Do you all remember Mike Greenwell? Used to play left field for the Red Sox, good hitter but not exactly Devon White in the field? The Baltimore Orioles would like to remember him a little more often.
Mike Greenwell in his career hit .303 with an on base percentage of .368, slugging percentage of .463. These were almost exactly the same figures, it turns out, that the 2007 Baltimore Orioles had, as a team—when they won. When they won, they were Mike Greenwell; when they lost, they were former Cubs and Astros catcher Scott Servais (.245/.305/.374. Servais actually was .245/.306/.375.)
For those of you who are connoiseurs of truly useless information, I took the batting, on base and slugging percentages for each major league team, and identified the player to whom this was most similar. I kept expecting that I would find somewhere an exact match on all three stats, but I never did; you always come close, but I never exactly hit it—unless you count Oakland’s losses. The Oakland A’s, in games they lost, hit .222 with a .300 on base percentage, .333 slugging. As it happens, you can match that 10 plate appearances—two-for-nine with a walk and a double—and so some players did, four of them, I think. But I didn’t remember any of those players and they’re not meaningful averages, so I didn’t think that was useful.
Almost every team, it turns out, hits like some slugging outfielder when they win—usually like a Hall of Famer—and almost everybody hits like a backup catcher when they lose. You may not remember Bob Geren, Jimmie Coker, Darrell Miller, Jake Gibbs, Jerry McNertney, Norm Sherry and Phil Roof, but they’re all backup catchers. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays when they lost actually hit almost exactly like their own backup catcher, Raul Casanova, although I listed another one. Herewith the comps:
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Arizona in Wins .281 .355 .480 Dave Winfield
Arizona in Losses .209 .274 .325 Dave Stegman
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Atlanta in Wins .312 .383 .480 Goose Goslin
Atlanta in Losses .232 .286 .350 Bob Geren
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Baltimore in Wins .304 .369 .461 Mike Greenwell
Baltimore in Losses .245 .305 .374 Scott Servais
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Boston in Wins .308 .393 .508 Indian Bob Johnson
Boston in Losses .235 .313 .348 Al Luplow
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
White Sox in Wins .291 .363 .500 Billy Williams
White Sox in Losses .208 .278 .324 Dave Stegman
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Cubs in Wins .303 .363 .483 Pedro Guerrero
Cubs in Losses .235 .297 .353 Jimmie Coker
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Cincinnati in Wins .302 .375 .502 Jim Bottomley
Cincinnati in Losses .235 .301 .378 Dale Sveum
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Cleveland in Wins .291 .372 .478 Al Kaline
Cleveland in Losses .234 .298 .352 Jimmie Coker
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Colorado in Wins .318 .389 .515 Goose Goslin
Colorado in Losses .228 .306 .334 Jim Gosger
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Detroit in Wins .319 .383 .529 Babe Herman
Detroit in Losses .246 .295 .369 Tom Brookens
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Florida in Wins .308 .380 .527 Chick Hafey
Florida in Losses .233 .297 .383 Dale Sveum
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Houston in Wins .294 .370 .497 Gabby Hartnett
Houston in Losses .231 .295 .342 Jim Hegan
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Kansas City in Wins .313 .376 .477 John Stone
Kansas City in Losses .221 .278 .318 Chuck Cottier
I remember all of these guys, by the way. John (Rocky) Stone was a 1930s outfielder, very similar to Mike Greenwell. Chuck Cottier was a 1960s middle infielder, about whom Shirley Povich used to tell this story. One time he was sitting on the Senators bench, getting near game time, and he said, “well, I’d better get out of here or Gil Hodges will put me in the game.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Cottier. “I’ve been sitting there for weeks, and he hasn’t put me in yet.” The only player here that I actually don’t remember is Andy Tomberlin.
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Dodgers in Wins .307 .371 .458 Bubbles Hargrave
Dodgers in Losses .241 .299 .349 Darrell Miller
Darrell Miller, who I think was the first player drafted one year, was the older brother of basketball superstar Reggie Miller, and also of women’s basketball star Cheryl Miller.
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Angels in Wins .315 .377 .471 John Stone
Angels in Losses .239 .295 .339 Jerry McNertney
McNertney, you will recall, is a character in Bouton’s classic, Ball Four.
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Milwaukee in Wins .298 .369 .521 Hal Trosky
Milwaukee in Losses .221 .282 .384 Ron Karkovice
Hal Trosky would be in the Hall of Fame except for debilitating headaches that started when he was about 25. Karkovice, like Jim Hegan, hit like any other backup catcher but had such exceptional defensive skills that he was a regular.
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Minnesota in Wins .296 .370 .464 Rico Carty
Minnesota in Losses .232 .288 .318 Jake Gibbs
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Yankees in Wins .330 .408 .543 Stan Musial
Yankees in Losses .232 .302 .349 Jimmie Coker
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Mets in Wins .299 .372 .487 Gabby Hartnett
Mets in Losses .246 .305 .366 Russ Morman
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Oakland in Wins .293 .376 .486 Al Kaline
Oakland in Losses .222 .300 .333 Torey Lovullo
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Philadelphia in Wins .306 .388 .522 Mo Vaughn
Philadelphia in Losses .232 .307 .376 Andy Tomberlin
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Pittsburgh in Wins .305 .368 .494 George Brett
Pittsburgh in Losses .230 .289 .347 Coco Laboy
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
San Diego in Wins .279 .355 .472 Bobby Bonilla
San Diego in Losses .216 .279 .336 Norm Sherry
Norm Sherry used to be famous for the role that he played in turning around the career of Sandy Koufax. Koufax, apparently, struggled for years because whenever he got in trouble he would just try to blow away hitters with his fastball. Josh Beckett used to do that, too.
It brings up another side topic, which is “players who are famous for their influence on another player.” Bobby Castillo, for example, used to be famous for teaching Fernando Valenzuela to throw a screwball.
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
S Francisco in Wins .292 .363 .454 Bruce Campbell
Giants in Losses .223 .287 .332 Kevin Bell
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Seattle in Wins .313 .363 .482 Babe Phelps
Seattle in Losses .252 .304 .354 Joe McEwing
Babe Phelps was basically a backup catcher, too, albeit a backup catcher who could really hit. He was sort of a regular from ’36 through ’40, lost his job in ’41 when the Dodgers trained in Havana. He had a phobia about travelling over water, and, although he tried to, he could not force himself to get on the boat. At least, that’s the story as I remember it. . ..
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
St. Louis in Wins .318 .380 .450 Bill Dickey
St. Louis in Losses .229 .294 .321 Cap Peterson
Every team hit at least 57 points higher in wins than they did in losses, but no team was 100 points higher, although some (including the Cardinals) were close. I tried to generalize about the differences, something like “teams with bad pitching have a wider separation because they have to hit more to win.” But that’s not quite it. . .there is some pattern there, but I don’t understand it yet.
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Tampa Bay in Wins .313 .382 .523 Chick Hafey
Tampa Bay in Losses .235 .301 .367 Danny Goodwin
Chick Hafey was selected to the Hall of Fame, but shouldn’t have been. Danny Goodwin was selected number one in the draft twice, but shouldn’t have been, either. Everybody makes mistakes.
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Texas in Wins .313 .383 .522 Chick Hafey
Texas in Losses .218 .277 .340 Kenny Williams
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Toronto in Wins .284 .355 .465 Dave Nilsson
Toronto in Losses .232 .295 .371 Bob Tillman
Team and Group Avg. OBP Slg. Most Similar Hitter
Washington in Wins .302 .370 .469 Rico Carty
Washington in Losses .217 .284 .323 Phil Roof