4. Doug Post author

        Stuffy McInnis and Wally Schang have also appeared on 3 different WS winning teams.

        Fred Merkle and Terry Pendleton both appeared in 5 World Series but never on the winning team.

        Reply ↓
        1. Richard Chester

          Has anyone mentioned that Jack Morris appeared for 3 different winning WS teams; DET 1984, MIN 1991 and TOR 1992?

          Reply ↓
  4. Richard Chester

    Granderson and Schulte had their 3B = HR seasons when they also had more than 20 doubles. That made them only 2 of 7 players with more than 20 doubles, triples and homers in a season. The other 5 are Willie Mays, Jim Bottomley, Jimmy Rollins, Jeff Heath and George Brett.

    Reply ↓
    1. HowardR

      In 1899 Buck Freeman became the only player to hit 25 triples and homers in the same season. He missed your list by one double.

      Reply ↓
      1. Doug Post author

        Excepting Ned Williamson’s heavily asterisked 27 HR in 1884, those 25 HR were the major league record until Babe Ruth hit 29 in 1919, and the NL record until Rogers Hornsby his 42 in 1922.

        Reply ↓
        1. oneblankspace

          Williamson… what was it, 184 down the line? Six of the top seven (and 7 of the top 10) in NL HR in 1884 played for the White Stockings.

          Reply ↓
  5. PaulE

    I recall when Smith was approaching 70 SB and 70 RBI in 1982, there was talk it hadn’t been done in a long time. Another nice job by the Phillies front office in trading away a guy who immediately becomes an MVP candidate. Phillies probably would have won the division if they hadn’t traded Smith?

    In another note, supposedly Wally Moses could still hit the ball 350 feet as an older hitting instructor (age 55?).

    Reply ↓
    1. Doug Post author

      Those 70/70 seasons are pretty unusual, tightly bunched in two clumps separated by (appropriately enough) 70 years. 10 such seasons since 1901, 6 of them from 1909 to 1915, and the other 4 from 1983 to 1986.

      Rk Player SB RBI Year ▴ Age Tm G PA R H 2B 3B HR BB SO CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
      1 Ty Cobb 76 107 1909 22 DET 156 651 116 216 33 10 9 48 45 .377 .431 .517 .947 *9
      2 Eddie Collins 81 81 1910 23 PHA 153 658 81 188 16 15 3 49 41 .324 .382 .418 .800 *4
      3 Ty Cobb 83 127 1911 24 DET 146 654 147 248 47 24 8 44 43 .420 .467 .621 1.088 *8
      4 Clyde Milan 88 79 1912 25 WSH 154 674 105 184 19 11 1 63 31 31 .306 .377 .379 .756 *8
      5 Benny Kauff 75 95 1914 24 IND 154 667 120 211 44 13 8 72 55 .370 .447 .534 .981 987
      6 Ty Cobb 96 99 1915 28 DET 156 700 144 208 31 13 3 118 43 38 .369 .486 .487 .973 *8
      7 Tim Raines 90 71 1983 23 MON 156 720 133 183 32 8 11 97 70 14 .298 .393 .429 .822 *7/48H9
      8 Rickey Henderson 80 72 1985 26 NYY 143 654 146 172 28 5 24 99 65 10 .314 .419 .516 .934 *8/7HD
      9 Eric Davis 80 71 1986 24 CIN 132 487 97 115 15 3 27 68 100 11 .277 .378 .523 .901 *7*8H9
      10 Rickey Henderson 87 74 1986 27 NYY 153 701 130 160 31 5 28 89 81 18 .263 .358 .469 .827 *87/DH
      Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
      Generated 1/19/2014.
      Reply ↓

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