Bobby Abreu re-signed with the Angels for 2 years yesterday,which surprised me. He had a nice year for a 35-year-old guy and I thought would have wanted to test the open market. Of course, he did that last year after having a good year and had to wait until just before spring training to get signed. Maybe he was happy to jump at a 2-year contract offer.

Anyway, most people know that he's got a long active streak of 100-RBI seasons. Here are the guys with the most 100-RBI seasons in the last 7 years:

                   From  To   Ages Seasons Link to Individual Seasons
+-----------------+----+----+-----+-------+------------------------------+
 Alex Rodriguez    2003 2009 27-33       7 Ind. Seasons
 Albert Pujols     2003 2009 23-29       7 Ind. Seasons
 Bobby Abreu       2003 2009 29-35       7 Ind. Seasons
 Mark Teixeira     2004 2009 24-29       6 Ind. Seasons
 Miguel Cabrera    2004 2009 21-26       6 Ind. Seasons
 Carlos Lee        2003 2009 27-33       6 Ind. Seasons

Only Abreu, A-rod, and Phat Albert have 100-RBI seasons each year.

The PI doesn't yet enable us to search for seasonal streaks, although I am hoping that this is coming down the pike. (I can tell you for sure that many significant additions are in fact coming down the pike, as I have seen the beta of the new version...) I don't know how many players have had 7-season 100-RBI streaks, but it's probably been done a fair amount.

Anyway, the last time Abreu didn't have 100 RBI in a season was 2002, but check out his stats that year. He played in 157 games, had 685 plate appearances, batted .308, slugged .521, and had an OPS+ of 151 (a career best.) And yet, he totaled only 85 RBI. Isn't that crazy? If he got 100 RBI that year, he'd have a streak of 9 such seasons going into next year.

Check out the guys over the last 20 seasons to have at least 600 PAs and an OPS+ of 150 or better but not reach 100 RBI:

  Cnt Player            Year OPS+ RBI  PA Age Tm  Lg  G   AB  R   H  2B 3B HR  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+----+----+---+---+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Joe Mauer         2009  177  96 606  26 MIN AL 138 523  94 191 30  1 28  76  14  63   2   0   5  13   4  1  .365  .444  .587 1.031 *2D
    2 Adrian Gonzalez   2009  163  99 681  27 SDP NL 160 552  90 153 27  2 40 119  22 109   5   1   4  23   1  1  .277  .407  .551  .958 *3/D
    3 Todd Helton       2004  165  96 683  30 COL NL 154 547 115 190 49  2 32 127  19  72   3   0   6  12   3  0  .347  .469  .620 1.089 *3
    4 J.D. Drew         2004  157  93 645  28 ATL NL 145 518 118 158 28  8 31 118   2 116   5   1   3   7  12  3  .305  .436  .569 1.005 *9/8D
    5 Bobby Abreu       2002  151  85 685  28 PHI NL 157 572 102 176 50  6 20 104   9 117   3   0   6  11  31 12  .308  .413  .521  .934 *98
    6 Ryan Klesko       2002  152  95 625  31 SDP NL 146 540  90 162 39  1 29  76  11  86   4   1   4   7   6  2  .300  .388  .537  .925 *39/D
    7 Brian Giles       2001  150  95 674  30 PIT NL 160 576 116 178 37  7 37  90  14  67   4   0   4  10  13  6  .309  .404  .590  .994 *78
    8 Edgar Martinez    1999  152  86 608  36 SEA AL 142 502  86 169 35  1 24  97   6  99   6   0   3  12   7  2  .337  .447  .554 1.001 *D/3
    9 John Olerud       1998  163  93 665  29 NYM NL 160 557  91 197 36  4 22  96  11  73   4   1   7  15   2  2  .354  .447  .551  .998 *3
   10 Mo Vaughn         1997  152  96 628  29 BOS AL 141 527  91 166 24  0 35  86  17 154  12   0   3  10   2  2  .315  .420  .560  .980 *3/D
   11 Barry Larkin      1996  154  89 627  32 CIN NL 152 517 117 154 32  4 33  96   3  52   7   0   7  20  36 10  .298  .410  .567  .977 *6
   12 Bobby Bonilla     1995  151  99 614  32 TOT ML 141 554  96 182 37  8 28  54  10  79   2   0   4  22   0  5  .329  .388  .576  .964 5973
   13 Andy Van Slyke    1992  151  89 685  31 PIT NL 154 614 103 199 45 12 14  58   4  99   4   0   9   9  12  3  .324  .381  .505  .886 *8
   14 John Kruk         1992  150  70 607  31 PHI NL 144 507  86 164 30  4 10  92   8  88   1   0   7  11   3  5  .323  .423  .458  .881 *39/7
   15 Will Clark        1992  150  73 601  28 SFG NL 144 513  69 154 40  1 16  73  23  82   4   0  11   5  12  7  .300  .384  .476  .860 *3
   16 Rafael Palmeiro   1991  155  88 714  26 TEX AL 159 631 115 203 49  3 26  68  10  72   6   2   7  17   4  3  .322  .389  .532  .921 *3/D
   17 George Brett      1990  153  87 607  37 KCR AL 142 544  82 179 45  7 14  56  14  63   0   0   7  18   9  2  .329  .387  .515  .902 *3D/975
   18 Fred McGriff      1990  153  88 658  26 TOR AL 153 557  91 167 21  1 35  94  12 108   2   1   4   7   5  3  .300  .400  .530  .930 *3/D
   19 Eddie Murray      1990  158  95 645  34 LAD NL 155 558  96 184 22  3 26  82  21  64   1   0   4  19   8  5  .330  .414  .520  .934 *3

Most of these guys either had fewer PAs than Abreu's 685 or got a lot closer to 100 RBI.

So why did Abreu fall short of 100 RBI in 2002? The Phillies were an average team that year with a record of 80-81. Abreu batted 3rd almost the entire season except for a stretch where he hit 4th. It would seem that he was in good position to drive in 100 runs.

It seems to me that the key is the guys who were hitting in front of him. Jimmy Rollins hit 1st or 2nd almost the entire year but managed only a .306 OBP, a pathetic value for a leadoff guy and Rollins' worst until this year's abysmal .296 OBP. The guy hitting second was often Doug Glanville, he of the .292 OBP that season.

Check out Abreu's splits for the last 9 seasons batting with runners on base:

Yeah, it looks like Rollins and Glanville not getting on base too much was the difference. In 2002 Abreu had an average number of games with runners on base (145) but the fewest total plate appearances (313). He also had a low total of homers with runners on base (7) despite having an average year in total number of homers (20, not visible in the chart above.) This was a contributing cause to his low RBI total.

In the 8 years above other than 2002, Abreu averaged 93 RBI while hitting with runners on, getting the rest of his RBI each season on solo homers. In 2002, though, he got just 72 RBI with runners on despite having BA, OBP, and SLG just about smack dab on his averages for his entire career in that situation. Had he gotton just his average 93, he would have been over 100 RBI for the year.

While I'm still captivated by the World Series that's going on, anybody who isn't is already thinking about this year's crop of free agents.

(As an aside, how could you not be captivated by tonight's game? One of two things is likely: the Yankees might beat Pedro to win the World Series or Pedro might beat the Yankees to push the series to a seventh and final game...how could you NOT tune in?)

Anyway, it's a pretty thin class for this year's free agents. We'll get into it more during the off-season, but I caught wind of an interesting fact pointed out by an agent. Can you name the only 3 players to have 4 seasons with 30+ HR, 100+ RBI and 100+ runs over the period 2005-2009?

I'll spot you the first two--Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez. Can you name the third? Answer is below...

Read the rest of this entry »

Check out this list of most game scores (regular season) of at least 80 during the 2009 season:

This is my second recent post involving the Game Score stat, so in case you're not familiar with it, you can read about how it's calculated right here.

                   Year Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+----+-----+-------------------------+
 C.C. Sabathia     2009     4 Ind. Games
 Tim Lincecum      2009     4 Ind. Games
 Roy Halladay      2009     4 Ind. Games
 Zack Greinke      2009     4 Ind. Games
 Joel Pineiro      2009     3 Ind. Games
 Jake Peavy        2009     3 Ind. Games
 Ricky Nolasco     2009     3 Ind. Games
 Jon Lester        2009     3 Ind. Games
 Cliff Lee         2009     3 Ind. Games
 Felix Hernandez   2009     3 Ind. Games
 Danny Haren       2009     3 Ind. Games
 Yovani Gallardo   2009     3 Ind. Games
 Chris Carpenter   2009     3 Ind. Games
 Matt Cain         2009     3 Ind. Games

Lots of expected names on that list although a few stick out. Ricky Nolasco finished the season with a 5.06 ERA but still managed 3 games with game scores of at least 80. Here are those 3 games:

  Cnt Date          Tm   Opp GmReslt App,Dec    IP   H  R ER BB SO HR Pit Str GmSc IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP   ERA
+----+-------------+---+----+-------+---------+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+---+--+--+---+--+--+--+--+--+------+
    1 2009-07-05    FLA  PIT W  5-0  GS-8  ,W   8    3  0  0  2 12  0 112  75   86       28 26  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  1  0  0  0  0   0.00
    2 2009-08-18    FLA @HOU W  6-2  CG 9  ,W   9    3  2  2  0 10  1 115  80   83       30 30  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   2.00
    3 2009-09-30    FLA @ATL W  5-4  GS-8  ,W   7.2  4  2  0  2 16  0 123  83   81       29 27  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00

Indeed--all great games. The thing that must be remembered about the Game Score stat is that it favors high strikeout games as well as low-hit games.

Jake Peavy makes the list too, despite starting only 16 games this past season.

Joel Piniero's name isn't much of a surprise given the great season he had. Looking at his stats, the thing that sticks out from 2009 was his incredibly low walk rate. Among the 102 active pitchers with at least 1000 career IP, Piniero has the 21st best walk-rate. (Keep in mind that getting to 1000 IP means the pitcher must have at least a someone decent walk rate to start off with.)

But check this out...how many active pitchers have thrown at least 200 innings in a season while walking fewer than 1.2 batters per 9 innings? Would you believe just two?

  Cnt Player            Year   IP   BB/9 Age Tm  Lg  G   GS CG SHO GF  W  L  W-L% SV  H   R   ER  BB  SO   ERA  ERA+ HR  BF  HBP
+----+-----------------+----+-----+-----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+---+
    1 Joel Pineiro      2009 214    1.14  30 STL NL  32  32  3   2  0 15 12  .556  0 218  94  83  27 105   3.49  119 11  865   8
    2 Roy Halladay      2003 266    1.08  26 TOR AL  36  36  9   2  0 22  7  .759  0 253 111  96  32 204   3.25  145 26 1071   9 

Pretty amazing, huh?

Here are the last 20 such seasons:

  Cnt Player            Year  BB/9   IP  Age Tm  Lg  G   GS CG SHO GF  W  L  W-L% SV  H   R   ER  BB  SO   ERA  ERA+ HR  BF  HBP
+----+-----------------+----+-----+-----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+---+
    1 Joel Pineiro      2009  1.14 214    30 STL NL  32  32  3   2  0 15 12  .556  0 218  94  83  27 105   3.49  119 11  865   8
    2 Brad Radke        2005  1.03 200.2  32 MIN AL  31  31  3   1  0  9 12  .429  0 214  98  90  23 117   4.04  110 33  831   7
    3 Brad Radke        2004  1.07 219.2  31 MIN AL  34  34  1   1  0 11  8  .579  0 229  92  85  26 143   3.48  136 23  901   6
    4 Roy Halladay      2003  1.08 266    26 TOR AL  36  36  9   2  0 22  7  .759  0 253 111  96  32 204   3.25  145 26 1071   9
    5 David Wells       2003  0.85 213    40 NYY AL  31  30  4   1  0 15  7  .682  0 242 101  98  20 101   4.14  106 24  887   8
    6 Brad Radke        2003  1.19 212.1  30 MIN AL  33  33  3   1  0 14 10  .583  0 242 111 106  28 120   4.49  101 32  888   5
    7 Curt Schilling    2002  1.15 259.1  35 ARI NL  36  35  5   1  0 23  7  .767  0 218  95  93  33 316   3.23  142 29 1017   3
    8 Brad Radke        2001  1.04 226    28 MIN AL  33  33  6   2  0 15 11  .577  0 235 105  99  26 137   3.94  116 24  919  10
    9 Greg Maddux       2001  1.04 233    35 ATL NL  34  34  3   3  0 17 11  .607  0 220  86  79  27 173   3.05  146 20  927   7
   10 Brian Anderson    1998  1.04 208    26 ARI NL  32  32  2   1  0 12 13  .480  0 221 100 100  24  95   4.33   97 39  845   4
   11 Greg Maddux       1997  0.77 232.2  31 ATL NL  33  33  5   2  0 19  4  .826  0 200  58  57  20 177   2.20  189  9  893   6
   12 Greg Maddux       1996  1.03 245    30 ATL NL  35  35  5   1  0 15 11  .577  0 225  85  74  28 172   2.72  162 11  978   3
   13 Greg Maddux       1995  0.99 209.2  29 ATL NL  28  28 10   3  0 19  2  .905  0 147  39  38  23 181   1.63  262  8  785   4
   14 Bob Tewksbury     1993  0.84 213.2  32 STL NL  32  32  2   0  0 17 10  .630  0 258  99  91  20  97   3.83  103 15  907   6
   15 Bob Tewksbury     1992  0.77 233    31 STL NL  33  32  5   0  1 16  5  .762  0 217  63  56  20  91   2.16  157 15  915   3
   16 Zane Smith        1991  1.14 228    30 PIT NL  35  35  6   3  0 16 10  .615  0 234  95  81  29 120   3.20  113 15  916   2
   17 Greg Swindell     1991  1.17 238    26 CLE AL  33  33  7   0  0  9 16  .360  0 241 112  92  31 169   3.48  120 21  971   3
   18 Jimmy Key         1989  1.13 216    28 TOR AL  33  33  5   1  0 13 14  .481  0 226  99  93  27 118   3.88   94 18  886   3
   19 La Marr Hoyt      1985  0.86 210.1  30 SDP NL  31  31  8   3  0 16  8  .667  0 210  85  81  20  83   3.47  103 20  839   2
   20 La Marr Hoyt      1983  1.07 260.2  28 CHW AL  36  36 11   1  0 24 10  .706  0 236 115 106  31 148   3.66  115 27 1034   1

Below is a poll for the National League Cy Young award. As with my poll for the AL award,the 10 guys I put on the ballot are based on the Cy Young Predictor formula (developed by Bill James and Rob Neyer), which can be seen right here on ESPN.com. Keep in mind that this award is based only on regular-season performance, so please try to ignore anything good or bad you've seen in the post-season.

Also here are some stats (and links to each player) you can use to research your vote.

Here are all the NL pitchers this year to make at least 28 starts, strike out at least 144 batters, and win at least 14 games:

  Cnt                        GS  SO  W Year Age Tm  Lg  G  CG SHO GF  L  W-L% SV   IP   H   R   ER  BB   ERA  ERA+ HR  BF  HBP
+----+-----------------+---+---+---+--+----+---+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+-----+--+-----+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+---+
    1 Matt Cain              33 171 14 2009  24 SFG NL  33  4   0  0  8  .636  0 217.2 184  73  70  73   2.89  148 22  886   3
    2 Chris Carpenter        28 144 17 2009  34 STL NL  28  3   1  0  4  .810  0 192.2 156  49  48  38   2.24  185  7  750   7
    3 Jorge de la Rosa       32 193 16 2009  28 COL NL  33  0   0  0  9  .640  0 185   172  95  90  83   4.38  103 20  799   9
    4 Danny Haren            33 223 14 2009  28 ARI NL  33  3   1  0 10  .583  0 229.1 192  83  80  38   3.14  143 27  909   4
    5 Ubaldo Jimenez         33 198 15 2009  25 COL NL  33  1   0  0 12  .556  0 218   183  87  84  85   3.47  130 13  914  10
    6 Josh Johnson           33 191 15 2009  25 FLA NL  33  2   0  0  5  .750  0 209   184  77  75  58   3.23  129 14  855   6
    7 Jair Jurrjens          34 152 14 2009  23 ATL NL  34  0   0  0 10  .583  0 215   186  71  62  75   2.60  160 15  884   3
    8 Tim Lincecum           32 261 15 2009  25 SFG NL  32  4   2  0  7  .682  0 225.1 168  69  62  68   2.48  173 10  905   6
    9 Wandy Rodriguez        33 193 14 2009  30 HOU NL  33  1   1  0 12  .538  0 205.2 192  77  69  63   3.02  138 21  849   5
   10 Javier Vazquez         32 238 15 2009  32 ATL NL  32  3   0  0 10  .600  0 219.1 181  75  70  44   2.87  145 20  874   4
   11 Adam Wainwright        34 212 19 2009  27 STL NL  34  1   0  0  8  .704  0 233   216  75  68  66   2.63  158 17  970   3

This includes all the starting pitchers in the poll below.

Here are all the NL pitchers with at least 36 saves this season.

  Cnt                       SV Year Age Tm  Lg  G   GS CG SHO GF  W  L  W-L%   IP   H   R   ER  BB  SO   ERA  ERA+ HR  BF  HBP
+----+-----------------+---+--+----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+---+
    1 Heath Bell            42 2009  31 SDP NL  68   0  0   0 59  6  4  .600  69.2  54  21  21  24  79   2.71  138  3  278   0
    2 Jonathan Broxton      36 2009  25 LAD NL  73   0  0   0 58  7  2  .778  76    44  24  22  29 114   2.61  160  4  300   1
    3 Francisco Cordero     39 2009  34 CIN NL  68   0  0   0 59  2  6  .250  66.2  58  21  16  30  58   2.16  204  2  276   0
    4 Ryan Franklin         38 2009  36 STL NL  62   0  0   0 54  4  3  .571  61    49  13  13  24  44   1.92  217  2  250   1
    5 Trevor Hoffman        37 2009  41 MIL NL  55   0  0   0 46  3  2  .600  54    35  11  11  14  48   1.83  229  2  210   1
    6 Brian Wilson          38 2009  27 SFG NL  68   0  0   0 60  5  6  .455  72.1  60  27  22  27  83   2.74  156  3  303   1

This includes all the relievers in the poll.

One more thing...the AL poll got more than 400 votes. Even if you don't normally post comments on this blog, I'd love to hear why you made your selection. This is a great time to post your first comment!

Finally, here's the poll:

Here are the worst OBP values for players qualifying for the batting title in 2009:

  Cnt Player             **OBP**  Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+---------+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Yuniesky Betancou    .274   2009  27 TOT AL 134 508 470  40 115 20  6  6  49  21   0  44   0  11   6  17   3  3  .245  .351  .625 *6
    2 Bengie Molina        .285   2009  34 SFG NL 132 520 491  52 130 25  1 20  80  13   3  68   5   0  11  14   0  0  .265  .442  .727 *2/D
    3 Clint Barmes         .294   2009  30 COL NL 154 604 550  69 135 32  3 23  76  31   2 121  10   6   7   6  12 10  .245  .440  .734 *46
    4 Jimmy Rollins        .296   2009  30 PHI NL 155 725 672 100 168 43  5 21  77  44   1  70   2   2   5   7  31  8  .250  .423  .719 *6
    5 Alexis Rios          .296   2009  28 TOT AL 149 633 582  63 144 31  2 17  71  37   1 107   6   1   7  21  24  5  .247  .395  .691 *98
    6 Kazuo Matsui         .302   2009  33 HOU NL 132 533 476  56 119 20  2  9  46  34   2  85   3  16   4   4  19  3  .250  .357  .659 *4
    7 Kevin Kouzmanoff     .302   2009  27 SDP NL 141 573 529  50 135 31  1 18  88  27   3 106  11   0   6  25   1  0  .255  .420  .722 *5
    8 Alfonso Soriano      .303   2009  33 CHC NL 117 522 477  64 115 25  1 20  55  40   6 118   3   0   2   7   9  2  .241  .423  .726 *7/45
    9 Jose Lopez           .303   2009  25 SEA AL 153 653 613  69 167 42  0 25  96  24   5  69   6   3   7  25   3  3  .272  .463  .766 *43
   10 Garret Anderson      .303   2009  37 ATL NL 135 534 496  52 133 27  0 13  61  27   2  73   2   0   9  11   1  0  .268  .401  .704 *7/D
   11 Emilio Bonifacio     .303   2009  24 FLA NL 127 509 461  72 116 11  6  1  27  34   0  95   2   8   4   5  21  9  .252  .308  .611 *568/47

Two of only five guys under .300 are on playoff teams. It's more embarrassing for the Phillies, though, whose leadoff guy (Rollins) is up there. At least Barmes batted primarily 8th for the Rockies (with some 2nd and 7th thrown in.)

Also when did Rios start going by Alexis instead of Alex? That's news to me.

Here are the top finishers for OPS+ in 2009 (among players qualified for the batting title):

  Cnt Player            **OPS+** Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+--------+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Albert Pujols        188   2009  29 STL NL 160 700 568 124 186 45  1 47 135 115  44  64   9   0   8  23  16  4  .327  .443  .658 1.101 *3/D
    2 Joe Mauer            176   2009  26 MIN AL 137 600 519  94 189 29  1 28  96  74  13  62   2   0   5  13   4  1  .364  .442  .586 1.028 *2D
    3 Prince Fielder       164   2009  25 MIL NL 162 719 591 103 177 35  3 46 141 110  21 138   9   0   9  14   2  3  .299  .412  .602 1.014 *3
    4 Adrian Gonzalez      163   2009  27 SDP NL 160 681 552  90 153 27  2 40  99 119  22 109   5   1   4  23   1  1  .277  .407  .551  .958 *3/D
    5 Joey Votto           152   2009  25 CIN NL 131 544 469  82 151 38  1 25  84  70  10 106   4   0   1   8   4  1  .322  .414  .567  .981 *3
    6 Hanley Ramirez       151   2009  25 FLA NL 151 652 576 101 197 42  1 24 106  61  14 101   9   1   5   9  27  8  .342  .410  .543  .953 *6
    7 Derrek Lee           147   2009  33 CHC NL 141 615 532  91 163 36  2 35 111  76   6 109   3   0   4  12   1  0  .306  .393  .579  .972 *3/D
    8 Mark Teixeira        146   2009  29 NYY AL 156 707 609 103 178 43  3 39 122  81   9 114  12   0   5  13   2  0  .292  .383  .565  .948 *3/D
    9 Pablo Sandoval       144   2009  22 SFG NL 153 633 572  79 189 44  5 25  90  52  13  83   4   0   5  10   5  5  .330  .387  .556  .943 *53/2D
   10 Ryan Braun           144   2009  25 MIL NL 158 708 635 113 203 39  6 32 114  57   1 121  13   0   3   6  20  6  .320  .386  .551  .937 *7
   11 Ben Zobrist          144   2009  28 TBR AL 152 599 501  91 149 28  7 27  91  91   4 104   2   1   4   7  17  6  .297  .405  .543  .948 *496/783D5

There are a few surprises here.

• Joey Votto makes it with just 25 homers, but of course he didn't play a full season.
• Hanley Ramirez makes it with 24 HR and did play a full season. Lots of hits and doubles helped him out.
• After playing well in limited time in 2008, Ben Zobrist posted an awesome first full season. Given that he's already 28 years old, though, don't be surprised if 2009 turns out to be the best year of his career.
• It's a different story for Pablo Sandoval, who also also had a fantastic first year. He's only 22, though. (Actually 23 right now.) The similarity scores are not yet updated through 2009 but I'll be very interested to see to whom Sandoval compares--my guess is that it's going to be some famous dead people.
• Finally, below are the top OPS+ figures among qualified batters over the last 6 seasons (going back to 2004.) Barry Bonds is the last guy other than Pujols to post such high OPS+ figures.

  Cnt Player            **OPS+** Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+--------+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Barry Bonds          263   2004  39 SFG NL 147 617 373 129 135 27  3 45 101 232 120  41   9   0   3   5   6  1  .362  .609  .812 1.421 *7/D
    2 Albert Pujols        190   2008  28 STL NL 148 641 524 100 187 44  0 37 116 104  34  54   5   0   8  16   7  3  .357  .462  .653 1.115 *3/D4
    3 Albert Pujols        188   2009  29 STL NL 160 700 568 124 186 45  1 47 135 115  44  64   9   0   8  23  16  4  .327  .443  .658 1.101 *3/D
    4 Travis Hafner        179   2006  29 CLE AL 129 563 454 100 140 31  1 42 117 100  16 111   7   0   2  10   0  0  .308  .439  .659 1.098 *D/3
    5 Albert Pujols        178   2006  26 STL NL 143 634 535 119 177 33  1 49 137  92  28  50   4   0   3  20   7  2  .331  .431  .671 1.102 *3
    6 Alex Rodriguez       177   2007  31 NYY AL 158 708 583 143 183 31  0 54 156  95  11 120  21   0   9  15  24  4  .314  .422  .645 1.067 *5/D
    7 Joe Mauer            176   2009  26 MIN AL 137 600 519  94 189 29  1 28  96  74  13  62   2   0   5  13   4  1  .364  .442  .586 1.028 *2D
    8 Chipper Jones        174   2008  36 ATL NL 128 534 439  82 160 24  1 22  75  90  16  61   1   0   4  13   4  0  .364  .470  .574 1.044 *5/D
    9 Derrek Lee           174   2005  29 CHC NL 158 691 594 120 199 50  3 46 107  85  23 109   5   0   7  12  15  3  .335  .418  .662 1.080 *3
   10 Alex Rodriguez       173   2005  29 NYY AL 162 715 605 124 194 29  1 48 130  91   8 139  16   0   3   8  21  6  .321  .421  .610 1.031 *5/6D

OK, I know I just wrote "finally" above, but here's one more tidbit: highest OPS+ numbers for guys catching at least 50% of the time:

  Cnt Player            **OPS+** Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+--------+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Mike Piazza          185   1997  28 LAD NL 152 633 556 104 201 32  1 40 124  69  11  77   3   0   5  19   5  1  .362  .431  .638 1.069 *2/D
    2 Joe Mauer            176   2009  26 MIN AL 137 600 519  94 189 29  1 28  96  74  13  62   2   0   5  13   4  1  .364  .442  .586 1.028 *2D
    3 Mike Piazza          172   1995  26 LAD NL 112 475 434  82 150 17  0 32  93  39  10  80   1   0   1  10   1  0  .346  .400  .606 1.006 *2
    4 Mike Piazza          166   1996  27 LAD NL 148 631 547  87 184 16  0 36 105  81  21  93   1   0   2  21   0  3  .336  .422  .563  .985 *2
    5 Johnny Bench         166   1972  24 CIN NL 147 652 538  87 145 22  2 40 125 100  23  84   2   0  12  18   6  6  .270  .379  .541  .920 *29/35
    6 Art Wilson           166   1915  29 CHI FL  96 351 269  44  82 11  2  7  31  65   0  38   1  16   0   0   8  0  .305  .442  .439  .881 *2
    7 Mike Grady           166   1904  34 STL NL 101 363 323  44 101 15 11  5  43  31   0   0   2   7   0   0   6  0  .313  .376  .474  .850 *23/45
    8 Chris Hoiles         162   1993  28 BAL AL 126 503 419  80 130 28  0 29  82  69   4  94   9   3   3  10   1  1  .310  .416  .585 1.001 *2/D
    9 Carlton Fisk         162   1972  24 BOS AL 131 514 457  74 134 28  9 22  61  52   6  83   4   1   0  11   5  2  .293  .370  .538  .908 *2
   10 Ernie Lombardi       161   1942  34 BSN NL 105 347 309  32 102 14  0 11  46  37   0  12   1   0   0  17   1  0  .330  .403  .482  .885 *2

Johnny Bench posted by far the lowest batting average in this group but also mashed 40 HR at a time when that was a mind-boggling total.

Yesterday, Alex Rodriguez had a single monster inning to bring his season totals to 30 HR and 100 RBI, very impressive feats given that he played in only about 3/4ths of the season.

Anyway, here are the fewest games in a season where a player reached 30 HR and 100 RBI:

  Cnt Player             **G**  HR RBI Year Age Tm  Lg  PA  AB  R   H  2B 3B  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+-------+--+---+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Rudy York           104   35 103 1937  23 DET AL 417 375  72 115 18  3  41   0  52   0   1   0   0   3  2  .307  .375  .651 1.026 *25/3
    2 Albert Belle        106   36 101 1994  27 CLE AL 480 412  90 147 35  2  58   9  71   5   1   4   5   9  6  .357  .438  .714 1.152 *7/D
    3 Jeff Bagwell        110   39 116 1994  26 HOU NL 479 400 104 147 32  2  65  14  65   4   0  10  12  15  4  .368  .451  .750 1.201 *3/9
    4 Frank Thomas        113   38 101 1994  26 CHW AL 517 399 106 141 34  1 109  12  61   2   0   7  15   2  3  .353  .487  .729 1.216 *3D
    5 Manny Ramirez       118   38 122 2000  28 CLE AL 532 439  92 154 34  2  86   9 117   3   0   4   9   1  1  .351  .457  .697 1.154 *9D
    6 Manny Ramirez       120   33 107 2002  30 BOS AL 518 436  84 152 31  0  73  14  85   8   0   1  13   0  0  .349  .450  .647 1.097 *7D/9
    7 Joe DiMaggio        120   30 126 1939  24 NYY AL 524 462 108 176 32  6  52   0  20   4   6   0  11   3  0  .381  .448  .671 1.119 *8
    8 Dick Allen          122   34 101 1970  28 STL NL 533 459  88 128 17  5  71  16 118   2   0   1   9   5  4  .279  .377  .560  .937 *35/7
    9 Roy Campanella      123   32 107 1955  33 BRO NL 522 446  81 142 20  1  56   9  41   6   5   9  14   2  3  .318  .395  .583  .978 *2
   10 Alex Rodriguez      124   30 100 2009  33 NYY AL 535 444  78 127 17  1  80   7  97   8   0   3  13  14  2  .286  .402  .532  .934 *5/D
   11 Sammy Sosa          124   40 100 1996  27 CHC NL 541 498  84 136 21  2  34   6 134   5   0   4  14  18  5  .273  .323  .564  .887 *9
   12 Jimmie Foxx         124   35 105 1939  31 BOS AL 563 467 130 168 31 10  89   0  72   2   5   0  17   4  3  .360  .464  .694 1.158 *3/1
   13 Moises Alou         126   30 114 2000  33 HOU NL 517 454  82 161 28  2  52   4  45   2   0   9  21   3  3  .355  .416  .623 1.039 *97/D
   14 Jay Buhner          126   40 121 1995  30 SEA AL 539 470  86 123 23  0  60   7 120   1   2   6  15   0  1  .262  .343  .566  .909 *9/D
   15 Larry Walker        127   37 115 1999  32 COL NL 513 438 108 166 26  4  57   8  52  12   0   6  12  11  4  .379  .458  .710 1.168 *9/D
   16 David Ortiz         128   31 101 2003  27 BOS AL 509 448  79 129 39  2  58   8  83   1   0   2   9   0  0  .288  .369  .592  .961 *D3
   17 Frank Thomas        128   30 102 1953  24 PIT NL 510 455  68 116 22  1  50   0  93   2   3   0  12   1  2  .255  .331  .505  .836 *89/7
   18 Travis Hafner       129   42 117 2006  29 CLE AL 563 454 100 140 31  1 100  16 111   7   0   2  10   0  0  .308  .439  .659 1.098 *D/3
   19 Javy Lopez          129   43 109 2003  32 ATL NL 495 457  89 150 29  3  33   5  90   4   0   1  10   0  1  .328  .378  .687 1.065 *2/D
   20 Alex Rodriguez      129   42 111 1999  23 SEA AL 572 502 110 143 25  0  56   2 109   5   1   8  12  21  7  .285  .357  .586  .943 *6

A-rod's 2009 season cracks the top 10 and his 1999 rounds out the top 20.

I love this list. It's all modern players except for a sprinkling of star players from long ago: York in 1937, DiMaggio in 1939, Allen in 1970, Campanella in 1955, Foxx in 1939, and Thomas in 1953. That's right--both Frank Thomases appear in this list!

Notice that the strike year of 1994 is prominently represented at positions 2 through 4.

With his 1-4 tonight, Joe Mauer's batting average dropped to .366, an excellent average, but no longer the all-time best for a catcher (who qualified for the batting title).  With 4 games left to the season, Mauer has fallen behind Babe Phelps, who hit .367 for the Dodgers in 1936. Of course, the batting title qualifications were different then and Phelps only had 349 PA in his signature season. If we raise the bar a bit, Mauer only needs to stay above the .362 that was recorded by Bill Dickey in 1936 and matched by Mike Piazza in 1997. Here are the all time BA leaders among players who qualified for the batting title and played at least 50% of their games at catcher (does not include tonight's game, but I'm leaving Mauer 2009 in for comparative purposes):

Read the rest of this entry »

Some fun via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Batting Season finder...

This season, Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter have become the first keystone combo (teammates) in baseball history to have 200+ hits in the same season. 

Ah, but, how many keystone combos have reached base 275+ times, each, in the same season?  Here's that answer:

 Year Lg Team                              Number Players Matching
+----+--+---------------------------------+------+-----------------------------------------+
 1999 AL New York Yankees                       2 Derek Jeter / Chuck Knoblauch
 1949 NL Brooklyn Dodgers                       2 Jackie Robinson / Pee Wee Reese

Yup, that's it - just two.

Pretty nice company...just twice in history...once in each league...both times in New York...each team being a pennant winner.

Brad Lidge's nightmare season just keeps getting worse.

  Cnt Player              **ERA**   G  Year Age Tm  Lg  GS CG SHO GF  W  L  W-L% SV   IP   H   R   ER  BB  SO ERA+ HR  BF   AB  2B 3B IBB HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS Pk BK WP   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  OPS+  Pit  Str
+----+-----------------+----------+---+----+---+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+-----+---+---+---+---+---+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+
    1 Jesse Orosco          7.75    65 2003  46 TOT ML   0  0   0 13  2  2  .500  2  33.2  41  31  29  21  29   53  4  166  137  8  1   3   3   1   4   0   7  0  0  0  7  .299  .394  .460  .854  134  647  376
    2 Alan Embree           7.62    67 2005  35 TOT AL   0  0   0 15  2  5  .286  1  52    62  47  44  14  38   58 10  231  209 21  1   3   2   3   3   4   6  1  0  2  1  .297  .342  .550  .892  130  833  550
    3 Javier Lopez          7.52    64 2004  26 COL NL   0  0   0 10  1  2  .333  0  40.2  45  34  34  26  20   65  1  187  157  7  2   4   3   1   0   6   2  2  2  0  3  .287  .398  .376  .774   97  680  404
    4 Brad Lidge            7.48    63 2009  32 PHI NL   0  0   0 52  0  8  .000 31  55.1  69  50  46  34  59   57 11  269  226 12  3   3   4   4   1   4  10  1  0  0  4  .305  .404  .531  .935    0 1095  658
    5 Mike Munoz            7.42    64 1995  29 COL NL   0  0   0 19  2  4  .333  2  43.2  54  38  36  27  37   73  9  208  176  8  2   0   1   2   2   2   3  0  0  0  5  .307  .398  .528  .926  124
    6 Alan Embree           7.33    61 2001  31 TOT ML   0  0   0 17  1  4  .200  0  54    65  47  44  17  59   60 14  245  219 12  2   2   3   0   6   1   4  2  1  0  3  .297  .347  .562  .909  137  945  605
    7 Bobby Ayala           7.29    62 1998  28 SEA AL   0  0   0 36  1 10  .091  8  75.1 100  66  61  26  68   63  9  351  310 19  2   4   1   8   6   4   6  1  0  0  4  .323  .370  .484  .854  120
    8 Norm Charlton         7.27    71 1997  34 SEA AL   0  0   0 38  3  8  .273 14  69.1  89  59  56  47  55   62  7  343  285 15  2   2   4   7   0   4   5  5  1  1  7  .312  .417  .453  .870  128
    9 Shawn Chacon          7.11    66 2004  26 COL NL   0  0   0 60  1  9  .100 35  63.1  71  52  50  52  52   69 12  316  252 13  3   7   5   7   0   3   5  0  1  0  9  .282  .414  .500  .914  128 1265  737
   10 Jim Poole             7.11    63 1997  31 SFG NL   0  0   0 11  3  1  .750  0  49.1  73  44  39  25  26   58  6  242  207 17  0   4   4   4   2   5   3  4  1  0  5  .353  .429  .522  .951  156
   11 Andrew Sisco          7.10    65 2006  23 KCR AL   0  0   0 16  1  3  .250  1  58.1  66  47  46  40  52   66  8  278  228 10  0   6   1   4   5   4   5  1  0  0  4  .289  .391  .439  .830  113 1104  636 

By the way, the search criteria for the above list is 1901-present. Just so happens the guys are all recent.

Going by ERA+ Lidge is even worse:

  Cnt Player            **ERA+**  G  Year Age Tm  Lg  GS CG SHO GF  W  L  W-L% SV   IP   H   R   ER  BB  SO   ERA  HR  BF   AB  2B 3B IBB HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS Pk BK WP   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  OPS+  Pit  Str
+----+-----------------+--------+---+----+---+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+
    1 Jesse Orosco          53    65 2003  46 TOT ML   0  0   0 13  2  2  .500  2  33.2  41  31  29  21  29   7.75  4  166  137  8  1   3   3   1   4   0   7  0  0  0  7  .299  .394  .460  .854  134  647  376
    2 Brad Lidge            57    63 2009  32 PHI NL   0  0   0 52  0  8  .000 31  55.1  69  50  46  34  59   7.48 11  269  226 12  3   3   4   4   1   4  10  1  0  0  4  .305  .404  .531  .935    0 1095  658
    3 Jim Poole             58    63 1997  31 SFG NL   0  0   0 11  3  1  .750  0  49.1  73  44  39  25  26   7.11  6  242  207 17  0   4   4   4   2   5   3  4  1  0  5  .353  .429  .522  .951  156
    4 Ben Hayes             58    60 1983  25 CIN NL   0  0   0 34  4  6  .400  7  69.1  82  53  50  37  44   6.49  8  318  272 12  3   6   1   3   5   5   6  2  0  1  1  .301  .381  .456  .837  136
    5 Alan Embree           58    67 2005  35 TOT AL   0  0   0 15  2  5  .286  1  52    62  47  44  14  38   7.62 10  231  209 21  1   3   2   3   3   4   6  1  0  2  1  .297  .342  .550  .892  130  833  550 

I can't think of a season when so many playoff teams were considering leaving prominent pitchers off the post-season rosters. Lidge may not be there, as well as Joba Chamberlain for the Yankees and Tim Wakefield for the Red Sox.