A few days ago, Steve made mention of Bill Bergen as the only player to ever qualify for a batting title and have an OPS+ less than or equal to 10.

I looked a little further into Steve's list and was surprised to find the following pieces of information.

1) Among players with an OPS+ of 10 or less, Tony Perna Jr. in 2008 had the 4th most PA of any player since 1901.

2) The three season ahead of Pena were all turned in by Bill Bergen in 3 consecutive years.

Here's the top 10:

  Cnt Player             **PA** OPS+ Year Age Tm  Lg  G   AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+-------+----+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Bill Bergen         372      1 1909  31 BRO NL 112 346  16  48  1  1  1  15  10   0   0   0  16   0   0   4  0  .139  .163  .156  .319 *2
    2 Bill Bergen         273      6 1910  32 BRO NL  89 249  11  40  2  1  0  14   6   0  39   0  18   0   0   0  0  .161  .180  .177  .357 *2
    3 Bill Bergen         250     -4 1911  33 BRO NL  84 227   8  30  3  1  0  10  14   0  42   0   9   0   0   2  0  .132  .183  .154  .337 *2
    4 Tony Pena           235      5 2008  27 KCR AL  95 225  22  38  4  1  1  14   6   2  49   0   2   2   4   3  1  .169  .189  .209  .398 *6/1
    5 Frank O'Rourke      216    -11 1912  17 BSN NL  61 196  11  24  3  1  0  16  11   0  50   2   7   0   0   1  0  .122  .177  .148  .325 *6/5
    6 Bill Killefer       215      9 1910  22 SLB AL  74 193  14  24  2  2  0   7  12   0   0   2   8   0   0   0  0  .124  .184  .155  .339 *2
    7 John Black          201      6 1911  21 SLB AL  54 186  13  28  4  0  0   7  10   0   0   2   3   0   0   4  0  .151  .202  .172  .374 *3
    8 Doc Powers          192      3 1906  35 PHA AL  58 185   5  29  1  0  0   7   1   0   0   2   4   0   0   2  0  .157  .170  .162  .332 *2/3
    9 Angel Salazar       184      9 1984  22 MON NL  80 174  12  27  4  2  0  12   4   0  38   1   4   1   2   1  1  .155  .178  .201  .379 *6
   10 Bob Didier          183      2 1970  21 ATL NL  57 168   9  25  2  1  0   7  12   4  11   1   2   0   3   1  0  .149  .210  .173  .383 *2

Derek Lowe's career with the Dodgers has been very consistent, despite the fact that he only started pitching for them in his age 32 season. Now, as he is about to embark on his age 36 season he is looking for another multiyear deal.

There are only 5 players who have made at least 30 starts, with at least 175 innings and an ERA of at least 110 in each of the last 4 seasons. Lowe, Carlos Zambrano, Brandon Webb, Johan Santana, and Roy Oswalt. Lowe is by far the oldest of the group.

In fact, since 1901 only 9 pitchers have reached those marks in each of their 32-35 seasons. Here is how they performed after 35:

                   From  To   Ages Seasons Link to Individual Seasons
 -----------------+----+----+-----+-------+------------------------------
 Derek Lowe        2005 2008 32-35       4 Ind. Seasons   ?
 Greg Maddux       1998 2001 32-35       4 Ind. Seasons   (did it once more at 36 and then just missed 4 times)
 Kevin Brown       1997 2000 32-35       4 Ind. Seasons   (never again after 35)
 Gaylord Perry     1971 1974 32-35       4 Ind. Seasons   (did 5 more times from 36-40 and just missed at 41)
 Phil Niekro       1971 1974 32-35       4 Ind. Seasons   (did 6 more times from 36-40 and at 45!)
 Bob Gibson        1968 1971 32-35       4 Ind. Seasons   (did it once more at 36)
 Jim Bunning       1964 1967 32-35       4 Ind. Seasons   (never did it again)
 Whitey Ford       1961 1964 32-35       4 Ind. Seasons   (never did it again)
 Warren Spahn      1953 1956 32-35       4 Ind. Seasons   (did 6 more times in the next 7 years. The year he missed (1960), he had an ERA+ of 98 and finished 2nd in the Cy Young voting.)

Via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Batting Season Finder:

Single Seasons, Born in USA, From 1901 to 2008, (requiring OPSp<=10 and Qualified for league batting title), sorted by greatest Seasons matching criteria

So, when you're enjoying your turkey tomorrow - and hopefully you are! - think of America's biggest batting turkey of a season:  Bill Bergen's 1909

Gobble, gobble!

There is no debate. Mike Mussina belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Evidence:

Start with the fact that his HOF standards are 54, as compared to 50 for the average HOFer. His HOF Monitor is 121, with a likely HOFer being over 100. His gray ink is 244, 23rd highest all-time for pitchers, with an average HOFer at 185.

He is 33rd all-time in wins.

Among pitchers with at least 200 career wins, he has the 12th-best winning percentage.

He has the 15th-most wins in baseball over the last 50 years.

Of the 68 pitchers to throw at least 3500 innings since 1876 (not 1976) he's got the best K/BB ratio of all. And he has the 13th-best K/BB ratio of all-time for ALL pitchers.

He has certainly benefited from playing on good teams, but not as much as you'd think. His actual W/L record was 270-153 (.638) and his neutralized W/L record was 247/161 (.605.) He'd still have won more than 60% of his decisions. His actual career ERA was 3.68 but thanks to playing in some good parks for hitters, his neutralized ERA was 3.25.

He has won 7 Gold Gloves.

He pitched in 16 post-season series, for a total of 139.2 IP with a 3.42 ERA. In two World Series, he pitched 18 innings with a 3.00 ERA, 5 walks and 23 strikeouts.

For pitchers active in 2008, he has the 3rd-most career IP for a pitcher with a WHIP under 1.200. The only guys ahead of him are future first-ballot HOFers Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux.

Baseball Draft: Last Picks Overall in the June Draft - Baseball-Reference.com

With the hiring of Don Wakamatsu, the Mariners have tapped a Mr. Irrelevant from the June Draft (the last pick overall).  He is actually the second such player to become a major league manager.  Matt Galante was the first when he replaced Larry Dierker for 27 games in 1999 after Dierker suffered a seizure during a game).  Desi Wilson is the only Mr. Irrelevant to make the majors.

Tough question here.

Following is a complete list of pitchers whom have what in common?

Bill Krueger
Gerald Alexander
Allan Anderson
Kevin Appier
John Barfield
Tom Candiotti
Mike Moore
Jim Abbott
Scott Bailes
Scott Lewis
Dennis Eckersley
Gene Harris
Bob McClure
Kenny Rogers

If nobody can get it, I'll give a clue.

Here are all the guys since 1901 to have a first or second season with an OPS+ of 160 in a qualified season.

  Cnt Player            Year OPS+  PA Age Tm  Lg  G   AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+----+----+---+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Frank Thomas      1991  180 700  23 CHW AL 158 559 104 178 31  2 32 109 138  13 112   1   0   2  20   1  2  .318  .453  .553 1.006 *D3
    2 Mark McGwire      1987  164 641  23 OAK AL 151 557  97 161 28  4 49 118  71   8 131   5   0   8   6   1  1  .289  .370  .618  .988 *3/59
    3 Fred Lynn         1975  161 605  23 BOS AL 145 528 103 175 47  7 21 105  62  10  90   3   6   6  11  10  5  .331  .401  .566  .967 *8
    4 Dick Allen        1964  162 708  22 PHI NL 162 632 125 201 38 13 29  91  67  13 138   0   6   3   8   3  4  .318  .382  .557  .939 *5
    5 Rico Carty        1964  161 505  24 MLN NL 133 455  72 150 28  4 22  88  43   4  78   3   0   4  16   1  2  .330  .388  .554  .942 *7/98
    6 Eddie Mathews     1953  171 681  21 MLN NL 157 579 110 175 31  8 47 135  99   0  83   2   1   0   6   1  3  .302  .406  .627 1.033 *5
    7 Mickey Mantle     1952  162 626  20 NYY AL 142 549  94 171 37  7 23  87  75   0 111   0   2   0   5   4  1  .311  .394  .530  .924 *89/5
    8 Ralph Kiner       1947  173 666  24 PIT NL 152 565 118 177 23  4 51 127  98   0  81   2   1   0  12   1  0  .313  .417  .639 1.056 *7
    9 Pete Reiser       1941  165 601  22 BRO NL 137 536 117 184 39 17 14  76  46   0  71  11   8   0   6   4  0  .343  .406  .558  .964 *8/9
   10 Ted Williams      1940  162 661  21 BOS AL 144 561 134 193 43 14 23 113  96   0  54   3   1   0  13   4  4  .344  .442  .594 1.036 *79/1
   11 Ted Williams      1939  160 677  20 BOS AL 149 565 131 185 44 11 31 145 107   0  64   2   3   0  10   2  1  .327  .436  .609 1.045 *9
   12 Johnny Mize       1937  172 621  24 STL NL 145 560 103 204 40  7 25 113  56   0  57   5   0   0   5   2  0  .364  .427  .595 1.022 *3
   13 Joe DiMaggio      1937  168 692  22 NYY AL 151 621 151 215 35 15 46 167  64   0  37   5   2   0   0   3  0  .346  .412  .673 1.085 *8
   14 Benny Kauff       1914  166 667  24 IND FL 154 571 120 211 44 13  8  95  72   0  55   8  16   0   0  75  0  .370  .447  .534  .981 987

The true rookies on this list are McGwire, Lynn, Allen, Carty, Williams (in 1939), and Kauff.

Mize deserves to be counted as he topped OPS+ of 160 in both his first and second seasons but missed the PA cutoff in his first season.

Previously, I mentioned my 88 Topps Cards blog that included a stat drawn from the PI for every single player. I recently completed that blog, and launched a new one: 78 Topps cards.

At the new blog, you can learn things like:

• Which players, before the steroids era, have had full seasons with OPS+ over 200?
• Who are the 7 players with 500 homers and 200 stolen bases?
• Who were the top power/speed guys from 1972 to 1976?
• Who were the only guys to have 100 RBI in both 1979 and 1980?
• Who were the top power hitters from 1973 to 1983?

We've only just started the 78 Topps Cards blog, and every post includes a poll on the best card of each group. Please put us into your RSS readers!

Here are the best OPS+ figures for a guy who batted .220 or worse over a full season in the last 20 years:

  Cnt Player            **OPS+**   BA  Year Age Tm  Lg  G   PA  AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS  OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions
+----+-----------------+--------+-----+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+---------+
    1 Rob Deer             108    .209 1990  29 MIL AL 134 511 440  57  92 15  1 27  69  64   6 147   4   0   3   0   2  3  .313  .432  .745 *93
    2 Rob Deer             105    .210 1989  28 MIL AL 130 532 466  72  98 18  2 26  65  60   5 158   4   0   2   8   4  8  .305  .425  .730 *9/D78
    3 Darrell Evans        104    .208 1988  41 DET AL 144 522 437  48  91  9  0 22  64  84   4  89   1   0   0  14   1  4  .337  .380  .717 *D3
    4 Mark McGwire         103    .201 1991  27 OAK AL 154 585 483  62  97 22  0 22  75  93   3 116   3   1   5  13   2  1  .330  .383  .713 *3
    5 Kevin Maas           100    .220 1991  26 NYY AL 148 592 500  69 110 14  1 23  63  83   3 128   4   0   5   4   5  1  .333  .390  .723 *D3
    6 Nick Swisher          93    .219 2008  27 CHW AL 153 588 497  86 109 21  1 24  69  82   6 135   4   1   4  14   3  3  .332  .410  .742 3879/D
    7 Phil Plantier         93    .220 1994  25 SDP NL  96 385 341  44  75 21  0 18  41  36   6  91   5   1   2   8   3  1  .302  .440  .742 *7
    8 Jose Valentin         92    .216 2004  34 CHW AL 125 504 450  73  97 20  3 30  70  43   4 139   3   6   2   5   8  6  .287  .473  .760 *6/D
    9 Rob Deer              92    .179 1991  30 DET AL 134 539 448  64  80 14  2 25  64  89   1 175   0   0   2   3   1  3  .314  .386  .700 *9/D
   10 Pat Burrell           90    .209 2003  26 PHI NL 146 599 522  57 109 31  4 21  64  72   2 142   4   0   1  18   0  0  .309  .404  .713 *7/D
   11 Rob Deer              84    .210 1993  32 TOT AL 128 532 466  66  98 17  1 21  55  58   1 169   5   0   3   6   5  2  .303  .386  .689 *9/D8
   12 Bill Doran            82    .219 1989  31 HOU NL 142 574 507  65 111 25  2  8  58  59   2  63   2   3   3   8  22  3  .301  .323  .624 *4
   13 Jeromy Burnitz        80    .215 2002  33 NYM NL 154 550 479  65 103 15  0 19  54  58   5 135  10   1   2  11  10  7  .311  .365  .676 *9/D
   14 Charles Johnson       79    .218 1998  26 TOT NL 133 506 459  44 100 18  0 19  58  45   1 129   1   0   1  12   0  2  .289  .381  .670 *2
   15 Devon White           79    .217 1990  27 CAL AL 125 503 443  57  96 17  3 11  44  44   5 116   3  10   3   6  21  6  .290  .343  .633 *8
   16 Jeff Blauser          73    .211 1995  29 ATL NL 115 504 431  60  91 16  2 12  31  57   2 107  12   2   2   6   8  5  .319  .341  .660 *6
   17 Dick Schofield        72    .206 1992  29 TOT ML 143 502 423  52  87 18  2  4  36  61   4  82   5  10   3  11  11  4  .311  .286  .597 *6
   18 Cory Snyder           70    .215 1989  26 CLE AL 132 518 489  49 105 17  0 18  59  23   1 134   2   0   4  11   6  5  .251  .360  .611 *9/6D
   19 Desi Relaford         69    .215 2000  26 TOT NL 128 502 410  55  88 14  3  5  46  75   7  71  12   3   2  10  13  0  .351  .300  .651 *6
   20 Ray Durham            65    .218 2007  35 SFG NL 138 528 464  56 101 21  2 11  71  53   6  75   2   0   9  18  10  2  .295  .343  .638 *4

A few guys on this list - McGwire, Burrell, Johnson among them - had productive seasons after their dismal year. But most of these guys disappeared into nothingness.

Personally, I have no idea what the Yankees were thinking in acquiring Swisher.

                   From  To   Ages Seasons
 -----------------+----+----+-----+-------
 Livan Hernandez   1998 2001 23-26       3
 C.C. Sabathia     2008 2008 27-27       1
 Roy Oswalt        2005 2005 27-27       1
 Mark Buehrle      2004 2004 25-25       1
 Roy Halladay      2003 2003 26-26       1
 Jose Lima         1999 1999 26-26       1
 Carlos Perez      1998 1998 27-27       1
 Mike Mussina      1996 1996 27-27       1
 Pat Hentgen       1996 1996 27-27       1
 Alex Fernandez    1996 1996 26-26       1

Seasons/Careers found: 10.

It appears that some young pitchers can shoulder a load and live to tell...