Going Out With A Strange Bang
Here’s a fun little list via Baseball-Reference.com’s Play Index Batting Season Finder…
From 1901 to 2008, non-pitchers, batting seasons with at least 20 games played and a Batting Average<=.199 with an OPS>=.800:
From To Ages Seasons Link to Individual Seasons +-----------------+----+----+-----+-------+------------------------------+ Jason Giambi 2008 2008 37-37 1 Ind. Seasons Greg Vaughn 2003 2003 37-37 1 Ind. Seasons Mark McGwire 2001 2001 37-37 1 Ind. Seasons Rob Deer 1996 1996 35-35 1 Ind. Seasons Kevin Roberson 1995 1995 27-27 1 Ind. Seasons George Canale 1991 1991 25-25 1 Ind. Seasons
Of course, Giambi’s numbers are as of today’s game. Note that Vaughn, McGwire, Deer and Canale all did this trick in the last year of their big league career. An interesting way to go out, huh?
I remember how pathetic McGwire was his last year. I saw one of the playoff games they lost to the D-Backs in St. Louis in 2001 and you could tell he didn’t have anything in his legs. Sad to see how he deteriorated so fast, but if it was because the plug was pulled on the happy juice or because of the effects of the happy juice, I can understand why there was such a rapid dropoff.
Also, check out McGwire’s strikeout numbers. With 118 strikeouts in 299 at bats, only Dave “Swish” Nicholson did worse, with 126 K’s in 294 AB’s in 1964 for the White Sox. McGwire v. Wade Miller is a good microcosm of his 2001 season. In 13 plate appearances, he struck out 6 times, walked twice, and homered twice. That’s 10/13 for the Three True Outcomes.
Comment by mmayes — April 28, 2008 @ 10:42 am
Giambi doesn’t have the same pattern re Ks/BB. Gives us some hope.
Comment by iiicollies — April 28, 2008 @ 4:35 pm
McGwire’s last season really stands out in this group, since he had nearly a hundred games (instead of just over 20) and 29 HRs. His HR/AB ratio in his last season was actually higher than his career HR/AB ratio (which is still the best all-time).
Comment by whiz — April 29, 2008 @ 2:17 pm