I found a thread on Baseball-Fever.com asking which players had the best season without receiving a single MVP vote. So I figured that I would do a query using Baseball-Reference’s WAR.
Since most of the players on the list are Pitchers, I decided to separate the list between Position Players and Pitchers. This is because there is a disagreement amongst voters about whether Pitchers should be included in the MVP vote.
Top Position Players
| Player |
Year |
Team |
Pos |
WAR |
oWAR |
dWAR |
| Roberto Clemente |
1968 |
PIT |
RF |
8.0 |
4.7 |
2.5 |
| Willie Davis |
1964 |
LAN |
CF |
7.9 |
4.5 |
3.4 |
| Barry Bonds |
1989 |
PIT |
LF |
7.8 |
3.5 |
3.6 |
| Eddie Mathews |
1963 |
ML1 |
3B |
7.6 |
5.8 |
1.8 |
| Troy Glaus |
2000 |
ANA |
3B |
7.5 |
6.0 |
1.9 |
| Brooks Robinson |
1967 |
BAL |
3B |
7.4 |
3.7 |
4.2 |
| Arky Vaughan |
1936 |
PIT |
SS |
7.2 |
7.4 |
0.8 |
| Nick Markakis |
2008 |
BAL |
RF |
7.2 |
4.8 |
1.7 |
| Ozzie Smith |
1989 |
SLN |
SS |
7.1 |
3.4 |
4.7 |
| Andruw Jones |
1998 |
ATL |
CF |
7.1 |
3.6 |
3.9 |
| Darrell Evans |
1974 |
ATL |
3B |
7.1 |
4.7 |
2.7 |
| Jimmy Wynn |
1965 |
HOU |
CF |
7.0 |
7.1 |
-0.1 |
| Brett Gardner |
2010 |
NYA |
LF |
7.0 |
3.3 |
3.4 |
| Bobby Grich |
1975 |
BAL |
2B |
7.0 |
5.2 |
2.4 |
| Gary Carter |
1983 |
MON |
C |
6.8 |
3.8 |
4.0 |
| Andruw Jones |
1999 |
ATL |
CF |
6.8 |
3.4 |
3.8 |
| Brian Jordan |
1998 |
SLN |
RF |
6.8 |
4.3 |
2.0 |
| Barry Larkin |
1988 |
CIN |
SS |
6.8 |
5.5 |
2.2 |
| Randy Velarde |
1999 |
MULT |
2B |
6.7 |
5.2 |
2.0 |
| Dwayne Murphy |
1980 |
OAK |
CF |
6.7 |
4.3 |
2.4 |
You’ll notice most of these players had high dWAR’s. Fielding ability can easily be overlooked (or incorrectly evaluated) by voters, which may explain why some of these players did not receive votes.
Top Pitchers
| Player |
Year |
Team |
Pos |
WAR |
| Lefty Grove |
1937 |
BOS |
SP |
9.0 |
| Jim Bunning |
1966 |
PHI |
SP |
8.7 |
| Jon Matlack |
1974 |
NYN |
SP |
8.4 |
| Pat Hentgen |
1996 |
TOR |
SP |
8.2 |
| Mark Langston |
1993 |
CAL |
SP |
8.2 |
| Phil Niekro |
1977 |
ATL |
SP |
8.1 |
| Andy Pettitte |
1997 |
NYA |
SP |
8.0 |
| Frank Tanana |
1977 |
CAL |
SP |
8.0 |
| Jim Bunning |
1965 |
PHI |
SP |
7.9 |
| Don Drysdale |
1964 |
LAN |
SP |
7.8 |
| Frank Viola |
1987 |
MIN |
SP |
7.8 |
| Kevin Appier |
1992 |
KCA |
SP |
7.7 |
| Bill Hands |
1969 |
CHN |
SP |
7.7 |
| Phil Niekro |
1974 |
ATL |
SP |
7.7 |
| Bret Saberhagen |
1987 |
KCA |
SP |
7.7 |
| Roy Halladay |
2003 |
TOR |
SP |
7.7 |
| Wes Ferrell |
1936 |
BOS |
SP |
7.6 |
| Bert Blyleven |
1974 |
MIN |
SP |
7.5 |
| Chuck Finley |
1990 |
CAL |
SP |
7.5 |
| Bob Gibson |
1972 |
SLN |
SP |
7.5 |
Thanks to Sean Forman and the Baseball-Reference team, we are now able to display their Wins Above Replacement on The Baseball Gauge.
This will replace my previous WAR that was introduced at the beginning of the season. This change was made in an effort to help make B-R’s statistic the “universal” WAR. Since the biggest difference between this version of WAR and our previous system was the fielding metric, we are going to continue to display Defensive Regression Analysis on the site. But understand that this WAR system does not include DRA.
Currently, we only show the basic oWAR, dWAR, pWAR and position adjustment. We encourage everyone to visit Baseball-Reference for more detailed components of the WAR system.
In celebration of the new season, Seamheads.com and The Baseball Gauge are proud to announce our new Wins Above Replacement. The updated calculation has two major changes from our previous system.
The first upgrade is our Fielding system, which now uses Runs Saved from Michael Humphreys Defensive Regression Analysis. This allows us to compare and evaluate fielders from all eras of Baseball history and accurately place a value on their performance. To find out more about DRA, check out his book Wizardry and/or take a look at the DRA series at The Hardball Times. Humphreys also provides an extremely informative appendix, describing the method.
Not only does this new fielding system allow us to evaluate defensive ability, it also helps us estimate how a team’s defense helps or hurts its pitching staff.
Previously, our Pitching WAR was DIPS based (Defense Independent Pitching) and because of that, it did not have the ability to measure a pitcher’s ability to control the running game and preventing extra base hits, along with other skills. We now take each pitcher’s runs allowed and then adjust for Defense, Bullpen, and Ballpark to determine the pitcher’s value.
For more information on our new Wins Above Replacement, please take a look at the glossary, which describes the calculation in more detail.
Just as before, the user has the ability to view these numbers in a large variety of different ways. There are “All-Time Teams”, where you can view the best players from different eras, decades, seasons, countries, states, universities, and high schools. These new WAR totals are also used in analysis of Amateur Drafts, transactions, awards, hall of fame voting, and expansion/rule 5 drafts.
Also, as we have done in the previous two seasons, we will be updating the site on a daily basis during the 2012 regular season. Enjoy!
Just a quick update. The Park Factors for the 2011 season have been uploaded and applied to all the stats. There were some changes in the overall metrics, but they were very small. Since my Park Factors are 3-year calculations, all stats back to the 2009 season are somewhat affected, but only very slightly
I’ve begun to add wOBA (Weighted On Base Average) and Lefty/Righty splits to the site. Currently, they are only available on the player’s page in the Batting Graph. L/R splits are available from 1952 until the current season.
I should mention that my wOBA calculations DO NOT include SB/CS data. This was done on purpose to be able to compare L/R to the overall value. The BaseRuns / 27 Outs DOES include SB/CS data. For the most part, the wOBA and R/27 percentile should be very similar, except for the top base stealers (see Carl Crawford). Also, just like all the other stats, the wOBA percentile ranking IS park adjusted.
There are 3 bars in the wOBA section. The bar on the left is vs LHP. The middle bar is overall (vs All). The bar on the right is vs RHP. You’ll notice that there is a lot of volatility from year to year for some players. Take Matt Wieters for example….
Wieters vs LHP is in the 100th percentile in 2011, while he was in the 1st percentile in 2010. As a switch hitter, it will be interesting to see if this trend continues in the future.
Finally, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve added the ability to look at individual seasons on the Batting Graph. I’ve added the number of Plate Appearances for each season to show the sample size.
Next, I plan on adding the same L/R wOBA to the pitcher’s graph.
I’m thrilled to announce that we at Seamheads have launched the very first online Negro Leagues Database, powered by the Baseball Gauge. The site covers the Cuban Leagues from 1904-1912 and the Negro Leagues from 1916-1922. There are plans for adding more years in the future as the data is collected.
The database was created by amazing researchers such as Gary Ashwill and Scott Simkus. You won’t believe the amount of work that has been put it and the amount of knowledge these guys have on the subject. Check out their personal sites if you’re interested in learning more.
If you’re like me, as a baseball fan, you’ve always heard and read about players like Oscar Charleston, Smokey Joe Williams, Cristobal Torriente, Ben Taylor, and Bullet Joe Rogan. We now have the ability to look at their stats and compare them to their contemporaries.
Enjoy!
I’ve quiet for a little while here on the blog lately. This is due partly to a couple of vacations I went on this summer. One of them being a California road trip to see all 5 ballparks. But the main reason for the lack of blog posts and updates is because I’ve been working behind the scenes on a huge new addition to the Seamheads/Baseball Gauge website. I don’t have an exact timetable on when I will be finished, but rest assured that I’ve been spending just about all my free time on this project.
Stay tuned, I’m pretty sure you’ll like it!
Tomorrow, I’ll be heading out to Long Beach California for SABR 41. It will be my first convention and I’m looking forward to meeting fellow baseball fans. If you’re going to be there, track me down, and I’d love to talk anything baseball.
Now that the 2011 All-Stars have been announced, we can now view the All-Star Teams and maybe a little more interesting, the Non All-Star Teams. The Non All-Stars Team can be a handy little tool when filling out your Final Vote Ballot.
I’ll continue to update each of the rosters when changes and additions are announced.
Now that the High School Database has been added to the site, the All-State Teams have been very much improved. Previously, they were based off of the States in which each player was born. But now they are based off of where they went to High School.
There are a good number of players who were born in one State but grew up or went to High School in another. In my opinion, these players should be tied to the State where they went to High School and not where they were born.
For example, these are a few of the players who are affected…
Wade Boggs (Nebraska -> Florida)
Roger Clemens (Ohio -> Texas)
Joe Morgan (Texas -> California)
Jason Heyward (New Jersey -> Georgia)
Derek Jeter (New Jersey -> Michigan)
There are a lot of players on this list, and that’s why I think this is a big improvement. On a side note, if there is no HS information for a player, their birth State is used.
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