New Baseball Stats: All-Time Offensive Leaders

 

Photo credit: Tage Olsin

The extraordinary seasons of Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, and Pete Rose's recent passing, prompted me to finally do something I have wanted to do for a long time: create the statistics I want to see. 

These are not "advanced stats" for the analytic nerds ("that guy actually sucked considering the home field he played in," etc.).  The stats I had in mind are quite simple. They may exist elsewhere because others could have easily thought of them. But instead of spending more time trying to find them, I decided to subscribe to Stathead to get the data I sought. I then set up the computations I wanted on a spreadsheet.

The statistics are Bases Gained and Scoring.

The idea comes from football. I value total yards from scrimmage more than career rushing yards or receiving yards, and total touchdowns more than how the touchdowns were scored. Yes, Jerry Rice tops both lists, and almost all of the yards and touchdowns came from receiving, but not all. In addition, it's not obvious to me that among running backs, the all-time rushing leader would also lead all running backs in total yards, because some running backs were more significant pass-catchers than others. (Yes, Emmitt Smith does lead all RBs in rushing yards and yards from scrimmage, but I thought the scrimmage leader could be Walter Payton.) 

I was thus curious about baseball's offensive statistics, where bases are like yards and runs are like touchdowns. 

Bases Gained is Total Bases* plus Bases on Balls (walks) plus Stolen Bases. It measures a player's productivity on offense independent of the batting production of teammates; it's what he does by himself with his bat and his feet.

Scoring is Runs plus Runs Batted In (RBI) minus Home Runs. (The number of home runs has to be deducted because it's already included in both Runs and RBI totals; subtracting the number avoids double-counting.) Like hockey's scoring total that adds Goals and Assists, this baseball scoring list combines the runs scored by a player and the runs he drove in. 

Part of the reason I wanted these statistics was to see how productive a player like Pete Rose was. I know he had 4,256 hits, so at least 4,256 bases gained. But what more did he do, and how does this compare to the bases gained by the home run kings?

I will apply these statistical categories to the 2024 MVP before the season's over, but for now, I'll provide the top 20 all-time in Bases Gained followed by Scoring.

All-Time Bases Gained

All-Time Scoring

When he retired, Pete Rose was 7th all-time in bases gained and 8th all-time in scoring. With a few exceptions, the bases list is dominated by power hitters. What struck me about the scoring list is that all 14 decades from the 1870s to the 2000s have at least one Top 20 scorer's rookie year. The top two scorers hit fewer home runs than Rose. A lot of things have changed in the last 110, 140 years.

Rose has a close contemporary on both lists. Carl Yastrzemski started two years earlier and retired three years before Rose. It could be pointed out that, per game, Rose was the least efficient player on both lists. Yastrzemski was second-least efficient in scoring and third-least efficient in bases gained per game. Both men, however, played their entire careers in a pitcher-dominated era, and Rose also played 70% of his games as a leadoff hitter, diminishing his chances of batting in runs. In any case, they are both far ahead of their near-age contemporaries and could be considered the greatest hitters of their generation.

I will re-visit the concepts of Bases Gained and Scoring in future posts.

* Total Bases,  from MLB.com: "Total bases refer to the number of bases gained by a batter through his hits. A batter records one total base for a single, two total bases for a double, three total bases for a triple and four total bases for a home run." 

James Leroy Wilson writes The MVP Chase (subscribe). Thank you for your subscriptions and support! You may contact James for writing, editing, research, and other work: jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com.

NFL MVP CHASE AND FBS PLAYOFF CHASE Oct 8 2024

 

Photo credit: Torsten Bolten

In this Issue:

NFL MVP Chase
FBS Playoff Chase

NFL MVP CHASE

It was a strange week in the MVP Chase (what is it?). Lots of new people entered the overall list which now has over 100 names. There were no new entries, in the top ten, however, and no change at the top. The much-talked-about rookie Commanders QB Jayden Daniels had a pedestrian 85.1 rating in their victory, keeping him from moving up the list. 

Leader Sam Darnold's team won despite his poor performance. No one was able to pass him, although everyone else in the Top Ten can overtake him this week if he again fails to add to his MVP Points. 

1. Sam Darnold, QB, Vikings (5-0) 4.649 MVP Points
2. Derrick Henry, RB, Ravens (3-2) 4.266
3. Justin Jefferson, WR, Vikings (5-0) 4.210
4. Nico Collins, WR, Texans (4-1) 4.203
5. C.J. Stroud, QB, Texans (4-1) 4.191
6. Aaron Jones, RB, Vikings (5-0) 4.060
7. Jayden Daniels, QB, Commanders (4-1) 3.471
8. James Cook, RB, Bills (3-2) 3.350
9. David Montgomery, RB, Lions (3-1) 3.250
10. (Tied) Saquon Barkley, RB, Eagles (2-2) 3.166; Jordan Mason, RB, 49ers (2-3) 3.166

FBS PLAYOFF CHASE

Indiana is 6-0 ranked and 18th in the AP Poll. They blew out an FCS team, and their five BSS opponents have won a combined 11 games. The Hoosiers beat four of these teams by three possessions or more and the other by two.

Penn State is 5-0 and ranked 4th in the AP Poll. All their five opponents are FBS and have won a combined ten games. Two were by three possessions or more, two by two possessions, and one was a one-possession game.

AP Poll voters likely consider "who would be favored" and projections for the rest of the season when they rank teams. The FBS Playoff standings, however, are based on what teams have done so far to earn a spot in the playoffs, and Indiana is tied for the lead along with two blueblood programs.

Below are the top 25 leaders in FBS Playoff points earned. Teams with the same number of points are listed alphabetically. For teams with losses, I note the record of who they lost to and in parentheses how badly they lost in terms of possessions. (8 points or less =1 possession; 9-16 points = 2, 17-24 =3).

22 Indiana 6-0 (Big Ten)

22 Ohio St 5-0 (Big Ten)

22 Texas 5-0 (SEC)

20 Miami FL 6-0 (ACC)

18 BYU 5-0 (Big 12)

18 Iowa St 5-0 (Big 12)

18 Oregon 5-0 (Big Ten)

17 Ole Miss 5-1 (SEC) - Loss: 3-2 Kentucky (1)

16 Alabama 4-1 (SEC) - Loss: 3-2 Vanderbilt (1)

16 Army 5-0 (AAC)

16 Navy 5-0 (AAC)

16 Nebraska 5-1 (Big Ten) - Loss: 4-1 Illinois (1)

16 Penn St 5-0 (Big Ten)

16 Texas A&M 5-1 (SEC) - Loss: 4-1 Notre Dame (2)

15 Boise St 4-1 (MWC) - Loss: 5-0 Oregon (1)

15 SMU 5-1 (ACC): Loss: 5-0 BYU (1)

15 Washington 4-2 (Big Ten): Losses: 4-1 Washington St (1), 4-1 Rutgers (1)

14 Georgia 4-1 (SEC): Loss: 4-1 Alabama (1)

14 James Madison 4-1 (SBC): Loss: 4-1 UL-Monroe (1)

14 Pitt 5-0 (ACC)

14 Sam Houston 5-1 (CUSA) Loss: 3-2 UCF (4)

14 Texas Tech 5-1 (Big 12): Loss: 4-1 Washington St (3)

13 Arkansas 4-2 (SEC):  Losses: 3-3 Oklahoma State (1); 4-1 Texas A&M (1)

13 Kansas St 4-1 (Big 12): Loss: 5-0 BYU (4)

13 Washington St 4-1 (Pac): Loss: 4-1 Boise St (3)

James Leroy Wilson writes The MVP Chase (subscribe). Thank you for your subscriptions and support! You may contact James for writing, editing, research, and other work: jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com.