by Rany Jazayerli
July 20, 2000

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=682



The Era of Offense has not barred scrubs from the party. The last eight years
are not only remarkable for 70 homers and 400 total bases and league ERAs
approaching 5.00. The little guys have gotten in the act as well, putting
together some of the greatest September callups and fluke seasons of all
time.

It all started in 1996, when Rudy Pemberton came up in September and went
21-for-41. Pemberton, a 27-year-old ex-Tiger farmhand who had been rescued by
the Red Sox and sent to Pawtucket early in the season, became the first
player to hit above .500 in a season of at least 30 at-bats. The top five
performances at that time:


Year  Name             AB    H    AVG

1996  Rudy Pemberton   41   21   .512
1947  Gil Coan         42   21   .500
1919  Eddie Murphy     35   17   .486
1980  Gary Ward        41   19   .463
1991  Scott Cooper     35   16   .457

Pemberton also hit eight doubles in those 41 at-bats, the highest ratio of
any player in history with more than 20 at-bats.

Two years later, Craig Wilson, also 27 years old, made his major-league debut
for the White Sox and went 22-for-47. His .468 average, which would rank
fourth on the list above, is the highest in history for any player with 45
at-bats:


Year  Name             AB    H    AVG

1998  Craig Wilson     47   22   .468
1894  Hugh Duffy      539  237   .440
1927  Babe Ganzel      48   21   .438
1887  Tip O’Neill     517  225   .435
1925  Walter Johnson   97   42   .433

That's not bad for a 37-year-old pitcher, huh?

Wilson’s performance in 1998 went largely unnoticed, however, because of the
theatrics displayed by one Shane Spencer, a 26-year-old in his ninth season
in the Yankees' system. Spencer got his first taste of the major leagues that
September and ate pitchers whole, hitting .373 in 67 at-bats with six
doubles, 10 home runs (including three grand slams) and 27 RBI. Spencer had
the highest ratio of RBIs to at-bats in history (min: 60 AB)


Year  Name              RBI   AB   RBI/AB

1998  Shane Spencer      27   67     .403
1943  Joe Cronin         29   77     .377
1953  Ted Williams       34   91     .374
1952  Jim Greengrass     24   68     .353
1922  Reb Russell        75  220     .341

Never heard of Reb Russell? The only player to bat at least 100 times and
post a higher RBI/AB ratio than Hack Wilson did when Wilson drove in 191
runs, was basically a poor man’s Babe Ruth. Russell was a left-handed
pitcher for the White Sox from 1913 to 1919, pitching very well (81-59
career, 2.33 ERA) before hurting his arm. He disappeared into the vastness of
the minor leagues, then resurfaced as an outfielder for the Pirates in 1922,
hitting .368/.423/.668 and, as you can see, driving in every baserunner in
sight. But after one more season, in which he hit .289/.341/.491, Russell
disappeared for good at age 34.

Spencer also set the major-league record for slugging average; no player had
ever slugged higher than Spencer’s .910 in a season of even 25 at-bats. If
we set the standard at a modest 60 at-bats, the previous record holder was
Ted Williams, the year he came back from Korea in August and set the world on
fire for a month. Incredibly, Williams's 1953 had been the only season of
more than 50 at-bats in which a player had exceeded Ruth’s amazing slugging
averages in 1920 and 1921:


Year  Name                TB   AB     SLG

1998  Shane Spencer       61   67    .910
1953  Ted Williams        82   91    .901
1920  Babe Ruth          388  458    .847
1921  Babe Ruth          457  540    .846
1927  Babe Ruth          417  540    .772

In the same month that Spencer was becoming a latter-day Kevin Maas, J.D.
Drew was putting on a show in the Heartland. Despite not making his
major-league debut until September 8--in the same game that Mark McGwire hit
his 62nd home run--Drew hit five homers, a triple and three doubles in 36
at-bats.

Unlike the other men on this list, Drew was a top prospect when he reached
the major leagues, and backed up his reputation with a .972 slugging average.
The list of the top slugging averages in a minimum of 25 at-bats is not much
different from the previous list:


Year  Name                TB   AB     SLG

1998  J.D. Drew           35   36    .972
1998  Shane Spencer       61   67    .910
1953  Ted Williams        82   91    .901
1993  Sam Horn            28   33    .848
1920  Babe Ruth          388  458    .847

The two highest slugging averages of all time, both taking place the same
season by players making their major-league debuts.

1999 was a fairly quiet year; Mark Quinn hit six home runs and slugged .733
in 17 games, but that's nothing extraordinary. This year, however, is teasing
us with some fascinating possibilities. In Texas, Frank Catalanotto, who
serves on BP’s Board of Directors, hit .500 in April and .692 in May, and if
his season had ended right there he would have broken all sorts of
short-season records. But his average has since dropped to a still-impressive
.378.

And if you can’t understand why Catalanotto is still on the Rangers bench,
well, neither can we. But if you think that’s bad, consider that in 1894,
Phillies’ outfielder Tuck Tucker hit .416 in 339 at-bats and couldn’t break
the starting lineup. And he didn’t deserve to: the starters were Billy
Hamilton (.404, 126 walks, 98 steals, major-league record 192 runs), Sam
Thompson (.407, 141 RBI in 99 games) and Ed Delahanty (.407, 147 runs, 131
RBI in 114 games). All three are in the Hall of Fame.

But while Catalanotto has cooled off, another reserve infielder is heating
up. Chris Stynes played sparingly to start the season, hitting .471
(8-for-17) in April and .313 (5-for-16) in May. But he went 14-for-31 (.452)
in June, raising his season average to .422...and then he got hot. Since July
1, Stynes is 32-for-61 (.525), and is now hitting .472 on the season. In 125
at-bats, more than twice the playing time that most of these freak-season
players had.

The highest batting averages in history with a minimum of 100 AB:


Year  Name             AB    H    AVG

2000  Chris Stynes    125   59   .472
1894  Hugh Duffy      539  237   .440
1887  Tip O’Neill     517  225   .435
1876  Ross Barnes     322  138   .429
1901  Nap Lajoie      544  232   .426

What this list shows is that while anyone can hit at a dizzying pace for 20
or 50 or 80 at-bats, it is almost impossible to maintain a fluke season for
much more than 100 at-bats. The players with the highest averages of all time
were able to maintain them for a full season thanks to ability and
circumstance: the NL's 70-game season in 1876, the great hitters' year in
1894 or the American League’s first season as a major league in 1901.

But Chris Stynes was a career .276 hitter entering this season, and he’s
reaching heights never before attained by any hitter for such a prolonged
period of time. Is this the mother of all flukes? Or is Chris Stynes really a
.400 hitter?