For this one, the premise is simple: which players had the best last seasons of their careers? There are, however, a few caveats: players who died during the season or in the offseason do not count, while players who ended their career due to injury do. Also, I gave preference to full seasons (sorry, J.R. Richard) because I wanted to see the full breadth of a player's work right before they quit the game. So, without further ado...
1. Sandy Koufax, SP, 1966 (LAD): 27-9/190 ERA+/317 K
This feels like cheating, but it's not. Koufax was still unquestionably in his prime in 1966. Due to arthritis, 1966 was also his last season. From looking at the stats, however, you'd never know Koufax wasn't playing at full strength. I try to stay consistent which which statistical categories I use for each position, but I have to break that rule for Koufax. He was just so good, showing his WAR (an extremely impressive 10.8) doesn't do him justice. Playing through pain, he threw 27 complete games, in which he racked up 317 strikeouts and 5 shutouts. He won 27 games with an ERA+ of 190 and a WHIP. Opposing batters only hit .205 off of him. He had an 8.83 K/9 and a 4.12 K/BB. Seriously, Koufax was amazing. It's a shame he had to call it quits after 1966, though what a year with which to exit.
2. Ted Williams, LF, 1960 (BOS): 2.9 WAR/190 OPS+/95 RC
Williams made the list of top all-time rookie seasons, and here he is with a bookending great final season. He had a relatively pedestrian WAR (not great, not bad), but that's due to his defense, which contributed -1.5 WAR. His oWAR, 4.5, was tied for fourth in the American League, and he also cracked the top of the leaderboards for many of his other offensive statistics. His 190 OPS+ is excellent by any measure, as are his 95 runs created. In fact, he was second in the league in adjusted batting wins, close behind Mickey Mantle. Ted was 42 and unable to competently play the field by the end of the 1960 season, so it's not surprising he chose to call it quits, but he was clearly still a great ballplayer.
3. John Tudor, SP, 1990 (STL): 3.1 WAR/159 ERA+/12-4
Tudor is best known for his dominant 1985, but 1990--his final season--was pretty good too. He retired shortly after the season due to a nagging injury stemming from a previous broken leg, but you'd never know it from his stats that year. His WHIP of 1.025 is very solid for a starting pitcher, as is his 159 ERA+. Tudor started twenty-two games, winning twelve of them (his .750 winning % was third in the NL). Tudor was an all-around very solid pitcher in 1990. Considering how his career was hanging in the balance, and that he only started three games in 1989, that's pretty impressive.
4. Barry Bonds, LF, 2007 (SF): 3.3 WAR/169 OPS+/99 RC
Here's a nice measure of how good Barry Bonds was, even at the age of 42: in 2007 he led the majors in intentional (as well as non-intentional) walks. He was still patient, and still very feared. Those pitchers had good reason to be afraid: he was still one of the greatest hitters in the game. No, he wasn't hitting 73 home runs (perhaps there's a reason for that...?) but 28 is still a very respectable total. The rest of the league had caught up to him--or, rather, he had regressed back to the rest of the league--but still managed to be in the top ten for WPA, adjusting batting runs, and adjusted batting wins. His 99 runs created and 169 OPS+ weren't good enough to make the top of the leaderboards--this was the tail end of the "steroid era," after all--but they're far and away among the best when looking at players' final seasons. Bonds probably could have continue putting up numbers like these as a DH for years to come, but alas it appears he was just too toxic.
5. Will Clark, 1B, 2000 (BAL/STL): 4.1 WAR/144 OPS+/103 RC
Unlike the first four players on this list, Clark's big final season came well after his heyday. Clark was always a consistently above-average player, but his 2000 WAR was his highest since 4.4 in 1992. In 2000, Clark was traded at the trading deadline from Baltimore to St. Louis, whom he helped lead to the National League Championship Series in the wake of Mark McGwire's injury. He did this while killing the ball over the last two months of the season, to say nothing of the whole season. Over all of 2000 he hit .319 with 21 home runs and an OPS+ of 144. His 103 runs created is the most ever by a player in his final season, and his .964 OPS was the highest figure of his career. Clark simply had a very good season, and it's a shame he called it quits after the season, at the age of thirty-six.
6. Billy Wagner, CL, 2010 (ATL): 2.7 WAR/275 ERA+/37 SV
In 2010, his age 38 season, Billy Wagner managed to dominate the National League. He set a career high in ERA (1.43) and had many other figures that rank among his single-season bests: .865 WHIP; 104 strikeouts; 13.5 K/9; 0.6 HR/9; and the three stats featured in the above subject line. He also, despite just having recovered from a year-long injury, threw his most innings since 2006. One year after everybody thought he was finished, Wanger proved that he was still one of the best relief pitchers in the league. Despite all this, he retired after the season (though apparently he has yet to officially file his retirement papers), leaving us to only wonder whether or not he could have kept it up.
7. Mike Mussina, SP, 2008 (NYY): 4.4 WAR/132 ERA+/20-9
Everybody knows that in 2008 Mike Mussina, after eighteen seasons, finally won twenty games in a season and promptly retired. However, while wins are a fairly flawed statistical metric, this was still a very good season by any measure. His 3.37 ERA was sixth in the American League, and his K/BB was a very impressive fourth. He started 34 games, tied for most in the AL, 21 of which were quality starts. This all stacks up very well compared to almost every other final season by a starting pitcher (save, of course, for Koufax's and Tudor's).
8. Dave Nilsson, C, 1999 (MIL): 2.7 WAR/140 OPS+/78 RC
Nilsson, the longtime catcher for the Brewers, had a pretty unheralded (and relatively short, only eight seasons) career. He battled knee trouble throughout his career, and retired from the MLB due to a desire to play baseball in his native Australia. That, however, does not disqualify him from our list, strange though those circumstances may have been. Let's examine Nilsson's 1999: in 115 games he hit .309 with an OPS of .954 and 21 home runs. He also made the All-Star team, though only as a replacement for the Phillies' Mike Lieberthal. Nilsson had a very solid season, and could have had a pretty good rest of his career were it not for his love of his homeland, coupled with his knee troubles.
9. Kirby Puckett, RF, 1995 (MIN): 2.5 WAR/130 OPS+/102 RC
Puckett is the third Hall of Famer (and fifth among those who probably deserve it) to appear on our list. He is another player who had to retire early due to an injury that wasn't slowing down his play, but would cause him problems if he kept playing. 1995 was actually very similar to the previous four or so seasons that Puckett had had, with 1995 having the second lowest WAR among them. That is a bit of a misnomer, however, due to the fact that Puckett lost a whole .9 WAR from his play in the field in 1995. (In 1993, however, Puckett had an oWAR of 3.5 and a dWAR of -3.0. Wow.) Anyway, Puckett's 1995 is only one behind Clark's 2000 for the all-time most runs created in a final season, and his other offensive numbers are similarly competitive. He was among the league leaders in hits (169), doubles (39), and intentional walks (18). He was still one of the best outfielders in the majors and showed no sign of slowing down any time soon. Pity.
10. Larry Jackson, SP, 1968 (PHI): 4.8 WAR/109 ERA+/13-17
The player on our list with the second-highest WAR winds up in tenth place. Oh well. Anyway, Jackson had a very respectable season to close out his unheralded career. (Side-note: Jackson was actually a very good pitcher for the Cardinals in the late 50s/early 60s.) Don't let his sub-.500 winning percentage fool you, though don't be tripped up by his 2.77 ERA either. Jackson had a very good season, that is rendered slightly worse by the fact that 1968 was one of the greatest seasons for pitching in the modern era. Hence a 109 ERA+ with that very low ERA. Still, Jackson had to have done something right to merit a 4.8 WAR, and many of his statistics are perfectly solid, especially for a 39-year-old: 12 complete games, 1.186 WHIP, 0.3 HR/9 (tied for sixth lowest in the NL). This tenth spot was a tough call, but Jackson is well deserving of it.
Runners-up: Britt Burns, SP, 1985 (CHW); Roy Cullenbine, 1B, 1947 (DET); Andy Pettitte, SP, 2010 (NYY); Curt Schilling, SP, 2007 (BOS); Jeff Zimmerman, CL, 2001 (TEX).
Showing posts with label Ted Williams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ted Williams. Show all posts
Friday, August 19, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Ten Best Rookie Seasons
In honor of the new year, today I will examine the best rookie seasons of all-time, dating back to 1901.
1. Vean Gregg, SP, 1911 (CLE): 7.8 WAR/189 ERA+/23-7
Here are Vean Gregg's standings among rookies, all-time: ERA+, 2nd; ERA, 3rd; WHIP, 3rd; wins, 3rd; and shutouts, 4th. No, he doesn't lead in any of those categories, but find me another rookie pitcher who can claim top-four status in all of those categories. What Gregg do, however, was establish himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball in 1911, leading the American League in ERA, WHIP, and H/9. He only finished tenth in MVP voting for that year, but performed markedly better than some of the players who came ahead of him. Gregg continued his dominance for the next two seasons, and then fell off. His WAR over his first three seasons: 18.3; over his next (and final) five: 0.9. It's not a wonder that Gregg isn't talked about as one of the all-time greats. His career simply wasn't there. His rookie season, however, seems to be criminally underrated. For a very small amount of time he was one of the best pitchers in the game--a period set up by his brilliant rookie season, the best of all-time of its kind.
2. Ichiro Suzuki, RF, 2001 (SEA): 7.6 WAR/126 OPS+/242 H
Ichiro probably didn't deserve the MVP award that he received for this season, but his dominance over the AL cannot be understated. In an era dominated by power hitting (you may remember that Barry Bonds hit his 73 home runs in 2001), Ichiro's brand of play was a breath of fresh air. He was fast (leading the AL in stolen bases with 56), could hit (led the AL in hits, as well as batting average [.350]), and was a flashy defender (fourth in the AL with a fielding value of 27). His game wasn't that balanced--he only hit eight home runs with sixty-nine RBI--but that didn't matter when he was getting on base more than anybody else in the league. His contribution to his team, which had just traded away Ken Griffey, Jr. for a pretty uninspiring bunch of talent, was astounding. As a rookie, albeit one with prior experience in Japan, he carried the Mariners through their outstanding 116 win season and made them forget all about the last star outfielder from Seattle. Simply amazing.
3. Ted Williams, LF, 1939 (BOS): 6.8 WAR/160 OPS+/145 RBI
While Williams only ranks eighth among rookies in WAR, I give him the number three spot here for a few reasons: I know RBI is a statistic much dependent on the hitters in front of you getting on base, but it clearly takes more than a little skill to consistently drive them in all season. Williams didn't just do that well in 1939, he did it better than anybody else in the American League. The second-place hitter in that category, none other than Joe DiMaggio, only had 126. (Williams also led the league in total bases, with 344.) His OPS+ of 160 is second-highest all-time among rookie position players, but he had more eleven more home runs, fifty two more runs batted in, and forty nine more hits than Johnny Mize (who had an OPS+ of 162 in his rookie year). Williams leads all rookies (all-time) with an OBP of .436, an OPS of 1.045, and led all left-fielders in WAR in 1939. In his first season in the majors, only two years before he would hit .406, the Splendid Splinter had already established himself as one of the finest all-around players in the major leagues. For doing that, I'm happy to give him the number three spot on this list.
4. Albert Pujols, 3B, 2001 (STL): 6.9 WAR/157 OPS+/37 HR
While the dynamic Ichiro was taking the American League by storm, a young, mostly unknown Hispanic third baseman named Albert Pujols was destroying the National League. What Pujols accomplished was nothing short of spectacular. As you might be able to tell, the difference between Ted Williams' and Pujols' seasons is mostly negligible. I gave the tie to Williams because of his slightly higher OPS+ and greater dominance on a statistic-by-statistic basis relative to the other hitters in the league at the time. Still, Pujols' 2001 is clearly one of the all-time great rookie seasons. He hit for power, average (.329 AVG, 194 hits), and his slugging percentage of .610 is an all-time rookie high. His durability was admirable too, as he played in 161 games, making him one of only four rookies ever to play in 160 or more games. For his 2001, Pujols was fairly rewarded with the Rookie of the Year, an All-Star appearance, a Silver Slugger, and a fourth place finish in the MVP voting. Fourth may seem too low (as in, closer to 10th) for this season; but that just speaks to the competition he has from Gregg, Ichiro, and Williams, rather than the quality of Pujols' 2001.
6. Fred Lynn, CF, 1975 (BOS): 6.1 WAR/161 OPS+/.331 AVG
In 1975, Fred Lynn won Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, a Gold Glove, and was an All-Star. There was a reason for this: he was basically unstoppable. Lynn, as a mere 23 year-old, helped lead the Red Sox to an ill-fated World Series appearance by doing basically all that he could. He led the AL in runs, doubles, slugging percentage, and OPS, and finished second in batting average and extra base hits. He even finished in the top ten for defensive WAR. No, I don't think that Lynn--despite a slightly higher OPS+--had a better season than Ichiro, Williams, or Pujols. His OPS, home runs, and RBIs are inferior to those of the other two power hitters, and he clearly didn't hit or run as well as Ichiro did. Lynn definitely deserved all the accolades he collected during his historic 1975 season. In the scheme of rookie seasons, however, I believe he's right at home in 6th place.
7. Dick Allen, 1B, 1964 (PHI): 9.1 WAR/162 OPS+/29 HR
I don't understand how WAR is calculated. I'm sure it's a good system, as I trust it enough to use it here, but I don't see how Allen's 1964 has been deemed to be worth two more wins than either Williams' or Pujols' aforementioned seasons. In any case, while I don't think Allen had as good of a season as either of those two all-time greats, he certainly put up impressive numbers in 1964. His 29 home runs, 201 hits, and .939 OPS are daunting, and any player would kill to be able to have that line. My main problem with Allen's 1964 is that he didn't lead the league in any categories besides WAR, runs, triples, and strikeouts. To my untrained eye, Willie Mays and Ron Santo actually had better seasons (something borne out by the OPS of each). Allen in 1964 established himself as an all-around threat and hitting machine, but I don't think he did better than any of the players ahead of him on this list. (Not that there's any shame in that.)
8. Ed Reulbach, SP, 1905 (CHC): 7.8 WAR/209 ERA+/18-14
Reulbach pitched in the middle of the Dead Ball Era, but unlike Vean Gregg was not far and away the best pitcher in baseball during his rookie season (that honor would go to Christy Mathewson). His statistics are impressive, to be sure: an ERA of 1.42; 28 complete games; a WHIP of 0.963; and a paltry 6.4 H/9 (the only major category in which he led the league). eulbach, despite not having as good rookie seasons as Gregg or Fidrych, went on to have a long and prosperous career, winning 182 games with a career ERA+ of 123. The presence of Mathewson, and the general dominance of pitching in his era, means that I can't move him higher than this (though finishing sixth on this list is still pretty nice).
9. Reb Russell, SP, 1913 (CHW): 7.3 WAR/154 ERA+/22-16
Oh look, another Dead Ball Era pitcher whom nobody's ever heard of! That's not quite fair, as I'm sure there are a few people out there who know Russell for his nickname. While he didn't have much of a career of which to speak, his rookie season was plenty good. He pitched eight shutouts, a rookie record, and his WHIP of 1.039 is second among rookies. His ERA was 1.90, tied for third in the AL, and his 26 complete games was second. Like Reulbach, Russell suffers from the strong pitching competition he had that year (Walter Johnson had a 1.14 ERA with an unreal WHIP of .780). His durability (he led the league in games pitched, with 52; maybe he suffered from Mark Prior syndrome before we knew of such a thing?) and dominance, however, ensure that his rookie season will still be remembered as one of the all-time greats.
11. Dale Alexander, 1B, 1929 (DET): 4.8 WAR/147 OPS+/215 H
Not to be confused with the similarly-named pitcher on this list, Alexander's WAR can be deceiving (he had an offensive WAR of 5.5, but it got knocked down .7 points for bad defense). Alexander led the league in hits (215) while also finishing in the top five in many other categories (home runs, 25; slugging, .580; extra base hits, 83; and runs created, 141). He was an offensive machine with a good all-around game. To be fair, however, he played during an incredible period of offense, and so his .343 average was only tenth in the AL. Still, though, his great statistics should be acknowledged (and indeed, his OPS+ bears out that he was a much above-average hitter in 1911; being in the top ten in almost every offensive category as a rookie is no easy accomplishment). I'll do that by giving him a spot on this ranking.
Runners-up: ; Curt Davis, SP, 1934 (PHI); Johnny Mize, 1B, 1936 (STL); Mike Piazza, C, 1993 (LAD); Frank Robinson, LF, 1956 (CIN)
- Note 1: The player must have qualified for either a batting or ERA title in his rookie year to appear on this list.
- Note 2 (UPDATED): I had originally only included players who hadn't played at all before their rookie seasons. Then I decided to not be so lazy, and thus the new and improved post includes players for whom their rookie season was not their first shot at the bigs. The old entries are preserved, however, making this technically a top twelve list. Thanks to Mike and "anonymous" in the comments, for inspiring me to go through with this.
- Note 3: I've been trying out giving all pitchers a uniform heading line of WAR/ERA+/W-L and hitters WAR/OPS+/FV (though FV will be replaced another stat for today). I may play around with this, as I don't know how much I love WAR yet, so don't get mad if I seem inconsistent with my "important" statistics.
1. Vean Gregg, SP, 1911 (CLE): 7.8 WAR/189 ERA+/23-7
Here are Vean Gregg's standings among rookies, all-time: ERA+, 2nd; ERA, 3rd; WHIP, 3rd; wins, 3rd; and shutouts, 4th. No, he doesn't lead in any of those categories, but find me another rookie pitcher who can claim top-four status in all of those categories. What Gregg do, however, was establish himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball in 1911, leading the American League in ERA, WHIP, and H/9. He only finished tenth in MVP voting for that year, but performed markedly better than some of the players who came ahead of him. Gregg continued his dominance for the next two seasons, and then fell off. His WAR over his first three seasons: 18.3; over his next (and final) five: 0.9. It's not a wonder that Gregg isn't talked about as one of the all-time greats. His career simply wasn't there. His rookie season, however, seems to be criminally underrated. For a very small amount of time he was one of the best pitchers in the game--a period set up by his brilliant rookie season, the best of all-time of its kind.
2. Ichiro Suzuki, RF, 2001 (SEA): 7.6 WAR/126 OPS+/242 H
Ichiro probably didn't deserve the MVP award that he received for this season, but his dominance over the AL cannot be understated. In an era dominated by power hitting (you may remember that Barry Bonds hit his 73 home runs in 2001), Ichiro's brand of play was a breath of fresh air. He was fast (leading the AL in stolen bases with 56), could hit (led the AL in hits, as well as batting average [.350]), and was a flashy defender (fourth in the AL with a fielding value of 27). His game wasn't that balanced--he only hit eight home runs with sixty-nine RBI--but that didn't matter when he was getting on base more than anybody else in the league. His contribution to his team, which had just traded away Ken Griffey, Jr. for a pretty uninspiring bunch of talent, was astounding. As a rookie, albeit one with prior experience in Japan, he carried the Mariners through their outstanding 116 win season and made them forget all about the last star outfielder from Seattle. Simply amazing.
3. Ted Williams, LF, 1939 (BOS): 6.8 WAR/160 OPS+/145 RBI
While Williams only ranks eighth among rookies in WAR, I give him the number three spot here for a few reasons: I know RBI is a statistic much dependent on the hitters in front of you getting on base, but it clearly takes more than a little skill to consistently drive them in all season. Williams didn't just do that well in 1939, he did it better than anybody else in the American League. The second-place hitter in that category, none other than Joe DiMaggio, only had 126. (Williams also led the league in total bases, with 344.) His OPS+ of 160 is second-highest all-time among rookie position players, but he had more eleven more home runs, fifty two more runs batted in, and forty nine more hits than Johnny Mize (who had an OPS+ of 162 in his rookie year). Williams leads all rookies (all-time) with an OBP of .436, an OPS of 1.045, and led all left-fielders in WAR in 1939. In his first season in the majors, only two years before he would hit .406, the Splendid Splinter had already established himself as one of the finest all-around players in the major leagues. For doing that, I'm happy to give him the number three spot on this list.
4. Albert Pujols, 3B, 2001 (STL): 6.9 WAR/157 OPS+/37 HR
While the dynamic Ichiro was taking the American League by storm, a young, mostly unknown Hispanic third baseman named Albert Pujols was destroying the National League. What Pujols accomplished was nothing short of spectacular. As you might be able to tell, the difference between Ted Williams' and Pujols' seasons is mostly negligible. I gave the tie to Williams because of his slightly higher OPS+ and greater dominance on a statistic-by-statistic basis relative to the other hitters in the league at the time. Still, Pujols' 2001 is clearly one of the all-time great rookie seasons. He hit for power, average (.329 AVG, 194 hits), and his slugging percentage of .610 is an all-time rookie high. His durability was admirable too, as he played in 161 games, making him one of only four rookies ever to play in 160 or more games. For his 2001, Pujols was fairly rewarded with the Rookie of the Year, an All-Star appearance, a Silver Slugger, and a fourth place finish in the MVP voting. Fourth may seem too low (as in, closer to 10th) for this season; but that just speaks to the competition he has from Gregg, Ichiro, and Williams, rather than the quality of Pujols' 2001.
5. Mark Fidrych, SP, 1976 (DET): 8.5 WAR/159 ERA+/19-9
Man, what more can be said about Mark "The Bird" Fidrych's rookie season? He charmed the MLB with his odd antics (e.g. he would talk to the ball while on the mound), but unlike some of the other most colorful characters baseball has seen, Fidrych could flat-out play. (His nationally televised game against the Yankees is still shown on MLB Network.) He led the MLB in WAR, ERA (2.34), and complete games (an astounding 24 out of just 29 starts). He didn't strike out very many batters, but made up for it by having a WHIP of only 1.079, third in the AL. Fidrych ran away with the Rookie of the Year and finished second in the Cy Young voting to Jim Palmer. Although Fidrych's career would soon take a disastrous and injury-filled turn, the magic of his rookie season still inspires years later.
6. Fred Lynn, CF, 1975 (BOS): 6.1 WAR/161 OPS+/.331 AVG
In 1975, Fred Lynn won Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, a Gold Glove, and was an All-Star. There was a reason for this: he was basically unstoppable. Lynn, as a mere 23 year-old, helped lead the Red Sox to an ill-fated World Series appearance by doing basically all that he could. He led the AL in runs, doubles, slugging percentage, and OPS, and finished second in batting average and extra base hits. He even finished in the top ten for defensive WAR. No, I don't think that Lynn--despite a slightly higher OPS+--had a better season than Ichiro, Williams, or Pujols. His OPS, home runs, and RBIs are inferior to those of the other two power hitters, and he clearly didn't hit or run as well as Ichiro did. Lynn definitely deserved all the accolades he collected during his historic 1975 season. In the scheme of rookie seasons, however, I believe he's right at home in 6th place.
7. Dick Allen, 1B, 1964 (PHI): 9.1 WAR/162 OPS+/29 HR
I don't understand how WAR is calculated. I'm sure it's a good system, as I trust it enough to use it here, but I don't see how Allen's 1964 has been deemed to be worth two more wins than either Williams' or Pujols' aforementioned seasons. In any case, while I don't think Allen had as good of a season as either of those two all-time greats, he certainly put up impressive numbers in 1964. His 29 home runs, 201 hits, and .939 OPS are daunting, and any player would kill to be able to have that line. My main problem with Allen's 1964 is that he didn't lead the league in any categories besides WAR, runs, triples, and strikeouts. To my untrained eye, Willie Mays and Ron Santo actually had better seasons (something borne out by the OPS of each). Allen in 1964 established himself as an all-around threat and hitting machine, but I don't think he did better than any of the players ahead of him on this list. (Not that there's any shame in that.)
8. Ed Reulbach, SP, 1905 (CHC): 7.8 WAR/209 ERA+/18-14
Reulbach pitched in the middle of the Dead Ball Era, but unlike Vean Gregg was not far and away the best pitcher in baseball during his rookie season (that honor would go to Christy Mathewson). His statistics are impressive, to be sure: an ERA of 1.42; 28 complete games; a WHIP of 0.963; and a paltry 6.4 H/9 (the only major category in which he led the league). eulbach, despite not having as good rookie seasons as Gregg or Fidrych, went on to have a long and prosperous career, winning 182 games with a career ERA+ of 123. The presence of Mathewson, and the general dominance of pitching in his era, means that I can't move him higher than this (though finishing sixth on this list is still pretty nice).
9. Reb Russell, SP, 1913 (CHW): 7.3 WAR/154 ERA+/22-16
Oh look, another Dead Ball Era pitcher whom nobody's ever heard of! That's not quite fair, as I'm sure there are a few people out there who know Russell for his nickname. While he didn't have much of a career of which to speak, his rookie season was plenty good. He pitched eight shutouts, a rookie record, and his WHIP of 1.039 is second among rookies. His ERA was 1.90, tied for third in the AL, and his 26 complete games was second. Like Reulbach, Russell suffers from the strong pitching competition he had that year (Walter Johnson had a 1.14 ERA with an unreal WHIP of .780). His durability (he led the league in games pitched, with 52; maybe he suffered from Mark Prior syndrome before we knew of such a thing?) and dominance, however, ensure that his rookie season will still be remembered as one of the all-time greats.
10. Pete Alexander, SP, 1911 (PHI): 7.8 WAR/133 ERA+/28-13
"Wait, not another one?" you may thing. Well, you may know this pitcher better by the name Grover Cleveland Alexander. Unlike the other pitchers on this list, his rookie year was no aberration. In 1911, Alexander led the NL in wins, complete games, shutouts, innings pitched, and H/9. The reason why he's not higher is that none of those statistics are particularly compelling. His ERA, 2.57, is solid but not outstanding, as is his WHIP (1.128). This season is notable in that it heralded the arrival of one of baseball's great pitchers, and showed just how good he could be. Alexander would lead the league in wins five more times before his career was over, finishing with 373. It was his first, however, that would prove to be his most recognized, as he finished higher (3rd place) in the MVP vote that year than in any other season.
*NOTE: The players below would otherwise be on my "runners-up" list, but I decided to preserve what I wrote about them.*
*NOTE: The players below would otherwise be on my "runners-up" list, but I decided to preserve what I wrote about them.*
11. Dale Alexander, 1B, 1929 (DET): 4.8 WAR/147 OPS+/215 H
Not to be confused with the similarly-named pitcher on this list, Alexander's WAR can be deceiving (he had an offensive WAR of 5.5, but it got knocked down .7 points for bad defense). Alexander led the league in hits (215) while also finishing in the top five in many other categories (home runs, 25; slugging, .580; extra base hits, 83; and runs created, 141). He was an offensive machine with a good all-around game. To be fair, however, he played during an incredible period of offense, and so his .343 average was only tenth in the AL. Still, though, his great statistics should be acknowledged (and indeed, his OPS+ bears out that he was a much above-average hitter in 1911; being in the top ten in almost every offensive category as a rookie is no easy accomplishment). I'll do that by giving him a spot on this ranking.
12. Paul Waner, RF, 1926 (PIT): 5.7 WAR/147 OPS+/.336 AVG
Remember Lloyd Waner, from yesterday's list? Paul was his more talented brother. Before winning MVP in 1927, Paul put up quite the impressive rookie season. He hit .336 with an OPS of .941, and led the league in triples, with 22. His WAR was third in the league, and first among position players. It's actually worse, I think, that Waner went on to have such a great career. This season is one of his more middling ones, so it doesn't stand out as much as, say, Fidrych's does. But while that might be an interesting thought experiment, it doesn't detract from the quality and dominance of Waner's 1926. He just had an all-around very good season, finishing 12th in the MVP voting for it, and for that he gets a spot on this list.
Runners-up: ; Curt Davis, SP, 1934 (PHI); Johnny Mize, 1B, 1936 (STL); Mike Piazza, C, 1993 (LAD); Frank Robinson, LF, 1956 (CIN)
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