RBI Quiz, Hot Shot

by user qemmett

Here's the discussion question for the day:

David "Big Papi" Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox is on pace for 65 home runs and 175 RBI on the season. If he were to reach 175 RBI, it would place him fifth all-time on the single season list, between Jimmie Foxx and Lou Gehrig.

Here's the quiz question:

The top thirteen RBI totals for the season all occured before 1937. In fact, of the all-time top twenty RBI totals in a season, just one entry, Manny Ramirez (165, tied for 13th) happened after 1937. Why is this? Is there something so significantly different in the game that even the power surge of the last 10 years can only justify one entry?

Note: every player on this list, besides Ramirez, only played 154 games per season, versus today's 162.

Evaluate and discuss.

• Below is the list, courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

1. Hack Wilson 191 1930

2. Lou Gehrig 184 1931

3. Hank Greenberg 183 1937

4. Jimmie Foxx 175 1938

5. Lou Gehrig 175 1927

6. Lou Gehrig 174 1930

7. Babe Ruth 171 1921

8. Hank Greenberg 170 1935

9. Chuck Klein 170 1930

10. Jimmie Foxx 169 1932

11. Joe DiMaggio 167 1937

12. Sam Thompson 166 1887

13. Lou Gehrig 165 1934

14. Manny Ramirez 165 1999

15. Al Simmons 165 1930

16. Sam Thompson 165 1895

17. Babe Ruth 164 1927

18. Jimmie Foxx 163 1933

19. Babe Ruth 163 1931

20. Hal Trosky 162 1936

~Quinn

http://www.FutureLeadersofAmerica.blogspot.com

Date

Tue 08/01/06, 8:16 am EST

JoebookRed-Shirting

1215 days ago

Score 0

So what's the quiz?

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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

1215 days ago

Score 1

How could you not mention that they only played 154 games back then??

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

1215 days ago

Score 0

The quiz is clarified now, as is the games played stipulation. There has to be some sort of answer to the question: what sort of phenomenon is it that in the last 66 years the best players and fine-tuned offenses can't produce more than one representative?

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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

1215 days ago

Score 0

easy answer, the game is different. You could do this same list with Triples, Win, etc.

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JoebookRed-Shirting

1215 days ago

Score 1

dude... I really enjoy your articles, but that isn't a quiz. My trivia appetite is not satisfied yet. That's an opinion question. I will attribute part of that stat to the stamina of players. It wasn't uncommon for a guy to play all 154 games in a season. Today, guys take days off, go on the DL with hangnails... stuff like that. I'll say the other part could be that there weren't hardly any relief pitchers back then. Arms would get tired and after three or four at-bats, a good hitter had a read on the pitcher. I'd love to find a stat showing how many runs were scored per inning back then. I'd bet as the game went on, the scoring increased.

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I am a cpcpMajor Leaguer

1215 days ago

Score 0

Is that a Speed reference? Well, I guess it's not Speed 2...

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FriskysmanVarsity Captain

1215 days ago

Score 1

Off the top of my head I would guess that more players in the lineup are driving in runs. So perhaps while the same number of runs (or maybe more) are being scored, the RBIs are being spread out among a larger number of players. But then I could be completely wrong.

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Qemmett

1215 days ago

Score 0

While I don't believe it's an "easy answer, because the game is different", I do believe Joebook, you're correct that it might have a lot to do with stamina and players actually participating in fewer games today. But if Manny Ramirez takes off 10 games today, he's still only playing 2 less than they were, 66 years ago (if they played every game).

I also don't know, off the top of my head, if you could do the same list with triples, wins, etc, as suggested. This list doesn't progressively taper off over a 70 year period. It stops cold after 1937 and once again, has one entry in over 65 years. It's not a progression, one would have to assume it has be a factor that's both radical and immediate.

While we do have bigger players and healthier players spreading the RBI totals around, there are also more runs being scored, which should give some sort of chance for a big hitter to approach the top 20 list.

Other factors that might be considered, going both ways: fence walls were much further from home plate in those days, leading to more doubles and triples and far fewer home runs; while this can explain RISP being able to "run free" and score more often as fielders chase line drives to 450 foot fences, the dramatic rise in home runs hit would assume that these RISP would be, theoretically and relatively, guaranteed to score.

Maybe it's not correct to call this a quiz, rather an analysis. Any thoughts folks?

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

1214 days ago

Score 0

The gloves. Back in "the day" the gloves that they used were horribly made... half the hits in the outfield that would be fielded easily today were doubles and triples. Thats my guess. I'm probably way off...

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