Nyjer Morgan and runners NOT driven in |

Nyjer Morgan went 44 games to start this season, before recording his first RBI.

How unusual is that? I’ll take a look after the jump.

Since 1918, here are the non-pitcher streaks of longer than 40 games (min. 1 PA) to start a season.

Rk		Strk Start 6	End	Games	AB	R	H	2B	3B	SO	BB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Tm
1	Nyjer Morgan	2012-04-06	2012-05-31	44	124	18	28	1	0	23	7	.226	.289	.234	.523	MIL
2	Matt Stairs	2011-04-03	2011-06-27	43	45	3	5	1	0	14	8	.111	.245	.133	.379	WSN
3	Sam Fuld	2009-07-01	2009-10-02	44	94	15	27	5	1	10	17	.287	.402	.362	.763	CHC
4	Dave Clark	1998-04-01	1998-06-27	41	73	5	10	2	0	27	10	.137	.250	.164	.414	HOU
5	Jesus Tavarez	1996-04-04	1996-07-14	44	67	4	12	2	0	13	4	.179	.225	.209	.434	FLA
6	Luis Alicea	1991-06-14	1991-10-06	54	68	5	13	3	0	19	8	.191	.276	.235	.512	STL
7	Wallace Johnson	1988-04-07	1988-07-23	47	44	5	12	2	0	7	5	.273	.347	.318	.665	MON
8	Rafael Landestoy	1983-04-04	1983-08-31	41	56	3	10	1	1	5	3	.179	.220	.232	.452	CIN-LAD
9	Bruce Boisclair	1979-04-10	1979-09-22	47	68	6	12	3	1	21	2	.176	.200	.250	.450	NYM
10	Leron Lee	1975-04-12	1975-09-07	51	58	5	9	2	0	13	5	.155	.234	.190	.424	CLE-LAD
11	Phil Gagliano	1974-04-04	1974-10-01	45	31	2	2	0	0	7	15	.065	.370	.065	.434	CIN
12	Jimmy Stewart	1971-04-05	1971-07-09	42	47	2	8	1	0	9	5	.170	.250	.191	.441	CIN
13	Chris Cannizzaro	1965-04-12	1965-06-18	47	110	7	20	4	0	29	11	.182	.262	.218	.480	NYM
14	Jim Bolger	1959-04-17	1959-09-15	41	54	1	4	1	0	9	4	.074	.138	.093	.231	CLE-PHI
15	Lew McCarty	1920-04-14	1920-08-03	41	45	2	7	0	0	2	9	.156	.296	.156	.452	NYG-STL

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/9/2012.

Most of these players were used primarily as pinch-hitters during these streaks. My guess is they weren’t long for that role after starting a season like this.

Since 1901 and prior to the game-searchable era, this is the only season by a non-pitcher of 40 or more games and no RBI.

Rk	Player	PA	RBI	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
19	Oscar Dugey	47	0	1915	27	PHI	NL	42	39	4	6	1	0	0	7	5	.154	.283	.179	.462	4

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/9/2012.

Morgan now has 2 RBI on the season. But, he also has 2 HR. So, he still hasn’t driven in a teammate, going 0 for 18 with 3 BB and 2 HBP in 23 PA with RISP. With men on, he’s batting an even .100 (4 for 40), compared to .283 (28 for 99) with the bases empty.

Here are the seasons since 1901 with no teammates driven in (i.e. RBI = HR).

Rk	Player	PA	RBI	HR	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Nyjer Morgan	154	2	2	2012	31	MIL	NL	52	139	22	32	2	0	7	27	.230	.291	.288	.579	*89/7
2	Gene Good	135	0	0	1906	23	BSN	NL	34	119	4	18	0	0	13	29	.151	.246	.151	.398	*78
3	Bobby Messenger	130	0	0	1909	25	CHW	AL	31	112	18	19	1	1	13	24	.170	.268	.196	.464	*9
4	Fred Marsh	111	2	2	1953	29	CHW	AL	67	95	22	19	1	0	13	26	.200	.303	.274	.576	56/34
5	Greg Norton	99	2	2	2004	31	DET	AL	41	86	9	15	1	0	12	21	.174	.276	.256	.531	5/D37
6	Steve Staggs	97	0	0	1978	27	OAK	AL	47	78	10	19	2	2	19	17	.244	.392	.321	.712	*4/6D5
7	Bill Donovan	96	0	0	1906	29	DET	AL	28	91	5	11	0	1	1	33	.121	.130	.143	.273	*1/48
8	Mike Fischlin	95	0	0	1978	22	HOU	NL	44	86	3	10	1	0	4	9	.116	.165	.128	.293	*6
9	Eddie Lake	92	0	0	1941	25	STL	NL	45	76	9	8	2	0	15	22	.105	.253	.132	.384	65/4
10	John Powers	90	2	2	1958	28	PIT	NL	57	82	6	15	1	0	8	19	.183	.256	.268	.524	9/7
11	George Theodore	89	1	1	1974	27	NYM	NL	60	76	7	12	1	0	8	14	.158	.247	.211	.458	3/79
12	Lou Camilli	89	0	0	1971	24	CLE	AL	39	81	5	16	2	0	8	10	.198	.270	.222	.492	*64
13	Bill Schwartz	88	0	0	1904	20	CLE	AL	24	86	5	13	2	0	0	5	.151	.151	.174	.326	*3/5
14	Jim Tyrone	87	3	3	1974	25	CHC	NL	57	81	19	15	0	1	6	8	.185	.241	.321	.562	79/85
15	Cesar Gutierrez	87	0	0	1969	26	TOT	ML	32	72	9	17	2	0	11	5	.236	.337	.264	.601	*6/5
16	Dan Ford	82	1	1	1985	33	BAL	AL	28	75	4	14	2	0	7	17	.187	.256	.253	.509	*D
17	Ruben Amaro	82	0	0	1958	22	STL	NL	40	76	8	17	2	1	5	8	.224	.272	.276	.548	*6/4
18	Frank Manush	82	0	0	1908	24	PHA	AL	23	77	6	12	2	1	2	12	.156	.188	.208	.395	*5/4
19	Kenny Lofton	79	0	0	1991	24	HOU	NL	20	74	9	15	1	0	5	19	.203	.253	.216	.469	*8
20	Luis Alicea	76	0	0	1991	25	STL	NL	56	68	5	13	3	0	8	19	.191	.276	.235	.512	4/56

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/11/2012.

And, finally, here are non-pitcher seasons since 1901 with RBI < 2 * HR. Morgan still makes the top twenty sorted by PA.

Rk	Player	PA	RBI	HR	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Barry Bonds	664	137	73	2001	36	SFG	NL	153	476	129	156	32	2	177	93	.328	.515	.863	1.379	*7/D
2	Scott Hairston	362	31	17	2008	28	SDP	NL	112	326	42	81	18	3	28	84	.248	.312	.479	.791	87/4
3	Chris Duncan	314	43	22	2006	25	STL	NL	90	280	60	82	11	3	30	69	.293	.363	.589	.952	*793/D
4	Kevin Maas	300	41	21	1990	25	NYY	AL	79	254	42	64	9	0	43	76	.252	.367	.535	.902	*3D
5	Curtis Granderson	265	34	18	2012	31	NYY	AL	59	231	43	58	7	1	32	67	.251	.345	.524	.869	*8
6	Wayne Gross	264	18	11	1985	33	BAL	AL	103	217	31	51	8	0	46	48	.235	.369	.424	.793	*5D/3
7	Andres Mora	246	14	8	1978	23	BAL	AL	76	229	21	49	8	0	13	47	.214	.258	.354	.612	*7/D
8	Luis Aguayo	234	21	12	1987	28	PHI	NL	94	209	25	43	9	1	15	56	.206	.273	.431	.703	*6/45
9	Bill Schroeder	226	25	14	1984	25	MIL	AL	61	210	29	54	6	0	8	54	.257	.288	.486	.774	*2/D3
10	Eric Anthony	218	22	12	1996	28	TOT	NL	79	185	32	45	8	0	32	56	.243	.353	.481	.834	97/8
11	Dave Nicholson	202	15	9	1962	22	BAL	AL	97	173	25	30	4	1	27	76	.173	.289	.364	.653	798
12	Chad Kreuter	192	9	5	1989	24	TEX	AL	87	158	16	24	3	0	27	40	.152	.274	.266	.540	*2
13	Kirk Gibson	189	16	9	1980	23	DET	AL	51	175	23	46	2	1	10	45	.263	.303	.440	.743	*8/D
14	Buddy Bradford	187	15	8	1973	28	CHW	AL	53	168	24	40	3	1	17	43	.238	.316	.411	.726	*8/97
15	Sal Fasano	174	20	11	2005	33	BAL	AL	64	160	25	40	3	0	9	41	.250	.310	.475	.785	*2/D3
16	Norm Cash	172	12	7	1974	39	DET	AL	53	149	17	34	3	2	19	30	.228	.327	.416	.744	*3
17	Ellis Burks	165	24	13	1994	29	COL	NL	42	149	33	48	8	3	16	39	.322	.388	.678	1.066	*8
18	Barry Foote	163	11	6	1981	29	TOT	ML	49	147	12	26	4	0	11	28	.177	.233	.327	.559	*2/D3
19	Joe Pignatano	163	17	9	1958	28	LAD	NL	63	142	18	31	4	0	16	26	.218	.306	.437	.743	*2
20	Nyjer Morgan	154	2	2	2012	31	MIL	NL	52	139	22	32	2	0	7	27	.230	.291	.288	.579	*89/7

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/11/2012.

Guess I ruined a really tough quiz question with Bonds and the others on this list.

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nightfly

12 years ago

Wow, Burks was off to a hell of a start in the thin air. I wonder how much the offensive explosion of the 90’s really hurt his HoF chances. The raw numbers really aren’t bad at all, and it looks like he has good numbers outside of Coors as well. (I looked at him and Kirk Gibson side-by-side just now… Burks’ numbers compare well, his WAR (and WAR/PA) were better for longer – he just never had an MVP season or a signature “I don’t believe what I just saw!” postseason moment.) Burks only made two All-Star teams because everybody… Read more »

Lawrence Azrin

Reply to nightfly

Burks’ best MVP season was 1996 (3rd), when he played his most games (156) and had the most AB (685). He had only two other seasons with more than 144 games or 606 AB.

As you said, he was quite injury-prone, and if he’d had two/three full seasons remotely comparable to 1996, he’d probably be thought of much more favorably.

His career AIR was 109 ,which means his offensive numbers got quite a boost, esp. from 1994-2001.

Tmckelv

I started my love of Baseball Cards in the 1970’s, I played most of my Strat-O-Matic in the 1980’s, I enjoyed the majority of my Fantasy Baseball in the 1990’s and I utilized online SABR/Stat encyclopedia in the 2000’s.

Lists like this make me smile for different reasons. Buddy Bradford in the Red-stiped White Sox uniform on his baseball card. Pinch Hitting with Andres Mora during a nip-and-tuck Strat-o-Matic game. Wondering how could I possibly draft Chad Krueter for my Rotisserie team. And now reading great lists to learn about the efforts of Scott Hairston. I love baseball.

Steven Page

Reply to Tmckelv

I was playing Negamco and Statis-Pro during the same period, and had to endure running the Astros during the 1978 Mike Fischlin season….Situations like that make it easier to understand the need some managers feel to consume alcohol

Abbott

Reply to Steven Page

I played Statis-Pro too! My first year was 1980 (Brad Mills and Matt Alexander were secret weapons in that set. They give you the formulas for creating the cards; now it’s easy to plug everybody’s stats into an Excel spreadsheet, print out the cards, and boom – every year when my brother visits we have tournaments, much to the chagrin of our wives/parents/kids/pets/livers.

GrandyMan

Not surprisingly, pretty much all of the guys on that first list have atrocious OPS numbers…except for Fuld, who was OPSing .763 in 111 PA. The 15 runs tell me he was batting leadoff most of the time. I guess the Cubs had a really awful back end of the lineup for that to happen.

Author

Doug

Reply to GrandyMan

In his 22 starts in 2009, Fuld batted eighth 12 times, first 8 times, and second twice. Those starts accounted for 90 of his 115 PA for the season.

Fuld’s only RBI for the year came on the final day of the season, on a solo HR and a run-scoring groundout.

brp

Reply to Doug

I remember Fuld was actually playing fairly well, he just never came up with many RBI chances (from what I remember). It was more of a statistical fluke than anything Fuld was doing wrong. However Fuld and Morgan fit the mold for atrocious RBI totals; top or bottom of the order hitters with little to no power.

The more Morgan/Gomez play for Milwaukee the more I wonder why Aoki isn’t starting…

Richard Chester

I found a guy named Lou Camilli who went the first 89 games of his career without an RBI. I believe that is a record, not counting pinch-runners Herb Washington and Allen Lewis.

Reply to Richard Chester

Nice find, Richard. Camilli’s 89 games were over 4 seasons, which is why he didn’t show up in the streak list (though he is in the RBI=HR list). That first RBI came in career PA 151, compared to Morgan who had 159 PA between RBIs on Sep 20 last season and June 1 this year. Camilli also didn’t get his first career hit until his 36th game and 38th PA. A career .146 hitter in 166 PAs, he was used as a pinch-hitter in more than a quarter of those appearances and batted .119 in that role. Poor Cleveland –… Read more »

Voomo Zanzibar

Maybe that’s why Houston traded Kenny Lofton :>

Though, Lofton batted leadoff all 18 starts, and he was actually 4 for 8 with a runner on first.

Editor

birtelcom

Any consideration of RBI futility should not overlook the 1971 season of Enzo Hernandez. 618 PAs and only 12 RBI: fewest ribbies per PA by a qualifying batter since baseball settled on the four ball/three strike standard. The 1971 Padres scored only 486 runs as a team, and Enzo, in his debut season in the majors, was the team’s everyday leadoff guy despite a .295 OBP (which at least least was better than his .250 SLG). Don’t blame manager Preston Gomez too much for batting Enzo leadoff — that .295 OBP was above-average for that club (team OBP: .293)

Reply to birtelcom

Indeed.

I didn’t realize how low Enzo’s RBI rate was. He has the only season (min. 502 PA) with RBI < 2% of PAs. He's in a class by himself because the second lowest rate is Goat Anderson in 1907, who had the same number of RBI in 108 fewer PAs! To find a player with a lower RBI rate than Hernandez, you have to drop the threshold below 400 PAs, to pick up Dick Howser with 6 RBI in 377 PAs in 1965.

Hernandez’s RBI/H ratio of 12/122 = 0.098 is the second lowest of batters with > 502 PA. The lowest is 1970 Luis Castillo’s of 17/180 = 0.094.

tag

birtelcom,

I referenced this season in my reasons for including Enzo on SD’s Mt. Rushmore in a Janus-like pair with Nate Colbert, his opposite in this RBI regard. It remains one of my favorite statistics of all time. I mean, a lot of players get 12 RBI from sac flies alone in that number of seasonal at-bats. I know the Padres were a low-scoring team, but Enzo must have been allergic to batting runs in or something.

Jimbo

Lol at Matt Stairs 2011. Watching his PA’s it was hard to believe they gave him so many. Any legit fastball was in the catcher’s mitt before his bat got moving.

Reply to Jimbo

Stairs had only 12 more games after breaking his RBI-less streak. His final “appearance” was being announced as a pinch-hitter and then being pinch-hit for when a new pitcher was brought in.

BREAKING NEWS! Nyjer Morgan drove in a teammate today (Jun 20), his first such RBI this season. Morgan had gone exactly 200 PA since he last drove in a teammate, on Sep 20 last season.