Monday, September 15, 2003
A Bondsian Season
A few weeks back we were looking at Barry Bonds' season in a historical perspective - how good a season is this for a guy who could finish #2 in the MVP balloting?
Well, the stat that sticks out like a sore thumb is his OBP. He won't catch last season's .582, which blew away the old record. But where will he finish on the charts? Assume 14 more games with 4PA per game to get 56 more chances. What would his OBP have to be in the remaining season to hit certain benchmarks?
2. Williams '41 .553 .732 3. Ruth '23 .545 .643 4. Ruth '20 .532 .518 5. Williams '57 .526 .446 6. Ruth '26 .516 .357 7. Bonds '01 .515 .357 8. Ruth '24 .513 .321 9. Ruth '21 .512 .321 10. Mantle '57 .512 .321 .500 .196
So he'll most likely finish with the #4 OBP season of all time, although he has an outside shot at #3. Mantle will drop off the charts, leaving the top ten to Bonds, Ruth and Williams.
Note that the old record was held by a second place MVP season:
1941
Ted Williams - 406/553/735
Joe DiMaggio - 357/440/643
2003
Barry Bonds - 341/533/746
Albert Pujols - 365/441/683
Williams had similar but larger gaps in both OBP and Slugging. Of course, Ted watched Joe D's team go to the playoffs; Barry's going to play in October, while the jury is still out on the Cards.
posted by David 4:45 PM
