Resident suggestion guru kingturtle asked about which players had the largest differential between RBI and runs in a season. There is no straightforward way to calculate the leaders for this, so I thought I'd break it down by total number of RBI.
First, here are the fewest runs scored in a season of 150+ RBI:

  Cnt Player             **R**  RBI Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  H  2B 3B HR  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+-------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Miguel Tejada       107   150 2004  28 BAL AL 162 725 653 203 40  2 34  48   6  73  10   0  14  24   4  1  .311  .360  .534  .894 *6
    2 Juan Gonzalez       110   157 1998  28 TEX AL 154 669 606 193 50  2 45  46   9 126   6   0  11  20   2  1  .318  .366  .630  .996 *9D
    3 Joe DiMaggio        110   155 1948  33 NYY AL 153 669 594 190 26 11 39  67   0  30   8   0   0  20   1  1  .320  .396  .598  .994 *8
    4 Joe Medwick         111   154 1937  25 STL NL 156 677 633 237 56 10 31  41   0  50   2   1   0  11   4  0  .374  .414  .641 1.055 *7
    5 Albert Belle        113   152 1998  31 CHW AL 163 706 609 200 48  2 49  81  10  84   1   0  15  17   6  4  .328  .399  .655 1.054 *7/D
    6 Vern Stephens       113   159 1949  28 BOS AL 155 711 610 177 31  2 39 101   0  73   0   0   0  19   2  2  .290  .391  .539  .930 *6
    7 Al Simmons          114   157 1929  27 PHA AL 143 629 581 212 41  9 34  31   0  38   1  16   0   0   4  2  .365  .398  .642 1.040 *7
    8 Andres Galarraga    119   150 1996  35 COL NL 159 691 626 190 39  3 47  40   3 157  17   0   8   6  18  8  .304  .357  .601  .958 *3/5
    9 Tommy Davis         120   153 1962  23 LAD NL 163 711 665 230 27  9 27  33   6  65   2   3   8  17  18  6  .346  .374  .535  .909 *758/9
   10 Hank Greenberg      121   170 1935  24 DET AL 152 710 619 203 46 16 36  87   0  91   0   4   0   0   4  3  .328  .411  .628 1.039 *3
   11 Babe Ruth           121   154 1929  34 NYY AL 135 587 499 172 26  6 46  72   0  60   3  13   0   0   5  3  .345  .430  .697 1.127 *97

It's not as if there are any truly "bad" seasons here. Miguel Tejada scored "only" 107 runs because he played for a team that was pretty much average offensively. Note that none of the teams were bad teams...it's hard to be too bad when you have a guy batting in 150+ runs.

Here are the lowest run totals for guy with RBI between 130 and 149:

Cnt Player             **R**  RBI Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  H  2B 3B HR  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+-------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Dale Alexander       86   135 1930  27 DET AL 154 660 602 196 33  8 20  42   0  56   2  14   0   0   6  5  .326  .372  .507  .879 *3
    2 Juan Gonzalez        87   131 1997  27 TEX AL 133 579 533 158 24  3 42  33   7 107   3   0  10  12   0  0  .296  .335  .589  .924 *D9
    3 Bill Dickey          87   133 1937  30 NYY AL 140 608 530 176 35  2 29  73   0  22   4   1   0   0   3  2  .332  .417  .570  .987 *2
    4 Juan Gonzalez        89   144 1996  26 TEX AL 134 592 541 170 33  2 47  45  12  82   3   0   3  10   2  0  .314  .368  .643 1.011 *9D
    5 Andre Dawson         90   137 1987  32 CHC NL 153 662 621 178 24  2 49  32   7 103   7   0   2  15  11  3  .287  .328  .568  .896 *9
    6 Hal McRae            91   133 1982  36 KCR AL 159 676 613 189 46  8 27  55   7  61   5   1   2   8   4  4  .308  .369  .542  .911 *D/7
    7 Wally Berger         91   130 1935  29 BSN NL 150 644 589 174 39  4 34  50   0  80   4   1   0  14   3  0  .295  .355  .548  .903 *8
    8 George Kelly         91   136 1924  28 NYG NL 144 627 571 185 37  9 21  38   0  52   5  13   0   0   7  2  .324  .371  .531  .902 *3/8475
    9 Deron Johnson        92   130 1965  26 CIN NL 159 680 616 177 30  7 32  52   9  97   2   0  10  13   0  4  .287  .340  .515  .855 *5
   10 Vinny Castilla       93   131 2004  36 COL NL 148 648 583 158 43  3 35  51   6 113   6   0   8  22   0  0  .271  .332  .535  .867 *5
   11 Joe DiMaggio         93   133 1940  25 NYY AL 132 572 508 179 28  9 31  61   0  30   3   0   0  16   1  2  .352  .425  .626 1.051 *8

Andre Dawson's 1987 season is a classic example of what I expeced to see on this sort of search. A great player who had a phenomenal year while playing for a crap team. Just to give you an idea, with men on over his career, The Hawk batted .283, including 1987 when he batted .310 that year with runners on. Toss in 49 long balls, and that's where all his RBI came from. But his substandard teammates weren't nearly as good at batting him in. Without all those HR, he wouldn't have gotten close to 90 runs scored.

Vinny Castilla's 2004 is a similar story.

Lowest run totals for RBI 120 to 129:

 Cnt Player             **R**  RBI Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  H  2B 3B HR  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+-------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Rusty Staub          75   121 1978  34 DET AL 162 734 642 175 30  1 24  76   5  35   3   2  11  24   3  1  .273  .347  .435  .782 *D
    2 Buck Freeman         75   121 1902  30 BOS AL 138 608 564 174 38 19 11  32   0   0   6   6   0   0  17  0  .309  .352  .502  .854 *9
    3 Hack Wilson          77   123 1932  32 BRO NL 135 539 481 143 37  5 23  51   0  85   1   6   0   0   2  0  .297  .366  .538  .904 *9/87
    4 Gavvy Cravath        78   128 1913  32 PHI NL 147 594 525 179 34 14 19  55   0  63   3  11   0   0  10  0  .341  .407  .568  .975 *9/87
    5 Mike Lowell          79   120 2007  33 BOS AL 154 653 589 191 37  2 21  53   4  71   3   0   8  19   3  2  .324  .378  .501  .879 *5
    6 Del Ennis            79   125 1953  28 PHI NL 152 643 578 165 22  3 29  57   0  53   5   3   0  14   1  3  .285  .355  .484  .839 *7
    7 Walker Cooper        79   122 1947  32 NYG NL 140 546 515 157 24  8 35  24   0  43   3   4   0  13   2  0  .305  .339  .586  .925 *2
    8 Cecil Fielder        80   124 1992  28 DET AL 155 676 594 145 22  0 35  73   8 151   2   0   7  14   0  0  .244  .325  .458  .783 *3D
    9 Del Ennis            82   120 1955  30 PHI NL 146 623 564 167 24  7 29  46   8  46   2   2   9  14   4  2  .296  .346  .518  .864 *7/9

World Series MVP Mike Lowell makes in on there for his 2007 performance. This in part shows what in important player he was for Boston, particular in view of Manny Ramirez' off year (or decline.)

RBI 110 to 119:

 Cnt Player             **R**  RBI Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  H  2B 3B HR  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+-------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Gus Bell             59   115 1959  30 CIN NL 148 620 580 170 27  2 19  29   1  44   2   1   8  13   2  3  .293  .325  .445  .770 *9/7
    2 Pedro Guerrero       60   117 1989  33 STL NL 162 665 570 177 42  1 17  79  13  84   4   0  12  17   2  0  .311  .391  .477  .868 *3
    3 Harmon Killebrew     61   119 1971  35 MIN AL 147 624 500 127 19  1 28 114  14  96   0   0  10  21   3  2  .254  .386  .464  .850 *35
    4 Ray Boone            61   116 1955  31 DET AL 135 560 500 142 22  7 20  50   2  49   1   2   7  16   1  1  .284  .346  .476  .822 *5
    5 Luis Olmo            62   110 1945  25 BRO NL 141 595 556 174 27 13 10  36   0  33   1   2   0  11  15  0  .313  .356  .462  .818 *75/84
    6 Ray Jablonski        64   112 1953  26 STL NL 157 640 604 162 23  5 21  34   0  61   1   1   0  15   2  2  .268  .308  .427  .735 *5
    7 Andy Pafko           64   110 1945  24 CHC NL 144 608 534 159 24 12 12  45   0  36   8  21   0   4   5  0  .298  .361  .455  .816 *8
    8 Dave Kingman         68   118 1984  35 OAK AL 147 613 549 147 23  1 35  44   8 119   6   0  14   7   2  1  .268  .321  .505  .826 *D/3
    9 Paul O'Neill         70   110 1999  36 NYY AL 153 675 597 170 39  4 19  66   1  89   2   0  10  24  11  9  .285  .353  .459  .812 *9
   10 Richie Sexson        72   116 1999  24 CLE AL 134 525 479 122 17  7 31  34   0 117   4   0   8  19   3  3  .255  .305  .514  .819 37D/9
   11 Zeke Bonura          72   114 1938  29 WSH AL 137 589 540 156 27  3 22  44   0  29   3   2   0   0   2  2  .289  .346  .472  .818 *3
   12 Larry Gardner        72   118 1920  34 CLE AL 154 683 597 185 31 11  3  53   0  25   1  32   0   0   3 20  .310  .367  .414  .781 *5

Whoa, Gus Bell in 1959 had a ratio of 1.95 RBI for each run scored, which is getting quite small. Funny that Ray Boone, the other most famous three-generation MLB patriach, makes it here too.

And finally, RBI 100 to 109:

  Cnt Player             **R**  RBI Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  H  2B 3B HR  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+-------+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Vic Wertz            45   103 1960  35 BOS AL 131 487 443 125 22  0 19  37   4  54   1   1   5  13   0  2  .282  .335  .460  .795 *3
    2 Danny Tartabull      58   101 1996  33 CHW AL 132 541 472 120 23  3 27  64   4 128   0   0   5  10   1  2  .254  .340  .487  .827 *9D
    3 Ernie Banks          60   106 1969  38 CHC NL 155 629 565 143 19  2 23  42   7 101   7   8   7  15   0  0  .253  .309  .416  .725 *3
    4 Smead Jolley         60   106 1932  30 TOT AL 149 606 573 179 30  5 18  30   0  29   3   0   0   0   1  5  .312  .350  .476  .826 *79
    5 Lee May              61   109 1976  33 BAL AL 148 583 530 137 17  4 25  41   8 104   3   2   7  11   4  1  .258  .312  .447  .759 *3D
    6 Willie Montanez      61   101 1975  27 TOT NL 156 667 602 182 34  2 10  49   8  62   4   2  10  26   6  3  .302  .353  .415  .768 *3
    7 Del Ennis            61   105 1957  32 STL NL 136 537 490 140 24  3 24  37   3  50   1   1   8  22   1  3  .286  .332  .494  .826 *79
    8 Heinie Zimmerman     61   102 1917  30 NYG NL 150 620 585 174 22  9  5  16   0  43   1  18   0   0  13  0  .297  .317  .391  .708 *5/4
    9 Harold Baines        62   103 1999  40 TOT AL 135 486 430 134 18  1 25  54   3  48   0   0   2  16   1  2  .312  .387  .533  .920 *D
   10 Mo Vaughn            63   108 1999  31 ANA AL 139 592 524 147 20  0 33  54   7 127  11   0   3  11   0  0  .281  .358  .508  .866 *3D
   11 Eddie Robinson       64   102 1953  32 PHA AL 156 685 615 152 28  4 22  63   0  56   5   2   0  13   1  2  .247  .322  .413  .735 *3
   12 Del Pratt            64   103 1916  28 SLB AL 158 669 596 159 35 12  5  54   0  56   3  16   0   0  26 17  .267  .331  .391  .722 *4
   13 Mike Lowell          65   100 2001  27 FLA NL 146 614 551 156 37  0 18  43   3  79  10   0  10   9   1  2  .283  .340  .448  .788 *5
   14 George Hendrick      65   104 1982  32 STL NL 136 568 515 145 20  5 19  37   8  80   1   1  14  13   3  2  .282  .323  .450  .773 *9
   15 Lee May              65   105 1973  30 HOU NL 146 590 545 147 24  3 28  34  10 122   2   0   9  13   1  1  .270  .310  .479  .789 *3
   16 John Mayberry        65   100 1972  23 KCR AL 149 588 503 150 24  3 25  78  13  74   3   1   3  12   0  2  .298  .394  .507  .901 *3
   17 Vic Wertz            65   106 1956  31 CLE AL 136 568 481 127 22  0 32  75  10  87   5   0   7   8   0  0  .264  .364  .509  .873 *3
   18 Luke Easter          65   103 1951  35 CLE AL 128 532 486 131 12  5 27  37   0  71   9   0   0  14   0  1  .270  .333  .481  .814 *3
   19 Jim Tabor            65   101 1941  24 BOS AL 126 539 498 139 29  3 16  36   0  48   0   5   0  17  17  9  .279  .328  .446  .774 *5
   20 Ted Simmons          66   103 1974  24 STL NL 152 662 599 163 33  6 20  47   8  35   6   1   9  22   0  0  .272  .327  .447  .774 *23

Well Vic Wertz takes the cake, I think. But there's our man Mike Lowell at #13 again...hmm....

So Mike Lowell has 778 career RBI. I did the same search above, but summed over the career, and searched for players with the fewest runs scored with 750 to 800 career RBI. The cool thing about this search is that it somewhat self-regulates for offensive differences between various eras since we're comparing two stats directly related to run-scoring.

  Cnt Player              **R**   RBI From  To   Ages   G    PA    AB    H   2B  3B  HR  BB  IBB  SO  HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions Teams
+----+-----------------+--------+----+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+
    1 Gus Zernial          572    776 1949 1959 26-36 1234  4561  4131 1093 159  22 237  383   3  755  24   3  20 106   15   7  .265  .329  .486  .815 *7/39     CHW-TOT-PHA-KCA-DET
    2 Aramis Ramirez       589    770 1998 2007 20-29 1179  4838  4403 1246 259  15 222  322  32  662  57   3  53 127   11  11  .283  .336  .500  .836 *5/D      PIT-TOT-CHC
    3 Tony Clark           610    789 1995 2007 23-35 1415  4858  4315 1142 224  11 244  485  54 1130  20   0  38 122    6   9  .265  .339  .491  .830 *3/D7     DET-BOS-NYM-NYY-ARI
    4 Duffy Lewis          612    793 1910 1921 22-33 1459  6007  5351 1518 289  68  38  352   0  353  40 264   0   0  113  47  .284  .333  .384  .717 *7/8915   BOS-NYY-WSH
    5 Elston Howard        619    762 1955 1968 26-39 1605  5843  5363 1471 218  50 167  373  82  786  26  29  52 157    9  14  .274  .322  .427  .749 *27/39    NYY-TOT-BOS
    6 Kevin Mitchell       630    760 1984 1998 22-36 1223  4696  4134 1173 224  25 234  491  87  719  27   2  42  89   30  31  .284  .360  .520  .880 *75/D9638 NYM-TOT-SFG-SEA-CIN-CLE-OAK
    7 Mike Lowell          636    778 1998 2007 24-33 1296  5302  4731 1323 325   6 184  454  37  661  46   1  70 123   26  11  .280  .344  .468  .812 *5/4D     NYY-FLA-BOS
    8 Jason Thompson       640    782 1976 1986 21-31 1418  5686  4802 1253 204  12 208  816  70  862   9   5  54 113    8   7  .261  .366  .438  .804 *3/D      DET-TOT-PIT-MON
    9 Lou Piniella         651    766 1964 1984 20-40 1747  6362  5867 1705 305  41 102  368  82  541  31  35  61 209   32  41  .291  .333  .409  .742 *79D/83   BAL-CLE-KCR-NYY
   10 Rico Petrocelli      653    773 1963 1976 20-33 1553  6170  5390 1352 237  22 210  661  61  926  26  36  57 127   10  22  .251  .332  .420  .752 65/D43    BOS

So Lowell's got the 7th fewest runs scored all time for the 750 to 800 RBI range. Interesting that two other current players, Aramis Ramirez and Tony Clark, also make the list. Plus there's Kevin Mitchell...hmm.

Pretty neat eh?

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 15th, 2007 at 8:58 am and is filed under Season Finders, Splits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.