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Stats and Almost Nothing But
There are three players this year who are likely to reach the gold standard by posting .300/.400/.600 seasons. AVG OBP SLG Derrek Lee .341 .423 .678 Albert Pujols .336 .432 .622 Alex Rodriguez .321 .423 .608 Derrek Lee and Albert Pujols are the top two candidates for National League Most Valuable Player (sorry, Andruw Jones), and Alex Rodriguez is in the process of putting a padlock on the American League MVP. Lee leads the NL in AVG (.341), SLG (.678), and OPS (1.100); ranks second in HR (44) and R (113); fourth in OBP (.423); seventh in RBI (102); and ninth in BB (77). Pujols tops the NL in R (119), while ranking second in AVG (.336), OBP (.432), SLG (.622), OPS (1.054); third in HR (39) and RBI (109); and seventh in BB (87). Rodriguez leads the AL in HR (43), R (111), SLG (.608), and OPS (1.031); ranks second in AVG (.321) and OBP (.423); third in BB (83); fourth in RBI (116); and tenth in SB (15). As a third baseman, A-Rod's monster season stands out more than those produced by Lee and Pujols. While there have been 24 different first basemen covering 54 seasons who have put up .300/.400/.600 years, only seven third basemen have posted such rate stats. In fact, there have been just a dozen 2B, SS, or 3B in the history of baseball who have reached those magical numbers in the same season. THIRD BASEMEN, SINGLE SEASON YEAR AVG OBA SLG 1 George Brett 1980 .390 .454 .664 2 Al Rosen 1953 .336 .422 .613 3 Chipper Jones 2001 .330 .427 .605 4 Albert Pujols 2001 .329 .403 .610 5 Ken Caminiti 1996 .326 .408 .621 6 Chipper Jones 1999 .319 .441 .633 7 Jim Thome 1996 .311 .450 .612 8 Eddie Mathews 1953 .302 .406 .627 George Brett, Ken Caminiti, Chipper Jones (1999), and Al Rosen were named MVP during their .300/.400/.600 seasons. Rosen, in fact, was a unanimous choice. The Cleveland third baseman led the league in HR and RBI and missed winning the Triple Crown by finishing second in AVG to Washington's Mickey Vernon by a single point. Pujols, lest we forget he was once a 3B, was the NL Rookie of the Year in 2001 when he rang up the first of his soon-to-be four .300/.400/.600 seasons. Rogers Hornsby accomplished this feat six times (1921-22, 1924-25, 1928-29) as a 2B. Heck, the Rajah almost went .400/.500/.700 in 1924 when he hit .424, .507, and .696. Hornsby, perhaps the greastest right-handed hitter ever (see OPS vs. League Average table below), won the Triple Crown in 1922 and 1925. Nap Lajoie also won the Triple Crown in 1901 when he posted the only other .300/.400/.600 season among second sackers. SECOND BASEMEN, SINGLE SEASON YEAR AVG OBA SLG 1 Nap Lajoie 1901 .426 .463 .643 2 Rogers Hornsby 1924 .424 .507 .696 3 Rogers Hornsby 1925 .403 .489 .756 4 Rogers Hornsby 1922 .401 .459 .722 5 Rogers Hornsby 1921 .397 .458 .639 6 Rogers Hornsby 1928 .387 .498 .632 7 Rogers Hornsby 1929 .380 .459 .679 Of note, if Rodriguez finishes the season at or above .300/.400/.600, it won't be the first time he has accomplished this trifecta. As a shortstop in 1996 and 2000, A-Rod hit these targets, posting almost identical totals five years ago and in 2005. SHORTSTOPS, SINGLE SEASON YEAR AVG OBA SLG 1 Arky Vaughan 1935 .385 .491 .607 2 Alex Rodriguez 1996 .358 .414 .631 3 Nomar Garciaparra 1999 .357 .418 .603 4 Alex Rodriguez 2000 .316 .420 .606 To put Alex's current season in perspective vs. Derrek's and Albert's, let's check the first basemen who have reached these three milestones in the same year. FIRST BASEMEN, SINGLE SEASON YEAR AVG OBA SLG 1 George Sisler 1920 .407 .449 .632 2 Bill Terry 1930 .401 .452 .619 3 Lou Gehrig 1930 .379 .473 .721 4 Lou Gehrig 1928 .374 .467 .648 5 Lou Gehrig 1927 .373 .474 .765 6 Todd Helton 2000 .372 .463 .698 7 Andres Galarraga 1993 .370 .403 .602 8 Jimmie Foxx 1932 .364 .469 .749 9 Lou Gehrig 1934 .363 .465 .706 10 Norm Cash 1961 .361 .487 .662 11 Jimmie Foxx 1939 .360 .464 .694 12 Todd Helton 2003 .358 .458 .630 13 Jimmie Foxx 1933 .356 .449 .703 14 Lou Gehrig 1936 .354 .478 .696 15 Jimmie Foxx 1929 .354 .463 .625 16 Frank Thomas 1994 .353 .487 .729 17 Lou Gehrig 1937 .351 .473 .643 18 Stan Musial 1957 .351 .422 .612 19 Eddie Morgan 1930 .349 .413 .601 20 Johnny Mize 1939 .349 .444 .626 21 Frank Thomas 1996 .349 .459 .626 22 Lou Gehrig 1932 .349 .451 .621 23 Jimmie Foxx 1938 .349 .462 .704 24 Todd Helton 2004 .347 .469 .620 25 Frank Thomas 1997 .347 .456 .611 26 Jimmie Foxx 1935 .346 .461 .636 27 Carlos Delgado 2000 .344 .470 .664 28 Jason Giambi 2001 .342 .477 .660 29 Lou Gehrig 1931 .341 .446 .662 30 Hank Greenberg 1934 .339 .404 .600 31 Jimmie Foxx 1936 .338 .440 .631 32 Johnny Mize 1938 .337 .422 .614 33 Hank Greenberg 1937 .337 .436 .668 34 Todd Helton 2001 .336 .432 .685 35 Jimmie Foxx 1930 .335 .429 .637 36 Jimmie Foxx 1934 .334 .449 .653 37 Lou Gehrig 1933 .334 .424 .605 38 Jason Giambi 2000 .333 .476 .647 39 Albert Pujols 2004 .331 .415 .657 40 Hank Greenberg 1935 .328 .411 .628 41 Hank Aaron 1971 .327 .410 .669 42 Ted Kluszewski 1954 .326 .407 .642 43 Jim Bottomley 1928 .325 .402 .628 44 Willie McCovey 1969 .320 .453 .656 45 Frank Thomas 1993 .317 .426 .607 46 Hank Greenberg 1938 .315 .438 .683 47 Johnny Mize 1940 .314 .404 .636 48 Mark McGwire 1996 .312 .467 .730 49 Hank Greenberg 1939 .312 .420 .622 50 Jeff Bagwell 2000 .310 .424 .615 51 Frank Thomas 1995 .308 .454 .606 52 Dick Allen 1972 .308 .420 .603 53 Jim Thome 2002 .304 .445 .677 54 Jim Gentile 1961 .302 .423 .646 Don't misunderstand me, the above is not meant to be a knock on Pujols, who has gone .300/.400/.600 every year since he broke in, except 2002 when he slumped to .314/.394/.561. Get this, Pujols' career rate stats are .334/.417/.624. Pujols, in fact, is so great, he ranks second behind Hornsby among RHB in career OPS vs. the league average. CAREER, RHB DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE 1 Rogers Hornsby .276 1.010 .735 2 Albert Pujols .268 1.040 .772 3 Jimmie Foxx .263 1.038 .775 4 Hank Greenberg .249 1.017 .768 5 Frank Thomas .232 .995 .763 6 Mark McGwire .232 .982 .751 7 Manny Ramirez .231 1.004 .773 8 Joe DiMaggio .213 .977 .764 9 Willie Mays .210 .941 .731 10 Frank Robinson .206 .926 .720 * through 9/16/05 Here is the same table through age 25: DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE 1 Jimmie Foxx .300 1.073 .773 2 Albert Pujols .268 1.040 .772 3 Joe DiMaggio .229 1.025 .796 4 Rogers Hornsby .215 .897 .682 5 Joe Medwick .201 .938 .738 6 Frank Robinson .195 .946 .750 7 Joe Kelley .188 .952 .764 8 Vladimir Guerrero .183 .965 .781 9 Hank Aaron .176 .931 .756 10 Alex Rodriguez .170 .949 .779* through 9/16/05 Source: Lee Sinins, Sabermetric Baseball Encyclopedia While Lee's season appears to be either a break out or a fluke, A-Rod's and King Albert's are more the norm than not. I'll let others spend the next couple of weeks and beyond arguing about who the MVPs should be. Me? I'm going to sit back and enjoy watching two of the greatest players in the history of the game doing the stuff they do so well. [Additional reader comments and retorts at Baseball Primer.] |
Comments
Seeing Helton on this list should only remind us the role park factors in these accomplishments... given Yankee Stadium's harshness on righties you could make the case A-Rod is having his best year ever with the bat.
Posted by: Jurgen at September 18, 2005 1:32 AM
Did you disqualify Mike Schmidt's 1981 season (.316/.435/.644) from the list of thrid basemen because it was a strike-shortened season?
Posted by: Matthew at September 18, 2005 6:56 AM
Schmidt failed to "qualify" because I used a higher minimum number of plate appearances, not because it was a strike-shortened season per se. To wit, Frank Thomas showed up in 1994 despite the strike-shortened season.
Posted by: Rich Lederer at September 18, 2005 2:30 PM
It's real simple:
When someone leads the league in HRs and RBIs, and they finish in first place, HISTORICALLY they win the MVP.
ANDRUW!
Posted by: Malone at September 18, 2005 6:39 PM
It's real simple:
When someone leads the league in HRs and RBIs, and they finish in first place, HISTORICALLY they win the MVP.
ANDRUW!
However, history won't repeat itself this year.
Andruw is having one heck of a year, but Pujols is the "MVP" of the NL. He's the best player in the National League with no question. A-Rod is the best player in the AL, with the same situation as no questions asked.
Posted by: Erik at September 18, 2005 9:05 PM
It is real simple!
Best player on the best team! Having another monster season. ALBERT PUJLOS!!!
Nuff said
Posted by: Spike at September 30, 2005 8:49 PM