Top ten part-time batter seasons from the last 30 years

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Here’s an interesting set of players–these are guys with at least 20 batting runs, no more than 400 plate appearances, and a ratio between the two of at least 8 batting runs per 100 PAs.

Rk	Player	PA	Rbat	Year	Tm	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Kevin Mitchell	380	36	1994	CIN	95	310	57	101	18	1	30	77	.326	.429	.681	1.110	*7/3
2	Justin Morneau	348	34	2010	MIN	81	296	53	102	25	1	18	56	.345	.437	.618	1.055	*3/D
3	Jim Thome	340	32	2010	MIN	108	276	48	78	16	2	25	59	.283	.412	.627	1.039	*D
4	Hubie Brooks	338	28	1986	MON	80	306	50	104	18	5	14	58	.340	.388	.569	.956	*6
5	Mark McGwire	321	39	2000	STL	89	236	60	72	8	0	32	73	.305	.483	.746	1.229	*3/467
6	Matt Williams	318	30	1995	SFG	76	283	53	95	17	1	23	65	.336	.399	.647	1.046	*5
7	Gary Sheffield	274	26	1995	FLA	63	213	46	69	8	0	16	46	.324	.467	.587	1.054	*9/7
8	Jack Clark	249	22	1984	SFG	57	203	33	65	9	1	11	44	.320	.434	.537	.971	*9/3
9	Johnny Grubb	243	20	1986	DET	81	210	32	70	13	1	13	51	.333	.412	.590	1.002	*D79
10	Frank Thomas	240	20	1990	CHW	60	191	39	63	11	3	7	31	.330	.454	.529	.983	*3/D

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/30/2012.

Pretty interesting, huh?

A few random notes:

It’s awesome to see two members of the 2010 Twins on the same list.
Kevin Mitchell (1994), Matt Williams (1995), and Gary Sheffield (1995) all did it in strike-shortened seasons.
Johnny Grubb rarely played full-time. After his Age 27 season, he had 10 years where he didn’t top 400 plate appearances, and only 1 where he did. The guy finished with a 121 OPS+ in his career.
Hubie Brooks put up his best season (rate-wise, at least) in 1986, posting a 161 OPS+ despite a career mark of 100.

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Brandon

12 years ago

Johnny Grubb, always a fan favorite in Detroit, caught fire that summer.
It was incredible to watch as a guy who usually pinch hit and rarely started. IIRC Grubb initially got playing time for an injured Kirk Gibson and did well. Later he earned some at bats as a DH and just went nuts at the plate. From July 1 to Aug 17, a stretch that included his 38th birthday, Grubb batted .378/.438/.745 with 9 HR in 112 plate appearances.
The next year he batted .202.

Hartvig

12 years ago

Reply to Brandon

He was a favorite of mine as well during his Detroit tenure, at first largely because of his name. But his “breakout” season is also about the time I was first introduced to Bill James and eventually I became aware that in his seasons in Detroit leading up to that year he was considerably more valuable than I had thought because of the excellent job he had done at getting on base. I also find the Morneau/Thome appearance on this list kind of doubly satisfying because without the injury to Morneau Thome may not have had sufficient at bats to… Read more »

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

Reply to Brandon

I better remember Grubb in ’84 as part of the Tigers’ terrific trio of backup outfielders. Grubb, Ruppert Jones and Rusty Kuntz all had OPS+ of 125-137 and played about 80 games but had just 168-237 PAs. So I just did a search for teams with the most players with 150-300 PAs and OPS+ at least 120. Fifteen teams in modern history had 3 such players, but none since 1998, obviously because of more roster spots used for relievers. Four of those 15 teams were in 1984: the Tigers, Expos, Reds and Phillies, the last of whom had four such… Read more »

12 years ago

Reply to John Autin

Here’s a recent interview with Johnny Grubb: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/a-conversation-with-johnny-grubb/ And we have another instance of a player not remembering things accurately. Here’s what Grubb says about his MLB debut: “I remember we played against Atlanta and Ron Reed was the first pitcher I faced in the major leagues. He got me out the first time I came up; I got a base hit—the single—the second time up. It’s funny things like that that you remember: your first home run, your first hit, your first at-bat, those things stick in your mind.” He’s close but not quite. Reed did get him out… Read more »

Hartvig

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

Are you trying to say those memories I have of me and Farrah Fawcett and Cheryl Tiegs from my college days may not be real?

Dr. Doom

12 years ago

2010 with the Twins was an interesting one. Thome was a surprise signing, with people thinking he was done already. That 2010 season basically earned him jobs the last 3 years. Morneau, as you’ll recall, was having a season for the ages (he was on pace for something like 10 WAR) before he got concussed on what seemed like a routine slide into second base. He’s never been the same. And, by the way, that Twins team STILL won their division, and nearly had the best record in the AL, in spite of their two most productive offensive players getting… Read more »

Voomo Zanzibar

12 years ago

Reply to Dr. Doom

The two best part-time seasons of all time (by this metric) were teammates in the same year. That is amazing.
(I’m saying this while throwing out the Kevin Mitchell case – 95 games out of a possible 115 just isn’t part time. Really, we should just throw out all statistics from 1994. Just a mess to put them into any meaningful perspective.)

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to Voomo Zanzibar

True about 1994. Here’s a couple close calls from ’94 and ’95 that had just over 400 PA:

David Justice ’94 Atlanta 28 Rbat, 424 PA
Mark McGwire ’95 Oakland 51(!) Rbat, 422 PA

12 years ago

For a guy with a career 121 OPS+, Johnny Grubb has a surprisingly low number of runs and RBIs relative to his plate appearances.

Jason Z

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

I love a list like this. The best thing on this list is Johnny Grubb. My first reaction was that Grubb does not belong. At first glance my thought was that he must be the worst offensive player on this list. My first shock was Ed pointing out that Grubb has a career 121 OPS+. I realized right there that I had underestimated Grubb from his playing days. Upon further research I learned something. In fact, I usually do learn something when I come here. I guess that is why I am here so frequently. In any event, what I… Read more »

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

Reply to Jason Z

Grubb didn’t hit lefties, so he was lucky to come along at a good time for platoon players. After near full-time play in his first few years, it was clear that he wasn’t effective against lefties, and he was pretty strictly platooned after that.

He wound up facing a RHP in 85% of his career PAs, which helped him compile that 121 OPS+. Had he remained a full-timer — and considering that the percentage of innings thrown by southpaws was higher than normal during his platoon years — it probably would have dropped his OPS+ by 5 to 10 points.

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

More on Grubb and his inability to score or drive in runs. There are 246 players with an OPS+ between 116 and 126 and more than 3,000 PAs. Only 16 of those players, Grubb being one of them, drove in less than one run every 10 plate appearances. Now, the other 15 are hardly a list of guys you wouldn’t want to be associated with. It includes Pete Rose and Tim Raines for example. However, of the 16, Grubb had the lowest rate of scoring runs. His runs/PAs ratio is .115. Next lowest is Johnny Bates at .123. At the… Read more »

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

Reply to Ed

Grubb’s teams’ rank in league scoring: 1973 Padres — last, waaaaay last, 3.38 R/G 1974 Padres — last, waaaaay last, 3.34 R/G 1975 Padres — last, waaaaay last, 3.41 R/G 1976 Padres — next-to-last, 3.52 R/G 1977 Indians — 9th, 4.20 R/G 1978 Indians — 10th, 4.02 R/G 1979 Rangers — 9th, 4.63 R/G 1980 Rangers — 7th, 4.64 R/G 1981 Rangers — 5th, 4.30 R/G 1982 Rangers — last, waaaaay last, 3.64 R/G 1973-76 were Grubb’s 4 busiest years, accounting for 42% of his career PAs — and those teams averaged less than 3.5 R/G. The 1983-86 Tigers had… Read more »

Author

Andy

12 years ago

Reply to John Autin

Grubb certainly moved around the lineup a lot. Over the course of his career, he had at least 7% of his career plate appearances in EACH batting order position 1 through 7. The most he had in any one position was 19.7%, batting leadoff, which may also partially explain his low R/RBI totals.

no statistician but

12 years ago

For a little quiz, here’s a line that could fit in Andy’s chart. It’s from the live ball era, but not that of a power hitter.

Whose is it?

PA: 283 Rbat: 21 R: 48 H: 92 HR: 7 RBI: 48 BA: .368 OBP: .436 SLG: .564 OPS: 1.000

John Nacca

12 years ago

Reply to no statistician but

Grrrr, am not a subscriber to bbref……..

Hartvig

12 years ago

Reply to no statistician but

I thought perhaps Debs Garms in the year he won his disputed batting title but the Plate Appearances and looked a little too low and OBP a little too high. Turns out I was right.

no statistician but

12 years ago

Reply to no statistician but

A hint or two:

This player was an important part of three WS teams as a player and hit one of the most famous home runs in WS history.

no statistician but

12 years ago

Reply to no statistician but

Oh. And he’s also in the HOF.

Hartvig

12 years ago

Reply to no statistician but

I came back to this thinking maybe I had the answer- at least until I read your hints & saw Richard’s post. My guess would have been Smoky Joe Wood. Which, of course, was also wrong.

But I still like playing.

Richard Chester

12 years ago

Reply to no statistician but

I got the answer right away by using the PI but I thought I would give other people a chance to solve it. It was Casey Stengel. And if you’re smart enough you can find the answer without being a PI subscriber.

no statistician but

12 years ago

Reply to Richard Chester

Let’s not always see the same hands. I almost said you were disqualified, R.C. But, since no one else seemed up to speed, you win the free, no expenses paid, trip to Paducah.

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to no statistician but

Off-topic, sorry. nsb, you’re a Kentucky boy? I was born in Lexington and my parents went to UK, and my sister lives in Bardstown.

no statistician but

12 years ago

Reply to bstar

Nope. Born in Indiana but grew up in Danville, Illinois, which I consider my home town, even though I drove through it for the first time in 25 years last spring. Paducah? Well, it’s south of Danville, I guess. First place with a funny sounding name that came to mind. Paris, Illinois, might have been
a better choice. It’s south of Danville, too, and would make an even better prize.

Jason Z

12 years ago

Reply to bstar

Off-off topic, It is hard to a free trip to Paducah, Kentucky.

My suggestion is located less than 175 miles away. A small town called Santa Claus, Indiana.

bstar

12 years ago

Reply to bstar

That’s Jay Cutler’s hometown, isn’t it, Jason?

Jason Z

12 years ago

Reply to bstar

yes it is. I used to drive through it every day when I was working up that way during summer break, back in 1988.

Artie Z.

12 years ago

To me, only Thome, and maybe Grubb, really qualify as “part-time” players. Thome played 108 games, starting 78 and coming off the bench (probably for defensive purposes) in 30 other games. The most consecutive team games he missed was 8, near the end of the season. He missed 3 consecutive team games one other time, and then it was either 1 or 2 games. Everyone else on the list can be classified as (1) strike year player (Mitchell), (2) rookie call-up (Thomas), or (3) injured for a good chunk of the season (everyone else including Sheffield and Williams in 1995;… Read more »

Hartvig

12 years ago

Reply to Artie Z.

Prior to Morneau’s injury Thome was used in large part just as a pinch hitter. He started DHing more often after that point. He didn’t play a single game in the field that year. He’s actually played less than a couple of handfuls of games in the field since the 2005 season even though he spent one of those years in the National League.

e pluribus munu

12 years ago

Interesting group of players, Andy. Is it purposely limited in time span? I notice that Dusty Rhodes, for example, has 21 Rbat in 1954, with only 186 PA (.341/.410/.695).

e pluribus munu

12 years ago

Reply to e pluribus munu

Oh. Just saw the headline. Must have read the text ten times — the headline, not so much. (Not mention missing it a dozen times in the “recent comments” bar.)

kds

12 years ago

Reply to e pluribus munu

Also, Willie Mccovey’s rookie year, 1959. 23 Rbat in 219 PA. (.354/.429/.656).

Editor

Doug

12 years ago

For a different take on “part-time” players, I looked at the 180 players with 5 or more seasons of 200 to 400 PAs, since 1983. These guys (includes lots of backup catchers) produced just 7 seasons combined, with 20+ batting runs in one of their part-time seasons. Rk Player Rbat PA Year Age Tm G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Pos 1 Matt Williams 30 318 1995 29 SFG 76 283 53 95 17 1 23 65 30 58 .336 .399 .647 1.046 *5 2 Tim Teufel 25 351 1987 28 NYM… Read more »

leatherman

12 years ago

Reply to Doug

Although he doesn’t qualify under either your terms or the terms of the original post, this thread isn’t complete without mentioning Ken Phelps. Phelps was certainly a part-time player for his entire career, with the possible exception of 1986 and 1987, where he played at least 120 games and had 400 PAs (he never had 400 PAs in any other season). In 1984, he had 18 batting runs in 360 PAs, and in 1988, he had 23 batting runs in 371 PAs (for two teams). During the peak of his career from 1984-1988, Phelps had 93 batting runs in just… Read more »

Editor

Doug

12 years ago

Reply to leatherman

I’ll always remember Ken Phelps spoiling Brian Holman’s perfect game bid with a pinch-hit HR with two outs in the 9th. Hit the first pitch down the right-field line.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK199004200.shtml

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

Reply to leatherman

All hail Ken Phelps, honorary captain of the Ken Phelps All-Stars!

For 1984-88, min. 1500 PAs:

OPS+ — Boggs 154, Strawberry 151, Mattingly 150, and Phelps/J.Clark/P.Guerrero tied at 149.

OBP — Boggs .449, J.Clark .407, Raines .400, Henderson .396, and Phelps/Brett/Gwynn tied at .395.

Wayne

12 years ago

Matt stairs bluejays 2007. Rance mulliniks bluejays 1985 and tony Clark diamondbacks 2005 I believe should be on this list. Look up the numbers. I don’t have them handy but great seasons and they were bench or platoon players

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

Reply to Wayne

Wayne — Those were all terrific partial seasons, but they didn’t fit the list criteria. Stairs in 2007 had 405 PAs, so he was just above the cutoff for this list. Ditto Mulliniks in ’85 with 427 PAs. Tony Clark missed the list because he had only 6.1 WAR batting runs to per 100 PAs. The list required at least 8 runs per 100 PAs. The same thing kept Mulliniks from making this list for his best season, 1988. (By the way, the list doesn’t show OPS+, but they were all at least 161, whereas Clark’s was 154, Mulliniks ’88… Read more »

Mike A.

12 years ago

I don’t think McGwire really played any second or short in 2000, as entertaining as that might have been to watch.

Editor

John Autin

12 years ago

Reply to Mike A.

Mike A, you’re right, of course, in the big picture — McGwire had no defensive innings at SS or 2B in 2000, nor any other season. However, he did officially start four games at 2B, one game at SS and one in LF. In those games — all in September, after a long DL stint — he batted in the top of the 1st and then was replaced by a real fielder. They were trying to get him tuned up for the postseason; he was not able to play in the field at all that month, and ultimately, his six… Read more »

FClingenpeel, Jr.

12 years ago

I am somewhat surprised not to see Tito Francona on this list anywhere. His 1959 season must certainly fit in here somewhere.

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