They don’t make ’em like they used to

Posted by Andy on December 6, 2009

I was just looking at Tommy Henrich's stats. Raphy already put together a nice post showing how productive Henrich was later in his career. His 1948 season shows a rare combination of power, speed, and production.

Below I have listed all batting seasons since 1901 in which the batter had at least 14 triples, 100 RBI, and no more than 42 strikeouts. As you can see, this used to be very commonplace but has virtually disappeared since 1948, when both Henrich and Stan Musial accomplished the criteria. The only guy to do it since was George Brett in 1979. Chances are slim that we'll ever see such a season again as very few players hit 14 triples in a season and not too many guys drive in 100 runs without striking out at least 43 times (the only guys do to this last feat since 1979 are Brett, Cecil Cooper, Bill Buckner, Don Mattingly, Mike Greenwell, Gary Sheffield, Tony Gwynn, Nomar Garciaparra, and Barry Bonds. See here for the full list.)

After the jump is the full list of the 14 3B, 100 RBI, < 42 K players.

Rk	Player	Year	3B	RBI	SO	Age	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	BB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	George Brett	1979	20	107	36	26	KCR	154	701	645	119	212	42	23	51	.329	.376	.563	.939	*5/3D
2	Stan Musial	1948	18	131	34	27	STL	155	694	611	135	230	46	39	79	.376	.450	.702	1.152	987/3
3	Tommy Henrich	1948	14	100	42	35	NYY	146	673	588	138	181	42	25	76	.308	.391	.554	.945	*93/78
4	Stan Musial	1946	20	103	31	25	STL	156	702	624	124	228	50	16	73	.365	.434	.587	1.021	*37
5	Bob Elliott	1944	16	108	42	27	PIT	143	617	538	85	160	28	10	75	.297	.383	.465	.848	*5/6
6	Cecil Travis	1941	19	101	25	27	WSH	152	663	608	106	218	39	7	52	.359	.410	.520	.930	*65
7	Joe DiMaggio	1937	15	167	37	22	NYY	151	692	621	151	215	35	46	64	.346	.412	.673	1.085	*8
8	Joe DiMaggio	1936	15	125	39	21	NYY	138	668	637	132	206	44	29	24	.323	.352	.576	.928	789
9	Earl Averill	1936	15	126	35	34	CLE	152	682	614	136	232	39	28	65	.378	.438	.627	1.065	*8
10	Joe Vosmik	1935	20	110	30	25	CLE	152	688	620	93	216	47	10	59	.348	.408	.537	.946	*7
11	Earl Averill	1932	14	124	40	30	CLE	153	712	631	116	198	37	32	75	.314	.392	.569	.961	*8
12	Heinie Manush	1932	14	116	29	30	WSH	149	677	625	121	214	41	14	36	.342	.383	.520	.903	*7
13	Bill Terry	1931	20	112	36	32	NYG	153	662	611	121	213	43	9	47	.349	.397	.529	.926	*3
14	Pie Traynor	1931	15	103	28	32	PIT	155	677	615	81	183	37	2	54	.298	.354	.416	.771	*5
15	Joe Vosmik	1931	14	117	30	21	CLE	149	640	591	80	189	36	7	38	.320	.363	.464	.827	*7/8
16	Al Simmons	1930	16	165	34	28	PHA	138	611	554	152	211	41	36	39	.381	.423	.708	1.130	*7/8
17	Adam Comorosky	1930	23	119	33	24	PIT	152	685	597	112	187	47	12	51	.313	.371	.529	.900	*78
18	Bill Terry	1930	15	129	33	31	NYG	154	710	633	139	254	39	23	57	.401	.452	.619	1.071	*3
19	Carl Reynolds	1930	18	104	39	27	CHW	138	602	563	103	202	25	22	20	.359	.388	.584	.973	897
20	Lew Fonseca	1929	15	103	23	30	CLE	148	643	566	97	209	44	6	50	.369	.427	.532	.959	*3
21	Charlie Gehringer	1929	19	106	19	26	DET	155	715	634	131	215	45	13	64	.339	.405	.532	.936	*4
22	Pinky Whitney	1929	14	115	35	24	PHI	154	697	612	89	200	43	8	61	.327	.390	.482	.872	*5
23	Paul Waner	1929	15	100	24	26	PIT	151	703	596	131	200	43	15	89	.336	.424	.534	.958	*9/3
24	Heinie Manush	1928	20	108	14	26	SLB	154	697	638	104	241	47	13	39	.378	.414	.575	.989	*7
25	Paul Waner	1927	18	131	14	24	PIT	155	709	623	114	237	42	9	60	.380	.437	.549	.986	*93
Rk	Player	Year	3B	RBI	SO	Age	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	BB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
26	Goose Goslin	1927	15	120	28	26	WSH	148	659	581	96	194	37	13	50	.334	.392	.516	.908	*7/8
27	Goose Goslin	1926	15	108	38	25	WSH	147	656	568	105	201	26	17	63	.354	.425	.542	.967	*78
28	George Sisler	1925	15	105	24	32	SLB	150	688	649	100	224	21	12	27	.345	.371	.479	.851	*3/1
29	Jack Fournier	1925	16	130	39	35	BRO	145	649	545	99	191	21	22	86	.350	.446	.569	1.015	*3
30	Zack Wheat	1925	14	103	22	37	BRO	150	670	616	125	221	42	14	45	.359	.403	.541	.944	*7
31	Pie Traynor	1925	14	106	19	26	PIT	150	658	591	114	189	39	6	52	.320	.377	.464	.840	*5/6
32	Wally Pipp	1924	19	114	36	31	NYY	153	663	589	88	174	30	9	51	.295	.352	.457	.808	*3
33	Goose Goslin	1924	17	129	29	23	WSH	154	673	579	100	199	30	12	68	.344	.421	.516	.937	*7
34	Harry Heilmann	1924	16	114	41	29	DET	153	678	570	107	197	45	10	78	.346	.428	.533	.961	*9/3
35	Irish Meusel	1923	14	125	16	30	NYG	146	649	595	102	177	22	19	38	.297	.341	.477	.818	*7
36	Pie Traynor	1923	19	101	19	24	PIT	153	661	616	108	208	19	12	34	.338	.377	.489	.866	*5/6
37	Irish Meusel	1922	17	132	33	29	NYG	154	676	617	100	204	28	16	35	.331	.369	.509	.877	*7
38	George Sisler	1922	18	105	14	29	SLB	142	654	586	134	246	42	8	49	.420	.467	.594	1.061	*3
39	Baby Doll Jacobso	1922	16	102	36	31	SLB	145	629	555	88	176	22	9	46	.317	.379	.463	.842	*87/39
40	Frankie Frisch	1921	17	100	28	22	NYG	153	687	618	121	211	31	8	42	.341	.384	.485	.870	*54
41	Harry Heilmann	1921	14	139	37	26	DET	149	672	602	114	237	43	19	53	.394	.444	.606	1.051	*9/3
42	Ty Cobb	1921	16	101	19	34	DET	128	581	507	124	197	37	12	56	.389	.452	.596	1.048	*8
43	Larry Gardner	1921	14	120	16	35	CLE	153	686	586	101	187	32	3	65	.319	.391	.437	.828	*5
44	George Sisler	1921	18	104	27	28	SLB	138	635	582	125	216	38	12	34	.371	.411	.560	.971	*3
45	Baby Doll Jacobso	1920	14	122	37	29	SLB	154	673	609	97	216	34	9	46	.355	.402	.501	.903	*89/3
46	George Sisler	1920	18	122	19	27	SLB	154	692	631	137	257	49	19	46	.407	.449	.632	1.082	*3/1
47	Happy Felsch	1920	15	115	25	28	CHW	142	613	556	88	188	40	14	37	.338	.384	.540	.923	*8
48	Joe Jackson	1920	20	121	14	30	CHW	146	649	570	105	218	42	12	56	.382	.444	.589	1.033	*7
49	Bobby Veach	1920	15	113	22	32	DET	154	670	612	92	188	39	11	36	.307	.353	.474	.827	*7
50	Bobby Veach	1919	17	101	33	31	DET	139	598	538	87	191	45	3	33	.355	.398	.519	.916	*7
Rk	Player	Year	3B	RBI	SO	Age	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	BB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
51	Ty Cobb	1917	24	102	34	30	DET	152	669	588	107	225	44	6	61	.383	.444	.570	1.014	*89
52	Sam Crawford	1915	19	112	29	35	DET	156	694	612	81	183	31	4	66	.299	.367	.431	.799	*9
53	Sam Crawford	1914	26	104	31	34	DET	157	674	582	74	183	22	8	69	.314	.388	.483	.871	*9
54	Honus Wagner	1912	20	102	38	38	PIT	145	634	558	91	181	35	7	59	.324	.395	.496	.891	*6
55	Frank Baker	1912	21	130	0	26	PHA	149	644	577	116	200	40	10	50	.347	.404	.541	.945	*5
56	Sam Crawford	1912	21	109	0	32	DET	149	644	581	81	189	30	4	42	.325	.373	.470	.843	*9
57	Ty Cobb	1911	24	127	0	24	DET	146	654	591	147	248	47	8	44	.420	.467	.621	1.088	*8
58	Sam Crawford	1911	14	115	0	31	DET	146	648	574	109	217	36	7	61	.378	.438	.526	.964	*9
59	Frank Baker	1911	14	115	0	25	PHA	148	659	592	96	198	42	11	40	.334	.379	.508	.887	*5
60	Sherry Magee	1910	17	123	36	25	PHI	154	647	519	110	172	39	6	94	.331	.445	.507	.952	*78/9
61	Sam Crawford	1910	19	120	0	30	DET	154	650	588	83	170	26	5	37	.289	.332	.423	.756	*98/3
62	Honus Wagner	1908	19	109	0	34	PIT	151	641	568	100	201	39	10	54	.354	.415	.542	.957	*6
63	Ty Cobb	1908	20	108	0	21	DET	150	635	581	88	188	36	4	34	.324	.367	.475	.842	*9
64	Ty Cobb	1907	14	119	0	20	DET	150	646	605	97	212	28	5	24	.350	.380	.468	.848	*9
65	Sam Mertes	1905	17	108	0	32	NYG	150	627	551	81	154	27	5	56	.279	.351	.417	.769	*7/8
66	Honus Wagner	1905	14	101	0	31	PIT	147	616	548	114	199	32	6	54	.363	.427	.505	.932	*6/7
67	Cy Seymour	1905	21	121	0	32	CIN	149	643	581	95	219	40	8	51	.377	.429	.559	.988	*8
68	Nap Lajoie	1904	15	102	0	29	CLE	140	594	553	92	208	49	6	27	.376	.413	.552	.965	*46/3
69	Sam Mertes	1903	14	104	0	30	NYG	138	592	517	100	145	32	7	61	.280	.360	.437	.797	*7/32
70	Honus Wagner	1903	19	101	0	29	PIT	129	571	512	97	182	30	5	44	.355	.414	.518	.931	*69/37
71	Buck Freeman	1903	20	104	0	31	BOS	141	611	567	74	163	39	13	30	.287	.328	.496	.823	*9
72	Buck Freeman	1902	19	121	0	30	BOS	138	608	564	75	174	38	11	32	.309	.352	.502	.854	*9
73	Ed Delahanty	1901	16	108	0	33	PHI	139	621	542	106	192	38	8	65	.354	.427	.528	.955	*73/89
74	Nap Lajoie	1901	14	125	0	26	PHA	131	582	544	145	232	48	14	24	.426	.463	.643	1.106	*46
75	Jimmy Sheckard	1901	19	104	0	22	BRO	133	609	554	116	196	29	11	47	.354	.409	.534	.944	*75/8
Rk	Player	Year	3B	RBI	SO	Age	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	BB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
76	Sam Crawford	1901	16	104	0	21	CIN	131	559	515	91	170	20	16	37	.330	.378	.524	.903	*9/7
77	Buck Freeman	1901	15	114	0	29	BOS	129	548	490	88	166	23	12	44	.339	.400	.520	.920	*3/49

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/6/2009.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 6th, 2009 at 11:54 am and is filed under Season Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

4 Responses to “They don’t make ’em like they used to”

DavidRF Says:
December 6th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
There might be more to this triples thing of Henrich's. A guy in his mid-thirties suddenly leads the league in triples... twice? And although he may not have been slow, he wasn't really known for his speed when he was younger either and he was in the process of migrating from RF to 1B which is stereotypically done when guys can't run the OF as well as they used to. Is there an anecdote related to this? If there was, it would be a great success story of a batter making a late career hitting adjustment for the better.
ImAShark2 Says:
December 6th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
He was probably on steroids.
tmckelv Says:
December 7th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
More like it was that he had to run for his life during World War II. That will increase your speed a little bit.
ImAShark3 Says:
December 13th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
You give me one good reason why he wasn't on steroids. (I posted this as ImAShark2 last week but it got deleted)

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