Quiz – Expansion Era Outfielders (solved) |

The players in this quiz are the only outfielders with a particular season accomplishment since 1961. What is this unusual feat?

Player
Carl Yastrzemski
Barry Bonds
Ken Griffey
Dave Parker
Lenny Dykstra
Al Kaline
Darin Erstad
Brian Jordan
Rickey Henderson
Ichiro Suzuki
Andruw Jones

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/20/2013.

Hint #1: none of these players accomplished this feat more than once.

Congratulations to bstar! He correctly identified these players as the only outfielders since 1961 with both 25 WAR Batting Runs and 25 WAR Fielding Runs (using B-R WAR). In fact, these are the only outfielders since 1901 to meet both criteria.

The Brewers’ Carlos Gomez has a chance to join this group. He’s already at 27 WAR Fielding Runs and is sitting on 17 WAR Batting Runs, so he’ll need to get healthy and get really hot with the bat the rest of the way. Even if he doesn’t make this group, he stands an even better chance at joining even more exclusive company – becoming just the 8th player at any position with a season since 1901 of 8 WAR from fewer than 25 WAR batting runs (maybe I should have made that the quiz). The 25/25 seasons for our quiz players, and the exclusive group Gomez seems destined to join are after the jump.

First, here are the 25/25 seasons for our quiz players.

Rk	Player	OPS+	Rbat	Rfield	WAR/pos	Year	Age	Tm	G	PA	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Carl Yastrzemski	171	47	25	10.4	1968	28	BOS	157	664	90	162	32	2	23	74	.301	.426	.495	.922
2	Barry Bonds	170	46	28	9.7	1990	25	PIT	151	621	104	156	32	3	33	114	.301	.406	.565	.970
3	Ken Griffey	154	39	32	9.6	1996	26	SEA	140	638	125	165	26	2	49	140	.303	.392	.628	1.020
4	Dave Parker	145	39	25	7.4	1977	26	PIT	159	706	107	215	44	8	21	88	.338	.397	.531	.927
5	Lenny Dykstra	138	29	25	8.9	1990	27	PHI	149	691	106	192	35	3	9	60	.325	.418	.441	.859
6	Al Kaline	138	39	29	8.4	1961	26	DET	153	665	116	190	41	7	19	82	.324	.393	.515	.909
7	Darin Erstad	137	35	29	8.3	2000	26	ANA	157	747	121	240	39	6	25	100	.355	.409	.541	.951
8	Brian Jordan	134	27	25	7.0	1998	31	STL	150	617	100	178	34	7	25	91	.316	.368	.534	.902
9	Rickey Henderson	132	32	25	8.6	1989	30	TOT	150	674	113	148	26	3	12	57	.274	.411	.399	.810
10	Ichiro Suzuki	130	36	30	9.2	2004	30	SEA	161	762	101	262	24	5	8	60	.372	.414	.455	.869
11	Andruw Jones	126	30	25	8.1	2000	23	ATL	161	729	122	199	36	6	36	104	.303	.366	.541	.907

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/20/2013.

And, he are the players with 8 WAR and fewer than 25 WAR batting runs.

Rk	Player	OPS+	Rbat	Rfield	WAR/pos	Year	Age	Tm	G	PA	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Barry Bonds	126	16	37	8.0	1989	24	PIT	159	679	96	144	34	6	19	58	.248	.351	.426	.777	*7
2	Frankie Frisch	124	23	37	9.2	1927	28	STL	153	693	112	208	31	11	10	78	.337	.387	.472	.858	*4/6
3	Terry Turner	124	15	34	9.4	1906	25	CLE	147	643	85	170	27	7	2	62	.291	.338	.372	.709	*6
4	Brooks Robinson	117	12	33	8.4	1968	31	BAL	162	667	65	154	36	6	17	75	.253	.304	.416	.720	*5
5	Bobby Grich	116	17	29	8.3	1973	24	BAL	162	700	82	146	29	7	12	50	.251	.373	.387	.760	*4
6	Willie Wilson	113	19	24	8.5	1980	24	KCR	161	745	133	230	28	15	3	49	.326	.357	.421	.778	*78
7	Willie Davis	110	12	29	8.4	1964	24	LAD	157	652	91	180	23	7	12	77	.294	.316	.413	.729	*8

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/20/2013.

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bstar

11 years ago

Hmmmm, I smell defense.

Erstad, Jordan, Ichiro, Andruw, Yaz, Cobra, Kaline…they were all (at least for awhile) great outfielders. Even Dykstra had a +25 fielding runs year.

Wait…I think I’ve got this.

25 or more fielding runs and 25 or more batting runs yields the 11 players above.

Author

Doug

Reply to bstar

Bingo.

Way to go, bstar!

If he can finish strong with the bat, Carlos Gomez will join the list (he’s currently at 17/27).

Thnx, Doug! There are only 4 infielders to accomplish this feat, a season with 25 or more batting and fielding runs:

-Albert Pujols, 2007
-Scott Rolen, 2004
-Chase Utley, 2008
-Ben Zobrist, 2009 & 2011

Zobrist is the only MLB player to have accomplished this seasonal feat twice.

Insert Name Here

Once again, Ben Zobrist emerges as the most underrated player of his time. Zobrist led the AL in WAR in both of those seasons (8.6 in 2009 and 8.8 in 2011). And yet the only time he was an All-Star before this season was when his own manager appointed him to the 2009 team, and IIRC everyone accused Maddon of favoritism not realizing how awesome Zobrist is…

Here’s a list of seasons with 25 or more fielding runs and fewer than minus 25 batting runs. player name, team season: Rbat / Rfield -Adam Everett, HOU 2006: -25 / +36 -Rey Sanchez, KCR/ATL 2001: -25 / +27 -Darin Erstad, ANA 1999: -25 / +30 -Mark Belanger, BAL 1968: -25 / +27 -Adam Everett, HOU 2005: -26 / +25 -Ozzie Guillen, CHW 1997: -26 / +28 -Woody Williams, CIN 1944: -26 / +26 -Rey Ordonez, NYM 1999: -30 / +33 -Tommy Thevenow, STL 1926: -32 / +28 -Clint Barmes, COL 2006: -38 / +26 So Adam Everett makes the… Read more »

… and Darin Erstad mysteriously shows up on this list and Doug’s original one. And in consecutive seasons, no less. That’s what happens when you add 100+ points to your BA, OBP and SLG, and almost double your OPS+. Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ 1999 25 ANA 142 638 585 84 148 22 5 13 53 47 101 .253 .308 .374 .683 74 2000 26 ANA 157 747 676 121 240 39 6 25 100 64 82 .355 .409 .541 .951 137 Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View… Read more »