August 18, 200719 yr My post in the Marlins All-Time team thread piqued my interest in what were the individually best seasons by position in the history of the game looking primarily at adjusted OPS and ERA (OPS+/ERA+) factoring no defense or line-up construction. If two seasons were close, other factors (SLG, OBP, etc.) were considered. No duplicate players and only players from after the dead ball era (1920-Present), omitting the current season. C - Mike Piazza, Los Angeles (NL), '97 (40 HR, .431 OBP, .638 SLG | 186 OPS+) 1B - Lou Gehrig, New York (AL), '27 (47 HR, .474 OBP, .765 SLG | 221 OPS+) | MVP 2B - Roger Hornsby, St. Louis, '24 (25 HR, .507 OBP, .696 SLG | 222 OPS+) SS - Arky Vaughan, Pittsburgh, '35 (19 HR, .491 OBP, .607 SLG | 190 OPS+) 3B - George Brett, Kansas City, '80 (24 HR, .454 OBP, .664 SLG | 202 OPS+) | MVP OF - Barry Bonds, San Francisco, '02 (46 HR, .582 OBP, .799 SLG | 275 OPS+) | MVP OF - Mickey Mantle, New York (AL), '57 (34 HR, .512 OBP, .665 SLG) | 223 OPS+) | MVP OF - Babe Ruth, New York (AL), '20 (54 HR, .553 OBP, .873 SLG | 256 OPS+) P - Pedro Martinez, Boston, '00 (1.74 ERA, 284 SO, 0.73 WHIP | 285 ERA+) | Cy Young P - Greg Maddux, Atlanta, '94 (1.56 ERA, 156 SO, 0.89 WHIP | 273 ERA+) | Cy Young P - Bob Gibson, St. Louis, '68 (1.12 ERA, 268 SO, 0.85 WHIP | 258 ERA+) | MVP & Cy Young P - Dwight Gooden, New York (NL), '85 (1.65 ERA, 268 SO, 0.96 WHIP | 226 ERA+) | Cy Young P - Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles (NL), '66 (1.73 ERA, 317 SO, 0.98 WHIP | 190 ERA+) | Cy Young RP - Dennis Eckersley, Oakland, '90 (0.60 ERA, 73 SO, 0.614 WHIP | 606 ERA+) Feel free to critique, challenge, discuss, etc. Hopefully this will generate some good talk.
August 19, 200719 yr My post in the Marlins All-Time team thread piqued my interest in what were the individually best seasons by position in the history of the game looking primarily at adjusted OPS and ERA (OPS+/ERA+) factoring no defense or line-up construction. If two seasons were close, other factors (SLG, OBP, etc.) were considered. No duplicate players and only players from after the dead ball era (1920-Present), omitting the current season. C - Mike Piazza, Los Angeles (NL), '97 (40 HR, .431 OBP, .638 SLG | 186 OPS+) 1B - Lou Gehrig, New York (AL), '27 (47 HR, .474 OBP, .765 SLG | 221 OPS+) | MVP 2B - Roger Hornsby, St. Louis, '24 (25 HR, .507 OBP, .696 SLG | 222 OPS+) SS - Arky Vaughan, Pittsburgh, '35 (19 HR, .491 OBP, .607 SLG | 190 OPS+) 3B - George Brett, Kansas City, '80 (24 HR, .454 OBP, .664 SLG | 202 OPS+) | MVP OF - Barry Bonds, San Francisco, '02 (46 HR, .582 OBP, .799 SLG | 275 OPS+) | MVP OF - Mickey Mantle, New York (AL), '57 (34 HR, .512 OBP, .665 SLG) | 223 OPS+) | MVP OF - Babe Ruth, New York (AL), '20 (54 HR, .553 OBP, .873 SLG | 256 OPS+) P - Pedro Martinez, Boston, '00 (1.74 ERA, 284 SO, 0.73 WHIP | 285 ERA+) | Cy Young P - Greg Maddux, Atlanta, '94 (1.56 ERA, 156 SO, 0.89 WHIP | 273 ERA+) | Cy Young P - Bob Gibson, St. Louis, '68 (1.12 ERA, 268 SO, 0.85 WHIP | 258 ERA+) | MVP & Cy Young P - Dwight Gooden, New York (NL), '85 (1.65 ERA, 268 SO, 0.96 WHIP | 226 ERA+) | Cy Young P - Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles (NL), '66 (1.73 ERA, 317 SO, 0.98 WHIP | 190 ERA+) | Cy Young RP - Dennis Eckersley, Oakland, '90 (0.60 ERA, 73 SO, 0.614 WHIP | 606 ERA+) Feel free to critique, challenge, discuss, etc. Hopefully this will generate some good talk. Hard to argue with most of your choices, but if any Bonds season deserves to go, it's either 96 (40-40, gold glove) or 04 (.609 OBP, .812 SLG)...I'd also put Ted Williams' 41 season over Mantle's 57 season And you gotta find a way to squeeze Denny McClain's 68 campaign in there...i know wins are an overrated stat, but winning 31 games in one season during the post war era is too much to overlook Other than that, I pretty much agree with everything
August 19, 200719 yr Pujols 2003 No offense to Pujols, who had an amazing year in 2003, but how can you argue against Gehrig. In 1927, Gehrig posted a higher OBP, higher SLG, and hit more home runs than Pujols. Not to mention, he did this in an era where it was harder to hit home runs. When adjusted for park factors and era, Gehrig's home run total goes up alot. On the other hand, Pujols' totals probably diminish. Pujols is great, but Gehrig's 1927 season is the clear choice.
August 19, 200719 yr Deadball Era Team (AL: 1903-1919, NL: 1901-1919) Line-up C - Roger Bresnahan, New York NL, 1903 (.350 AVG, .443 OBP, .493 SLG | 162 OPS+) 1B - Frank Chance, Chicago NL, 1905 (.316 AVG, .450 OBP, .434 SLG | 159 OPS+) 2B - Nap Lajoie, Cleveland, 1904 (.376 AVG, .413 OBP, .552 SLG | 205 OPS+) 3B - Home Run Baker, Philadelphia AL, 1912 (.347 AVG, .404 OBP, .541 SLG | 174 OPS+, 40 SB) SS - Honus Wagner, Pittsburgh, 1908 (.354 AVG, .415 OBP, .542 SLG | 205 OPS+, 53 SB) LF - Joe Jackson, Chicago AL, 1911 (.408 AVG, .468 OBP, .590 SLG | 193 OPS+, 41 SB) CF - Ty Cobb, Detroit, 1911 (.420 AVG, .467 OBP, .621 SLG | 196 OPS+, 83 SB) RF - Sam Crawford, Detroit, 1911 (.378 AVG, .438 OBP .526 SLG | 163 OPS+) Rotation P - Dutch Leonard, Boston AL, 1914 (19-5, .96 ERA, .886 WHIP | 279 ERA+) P - Walter Johnson, Washington AL, 1913 (36-7, 48 G, 1.14 ERA .78 WHIP | 259 ERA+) P - Mordecai Brown, Chicago NL, 1906 (26-6, 1.04 ERA, .934 WHIP | 253 ERA+) P - Christy Mathewson, New York NL, 1905 (31-9, 1.28 ERA, .933 WHIP | 230 ERA+) P - Grover Cleveland Alexander, Philadelphia NL, 1915 (31-10, 1.22 ERA, .842 WHIP | 225 ERA+)
August 20, 200719 yr Ty Cobb's 1911 season has gotta be my favorite all time I find him so intriguing, as a person and as a player. I think he might be the greatest ever, definitely the greatest non-power hitter imo.
August 20, 200719 yr Just a dumb observation, but aren't Barry Bonds' '01 and '02 seasons regarded as basically two of the top 4 greatest offensive seasons ever?
August 20, 200719 yr Author Just a dumb observation, but aren't Barry Bonds' '01 and '02 seasons regarded as basically two of the top 4 greatest offensive seasons ever? What does that have to do with this?
August 21, 200719 yr Just a dumb observation, but aren't Barry Bonds' '01 and '02 seasons regarded as basically two of the top 4 greatest offensive seasons ever? What does that have to do with this? I misread, I thought '02 was '03 and he was a glaring omission. Sue me.
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