At least 3 times as many homers as doubles in a season

Posted by Andy on January 30, 2011

This came up in the comments on another thread, so here is the list. Here are reasons where the batter had at least 3 times as many homers as doubles, minimum 20 HR:

Rk	Player	Year	HR	OPS+	2B	Age	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	3B	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Frank Thomas	2006	39	140	11	38	OAK	137	559	466	77	126	0	114	81	81	.270	.381	.545	.926	*D
2	Mark McGwire	2001	29	105	4	37	STL	97	364	299	48	56	0	64	56	118	.187	.316	.492	.808	*3
3	Mark McGwire	2000	32	202	8	36	STL	89	321	236	60	72	0	73	76	78	.305	.483	.746	1.229	*3/467
4	Glenallen Hill	2000	27	133	9	35	TOT	104	321	300	45	88	1	58	19	76	.293	.336	.600	.936	7D
5	Mark McGwire	1999	65	176	21	35	STL	153	661	521	118	145	1	147	133	141	.278	.424	.697	1.120	*3
6	Sammy Sosa	1998	66	160	20	29	CHC	159	722	643	134	198	0	158	73	171	.308	.377	.647	1.024	*9/8
7	Mark McGwire	1998	70	216	21	34	STL	155	681	509	130	152	0	147	162	155	.299	.470	.752	1.222	*3
8	Mark McGwire	1995	39	200	13	31	OAK	104	422	317	75	87	0	90	88	77	.274	.441	.685	1.125	*3D
9	Lance Parrish	1986	22	122	6	30	DET	91	374	327	53	84	1	62	38	83	.257	.340	.483	.824	*2/D
10	Dave Kingman	1982	37	99	9	33	NYM	149	607	535	80	109	1	99	59	156	.204	.285	.432	.717	*3
11	Dale Murphy	1979	21	113	7	23	ATL	104	429	384	53	106	2	57	38	67	.276	.340	.469	.809	*32
12	Hank Aaron	1973	40	177	12	39	ATL	120	465	392	84	118	1	96	68	51	.301	.402	.643	1.045	*79
13	Hank Aaron	1972	34	147	10	38	ATL	129	544	449	75	119	0	77	92	55	.265	.390	.514	.904	*39
14	Norm Cash	1971	32	149	10	36	DET	135	523	452	72	128	3	91	59	86	.283	.372	.531	.903	*3
15	Art Shamsky	1966	21	121	5	24	CIN	96	271	234	41	54	0	47	32	45	.231	.321	.521	.842	79
16	Harmon Killebrew	1964	49	153	11	28	MIN	158	682	577	95	156	1	111	93	135	.270	.377	.548	.924	*7/9
17	Willie McCovey	1962	20	154	6	24	SFG	91	261	229	41	67	1	54	29	35	.293	.368	.590	.957	739
18	Roger Maris	1961	61	167	16	26	NYY	161	698	590	132	159	4	141	94	67	.269	.372	.620	.993	*98
19	Mickey Mantle	1961	54	206	16	29	NYY	153	646	514	131	163	6	128	126	112	.317	.448	.687	1.135	*8
20	Jim Lemon	1960	38	130	10	32	WSH	148	611	528	81	142	1	100	67	114	.269	.354	.508	.861	*7
21	Gus Triandos	1959	25	110	7	28	BAL	126	468	393	43	85	1	73	65	56	.216	.330	.430	.760	*2
22	Gus Triandos	1958	30	119	10	27	BAL	137	544	474	59	116	0	79	60	65	.245	.327	.456	.782	*2
23	Wes Covington	1957	21	138	4	25	MLN	96	371	328	51	93	8	65	29	44	.284	.339	.537	.875	*7
24	Roy Campanella	1956	20	88	6	34	BRO	124	461	388	39	85	1	73	66	61	.219	.333	.394	.727	*2
25	Ed Bailey	1956	28	142	8	25	CIN	118	446	383	59	115	2	75	52	50	.300	.385	.551	.936	*2
26	Gus Zernial	1955	30	116	9	32	KCA	120	454	413	62	105	3	84	30	90	.254	.304	.508	.812	*7
27	Luke Easter	1952	31	141	10	36	CLE	127	486	437	63	115	3	97	44	84	.263	.337	.513	.850	*3
28	Babe Ruth	1932	41	200	13	37	NYY	133	589	457	120	156	5	137	130	62	.341	.489	.661	1.150	*97/3

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/30/2011.

I included OPS+ to show that most of these were sublime seasons.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 30th, 2011 at 7:19 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.

28 Responses to “At least 3 times as many homers as doubles in a season”

David Carter Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 7:41 am
Headline is incorrect: "3 times as many DOUBLES as HOMERS."
Andy Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 7:43 am
Thanks David. I guess I should have coffee before I make early-morning posts.
Trendon Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 7:59 am
When I clicked on this, I thought for sure Tommy Herr was going to be on here with his ridiculous RBI:HR ratio.
Trendon Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 8:00 am
Oh crap, I was brought here by Facebook that had it the other way around! On that note, I am surprised there wasn't a season where Rob Deer or Pete Incaviglia had only eight doubles. 🙂
barkie Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 9:44 am
Now this one was a surprise. I rushed to get here, sure the list was going to be populated by the Dave Kingmans of the world. I heard someone refer to his type as the Sunday softball hitters.

He's here, but this list is dominated by great seasons. Interesting.
Jon Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 10:40 am
Love that Wes Covington also has twice the triples.
Frank Clingenpeel Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 10:43 am
It's surprising that Adam Dunn has yet to make this list. Trust me; given time, both he and Mark Reynolds will make {if not dominate} it.
Jon Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 10:53 am
I would be surprised if Dunn or Reynolds ever made this list. As they age, the home run power will drop, with some of those going to doubles. Both already hit a fair number of doubles. You have to be a real plodder to hit 13 doubles (39 HR) or fewer in a season, and neither of those guys are.
Kahuna Tuna Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 11:11 am
Re #6: List of players with at least twice as many triples as doubles (minimum three doubles), sorted by home runs. Some fun names on there, including Deion Sanders, Jim Thorpe, Zip Collins (6 3B/1 2B?!!), and one pitcher.
Atom Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 11:35 am
Wow. McGwire had more than 25 doubles in a season just twice (87 and 97). From 1994 until the end of his career in 2001, he had exactly 3 times as many homers as doubles (118 to 354)
Artie Z Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 11:42 am
If I've done the search correctly, there are no players who have hit 3 times as many doubles as HR with HR>=20. There are 17 players who have hit at least 3 times as many doubles as HR with HR>=15.

2010, 45 2Bs, 15 HRs, Billy Butler
2009, 48 2Bs, 15 HRs, Dustin Pedroia
2009, 56 2Bs, 16 HRs, Brian Roberts
2008, 54 2Bs, 17 HRs, Dustin Pedroia
2008, 47 2Bs, 15 HRs, Alexis Rios
2006, 52 2Bs, 15 HRs, Luis Gonzalez
2005, 45 2Bs, 15 HRs, Marcus Giles
2004, 52 2Bs, 16 HRs, Lyle Overbay
1999, 56 2Bs, 16 HRs, Craig Biggio
1996, 46 2Bs, 15 HRs, Jeff Cirillo
1995, 51 2Bs, 17 HRs, Mark Grace
1946, 50 2Bs, 16 HRs, Stan Spence
1946, 50 2Bs, 16 HRs, Stan Musial
1938, 51 2Bs, 17 HRs, Joe Cronin
1936, 64 2Bs, 18 HRs, Joe Medwick
1936, 60 2Bs, 15 HRs, Charlie Gehringer
1923, 59 2Bs, 17 HRs, Tris Speaker

It's a bunch of HOFers and Stan Spence up until 1946, then no one until the mid-90s. However, it's unlikely that those players who are on this list after 1946 will become HOFers, except for Craig Biggio, although it's probably too early to project Butler and Pedroia's chances.

Obviously if you lower the HR requirement you will get many more players - for instance, if you drop the HR requirement to 10 then there are 362 occurrences, which include these 17 listed here.
Paul Drye Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
@ArtieZ: It' not too surprising there's no 3-times-2B candidates if your threshold is 20 HR -- there's only been six seasons with 60+ doubles anyway.
dukeofflatbush Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
Beat me to it Atom
depstein Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
I don't understand how the 1961 Yankees won the WS when their #3 and #4 hitters only combined for 32 doubles. What a couple of losers.
paul Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 2:40 pm
So is this a list of power hitters who didn't always run hard out of the box?
Gerry Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 6:04 pm
Re #11, when Stan Spence had those 16 HR in 1946, he led his team - in fact, he had twice as many as runner-up Mickey Vernon. 14 of his 16 HR were on the road. His team, the Senators, hit 60 HR that year, 44 of them on the road. Griffith Stadium was the anti-Coors Field.
John DiFool Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
"So is this a list of power hitters who didn't always run hard out of the box?"

I suspect that's it more that in a career year for HRs, many guys are turning what would have been long doubles for them in more "typical" seasons into homers-i.e. it's a selection effect. Either that or there's a tendency here for these guys to blast high-arcing moonshots which either leave the yard or are caught.
Jeffrey Trotter Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 10:02 pm
This is unrelated to the topic at hand, but seeing Gus Triandos on this list immediately reminded me of the great, great TV show "The Wire."
jason Says:
January 30th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
surprised at how many HOF are on here as opposed to the rob deer types.
Michael E Sullivan Says:
January 31st, 2011 at 8:39 am
The season that really jumps out at me on this list is Kingman's 1982. Not only was it not particularly sublime, it was actually below average offense due to his horrible BA/OBP, despite leading the league in HRs that year.

It's hard to believe that's happened often.
Kahuna Tuna Says:
January 31st, 2011 at 9:36 am
OPS+ 100 or less, RBI 60 or more, and OPS+ = RBI:

99 RBI with 99 OPS+: Dave Kingman, 1982
95 RBI with 95 OPS+: Dale Sveum, 1987; Del Ennis, 1956
94 RBI with 94 OPS+: Joe Vosmik, 1936
92 RBI with 92 OPS+: Garret Anderson, 1997
87 RBI with 87 OPS+: Tony Batista, 2001
85 RBI with 85 OPS+: Roy Smalley Sr., 1950
84 RBI with 84 OPS+: Jose Guillen, 1998
83 RBI with 83 OPS+: Gary Carter, 1987
82 RBI with 82 OPS+: Pedro Feliz, 2009
79 RBI with 79 OPS+: Alex Gonzalez, 2004; George Stovall, 1911
78 RBI with 78 OPS+: Gary Ward, 1987
71 RBI with 71 OPS+: Rod Barajas, 2009
70 RBI with 70 OPS+: Manny Trillo, 1975
66 RBI with 66 OPS+: Derek Bell, 1999
62 RBI with 62 OPS+: Everett Scott, 1921
61 RBI with 61 OPS+: Doug Flynn, 1979
Lawrence Azrin Says:
January 31st, 2011 at 11:29 am
#14/... Depstein Says: "I don't understand how the 1961 Yankees won the WS when their #3 and #4 hitters only combined for 32 doubles. What a couple of losers."

Depstein, the Yankees hit only 194 doubles in 1961, which was last in the AL that year. How in the world did they win 110 games and the WS? Well, 240 HR's and Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and Roger Maris at their peak helps a lot.
Jim Dunne Says:
January 31st, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Mark McGwire's 2001 was one of the strangest statistical seasons I can remember. Not only did he have only 4 doubles to go with those 29 homers, he also had only 23 singles. Swing hard in case you hit it, indeed.
John Autin Says:
January 31st, 2011 at 1:31 pm
@8, Jon: "You have to be a real plodder to hit 13 doubles (39 HR) or fewer in a season."

Plodding certainly helps one make this list -- but Mickey Mantle, Sammy Sosa and Dale Murphy still had good speed in the seasons shown above.
Whiz Says:
January 31st, 2011 at 2:03 pm
@23, Jim

Yes it certainly was. Other related oddities about McGwire's 2001 season:

1) Of players with more HR than other hits combined (HR > 0.5*H) in a season, he had by far the most HR, 29 (Frank Thomas had 12 HR and 23 H in 2005).

2) It was the highest OPS+ (105) with a BA below .190 (175 PA min).

3) It was also the highest OPS/BA ratio, 4.32 (125 PA min).
Phil Haberkorn in Indiana Says:
January 31st, 2011 at 5:47 pm
RE: posts 15 and 17, I was struck by an oddity when I started searching these guys' stats for triples.
McGwire and Sosa, hardly any triples.
Aaron, Murphy, Kingman, even Killebrew and Campanella, a healthy dose of triples depending on their speed capabilities.
What you are looking at is a list comparing the "old fashioned" guys who played for the team, and ran the bases while the ball was in flight - sometimes caroming off the wall instead of going over it - versus the "modern era" guys who play only for themselves and everything they can get in their next contract, standing in the batter's box or slowly trotting toward first while they watch their towering shots head toward the outfield wall, and then bounce off it for a single or double.
I watch home run balls these days that remind me of Dave Kingman's high-altitude shots, but I look down and I don't see any of these guys reminding me of the way - despite his bad reputation - Dave Kingman legged out his hits for everything he could get on the scoreboard. Dave Kingman for the HOF? No. But at least he respected the game and knew well enough to save the home run trot until AFTER the ball went over the wall.
This is a list of guys who take their millions for granted, versus guys who took nothing for granted. Just compare their triples. You have to hustle to get those.
mccombe35 Says:
January 31st, 2011 at 8:54 pm
The Thomas seasons are interesting. Heading into the '05 season he had more career 2Bs than HRs (444 to 436). Then came that horrible foot injury - that actually cut short his '04 season during a "Thomas-Esque" season with a 156+ OPS in 74 games.

'05 - '06 he had 14 2Bs & 51 HRs. His only way to get around the bases was the HR trot....

51 HRs & just 96 runs over 2 seasons.

From a guy that in his prime was among the top 10 in runs 7 times & doubles 3 times. And leading the league 1 time each.
Open Thread: So, What’s On Your Mind? | Ducksnorts Says:
February 4th, 2011 at 3:40 am
[...] Castilla, Dave Kingman, Jose Valentin, and Joe Carter make appearances. Kingman also pops up on this list of awesome. Of course, when Kong pops up, it’s usually a [...]

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