Glittering fragments
Ambling along the shore, at ease in the tonic of roaring surf and salty breeze, one contemplates beige-gray wet sand beneath bare feet. Clumps of damp brown seaweed lie about. Shiny bits in the sand, millions of flecks of stone and seashell, glint in the slanting afternoon light. Some of the pieces of shell are larger, a few nearly complete, exposed for an instant and then obscured again by the rushing carpet of foaming wave.
And there—see? over there—a piece of glass. It’s about the size and shape of a child’s palm, slightly curved, and green. A deep, rich green; perhaps it was once part of a wine bottle. Pick it up, feel it with your fingertips: it isn’t sharp; long tumbled in sea and sand, its edges are worn to a delicately frosted polish. Glistening wet, it catches the sunshine and brilliantly sparkles. It’s dazzling.
One person’s trash may be the next person’s “found object.” What might be dismissed as trite and worthless also can be perceived as uniquely fascinating and beautiful: a prized collectible.
One might peruse the pages of The Baseball Encyclopedia as though strolling a beach. No hurry, no destination, nothing better to do than savor the moment, taking delight in whatever random factoid might present itself. The fine rows and columns of black ink on the thin white page form a field of modest gray, but you know there can be gold in that meek, silent drabness. You just have to be alert for it.
The bold-studded heroics of a familiar superstar? Sure, that’s always fine, but it’s known. More fun in such a leisurely mood to allow oneself to be surprised, to discover something fresh. Turn the page.
Scan the lines for partial seasons, “cups of coffee.” Are these sample sizes less than robust, these rate stats less than conclusive? Of course. Don’t worry about that. Relax and examine the mini-seasons. See beyond their puny size, their insignificance in the sea of important achievements. Perceive instead their intrinsic beauty. Wonder about how they came to be.
Behold the glittering fragments.
The brightest
Statistical fragments may be found in any variety of shape and form, of course. “Splits,” for example, are obviously nothing but fragments, and can be a whole lot of fun to examine.
But for our purposes here I’d like to limit our consideration to the purest sort of fragment: the complete performance of a player for a given team in a given season, yet one that was cut far short of a full season’s opportunity, for whatever reason. We won’t just look at how a guy hit against left-handed pitching or when batting with two outs or anything like that, we’ll look at how the guy did in total for a particular team—just a very small total.
And we’ll limit ourselves to batters this time, not pitchers. There’s nothing wrong with the glittering fragments of pitcher-seasons, but there’s only so much space in our little curio cabinet. Pitchers, maybe another day. Today we content ourselves with hitters.
And how about one final limitation. We could include limited-play performers of all sorts, and thus have pinch-hitting specialists involved. But—well, pinch-hitting specialists, or any other role player whose usage pattern is strictly controlled, produces a stat line that’s akin to a “split:” it’s intentionally distorted, understood as being a different shape of performance (whether better or worse) than the hitter would likely produce if in the lineup all day every day, facing all manner of pitching. We’ll filter partial-game peformers out of the picture, and include only those players with at least 3.5 plate appearances per game. These guys were playing regularly, for the entire game or very close to it, in the limited window of opportunity they had with the given team.
Why might their season have been truncated? Well, in that regard we won’t be selective: The fragment we see here might have been produced by any reason at all. The player might have gotten injured, or he might have been in the military for most of the season, or he might have been traded or sold in midseason, or he might have been a late-season call-up from the minors. Or any combination of the above.
So, to summarize our criteria:
{exp:list_maker}a non-pitcher
with at least 3.5 plate appearances per game
for one team
in a limited number of games
since 1893 (the beginning of the 60-foot-6-inch pitching distance){/exp:list_maker}We’ll consider three categories of fragment size: 25-34 games (or approximately one-fifth of a full season), 35-44 games (or approximately a quarter of a season), and 45-54 games (or approximately a third of a season).
Why don’t we find out what the very most dazzling little pieces have looked like?
25-34 games: Honorable mentions
Rank Year Player Team Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 25 1894 Fred Tenney BSN 22 27 86 23 34 7 1 2 21 12 9 .395 .469 .570 138 24 1908 Bob Bescher CIN 24 32 114 16 31 5 5 0 17 9 ? .272 .336 .404 139 22T 1911 Olaf Henriksen BOS 23 27 93 17 34 2 1 0 8 14 ? .366 .449 .409 141 22T 1914 Braggo Roth CHW 21 34 126 14 37 4 6 1 10 8 25 .294 .355 .444 141 18T 1893 Steve Brodie BLN 24 25 97 18 35 7 2 0 19 12 2 .361 .446 .474 142 18T 1912 Babe Borton CHW 23 31 105 15 39 3 1 0 17 8 ? .371 .416 .419 142 18T 1928 John Stone DET 22 26 113 20 40 10 3 2 21 5 8 .354 .387 .549 142 18T 1971 Greg Luzinski PHI 20 28 100 13 30 8 0 3 15 12 32 .300 .386 .470 142 17 1939 Bob Elliott PIT 22 32 129 18 43 10 3 3 19 9 4 .333 .377 .527 143 16 1978 Willie Horton OAK 35 32 102 11 32 8 0 3 19 9 15 .314 .369 .480 144 14T 1918 Charlie Pick CHC 30 29 89 13 29 4 1 0 12 14 4 .326 .417 .393 145 14T 2003 Brian Giles SDP 32 29 104 23 31 4 2 4 18 20 10 .298 .414 .490 145 12T 1918 Jack Fournier NYY 28 27 100 9 35 6 1 0 12 7 7 .350 .393 .430 146 12T 1945 Whitey Lockman NYG 18 32 129 16 44 9 0 3 18 13 10 .341 .410 .481 146 11 1985 Bill Madlock LAD 34 34 114 20 41 4 0 2 15 10 11 .360 .422 .447 147
This rambunctious group is dominated by very young guys, mostly late-season call-ups.
Well, not all late-season call-ups, exactly: The youngest of the bunch, the 18-year-old Whitey Lockman, was actually a mid-season call-up, joining the Giants in early July of 1945, hitting up a storm for a month, and then being drafted into the Navy for the next year and a half.
Despite these sensational break-ins, none of the youngsters went on to the Hall of Fame. But several became big stars, including Fred Tenney, Greg Luzinski and Bob Elliott. And another, Braggo Roth—well, he didn’t quite become a truly big star, but—oh, heck, we’re going to be encountering him again today. And again.
The most modern guys on this list were all involved in midseason trades: Willie Horton, hitting a ton for a midsummer month (and then being traded for another guy we’ll be seeing below), and Brian Giles and Bill Madlock, both roaring to the finish line as late-season acquisitions.
But how about the shiniest in this category …
Top 10 brightest fragments, 25-34 games
10. Mickey Rivers, 1973 California Angels
This wasn’t Mick the Quick’s rookie year; he’d been up a couple of times before but hadn’t been able to stick. But after this sizzling September, he was in the big leagues to stay.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 24 CF29 30 129 26 45 6 4 0 16 8 11 .349 .391 .457 148 Projection 162 697 140 243 32 22 0 86 43 59 .349 .391 .457 148
9. Bob Montgomery, 1973 Boston Red Sox
Now, this one was strange. This wasn’t a partial season for Montgomery; he was on the active roster all season long. Why, might you ask, didn’t they find a way to get this kind of offensive production into more than 34 games? Well, because he was the backup to Carlton Fisk, that’s why.
Montgomery just filled in on Fisk’s rare days off; on only four occasions all season did Montgomery play on back-to-back days. But when he played, he delivered the scorching power, big time. It was a fluke, of course, but a delightful one.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 29 C33 34 128 18 41 6 2 7 25 7 36 .320 .353 .563 149 Projection 162 610 86 195 29 10 33 119 33 172 .320 .353 .563 149
8. Todd Hollandsworth, 2001 Colorado Rockies
Hollandsworth was a journeyman through most of his career, but was off to a blazing start in 2001 before being felled by a season-ending right shin injury. Even factoring in the Coors Field effect, this was some kind of hitting. Check out that 162-game projection: 74 doubles. Yowza.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 28 LF25, CF12, RF5 33 117 21 43 15 1 6 19 8 20 .368 .408 .667 150 Projection 162 574 103 211 74 5 29 93 39 98 .368 .408 .667 150
7. Walter Holke, 1916 New York Giants
This fellow can’t take full credit for it, but it is the case that after he was installed as the Giants’ starting first baseman in September of 1916, the team, which had been slogging along below .500, suddenly busted out an all-time record 26-game winning streak. Holke would never hit like this again.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 23 1B34 34 111 16 39 4 2 0 13 6 16 .351 .390 .423 155 Projection 162 529 76 186 19 10 0 62 29 76 .351 .390 .423 155
5T. Jimmy Barrett, 1899 Cincinnati Reds
Barrett would be a good hitter for the next several years, but by no means as good as in this phenomenal September debut: a .477 OBP and 30 runs scored in 26 games.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 24 RF23, LF3 26 92 30 34 2 4 0 10 18 ? .370 .477 .478 160 Projection 162 573 187 212 12 25 0 62 112 ? .370 .477 .478 160
5T. Chris Dickerson, 2008 Cincinnati Reds
More than a century later, and another Reds outfielder breaks in with an imposing 160 OPS+ late-season performance. Consider me skeptical that Dickerson can keep this up; he’s 26, he never hit all that well in the minors, and there’s no way he sustains that kind of batting average alongside that kind of strikeout rate.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 26 LF28, CF7 31 102 20 31 9 2 6 15 17 35 .304 .413 .608 160 Projection 162 533 105 162 47 10 31 78 89 183 .304 .413 .608 160
4. Art Griggs, 1918 Detroit Tigers
Not a youngster, and not even a veteran star, Griggs was a marginal big leaguer, almost a Quad-A guy. But he got one last shot at the show at age 33, and made those 28 games count big time.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 33 1B25 28 99 11 36 8 0 0 16 10 5 .364 .422 .444 166 Projection 162 573 64 208 46 0 0 93 58 29 .364 .422 .444 166
3. Buck Freeman, 1898 Washington Senators
An interesting case. Freeman was a compact (5-foot-9, 170) left-handed hitter who’d spent nearly all of the 1890s in the minors before finally making this splash in late 1898 at the age of 26. And it turned out not to be a fluke: He wouldn’t quite match these rate stats in his full seasons, but he’d come darn close; this guy could really hit.
He’d wind down by his mid-30s, rendering Freeman’s major league career rather short, certainly too short to merit serious Hall of Fame/Hall of Merit consideration. But he is for sure one of the best hitters no one has ever heard of.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 26 RF29 29 107 19 39 2 3 3 21 7 ? .364 .424 .523 171 Projection 162 598 106 218 11 17 17 117 39 ? .364 .424 .523 171
2. Gregg Jefferies, 1988 New York Mets
That’s right, he blistered major league pitchers to this degree down the stretch of his age-20 season, after a minor league career in which he’d been named Appalachian League Player of the Year, Carolina League MVP and Texas League MVP. We can be forgiven for being 100 percent certain that Jefferies was going to be a huge star.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 20 3B20, 2B10 29 109 19 35 8 2 6 17 8 10 .321 .364 .596 178 Projection 162 609 106 196 45 11 34 95 45 56 .321 .364 .596 178
1. Mark McGwire, 1993 Oakland Athletics
At the age of 29, McGwire had certainly been a star, but his career nonetheless held the whiff of disappointment, as he hadn’t been able to live up to the expectations set by his monumental rookie-year performance. Then in 1993 he was off to the stupendous start we see here—and his season was effectively ended with a foot injury.
Suffice to say the story wasn’t over. And just as fans then would be seeing more from Big Mac, so will we.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 29 1B25 27 84 16 28 6 0 9 24 21 19 .333 .467 .726 225 Projection 162 504 96 168 36 0 54 144 126 114 .333 .467 .726 225
35-44 games: Honorable mentions
Rank Year Player Team Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 24T 1902 Joe Kelley CIN 30 40 156 24 50 9 2 1 12 15 ? .321 .380 .423 139 24T 1926 Billy Southworth NYG 33 36 116 23 38 6 1 5 30 7 1 .328 .366 .526 139 24T 1998 Gary Sheffield FLA 29 40 136 21 37 11 1 6 28 26 16 .272 .392 .500 139 23 1906 Joe Ward PHI 21 35 129 12 38 8 6 0 11 5 ? .295 .321 .450 140 22 2004 Larry Walker STL 37 44 150 29 42 7 1 11 27 24 34 .280 .393 .560 143 20T 1903 Ed Delahanty WSH 35 42 156 22 52 11 1 1 21 12 ? .333 .388 .436 145 20T 1912 Danny Murphy PHA 35 36 130 27 42 6 2 2 20 16 ? .323 .401 .446 145 19 2000 Charles Johnson CHW 28 44 135 24 44 8 0 10 36 20 37 .326 .411 .607 152 18 1994 Ellis Burks COL 29 42 149 33 48 8 3 13 24 16 39 .322 .388 .678 154 16T 1903 Kid Elberfield DET 28 35 132 29 45 5 3 0 19 11 ? .341 .412 .424 156 16T 1912 Jack Lelivelt NYY 26 36 149 12 54 6 7 2 23 4 ? .362 .383 .537 156 15 1945 Les Fleming CLE 29 42 140 18 46 10 2 3 22 11 5 .329 .382 .493 157 14 2008 Rafael Furcal LAD 30 36 143 34 51 12 2 5 16 20 17 .357 .439 .573 160 13 1927 Doc Farrell NYG 25 42 142 13 55 10 1 3 34 12 11 .387 .442 .535 161 11T 1952 Vic Wertz SLB 27 37 130 22 45 5 0 6 19 23 20 .346 .444 .523 165 11T 1978 Rico Carty OAK 38 41 141 19 39 5 1 11 31 21 16 .277 .368 .560 165
Given that this is more than a one-month fragment, we aren’t seeing many late-season call-ups here. These are mostly midseason trade situations, with a few injuries in the mix as well. Rafael Furcal was off to quite a start before getting hurt this year, wasn’t he?
The case of Ed Delahanty is a most interesting one: It was a season-ending injury of the most severe sort, a fatal plunge off a railroad trestle into Niagara Falls. No one else can match that one for drama.
Remember we saw Willie Horton above, traded by the Oakland A’s in August of 1978? Well, the guy he was traded for was none other than fellow veteran DH Rico Carty. Horton and Carty in 1978 thus become the only matched-pair same-season same-team set of glittering fragments.
Top 10 brightest fragments, 35-44 games
10. Larry Walker, 2004 Colorado Rockies
Well, how about Mr. Walker? We see him above on the honorable mentions list, and we see him here—in the same season! At age 37, he missed almost all of the first half with a groin injury, then spent a month-and-a-half with the Rockies hitting almost as well as he ever had. In early August he was traded to the Cardinals, where hit doggone well the rest of the way (and would continue his red-hot production all through three rounds of postseason play).
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 37 RF34, DH1 38 108 22 35 9 3 6 20 25 23 .323 .464 .630 166 Projection 162 460 94 149 38 13 26 85 107 98 .323 .464 .630 166
9. Milton Bradley, 2007 San Diego Padres
One of the most fragile ballplayers of this or any other era (as well as one of the most mercurial personalities), Bradley has also been a doggone fine hitter; staying in the lineup has always been the issue.
Here he was acquired by the Padres at midseason, and managed to remain more or less healthy over the second half (while hitting tremendously well) before seeing his season come to a premature end on Sept. 23 in perhaps the most bizarre injury in history: Bradley tore an ACL while being restrained by his first base coach from going after an umpire who, all indications are, had instigated (or at least egged on) the argument. Wow.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 29 LF40, RF1 42 144 31 45 5 1 11 30 23 27 .313 .414 .590 167 Projection 162 555 120 174 19 4 42 116 89 104 .313 .414 .590 167
8. Kevin Mitchell, 1996 Cincinnati Reds
Speaking of guys with a chronic inability to remain healthy … in this season Mitchell was acquired in a trade at the end of July, and terrorized pitchers in his customary fashion until breaking down in early September. And he went out with a Mitchellian fluorish, going 13-for-his-final-25, with three homers and 12 RBI.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 34 LF31, 1B3 37 114 18 37 11 0 6 26 26 16 .325 .447 .579 168 Projection 162 499 79 162 48 0 26 114 114 70 .325 .447 .579 168
7. Braggo Roth, 1915 Cleveland Indians
We saw this character earlier, and now here he is the very next year. And we’ll see him below in yet another season of his highly singular career.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 22 CF39 39 144 23 43 4 7 4 20 22 22 .299 .399 .507 169 Projection 162 598 96 179 17 29 17 83 91 91 .299 .399 .507 169
6. Jeff Heath, 1949 Boston Braves
An outfielder with a thunderous bat, but plagued by injuries … am I sensing a theme here? These were the final 36 games of Heath’s major league career, in a season in which he was struggling in vain to overcome the effects of a severely broken ankle suffered the year before. Clearly the painful hobbling did little to inhibit his capacity to hit.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 34 LF26, RF5 36 111 17 34 7 0 9 23 15 26 .306 .389 .613 170 Projection 162 500 77 153 32 0 41 104 68 117 .306 .389 .613 170
5. Glenallen Hill, 2000 New York Yankees
Young fans who saw Hill only in the late phase of his career may have a hard time believing it, but as a young player he was a nicely well-rounded talent, running the bases well and holding his own as a defensive outfielder. Into his mid-30s, however, Hill was hugely bulked up, nearly immobile, and a significant defensive liability. But, ye gods, could he hit.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 35 DH24, LF12 40 132 22 44 5 0 16 29 9 33 .333 .378 .735 175 Projection 162 535 89 178 20 0 65 117 36 134 .333 .378 .735 175
4. Charlie Keller, 1945 New York Yankees
A phenomenal talent whose career was somewhat star-crossed; here he spent most of the season serving in the U.S. Merchant Marine. We’ll be meeting him again.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 28 LF44 44 163 26 49 7 4 10 34 31 21 .301 .412 .577 180 Projection 162 600 96 180 26 15 37 125 114 77 .301 .412 .577 180
3. Possum Whitted, 1919 Pittsburgh Pirates
A versatile defensive player with a generally league-average bat, upon being acquired in a trade by the Pirates in August 1919 this colorfully named journeyman suddenly let loose with an offensive barrage. Consider the context: In the extremely low-scoring National League of that season, the batting champ hit .321, and the highest slugging average among qualifiers was .436.
The next year Whitted would revert to his workaday mode of production.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 29 1B33, 3B2, LF1 35 131 15 51 7 7 0 21 6 4 .389 .420 .550 186 Projection 162 606 69 236 32 32 0 97 28 19 .389 .420 .550 186
2. Bob “Hurricane” Hazle, 1957 Milwaukee Braves
Perhaps the most celebrated glittering fragment of all time, for a combination of reasons.
Hazle was an obscure grade-B minor leaguer for whom expectations were nonexistent. Deployed as a stopgap late-summer injury replacement (subbing for Milwaukee center fielder Bill Bruton, as regular right fielder Hank Aaron shifted over to center), Hazle’s stunningly ferocious hitting (which earned him his nickname, after the storm that had catastrophically pounded the Carribean and North America in 1954) was the key to transforming a tight race into a Braves runaway pennant, their first in Milwaukee, before ecstatic league-record-attendance crowds.
And then Hazle’s immediate subsequent return to mediocrity and oblivion completed the magic-spell tale.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 26 RF40, LF1 41 134 26 54 12 0 7 27 18 15 .403 .477 .649 209 Projection 162 529 103 213 47 0 28 107 71 59 .403 .477 .649 209
1. Oscar Gamble, 1979 New York Yankees
He had his limitations, to be sure: Gamble was an injury-prone, rather streaky platoon hitter without defensive prowess. But what a hitter: He had a way of getting “locked in” for a period of time and being nearly impossibe to retire.
Here the Yankees picked him up in a trade on Aug. 1 (at which point Gamble had been merely hitting .335/.458/.522, a 166 OPS+, in 201 PAs). Over the two-and-a-half-week span from Aug. 10 through Aug. 27, for one reason or another, Gamble appeared in only seven games for the Yankees, but in those seven games he went 15-for-24 with two doubles, three home runs and nine RBI. A month later, playing every day over the season’s final week, Gamble would be at it again: 16-for-31, with two doubles, a triple, five homers and 14 RBI.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 29 LF27, DH6 36 113 21 44 4 1 11 32 13 13 .389 .452 .735 218 Projection 162 509 95 198 18 5 50 144 59 59 .389 .452 .735 218
45-54 games: Honorable mentions
Rank Year Player Team Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 25 1899 Hughie Jennings BRO 30 51 175 35 57 3 8 0 34 13 ? .326 .424 .434 134 24 1894 Jack Clements PHI 29 45 159 26 55 6 5 3 36 24 7 .346 .455 .503 135 23 2002 Karim Garcia CLE 26 51 197 29 59 8 0 16 52 6 40 .299 .317 .584 136 22 1994 Mark McGwire OAK 30 47 135 26 34 3 0 9 25 37 40 .252 .413 .474 138 21 1984 Jeff Stone PHI 23 51 185 27 67 4 6 1 15 9 26 .362 .394 .465 139 20 1898 Tom McCreery PIT 23 53 190 33 59 5 7 2 20 26 ? .311 .394 .442 141 19 2002 Cliff Floyd BOS 29 47 171 30 54 21 0 7 18 15 28 .316 .374 .561 142 17T 1917 Del Gainer BOS 30 52 172 28 53 10 2 2 19 15 21 .308 .374 .424 144 17T 1967 Doug Rader HOU 22 47 162 24 54 10 4 2 26 7 31 .333 .360 .481 144 14T 1928 Beauty McGowan SLB 26 47 168 35 61 13 4 2 18 16 15 .363 .425 .524 145 14T 2001 Fred McGriff CHC 37 49 170 27 48 7 2 12 41 26 37 .282 .383 .559 145 14T 2003 Ken Griffey, Jr. CIN 33 53 166 34 41 12 1 13 26 27 44 .247 .370 .566 145 13 1946 Jeff Heath WSH 31 48 166 23 47 12 3 4 27 36 36 .283 .411 .464 150 12 1938 Earle Brucker PHA 37 53 171 26 64 21 1 3 35 19 16 .374 .437 .561 151 11 1999 Erubiel Durazo ARI 25 52 155 31 51 4 2 11 30 26 43 .329 .429 .594 153
Mostly these are midseason trade situations, but there are midseason call-ups and injuries too. There are a couple of guys we’ve encountered before: McGwire, in his second consecutive injury-marred season in which he nonetheless hit a ton, and Heath, who was traded despite hitting a ton.
Another interesting case is Erubiel Durazo, who debuted in this impressive manner, yet even though he continued to hit very well for the next three years, the Diamondbacks never would figure out a way to get him into the regular lineup.
And perhaps most interesting is Earle Brucker, who was the 1930s version of Bob Montgomery: a full-season backup catcher to a young star (in this case Frankie Hayes), who hit ridiculously well.
Top 10 brightest fragments, 45-54 games
10. Braggo Roth, 1919 Philadelphia Athletics
And here we see him for the third time.
Roth wasn’t a major star; he was a short and stocky (5-foot-7, 170) good-hitting journeyman who got traded around the American League so much that his other nickname was “Globetrotter.” But if he’d managed to hit over full seasons the way he hit in these three partial seasons, he’d had been a megastar.
His major league career ended in 1921, when he was just 28; I don’t know why, and assume it must have been a serious injury. He strikes me as a guy who’d have really thrived under live-ball conditions: He wasn’t at all the put-it-in-play style of hitter one associates with the deadball era, but instead walked a lot, struck out a lot, and delivered (as we see) significant extra-base power, at least intermittently. As it was, there have been many better careers, but few more unusual.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 26 RF48 48 195 33 63 13 8 5 29 15 21 .323 .377 .549 157 Projection 162 658 111 213 44 27 17 98 51 71 .323 .377 .549 157
9. Carlton Fisk, 1974 Boston Red Sox
So, the season following the Bob Montgomery performance we saw above, the first-stringer Fisk was having this great year before he was knocked out in late June with a knee injury. No problem, right? Just let Montgomery take over. Alas, given a career-high 277 plate appearances, Montgomery would deliver an OPS+ of just 74.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 26 C50, DH2 52 187 36 56 12 1 11 26 24 23 .299 .383 .551 158 Projection 162 583 112 174 37 3 34 81 75 72 .299 .383 .551 158
8. Mark Teixeira, 2007 Atlanta Braves
Acquired by the Braves in a midseason deadline trade, Teixeira assuredly punished National League pitchers over the final couple of months. And, as we’ll see below, he would treat their AL counterparts even more rudely upon his subsequent return.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 27 1B54 54 208 38 66 9 1 17 56 27 46 .317 .404 .615 163 Projection 162 624 114 198 27 3 51 168 81 138 .317 .404 .615 163
7. Charlie Keller, 1947 New York Yankees
“King Kong” isn’t in the Hall of Fame for several reasons:
{exp:list_maker}His career was interrupted at its peak by service in World War II (as we saw above).
His career was prematurely ended by the onset of a severe back condition (here we see it sidelining him at the age of 30).
His offensive profile, in which the one thing he did less than superbly was hit for average (never more dramatically than in this season), caused him to be underrated at the time. {/exp:list_maker}Note that lack of ability is not among the reasons; Keller was bona fide Cooperstown-grade in that regard. The Hall of Merit saw fit to induct him.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 30 LF43 45 151 36 36 6 1 13 36 41 18 .238 .404 .550 165 Projection 162 544 130 130 22 4 47 130 148 65 .238 .404 .550 165
6. Will Clark, 2000 St. Louis Cardinals
Here’s how we previously described this extraordinary finale:
In this final act of his career, Clark stepped into McGwire’s massive first base/cleanup hitter shoes and played like a man reborn: he hit .394/.468/.766 in the month of August, with nine doubles and eight homers in 94 at-bats. That very nearly tied his career high for home runs in a month (he had hit nine way back in August of 1987), and it was the best month for slugging percentage of his entire career. His performance led the Cardinals to a 17-11 month, with which they pretty much wrapped up the NL Central division title. Clark cooled off to .267 with three homers in September, but in the postseason, with McGwire available only for pinch-hitting duty, Clark was again tremendous: .345, with two doubles and two homers in 29 at-bats. At the end of the line, Will the Thrill achieved a large measure of redemption upon what had turned out to be something of a frustrating career.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 36 1B50 51 171 29 59 15 1 12 42 22 24 .345 .426 .655 166 Projection 162 543 92 187 48 3 38 133 70 76 .345 .426 .655 166
5. Bill Joyce, 1896 New York Giants
His major league career was quite brief, just eight seasons. But it made up in quality what it lacked in quantity: Joyce never posted an OPS+ below 100, and had career rate of 143. So this white-hot run over August/September of 1896, after having been traded to the Giants, wasn’t too inaccurate a representation of just how good he was. Yes, he’s obscure today, but this was one terrific hitter.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 30 3B49 49 165 36 61 9 2 5 43 34 14 .370 .500 .539 177 Projection 162 546 119 202 30 7 17 142 112 46 .370 .500 .539 177
4. Mark McGwire, 1997 St. Louis Cardinals
As we’ve seen, McGwire’s career was chock-full of glittering fragments, none more stunning than this one. This home run rate (10.7 percent of his plate appearances resulting in a tater) was the highest of any segment Big Mac ever produced, including the record-setting 70-bomb season immediately to follow. It was an hilariously emphatic Three-True-Outcomes statement: McGwire homered, walked or struck out 57 percent of the time, while singling or doubling 8.9 percent of the time.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 33 1B50 51 174 38 44 3 0 24 42 43 61 .253 .411 .684 182 Projection 162 553 121 140 10 0 76 133 137 194 .253 .411 .684 182
3. Mark Teixeira, 2008 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Ah yes, here’s Mr. Teixeira following a deadline deal in a second consecutive season making his new team very, very happy. For his career now, Teixeira has hit .277/.366/.511 in the first half, and .303/.390/.574 in the second, including .309/.392/.605 in September/October If he’s ever on the deadline-trade market again, I’d advise the team holding Teixeira to drive an extremely hard bargain.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 28 1B51, DH3 54 193 39 69 14 0 13 43 32 23 .358 .449 .632 183 Projection 162 579 117 207 42 0 39 129 96 69 .358 .449 .632 183
2. Willie McCovey, 1959 San Francisco Giants
In hardcore San Francisco Giants’ fandom, McCovey’s electrifying arrival on July 30, 1959 is among the most treasured nuggets of franchise lore. The rookie debuted with two singles and two booming triples, all off future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts. Although attendance at Seals Stadium that day was barely over 10,000, over the decades it’s often seemed easy to find many times that number of Giants fans who swear they were there. Through the end of the ’59 season, McCovey would scarely cool off.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 21 1B51 52 192 32 68 9 5 13 38 22 35 .354 .429 .656 187 Projection 162 598 100 212 28 16 41 118 69 109 .354 .429 .656 187
1. Manny Ramirez, 2008 Los Angeles Dodgers
If it seemed to you that Manny’s hitting after his acquisition by the Dodgers this year wasn’t just your ordinary hot streak, but was instead something quite a bit more, then you were absolutely right. Ramirez’s hitting after his acquisition by the Dodgers was in fact a hot streak of historic proportion: He was surface-of-the-sun hot. This was a truly great hitter producing at maximum capacity, consistently and relentlessly, for eight straight weeks. It was an astounding performance.
As if that weren’t enough, in his eight additional games of postseason play all Manny did was go 13-for-25, with 11 walks, two doubles, and four homers, scoring nine runs and driving in 10. Solid granite melts to flowing magma when exposed to such heat.
Age G by Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+ 36 LF53 53 187 36 74 14 0 17 53 35 38 .396 .489 .743 213 Projection 162 572 110 226 43 0 52 162 107 116 .396 .489 .743 213