Embracing RBI

[DOUGHBOYS]

Sabrs want to diminish RBI. Even eliminate them as an 'important' statistic.
Screw them.
Let's have some fun with RBI. Especially, 100-RBI guys.
There will be more than enough trivia in here to baffle your friends....

Who was the last 100 RBI guy for the Angels?
No, it wasn't HIM.
It was Albert Pujols in '17.
Trout has not had 100 RBI seasons the last two years.

One team in the National League and one team in the American League have not had a 100 RBI guy since 2010.
The beginning of the decade.
While you're thinking about that.....
The American League team has only had five in their HISTORY.
Only five.
Needless to say, they have never been known as a slugging franchise.
More so, a franchise that breeds pitchers.
The National League team has signed a lot of would-be 100 RBI guys.
None of them have panned out.
Ready?
It is the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Mets.

The San Francisco Giants have had 10 100-RBI guys in the last 50 years!
Just 10. One player every five years on average.
Some of those sluggers did it multiple times and had big names like Bonds, Kent, Clark, and even going back to MCovey and the Father of Barry, Bobby Bonds.

The last 10 100-RBI guys for the Yankees did it over the last 13 years.
They include a 'Who's Who' of sluggers...
Stanton
Judge
Cano
Granderson
Teixeira
Rodriguez
Abreu(Yes, he did)
Matsui
Giambi
Sheffield

Khris Davis had 100 RBI for the A's last year.
This one will stump even the most astute of your trivia playing friends...
The last time an Oakland Athletic had 100 RBI was 2006
And the player who did it?
The Answer is at the bottom of this post....

If there is a list of 100-RBI guys that are the opposite of the Yankees, it is the Minnesota Twins.
Here are the Twins who have had 100 RBI since the turn of the century...

Corey Koskie
Michael Cuddyer
Tori Hunter
Justin Morneau
Jason Kubel
Delmon Young
Josh Willingham

That's right, the Twins do not have an active player who has had 100 RBI for them
Also, conspicuously missing is Joe Mauer, mostly because Mauer NEVER had a 100 RBI season

One current player is the last player to have 100 RBI seasons for two different teams.
It was the Indians and Blue Jays.
Edwin Encarnacion.

The Pirates have been lacking power for years.
Do you know who their last 40-home run hitter was?
Besides the Royals who have never had a 40=homer hitter, the Pirates have the longest drought.
It was Willie Stargell like 40 years ago!
Think about the 1B they've had.
If none come to mind, it is because since Stargell, it's been a cluster carousel of inadequacy.
Anyway, the Pirates have only had one 100 RBI guy in over 10 years.
That would be Pedro Alvarez.
P-U !

Ok, who was the last Oakland A's hitter to have 100 RBI before Khris Davis this past year?

Frank Thomas

[rockitsauce]

Great stuff Dan....got me thinking of one of my fav former Phils _ Bobby Abreu.


Poor Bobby. Never should've left Philly. We had Chase, JRoll, Howard & Hamels, things were moving up. If he had stayed he's on the 2008 world champions and a good bet that he'd have helped us repeat in '09 (he was better than Ibanez, especially in the clutch). Trading him to the Yanks for diddly shit wasn't as bad as Sandberg to the Cubs for DeJesus but it still ranks in Philly lore as one of the worst deals in franchise history.

https://www.thegoodphight.com/2015/1/26 ... breu-trade


I think Bobby has a strong HOF case if he had stayed and is at least a 1X world champion. Maybe not, but with Baines's induction everything is changed. Before Baines, Abreu is probably not a HOF'er, after Baines, I don't see how he isn't. And there are MANY who played at same time as Harold (1980-2000) who are at least as deserving as he is.

Another such guy, on the topic of RBI, hit 100 3 times in his career (same as Baines) and this player was a catcher ! Ted Simmons...a LOCK for HOF if you're pushing Baines through. I wonder how many catchers have hit that 100 RBI mark ? Piazza of course, but after that I'm just guessing without help from google or Dan I'd guess Johnny Bench must've done it a bunch and probably Pudge, I'm sure I'm forgetting someone obvious but Ted was still underrated.

We could probably make a case for another 100 former players so better just stop there I guess.

[DOUGHBOYS]

First...GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!

QUIT BEING SUCH A STRANGER!

You bring up many great points.
First, I agree about Abreu completely. I've written about him in the past.
Hell, I think there should be a special wing to the Hall of Fame for greatest FANTASY baseball players.
Sure, the other Hall of Famers would be a part of this wing also, but there would be a place for guys like Bobby Abreu, Alfonso Soriano, Bernie Williams, Reggie Sanders, and maybe the first inductee could be Bobby Bonds who would have been a fantasy God had there been fantasy baseball then.

Ball players are measured by however we look at them. No matter the numbers, we have personal views of each player.
Harold Baines, besides not having the numbers to make the Hall of Fame was....BORING.
Baines couldn't run, throw, or field.
He could hit, but even his hitting was boring.
He didn't hit long home runs. He didn't dazzle anybody (except Tony LaRussa) with any facet of his game.
If I could compare him to a player of today, think of Nicholas Castellanos after taking No-Doze.

So yeah, hundreds of players can now go in the Hall of Fame.
It's worse than Rabbit Maranville( close though) and even more worse than Bill Mazeroski, who at least was a great fielder for a long time, but only made the Hall because of his World Series ending 1960 home run over the Yankees.
The bar is lowered.
Will writers take the bait and lower the bar or treat Baines induction as a 'mistake'?
It's a question only the future will answer.

Here's some Catcher Stuff I left out...

Joe Torre had three 100-RBI as a Catcher. Then switched to third base and had another.

The first 100-RBI Catcher was Gabby Hartnett in 1930.
The last, Buster Posey.
And get this, Posey is the only active Catcher to have 100 RBI in a season.

Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, and Jorge Posada were all New York Yankee Catchers who had 100 RBI
Catcher Rudy York had two 100-RBI seasons.

I've advocated Simmons going into the Hall of Fame before.
I've come to grips that the Hall is not 'The Hall' any longer.
They're Knuckleheads.
Nothing can be done to include players that should be in the Hall of Fame.
Instead, we get Baines.
Oh Brother!

[rockitsauce]

Thanks Dan. I periodically check in and always read your STUFF. I missed it at the time but see that Gekko is now a HOF'er....what's the world coming to Congrats Mark, well deserved....one of the highlights of my NFBC career was beating him, the 2 Chippendales (Zola & Massotto) and the King of the Slow Draft, Mr SmashBoomBash himself.....Marcel..there was some other fellas we all knew in there but I can't recall now.

Of course we know who won that league...a man who will also enter the NFBC HOF sooner than later

Good luck this year my friend.

[DOUGHBOYS]

You got my vote!
Unfortunately, that means as much as one writer voting for Abreu to get in the Hall.

By the way, speaking of a fantasy wing of the Hall of Fame...

Two players have had 10 20-20 seasons and one player has had eight 20-20 seasons.
None of them are in the Hall of Fame.
Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonds had 10 20-20 years.
Bobby Abreu, eight.

The greatness of Bobby Bonds has always been underscored.
He had FOUR 30-40 seasons including a 39-43 season in 1973.

Abreu had seven consecutive 20-20 seasons.
He also would steal 21 bases as a 37-year old.
Abreu, despite playing four less years than Baines, would beat Baines in three of five roto categories.
Here are Baines and Abreu's yearly average roto lines...
Baines.. .289/74/22/93/2
Abreu... .291/97/19/91/27
Life...and the Hall are unfair.

[rockitsauce]

Dan, I guess you're just like our good pal Gek...you must win so much you can't even keep track

YOU won that league mi amigo, the inaugural Marcel Classic and YOU are next in line to wear that green jacket !

You're no Baines buddy