What career feat distinguishes these sluggers from among all players to play their entire careers since 1901?
| Rk | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Miguel Tejada |
| 2 | Lou Gehrig |
| 3 | Carlos Delgado |
| 4 | Albert Pujols |
| 5 | Mark Teixeira |
| 6 | Jeff Bagwell |
| 7 | Todd Helton |
| 8 | Albert Belle |
| 9 | Ted Williams |
| 10 | Ryan Braun |
Congratulations to David P and Insert Name Here! They teamed up to identify that only these quiz players have had 5 consecutive seasons since 1901 (excluding seasons lost entirely to military service, in the case of Ted Williams) with 25 home runs, 30 doubles and 100 RBI, while playing at the same primary position (at least 50% of games) in each of those seasons.
More on these most consistent sluggers after the jump.
Here are those streaks, led by Lou Gehrig’s 8 seasons, including 6 first basemen, 3 left-fielders and one shortstop.
| Rk | Yrs | From | To | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lou Gehrig | 8 | 1927 | 1934 | 24-31 | Ind. Seasons |
| 2 | Albert Pujols | 7 | 2004 | 2010 | 24-30 | Ind. Seasons |
| 3 | Mark Teixeira | 7 | 2004 | 2010 | 24-30 | Ind. Seasons |
| 4 | Carlos Delgado | 6 | 1998 | 2003 | 26-31 | Ind. Seasons |
| 5 | Jeff Bagwell | 6 | 1996 | 2001 | 28-33 | Ind. Seasons |
| 6 | Albert Belle | 6 | 1993 | 1998 | 26-31 | Ind. Seasons |
| 7 | Ted Williams | 6 | 1941 | 1949 | 22-30 | Ind. Seasons |
| 8 | Ryan Braun | 5 | 2008 | 2012 | 24-28 | Ind. Seasons |
| 9 | Miguel Tejada | 5 | 2000 | 2004 | 26-30 | Ind. Seasons |
| 10 | Todd Helton | 5 | 1999 | 2003 | 25-29 | Ind. Seasons |
These players also had 5+ season streaks of 25/30/100, without the requirement of playing at the same primary position throughout.
| Rk | Yrs | From | To | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miguel Cabrera | 9 | 2004 | 2012 | 21-29 | Ind. Seasons |
| 2 | Manny Ramirez | 8 | 1998 | 2005 | 26-33 | Ind. Seasons |
| 3 | Chipper Jones | 5 | 1999 | 2003 | 27-31 | Ind. Seasons |
| 4 | Stan Musial | 5 | 1953 | 1957 | 32-36 | Ind. Seasons |
| 5 | Chuck Klein | 5 | 1929 | 1933 | 24-28 | Ind. Seasons |
All time slugging percentage of the above list:
354
3
28
7
55
34
36
14
2
Braun is currently 15th
Clearly a feat accomplished by a slugger. Maybe it would help to compare Tejada and Braun? Braun is the active guy who probably had the feat noted creating the quiz and Tejada is by far the weakest hitter on that list. But a slugging feat that was not accomplished by Ruth or Bonds? I got nothing.
Hint: this is a feat accomplished in the course of a career, but NOT over an entire career. Ergo, more than a season, less than a full career.
Well, looking at doubles over a couple years screens out a couple of big power guys (Ruth, Bonds) but it leaves off guys like Kent and Cano who pounded doubles year in and year out. Tex did manage 160 doubles in 4 years when he was younger but that’s hardly unprecedented.
Kent and Cano never managed to line up their 160 doubles in 4 years with 400 runs and 400 RBI’s. Am I close?
If it’s doubles related, you’re going to need something to screen out Joe Medwick. From 1935-1938, he had 458 runs, 540 RBI, and an astounding 213 doubles!
How about something like:
Five or more consecutive seasons with
100+ RBIs
25+ Home Runs
30+ Doubles
I “think” they all meet those criteria. Not sure if anyone else does.
One more wrinkle, David.
There are a few more besides our quiz players who have accomplished your trifecta.
5 years totaling 500 runs, 500 RBI’s, 190 doubles and 150 HR’s
Medwick’s best 5 year stretch is 111 HR. Kent is 4HR and 20 R short, Cano 4 R and 8 HR short (2008-2013 what a beast).
Tex has exactly 500 R in his best 5 year stretch so that’s why I think it’s 5 year total. Tejada clubbed 152 HR in his prime doubles years so 150 seems right on that. May have to tweak the doubles line from 175, not sure exactly where the cutoff is needed. Tex had 194 in those years, braun 197, tejada 193, Delgado 199. The others have 5 year peaks that will make your eyes bleed.
Gotta be pretty high doubles cap. Barry has 168 89-93 (and 3 MVPs). Ruth has 183 19-23. Williams only has 184 in consecutive years but 194 if you take his last year before WWII and his 4 years after. So I guess maybe the doubles cutoff is 184?
The Machine produced this feat not just multiple times but any 5 year window you look at in the first 11 of his career. Pujol’s dominance just barely misses these marks when looking 09-13 (478R, 182 2B) keeping in mind he only played 99 games in 2013! He not only did it, he did it in completely independent chunks multiple times in his career.
Does it have to do anything with an age bracket, such as 24-28?
Extra wrinkle is not about Age
This feels like a Purloined Letter deal. But I may be too feverish to think or speak clearly.
Sorry you’re feeling under the weather, John.
Take care.
I’ll try 4 consecutive seasons of 25+ HR, 30+ 2B, 100+ RBI and 100+ R.
Tejada only had 98 runs in 2003. He averaged 100+ over those years but didn’t sustain it every year. A lot of the guys have single year slight drops in one category or another.
Thinking this out further Doug probably extracted the data from the PI. I don’t believe consecutive season stats can be retrieved from the PI unless he used something like “from a player’s 3rd through 7th seasons”.
Not related to Runs.
I extracted the data from P-I, but manually checked whether matching seasons constituted a streak of 5 or more consecutive seasons.
5 consecutive seasons of 140+ games played and David P’s criteria (100+ RBIs, 25+ HRs, 30+ 2Bs) applies to all of these guys but Teixeira, and probably wouldn’t eliminate the “few more” players Doug mentioned @7.
5 consecutive seasons of David P’s criteria while playing only one position in the field applies to all of these guys but Gehrig (unless you don’t count the one time he played LF in 1930 and the one time he played RF in 1931).
Bah… this is hard. Will continue trying though.
You have it, INH. Good going.
It’s David P’s criteria, while playing at the same primary position in each season of the streak.
You can add Chipper Jones (1999-2003) to the second list.
Thanks Richard.
Done.
Damn! I was so close to figuring this out, but I never considered the position requirement. Musial threw me off, because I knew he did it too.