Freddy Sanchez (and Joe Mauer) 2006 batting title
Posted by Andy on August 15, 2007
Freddy Sanchez won the National League batting title last year. His figure of .344 was the 2nd-lowest to lead the NL in the last 14 years. His full season last year was perhaps one of the least impressive ever for such a high batting average, due in large part to the fact that the Pirates were such a weak team.
Here's what I mean:
Here's the fewest extra base hits in a season since 1957 where the player had at least 600 PAs and hit at least .344:
Cnt Player **XB** BA PA Year Age Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+-------+-----+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Tony Gwynn 36 .351 675 1984 24 SDP NL 158 606 88 213 21 10 5 71 59 13 23 2 6 2 15 33 18 .410 .444 .854 *9/8 2 Ichiro Suzuki 37 .372 762 2004 30 SEA AL 161 704 101 262 24 5 8 60 49 19 63 4 2 3 6 36 11 .414 .455 .869 *9/D 3 Rod Carew 38 .364 690 1974 28 MIN AL 153 599 86 218 30 5 3 55 74 9 49 1 13 3 17 38 16 .433 .446 .879 *4 4 Richie Ashburn 39 .350 725 1958 31 PHI NL 152 615 98 215 24 13 2 33 97 7 48 4 7 2 8 30 12 .440 .441 .881 *8 5 Rod Carew 42 .359 617 1975 29 MIN AL 143 535 89 192 24 4 14 80 64 18 40 1 7 10 10 35 9 .421 .497 .918 *43/D 6 Rod Carew 47 .350 657 1973 27 MIN AL 149 580 98 203 30 11 6 62 62 9 55 2 7 6 16 41 16 .411 .471 .882 *4 7 Ichiro Suzuki 50 .350 738 2001 27 SEA AL 157 692 127 242 34 8 8 69 30 10 53 8 4 4 3 56 14 .381 .457 .838 *9/D 8 Ralph Garr 52 .353 645 1974 28 ATL NL 143 606 87 214 24 17 11 54 28 10 52 2 8 1 6 26 16 .383 .503 .886 *7*9 9 Joe Mauer 53 .347 608 2006 23 MIN AL 140 521 86 181 36 4 13 84 79 21 54 1 0 7 24 8 3 .429 .507 .936 *2D 10 Wade Boggs 53 .368 758 1985 27 BOS AL 161 653 107 240 42 3 8 78 96 5 61 4 3 2 20 2 1 .450 .478 .928 *5 11 Willie McGee 54 .353 652 1985 26 STL NL 152 612 114 216 26 18 10 82 34 2 86 0 1 5 3 56 16 .384 .503 .887 *8/7 12 Wade Boggs 56 .366 719 1988 30 BOS AL 155 584 128 214 45 6 5 58 125 18 34 3 0 7 23 2 3 .476 .490 .966 *5/D 13 Tony Gwynn 56 .370 680 1987 27 SDP NL 157 589 119 218 36 13 7 54 82 26 35 3 2 4 13 56 12 .447 .511 .958 *9 14 Wade Boggs 56 .361 685 1983 25 BOS AL 153 582 100 210 44 7 5 74 92 2 36 1 3 7 15 3 3 .444 .486 .930 *5 15 Wade Boggs 57 .357 693 1986 28 BOS AL 149 580 107 207 47 2 8 71 105 14 44 0 4 4 11 0 4 .453 .486 .939 *5 16 Harvey Kuenn 58 .353 617 1959 28 DET AL 139 561 99 198 42 7 9 71 48 1 37 1 3 4 6 7 2 .402 .501 .903 *98 17 Roberto Clemente 59 .357 632 1967 32 PIT NL 147 585 103 209 26 10 23 110 41 17 103 3 0 3 15 9 1 .400 .554 .954 *9/8 18 Pete Rose 60 .348 728 1969 28 CIN NL 156 627 120 218 33 11 16 82 88 18 65 5 2 6 13 7 10 .428 .512 .940 *98/4 19 Freddy Sanchez 61 .344 632 2006 28 PIT NL 157 582 85 200 53 2 6 85 31 6 52 7 3 9 12 3 2 .378 .473 .851 *564 20 John Olerud 62 .354 665 1998 29 NYM NL 160 557 91 197 36 4 22 93 96 11 73 4 1 7 15 2 2 .447 .551 .998 *3 21 Cecil Cooper 62 .352 678 1980 30 MIL AL 153 622 96 219 33 4 25 122 39 15 42 2 7 8 16 17 6 .387 .539 .926 *3D
Sanchez comes in at #19, one of just a few recent seasons to make this list. Ichiro's 2004 performance is good enough for second, but at least he stole 36 bases and had on OBP of .414. Keep in mind, too that 53 out of 61 of Sanchez' XBHs were doubles (as opposed to more valuable triples and homers--see below for more on this.)
Speaking of OBP and SLG, here are the lowest OPS in a season since 1957 where the player had as least 600 PAs and hit at least .344:
Cnt Player **SLG** BA PA Year Age Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS OBP OPS Positions +----+-----------------+---------+-----+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Richie Ashburn .441 .350 725 1958 31 PHI NL 152 615 98 215 24 13 2 33 97 7 48 4 7 2 8 30 12 .440 .881 *8 2 Tony Gwynn .444 .351 675 1984 24 SDP NL 158 606 88 213 21 10 5 71 59 13 23 2 6 2 15 33 18 .410 .854 *9/8 3 Rod Carew .446 .364 690 1974 28 MIN AL 153 599 86 218 30 5 3 55 74 9 49 1 13 3 17 38 16 .433 .879 *4 4 Ichiro Suzuki .455 .372 762 2004 30 SEA AL 161 704 101 262 24 5 8 60 49 19 63 4 2 3 6 36 11 .414 .869 *9/D 5 Ichiro Suzuki .457 .350 738 2001 27 SEA AL 157 692 127 242 34 8 8 69 30 10 53 8 4 4 3 56 14 .381 .838 *9/D 6 Rod Carew .471 .350 657 1973 27 MIN AL 149 580 98 203 30 11 6 62 62 9 55 2 7 6 16 41 16 .411 .882 *4 7 Freddy Sanchez .473 .344 632 2006 28 PIT NL 157 582 85 200 53 2 6 85 31 6 52 7 3 9 12 3 2 .378 .851 *564 8 Wade Boggs .478 .368 758 1985 27 BOS AL 161 653 107 240 42 3 8 78 96 5 61 4 3 2 20 2 1 .450 .928 *5 9 Wade Boggs .486 .357 693 1986 28 BOS AL 149 580 107 207 47 2 8 71 105 14 44 0 4 4 11 0 4 .453 .939 *5 10 Wade Boggs .486 .361 685 1983 25 BOS AL 153 582 100 210 44 7 5 74 92 2 36 1 3 7 15 3 3 .444 .930 *5 11 Wade Boggs .490 .366 719 1988 30 BOS AL 155 584 128 214 45 6 5 58 125 18 34 3 0 7 23 2 3 .476 .966 *5/D 12 Rod Carew .497 .359 617 1975 29 MIN AL 143 535 89 192 24 4 14 80 64 18 40 1 7 10 10 35 9 .421 .918 *43/D 13 Harvey Kuenn .501 .353 617 1959 28 DET AL 139 561 99 198 42 7 9 71 48 1 37 1 3 4 6 7 2 .402 .903 *98 14 Willie McGee .503 .353 652 1985 26 STL NL 152 612 114 216 26 18 10 82 34 2 86 0 1 5 3 56 16 .384 .887 *8/7 15 Ralph Garr .503 .353 645 1974 28 ATL NL 143 606 87 214 24 17 11 54 28 10 52 2 8 1 6 26 16 .383 .886 *7*9 16 Joe Mauer .507 .347 608 2006 23 MIN AL 140 521 86 181 36 4 13 84 79 21 54 1 0 7 24 8 3 .429 .936 *2D 17 Tony Gwynn .511 .370 680 1987 27 SDP NL 157 589 119 218 36 13 7 54 82 26 35 3 2 4 13 56 12 .447 .958 *9 18 Pete Rose .512 .348 728 1969 28 CIN NL 156 627 120 218 33 11 16 82 88 18 65 5 2 6 13 7 10 .428 .940 *98/4 19 Keith Hernandez .513 .344 698 1979 25 STL NL 161 610 116 210 48 11 11 105 80 5 78 1 0 7 9 11 6 .417 .930 *3 20 Tommy Davis .535 .346 711 1962 23 LAD NL 163 665 120 230 27 9 27 153 33 6 65 2 3 8 17 18 6 .374 .909 *758/9
Sanchez climbs to 7th on this list of worst OPS. Isn't it a statistical oddity how Ichiro and Boggs' seasons all cluster on this list? And let's not fail to mention that Joe Mauer's batting-title winning season of 2006 also makes both of these lists.
And finally, here are the only 25 seasons since 1901 where a player had at least 50 doubles, but no more than 70 extra-base hits total:
Cnt Player Year 2B XB Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+----+--+---+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Michael Young 2006 52 69 29 TEX AL 162 748 691 93 217 3 14 103 48 0 96 1 0 8 27 7 3 .314 .356 .459 .815 *6/D 2 Freddy Sanchez 2006 53 61 28 PIT NL 157 632 582 85 200 2 6 85 31 6 52 7 3 9 12 3 2 .344 .378 .473 .851 *564 3 Luis Gonzalez 2006 52 69 38 ARI NL 153 668 586 93 159 2 15 73 69 10 58 7 0 6 14 0 1 .271 .352 .444 .796 *7/D 4 Brian Roberts 2004 50 56 26 BAL AL 159 734 641 107 175 2 4 53 71 1 95 1 15 6 3 29 12 .273 .344 .376 .720 *4/D 5 Lyle Overbay 2004 53 70 27 MIL NL 159 668 579 83 174 1 16 87 81 9 128 2 0 6 11 2 1 .301 .385 .478 .863 *3 6 Jeff Cirillo 2000 53 66 30 COL NL 157 684 598 111 195 2 11 115 67 4 72 6 1 12 19 3 4 .326 .392 .477 .869 *5 7 Mark Grudzielanek 1997 54 61 27 MON NL 156 688 649 76 177 3 4 51 23 0 76 10 3 3 13 25 9 .273 .307 .384 .691 *6 8 Mark Grace 1995 51 70 31 CHC NL 143 627 552 97 180 3 16 92 65 9 46 2 1 7 10 6 2 .326 .395 .516 .911 *3 9 Wade Boggs 1989 51 61 31 BOS AL 156 742 621 113 205 7 3 54 107 19 51 7 0 7 19 2 6 .330 .430 .449 .879 *5/D 10 Pete Rose 1978 51 61 37 CIN NL 159 729 655 103 198 3 7 52 62 6 30 3 2 7 8 13 9 .302 .362 .421 .783 *5/73 11 George Kell 1950 56 70 27 DET AL 157 724 641 114 218 6 8 101 66 0 18 1 16 0 23 3 3 .340 .403 .484 .887 *5 12 Mickey Vernon 1946 51 67 28 WSH AL 148 638 587 88 207 8 8 85 49 0 64 0 2 0 12 14 10 .353 .403 .508 .911 *3 13 Enos Slaughter 1939 52 69 23 STL NL 149 664 604 95 193 5 12 86 44 0 53 5 11 0 11 2 0 .320 .371 .482 .853 *9 14 Paul Waner 1936 53 67 33 PIT NL 148 666 585 107 218 9 5 94 74 0 29 3 4 0 15 7 0 .373 .446 .520 .966 *9 15 Billy Herman 1936 57 69 26 CHC NL 153 709 632 101 211 7 5 93 59 0 30 1 17 0 16 5 0 .334 .392 .470 .862 *4 16 Ben Chapman 1936 50 65 27 TOT AL 133 628 540 110 170 10 5 81 84 0 38 1 3 0 0 20 9 .315 .408 .472 .880 *8 17 Billy Herman 1935 57 70 25 CHC NL 154 735 666 113 227 6 7 83 42 0 29 3 24 0 17 6 0 .341 .383 .476 .859 *4 18 Charlie Gehringer 1934 50 68 31 DET AL 154 708 601 134 214 7 11 127 99 0 25 3 5 0 0 11 8 .356 .450 .517 .967 *4 19 Johnny Hodapp 1930 51 68 24 CLE AL 154 687 635 111 225 8 9 121 32 0 29 1 19 0 0 6 5 .354 .386 .502 .888 *4 20 George Burns 1927 51 56 34 CLE AL 140 607 549 84 175 2 3 78 42 0 27 7 9 0 0 13 11 .319 .375 .435 .810 *3 21 Tris Speaker 1926 52 67 38 CLE AL 150 661 539 96 164 8 7 86 94 0 15 0 28 0 0 6 1 .304 .408 .469 .877 *8 22 Baby Doll Jacobso 1926 51 61 35 TOT AL 148 635 576 62 172 2 8 90 31 0 36 2 26 0 0 5 3 .299 .337 .436 .773 *89/7 23 Tris Speaker 1921 52 69 33 CLE AL 132 588 506 107 183 14 3 75 68 0 12 2 12 0 0 2 4 .362 .439 .538 .977 *8 24 Tris Speaker 1920 50 69 32 CLE AL 150 674 552 137 214 11 8 107 97 0 13 5 20 0 0 10 13 .388 .483 .562 1.045 *8 25 Nap Lajoie 1910 51 62 35 CLE AL 159 677 591 94 227 7 4 76 60 0 0 5 21 0 0 26 0 .384 .445 .514 .959 *43
Even though he's hitting .305 so far this year, Sanchez' other numbers are ever worse than in 2006. Interestingly, when it came to MVP voting last year, Sanchez ranked 17th in the NL while Mauer ranked 6th in the AL. Both had quite unproductive seasons for such high batting averages (not to say their seasons were unproductive overall) but Mauer probably got more votes because his team had a much better record and went to the playoffs.
August 15th, 2007 at 11:47 am
I'll stick up for Boggs and Mauer. Wade's OBPs during his four years on the second were all around .450 -- that's disgustingly valuable even if you only slug .480. (Compare that to Ichiro's 2001 when he batted .350 but only had an OBP of .380. That's so weak in comparison.)
As for Mauer, he's a *catcher*. With a .940 OPS. Which is OBP-heavy. He was definitely more valuable than Morneau, and could have given Jeter a run for MVP with a few more PAs.
August 15th, 2007 at 11:59 am
You realize Morneau actually won the MVP, right? It's only in our memories that Jeter won.
The real point of my post was to show how amazingly low-value Sanchez' season was, not Mauer's.
August 15th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Yes, I totally get your point about Sanchez, and definitely agree. Really makes you wonder about the unqualified reverence people give batting champs.
The line in my head between who really won the MVP and who should have won the MVP last year has already started to gray. I should be more careful ; )
August 15th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Jeter can have Mourneau's MVP, but Johan gets Bartolo Colon's Cy Young. If we're giving awards to who actually deserved them, Rafael Palmeiro owes a 1999 Gold Glove to SOMEBODY- Mike Stanley, Jeff Conine, Darin Erstad, Paul Konerko, I don't care.
August 16th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
That Palmeiro Gold Glove was nonsense. To me, it completely invalidated the whole Gold Glove system. Before that, I was willing to accept the fact that players won based more on reputation than on actual performance, and that incumbent winners usually had to be ousted by a young, flashy player to stop getting the award. But Palmeiro winning was sheer utter nonsense.
Perhaps if Mike Greenwell one day gets his 1988 AL MVP award (as he has said he thinks he should, see http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1993112), somebody will get Palmeiro's GG on the same grounds.
August 16th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
Randy Johnson should have had Clemens' Cy Young in 2004. He had better stats right across the board in everything but wins and losses.