Extending the Quick Note from Yesterday
Regarding the question from a reader. ..the formula for "Game Equivalents" is Plate Appearances divided by 4.3, plus Games Played, the total of the two being divided by 8.6. The highest "Game Equivalent" in baseball history is 171.5, by Jimmie Rollins in 2007 (162 games, 778 Plate Appearances). These are the top 10 of all time; four seasons by Pete Rose:
First
|
Last
|
Team
|
YEAR
|
Game Equv
|
G
|
PA
|
Jimmy
|
Rollins
|
Phillies
|
2007
|
171.5
|
162
|
778
|
Pete
|
Rose
|
Reds
|
1974
|
171
|
163
|
770
|
Maury
|
Wills
|
Dodgers
|
1962
|
170.8
|
165
|
759
|
Lenny
|
Dykstra
|
Phillies
|
1993
|
170.4
|
161
|
773
|
Dave
|
Cash
|
Phillies
|
1975
|
170.1
|
162
|
766
|
Pete
|
Rose
|
Reds
|
1975
|
169.8
|
162
|
764
|
Pete
|
Rose
|
Reds
|
1976
|
169.3
|
162
|
759
|
Ichiro
|
Suzuki
|
Mariners
|
2004
|
169.1
|
161
|
762
|
Omar
|
Moreno
|
Pirates
|
1979
|
169
|
162
|
757
|
Pete
|
Rose
|
Reds
|
1965
|
169
|
162
|
757
|
The issue raised by the reader was whether the high figures of the 1960s characterized that era generally, or only for starting pitchers. To test that, I looked at the top 1X, 2X and 5X players of each decade, with X being the number of teams in that decade. In other words, since there were 16 teams through the 1960s, I looked at the top 16, top 32, and top 80 totals of the 1950s. Since there were 20 teams through most of the 1960s, I looked at the top 20, top 40 and top 100 totals of the 1960s. X was 24 for the 1970s, 26 for the 1980s, 28 for the 1990s, 30 for the 2000s, 27 for the current decade because it would be 30 and we are 90% of the way through the decade. These are the averages decade by decade:
|
|
Top 1X
|
Top 2X
|
Top 5X
|
|
|
Average
|
Average
|
Average
|
1900 to 1909
|
16
|
158.2
|
156.7
|
154.1
|
1910 to 1919
|
16
|
159.9
|
158.7
|
156.6
|
1920 to 1929
|
16
|
162.1
|
160.8
|
158.8
|
1930 to 1939
|
16
|
163.6
|
162.2
|
160.1
|
1940 to 1949
|
16
|
161.7
|
160.5
|
158.3
|
1950 to 1959
|
16
|
161.6
|
160.4
|
158.2
|
1960 to 1969
|
20
|
166.3
|
165.0
|
162.8
|
1970 to 1979
|
24
|
166.9
|
165.1
|
162.3
|
1980 to 1989
|
26
|
165.6
|
164.4
|
161.8
|
1990 to 1999
|
28
|
165.8
|
164.8
|
162.2
|
2000 to 2009
|
30
|
166.9
|
165.5
|
163.3
|
2010 to 2019
|
27
|
164.4
|
163.5
|
161.5
|
So the short answer is: No, it is not GENERALLY characteristic of the 1961-1966 era to have the highest averages of all time (batter workload). It was not generally true of all hitters; it is merely true of ROOKIES, as noted in the other article.