Joe Mauer had a great season, even though he missing a few games. He got me thinking of which players had great seasons going, but were cut short by injury or a shorter season. I decided to ignore regression (I wanted to name the article "F___ Regression," but I don't think it would have flown too far) and project all players with greater than 100 PA as if they had 700 PA. Using Rally's WAR database, here are the top 21 seasons of all time if all the hitters had 700 PA.
Rank | Name | WAR700 | Year | WAR | PA |
1 | Ross Barnes | 15.3 | 1872 | 5.2 | 238 |
2 | Ross Barnes | 15.1 | 1876 | 7.4 | 342 |
3 | Babe Ruth | 14.8 | 1920 | 12.9 | 610 |
4 | Babe Ruth | 14.8 | 1923 | 14.7 | 696 |
5 | Rogers Hornsby | 14.5 | 1924 | 13 | 627 |
6 | Babe Ruth | 14.2 | 1921 | 14 | 689 |
7 | Barry Bonds | 14.1 | 2004 | 12.4 | 614 |
8 | Mickey Mantle | 14.1 | 1957 | 12.5 | 620 |
9 | Ted Williams | 14.0 | 1953 | 2.2 | 110 |
10 | Barry Bonds | 14.0 | 2002 | 12.2 | 610 |
11 | Mickey Mantle | 14.0 | 1956 | 12.9 | 647 |
12 | Babe Ruth | 13.8 | 1919 | 10.6 | 539 |
13 | Fred Dunlap | 13.5 | 1884 | 9.2 | 478 |
14 | Gates Brown | 13.5 | 1968 | 2 | 104 |
15 | Ty Cobb | 13.4 | 1910 | 11 | 574 |
16 | Jeff Bagwell | 13.3 | 1994 | 8.9 | 469 |
17 | Joe Morgan | 13.3 | 1975 | 12 | 633 |
18 | Babe Ruth | 13.2 | 1927 | 12.8 | 677 |
19 | George Brett | 13.2 | 1980 | 9.6 | 508 |
20 | Barry Bonds | 13.2 | 2001 | 12.5 | 662 |
21 | Walter Johnson | 13.2 | 1925 | 1.9 | 101 |
Notes from the data:
- I went with 21 because I was amazed that Walter Johnson's name showed up. Here is his line from that 1925 season
Year | Age | Tm | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1925 | 37 | WSH | 36 | 107 | 97 | 12 | 42 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 3 | 6 | .433 | .455 | .577 | 1.033 | 163 |
- Ross Barnes was a member of the "All Roscoe Team."
- I expected more players with fewer than 300 PA to make list. Instead, only four did.
- Babe Ruth's 1923 season is pretty amazing, in that he accumulated almost all the WAR himself and his value is barely projected.
Besides an over all list here are the top 5 players in each of the 50 PA intervals above 100:
Rank | Name | Year | WAR700 | WAR | PA |
1 | Cal Ripken | 1991 | 10.9 | 11.0 | 708 |
2 | Jimmie Foxx | 1932 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 701 |
3 | Willie Mays | 1962 | 10.6 | 10.6 | 703 |
4 | Hank Aaron | 1963 | 9.9 | 10.0 | 709 |
5 | Stan Musial | 1946 | 9.8 | 9.8 | 700 |
Rank | Name | Year | WAR700 | WAR | PA |
1 | Babe Ruth | 1923 | 14.8 | 14.7 | 696 |
2 | Babe Ruth | 1921 | 14.2 | 14.0 | 689 |
3 | Babe Ruth | 1927 | 13.2 | 12.8 | 677 |
4 | Barry Bonds | 2001 | 13.2 | 12.5 | 662 |
5 | Ty Cobb | 1917 | 12.8 | 11.9 | 653 |
Rank | Name | Year | WAR700 | WAR | PA |
1 | Babe Ruth | 1920 | 14.8 | 12.9 | 610 |
2 | Rogers Hornsby | 1924 | 14.5 | 13.0 | 627 |
3 | Barry Bonds | 2004 | 14.1 | 12.4 | 614 |
4 | Mickey Mantle | 1957 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 620 |
5 | Barry Bonds | 2002 | 14.0 | 12.2 | 610 |
Rank | Name | Year | WAR700 | WAR | PA |
1 | Ty Cobb | 1910 | 13.4 | 11.0 | 574 |
2 | Honus Wagner | 1907 | 12.4 | 10.0 | 566 |
3 | Honus Wagner | 1906 | 12.0 | 10.0 | 584 |
4 | Joe Morgan | 1976 | 11.9 | 10.0 | 587 |
5 | Rogers Hornsby | 1925 | 11.9 | 10.0 | 589 |
Rank | Name | Year | WAR700 | WAR | PA |
1 | Babe Ruth | 1919 | 13.8 | 10.6 | 539 |
2 | George Brett | 1980 | 13.2 | 9.6 | 508 |
3 | Barry Bonds | 2003 | 13.2 | 10.3 | 548 |
4 | Roger Connor | 1885 | 13.1 | 9.5 | 506 |
5 | Ted Williams | 1957 | 12.7 | 9.9 | 544 |
Rank | Name | Year | WAR700 | WAR | PA |
1 | Fred Dunlap | 1884 | 13.5 | 9.2 | 478 |
2 | Jeff Bagwell | 1994 | 13.3 | 8.9 | 469 |
3 | Ty Cobb | 1918 | 10.9 | 7.2 | 464 |
4 | Dave Orr | 1884 | 10.7 | 7.1 | 464 |
5 | Ezra Sutton | 1884 | 10.7 | 7.6 | 497 |
Rank | Name | Year | WAR700 | WAR | PA |
1 | Mike Schmidt | 1981 | 12.3 | 7.6 | 431 |
2 | Ross Barnes | 1875 | 11.7 | 6.7 | 400 |
3 | Andre Dawson | 1981 | 11.7 | 7.3 | 436 |
4 | Ted Williams | 1955 | 11.4 | 6.7 | 413 |
5 | Buddy Bell | 1981 | 10.7 | 6.2 | 405 |
Rank | Name | Year | WAR700 | WAR | PA |
1 | Cap Anson | 1881 | 12.1 | 6.4 | 369 |
2 | Babe Ruth | 1918 | 11.5 | 6.2 | 377 |
3 | Dan Brouthers | 1882 | 11.1 | 5.9 | 372 |
4 | Bobby Grich | 1981 | 10.4 | 5.9 | 396 |
5 | Cal McVey | 1875 | 10.2 | 5.7 | 390 |
Rank | Name | Year | WAR700 | WAR | PA |
1 | Ross Barnes | 1876 | 15.1 | 7.4 | 342 |
2 | Ross Barnes | 1873 | 10.7 | 5.2 | 340 |
3 | Joe DiMaggio | 1949 | 10.6 | 5.0 | 329 |
4 | George Gore | 1880 | 10.6 | 5.2 | 343 |
5 | Pete Browning | 1882 | 10.3 | 4.6 | 314 |
Rank | Name | Year | WAR700 | WAR | PA |
1 | George Wright | 1872 | 10.6 | 3.9 | 258 |
2 | Solly Hemus | 1954 | 10.2 | 4.0 | 274 |
3 | Charlie Bennett | 1888 | 9.6 | 4.0 | 291 |
4 | Orator Shaffer | 1878 | 9.5 | 3.8 | 279 |
5 | Charlie Bennett | 1886 | 9.4 | 3.8 | 283 |
Rank | Name | Year | WAR700 | WAR | PA |
1 | Ross Barnes | 1872 | 15.3 | 5.2 | 238 |
2 | Mickey Mantle | 1963 | 10.9 | 3.3 | 212 |
3 | Willie McCovey | 1959 | 9.6 | 3.0 | 218 |
4 | Carlton Fisk | 1974 | 9.5 | 2.9 | 213 |
5 | Buck Herzog | 1908 | 9.3 | 2.7 | 203 |
Rank | Name | Year | WAR700 | WAR | PA |
1 | Ross Barnes | 1871 | 11.9 | 2.9 | 170 |
2 | Nig Clarke | 1906 | 11.6 | 3.2 | 193 |
3 | Jack Lapp | 1911 | 10.6 | 2.9 | 191 |
4 | George Uhle | 1923 | 10.2 | 2.2 | 151 |
5 | Greg Goossen | 1969 | 9.9 | 2.2 | 156 |
Rank | Name | Year | WAR700 | WAR | PA |
1 | Ted Williams | 1953 | 14.0 | 2.2 | 110 |
2 | Gates Brown | 1968 | 13.5 | 2.0 | 104 |
3 | Walter Johnson | 1925 | 13.2 | 1.9 | 101 |
4 | Don Newcombe | 1955 | 13.0 | 2.3 | 124 |
5 | Babe Ruth | 1915 | 12.5 | 1.8 | 101 |