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Best Total Bases / Outs Made ratios

Posted by Andy on December 22, 2009

I got curious to see what players have the rest ratio of total bases in a season vs. outs made in that same season.

After playing around with the parameters, it seems that 0.8 is an exceptionally good ratio, meaning a player racks up a number of total bases that is 80% of his total outs made.

Here are the players from the last 3 seasons to achieve the 0.8 ratio in a qualified batting season:

Rk Player Year TB Out Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HBP GDP BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Albert Pujols 2009 374 409 STL 160 700 568 124 186 45 1 47 135 115 64 9 23 .327 .443 .658 1.101 *3/D
2 Joe Mauer 2009 307 346 MIN 138 606 523 94 191 30 1 28 96 76 63 2 13 .365 .444 .587 1.031 *2D
3 Prince Fielder 2009 356 431 MIL 162 719 591 103 177 35 3 46 141 110 138 9 14 .299 .412 .602 1.014 *3
4 Joey Votto 2009 266 327 CIN 131 544 469 82 151 38 1 25 84 70 106 4 8 .322 .414 .567 .981 *3
5 Derrek Lee 2009 308 381 CHC 141 615 532 91 163 36 2 35 111 76 109 3 12 .306 .393 .579 .972 *3/D
6 Albert Pujols 2008 342 356 STL 148 641 524 100 187 44 0 37 116 104 54 5 16 .357 .462 .653 1.114 *3/D4
7 Ryan Ludwick 2008 318 389 STL 152 617 538 104 161 40 3 37 113 62 146 8 8 .299 .375 .591 .966 *978
8 Chipper Jones 2008 252 292 ATL 128 534 439 82 160 24 1 22 75 90 61 1 13 .364 .470 .574 1.044 *5/D
9 Manny Ramirez 2008 332 386 TOT 153 654 552 102 183 36 1 37 121 87 124 11 17 .332 .430 .601 1.031 *7D
10 Carlos Pena 2007 307 359 TBD 148 612 490 99 138 29 1 46 121 103 142 10 7 .282 .411 .627 1.037 *3/D
11 Chase Utley 2007 300 362 PHI 132 613 530 104 176 48 5 22 103 50 89 25 7 .332 .410 .566 .976 *4/3
12 Alex Rodriguez 2007 376 419 NYY 158 708 583 143 183 31 0 54 156 95 120 21 15 .314 .422 .645 1.067 *5/D
13 Prince Fielder 2007 354 419 MIL 158 681 573 109 165 35 2 50 119 90 121 14 9 .288 .395 .618 1.013 *3/D
14 Magglio Ordonez 2007 354 400 DET 157 678 595 117 216 54 0 28 139 76 79 2 20 .363 .434 .595 1.029 *9D
15 Matt Holliday 2007 386 447 COL 158 713 636 120 216 50 6 36 137 63 126 10 23 .340 .405 .607 1.012 *7/D
16 David Ortiz 2007 341 384 BOS 149 667 549 116 182 52 1 35 117 111 103 4 16 .332 .445 .621 1.066 *D/3
17 Chipper Jones 2007 310 362 ATL 134 600 513 108 173 42 4 29 102 82 75 0 21 .337 .425 .604 1.029 *5/D6
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/22/2009.

It seems that most of these guys make the list due to very high OBP as well as lots of extra-base hits. Some players were also helped by low GIDP totals, which shaves a few outs off that total. I find it interesting that the strikeout totals are all over the map.

Putting the ratio at 1.0 (meaning seasons where a player's total bases matched or exceeded his total outs) yields these 65 qualified seasons:

Rk Player Year TB Out Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HBP GDP BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Barry Bonds 2004 303 244 39 SFG 147 617 373 129 135 27 3 45 101 232 41 9 5 .362 .609 .812 1.422 *7/D
2 Albert Pujols 2003 394 393 23 STL 157 685 591 137 212 51 1 43 124 79 65 10 13 .359 .439 .667 1.106 *73/D
3 Barry Bonds 2003 292 264 38 SFG 130 550 390 111 133 22 1 45 90 148 58 10 7 .341 .529 .749 1.278 *7/D
4 Barry Bonds 2002 322 260 37 SFG 143 612 403 117 149 31 2 46 110 198 47 9 4 .370 .582 .799 1.381 *7/D
5 Barry Bonds 2001 411 328 36 SFG 153 664 476 129 156 32 2 73 137 177 93 9 5 .328 .515 .863 1.379 *7/D
6 Sammy Sosa 2001 425 396 32 CHC 160 711 577 146 189 34 5 64 160 116 153 6 6 .328 .437 .737 1.174 *9
7 Todd Helton 2000 405 379 26 COL 160 697 580 138 216 59 2 42 147 103 61 4 12 .372 .463 .698 1.162 *3
8 Manny Ramirez 2000 306 295 28 CLE 118 532 439 92 154 34 2 38 122 86 117 3 9 .351 .457 .697 1.154 *9D
9 Larry Walker 1999 311 288 32 COL 127 513 438 108 166 26 4 37 115 57 52 12 12 .379 .458 .710 1.168 *9/D
10 Mark McGwire 1998 383 365 34 STL 155 681 509 130 152 21 0 70 147 162 155 6 8 .299 .470 .752 1.222 *3
11 Larry Walker 1997 409 383 30 COL 153 664 568 143 208 46 4 49 130 78 90 14 15 .366 .452 .720 1.172 *9/38D
12 Mark McGwire 1996 309 305 32 OAK 130 548 423 104 132 21 0 52 113 116 112 8 14 .312 .467 .730 1.198 *3D
13 Jeff Bagwell 1994 300 269 26 HOU 110 479 400 104 147 32 2 39 116 65 65 4 12 .368 .451 .750 1.201 *3/9
14 Albert Belle 1994 294 276 27 CLE 106 480 412 90 147 35 2 36 101 58 71 5 5 .357 .438 .714 1.152 *7/D
15 Frank Thomas 1994 291 276 26 CHW 113 517 399 106 141 34 1 38 101 109 61 2 15 .353 .487 .729 1.217 *3D
16 George Brett 1980 298 291 27 KCR 117 515 449 87 175 33 9 24 118 58 22 1 11 .390 .454 .664 1.118 *5/3
17 Ted Williams 1957 307 269 38 BOS 132 546 420 96 163 28 1 38 87 119 43 5 11 .388 .526 .731 1.257 *7
18 Mickey Mantle 1957 315 309 25 NYY 144 623 474 121 173 28 6 34 94 146 75 0 5 .365 .512 .665 1.177 *8
19 Mickey Mantle 1956 376 350 24 NYY 150 652 533 132 188 22 5 52 130 112 99 2 4 .353 .464 .705 1.169 *8
20 Stan Musial 1948 429 399 27 STL 155 694 611 135 230 46 18 39 131 79 34 3 18 .376 .450 .702 1.152 987/3
21 Ted Williams 1941 335 285 22 BOS 143 606 456 135 185 33 3 37 120 147 27 3 10 .406 .553 .735 1.287 *7/9
22 Joe DiMaggio 1939 310 297 24 NYY 120 524 462 108 176 32 6 30 126 52 20 4 11 .381 .448 .671 1.119 *8
23 Jimmie Foxx 1939 324 319 31 BOS 124 563 467 130 168 31 10 35 105 89 72 2 17 .360 .464 .694 1.158 *3/1
24 Jimmie Foxx 1938 398 372 30 BOS 149 685 565 139 197 33 9 50 175 119 76 0 0 .349 .462 .704 1.166 *3
25 Hank Greenberg 1937 397 397 26 DET 154 701 594 137 200 49 14 40 183 102 101 3 0 .337 .436 .668 1.105 *3
Rk Player Year TB Out Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HBP GDP BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
26 Joe DiMaggio 1937 418 406 22 NYY 151 692 621 151 215 35 15 46 167 64 37 5 0 .346 .412 .673 1.085 *8
27 Lou Gehrig 1936 403 378 33 NYY 155 719 579 167 205 37 7 49 152 130 46 7 0 .354 .478 .696 1.174 *3
28 Earl Averill 1936 385 385 34 CLE 152 682 614 136 232 39 15 28 126 65 35 1 0 .378 .438 .627 1.065 *8
29 Lou Gehrig 1934 409 374 31 NYY 154 690 579 128 210 40 6 49 165 109 31 2 0 .363 .465 .706 1.172 *3/6
30 Jimmie Foxx 1933 403 371 25 PHA 149 670 573 125 204 37 9 48 163 96 93 1 0 .356 .449 .703 1.153 *3/6
31 Jimmie Foxx 1932 438 379 24 PHA 154 701 585 151 213 33 9 58 169 116 96 0 0 .364 .469 .749 1.218 *35
32 Al Simmons 1931 329 316 29 PHA 128 563 513 105 200 37 13 22 128 47 45 3 0 .390 .444 .641 1.085 *7/8
33 Babe Ruth 1931 374 339 36 NYY 145 663 534 149 199 31 3 46 163 128 51 1 0 .373 .495 .700 1.195 *97/3
34 Bill Terry 1930 392 379 31 NYG 154 710 633 139 254 39 15 23 129 57 33 1 0 .401 .452 .619 1.071 *3
35 Chuck Klein 1930 445 398 25 PHI 156 719 648 158 250 59 8 40 170 54 50 4 0 .386 .436 .687 1.123 *9
36 Al Simmons 1930 392 345 28 PHA 138 611 554 152 211 41 16 36 165 39 34 1 0 .381 .423 .708 1.130 *7/8
37 Babe Ruth 1930 379 342 35 NYY 145 676 518 150 186 28 9 49 153 136 61 1 0 .359 .493 .732 1.225 *97/1
38 Lou Gehrig 1930 419 375 27 NYY 154 703 581 143 220 42 17 41 174 101 63 3 0 .379 .473 .721 1.194 *3/7
39 Babe Herman 1930 416 373 27 BRO 153 699 614 143 241 48 11 35 130 66 56 4 0 .393 .455 .678 1.132 *9
40 Hack Wilson 1930 423 377 30 CHC 155 709 585 146 208 35 6 56 191 105 84 1 0 .356 .454 .723 1.177 *8
41 Rogers Hornsby 1929 409 373 33 CHC 156 712 602 156 229 47 8 39 149 87 65 1 0 .380 .459 .679 1.139 *4
42 Babe Ruth 1929 348 330 34 NYY 135 587 499 121 172 26 6 46 154 72 60 3 0 .345 .430 .697 1.128 *97
43 Al Simmons 1929 373 371 27 PHA 143 629 581 114 212 41 9 34 157 31 38 1 0 .365 .398 .642 1.040 *7
44 Chuck Klein 1929 405 397 24 PHI 149 679 616 126 219 45 6 43 145 54 61 0 0 .356 .407 .657 1.065 *98
45 Lefty O'Doul 1929 397 384 32 PHI 154 731 638 152 254 35 6 32 122 76 19 4 0 .398 .465 .622 1.087 *79
46 Babe Ruth 1928 380 368 33 NYY 154 684 536 163 173 29 8 54 142 137 87 3 0 .323 .463 .709 1.172 *97
47 Lou Gehrig 1928 364 363 25 NYY 154 677 562 139 210 47 13 27 142 95 69 4 0 .374 .467 .648 1.115 *3
48 Rogers Hornsby 1928 307 298 32 BSN 140 619 486 99 188 42 7 21 94 107 41 1 0 .387 .498 .632 1.130 *4
49 Harry Heilmann 1927 311 309 32 DET 141 596 505 106 201 50 9 14 120 72 16 2 0 .398 .475 .616 1.091 *9
50 Lou Gehrig 1927 447 374 24 NYY 155 717 584 149 218 52 18 47 175 109 84 3 0 .373 .474 .765 1.240 *3
Rk Player Year TB Out Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HBP GDP BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
51 Babe Ruth 1927 417 354 32 NYY 151 691 540 158 192 29 8 60 164 137 89 0 0 .356 .486 .772 1.258 *97
52 Al Simmons 1927 262 249 25 PHA 106 458 406 86 159 36 11 15 108 31 30 1 0 .392 .436 .645 1.081 *87/9
53 Babe Ruth 1926 365 320 31 NYY 152 652 495 139 184 30 5 47 150 144 76 3 0 .372 .516 .737 1.253 *79/3
54 Rogers Hornsby 1925 381 304 29 STL 138 605 504 133 203 41 10 39 143 83 39 2 0 .403 .489 .756 1.245 *4
55 Rogers Hornsby 1924 373 321 28 STL 143 640 536 121 227 43 14 25 94 89 32 2 0 .424 .507 .696 1.203 *4
56 Babe Ruth 1924 391 342 29 NYY 153 681 529 143 200 39 7 46 121 142 81 4 0 .378 .513 .739 1.252 *97/8
57 Harry Heilmann 1923 331 320 28 DET 144 626 524 121 211 44 11 18 115 74 40 5 0 .403 .481 .632 1.113 *93/7
58 Babe Ruth 1923 399 338 28 NYY 152 699 522 151 205 45 13 41 131 170 93 4 0 .393 .545 .764 1.309 97/83
59 Rogers Hornsby 1922 450 385 26 STL 154 704 623 141 250 46 14 42 152 65 50 1 0 .401 .459 .722 1.181 *4
60 Rogers Hornsby 1921 378 370 25 STL 154 674 592 131 235 44 18 21 126 60 48 7 0 .397 .458 .639 1.097 *4/7653
61 Babe Ruth 1921 457 349 26 NYY 152 693 540 177 204 44 16 59 171 145 81 4 0 .378 .512 .846 1.359 *78/13
62 Babe Ruth 1920 388 299 25 NYY 142 615 457 158 172 36 9 54 137 150 80 3 0 .376 .533 .849 1.382 *978/31
63 George Sisler 1920 399 391 27 SLB 154 692 631 137 257 49 18 19 122 46 19 2 0 .407 .449 .632 1.082 *3/1
64 Ty Cobb 1911 367 343 24 DET 146 654 591 147 248 47 24 8 127 44 0 8 0 .420 .467 .621 1.088 *8
65 Nap Lajoie 1901 350 312 26 PHA 131 582 544 145 232 48 14 14 125 24 0 13 0 .426 .463 .643 1.106 *46
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/22/2009.

So these are all seasons with very high OBP and SLG. Like many searches of this type, we see very little since the 1950s except for George Brett's incredible 1980 and a bunch of seasons from the Steroids Era.

Incidentally, the best such qualified seasons since 1901 ranked by TB/outs ratio are Babe Ruth in 1921 (1.309), Barry Bonds in 2001 (1.253), Bonds in 2004 (1.242), Ruth in 1920 (1.298), Bonds in 2002 (1.238), and Rogers Hornsby in 1925 (1.253.)

Related posts:

    400 total bases
    Most Total Bases in a Cycle
    8 or More Total Bases in Consecutive Games, since 2006
    Jacoby Ellsbury and leading the league in ONLY total bases
    Most total bases in a game with no homers, since 1956

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 at 11:54 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

11 Responses to “Best Total Bases / Outs Made ratios”

  1. dave Says:
    December 22nd, 2009 at 1:05 pm

    What link do I have to click to make a chart like that for a message board?

  2. Andy Says:
    December 22nd, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    Click SHARE, then modify the table as you like, then within the yellow box click on html table, and choose the specific format you like. Copy and paste.

  3. JohnnyTwisto Says:
    December 22nd, 2009 at 1:18 pm

    Some of those older seasons might not qualify because GIDP were not counted until the 1930s. However, reaching on an error should not count as an out; B-R counts ROE but does not subtract them from the outs total, and there were more errors back then.

  4. JohnnyTwisto Says:
    December 22nd, 2009 at 1:22 pm

    Interesting that the worst OPS of any players on the second list are just above 1.000, and those are the players whose ratios of TB:outs are just above 1.0 as well. Obviously there's a very high correlation between the two numbers. TB per out is partway to the old Tom Boswell stat Total Average, which was Bases per Out (including BB, HBP, SB).

  5. dave Says:
    December 22nd, 2009 at 1:36 pm

    This is what I get doing it that way:

    Year
    Age
    Tm
    Lg
    G
    PA
    AB
    R
    H
    2B
    3B
    HR
    RBI

    1986
    20
    CLE
    AL
    5
    16
    14
    3
    5
    2
    0
    1
    4

    1987
    21
    CLE
    AL
    38
    137
    125
    14
    27
    9
    1
    2
    13

    1988
    22
    CLE
    AL
    73
    236
    211
    23
    46
    5
    1
    2
    21

    1989
    23
    PIT
    NL
    78
    303
    271
    33
    70
    13
    3
    2
    27

    1990
    24
    PIT
    NL
    159
    696
    583
    93
    148
    28
    7
    7
    52

    1991
    25
    PIT
    NL
    157
    697
    608
    96
    164
    32
    8
    16
    67

    1992
    26
    PIT
    NL
    159
    712
    632
    87
    167
    36
    6
    9
    55

    1993
    27
    PIT
    NL
    154
    701
    604
    102
    187
    32
    9
    9
    51

    1994
    28
    PIT
    NL
    110
    487
    424
    68
    117
    35
    4
    9
    45

    1995
    29
    PIT
    NL
    138
    593
    530
    79
    139
    28
    4
    13
    55

    1996
    30
    PIT
    NL
    151
    598
    527
    65
    132
    29
    3
    13
    71

    1997
    31
    KCR
    AL
    153
    660
    573
    89
    167
    28
    3
    21
    92

    1998
    32
    ARI
    NL
    155
    645
    549
    79
    138
    29
    5
    20
    67

    1999
    33
    ARI
    NL
    151
    688
    589
    132
    170
    32
    6
    38
    112

    2000
    34
    ARI
    NL
    149
    649
    565
    87
    151
    30
    6
    18
    68

    2001
    35
    ARI
    NL
    129
    509
    428
    59
    106
    24
    1
    13
    46

    2002
    36
    ARI
    NL
    32
    56
    49
    3
    8
    1
    0
    2
    11

    2003
    37
    NYM
    NL
    72
    142
    116
    11
    21
    1
    0
    0
    3

    Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original TableGenerated 12/22/2009.

  6. dave Says:
    December 22nd, 2009 at 1:36 pm

    No table...no chart...no sense

  7. Andy Says:
    December 22nd, 2009 at 1:42 pm

    I'm not sure if this blog allows readers to post HTML enough to post a full table. We bloggers can do it, but maybe you can't here. Sorry.

  8. DavidRF Says:
    December 22nd, 2009 at 2:16 pm

    "TB per out is partway to the old Tom Boswell stat Total Average, which was Bases per Out (including BB, HBP, SB)."

    Yes. And if you figure that most of the outs (not all) are counted AB-H, then TB/Out simplifies to TB/(AB-H) = SLG/(1-AVG).

    Technically walks are completely ignored here, but there aren't many low-BB datapoints on the list. I suppose a guy like Tony Oliva in 1971 led the league in both AVG and SLG with only 25 walks but that's not common.

  9. ollie1000 Says:
    December 22nd, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    Ruth was +108 in '21 which was the most, how about trying the Bill James number where you add all bases but singles (secondary average?), though I'm not sure what it would mean?

  10. dave Says:
    December 22nd, 2009 at 2:48 pm

    People who use this site constantly (like me) can't start their own sections?
    It can only be done by 3 or 4 people?
    People that pay for this site should be able to have total access to all if it and be able to utilize all of the functions, eh?

  11. Yankeefan25 Says:
    December 29th, 2009 at 7:10 pm

    Barry Bonds. Barry Bonds is on most of the all time greats lists. Including most HR in a career with 762. Steroids destroyed his baseball career so he does not deserve to be on this list but it depends what year this happened because it was only certain years when Mr.Bonds took HGH (human growth hormones). What years did Mr.Bonds take said steroids?

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