Out with a bang, out with a whimper

Out with a bang

Here are retired players since 1901 with the highest OPS+ values in their final season (minimum 200 plate appearances):

Rk	Player	OPS+	PA	Year	Age	Tm	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	Pos
1	Ted Williams	190	390	1960	41	BOS	113	310	56	98	15	0	29	72	.316	.451	.645	*7
2	Shoeless Joe Jackson	172	649	1920	32	CHW	146	570	105	218	42	20	12	121	.382	.444	.589	*7/9
3	Barry Bonds	169	477	2007	42	SFG	126	340	75	94	14	0	28	66	.276	.480	.565	*7/D
4	Joe Adcock	167	265	1966	38	CAL	83	231	33	63	10	3	18	48	.273	.355	.576	*3
5	Will Clark	145	507	2000	36	TOT	130	427	78	136	30	2	21	70	.319	.418	.546	*3/D
6	Mickey Mantle	143	547	1968	36	NYY	144	435	57	103	14	1	18	54	.237	.385	.398	*3
7	Happy Felsch	143	615	1920	28	CHW	142	556	88	188	40	15	14	115	.338	.384	.540	*8
8	Dave Nilsson	141	404	1999	29	MIL	115	343	56	106	19	1	21	62	.309	.400	.554	*2/D
9	Brian Downing	138	391	1992	41	TEX	107	320	53	89	18	0	10	39	.278	.407	.428	*D/4
10	Roberto Clemente	138	413	1972	37	PIT	102	378	68	118	19	7	10	60	.312	.356	.479	*9
11	Buzz Arlett	138	469	1931	32	PHI	121	418	65	131	26	7	18	72	.313	.387	.538	*93
12	Steve Evans	138	638	1915	30	TOT	151	556	94	171	34	10	4	67	.308	.392	.426	*9/3
13	Joe Riggert	135	270	1919	32	BSN	63	240	34	68	8	5	4	17	.283	.356	.408	*8
14	Frank Huelsman	135	465	1905	31	WSH	121	421	48	114	28	8	3	62	.271	.333	.397	*7/9
15	Reggie Smith	134	398	1982	37	SFG	106	349	51	99	11	0	18	56	.284	.364	.470	*3
16	Frank Schulte	134	328	1918	35	WSH	93	267	35	77	14	3	0	44	.288	.406	.363	*97/8
17	Bill Keister	133	429	1903	31	PHI	100	400	53	128	27	7	3	63	.320	.352	.445	*9
18	Butch Nieman	132	291	1945	27	BSN	97	247	43	61	15	0	14	56	.247	.361	.478	79
19	John Titus	132	317	1913	37	BSN	87	269	33	80	14	2	5	38	.297	.392	.420	*9
20	Hank Greenberg	131	510	1947	36	PIT	125	402	71	100	13	2	25	74	.249	.408	.478	*3

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/4/2012.

It’s a beautiful thing that these seasons are so spread across baseball history. Check out the league leaders, too: Shoeless Joe led the league in triples, Barry Bonds led in OBP, and Steve Evans led in doubles.

Brian Downing stuck it to the Angels with a strong finish in Texas. Dave Nilsson wanted to go home to Australia and quit MLB while he was still doing really well. Ted Williams finished his career on a homer. Will Clark was an amazing late-season pickup for the Cardinals. Roberto Clemente was still playing really well before dying during the off-season.

That’s a list of (mostly) great players with (mostly) great stories about how they finished up.

Out with a whimper

Here are retired players since 1901 with the lowest OPS+ values in their final season (minimum 200 plate appearances):

Rk	Player	OPS+	PA	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	Pos
1	Bill Bergen	-3	250	1911	33	BRO	NL	84	227	8	30	3	1	0	10	.132	.183	.154	*2
2	John Black	6	201	1911	21	SLB	AL	54	186	13	28	4	0	0	7	.151	.202	.172	*3
3	Doug Strange	14	201	1998	34	PIT	NL	90	185	9	32	8	0	0	14	.173	.217	.216	5/43
4	Hughie Critz	18	227	1935	34	NYG	NL	65	219	19	41	0	3	2	14	.187	.198	.242	*4
5	Benny Zientara	24	203	1948	30	CIN	NL	74	187	17	35	1	2	0	7	.187	.236	.214	*4/56
6	Jim Levey	24	567	1933	26	SLB	AL	141	529	43	103	10	4	2	36	.195	.237	.240	*6
7	Harry Pearce	25	260	1919	29	PHI	NL	67	244	24	44	3	3	0	9	.180	.209	.217	*46/5
8	Bob Dernier	27	205	1989	32	PHI	NL	107	187	26	32	5	0	1	13	.171	.225	.214	879
9	Jim McLeod	27	251	1933	24	PHI	NL	67	232	20	45	6	1	0	15	.194	.237	.228	*5/6
10	Tom Donohue	28	230	1980	27	CAL	AL	84	218	18	41	4	1	2	14	.188	.216	.243	*2
11	Mike Balenti	29	227	1913	26	SLB	AL	70	211	17	38	2	4	0	11	.180	.206	.227	*6/7
12	Joe Wagner	30	210	1915	26	CIN	NL	75	197	17	35	5	2	0	13	.178	.210	.223	*46/5
13	Kevin Polcovich	32	238	1998	28	PIT	NL	81	212	18	40	12	0	0	14	.189	.255	.245	*64/5
14	Mike Guerra	32	270	1951	38	TOT	AL	82	246	21	48	2	1	1	22	.195	.261	.224	*2
15	Charlie French	32	229	1910	26	TOT	AL	54	210	21	36	2	1	0	7	.171	.223	.190	*49
16	John Godwin	33	209	1906	29	BOS	AL	66	193	11	36	2	1	0	15	.187	.215	.207	56/9483
17	Bill Lauterborn	33	219	1905	26	BSN	NL	67	200	11	37	1	1	0	9	.185	.238	.200	54/68
18	Alan Trammell	34	207	1996	38	DET	AL	66	193	16	45	2	0	1	16	.233	.267	.259	*64/57
19	Pat Putnam	34	212	1984	30	TOT	AL	78	193	12	34	7	0	2	20	.176	.236	.244	*D7/3
20	Bob Uecker	34	221	1967	32	TOT	NL	80	193	17	29	4	0	3	20	.150	.243	.218	*2

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/4/2012.

These seasons are also spread around a lot, although none are more recent than 1998. I think that teams have become extremely reluctant to give much playing time to guys who can’t do anything with the bat. This makes sense during the really high-scoring era of the 2000s, when defense mattered a little less because saving 1 run mattered a little less.

If you skimmed the second list, you may have missed one name near the end: Alan Trammell. He’s the only guy on that second list with a career OPS+ over 97 (his was 110). Fangraphs has his wRC+ in that final season as 37, meaning he created runs at 37% of league average…abysmal.

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Brandon

12 years ago

It was difficult watching Trammell play that last season. For whatever reason what I remember the most from that season is that he couldn’t hold onto the bat. He kept fans on the thrid base side on their toes ‘cos it seemed once a game he sent a bat flying into the stands. Tram lost both his bat speed and the pop he showed during his peak was long gone as he hit just three XBHs all year. Many fans felt that Tram retired a year or two too late while his long-time double play partner Lou Whitaker could have… Read more »

12 years ago

Speaking of going out with a whimper, Johnny Damon was released by the Indians yesterday. Given how little interest there was in him during the offseason, I’d be surprised if he gets picked up. His 72 OPS+ doesn’t qualify for this list but it was still a wimpy ending (if it is the end).

MikeD

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

I think there were some contributing factors to the lack of interest in Damon, chief being Damon limiting his market to a team that would promise to play him reguarly and some financial demands by his agent Scott Boras. He probably would have received a few opportunities if he he had been more open to a range of offers early on in the offseason. Raul Ibanez found himself in the same situation and competing with the likes of Damon, Matsui and Guerrero for only a few jobs. He basically went to the Yankees and let them name the price because… Read more »

Lawrence Azrin

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

So does this end any serious HOF talk for Damon? His main HOF selling point would’ve been 3000 hits, and 2,769 just isn’t close enough, I think being 31st all-time in Runs Scored (1,668) is a more impressive credential. Every other player with more career Runs Scored who has been on the HOF ballot, has been elected so far (wait till 2013 and Bonds…). It seems that his career has been the “perfect storm” for ranking high in runs scored, despite not being a HOF-caliber player: -leading off mostly -playing in a very high-scoring era -playing for good offensive teams… Read more »

12 years ago

Buzz Arlett is an interesting story…his last year was also his first! He’s considered the “Babe Ruth of the Minors”. He started off as a pitcher for the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League, three times winning 20 or more games and once winning 19. He was moved to the outfield at age 24 and racked up 432 home runs and 1786 RBIs during his minor league career (both records for a long time). The Phillies finally have him a chance to play in the majors and he obviously could hit but his fielding didn’t get good reviews (something… Read more »

Editor

Doug

12 years ago

Amazing final season for Williams. In the top 100 OPS+ seasons (min. 350 PA), one of Williams eleven such seasons in the top 200, and only 1 point behind his incredible (and unique) 1949 season (150+ walks, runs and RBI).

Note also that only one other 40 year-old is in the top 20 list for final seasons. Nice feather in the cap for Brian Downing.

Author

Andy

12 years ago

Reply to Doug

Doug, I haven’t been keeping up on the blog–why has nobody other than me or Adam posted anything here for a week?

Editor

Doug

12 years ago

Reply to Andy

John and I have been on vacation with our families.

MikeD

12 years ago

Reply to Doug

Vacations? Time off with families?

Not allowed!

Enjoy your time off.

Editor

Doug

12 years ago

Bergen’s season on the Whimper list is the record for most PAs in a sub-zero OPS+ season. Ironically, among the few seasons worse than Bergen’s (excluding pitchers) is a debut season, by 18 year-old Frank O’Rourke in 1912: -11 OPS+ in 216 PAs, .122/.177/.148. O’Rourke had a 69 OPS+ career of over 4500 PAs, with a best 100 OPS+ season in 1925 of .293/.350/.436. He even managed to place 13th in AL MVP voting in 1927.

Editor

Doug

12 years ago

Reply to Doug

If you’re curious, the worst OPS+ season ever (min. 100 PAs, excl. pitchers) is 22 year-old Red Sox catcher Ed Connolly, with a -40 mark in 100 PAs in 1931. His slash was .073/.131/.086. The Red Sox responded by giving him 64 starts and 225 PA the next season, going .225/.289/.297. Despite a 96-point OPS+ improvement to a 56 mark, that was the end of Ed’s ML career. Ed’s career 25 OPS+ is the lowest (min. 400 PAs) for those to play for only one franchise.

12 years ago

Reply to Doug

And it’s not like Connolly distinguished himself in 1929 or 1930 either, going a combined 9-56 with 2 doubles. Those were definitely “dark days” for the Red Sox, culminating in the 43-111 record in 1932.

Lawrence Azrin

12 years ago

Reply to Doug

What is it with the Red Sox and can’t-hit back-up catchers? Marc “son of the co-owner” Sullivan came close to Conolly, with a 33 OPS+ in 397 career PA for only the RS.

In 1987, Sullivan somehow became a starting catcher in April, because Rich Gedman was a free agent and missed the deadline for signing back with the Red Sox, and couldn’t play with the RS till May 1st (The same thing happened with Tim Raines that year). Anyone remember that?

MikeD

12 years ago

Reply to Doug

Bill Bergen heading the Whimper list makes sense. I’m pretty sure he’s regarded as the worst hitter in MLB history based on his futility coupled with longevity. And then there is the story of his brother Marty, who had to have been the craziest player(in a bad way) in MLB history.

This NY Times article on Bergen is just about a year old, but still a good read for those who missed it first time around.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/sports/baseball/bill-bergens-awesome-record-of-baseball-futility.html

topper009

12 years ago

The Mendonza line needs to be changed to the Uecker line, look at his career batting average!

He did sign a nice endorsement deal his final season with Rawlings for $25,000 to never be seen in public using any of their equipment.

Phil

12 years ago

My first thought was that Ichiro might be headed for the whimper list, but I guess he won’t even be close.

Voomo Zanzibar

12 years ago

Reply to Phil

In eleven games with NYY, Ichiro is 11-43.
That is good for a .255 ba, a 65 ops+………….. and an 11 game hitting streak.

Richard Chester

12 years ago

Reply to Voomo Zanzibar

That 11-game hitting streak is tied for the second longest ever to start a career with the Yankees. Don Slaught holds the record with 12 in 1988.

MikeD

12 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

Twelve down and only 45 to go! But I only want to see him break DiMaggio’s record if he maintains the one-hit-a-game track.

So, does anyone know what the MLB record is for a consecutive game hitting streak with only hit per game? Has anyone reached even twenty games?

Richard Chester

12 years ago

Reply to MikeD

I found Ted Sizemore with 16 games in 1975.

MikeD

12 years ago

Reply to MikeD

Richard, @41, that appears to be the record since 1970, and it might be the record all-time, unless Elias or someone who is an expert on the PI database finds differently. From the Wall Street Journal: “Ted Sizemore currently holds the “record,” going 16 straight games for the Cardinals in 1975. Alex Gonzalez of the Marlins went 15 straight games with one hit in 2005. Most recently, Willy Aybar did it in 13 straight for the Dodgers in 2006.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443659204577571371076543162.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Would love to see him keep it going just because I like odd records. Maybe he can make up to… Read more »

Richard Chester

12 years ago

Reply to MikeD

Reply to 42:

I found that Sizemore streak via the PI. It does appear to be the record (in the game searchable era). I also found Red Schoendienst with 14 games in 1958, Don Blasingame with 14 in 1962, Brian Downing with 14 in 1987 and Dante Bichette with 13 in 1995. I have already mentioned Aybar and Gonzalez on John Autin’s blog.

Richard Chester

12 years ago

Tony Cuccinello just missed the list with 129 OPS+ in 1945. He lost the AL batting title on the last day of the season to George “Snuffy” Stirnweiss by .3085443 to .3084577, the smallest margin ever.

topper009

12 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

1949 AL was a close one too with George Kell and his .342912 in 134 games preventing Ted Williams, .342756 in a league leading 155 games, from winning his 3rd triple crown.

bstar

12 years ago

Apologies for being so Braves-centric all the time, but Chipper Jones is sitting on a 140 OPS+ right now, which would place him ninth all-time on the Out w/ a Bang list.

12 years ago

Reply to bstar

No need to apologize for talking about players from your team, particularly someone who’s had such an amazing career! I’m still dumbfounded that a few years ago there were serious debates about whether or not he belonged in the HOF. BTW, I’d put Chipper 6th on the above list…Jackson, Felsch and Nilsson all “retired” way before normal.

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

I had my doubts myself back then too, Ed. If Chipper had gone downhill fast after age 35, it would have been a fair question. I’ve been quite surprised this year at the almost unanimous respect all baseball fans seem to have for him.

Just going by age 40+ final seasons, it looks like Chipper is third all-time in OPS+ right now behind Ted Williams and Bonds.

no statistician but

12 years ago

Andy: I hoped someone else might bring this up, so that I could forego the role of skeptic. I find the “out with a bang” list a terrible hodge-podge of dissimilar “last” seasons. Two players banned from baseball, one player from the Federal League, eight who continued their careers in the minors(including the Federal Leaguer), one who died in a plane crash, several who played in 3/4 of a season or less, some a lot less. Barry Bonds. Even the Williams and Mantle seasons bother me, Williams’ because his 87 starts were cherry-picked to a great degree to hide him… Read more »

Voomo Zanzibar

12 years ago

Reply to no statistician but

41 year old Lefty plays in 113 games, taking his rests versus fellow southpaws, and somehow that is ‘hiding’? Sounds like straightforward common sense strategy. I think Williams’ frozen head might like to kick your ass.

The only flaw in the strategy was that Rip Repulski was his righty platoon partner.

Author

Andy

12 years ago

Reply to no statistician but

Totally valid point. The counter-argument is this….how do I cherry pick which seasons please you? Ok, we don’t count Clemente since he didn’t choose to end his career nor go to the minors. He’s off. But is Mantle off because he altered his batting style and was still quite productive? What I posted is simply a list of facts without judgment. If you’d like a higher minimum number of plate appearances, that’s reasonable, just a different set of facts. Let’s start a list of bona-fide great final seasons using your more subjective criteria. I’ll put up Larry Walker as the… Read more »

12 years ago

Reply to Andy

In his final season, Williams had 23.3% of his PAs against lefties. For the Red Sox as a team….23.2%. Hmmmmm…..

If we look just at starts, 19.5% of Williams’ starts were against lefties; for the Red Sox as a whole it was 23.2%. Not much difference.

no statistician but

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

Ed:

Thanks for the corrective. I was looking at it differently. Williams started in 17 of the 36 games against lefty starters, 47%, whereas he started in 70 of the 118 games against righty starters, 59%. He had some kind of nagging problem that kept him out of the lineup, except for 4 starts and some pinch hitting, until June 2.

I suppose it’s been commented upon before, but he not only homered in his last AB of the season. He did so as well in his first.

no statistician but

12 years ago

Reply to Andy

Andy:

Thanks for not jumping on the aside i made about Williams.

Yes, I’d like to see a list of the best last seasons using my criteria, which I don’t regard as subjective but simply narrower in scope.

Author

Andy

12 years ago

Reply to no statistician but

Other than qualifying for the batting title, all of your criteria seem subjective. Here’s the highest OPS+ in a player’s last season, provided he qualified for the batting title: Rk Player OPS+ Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R 2B 3B HR RBI BA OBP SLG 1 Shoeless Joe Jackson 172 1920 32 CHW AL 146 649 570 105 42 20 12 121 .382 .444 .589 2 Will Clark 145 2000 36 TOT ML 130 507 427 78 30 2 21 70 .319 .418 .546 3 Mickey Mantle 143 1968 36 NYY AL 144 547 435 57 14 1… Read more »

Author

Andy

12 years ago

Reply to Andy

Oh my last comment broke. Here’s the same list since 1960. Rk Player OPS+ Year Age Tm G PA 2B 3B HR RBI BA OBP SLG 1 Will Clark 145 2000 36 TOT 130 507 30 2 21 70 .319 .418 .546 2 Mickey Mantle 143 1968 36 NYY 144 547 14 1 18 54 .237 .385 .398 3 Kirby Puckett 130 1995 35 MIN 137 602 39 0 23 99 .314 .379 .515 4 Doug Rader 116 1977 32 TOT 148 568 26 5 18 67 .251 .348 .437 5 Lyman Bostock 113 1978 27 CAL 147 637 24… Read more »

no statistician but

12 years ago

Reply to Andy

Andy @ #30:

Hope I can say that I like this list for what it shows.

The players on it vary from good to great, and it displays an interesting range of reasons for leaving the Big Leagues. Were any of these players actually cut from consideration? Three left to play in Japan, true, but was that voluntary, to get more playing time or $$$—or what? I don’t know. There was a controversy about Belle, too, but I don’t remember how it played out. At any rate, I appreciate your providing this alternative.

Brent

12 years ago

Reply to Andy

Roy Cullenbine’s 1947 season and his apparent inability to find major league work in 1948 should be Exhibit #1 in any argument that sabremetricians have with those who rely on traditional statistics to determine quality hitting.

Drew

12 years ago

Why can’t we count Bonds? Did he die in a plane crash?

K&J

12 years ago

Reply to Drew

I know, right?

Bonds: Because people just don’t like him.

The thing is Bonds didn’t retire. He wanted to play. He still had the skills. No takers.

He’s more or less the scapegoat of the steroid era. (If you think anything less than 75% of Major Leaguers were juicing circa 2005, then you’re deluding yourself.)

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to K&J

75% of the pitchers in MLB were using steroids? Really?

K&J

12 years ago

Reply to bstar

More hitters than pitchers, yes. But, of course, the majority of pitchers used. They used them differently, not to bulk up. More for recovery.

Jason Schmidt is a classic case for the effect of steroids for pitchers. Take a look at what happened to his numbers the SECOND he stared pitching in San Francisco in 2001.

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to K&J

Do you have any evidence to support your claim that 75% of all players were using?

K&J

12 years ago

Reply to K&J

Do you have any evidence to support your claim that Barry Bonds was using?

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to K&J

Huh? When did I mention Barry Bonds, K&J?

Hartvig

12 years ago

Reply to K&J

Either he did or his lawyer knowingly lied in court- which could be grounds for disbarment or even time in jail.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/lawyer-bonds-didnt-know-he-used-steroids/2011/03/22/AB5TcUIB_story.html

I would be comfortable betting everything that I have- my house, my car, my 401k, everything- that if we could go back in time and be a fly on the wall to see first hand that he was using steroids and he knew it.

BryanM

12 years ago

Andy; as always interesting list. Of the two lists, by far the most interesting is the “bang’ list; virtually all players “retire” when nobody will pay them to play anymore; how bad you have to be for that to happen depends much more on the circumstances of your last team at the time, that your overall level of suckitude ; of course some players on the second list never really had careers in the first place. On the other hand, it truly is rare for players to retire when they are still playing better than most everybody else; some potential… Read more »

Author

Andy

12 years ago

Reply to BryanM

Yeah I think what he meant was that Bonds was the poster child, not scapegoat.

BryanM

12 years ago

Reply to Andy

Andy; “poster child” is quite correct , no doubt Bonds was no more guilty than others, but any team that employed him would be seen to be impervious to public opinion, not the best marketing position in any business. BTW I think NSB’s “qualifier” rule is too restrictive, but maybe 200 PA is a little too lax — maybe 100 Games? — almost everyone on the “whimper” list has < 100 games

Drew

12 years ago

You realize that PEDs have virtually zero effect on baseball statistics, right?

MikeD

12 years ago

Reply to Drew

I’m usually in the camp of downplaying the overall impact of PEDs, but I would never say it’s had virtually zero impact. HGH alone has probably had little to zero impact, but the impact of steroids on athletic performance is strong. The question is how much does that traslate to a skill sport like baseball. It’s unknown since legitimte studies have not been performed on baseball players for obvious medical ethical reasons. The other question is if a cocktail of PEDs that include both steroids and HGH has any type of amplfying impact. Once again, not studies have been done.

12 years ago

Reply to MikeD

I’m with ya on this one MikeD. I’m a bit mystified that anyone could claim that PEDs have virtually zero impact on baseball stats, given that there have been no controlled experiments done (for the reasons you outline). And any sort of experiment would necessarily need to involve thousands and thousands of players, testing out various PEDs (alone and in combination) at various does levels.

W.k. kortas

12 years ago

Doug Strange and Kevin Polcovich. Welcome to the world of the long-time Pirate fan.