Comments on The SABR Baseball List and Record Book, Part 2

Here is Part 2 of my postings (updated from original posting at my personal blog in 2007) on what I find interesting and worthy of comment while browsing through the 2007 SABR book, The SABR Baseball List and Record Book (available at Amazon). This time around I comment on some lists about switch-hitters.

List 033 is “Highest Career Batting Average by a Switch-hitter (min. 1,500 hits)” (pg. 15). So how many switch-hitters have career BAs over .300? Just four it turns out. Frankie Frisch (.316), Chipper Jones (.304 through 2006, but now .310), Pete Rose (.303), and Roberto Alomar (.300). Upon reflection, I guess I find it mildly surprising that there are so few. As a switch-hitter, they can’t specialize on just RH or LH, but… they also can switch sides to get an advantage based on the pitcher being RH or LH. Of course the pool of candiates for this list is much smaller than for comparable lists for RH or LH batters, but still… I found this interesting.

Similarly, list 037 is “Highest Career On Base Percentage by a Switch-hitter (min. 5,000 PA)” (pg 16). So how many are over .400? Just three: Mickey Mantle (.421), Lu Blue (.402), and Chipper Jones (.402 through 2006, now .408).

And then next is list 041 “Highest Career Slugging Average by a Switch-hitter (min. 5,000 PA)” (pg. 18). So how many are over .500? Just two, though they are well over that threshold: Mickey Mantle (.557) and Chipper Jones (.542 through 2006, not .548).

Of course we all know how great Mantle was, but this raises the question of Chipper Jones and how we should consider his career — and his HOF prospects (something I also raised a few weeks ago here). He has been a key part of a winning team, the Braves, so that surely helps. And he is still performing well at age 36, although clearly injury-prone.

Take a look at Chipper’s complete statistical resume. It is quite impressive: 408 HR, 1,374 RBI, 1,378 R, .310 BA, .408 OBP, .548 SLG. He took home the MVP in 1999, and has been an all-star six times (which seems a bit low to me). More of a “gray-ink” hitter than a “black-ink” hitter, Chipper hasn’t often led the NL in key offensive categories, but he has often been amongst the leaders. That said, he took home his first batting title last year when hit .364 in 439 at-bats. He had a little speed in his youth, and was a smart runner as in 1996 he had 14 SB vs. 1 CS and then in 1999 he had 25 SB vs. 3 CS. From 1996-2003 he had 100+ RBIs — that is 8 consecutive seasons!

In his ample post-season experience he has had his good series and bad (like most Braves during his playing years). He has batted .288 with 13 HR in 333 post-season ABs.

If Chipper can stay healthy and continue to be productive for several more years, he should easily get into the Hall of Fame.

And did you notice the name Lu Blue earlier, the switch hitter who had a career .402 OBP? See his career numbers here. He played 1B from 1921-1933, for Detroit and then some other clubs, batting .287 and obviously walking a lot (1,092 walks in only 1,615 games). As a result, he had 100+ runs six times, including 131 in his second season. Oh, and if you thought the name “Lu Blue” was interesting, know that his full name was “Luzerne Atwell Blue”.

See also Part 1 in this series, focused in part on the A’s from the 1970s.