IAL’s best of the worst

IAL’s best of the worst

8401
Elvis Andrus: 18 rbis is all-time low for starters
7483
Aaron Hill:  .189 average is 6th on all-time list

Every year when I calculate the al-time league leaders for the IAL, the temptation is too great for me to continue and figure out who was the best at being the worst. 

Disqualifier:  I’m using the word ‘worst’ in a tongue in cheek fashion.  Each one of these players had to play a certain amount to qualify to get on these lists and for that matter, they managed to get to the MLB.  For that, they get kudos. 

Hitting Worsts

First up, the averages (based on 2000 career ab): 

Player AVG   Player SLG   Player OBP
Steve Yeager .197   Duane Kuiper .300   Steve Yeager .225
Gene Tenace .207   Larry Bowa .308   Chris Speier .261
Charles Johnson .213   Bert Campaneris .308   Ken Reitz .261
J.J. Hardy .214   Bill North .312   Sal Bando .265
Todd Hundley .214   Jose Vizcaino .313   Jerry Morales .266
Sal Bando .218   Bump Wills .316   Bert Campaneris .268
Chris Speier .220   Ozzie Smith .317   Lee May .268
Jose Valentin .221   Bucky Dent .321   Graig Nettles .269
Nick Swisher .223   Brad Ausmus .322   Alfredo Griffin .269
Adam Dunn .224   Chris Speier .324   Tony Batista .270

not surprisingly, there is some overlap in the BA, Slg, and OBP top ten lists.  That said, only Chris Speier shows up in all three top ten lists. 

This next list shows the lowest total among players with 2000 at-bats:

Player HR   Player SB   Player BB
Duane Kuiper 1   Bucky Dent 0   Jerry Morales 33
Dave Cash 8   Brook Jacoby 0   Lou Brock 47
Alfredo Griffin 9   Adam LaRoche 0   Willie Montanez 60
Greg Gross 11   Tony Clark 0   Ralph Garr 68
Bill North 11   Rich Gedman 1   Rennie Stennett 68
Bert Campaneris 12   Cliff Johnson 1   Dave Cash 74
Walt Weiss 12   Benji Molina 1   Ken Reitz 81
Jose Vizcaino 13   Ramon Hernandez 1   Damaso Garcia 82
Lou Brock 13   Nick Swisher 1   Bert Campaneris 86
Rennie Stennett 14   Gene Tenace 1   Lee May 88
      Richie Zisk 1      
      Tino Martinez 1      
      Richie Sexson 1      
      Mark McGwire 1      

No big surprises in the HR category but I was little taken aback by seeing Dent, and Jacoby with no stolen bases. 

I half expected to see Andre Dawson in the BB list.

 

I did a little filtering to find out which hitters didn’t make the most of their homers.  These are the players with the least amount of career rbis among players with 200 or more homeruns

Player HR RBI
Chase Utley 201 573
Richie Sexson 205 575
Gorman Thomas 218 579
Jose Valentin 224 595
Pat Burrell 217 616
Kevin Mitchell 218 648
Greg Luzinski 212 649
Dean Palmer 233 650
Bob Horner 202 654
Ellis Burks 220 655

I initially thought there would be some leadoff hitters populating this list.  Utley fits the description but I was a little surprised to see hitters like Sexson, Thomas, Luzinski.  Essentially, these were players who hit the long ball but nothing else. 

The Worst of the Single Season

Aaron Hill’s .189 average of 2011 joins the top ten list.  He’s #6 worst.

Also, Elvis Andrus’ 18 rbis in 2011 breaks the all-time record for lowest number of rbis for a full time player (500 ab).  I believe everyone on that list is a leadoff hitter.

Player YEAR CLUB AVG   Player YEAR CLUB SLG  
Preston Wilson 2006 UPDKRS .165   Ozzie Smith 1981 TCHIX .255  
Edgardo Alfonzo 2002 HLNDRS .167   Bucky Dent 1977 SSTAR .262  
Mark McGwire 1990 TCHIX .174   Omar Vizquel 2002 SLGRS .267  
Brady Anderson 1999 MRDRS .182   Bobby Grich 1979 TCHIX .276  
Joe Carter 1994 CHAMPS .183   Bill North 1981 A’s .277  
Aaron Hill 2011 BMBNOS .189   Luis Castillo 2001 UPDKRS .279  
Dan Uggla 2008 BMBNOS .189   Todd Zeile 1993 TCHIX .280  
Mike Cameron 2004 CHAMPS .190   Don Kessinger 1976 FIRE .280  
Hank Blalock 2005 HTMN .190   Chuck Knoblauch 1994 12TRS .282  
Bobby Grich 1979 TCHIX .191   Elvis Andrus 2010 KERNEL .283  
                   
Player YEAR CLUB BB   Player YEAR CLUB RBI  
Larry Bowa 1979 FIRE 8   Elvis Andrus 2011 KERNEL 18  
A. J. Pierzynski 2004 SLGRS 10   Jason Kendall 2006 BMBNOS 22  
Alfredo Griffin 1981 A’s 12   Ozzie Smith 1992 TCHIX 22  
Kenji Johjima 2007 GMBLRS 12   Omar Vizquel 2002 SLGRS 24  
Carlos Baerga 1999 TCHIX 12   Tommy Herr 1983 A’s 24  
Paul Molitor 1979 CARDS 13   Rudy Law 1984 12TRS 25  
Raul Mondesi 1997 POSSE 13   Vince Coleman 1988 HTMN 25  
Raul Mondesi 1995 POSSE 13   J. D. Drew 2008 BMBRS 25  
Carlos Baerga 1995 BMBRS 13   Joe Morgan 1980 BMBRS 25  
Adam Jones 2011 UPDKRS 14   Willie Randolph 1985 CARDS 25  
                   
                   
Player YEAR CLUB R   Player YEAR CLUB HR RBI
Brian Downing 1982 STKYD 33   Glenn Davis 1991 CHAMPS 25 44
Jim Sundberg 1978 TCHIX 34   Eric Davis 1989 CHAMPS 27 46
Ken Reitz 1977 BUMS 34   Eric Hinske 2009 TCHIX 26 51
Garry Templeton 1990 MERCS 36   Dean Palmer 1992 12TRS 26 51
Brook Jacoby 1989 TCHIX 36   Jeff Hammonds 2000 HTMN 25 54
Kevin Seitzer 1996 DRMTM 36   Kent Hrbek 1994 POSSE 27 55
A. J. Pierzynski 2010 KERNEL 36   Mark McGwire 2002 TCHIX 30 57
Mike Easler 1987 BMBRS 37   Todd Walker 2005 SLGRS 25 57
Carlos Baerga 1999 TCHIX 37   Glenn Davis 1986 CHAMPS 30 58
Omar Vizquel 2002 SLGRS 38   Nick Swisher 2010 CHAMPS 25 58

 

I did something similar with this last list.  It lists those players who had the fewest rbis among those who hit at least 25 homeruns in a season.  Interesting that Glenn Davis not only leads with 44 rbis and shows up twice on the list but does so the second time by hitting 30 homeruns. 

 

Some pitching Worsts

Who has the worst career ERA in the IAL?  Using 1000 innings pitched as a minimum, here’s the list:

 

Pitcher YEAR CLUB ERA
Oliver Perez 2006 UPDKRS 9.09
Charles Hudson 1987 PHNX 7.81
Carl Pavano 1999 CARDS 7.67
Pedro Astacio 2003 SLGRS 7.62
Danny Patterson 2000 BMBRS 7.59
Neal Heaton 1989 MERCS 7.57
Justin Masterson 2011 KERNEL 7.52
Masato Yoshii 2001 CHAMPS 7.52
Rolando Arrojo 2001 TCHIX 7.51
Jason Bere 1996 DRMTM 7.47

Funny, Oliver Perez is also one of best career strikeout pitchers per IP in the IAL, too.  In 1083 IP, he’s struck out 1079.  Also, his Hits/9 IP is a pretty decent 9.12. 

With some exceptions, we’re going back to the 80s and 90s for the high volume losses.

Pitcher YEAR CLUB W L
Erik Hanson 1997 CARDS 10 29
Ed Whitson 1988 PHNX 16 28
Livan Hernandez 2010 BMBRS 13 26
Bob Knepper 1981 A’s 10 25
Rodrigo Lopez 2004 GMBLRS 8 25
Jose Rijo 1987 PHNX 14 25
LaMarr Hoyt 1985 MERCS 8 24
Ferguson Jenkins 1984 TCHIX 8 24
Chris Bosio 1988 PHNX 11 24
Ken Holtzman 1976 CARDS 6 23

I was manager of Bob Knepper and his 25 losses.  Knepper was the Roy Campanella of my pitching staff.  He be great every other year.  That was obviously one of his bad years. 

Here are the top ten walks per 9 IP in a single season among qualifiers:

Pitcher YEAR CLUB BB/9
Tom Gordon 1995 DRMTM 6.36
Carlos Zambrano 2008 BMBRS 6.28
Matt Cain 2007 CHAMPS 5.99
Barry Zito 2007 UPDKRS 5.95
Tom Gordon 1990 MERCS 5.91
Jerry Reuss 1978 CARDS 5.89
Yovani Gallardo 2010 UPDKRS 5.87
Chan Ho Park 2001 CHAMPS 5.73
Francisco Liriano 2010 BMBRS 5.65
Mike Hampton 2003 MRDRS 5.59

Some good pitchers with control problems… and then just some bad pitchers.

Finally, the lowest K/9 IP in a single season.

Pitcher YEAR CLUB K/9
John Lannan 2010 GMBLRS 2.97
Mike Boddicker 1992 HTMN 3.06
Kirk Rueter 2006 GMBLRS 3.15
Tommy John 1977 SSTAR 3.17
Livan Hernandez 2008 BMBRS 3.22
Doc Medich 1977 TCHIX 3.22
Phil Niekro 1982 STKYD 3.34
Rudy May 1982 HTMN 3.39
Bill Laskey 1983 BMBRS 3.43
Jim Lonborg 1977 TCHIX 3.45

 

Aside from perhaps Laskey and Lannan, this list is full of some pretty good pitchers.  Just those who didn’t rely on the fireball. 

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