You hear it sometimes: Richie Ashburn had the most hits during the 1950’s; Mike Schmidt had the most home runs during the 1980’s. You hear it with Jack Morris all the time.
So who are the leaders for the ‘Aughts? Which player had the most hits? Who is second in homeruns? Who is fourth in Runs Batted In? How many players totaled 1000 runs scored? Who grounded into the most double-plays?
That’s what we’re covering today: the ‘mosts’ of the decade. We’ll start with the hitters.
Games
1.
|
Miguel Tejada
|
1581
|
2.
|
Bobby Abreu
|
1574
|
3.
|
Orlando Cabrera
|
1533
|
4.
|
Alex Rodriguez
|
1524
|
5.
|
Carlos Lee
|
1512
|
6.
|
Derek Jeter
|
1500
|
As a general rule I’ll be listing the top-five in each category, just to keep things moving alone. I listed six here because there were six players with over 1500 games played, so I thought it was reasonable to throw Jeter on. I mean, he hardly gets any attention these days.
Tejada’s total is the second highest in history: only Pete Rose, who played in 1604 games during the 1970’s, has a total that bests Tejada’s mark. This isn’t the last time Miggy makes a list.
One thing that’s surprising (at least to me) is the number of shortstops listed above: four of the six names listed played shortstop for most of the decade. Just when did shortstops become durable? Is it Ripken’s fault?
Plate Appearances/At-Bats
|
Plate Appearances
|
|
|
|
At-Bats
|
|
1.
|
Bobby Abreu
|
6932
|
|
1.
|
Miguel Tejada
|
6263
|
2.
|
Derek Jeter
|
6923
|
|
2.
|
Derek Jeter
|
6122
|
3.
|
Miguel Tejada
|
6827
|
|
3.
|
Ichiro Suzuki
|
6099
|
4.
|
Alex Rodriguez
|
6768
|
|
4.
|
Johnny Damon
|
6006
|
5.
|
Johnny Damon
|
6767
|
|
5.
|
Orlando Cabrera
|
5957
|
Listing these stats together.
Abreu and Rodriguez, two guys who draw a lot of walks, are knocked off the At-Bats list by Ichiro and Orlando Cabrera. Otherwise the lists are the same.
Runs Scored
1.
|
Alex Rodriguez
|
1190
|
2.
|
Johnny Damon
|
1115
|
3.
|
Derek Jeter
|
1088
|
4.
|
Albert Pujols
|
1071
|
5.
|
Bobby Abreu
|
1061
|
6.
|
Todd Helton
|
1017
|
The only six players with 1000 or more runs scored over the decade.
On seeing his name at the top of the list, I wondered how A-Rod fared against Rickey Henderson. It turns out Alex does quite well: Henderson scored 1122 runs over the decade of the 1980’s, and over his best ten-year period (1982-1991), Henderson score 1146 runs. A-Rod is ahead.
Johnny Damon has ten seasons of 100 or more runs scored, and only twenty players in history have scored more runs than Damon has at his age. All of those twenty are either in the Hall of Fame, or they will be when they become eligible.
Hits
1.
|
Ichiro Suzuki
|
2030
|
2.
|
Derek Jeter
|
1940
|
3.
|
Miguel Tejada
|
1860
|
4.
|
Todd Helton
|
1756
|
5.
|
Vladimir Guerrero
|
1751
|
Ichiro, despite not playing in 2000, managed to top 2000 hits over the decade. It’s a rare feat: he joins Rogers Hornsby, Sam Rice, and Pete Rose as the only four players to top 2000 over a calendar decade.
Ichiro and Sam Rice are similar players: contact hitters who don’t strike out or walk too much. Both men were fast runners and outfielders; both men batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Rose, a switch-hitter, was similar: he didn’t have the speed of Ichiro or Rice and he wasn’t the natural outfielder that the other two men were.
Doubles
1.
|
Todd Helton
|
431
|
2.
|
Bobby Abreu
|
408
|
3.
|
Albert Pujols
|
387
|
4.
|
Orlando Cabrera
|
371
|
5.
|
Mike Lowell
|
366
|
Another record: no player has posted more doubles over a calendar decade than Todd Helton did over the 2000’s. Just for fun, the most doubles per decade:
1900's
|
Honus Wagner
|
372
|
1910's
|
Tris Speaker
|
367
|
1920's
|
Rogers Hornsby
|
405
|
1930's
|
Charlie Gehringer
|
400
|
1940's
|
Lou Boudreau
|
339
|
1950's
|
Stan Musial
|
356
|
1960's
|
Carl Yastrzemski
|
318
|
1970's
|
Pete Rose
|
394
|
1980's
|
Robin Yount
|
337
|
1990's
|
Mark Grace
|
364
|
2000's
|
Todd Helton
|
431
|
One more sign that Tris Speaker’s career record for doubles is in jeopardy. Albert Pujols is currently 92 doubles ahead of Speaker at the same age. Of course, Speaker had a string of 50 double seasons in his early thirties, so Pujols needs to stay ahead.
Triples
1.
|
Jimmy Rollins
|
95
|
2.
|
Carl Crawford
|
92
|
3.
|
Christian Guzman
|
82
|
4.
|
Juan Pierre
|
79
|
5.
|
Jose Reyes
|
73
|
I though that this would be the first decade without a player with 100+ triples. I was wrong:
Decade
|
Leader
|
Total
|
Players over 100
|
1900's
|
Sam Crawford
|
167
|
7
|
1910's
|
Tyrus Cobb
|
161
|
10
|
1920's
|
Sam Rice
|
133
|
11
|
1930's
|
E. Averill/Gus Suhr
|
114
|
5
|
1940's
|
Stan Musial
|
108
|
1
|
1950's
|
Richie Ashburn
|
82
|
0
|
1960's
|
Roberto Clemente
|
99
|
0
|
1970's
|
Rod Carew
|
80
|
0
|
1980's
|
Willie Wilson
|
115
|
1
|
1990's
|
Lance Johnson
|
113
|
1
|
2000's
|
Jimmy Rollins
|
95
|
0
|
Since the 1930’s, it’s been pretty rare for anyone to collect over 100 triples in a decade.
I’ve sometimes wondered if we’ll ever see a player collect 200 triples in his career. The last 200 triplers, Cobb and Speaker retired in 1928, and since then no one has come particularly close to 200. Currently, Reyes and Crawford are our best bets: they have the speed to leg out triples, and enough talent to stick around for a long time. But frankly they’re a long way off, and time isn’t on their side. Crawford is already slowing down, and there’s no telling where the career of Jose Reyes is going.
Home Runs
1.
|
Alex Rodriguez
|
435
|
2.
|
Jim Thome
|
368
|
3.
|
Albert Pujols
|
366
|
4.
|
Manny Ramirez
|
348
|
5
|
Carlos Delgado
|
324
|
Alex Rodriguez’s total is the second-highest decade total ever, behind Ruth’s 467 during the Roarin’ Twenties.
Over the decade, twelve players topped 300 homeruns: the five above plus Bonds, Dunn, Guerrero, Berkman, Andruw Jones, Ortiz, and Giambi. That’s another record for the ‘Aughts. During the 1990’s, eleven players topped 300 homers.
Runs Batted In
1.
|
Alex Rodriguez
|
1243
|
2.
|
Albert Pujols
|
1112
|
3.
|
Manny Ramirez
|
1106
|
4.
|
Miguel Tejada
|
1046
|
5.
|
Carlos Delgado
|
1045
|
In total, nine players topped 1000 RBI during the decade: the five above plus Vlad, Berkman, Carlos Lee, and David Ortiz.
I don’t know where else to put this, but don’t you think that Alex Rodriguez’s turnaround during the 2009 baseball season was the most startling image fix-job in recent sports history?
Think about it: late last year the tabloids were all over Alex’s crumbling marriage, his affair with Madonna, and the Yankees inability to make the postseason. Come February, news that he had tested positive for steroids hit the airwaves up, culminating in the publication of a book-long hit job documenting the weirdness of A-Rod. There was his tearful, awkward apology to Peter Gammons on ESPN, and a long month when every sportswriter took turns talking about how much Alex Rodriguez had destroyed our collective innocence. After his annual hemming about which country he should play for, Alex bailed on the World Baseball Classic, went on the DL for hip surgery, and got a new agency, ICM, to represent him.
Coming off the DL, with the Yankees middling along at 13-15, Alex hit a home run on the first pitch he saw, ignited the Yankee offense and leading New York to the AL East Title with some dramatic clutch hits. He spent most of the season ducking the press, only occasionally uttering those boring platitudes about teamwork. He got in the habit of using ‘we’ instead of ‘I.’ He started dating Kate Hudson.
During the postseason, Rodriguez hit .365 over the postseason, with six homeruns and eighteen RBI. Moreover, he played like a man possessed: he was aggressive on the basepaths, chippy with the umpires, and as focused at the plate as he’s ever been. He erased the ‘chocker’ moniker: his postseason numbers are almost exactly the same as his regular season stats. And he won: he has a ring. Even the news about his ‘centaur’ painting hasn’t gotten much traction.
It was fun to watch. I’m not a big fan of Alex Rodriguez, but it’s been some turnaround for him. Has any other athlete gone from pariah to hero as quickly as A-Rod did in 2009?
Bases on Balls
1.
|
Barry Bonds
|
1128
|
2.
|
Bobby Abreu
|
1038
|
3.
|
Todd Helton
|
1001
|
4.
|
Jim Thome
|
973
|
5.
|
Lance Berkman
|
968
|
Bonds also topped 1000 last decade, (1146). I haven’t gotten around to checking, but he might be the only player to lead the majors in a counting stat over consecutive decades.
Intentional Walks
1.
|
Barry Bonds
|
390
|
2.
|
Vladimir Guerrero
|
213
|
3.
|
Albert Pujols
|
198
|
4.
|
Manny Ramirez
|
174
|
5.
|
Todd Helton
|
164
|
The ‘Fear Factor’ stat: I generally hate sentences that start with, ‘So-and-so was the most feared player of his generation’ (see: Jim Rice), but looking at intentional walks is a reasonable way to measure which hitters were the most feared during the decade.
Certainly, I can’t disagree with this list. I wonder if Vlad has ever swung at a pitch during an intentional walk.
Hit By Pitch
1.
|
Jason Kendall
|
159
|
2.
|
Jason Giambi
|
138
|
3.
|
David Eckstein
|
134
|
4.
|
Craig Biggio
|
132
|
5.
|
Carlos Delgado
|
126
|
6.
|
Alex Rodriguez
|
125
|
Okay…Kendall is a surprise. Kendell has been hit by 248 pitches in his career, far and away the most by any catcher in history (Carlton Fisk is a distant second, with 143 HBP).
Kendall is fifth on the all-time list, and is three or four seasons away from breaking Hughie Jennings’ mark of 287 times plunked.
Kendall is one of the most unique players in baseball history; a catcher whose offensive contributions look like those of a middle-infielder: his ten most comparable players, according to baseballreference.com, are all second basemen and shortstops.
Kendall is one of just eight catchers with 2000 or more hits: with another season he’ll move to fourth on the all-time list, behind Ivan Rodriguez, Ted Simmons, and Carlton Fisk.
Stolen Bases
1.
|
Juan Pierre
|
459
|
2.
|
Carl Crawford
|
362
|
3.
|
Ichiro Suzuki
|
341
|
4.
|
Jimmy Rollins
|
326
|
5.
|
Jose Reyes
|
301
|
Juan Pierre…I think in another era, Pierre would’ve been a star. As a hitter, Pierre’s seasons are Maury Wills seasons: singles hitter, a lot of steals, few walks and fewer strikeouts, a good batting average in the good years. During the 1960’s, Wills was a star: he made five All-Star teams and won an MVP award, and was credited with the ‘stolen base revolution. His name is often brought up in Hall of Fame discussions.
Pierre’s legacy is, I think, tied to how much sabermetric thinking has crept into the game. He’s become something of a target for those of us who preach the merits of on-base percentage over ‘speed.’ Had he been born ten years earlier, he would have spent a career hitting leadoff for one team or another.
I think three of the players on this list, Ichiro, Crawford, and Rollins, will collect 3000 career hits.
Crawford is 187 hits ahead of Pete Rose, which sound more impressive than it is. He’s 30th on the hits list at Age 27, but there are plenty of guys above him who didn’t get anywhere near 4000 hits. Still, Crawford is well on his way to 3000. Ten more years and he’ll be knocking on the door.
Rollins, who turned 30 this year, is a little more than halfway there…he’s at 1615, and players who are fast and can play shortstop tend to stick around. The only thing that could stop Ichiro from getting to 3000 is a comet striking Seattle. Even then…
Caught Stealing
1.
|
Juan Pierre
|
155
|
2.
|
Luis Castillo
|
108
|
3.
|
Chone Figgins
|
96
|
4.
|
Bobby Abreu
|
90
|
5
|
Scott Podsednik
|
87
|
Hey…Juan Pierre again! And Scott Podsednik! I love these guys!
Moving along.
Batting Average
1.
|
Albert Pujols
|
.334
|
|
6.
|
Barry Bonds
|
.322
|
2.
|
Ichiro Suzuki
|
.333
|
|
7.
|
Matt Holliday
|
.318
|
3.
|
Todd Helton
|
.331
|
|
8.
|
Derek Jeter
|
.317
|
4.
|
Joe Mauer
|
.327
|
|
9.
|
Manny Ramirez
|
.317
|
5.
|
Vladimir Guerrero
|
.323
|
|
10.
|
Magglio Ordonez
|
.316
|
The decade’s batting title was unbelievably close. Albert Pujols finished at .333657, while Ichiro finished a perfect 1-for-3 (2030-for 6090): .333333. The difference? Two hits. No other race for the decade’s batting title has been particularly close.
In case your wondering, every previous winner of the Decade batting title is in the Hall of Fame. From 1900 to 1999: Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Bill Terry, Ted Williams, Ted Williams again, Roberto Clemente, Rod Carew, Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn.
So Albert Pujols might be a Hall-of-Famer. Who knew?
On-Base Percentage
1.
|
Barry Bonds
|
.517
|
|
8.
|
Chipper Jones
|
.413
|
2.
|
Todd Helton
|
.436
|
|
9.
|
Joe Mauer
|
.408
|
3.
|
Albert Pujols
|
.427
|
|
10.
|
Bobby Abreu
|
.402
|
4.
|
Larry Walker
|
.421
|
|
11.
|
Nick Johnson
|
.402
|
5.
|
Manny Ramirez
|
.419
|
|
12.
|
Alex Rodriguez
|
.401
|
6.
|
Jason Giambi
|
.418
|
|
13.
|
Edgar Martinez
|
.401
|
7.
|
Lance Berkman
|
.413
|
|
14.
|
Brian Giles
|
.400
|
The fourteen players who posted on-base percentages over .400 this decade.
You know who the outliers here are? Joe Mauer: the only player on the left side of the defensive spectrum. All the other guys are corner infielders, corner outfielders, or DH’s. Okay…Alex wasn’t always a third baseman.
Nick Johnson and Brian Giles are the surprises, I suppose. Over his career, Brian Giles has the same adjusted OPS (OPS+) as Ken Griffey Jr., David Wright, and Mark Teixeira.
Slugging Percentage
1.
|
Barry Boinds
|
.724
|
|
8.
|
Todd Helton
|
.569
|
2.
|
Albert Pujols
|
.628
|
|
9.
|
Jim Thome
|
.563
|
3.
|
Manny Ramirez
|
.599
|
|
10.
|
Larry Walker
|
.562
|
4.
|
Alex Rodriguez
|
.587
|
|
11.
|
Lance Berkman
|
.559
|
5.
|
Ryan Howard
|
.586
|
|
12.
|
David Ortiz
|
.554
|
6.
|
Sammy Sosa
|
.570
|
|
13.
|
Carlos Delgado
|
.553
|
7.
|
Vladimir Guerrero
|
.569
|
|
14.
|
Prince Fielder
|
.550
|
The fourteen players with a slugging percentage over .550 during the decade.
Bonds’ on-base percentage and slugging percentages are records for any decade. Babe Ruth had a .488 on-base percentage and a .740 slugging percentage in the 1920’s. Ted Williams was .496/.647 during the 1940’s, .476/.622 during the 1950’s.
Well…Jose Mesa had a 1.000 on-base percentage over the 1990’s. Maybe we should put him on the list.
On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS)
1
|
Barry Bonds
|
1.241
|
2
|
Albert Pujols
|
1.055
|
3
|
Manny Ramirez
|
1.018
|
4
|
Todd Helton
|
1.006
|
Just being quick: the four guys over 1.000 in OPS.
An aside: for better or worse, I’d nominate OPS as the statistic of the decade. I don’t think it’s the best statistic of the decade, not by a long shot. But it’s had a significant impact, and it’s certainly caught on with the masses. And if the two players who led their leagues in OPS this year are announced the MVP’s, I’ll be happy about it.
Adjusted On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS+)
1
|
Barry Bonds
|
221
|
|
6
|
Lance Berkman
|
148
|
2
|
Albert Pujols
|
172
|
|
7
|
Chipper Jones
|
147
|
3
|
Manny Ramirez
|
160
|
|
8
|
Jim Thome
|
147
|
4
|
Alex Rodriguez
|
154
|
|
9
|
Vladimir Guerrero
|
146
|
5
|
Jason Giambi
|
152
|
|
10
|
Todd Helton
|
146
|
Adjusting for park and league contexts...Chipper Jones, who isn’t listed on either the on-base percentage or slugging percentages lists, suddenly shows up here.
Grounding Into Double Plays (GIDP)
1
|
Miguel Tejada
|
223
|
2
|
Paul Konerko
|
195
|
3
|
Vladimir Guerrero
|
191
|
4
|
Albert Pujols
|
180
|
5
|
Magglio Ordonez
|
174
|
Told you Miguel Tejada would make another appearance. Tejada, who is 105 double plays away from the record, would need about four full seasons to get to Ripken’s mark. He’s averaging about thirty a year right now, which is a terrificly terrible pace.
Much thanks, baseballreference.com for all the fun numbers. I’ll tackle the pitchers next.
Dave Fleming is a writer living in Iowa City, IA. He welcomes comments, questions, and suggestions here and at dfleming1986@yahoo.com.