Friday, February 6, 2009
Worst Twenty Offensive Seasons by a Yankee 1B
Next up on my list of twenty worst offensive seasons by Yankee position players is first base. First base is typically the highest offensive position on the diamond, but in the Yankees' case that's often not been the case. In Yankee history, there have only been 10 seasons where their most valuable individual player was primarily a 1B.| playerID | yearID | Pos | BRAA |
| gehrilo01 | 1927 | 1B | 81.4 |
| gehrilo01 | 1930 | 1B | 57.3 |
| gehrilo01 | 1933 | 1B | 49.4 |
| gehrilo01 | 1934 | 1B | 60.8 |
| gehrilo01 | 1935 | 1B | 42.6 |
| gehrilo01 | 1936 | 1B | 59.3 |
| mantlmi01 | 1967 | 1B | 15.0 |
| mantlmi01 | 1968 | 1B | 15.8 |
| mattido01 | 1984 | 1B | 29.5 |
| mattido01 | 1986 | 1B | 40.4 |
As a reminder, I'm using the same methodology as used in this post. Players are ranked by batting runs above/below average as calculated using linear weights, adjusted for position, park and the run environment of the season in question. Defense is not factored in here.
| Rank | Player | Year | Team | Lg | Pos | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | BRAA | psOPS+ |
| 1 | Johnny Sturm | 1941 | NYA | AL | 1B | 124 | 524 | 58 | 125 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 36 | 3 | 5 | 37 | 50 | .239 | .293 | .300 | -37 | 46 |
| 2 | Babe Dahlgren | 1939 | NYA | AL | 1B | 144 | 531 | 71 | 125 | 18 | 6 | 15 | 89 | 2 | 3 | 57 | 54 | .235 | .312 | .377 | -29 | 60 |
| 3 | Tino Martinez | 2000 | NYA | AL | 1B | 155 | 569 | 69 | 147 | 37 | 4 | 16 | 91 | 4 | 1 | 52 | 74 | .258 | .328 | .422 | -21 | 71 |
| 4 | Babe Dahlgren | 1940 | NYA | AL | 1B | 155 | 568 | 51 | 150 | 24 | 4 | 12 | 73 | 1 | 1 | 46 | 54 | .264 | .325 | .384 | -19 | 70 |
| 5 | Don Mattingly | 1990 | NYA | AL | 1B | 102 | 394 | 40 | 101 | 16 | 0 | 5 | 42 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 20 | .256 | .308 | .335 | -18 | 64 |
| 6 | Felipe Alou | 1973 | NYA | AL | 1B | 93 | 280 | 25 | 66 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 25 | .236 | .256 | .321 | -16 | 48 |
| 7 | Chris Chambliss | 1974 | NYA | AL | 1B | 110 | 400 | 38 | 97 | 16 | 3 | 6 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 43 | .243 | .282 | .343 | -16 | 64 |
| 8 | Wally Pipp | 1923 | NYA | AL | 1B | 144 | 569 | 79 | 173 | 19 | 8 | 6 | 108 | 6 | 13 | 36 | 28 | .304 | .352 | .397 | -15 | 87 |
| 9 | Hal Chase | 1905 | NYA | AL | 1B | 128 | 465 | 60 | 116 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 49 | 22 | 0 | 15 | 0 | .249 | .277 | .329 | -14 | 85 |
| 10 | Danny Cater | 1971 | NYA | AL | 1B | 121 | 428 | 39 | 118 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 50 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 25 | .276 | .308 | .364 | -14 | 69 |
1. Johnny Sturm - 1941
Sturm played one MLB season at age 25 and hit an amazing .239/.293/.300 in a league that hit .274/.351/.404 (adjusted for Yankee Stadium). I wonder why he didn't get a second season.
2. Babe Dahlgren - 1939
An OPS+ of 76 makes Dahlgren the second worst Yankee 1B ever.
3. Tino Martinez - 2000
I was pretty surprised to see Tino's 2000 show up on this list, especially this high. However looking at in a little more depth, it ended up making sense. Tino's OPS+ was only 89, and the average AL 1B hit .283/.372/.505. Over the 632 PA Tino got, that line would have produced around 103 batting runs according to linear weights. Tino's line was worth 82 batting runs.
4. Babe Dahlgren - 1940
Dahlgren improved a little bit in 1940, but was still awful.
5. Don Mattingly - 1990
We all know Don Mattingly was a great player for quite a bit, but his back injury in 1987 probably ended up costing him his shot at the Hall of Fame. Mattingly still managed to hit above league average through the remainder of his career, except for this season and his swan song in 1995. However, the bar for 1B offense is higher than league average, which means he wasn't really helping the team like he did during his peak.
6. Felipe Alou - 1973
Alou had a nice long career, but by 1973 he was just about cooked and his OPS+ of 65 in 93 games showed it.
7. Chris Chambliss - 1974
Chris Chambliss wasn't really a very good hitter for a 1B, but he does have one of the most memorable Yankee HRs ever.
8. Wally Pipp - 1923
Pipp's of course more famous for his headache than his play.
9. Hal Chase - 1905
Chase's rookie year didn't impress, but he managed to improve on it in 1906.
10. Danny Cater - 1971
Cater's biggest value to the Yankees was that he brought back Sparky Lyle in a trade.
11-20 after the jump...
| Rank | Player | Year | Team | Lg | Pos | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | BRAA | psOPS+ |
| 11 | Don Mattingly | 1995 | NYA | AL | 1B | 128 | 458 | 59 | 132 | 32 | 2 | 7 | 49 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 35 | .288 | .341 | .413 | -13 | 78 |
| 12 | Andy Phillips | 2006 | NYA | AL | 1B | 110 | 246 | 30 | 59 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 29 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 56 | .240 | .281 | .394 | -13 | 61 |
| 13 | Danny Cater | 1970 | NYA | AL | 1B | 155 | 582 | 64 | 175 | 26 | 5 | 6 | 76 | 4 | 2 | 34 | 44 | .301 | .340 | .393 | -13 | 77 |
| 14 | Joe Pepitone | 1964 | NYA | AL | 1B | 160 | 613 | 71 | 154 | 12 | 3 | 28 | 100 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 63 | .251 | .281 | .418 | -13 | 83 |
| 15 | Wally Pipp | 1925 | NYA | AL | 1B | 62 | 178 | 19 | 41 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 12 | .230 | .286 | .348 | -12 | 48 |
| 16 | Charlie Mullen | 1914 | NYA | AL | 1B | 93 | 323 | 33 | 84 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 11 | 17 | 33 | 55 | .260 | .332 | .285 | -12 | 81 |
| 17 | Len Boehmer | 1969 | NYA | AL | 1B | 45 | 108 | 5 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 10 | .176 | .233 | .213 | -12 | 13 |
| 18 | Buddy Hassett | 1942 | NYA | AL | 1B | 132 | 538 | 80 | 153 | 16 | 6 | 5 | 48 | 5 | 5 | 32 | 16 | .284 | .325 | .364 | -11 | 84 |
| 19 | Babe Borton | 1913 | NYA | AL | 1B | 33 | 108 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 19 | .130 | .260 | .148 | -11 | 15 |
| 20 | Harry Williams | 1914 | NYA | AL | 1B | 59 | 178 | 9 | 29 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 26 | 26 | .163 | .287 | .230 | -11 | 52 |
12. Andy Phillips - 2006
I'll admit it, I thought Phillips was going to be a player based on his good minor league lines. I felt he wasn't getting a fair shake, but it now looks like the Yankees knew what they were doing.
14. Joe Pepitone - 1964
Yeah, Pepitone wasn't much of a hitter(career OBP of .301), but I defy you to find a 1B with a better head of hair than this.
16. Charlie Mullen - 1914
Mullen's listed at 155 lbs on his Baseball-Reference page, which probably explains why he never hit a HR.
18. Buddy Hassett - 1942
When is a line of .284/.325/.364 and -11 BRAA a good thing? When it replaces a line of .239/.293/.300 and -37 BRAA of course. This is probably the worst 2.5 win upgrade season ever.
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