I just got curious about the most recent seasons in which a guy started 40 or more games. Here they are:

 Cnt Player            Year GS Age Tm  Lg  G  CG SHO GF  W  L  W-L% SV   IP   H   R   ER  BB  SO   ERA  ERA  HR  BF   AB  2B 3B IBB HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS Pk BK WP   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  OPS   Pit  Str
 ----+-----------------+----+--+---+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----
    1 Charlie Hough     1987 40  39 TEX AL  40 13   0  0 18 13  .581  0 285.1 238 159 120 124 223   3.79  119 36 1231 1069 42  5   1  19   5  14  12  36 13  5  9 12  .223  .311  .372  .683   80
    2 Jim Clancy        1982 40  26 TOR AL  40 11   3  0 16 14  .533  0 266.2 251 122 110  77 139   3.71  121 26 1100 1012 43  7   1   2   5   4  24  10 10  1  0  6  .248  .301  .381  .682   79
    3 Phil Niekro       1979 44  40 ATL NL  44 23   1  0 21 20  .512  0 342   311 160 129 113 208   3.39  120 41 1436 1290 50  6   8  11  14   7  25  40 11  2  4 18  .241  .306  .384  .690   88
    4 Phil Niekro       1978 42  39 ATL NL  44 22   4  1 19 18  .514  1 334.1 295 129 107 102 248   2.88  142 16 1389 1254 42 10   5  13  13   6  13  34 12  4  3 11  .235  .298  .323  .621   71
    5 Dennis Leonard    1978 40  27 KCR AL  40 20   4  0 21 17  .553  0 294.2 283 125 109  78 183   3.33  116 27 1218 1114 62  5   7   9  11   6  26  18 11  1  0 12  .254  .307  .391  .698   92
    6 Mike Flanagan     1978 40  26 BAL AL  40 17   2  0 19 15  .559  0 281.1 271 128 126  87 167   4.03   87 22 1160 1053 52  4   2   3  10   5  30  11 11  5  1  8  .257  .314  .377  .691   99
    7 Steve Rogers      1977 40  27 MON NL  40 17   4  0 17 16  .515  0 301.2 272 122 104  81 206   3.10  122 16 1235 1121 44 10   3   5  18   9  23  24 13  4  1 14  .243  .294  .343  .637   77
    8 Phil Niekro       1977 43  38 ATL NL  44 20   2  1 16 20  .444  0 330.1 315 166 148 164 262   4.03  111 26 1428 1236 44  9  12   8  11   8  26  47 32  4  3 17  .255  .344  .368  .712   88
    9 Randy Jones       1976 40  26 SDP NL  40 25   5  0 22 14  .611  0 315.1 274 109  96  50  93   2.74  120 15 1251 1173 40  3   9   4  15   9  34  15  3  2  1  0  .234  .265  .311  .576   74
   10 Jim Palmer        1976 40  30 BAL AL  40 23   6  0 22 13  .629  0 315   255 101  88  84 159   2.51  130 20 1256 1140 35  8   5   8  10  14  20  33 15  3  0  5  .224  .278  .321  .599   80
   11 Wilbur Wood       1975 43  33 CHW AL  43 14   2  0 16 20  .444  0 291.1 309 148 133  92 140   4.11   95 26 1245 1136 53 10   5   5   6   6  24  31 17 11  2  6  .272  .328  .405  .733  105
   12 Andy Messersmith  1975 40  29 LAD NL  42 19   7  2 19 14  .576  1 321.2 244  92  82  96 213   2.29  149 22 1276 1148 29  3   2   5  20   7  24  14  7  2  0  8  .213  .275  .301  .576   67
   13 Jim Kaat          1975 41  36 CHW AL  43 12   1  1 20 14  .588  0 303.2 321 121 105  77 142   3.11  125 20 1279 1172 51  6   0   9  11  10  31   4 12  2  2  0  .274  .321  .379  .700   95
   14 Jim Bibby         1974 41  29 TEX AL  41 11   5  0 19 19  .500  0 264   255 146 139 113 149   4.74   75 25 1134 1001 52  9   4   9   5   6  21  24 10  0  1 11  .255  .334  .400  .734  113
   15 Vida Blue         1974 40  24 OAK AL  40 12   1  0 17 15  .531  0 282.1 246 118 102  98 174   3.25  103 17 1159 1040 28  6   7   1   7  12  35  12  8  0  0  9  .237  .300  .324  .624   84
   16 Joe Coleman       1974 41  27 DET AL  41 11   2  0 14 12  .538  0 285.2 272 160 137 158 177   4.32   87 30 1262 1070 47  6  13  12  16   6  26  46  9  5  0 13  .254  .355  .393  .748  113
   17 Catfish Hunter    1974 41  28 OAK AL  41 23   6  0 25 12  .676  0 318.1 268  97  88  46 143   2.49  134 25 1240 1171 43  7   2   4   9  10  15  14 19  1  0  1  .229  .258  .342  .600   76
   18 Fergie Jenkins    1974 41  31 TEX AL  41 29   6  0 25 12  .676  0 328.1 286 117 103  45 225   2.82  126 27 1305 1231 56  2   3   8   9  12  17  18 10  0  2  4  .232  .262  .347  .609   76
   19 Mickey Lolich     1974 41  33 DET AL  41 27   3  0 16 21  .432  0 308   310 155 142  78 202   4.15   91 38 1263 1155 48 10  11   3  17  10  24  16 32  5  0 10  .268  .314  .426  .740  109
   20 Nolan Ryan        1974 41  27 CAL AL  42 26   3  1 22 16  .579  0 332.2 221 127 107 202 367   2.89  118 18 1392 1165 38  6   3   9  12   4  24  28 21  3  0  9  .190  .313  .279  .592   76
   21 Don Sutton        1974 40  29 LAD NL  40 10   5  0 19  9  .679  0 276   241 111  99  80 179   3.23  106 23 1148 1051 40  8   2   6   9   2  14  16  4  0  2  4  .229  .287  .348  .635   86
   22 Wilbur Wood       1974 42  32 CHW AL  42 22   1  0 20 19  .513  0 320.1 305 143 128  80 169   3.60  105 27 1316 1201 50  7   8   9  14  12  33  29 16  6  0  5  .254  .303  .375  .678   91           

Watching Andy Pettitte throw a gem in the Bronx yesterday got me thinking "How many 'older' left-handed starting pitchers in the A.L. have recently thrown really good games?"  So, I turned to Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Pitching Game Finder and set the controls for:  "From 1956 to 2008, Playing in the AL, Throws LH, as Starter, (requiring Age>=36 and game_score>=80)."  And, this is what I found:

  Cnt AgeY.D Player            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 38.079 Mike Cuellar      1975-07-26    BAL @MIL W  4-0  SHO9  ,W   9    1  0  0  3 10  0             92         29 26  0  0   0   0  0  0   2  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    2 36.044 Frank Tanana      1989-08-16    DET  BAL W  4-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  2 10  0 136  81     91         32 28  0  0   0   1  1  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00
    3 41.319 Randy Johnson     2005-07-26    NYY  MIN W  4-0  GS-8  ,W   8    2  0  0  0 11  0  97  71     89         26 25  1  0   0   1  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    4 36.052 David Wells       1999-07-11    TOR @MON W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  1  7  0 103  74     89         31 29  1  0   0   0  1  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    5 37.015 Tommy John        1980-06-06    NYY @SEA W  3-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  0  6  0             89         29 29  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    6 39.325 David Wells       2003-04-10    NYY  MIN W  2-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  0  6  0  96  72     87         32 30  1  0   0   2  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    7 38.361 David Wells       2002-05-16    NYY  TBD W 13-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  0  6  0 112  79     87         31 30  2  0   0   1  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
    8 40.115 Tommy John        1983-09-14    CAL  KCR L  0-1  GS-13     13   13  0  0  0  6  0             87         47 47  0  0   0   0  0  0   3  1  2  0  0  0   0.00
    9 36.255 Jerry Koosman     1979-09-04    MIN  KCR W  5-1  CG 9  ,W   9    2  1  1  0  7  1             86         29 29  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   1.00
   10 38.023 Mike Cuellar      1975-05-31    BAL @CAL W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    1  0  0  1  2  0             86         30 27  0  0   0   0  2  0   0  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
   11 36.167 Chuck Finley      1999-05-12    ANA @NYY W  1-0  GS-8  ,W   8    3  0  0  2 11  0 127  75     85         30 28  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  1  1  0  0  2   0.00
   12 44.078 Tommy John        1987-08-08    NYY @DET W  7-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  1  3  0             85         29 27  0  0   0   1  0  0   2  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
   13 36.330 Tommy John        1980-04-16    NYY @CHW W  6-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  0  2  0             85         28 27  0  0   0   1  0  0   1  0  1  0  0  1   0.00
   14 39.043 Mike Cuellar      1976-06-20    BAL @TEX W  2-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  2  6  0             85         31 29  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  0  0  0  0   0.00
   15 38.095 Mike Cuellar      1975-08-11    BAL  KCR W  4-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  2  4  0             85         30 28  1  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  1  0  0   0.00
   16 36.253 Jim Kaat          1975-07-18    CHW  DET W  4-0  SHO9  ,W   9    4  0  0  1  7  0             85         31 30  0  0   0   0  0  0   0  0  1  0  0  0   0.00
   17 37.117 Mike Cuellar      1974-09-02(2) BAL  BOS W  1-0  SHO9  ,W   9    2  0  0  2  4  0             85         29 27  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  0  1  0  0  0   0.00
   18 36.072 Mike Cuellar      1973-07-19    BAL @CAL W  3-1  CG 11 ,W  11    9  1  1  2 12  1             85         44 41  0  0   1   0  1  0   0  1  0  0  0  0   0.82
   19 36.213 Whitey Ford       1965-05-22    NYY  WSA W  6-0  SHO9  ,W   9    3  0  0  4  8  0             85         33 29  0  0   0   0  0  0   1  1  0  0  0  1   0.00 

There's a lot of "Mike Cuellar" in there.  Known as "Crazy Horse," Cuellar's name doesn't come up these days as much as guys like Tommy John,  Jim Kaat, and David Wells in the conversation of ol' crafty lefties in the American League.  But, he deserves to be there.

This has very little to do with B-R.com but since a few people out there seem to think I know a thing or two about baseball, here are my predictions for division winners and wild card winners.

AL EAST: Boston, though behind Tampa Bay at this writing, they have a much better run-scoring differential than the Rays, and that's with Big Papi sitting on the sidelines.

AL CENTRAL: Chicago should run away with this one in what is a pretty bad division. Only Minnesota's good performances by young pitchers have kept them alive, and Detroit and Cleveland are too far buried already to make it back.

AL WEST: I'm going with Oakland, although this is a very tough pick. The Angels are a pretty good team who got extremely lucky in close games in the first half. Oakland has just as much offense and slightly better pitching, but is 7 games out at the moment. That's a very tough gap to close, but I'm picking them to do it.

AL WILDCARD: Tampa Bay, or if the Rays do squeak past Boston, then the Red Sox will be the WC.

NL EAST: Philadelphia will win out here, thanks in large part to an excellent offense and excellent bullpen. Picking up Joe Blanton was odd, except that he should get them deeper into games and help keep that bullpen fresh late into the season.

NL CENTRAL: Chicago, like their AL counterparts, will run away and hide. The Cubs have by far the best offense and pitching in the division, and Sabathia alone cannot put Milwaukee over the top.

NL WEST: With all the teams here under .500, it's unpleasant to even think about somebody "winning" the division.  I'll go with Los Angeles, who have been just .500 at home so far and will probably improve on that a bit the rest of the way, beating out Arizona by a few games.

NL WILDCARD: It will comes down to St Louis vs Milwaukee, and here is where I think the addition of Sabathia will put Milwaukee on top, and the Cardinals will be the most deserving team in baseball not to make the playoffs.

I've always felt that Garret Anderson was very overrated. Even at the peak of his career, 2000 to 2003 when he had at least 28 HR and 116 RBI each season, I felt his performances lacked punch and his numbers were, for the most part, a product of the offensive era he played in.

OPS+ is one of the most valuable stats we have today. OPS alone is incredibly useful, and correcting for yearly averages and park effects (which is basically what OPS+ is) lets us very easily compare players from different eras. True it involves some simplifications, including ignoring how style of game play may differ from team to team and era to era, but it's a much better metric than comparing just raw numbers.

Anyway, here are all players with at least 250 career HR, ranked by lowest OPS+

  Cnt Player            **OPS+**  HR From  To   Ages   G    PA    AB    R    H   2B  3B  RBI  BB  IBB  SO  HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions Teams
+----+-----------------+--------+---+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+
    1 Vinny Castilla        95   320 1991 2006 23-38 1854  7384  6822  902 1884 349  28 1105  423  64 1069  60   8  71 224   33  43  .276  .321  .476  .797 *56/43    ATL-COL-TBD-TOT-ATL-WSN
    2 Gary Gaetti           97   360 1981 2000 22-41 2507  9817  8951 1130 2280 443  39 1341  634  57 1602  96  32 104 236   96  65  .255  .308  .434  .742 *53/D67149 MIN-CAL-TOT-KCR-STL-TOT-CHC-BOS
    3 Bret Boone           101   252 1992 2005 23-36 1780  7432  6683  927 1775 366  28 1021  552  32 1295  69  55  73 168   94  53  .266  .325  .442  .767 *4/5D     SEA-CIN-ATL-SDP-SEA-TOT
    4 Tim Wallach          102   260 1980 1996 22-38 2212  8908  8099  908 2085 432  36 1125  649  89 1307  77   6  77 192   51  66  .257  .316  .416  .732 *5/39D7164 MON-LAD-TOT
    5 Todd Zeile           103   253 1989 2004 23-38 2158  8649  7573  986 2004 397  23 1110  945  47 1279  42   8  81 223   53  51  .265  .346  .423  .769 *532/D71  STL-TOT-LAD-TEX-NYM-COL
    6 Tony Armas           103   251 1976 1989 22-35 1432  5502  5164  614 1302 204  39  815  260  37 1201  15  11  52 149   18  20  .252  .287  .453  .740 987/D36   PIT-OAK-BOS-CAL
    7 Steve Finley         104   304 1989 2007 24-42 2583 10460  9397 1443 2548 449 124 1167  844  69 1299  53  91  75 152  320 118  .271  .332  .442  .774 *89/7D1   BAL-HOU-SDP-ARI-TOT-LAA-SFG-COL
    8 Brooks Robinson      104   268 1955 1977 18-40 2896 11782 10654 1232 2848 482  68 1357  860 120  990  53 101 114 297   28  22  .267  .322  .401  .723 *5/46     BAL
    9 Garret Anderson      105   266 1994 2008 22-36 1954  8242  7763  995 2295 475  34 1257  387  99 1091   6  12  74 174   77  45  .296  .327  .468  .795 *78D9     CAL-ANA-LAA
   10 Ruben Sierra         105   306 1986 2006 20-40 2186  8782  8044 1084 2152 428  59 1322  610 102 1239   7   1 120 193  142  52  .268  .315  .450  .765 *9D7/8    TEX-TOT-OAK-CHW-TEX-SEA-NYY-MIN
   11 Joe Carter           105   396 1983 1998 23-38 2189  9154  8422 1170 2184 432  53 1445  527  86 1387  90  10 105 132  231  66  .259  .306  .464  .770 7983D/45  CHC-CLE-SDP-TOR-TOT
   12 Dante Bichette       106   274 1988 2001 24-37 1704  6855  6381  934 1906 401  27 1141  355  32 1078  41   5  73 176  152  73  .299  .336  .499  .835 *97/D85   CAL-MIL-COL-TOT-BOS
   13 Lance Parrish        106   324 1977 1995 21-39 1988  7797  7067  856 1782 305  27 1070  612  62 1527  37  23  58 197   28  37  .252  .313  .440  .753 *2D/397   DET-PHI-CAL-TOT-CLE-PIT-TOR
   14 Tom Brunansky        106   271 1981 1994 20-33 1800  7169  6289  804 1543 306  33  919  770  43 1187  30   8  72 146   69  70  .245  .327  .434  .761 *9/78D3   CAL-MIN-TOT-STL-BOS-MIL-TOT
   15 Eric Karros          107   284 1991 2004 23-36 1755  7100  6441  797 1724 324  11 1027  552  21 1167  31   0  76 181   59  30  .268  .325  .454  .779 *3/D      LAD-CHC-OAK
   16 Dean Palmer          107   275 1989 2003 20-34 1357  5513  4902  734 1229 231  15  849  502  21 1332  54   4  51  95   48  31  .251  .324  .472  .796 *5D/736   TEX-TOT-KCR-DET
   17 Larry Parrish        107   256 1974 1988 20-34 1891  7450  6792  850 1789 360  33  992  529  79 1359  42  31  56 187   30  36  .263  .318  .439  .757 *59D/376  MON-TEX-TOT
   18 Frank Thomas         107   286 1951 1966 22-37 1766  6916  6285  792 1671 262  31  962  484  55  894  51  26  70 191   15  22  .266  .320  .454  .774 7583/94   PIT-CIN-CHC-TOT-NYM-CHC
   19 Graig Nettles        110   390 1967 1988 22-43 2700 10226  8986 1193 2225 328  28 1314 1088  94 1209  50  12  90 197   32  36  .248  .329  .421  .750 *5/739D68 MIN-CLE-NYY-SDP-ATL-MON
   20 Vada Pinson          110   256 1958 1975 19-36 2469 10403  9645 1366 2757 485 127 1170  574  69 1196  54  52  78 164  305 122  .286  .327  .442  .769 *897/3D   CIN-STL-CLE-CAL-KCR 

Just as I suspected, Anderson checks in high on the list at #9. Three other guys who have also been hugely overrated--Vinny Castilla, Bret Boone, and Steve FInley--also make it ahead of Garret. And before you freak out, Frank Thomas at #18 is old-school Frank Thomas, not the current player. Current Frank Thomas has the 13th best OPS+ ever for a player with 250+ HR. The full list is right here.

Tim Redding finally got a win on Friday night ending his streak of 9 consecutive starts without a decision. (1 short of the (post 1956?) record ).

However, Redding did pitch 6 innings in that game, keeping alive an unprecedented (at least since 1956) streak. Since April 13 Redding has made 18 starts. In every single one of those starts he has pitched at least 5 innings, but no more than six and 1/3. This by far shatters the (post 1956) record of 13 consecutive starts.

Here are the leaders:

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games   W   L   GS  CG SHO  GF  SV   IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR   ERA  HBP  WP  BK Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Tim Redding        2008-04-13  2008-07-11    18    6   2  18   0   0   0   0  103.2  107   50   48   33   70  12   4.17   3   6   0 WSN

 Josh Fogg          2005-07-26  2006-04-24    13    4   5  13   0   0   0   0   72.1   91   46   40   23   34   9   4.98   2   3   0 PIT-COL

 Javier Vazquez     2006-05-23  2006-07-30    12    5   3  12   0   0   0   0   70.2   90   53   51   22   57  10   6.50   8   2   0 CHW
 Cory Lidle         2006-05-16  2006-07-15    12    3   3  12   0   0   0   0   70.2   75   40   39   31   47  11   4.97   5   2   0 PHI
 Jimmy Haynes       2002-06-16  2002-08-13    12    5   3  12   0   0   0   0   69.2   80   36   36   27   39   8   4.65   0   1   0 CIN
 Andy Ashby         1996-06-05  1996-09-28    12    2   3  12   0   0   0   0   66     68   27   25   16   35   7   3.41   2   2   0 SDP

 Mike Pelfrey       2007-05-01  2008-04-09    11    4   6  11   0   0   0   0   60.2   65   35   33   31   40   4   4.90   7   2   0 NYM
 Jeff Suppan        2007-06-22  2007-08-17    11    1   3  11   0   0   0   0   60.1   79   36   35   24   41   2   5.22   3   6   0 MIL
 Jaret Wright       2006-04-28  2006-06-27    11    4   4  11   0   0   0   0   59.2   63   27   26   22   30   4   3.92   2   3   0 NYY
 Kirk Rueter        2001-08-07  2001-10-07    11    3   5  11   0   0   0   0   62.1   69   26   26   16   22   6   3.75   1   0   0 SFG
 Kevin Brown        2001-05-23  2001-09-22    11    5   2  11   0   0   0   0   61     56   25   23   28   50   5   3.39   1   2   0 LAD
 Hipolito Pichardo  1992-05-20  1992-07-16    11    4   3  11   0   0   0   0   62.2   62   26   22   23   26   3   3.16   0   2   0 KCR
 Ron Robinson       1985-10-05  1987-08-10    11    4   2  11   0   0   0   0   64.1   67   30   29   17   39   4   4.06   0   1   0 CIN

Extremely sad news today about the passing of Bobby Mercer.

Mercer was a very good player who didn't get tons of press since he never put up 100 RBI in a season. But check out the leaders in 88 to 99 RBI seasons from 1971 to 1977:

                   From  To   Ages Seasons Link to Individual Seasons
+-----------------+----+----+-----+-------+------------------------------+
 Bobby Murcer      1971 1977 25-31       7 Ind. Seasons
 Tony Perez        1971 1977 29-35       4 Ind. Seasons
 Lee May           1971 1977 28-34       4 Ind. Seasons
 Ted Simmons       1972 1977 22-27       3 Ind. Seasons
 Dave Parker       1976 1977 25-26       2 Ind. Seasons
 Chris Chambliss   1976 1977 27-28       2 Ind. Seasons
 Graig Nettles     1975 1976 30-31       2 Ind. Seasons
 George Brett      1975 1977 22-24       2 Ind. Seasons
 Willie Stargell   1974 1975 34-35       2 Ind. Seasons
 Joe Rudi          1974 1976 27-29       2 Ind. Seasons
 Hal McRae         1974 1977 28-31       2 Ind. Seasons
 Reggie Jackson    1974 1976 28-30       2 Ind. Seasons
 Greg Luzinski     1973 1976 22-25       2 Ind. Seasons
 Bobby Darwin      1973 1974 30-31       2 Ind. Seasons
 George Scott      1972 1977 28-33       2 Ind. Seasons
 Doug Rader        1972 1973 27-28       2 Ind. Seasons
 Al Oliver         1972 1973 25-26       2 Ind. Seasons
 Rusty Staub       1971 1976 27-32       2 Ind. Seasons
 Frank Robinson    1971 1973 35-37       2 Ind. Seasons
 Sal Bando         1971 1973 27-29       2 Ind. Seasons
 Dick Allen        1971 1974 29-32       2 Ind. Seasons                   

Mercer was universally loved and a great part of the game of baseball. He'll be missed.

A lot has been written about the amazing reemergence of Josh Hamilton, and rightly so. To overcome such a serious drug addiction and not only resume a normal life but play major league baseball at such a high level is both amazing and commendable.

Through today, Josh Hamilton's major league totals in 661 AB are 40 HR, 138 RBI, a .301 BA and an OPS+ of 138.

661 AB is about one full season, and over the last 10 full seasons, here are the only guys to have a year matching all of Hamilton's stats:

  Cnt Player            Year HR RBI   BA  OPS  Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  R   H  2B 3B  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS  OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
 ----+-----------------+----+--+---+-----+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+---------
    1 Alex Rodriguez    2007 54 156  .314  177  31 NYY AL 158 708 583 143 183 31  0  95  11 120  21   0   9  15  24  4  .422  .645 1.067 *5/D
    2 Ryan Howard       2006 58 149  .313  167  26 PHI NL 159 704 581 104 182 25  1 108  37 181   9   0   6   7   0  0  .425  .659 1.084 *3
    3 Mark Teixeira     2005 43 144  .301  144  25 TEX AL 162 730 644 112 194 41  3  72   5 124  11   0   3  18   4  0  .379  .575  .954 *3/D
    4 David Ortiz       2004 41 139  .301  145  28 BOS AL 150 669 582  94 175 47  3  75   8 133   4   0   8  12   0  0  .380  .603  .983 *D3
    5 Carlos Delgado    2003 42 145  .302  161  31 TOR AL 161 705 570 117 172 38  1 109  23 137  19   0   7   9   0  0  .426  .593 1.019 *3D
    6 Sammy Sosa        2001 64 160  .328  203  32 CHC NL 160 711 577 146 189 34  5 116  37 153   6   0  12   6   0  2  .437  .737 1.174 *9
    7 Todd Helton       2001 49 146  .336  160  27 COL NL 159 696 587 132 197 54  2  98  15 104   5   1   5  14   7  5  .432  .685 1.117 *3
    8 Luis Gonzalez     2001 57 142  .325  174  33 ARI NL 162 728 609 128 198 36  7 100  24  83  14   0   5  14   1  1  .429  .688 1.117 *7
    9 Frank Thomas      2000 43 143  .328  163  32 CHW AL 159 707 582 115 191 44  0 112  18  94   5   0   8  13   1  3  .436  .625 1.061 *D3
   10 Sammy Sosa        2000 50 138  .320  161  31 CHC NL 156 705 604 106 193 38  1  91  19 168   2   0   8  12   7  4  .406  .634 1.040 *9/8
   11 Todd Helton       2000 42 147  .372  163  26 COL NL 160 697 580 138 216 59  2 103  22  61   4   0  10  12   5  3  .463  .698 1.161 *3
   12 Manny Ramirez     1999 44 165  .333  173  27 CLE AL 147 640 522 131 174 34  3  96   9 131  13   0   9  12   2  4  .442  .663 1.105 *9/D
   13 Rafael Palmeiro   1999 47 148  .324  159  34 TEX AL 158 674 565  96 183 30  1  97  14  69   3   0   9  12   2  4  .420  .630 1.050 *D3
   14 Sammy Sosa        1998 66 158  .308  160  29 CHC NL 159 722 643 134 198 20  0  73  14 171   1   0   5  20  18  9  .377  .647 1.024 *9/8
   15 Juan Gonzalez     1998 45 157  .318  149  28 TEX AL 154 669 606 110 193 50  2  46   9 126   6   0  11  20   2  1  .366  .630  .996 *9D
   16 Albert Belle      1998 49 152  .328  171  31 CHW AL 163 706 609 113 200 48  2  81  10  84   1   0  15  17   6  4  .399  .655 1.054 *7/D  

And here are the most times anybody has had such a season since 1901:

                   From  To   Ages Seasons Link to Individual Seasons
 -----------------+----+----+-----+-------+------------------------------
 Babe Ruth         1921 1931 26-36       7 Ind. Seasons
 Lou Gehrig        1927 1936 24-33       5 Ind. Seasons
 Jimmie Foxx       1932 1938 24-30       4 Ind. Seasons
 Sammy Sosa        1998 2001 29-32       3 Ind. Seasons
 Hank Greenberg    1937 1940 26-29       3 Ind. Seasons
 Todd Helton       2000 2001 26-27       2 Ind. Seasons
 Ken Griffey       1996 1997 26-27       2 Ind. Seasons
 Juan Gonzalez     1996 1998 26-28       2 Ind. Seasons
 Albert Belle      1996 1998 29-31       2 Ind. Seasons
 Chuck Klein       1929 1930 24-25       2 Ind. Seasons                   

I find it inconceivable that anybody could root against Josh Hamilton.

Baseball-Reference.com Play Index - Baseball-Reference PI

In honor of the All-Star Game, the Play Index is free through July 19th.  Kick the tires a bit (maybe you'll want to subscribe) and enjoy.

Why?

Maybe because he's one of just 5 guys with at least 30 HR over 2007-2008 but an OPS+ under league average.

  Cnt Player            **OPS+**  HR From  To   Ages   G    PA    AB    R    H   2B  3B  RBI  BB  IBB  SO  HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions Teams
+----+-----------------+--------+---+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+
    1 Pedro Feliz           85    31 2007 2008 32-33  239   918   862   93  222  45   3  116   50   3  102   1   1   4  27    2   2  .258  .298  .425  .723 *5/37692  SFG-PHI
    2 Richie Sexson         87    32 2007 2008 32-33  195   783   686   85  144  29   0   93   88   1  176   5   0   4  20    2   0  .210  .303  .392  .695 *3/D      SEA
    3 Chris Young           87    45 2007 2008 23-24  238  1022   927  133  219  51   5  114   79   2  229   7   2   7  13   32   8  .236  .299  .448  .747 *8        ARI
    4 Khalil Greene         88    35 2007 2008 27-28  242  1023   945  115  229  55   5  129   51   4  213   9   0  18  17    9   1  .242  .283  .422  .705 *6        SDP
    5 Jhonny Peralta        99    35 2007 2008 25-26  235   997   899  137  237  50   2  113   83   2  216   4   3   8  27    6   4  .264  .326  .440  .766 *6/D      CLE
    6 Ryan Zimmerman       102    32 2007 2008 22-23  212   942   859  123  227  54   5  118   70   3  163   5   0   8  30    4   1  .264  .321  .451  .772 *5/D      WSN
    7 Mike Cameron         104    35 2007 2008 34-35  207   886   778  120  186  45   6  112   92   1  227   9   2   5  11   25   7  .239  .325  .447  .772 *8        SDP-MIL
    8 Carlos Delgado       104    40 2007 2008 35-36  228   983   871  120  222  48   1  137   88  16  193  15   0   9  18    5   0  .255  .331  .450  .781 *3/D      NYM
    9 Mike Jacobs          105    36 2007 2008 26-27  192   752   699   96  182  42   3  106   47   9  171   2   0   4  16    2   2  .260  .307  .484  .791 *3/D      FLA
   10 Paul Konerko         105    39 2007 2008 31-32  215   911   784   98  192  43   1  121  113  11  149   6   0   8  29    1   1  .245  .341  .452  .793 *3/D      CHW
   11 J.J. Hardy           106    38 2007 2008 24-25  230   965   884  127  249  50   1  118   71   4  115   1   7   2  23    4   4  .282  .335  .469  .804 *6        MIL
   12 Adam LaRoche         106    31 2007 2008 27-28  236   972   862  110  228  59   3  130   99   9  201   4   0   7  24    2   1  .265  .341  .448  .789 *3/D      PIT
   13 Brandon Phillips     106    44 2007 2008 26-27  247  1087  1004  158  288  44  11  150   57   6  169  14   2  10  37   50  12  .287  .331  .484  .815 *4/6      CIN
   14 Ken Griffey          110    41 2007 2008 37-38  230   981   829  118  217  39   1  131  138  27  153   2   0  12  20    6   2  .262  .364  .460  .824 *9/D      CIN
   15 Gary Sheffield       110    30 2007 2008 38-39  186   814   684  130  174  29   1   93  113   2  111  11   0   6  20   25   5  .254  .366  .431  .797 *D/79     DET         

Full list of all 79 guys is right here.

As of this morning, here are the longest streaks (in terms of number of games played) without hitting a homer:

                   StreakStart  Streak End Games    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  SO   BB   SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Teams
+-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 Jason Bartlett     2008-03-31  2008-07-02    77    273   24   70   8   1   0   20   41   14   18   3  .256  .299  .293  .592 TBR

 Juan Pierre        2008-04-01  2008-06-29    73    274   30   76   9   1   0   24   17   17   35   7  .277  .327  .318  .645 LAD

 Joey Gathright     2008-03-31  2008-07-08    69    232   30   58   2   1   0   15   32   15   19   4  .250  .302  .267  .569 KCR
 Ryan Theriot       2008-04-16  2008-07-08    69    279   42   89  10   1   0   20   25   33   12   6  .319  .394  .362  .756 CHC

 Julio Lugo         2008-03-25  2008-06-18    63    207   18   57  12   0   0   15   40   25    9   3  .275  .361  .333  .694 BOS

 Delmon Young       2008-03-31  2008-06-06    60    230   31   62  10   4   0   19   39   17    9   4  .270  .321  .348  .669 MIN

 Jason Kendall      2008-03-31  2008-06-10    58    194   16   48  12   2   0   19   14   16    2   2  .247  .324  .330  .654 MIL

 Jamey Carroll      2008-04-06  2008-07-08    56    194   29   52   7   4   0   19   35   17    5   1  .268  .344  .345  .689 CLE
 Tony Pena          2008-03-31  2008-06-24    56    169   14   26   4   1   0    8   36    5    3   1  .154  .177  .189  .366 KCR                                         

The full list is here.

Many of the top streaks are ongoing. Bartlett, Pierre, and Gathright all have yet to hit a homer this year. Theriot hit one in mid-April but none since.

One guy who really sticks out to me is Julio Lugo. He's had double-digit homers in 4 out of his 8 seasons prior to this year but has managed just 1 so far this year. And it's not like he's doing anything else with the bat considering his absolutely horrid .676 OPS. Boston has made numerous excellent player acquisitions in the last several years (coming to mind right away are Matsuzaka, Beckett, Lowell, Okajima, and even Nancy J.D. Drew seems to be turning it around) but in Lugo they've been saddled with one of the worst players in the major leagues.

Isn't it crazy to see a list like this? 20 years ago, lots of guys (especially middle infielders) would go the whole season with 0, 1, or 2 homers. To see streaks of 80+ games wouldn't be that rare. Now, we expect every guy to have at least a handful every year.