The 1963 to 1969 Hitting Desert
There are 169 major league players who had 800 or more at bats in the years 1963 to 1968, the hitting desert of the 1960s, and who also had 800 or more at bats in the majors outside of those years. For the sake of convenience, I will refer to the years 1963-1968 as "the desert", and will refer to years within that scope as "in", and to the years outside that scope as "out".
Of those 169 players, exactly 100 hit for higher averages outside the desert than inside. 62 hit for higher averages in the desert than out, and 7 hit for the same average in the desert that they did outside of it, although this counts as being the same Orlando Cepeda, who hit .297 inside the desert and .296 outside of it, but who counts as the same because the difference in his average is less than half a point.
I am surprised that the differences are not larger and more consistent than they are; I would have guessed that 80% of players would have hit better outside than in, and I would have thought that a good many players would have lost 20 points or more. Of the 169 players, 23 are Hall of Famers. Among the Hall of Famers, 11 hit for a better average outside the desert than in, 3 (including Cepeda) hit for the same average, and 9 hit for a better average in than out. The other two Hall of Famers who hit for the same average in and out are Bill Mazeroski (.260) and Frank Robinson (.294).
As a generalization, players who were born in the years 1934 to 1939, maybe 1940, hit for higher averages in the desert than out, while those who were born before 1934 or after 1940 generally hit for better averages outside than in. Of course, this does not mean that the players born 1934-1940 were not affected by the tough hitting conditions, or effected, whichever one it is supposed to be; it just means that the losses are offset by the fact that the players were in their prime in those years, and were better hitters then than they were before then or after then.
Among Hall of Famers, those who hit better inside than out were, and I am going to give you their birth years from memory because I don’t want to look all of these up. . .those who hit better inside than out are led by Ron Santo (1940), who hit .292 in the years 1963-1968, but only .265 in the rest of his career. Others include Carl Yastrzemki (1939, .304 and .278), Roberto Clemente (1934, .326 and .312), Brooks Robinson (1937, .276 and .263), Harmon Killebrew (1936, .264 and .252), Willie McCovey (1938, .276 and .266), Billy Williams (1938, .292 and .288), and Hank Aaron (1934, .306 and .305). Al Kaline, also born 1934, hit only two points better outside than in (.298 to .296). Joe Morgan, born 1942 or 1943, is the only Hall of Famer born outside those years who hit better in the desert than outside of it (.273 to .271), but of course Morgan’s best seasons were outside the desert.
Hall of Famers born away from that period lost much more because, of course, they were not in the prime years anyway. Rod Carew (born 1945, I think) hit 50 points higher after the desert than in it (.333 to .283). The four superstars born in 1931 all had significant losses during the desert—40 points for Mickey Mantle (.309 and .269), 35 for Eddie Mathews (.282 and .247), 22 points for Ernie Banks (.282 and .260) and 9 points for Willie Mays (.304 and .296, rounding discrepancy.) Mantle, as you will remember if you are my age, lost a .300 career batting average by playing through the hitting desert, and regretted that. His career average dropped from .316 through 1957 down to .298, and Mantle said that he always thought of himself as a .300 hitter, and regretted that he had not retired before the .300 average got away from him.
Speaking of Mantle, here’s an interesting thing that popped up. You remember Floyd Robinson, anybody? Chicago White Sox outfielder, hit .300 in ’61 and had a big season in 1962. Mickey Mantle and Floyd Robinson have almost identical hits and at bats in the desert. Mantle had 594 hits in 2,206 at bats in the desert; Robinson had 595 hits in 2,206 at bats—one more hit, in the exact same number of at bats. Robinson hit .270 in the desert, Mantle .269.
But here’s the thing. Robinson also out-hit Mantle by one point OUTSIDE the desert, .310 to .309. That means that Floyd Robinson out-hit Mickey Mantle (for average) both INSIDE the desert (.270 to .269) and OUTSIDE the desert (.310 to .309)—but Mantle outhit Robinson by 15 points overall (.298 to .283). If you’re a high school math teacher who uses baseball as a teaching tool, remember that one.
The ten players who lost the most points during the desert were Rod Carew (50 points), Lee Thomas (48 points, .288 to .240), Wes Parker (.289-.245), Paul Schaal (.262 and .218), Art Shamsky (.273 and .231), Reggie Smith (.294 and .253), Tito Francona (.286 and .246), Mickey Mantle (.309 and .269), Floyd Robinson (.310 and .270) and Norm Siebern (.287 and .248).
Norm Siebern and Jose (Who the Hell) Azcue were teammates in 1962; Siebern hit .308, and Azcue hit .229. The hitting desert began the next year, and Azcue out-hit Siebern, .281 to .272. During the hitting desert as a whole, Siebern’s average went down 39 points, and Azcue’s went up 39 points. Siebern is 10th on the list of those who lost the most during the desert; Azcue is first on the list of those who gained the most. That list is Azcue, 39 points (.226 and .265), Don Wert (.213 and .250), Dalton Jones (.213 and .248), Dal Maxvill (.204 and .234), Gene Alley (.237 and .266), Ron Santo (.265 and .292), Roger Repoz (.208 and .235), Carl Yastrzemski (.278 and .304), Curt Flood (.278 and .303), and Paul Casanova (.214 and .238). 36 players gained 20 or more points during the desert; 16 players lost 20 or more points.
If there are any players who lost a Hall of Fame career due to the hitting desert, the two best candidates are two players who came up about the same time with the Dodgers—Willie Davis (.290 and .262) and Frank Howard (.279 and .267). Other players who had long, distinguished careers and 20-point losses during the desert include Reggie Smith (41 points, but it was only two seasons for him), Jose Cardenal (.283 and .255, 28 points), Roy White (.276 and .250, 26 points), Ken Boyer (.297 and .272, 25 points; Boyer is part of the 1931 group), and George C. Scott (.273 and .249, 24 points.)
On average, the 169 players lost just five points during the desert (.264 to .259). I expected the loss to be larger, and I assume that it would be larger if measured by some other method.
Thanks for reading.