Before I get into this individual stat heavy edition of the
blog, let me state for the record:
1) Yes, winning games is more important than
individual stat performance.
2) Of course these numbers are based on questionable
scoring decisions. I don’t know how many scorebooks give people credit for
doubles when it should be a single+advancing to second on a throw or give
credit for RBI when a run scores on an errant throw, etc.
Despite these flaws, I believe our keeping of statistics helps make
this league unique. If you disagree, fine. But if you never visit the league
leaders page on the website, then you probably shouldn’t read the rest of this
blog post. Don’t do it! Trust me. You won’t be happy.
This blog entry is going to focus on the record holders in
several key offensive categories in the Post Stat Era. I’ve never established a
name for this time period which is 2010-present. So for now on, I’m calling it
the PSE. We’ll look at the PSE leaders and the chances the record will be
broken this year. This blog entry, therefore, serves as my attempt to jinx Team
Bykofsky since they are currently on pace to break every team and individual
record to date.
Batting Average: Ron
Carlin- .704 in 2011
Every year around this point in the season I think this is
going to be the year that batting averages go through the roof. All the great
hitters are going to figure out how to get a hit almost every at bat and we’ll
have a leaderboard full of .600 averages.
In fact, here are the number of .600 seasons each year
starting in 2010:
2010: 3
2011: 4
2012: 6
2013: 7
2014: 11
2015: 9
The steady growth (until a slight dip last year) strengthens
my belief that we’ll eventually view .600 seasons the way we used to view .550
seasons. This makes it all the more remarkable that the PSE record for highest
batting single season batting average happened all the way back in 2011. To put
it in more perspective, in 2011 there were 32 players who hit .500. Fast
forward to 2015 and that number has jumped to 45. During a time when offense,
or generous stat keeping, is increasing, Mr. Carlin is the only player to
maintain a .700 average the whole season.
Right now you can’t even make it onto the leaderboard unless
you have an average above .611. It’s hard to remember that all it takes is one
0 for performance to knock you off the pedestal. It’s even harder to remember
that this can happen to anyone, even those who seem programmed to get a hit
every at bat.
Right now we have the following players who eclipse the .704
mark set in 2011:
Joe Mamone .742
Steve Schefkind .722
Pat Brock .708
Robert Bykofsky .704
These are all top players who would not at all be fluky
contenders for putting together a record setting season. The same goes for Ed Fradkin (.684), Justin
Bykofsky (.690), Dave Polzer (.667) and rookie stud Anthony Dimarco (.667) who
are just a few hits shy of .700. Yet we could probably have this same
discussion every year. There is some sort of reassuring feeling that the law of
averages tend to catch up to all of us. It makes that journey to .700 all the
more tantalizing. So will it be done
this year? Like every time early June I’m tempted to say YES! This is the year
where the offensive explosion results in a new PSE batting champ. But the
realist in me thinks, “Don’t fall for it”. Each of these players is one 0-4
away from making this an extremely uphill battle.
RBI: Lenny Sarcona- 46 in 2010
Like the record for batting average, it’s pretty amazing
that as offensive numbers have increased, the PSE record established early in the
decade still stands. There have been a few other times players have come close
to reaching 46. Last year, Justin Callow topped out at 43 while in 2013 both
James Dell’alba and Lee Kushner finished with 43. This year, however, may
represent the best shot at someone reaching 50 RBI for the first time as Joe
Spoto is on pace for roughly 2,445 RBI this season.
Seriously though, his 24
RBI in 6 games has him on pace for an incredible 88 RBI for the season. What
helps Spoto’s cause, and I truly don’t mean this as a jinx, is he’s no fluke
and neither are the guys batting ahead of him in the lineup.
As I mentioned before when talking about batting averages,
it is only expected that the Bykofskys are going to cool off a little. But even
with a slump being factored into the equation, Spoto can break the record of
46.
And while Spoto may break the record for RBI in a season,
one of his current records may fall. . . .
Doubles: Joe Spoto 21
in 2014
This may sound ridiculous, but watching Spoto turn a
seemingly ordinary single into a double is one of my favorite things to watch
on Sunday mornings. Here’s someone who knows he’s so fast, and so much has to
go right for an outfielder to throw him out at second, that he does not even
hesitate when rounding first base.
I think as players begin emulating this style more, we’ll
see this record fall. There are a handful of speedsters who can make this
happen, one being Offensive Player of the Month Joe Mamone. Mamone is on pace
for 35 doubles, so he’s a natural candidate to break Spoto’s mark. The number
21 has been approached many times before. Since 2011, four players (Justin and
Pat Brock, Ed Fradkin, and Andy Pargament) have finished the season with 19
doubles.
In addition to Mamone with 11, we also have Pat Brock who is
on pace to record a slightly more modest 33 doubles. Both Mamone and Brock play
with a style similar to Spoto. They know their speed is so great that a double
is almost automatic based on where outfielders are playing them. It’s this philosophy
that we’ll be looking at a new doubles king by the end of the season.
Coming soon I’ll look at a few more records that may or may
not be challenged this season.
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