Sunday, April 15, 2012

42

Today is Jackie Robinson day, and for me that just means another reason to admire one of my favorite slash lines of all time, Jackie's 1952 season.

.308/ .440 /.465

Now, I've played around with esthetically-pleasing slash-stats before, especially those of the high OBP, low-SLG brand. But this time I'm using Robinson's exquisite 1952 as the benchmark.

Here are all seasons in the live ball era, where a batter has posted an OBP above .440 yet without slugging over .465 in at least 400 PA.

1952 JACKIE ROBINSON SEASON COMPS
First Last Year Team Age PA wOBA BA OBP SLG OPS OPSp SB BB% K% wRAA
Tony Phillips 1993 DET 34 707 0.386 0.313 0.443 0.398 0.841 129 16 18.67 14.43 33.7
Richie Ashburn 1958 PHI 31 725 0.399 0.350 0.440 0.441 0.881 136 30 13.38 6.62 44.9
Richie Ashburn 1955 PHI 28 644 0.407 0.338 0.449 0.448 0.897 141 12 16.3 5.59 40.7
Ferris Fain 1955 DET 34 716 0.383 0.260 0.455 0.326 0.781 115 10 26.26 6.98 31.4
Richie Ashburn 1954 PHI 27 703 0.389 0.313 0.441 0.376 0.817 117 11 17.78 6.54 30.7
Jackie Robinson 1952 BRO 33 636 0.430 0.308 0.440 0.465 0.905 152 24 16.67 6.29 49
Eddie Stanky 1950 NY1 33 691 0.420 0.300 0.460 0.412 0.872 132 9 20.84 7.24 42.1
Eddie Yost 1950 WS1 23 731 0.401 0.295 0.440 0.405 0.845 118 6 19.29 8.62 33.2
Augie Galan 1947 CIN 35 491 0.413 0.314 0.449 0.416 0.865 130 0 19.14 3.87 29.5
Roy Cullenbine 1941 SLA 27 629 0.430 0.317 0.452 0.465 0.917 144 6 19.24 6.84 46.4
Buddy Myer 1938 WS1 34 534 0.428 0.336 0.454 0.465 0.919 131 9 17.42 5.99 37.1
Mickey Cochrane 1935 DET 32 522 0.420 0.319 0.452 0.450 0.902 135 5 18.39 2.87 33.7
Max Bishop 1933 PHA 33 505 0.401 0.294 0.446 0.399 0.845 126 1 20.99 9.11 27.6
Max Bishop 1927 PHA 27 489 0.381 0.277 0.442 0.323 0.765 102 8 21.47 5.73 14.6
Eddie Collins 1926 CHA 39 455 0.420 0.344 0.441 0.459 0.900 135 13 13.63 1.76 27.5
Eddie Collins 1925 CHA 38 533 0.434 0.346 0.461 0.442 0.903 130 19 16.32 1.5 35.6
Johnny Bassler 1924 DET 29 456 0.415 0.346 0.441 0.422 0.863 124 2 13.6 2.41 24.2
Eddie Collins 1924 CHA 37 676 0.428 0.349 0.441 0.455 0.896 132 42 13.17 2.37 42.7
Eddie Collins 1923 CHA 36 632 0.428 0.360 0.455 0.453 0.908 140 48 13.29 1.27 40.3

There have been 18 similar seasons, but Robinson's ranks the best insofar as OPS+ and wRAA. Tony Phillips produced the last season of this kind in 1993, and before that it hadn't been seen since 1958. Phillips never before and never again posted a .300 average other than in 1993, and thus never came close to that sort of on-base performance. Although, always one to post a high walk rate, his .369 BAbip in '93 was unprecedented.

Richie Ashburn, who met the requirements in 3 separate seasons, was another fascinating player. He had 6 seasons where he managed a 6.0 WAR or better, and berry nearly missed out on a seventh (5.8) without ever hitting more than 4 HR in a single season, until his final year when he only hit 7. The highest he ever slugged was .448 in 1955.

If we expand the query to include player-seasons with SLG percentages over Robinson's .465 but similarly remained within 25 points of their OBP, we then get a few more comps:


First Last Year Team Age PA wOBA BA OBP SLG OPS+ SB BB% K% wRAA
Wade Boggs 1988 BOS 30 719 0.425 0.366 0.476 0.490 173 2 17.39 4.73 60.3
Joe Cunningham 1959 SLN 27 556 0.410 0.345 0.453 0.478 150 2 15.83 8.45 39.6
Jackie Robinson 1952 BRO 33 636 0.430 0.308 0.440 0.465 152 24 16.67 6.29 49
Ferris Fain 1951 PHA 30 511 0.426 0.344 0.451 0.471 151 0 15.66 3.91 36.3
Roy Cullenbine 1941 SLA 27 629 0.430 0.317 0.452 0.465 144 6 19.24 6.84 46.4
Buddy Myer 1938 WS1 34 534 0.428 0.336 0.454 0.465 131 9 17.42 5.99 37.1
Arky Vaughan 1936 PIT 24 701 0.434 0.335 0.453 0.474 150 6 16.83 3 50.1
Joe Sewell 1923 CLE 24 682 0.441 0.353 0.456 0.479 146 9 14.37 1.76 50.6

Wade Boggs' 1988 then enters the ring as the only similar season to post far-and-away a better wRAA and OPS+. Robinson still manages a better wOBA, however, due to his stolen bases. Joe Cunningham and Ferris Fain put up equally impressive seasons in '59 and '51, but both those seasons can be attributed to career-high BAbip rates. Robinson on the other hand, was a bit below his career BAbip rate in 1952, demonstrating that this season was more in-tune with his natural skill-set. Jackie's 1952 is also the only season of the group in which the player reached double-digits in steals.

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