One Season Wonders or One of These Things is not Like the Others |

Most players can point to one season in their careers as their “career year”, when everything clicked, most of their luck was good, and their stat line was clearly head and shoulders above every other season of their careers. For this post, I’ll be identifying the most exceptional career years, with the largest improvement over the second best season in a number of offensive categories. And, everyone is eligible, as I’ll be looking at those career years for very short and very long careers, and for all the careers in between. More after the jump.

For this exercise, I’ve looked at the careers of all retired players going back to 1871. As much of 19th century baseball was experimental and played under changeable and evolving rules, with conditions quite different from the modern era of major league baseball, I’ve chosen to consider 19th century players separately from those of the modern era (since 1901). For players whose careers straddled that dividing line, any identified exceptional seasons will be shown for the era of that season, even if the second best season against which it was judged fell in the other era. For example, Bobby Wallace had his career best year for triples in 1897, but his second best year was in 1901. So, if that 1897 season was one of the most exceptional seasons for triples, it would be shown under the 19th century. Conversely, Wallace’s best year for hits was in 1901, with his second best season in 1897. So, if that 1901 season was one of the most exceptional seasons for hits, it would be shown under the Modern Era.

For this post, I’ve made use of the Lahman database, compiled annually by Sean Lahman. This database has basic statistical information for all major leagues for every season from 1871 to 2024, as shown in the chart below.

While all baseball fans will be familiar with the American and National leagues, which have been the only major leagues for more than 100 years, a number of other short-lived leagues arose to challenge the National league in the 19th century (orange area of chart), and to challenge both the AL and NL since then (green area). The National Association (NA) operated from 1871 to 1875 as a loose-knit collection of clubs, but lacked a central authority to establish and enforce rules and standards. The National League was established in 1876 to address those deficiencies, incorporating six of the franchises from the NA, plus two new ones. The American Association (AA) operated from 1882 to 1891, with four teams from its final season absorbed into the National League in 1892. The Union Association and Players League each operated for just a single season, in 1884 and 1890 respectively. The American League is the only successful challenger to the National League; as such, its 1901 inception has come to be regarded as the beginning of major league baseball’s modern era. Finally, the Federal League operated in 1914 and 1915.

The methodology I’ve employed for this analysis is to identify the best and second best seasons for every player for a variety of offensive categories. The players with the largest difference between those two seasons are identified as having the most exceptional seasons for a category, the descriptor “exceptional” denoting the largest difference or greatest exception from all other seasons. The results are illustrated in a chart like the one below, showing the most exceptional strikeout seasons of the modern era.

The first column shows career length measured in seasons, and the second is the most exceptional season for strikeouts among players with that career length. Thus, among players with careers of 20 or more seasons, Rusty Staub has the largest difference in strikeouts (32) compared to his next highest season total, and similarly for Bucky Walters for careers of 19 seasons or more. Where table rows have been grouped, the top row in the group identifies the player’s career length, and the bottom row identifies the range of career lengths for which his exceptional season applies. Thus Danny Walton had a 9 season career, but his exceptional season in 1970 shows the largest difference (97) over his second highest total among all players with careers of 5 or more seasons. So as not to be left out, players with the highest total in a one season career are shown in the bottom row.

The seasons in the top half of the table will tend to be exceptional for standing out among many complete seasons for established players. The seasons in the bottom half of the table are more likely to be exceptional as one of a small number of complete seasons or even the only such season, and the players identified more likely to be characterized on a spectrum ranging from “one season anomaly” to “one season wonder”.

I’ve tried to find something interesting to say about all of the players identified in these tables, and have done so for most of them. As you’ll see, the same players and seasons will show up for multiple metrics, but I’ve only done a blurb once for each player.

So, without further ado, let’s begin our look at the most exceptional seasons of the modern era.

Games

Mike Morgan‘s top season for games came in 2000, with 60 appearances for the D-Backs at age 40. That season places Morgan in a group with Joe Heving, Doug Jones, Hoyt Wilhelm and Kent Tekulve as the only age 40+ pitchers with 100+ IP in a 60+ game season. When he finally retires, Rich Hill, currently with a 31 game difference between his top two seasons, will likely supplant Morgan on this list.
Dick Hall was a successful relief pitcher in the 1960s with a 1.059 WHIP and .584 W-L% over his final twelve seasons, marks that rank 2nd and 3rd among 37 pitchers with 400 appearances from 1960 to 1971. But, before moving to the bullpen, Hall began his career as an outfielder, with his 1954 season for the 112 loss Pirates showing up here in a few categories.
The rest of the list are all players who had just one season with regular or semi-regular playing time, most of whom did little to persuade their teams to give them a second chance. A few notable exceptions are:
- Ike Davis was a 30 year-old rookie shortstop for the White Sox in 1925; his 105 runs and 49.2% scoring rate (Runs / (H + BB + HBP)) rank 1st and 4th in a final qualified modern era season. Don’t know why, but Davis was out of baseball entirely the next two seasons before finishing his pro career with 78 games in the Pacific Coast league in 1928.
- Bobby Vaughn posted solid if unspectacular totals for the 1915 St. Louis Terriers of the Federal League, including a majors-leading 42 sacrifice hits. Don’t know if he was blackballed from returning to the majors, but Vaughn posted similar totals the next two years playing in the Pacific Coast League.
- Sparky Anderson‘s 152 games are the most in any one season career, and put him in a group of six pre-expansion Phillies second baseman with as many games in a season.

Plate Appearances

Elmer Valo posted career bests in WAR and pretty much every counting stat in his 1949 season as the A’s everyday left-fielder. Valo’s 1361 games for the A’s ranks T-3rd with Bing Miller among outfielders. I’ll give the tie-break to Valo as he may have played one more game for the A’s on the final day of the 1939 season. Many years after that game, the official scorer asserted that he removed Valo from the game record at the request of A’s manager and owner Connie Mack. Apparently Mack had neglected to add Valo to the active roster prior to the game, and was fearful of a potentially hefty fine by AL President Will Harridge for using an ineligible player. When the story came out, Mack was no longer alive but, when Valo was asked about it, his only response was “No comment”.
Chick Fullis stroked 200 hits for the 1933 Phillies, the most ever by a player with just one qualified season in his career.
Billy Grabarkewitz‘s 6.5 WAR led all rookies in 1970, but the Dodger infielder failed to garner a single RoY vote. His 95 walks are also notable, as the 8th highest total by a modern era rookie. Despite those successes, Dodger manager Walter Alston didn’t like Billy’s swing and forced him to change it, with predictable unfortunate results. Meanwhile, the legendary 1970s Dodger infield started to take shape, squeezing Grabarkewitz out of the picture with a trade to the Angels following the 1972 season.
Lou Klein also turned in a 6.5 WAR rookie season, for the pennant-winning Cardinals in 1943. Klein missed almost all of the next two seasons to military service, had a slow start to the 1946 campaign, and then played most of the rest of his career in the minors.
Nelson Mathews‘ 1964 season for the A’s is notable for a majors-leading 143 whiffs paired with only 14 home runs, thus posting the first modern era season with 12+ HR and a 10:1 SO to HR ratio. It would be 19 years before the next such season (by 37 year-old Reggie Jackson), but many, many more would follow, including ten such players in 2024, a record total for one season.
Bill Collins led all NL outfielders in fielding percentage as a 28 year-old Braves rookie. But, a slugging percentage under .300 didn’t cut it, even in 1910.
Irv Waldron turned in one of the best single-season careers in the AL’s inaugural 1901 campaign, splitting his time between the Brewers and Senators. After the season, Washington manager and part owner Jim Manning sold his ownership stake in the Senators and bought into the ownership group of the Western League’s Kansas City Blue Stockings, enticing Waldron (and also Kid Nichols) thither for a salary much improved from his major league stipend.

Runs

Rabbit Maranville posted career highs in Runs, Hits, BA, OBP and OPS in 1922, and led the majors in PA and AB (the only black ink on his player page). But, the worst fielding season of his HoF career resulted in a very pedestrian 1.8 WAR. Maranville appeared in two World Series fourteen years apart, posting an identical .308 BA in both series.
Zack Wheat posted career highs in Runs, Hits, XBH and Total Bases as a 37 year-old in 1925. It was his second straight 5+ WAR season and the only such back-to-back seasons of his HoF career.
Tommy Davis led the majors in the 1962 NL expansion year with career bests in Hits, RBI and BA, with his 230 hits and 153 RBI the highest NL totals since Joe Medwick‘s 237 Hits and 154 RBI in 1937. Davis took the batting title again the next season, the only modern era player under 25 to repeat as NL batting champion, and the only such player since Ted Williams to do so in either league.
Ellis Burks turned in an out-of-the-blue career season in 1995, with a whopping total of 7.9 WAR, more than he had compiled over his five prior seasons, and more than he would produce over his next four campaigns. Included were league-leading totals in Runs, SLG and TB, and career bests in those categories plus Hits, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, BA and Stolen Bases.
A move to the Federal League in 1914 was just the tonic Bill McKechnie needed to lead the new circuit in Sacrifice Hits, while turning in career bests in that category plus Runs, Hits, 2B, HR, RBI, TB and all three slash categories.
Al Wingo was a one season wonder for the 1925 Tigers, with 5.4 WAR and a qualified .370 BA, .983 OPS and 151 OPS+. He also shone in the field, ranking 2nd in fielding percentage and 1st in double plays among AL left-fielders.
Wayne Comer walked in 14.2% of his PA in his lone qualified season for the 1969 Pilots. That mark has been eclipsed among Pilot/Brewer center-fielders by only Gorman Thomas (14.7%) in 1979.
Incumbent second baseman Lew Fonseca was the Indians’ opening day starter in 1928. He suffered some sort of injury and was replaced the next day by Carl Lind, who started every game at second the rest of the season (Fonseca returned to the lineup ten days later at first base, his position when he earned MVP honors the following season). The next year, it was Lind who suffered an injury (or possibly an illness) that cost him almost the entire second half of the season; he played only 24 major league games after that. Lind’s 42 doubles in 1928 are a rookie record for second basemen. Quiz: 1. Which second baseman won RoY honors for a season, like Lind’s, with 100+ runs and 40+ XBH?

Hits

Al Simmons posted a career best 253 hits in 1925, a total that is still the 5th highest all time. A majors-leading 392 total bases was also the top mark for his career.
Darin Erstad‘s career year in 2000 produced an Angels franchise record 8.3 WAR, a mark since eclipsed only by Mike Trout.
Miguel Dilone‘s 1980 career year in his only qualified season yielded 180 hits but only 40 RBI, the 22nd live ball era qualified season with .400 slugging and a 4.5:1 Hits to RBI ratio. Only three players since have matched that feat. Quiz: 2. Which player recorded the most such seasons in the live ball era?
Dick Wakefield‘s 200 hits as a rookie for the 1943 Tigers is tied with Chick Fullis (see above) for second most (behind Bill Lamar‘s 202 hits in 1925) among modern era players with just one modern definition qualified season. Wakefield missed half of the 1944 season and all of 1945 to military service, and could never regain his rookie form after that.

Doubles

Jay Johnstone‘s 1976 season produced career bests in WAR, doubles and extra-base hits. His 38 doubles that year remain the most by any Phillie in a non-qualified season.
Enos Slaughter posted a majors-leading 52 doubles in 1939, one of three Cardinals that year with 40 two-baggers. Slaughter has the distinction of being the only player to play against HoFers Waite Hoyt and Willie McCovey.
Art Wilson posted his career year for the 1914 Chicago Chi-Feds of the Federal League (certainly among the worst team nicknames, though arguably still better than the Whales name the team took the next year). Unlike some players, Wilson transitioned easily back to the majors after the Federal League’s demise, though he never approached the success he enjoyed in the upstart circuit. Wilson is one of five players to catch 150 games for the Braves and Giants, a distinction no expansion era catcher can yet claim.
Lee Maye (not to be confused with contemporary Lee May) led the majors with 44 doubles in his lone qualified season in 1964. Maye’s 3 hits, including a home run and 4 RBI, in this game kept the Braves in the thick of the 1959 NL pennant race; Maye is one of 15 Braves players with such a game among the first 50 of a career, but is the only one to do so in the heat of a pennant chase.
Jonathan Lucroy stroked a majors-leading 53 doubles in 2014, a record total for a catcher, and Lucroy’s only season with more than 25 two-baggers. Thirty-four of those doubles were hit in away games, an NL record. Lucroy’s -1.3 WAR in 350+ games over the final 5 seasons of a career is second lowest (to Tony Pena Sr. ) among 69 modern era retired catchers with 15+ WAR through age 30.
Earl Webb‘s 67 doubles for the 1931 Red Sox is the major league single season record. Thirty-nine of those doubles were hit in home games, a franchise record but not a Fenway Park record since Webb’s Red Sox played some of their home games at Braves Field. Quiz: 3. Which player has hit the most doubles in a season at Fenway Park?
Buzz Arlett was a man born 50 years too soon, as his all-hit no-glove play would have made him an ideal designated hitter. In his one major-league season in 1931, the Phillies put him in right field, which in the Baker Bowl was 280 feet down the line and only 300 feet to the power alley. Arlett still managed only a .955 fielding percentage and a range factor a quarter of a chance per game below league average (the low range factor may actually have been a fairly good result as a lot of routine flies in other parks were clanking off the 60 foot high wall in right for singles and doubles). Had Arlett gotten his chance ten years sooner, he might have been an earlier version of Dr. Strangeglove but, at age 32, the Phillies knew it was WYSIWYG. For his minor league career of almost 2400 games, virtually all of them at the then highest AA level, Arlett batted .341 and slugged .604 with 432 home runs and 598 doubles.
Buddy Blair‘s lone season came in 1942 for Connie Mack’s A’s. He spent the next three years in military service. Returning in 1946 at age 35, Blair served for six seasons as a minor league player-manager, mostly for the Vicksburg Billies of the class B Southeastern League.
Al Boucher‘s 26 doubles were paired with a league-leading 42 errors, yielding -2.2 WAR for his lone major league season for the 1914 St. Louis Terriers. Only one player has lower WAR in a one season career, Boucher’s teammate John Misse.

Triples

Willie Mays‘ best triples season was a majors-leading total of 20 in the Giants’ final year at the Polo Grounds. Mays also led the NL that year in SB and WAR, with his 20 triple/30 HR/30 SB season later matched only by Jimmy Rollins in 2007. It was Mays’ second straight 30/30 season, a back-to-back that would not be matched until Mays’ godson Barry Bonds did it in 1995 and 1996.
Kiki Cuyler posted his career best and majors-leading 26 triples in 1925 when he also led the NL in G, PA, R and HBP. Cuyler is the first NL player to post back-to-back-to-back 30 SB seasons for two different franchises, recording that trifecta with the Pirates (1924-26) and Cubs (1928-30). Quiz: 4. Who was the first AL player to do the same?
Ryne Sandberg led the majors with 19 triples in his career best 1984 season, when he also posted league-leading totals in WAR and Runs and claimed the NL MVP Award. Sandberg is the first of three NL second basemen (the others are Jeff Kent and Chase Utley) to post consecutive 25 HR/100 RBI seasons? Quiz: 5. Who was the first AL second baseman to do the same?
Dale Mitchell led the majors in 1949 with 23 triples, while also leading the AL with 203 hits. Since then, only George Brett (1979), Lance Johnson (1996) and Jimmy Rollins (2007) have posted 200 hit/20 triple seasons.
Owen Wilson‘s 36 triples in 1912 is the all time record and ten clear of the second best modern era season by Sam Crawford, the all time leader in career 3-baggers. Wilson and Crawford faced each other in the 1909 World Series, with both playing all 7 games, but the only triple in the series was legged out by 35 year-old Honus Wagner, the 3rd ranked player in all time career triples.

Home Runs

Barry Bonds‘ 73 home runs in 2001 is the all time single season record, and Bonds’ only 50 HR season. Bonds, Hank Aaron and Albert Pujols are the only players with career totals of 600+ HR and 600+ doubles, but all three exceeded 700 of the former.
Luis Gonzalez‘s career best 57 home runs also came in the 2001 season, playing for the world champion Diamondbacks. Gonzalez and Shohei Ohtani (2024) are the only players to post a 35 double/50 HR season for a World Series winning team. Quiz: 6. Which player was the first to post those totals for a World Series losing team?
Brady Anderson‘s 50 home runs in the 1996 season are more than twice as many as his next best total. Anderson led his league in HBP that season, posting the first ever 50 HR/20 HBP season, a feat since matched by Alex Rodriguez and Pete Alonso. Until Shohei Ohtani’s 50 HR/50 SB season in 2024, Anderson was the only player to have both a 20 HR/50 SB season and a 50 HR/20 SB season.

Extra-Base Hits

Sandy Alomar Jr.‘s big year in 1997 was his only 30 double season and also his only 20 HR campaign. Alomar is the only expansion era player to catch 900+ games for the Indians/Guardians.
Before moving to the mound with the Phillies, Bucky Walters was a third baseman. His best season in that role came in 1934 with 39 extra-base hits and career bests in pretty much every counting stat. As an All-Star pitcher, Walters continued to provide value at the plate, averaging 2.6 offensive WAR per 162 games from 1935 to the end of his career.
Stan Lopata‘s big year came in his only qualified season (modern definition) in 1956 and was his only time reaching 30 doubles or 30 home runs. For his Phillies career, Lopata leads all catchers (min. 2500 PA) with .459 SLG and ranks second in OPS to Virgil Davis.
Jacoby Ellsbury‘s career year came in 2011 with majors leading totals in WAR and total bases. Ellbury’s 241 stolen bases for the Red Sox ranks 3rd in franchise history and is the top figure for Red Sox players in the live ball era.
Adam Comorosky‘s 82 extra-base hits in 1930 are the most by an NL player in a season with fewer than 15 HR. Comorosky’s league-leading 23 triples that year are the most by a player in a season with twice as many doubles as triples.
Jason Lane‘s career year came in his only qualified season in 2005, as Lane became the first Astro to reach 25 home runs in a season with fewer walks than doubles.
Ken Hunt‘s career year in 1961 with the expansion Angels was his only qualified season and only season over 200 PA. Hunt’s 25 home runs that season was the Angel franchise record for center-fielders until Jim Edmonds hit 33 HR in 1995.

Runs Batted In

Luke Appling‘s 128 RBI in 1936 are the most all time in a season with Isolated Power of .120 or less. Appling’s league-leading .388 BA that year is a White Sox franchise record.
Jake Jones‘ 96 RBI in 1947 is a modern era record for a season with SLG under .400 and fewer than 140 hits. Quiz: 7. Which player recently tied that record?

Runners Driven In (RBI – HR)

Jeffrey Hammonds‘ best RDI season came in 2000 in his only season as a Rockie. His 106 RBI that year is a Colorado franchise record for a season with fewer than 50 extra-base hits.
Bill Brubaker was groomed to be the successor to Pie Traynor as the Pirates’ everyday third baseman, but he never lived up to those lofty expectations. Brubaker’s 1936 season featured 102 RBI and only 6 HR. That is the highest RBI total in a season with 5+ HR and a 15:1 Strikeout to HR ratio.

Total Bases

Gabby Hartnett‘s career year came in 1930, baseball’s top offensive season of the modern era, with the HoF catcher posting career bests in H, R, HR, RBI, XBH and TB. Hartnett leads all pre-expansion catchers, and ranks 5th among all modern era catchers, in career WAR comprised of at least 20% dWAR.
Rich Aurilia posted career highs in 2001 in every offensive counting and rate stat save for walks, strikeouts and stolen bases. Aurilia’s 6.7 WAR, 114 runs, 206 hits, 37 doubles, 37 HR, 79 XBH, 364 TB, 97 RBI, .324 BA, .572 SLG, .941 OPS and 146 OPS+ are all the best results for any expansion era Giant shortstop.
Charlie Hanford was a 32 year-old rookie for the 1914 Buffalo Buffeds, and led the team in WAR, H, R, 2B, 3B, HR, XBH, TB, RBI and SB. Hanford is one of three modern era players with a 35 SB, 90 RBI rookie season, all of them in the 1914 Federal League.

Times on Base (H + BB + HBP)

Jim Hickman‘s career year didn’t come until age 33 playing for the 1970 Cubs, with career highs in every offensive counting and rate stat except 3B, SB and HBP. Hickman played 74 games at 1B and 79 games in the outfield that year, the only season in Cubs franchise history with 70+ games in both roles, and one of only 23 such modern era campaigns. For his career Hickman played 300+ games at 1B, CF and RF, one of only six such modern era players.
After six seasons stuck behind Dave Concepcion in Cincinnati, a trade to the Braves after the 1975 season finally gave Darrel Chaney his first chance at everyday play. Unhappily for Chaney, his only black ink for his 1976 career year was for leading the majors in errors, as he posted negative WAR with negative Rbat, Rfld and Rbaser. If there is any consolation for Chaney, he was better than Marty Perez (1971-73) and Larvell Blanks (1975), and no worse than Craig Robinson (1974), the everyday shortstops who had preceded Chaney in Atlanta. He was also much better than Pat Rockett (with whom Chaney split time in 1977 and 1978), and better than Pepe Frias (1979) and Luis Gomez (1980), the everyday Braves shortstops who followed Chaney. So, damning him with the faintest of praise, you could make a case that Chaney was the top Brave shortstop of 1970s decade! Hey, maybe being a backup on the Big Red Machine wasn’t such a bad job after all.

Scoring Efficiency (R / TOB)

As Scoring Efficiency is a rate stat, only qualified seasons are considered for this metric. And, since we’re not looking for batting champions, I’ve lowered the qualifying standard down to 250 PA. That corresponds to 40% to 50% (or more) of a team’s games, which seems like enough to be considered a semi-regular player and enough for a season’s results to not be too badly distorted by good or bad luck. I’ll be using the same qualifying standard in the other rate metrics that we’ll look at below.

For Scoring Efficiency and for the rate stats that will follow, the seasons in the tables denote qualified seasons, or number of 250+ PA seasons. The single season row is for players with one season careers with a minimum 250 PA, while the new bottom row denoted “1 Qualified” is for players with multiple season careers, but with 250+ PA in exactly one of those seasons.

His career year wouldn’t come until 1982, but 1980 was Robin Yount‘s second best year in WAR, Runs, XBH and TB and his best year in scoring efficiency, with a 0.56 rate. That is also the highest scoring rate in any qualified (for batting title) full-length expansion era season, with only Corbin Carroll (2024) and Jim Edmonds (1995) also topping 0.55.
Shano Collins‘ 0.535 scoring rate in 1917 was 11th highest in 250 PA seasons in the deadball era (1901-19); among the 20 highest scoring rate seasons of that era, Collins’s is the only one to come after 1914. Collins, never implicated in the Black Sox scandal, is one of ten players with 900 outfield games for the White Sox, a group that include two of Collins’s teammates.
Dixie Walker‘s top scoring rate season was a 0.581 rate as a rookie with the 1933 Yankees. His second best season came in his only qualified (for batting title) AL season for the 1937 White Sox. Walker’s 36.4 WAR from 1940 to 1949 is the fifth highest NL total for the decade, and includes 33.2 WAR aged 30+, the decade’s highest such NL total.
Ed Romero posted his top run scoring season in 1986, with a 0.594 rate. Romero’s -5.2 career WAR is the 9th lowest total of the modern era in a 2000+ PA career.
Brett Phillips‘ lone 250 PA season in 2021 included 50 runs scored and 44 RBI in only 292 PA. But, it also included 113 K’s to go with 33 walks and 13 HR, yielding a very unhealthy 0.548 TTO rate (never good when 70% of a TTO score is for strikeouts). Phillips’ walk-off RBI single for the Rays in game 4 of the 2020 World Series yielded 0.825 WPA, the 5th highest WPA game score in World Series history.

Batting Average

George Brett tops this list with his memorable pursuit of .400 in 1980. Brett barely qualified for the batting title after missing a month to injury. Returning to the lineup after the All-Star break, Brett slashed .421/.482/.696 the rest of the season, at the time the best expansion era BA in 200+ second half PA. Quiz: 8. Which player holds that record today?
While Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris chased Babe Ruth’s record 60 home runs, Norm Cash ran away with the 1961 AL batting title in the first season in which he qualified for that award. Cash posted career bests in pretty much every counting and rate stat, mostly by wide margins, and even led the league in IBB, ahead of the two fearsome Yankee sluggers. Cash’s season of 115+ runs, walks and RBI is one of only two by a Tiger, the other belonging to Hank Greenberg. Quiz: 9. Besides Cash, which other retired live ball era player recorded a 9 WAR season, but had no other 6 WAR seasons?
Red Dooin posted only one modern definition qualified season, but had four other seasons with 250+ PA, including his 1911 season with a career best .328 BA. Dooin’s 1125 games caught was the Phillies franchise record for 92 years, until surpassed (barely) by Mike Lieberthal.
Don Padgett also posted only one modern definition qualified season, but had four other seasons with 250+ PA, including his 1939 season with a career best .399 BA. After being used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter for the first two months of that season, Padgett and Mickey Owen formed a Cardinal catcher platoon the rest of the way. As Owen batted only .259, it’s a bit surprising that Padgett, as a left-handed batter, didn’t get more playing time; with eight more games played, under the qualifying rules then in place, Padgett would have won the NL batting title over teammate Johnny Mize‘s .349.
Doc Farrell was batting .387 for the Giants two months into the 1927 season, when he was traded to the Braves in a multi-player deal to acquire right-handed pitcher Larry Benton (whose 25 wins would lead the NL the following season). Farrell became the Braves everyday shortstop, finishing the year with a .316 BA. But, it was all downhill for Farrell after that, dropping to .215 in 134 games the next season, and never reaching 200 PA in a season after that.
The Phillies acquired John Sherlock as a Rule 5 pick out of the PCL after the 1929 season. Sherlock’s .324 BA with .398 SLG was, by the standards of 1930, pretty tame, as the NL as a whole batted .303 with .448 SLG, while the Phillies were .315 with .458 SLG. In January 1931, the Phillies purchased Buzz Arlett from Oakland of the PCL. Don’t know whether they were trying to recoup that expenditure but, two months later, the Phils sent Sherlock back to the PCL, selling him to the Hollywood club. Sherlock’s brother Vince also played just one season; he holds the modern era record for highest career BA (.462) with a minimum 25 PA.
George Fisher‘s lone qualified season was also in 1930 but, unlike Sherlock, there was nothing tame about Fisher’s .374/.432/.587 slash line for the NL champion Cardinals. Fisher started the season on fire, with a pair of 4-hit games right out of the hop, and four more 3-hit games over the next 14 contests. Only four other players have 4-hit games in games 1 and 2 on the schedule, and only two others have a pair of 4-hit games in their first two contests with a new franchise.

On Base Percentage

Paul Molitor‘s 1987 season featured career bests in doubles, stolen bases and all three slash categories. Molitor was the first modern era player to end his career with twelve consecutive seasons with 25 or more doubles. Molitor’s league-leading 225 hits in 1996 are the most by a player aged 39 or older. Quiz: 10. Which modern era player was older than Molitor when he led his league in Hits?
David Ortiz led the AL in 2007 in walks and OBP, while posting career bests in WAR, doubles, BA, OBP and OPS. Ortiz’s career post-season marks of 3.159 WPA and 25.57 RE24 rank 1st and 3rd, respectively, among all modern era players.
Jeff Kent posted career bests in 2000 in WAR, Runs, Hits, walks and all three slash categories. Kent is the only second baseman to post back-to-back 25 HR/100 RBI seasons on two different occasions, in 1997-98 and 2004-05.
Sam Crawford posted career bests in 1911 in Runs, Hits and all three slash categories. Crawford’s 309 career triples and 16 consecutive seasons with double-digit triples are all-time records. The 1908 Tiger outfield of Crawford, Ty Cobb and Matty McIntyre was the first of the modern era with each player recording 20+ doubles and 10+ triples; 21 more modern era teams (6 of them including Cobb) would field such an outfield, the last the 1940 Red Sox trio including Ted Williams, in his second and last season with double-digit triples.
In a 13-year career, Rene Rivera recorded two 250 PA seasons, in 2014 for the Padres and 2015 for the Rays. The first was the best season of his career, and the second the worst, with 2.7 WAR and 116 OPS+ in 2014, and -2.0 WAR and 36 OPS+ the following year. For his career, Rivera tallied 4.0 WAR in 283 games in the NL, and -1.8 WAR in 259 games in the AL.

Slugging Percentage

Jim Spencer‘s top slugging season came in 1979 for the Yankees, with career bests in WAR, XBH, HR and all three slash categories. Spencer’s 2.1 WAR that season raised the journeyman’s career total to 4.9 WAR, or about 1.0 WAR per 1000 PA. Spencer, then earning $70,000 a season, was due to become a free agent that off-season but, rather than risk losing him, the Yankees signed the 32 year-old to a 4 year/$1M contract (by way of comparison, teammate Reggie Jackson, then aged 33 with a career WAR rate of 8.9 per 1000 PA, was in the middle of a 5 year/$3.75M contract). As you might have guessed, Spencer’s one glorious summer was not to be repeated, as he finished his career tallying -2.1 WAR over three seasons for the Yankees and A’s.
Not unlike Rene Rivera, mentioned under the OBP section, Frank Schwindel followed the best season of his career in 2021 with his worst in 2022, losing over 200 points off his slugging percentage, and seeing his OPS+ cut in half, from 156 to 76. For his work in the 2021 campaign, Schwindel does make this group of 7 players with OPS of 1.000 or better over their first 50 games as a Cub. As Schwindel is now 33 and playing in the Mexican League this season, after playing independent ball last year, I think it’s a safe bet that his major league career is done.

On Base Plus Slugging Percentage (OBP + SLG)

Ivan Rodriguez posted career bests in BA, SLG, OPS and OPS+ in 2000, with his 1.23 WAR per 100 PA that season also the best rate of his career. Rodriguez ranks 3rd in career WAR among catchers, and he and Gary Carter are the only catchers with 50 oWAR and 25 dWAR. Rodriguez’s 50 career WAR for the Rangers is a franchise record, and his 21 post-season hits for the 2003 world champion Marlins are the most by a catcher in a single post-season.

Isolated Power (SLG – BA)

Chris Bando posted two 250 PA seasons in his 9-year career, 2.3 WAR with 140 OPS+ in 1984, and 0.4 WAR with 80 OPS+ two seasons later. Bando made his career debut playing against a Milwaukee Brewers team featuring his older brother Sal, playing in his final season. The two brothers didn’t play in the same game, but both played in the series.
Jim Baxes posted a .246/.310/.471 slash in 308 PA in his lone 1959 season. Included were 15 home runs in 247 AB for the Indians, then the fewest AB for a Cleveland player in a 15+ HR season. Baxes homered and drove in three against the Senators on Aug 19 to start an eight game winning streak that saw Cleveland close to within a game of top spot; the Indians remained in the pennant chase almost to the end but never got any closer. Jim and his brother Mike were both middle infielders; they never played with or against each other in the majors, but did so in the PCL, in 1949-50 as hopeful youngsters, and in 1960-61 to end their pro careers.
Ryan Schimpf recorded one 250 PA season in his 3-year career, posting an unlikely .217/.336/.533 slash in his 2016 debut season that included 42 XBH out of a total of 60 knocks. Schimpf also had some impressive splits that season, among them a .347/.521/1.041 slash with RISP that included 10 HR in only 49 AB. That slugging mark is the best seasonal result for any player in 40+ AB with RISP, with Schimpf’s 1.561 OPS in that split trailing only Barry Bonds (in 2001 and 2004).

Walks

Sherry Magee‘s top walk season came in his 1910 career year when he led the majors in R and RBI and led the NL in WAR, TB and all three slash categories. Magee’s 59.4 career WAR is the highest of any pre-expansion outfielder not in the HoF.
Bob Elliott‘s top walk season was a majors-leading 131 freebies for the 1948 NL champion Braves. Elliott’s 6.3 WAR that season was the second of three straight 5 WAR seasons, the first of four Braves’ third basemen with that trifecta. Elliott is the only player with 20+ WAR for both the Braves and the Pirates. Quiz: 11. Which player among Elliott’s teammates compiled the most career WAR?
Gene Robertson posted his top walks season for the 1925 Browns. The Yankees paid $20,000 to acquire Robertson in 1927, the same amount that Robertson earned in salary in 5 seasons with St. Louis. Robertson was the Yankees’ primary 3rd baseman in their 1928 pennant run (holding off the A’s) and in their World Series sweep of the Cardinals.
Mike Fiore walked in 19.7% of PA’s for the expansion Royals in 1969. Quiz: 12. Which player has the only higher walk rate in a 400+ PA modern era rookie season?
Marty Berghammer‘s big walk season came in the last year of his career. He is one of 12 modern era players to have Hits constitute less than 55% of Times on Base in a qualified (for batting title) season in the last year of a career. Quiz: 13. Who is the only player to do this in the DH era (since 1973)?
Before there were G.O.A.T.s, there was Goat Anderson. Anderson was the Pirates’ everyday right-fielder in 1907, and led the team in walks. In doing so, he became the first modern era player to join Marty Berghammer’s final season group (see immediately above). Anderson’s 15.5% walk rate in a qualified (for batting title) season would remain a modern era Pirate franchise record for 22 years, until George Grantham posted a 20.3% rate in 1929.

Strikeouts

Rusty Staub‘s top strikeout season in 1970 was also his top HR and walk season (though only by margins of one and two, respectively). Staub was the first of four Expos players to post three consecutive 6 WAR seasons (a feat no Nationals player has yet achieved). His 18.6 WAR for 1969-71 was 26% more than his total WAR over the fourteen seasons that followed. Staub’s 150 games played for the 1963 Astros are the most by a teenage NL rookie.
Mark Belanger‘s 114 strikeouts in 1968 (the “Year of the Pitcher”) came in his first season as an everyday player. He cut that by more than half the next season, and stayed below 70 for the rest of his 18-year career. Belanger’s 39.5 career dWAR as an Oriole is the AL record for shortstops, just ahead of his teammate in his final year in Baltimore, Cal Ripken Jr.. Quiz: 14. Which shortstop, who did not play for the Browns or Orioles, recorded the most career dWAR while playing in the AL?
Jose Bautista‘s top strikeout season in 2017 came in his final year as an everyday player. Bautista’s four seasons with 35+ HR and 100+ runs, walks and RBI are second only to Barry Bonds among retired players not in the Hall of Fame.
Josh Reddick‘s top strikeout total of 151 came in his first season as an everyday player and in his first season as an Athletic. He cut that by more than 40% the next year, then stayed below 80 every season for the rest of his 13-year career. Reddick topped 2 WAR in each of his five seasons in Oakland. Quiz: 15. Which player recorded the most seasons as an Athletic without ever posting a WAR total below 2?
Danny Walton‘s 17 home runs and 66 RBI for the 1970 Brewers both ranked second on the team, but he was ahead of his time with his 126 K’s and 31% strikeout rate. It would be 33 years before the next Brewer posted a season with 100 K’s, a 30% whiff rate and fewer than 20 homers.
After four 30 home run seasons in Japan, 31 year-old Orestes Destrade returned to the major leagues as the first baseman for the Florida Marlins in their inaugural 1993 season. In his only qualified season, Destrade lost about 250 points in OPS from his Japan seasons, but produced similar strikeout and RBI totals. Destrade had been the Marlins’ only everyday starter aged 30+ so, when 24 year-old Greg Colbrunn was acquired following the season, Destrade became expendable. Destrade’s 20 home runs in 1993 remain the most by any Marlins’ switch-hitter.
Daniel Palka made a splash with 27 homers in his 2018 debut season, a White Sox franchise record for rookie lefty batters. Unfortunately, his 153 strikeouts were also a franchise rookie record, and not just for lefty batters. When Palka started slowly the next season, he was sent down to the minors; he did get a September call-up, but never made it back to the majors after that.

Stolen Bases

Sam Rice stole a career best 63 stolen bases in 1920, part of a run of eight straight 20+ stolen base seasons. Rice and Shoeless Joe Jackson have jointly held the AL record of 11 straight multi-hit games for the past 100 years. Quiz: 16. Which active player also shares that record?
Lou Brock stole a career best 118 bases in 1974 to set a new major-league single season record. That was part of a record 12 consecutive 50+ stolen base seasons; the next longest such modern era streak is only 7 seasons, by Tim Raines. Brock batted .400 with a home run (or two) in both the 1967 and 1968 World Series. Quiz: 17. Which player batted .400 (min. 15 PA) without a home run in consecutive World Series?
Eric Yelding stole 64 bases in 89 attempts (a 71.9% success rate) in 1990. No player has recorded a lower SB% in any of the 36 subsequent 60+ SB seasons.

Sacrifices

Sacrifices here denote sacrifice hits (i.e. sacrifice bunts) for seasons prior to 1954, and sacrifice hits plus sacrifice flies for seasons since 1954 (when sacrifice flies were first recorded officially).

Jimmy Dykes recorded a career best 27 sacrifice hits in 1920. It was one of thirteen seasons reaching double digits, including in 1922 when Dykes led the majors with 98 strikeouts. Quiz: 18. Who is the last player to record 10+ sacrifice hits while leading his league in strikeouts?
Bert Campaneris led the majors in 1977 with 40 sacrifice hits, the highest total in any season since 1929. In 1972, Campaneris led his league in sacrifice hits and stolen bases. Quiz: 19. Which player did this most recently?
Cy Seymour‘s top sacrifice hit season came in 1908 at age 35. But, Seymour’s career year was three seasons before, when he led the majors in H, 3B, RBI, BA, SLG, OPS, OPS+ and TB.
Jose Offerman led the majors in 1993 with 25 sacrifice hits, his only season with more than ten. Offerman’s career best 5.3 WAR in 1998 is a Royals franchise record for second basemen.
Beals Becker recorded a career best 35 sacrifice hits in 1909. That same season, Becker tallied 24 RBI, one of eight players with as few RBI in a 600+ PA modern era season with OPS+ of 90 or better. Quiz: 20. Who is the only live ball era player with such a season?
Bob Fisher led the majors in 1915 with 42 sacrifice hits. Quiz: 21. Which player played against Fisher and was a teammate of Fisher’s brother Ike?

Times Hit by Pitch

Eddie Collins recorded a career high 15 HBP in 132 games in 1911. The next season, he went 153 games without getting plunked at all. Collins’s 368 career stolen bases for the White Sox is a franchise record.
Andres Galarraga‘s career high 25 HBP in 1998 is one of nine seasons reaching double digits. Quiz: 22. Which player has recorded the most seasons with 10+ HBP?
Brad Ausmus‘s career high 14 HBP in 1999 is his only season in double digits. Ausmus’s 1,938 games caught is the eighth highest total in the modern era. Included are an Astros franchise record 1,052 games caught. Ausmus is also the only player to catch 250+ games for both the Tigers and Padres.
Bobby Grich led the majors in 1974 with 20 HBP. The next season, he posted his second highest total of 8 HBP. Grich’s six 6+ WAR seasons are the most among HoF-eligible second basemen not yet in the Hall of Fame.
Eric Young Sr. recorded a career high and Rockies franchise record 21 HBP in 1996, the same year he stole a league-leading 53 bases. (Quiz: 23. Which player has the only higher HBP total in a 50+ SB season?) At age 33 in 2000, Young stole a career best 54 bases in 61 attempts, becoming the oldest Cub with a 50 SB season, and posting the highest stolen base percentage (88.5%) by any player aged 33 or older in a 50+ SB season. Young and his son, Eric Young Jr., are the only father-son duo to both post seasons leading their league in stolen bases.
Ron Hunt posted six consecutive majors-leading 20+ HBP seasons, with his 50 HBP in 1971 the most of the modern era, 15 more than the next highest total. The next season, Hunt became the modern era career leader in HBP, a mantle he would hold for the next 15 years. (Quiz: 24. Which player did Hunt overtake to assume the lead in career HBP?) Hunt’s 35.7 career oWAR is the most by any expansion era player with ISO under .100 in a career of fewer than 1500 games.
Of the four players with the most HBP in a one season career, Red Morgan (who could be my father’s doppelganger) and Newt Randall share the modern era record for lowest dWAR (-1.2) in a one season career of fewer than 100 games. I’ll give the tie-break to Morgan as the lesser fielder, on the strength of his league-leading 41 errors in 1906, despite playing only 88 games. That works out to an .866 fielding percentage for the Americans’ third baseman, which wasn’t going to make the Boston faithful forget about HoFer Jimmy Collins, whom Morgan was replacing. At age 97, Morgan was the longest-lived major-leaguer born in Iowa, until Paul Hinrich (1925-2023) surpassed him by 51 days. If he lives until August 15th this year, Bob Oldis (born Jan 5, 1928) will surpass Hinrich.

Let me know how you liked this post. It was fun to put together and, as I mentioned at the top, I have applied the same methodology for 19th century players. I could also apply the same approach for pitchers.