Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

I am presently in a league where Joe Mauer has a .376 average, with 25 RBI ,and zero HRs in 39 games. So he is on pace for ZERO HRs and 100 RBI. I wonder what the MLB record is for lowest HR total with at least 100 RBI, and what the TSN SOM record is for lowest HR total with at least 100 RBI. I think in a 1980 Royals' replay I did; Willie Wilson had 100 RBI with 3 HRs, but I don't remember the exact total. I could probably find it. Have any of you guys had players with a ton of RBI, and very few HRs?


By the way; how about Joe Mauer's card next year? WOW! How much will that card be? And will it be the greatest card EVER for a catcher? I sure wish I had Mauer in a keeper league.

1902 Lave Cross. 108 RBI and zero HRs!

That would be Lafayette Napoleon Cross!

I've seen Martin Prado in two different 2008 leagues, he had 3 HR with 97 RBI in one of them. Similar numbers in the other, but he was platooning so he didn't quite reach that level.

Here is a 2007 team where Polanco only had 11 HR and 115 RBI while Ichiro popped out 10 HR and drove in 105.
[url]http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/stratomatic/team/team_other.html?user_id=163641[/url]

I found this article on the internet. Not sure how old it is, but it has a nice history of the subject matter. I always recall Tommy Herr's well known 1985 season:
159 696 596 97 180 38 3 8 110 31 3 80 55 .302 .379 .416 .795

By James D. Smith III-SABR
After 1920 it became rather exceptional to see batters like Larry Gardner, Joe Sewell and Pie Traynor knock in 100 runs with only 2-3 home runs. Sewell almost made the list in 1925 when he hit only one homer and knocked in 98 runs. In most cases the clubs these run producers played for had healthy team averages around .300, there were no full-blown home run hitters in the lineup, and the individual hit for a good average himself.
There were a few exceptions. In 1931, for example, Pie Traynor of the Pirates knocked in 103 runs while hitting only two round-trippers and batting only .298. The club was sixth in batting (.266) and fifth in scoring runs. Six other Pirates hit more home runs than Traynor, but no one else knocked in more than 70 runs, which was Paul Waner's figure. There is no doubt that Traynor came through with men on base.
In 1934 Bill Rogell batted only .296 for the Tigers, and his 3 home runs could not compare with Hank Greenberg's 26, but he still batted in 100 runs. However, the Tigers batted .300 that season and scored a very high number of runs - 958 to 842 for the runner-up Yankees. Rogell batted sixth behind Gehringer (third), Greenberg (fourth) and Goslin, all of whom knocked in 100 or more runs.
In 1943, Billy Herman hit two homers and knocked in 100 runs for the Dodgers. However, he batted a solid .330 and the Bums, in spite of little help from their fading home run hitter, Dolf Camilli, led the league in runs.
Gradually it became more and more difficult to collect 100 RBIs with fewer than 10 homers. Pinky Higgins and Frank McCormick both finished with 5/106 in 1938; and Cecil Travis and Bob Elliott were both 7/101 in 1941 and 1943 respectively. Herman's exceptional record in 1943 stood out in comparison.
In 1950, Detroit third baseman George Kell (8/101) became the last player to post an RBI total in three figures with a single figure HR mark. The shift was already in motion. When Kell played his last season in 1957 Duke Snider became a "first" in the other direction with 40 homers and 92 RBI. In 1983 it looked like Ted Simmons might be a throw-back to earlier decades when he was knocking in runs without the long ball. However, by the end of the season his roundtrippers had gone up to 13 and his RBIs stood at 108.
[b:fd2bcfdf97]100 RBI lowest HR since 1920:[/b:fd2bcfdf97]
1931
Pie Traynor, Pirates
2
103
1943
Billy Herman, Dodgers
2
100
1928
Pie Traynor, Pirates
3
124
1920
Larry Gardner, Indians
3
118
1921
Larry Gardner, Indians
3
115
1923
Joe Sewell, Indians
3
109
1924
Earl Sheely, White Sox
3
103
1921
Ross Youngs, Giants
3
102
1934
Bill Rogell, Tigers
3
100

That is very interesting. I think I had P.T., Pat Tabler hit 6 HRs and have 100 RBI in a 1986 league, although I am not positive(I have to check on that one).

That is very interesting about Duke Snider's 40 and 92 season.

And I guess I had forgotten about Tom Herr's career year, although I always liked him as a player.

The article appears to have been written in the early 1980's:
In the past 25 years, however, something entirely new has come upon the major league scene: the player who hits 40 home runs while batting in fewer than 100 runs. Duke Snider (40/92) was the first to do so, in 1957. The following season, Mickey Mantle (42/97) followed suit, repeating in 1960 (40/94). Rico Petrocelli (40/97) became the only shortstop to do it, in 1969. That same season, Hank Aaron (44/97) turned the trick, and in 1973 (40/96) joined his second base teammate Dave Johnson (43/99) on the list. Harmon Killebrew's 1963 season (45/96) deserves special mention, with the Twins' outfielder blasting the most home runs while falling short of the 100 RBI mark.
This phenomenon, however, represents only part of a larger trend. With the advent of the "lively ball," in 1922 both Babe Ruth (35/99) and Tilly Walker of the A's (37/99) hit at least 35 home runs without driving home 100 runs. A quarter-century passed before another major leaguer matched this "shortfall" performance, as Hank Sauer compiled 35/97 marks in 1948. Since that time, however, this feat has been accomplished a total of 34 times, the last being by Dave Kingman (37/99) and Mike Schmidt (35/87) in 1982. Fourteen times a player with 35 home runs has failed to drive in 90 runs, with Wally Post and the rookie Frank Robinson batting in but 83 in 1956.

[b:2288628bbc]40 mHR less than 100 RBI:[/b:2288628bbc]
1963
Harmon Killebrew, Twins
45
96
1969
Henry Aaron, Braves
44
97
1973
Dave Johnson, Braves
43
99
1958
Mickey Mantle, Yankees
42
97
1957
Duke Snider, Dodgers
40
92
1960
Mickey Mantle, Yankees
40
94
1969
Rico Petrocelli, Red Sox
40
97
1973
Henry Aaron, Braves
40
96

DJ,
That is very interesting stuff! I remember one of my friends absolutely hated former Cleveland Indian Brook Jacoby who once hit 30 HRs while only driving in 69 RBI. My friend claimed that almost everyone of Jacoby's HRs were solo shots in 9 to 2 ball games (or very similar scores).


Does anyone care to guess how much Joe Mauer's card will be next year?

And will it be the best catcher's card ever?


Also, are there any extraordinarily good or bad RBI totals from HR hitters in TSN Strat leagues? Or have you had any players who drove in a ton of runs without hitting many HRs?

DurantJerry said:[quote:904aee48cd]Here is a 2007 team where Polanco only had 11 HR and 115 RBI while Ichiro popped out 10 HR and drove in 105. [/quote:904aee48cd]


That was a very good team you had there. Do you remember what your lineup looked like? Did Ichiro drive in 100 RBI batting leadoff?

I noticed Pujols had a slugging percentage of less than .500, very un- Pujols like, yet your team was still very successful.

I remember being amazed during the season Ichiro was getting so many RBI. Still not sure how he managed 105, but I guess **** happens when you get 252 hits.
Figgins
Ichiro
Polanco
Utley
Pujols
VMart
Crawford
Guzman(1/3) dropped for Furcal(2/3)
Franceur
I switched out Utley & Pujols vs LH SP's.