Triple Milestones – 2011
By Bill Gilbert
Offensive production in the major leagues continued to decline slightly in 2011 but not as much as in 2010. The number of runs per game has declined each year from 9.72 in 2006 to 8.57 in 2011. The home run rate of 1.87 per game was the lowest since 1993. The major league batting average, on-base percentage and slugging average were all down slightly from 2010. All offensive categories are significantly below the peak year of 2000 as illustrated in the following table:
Year Runs/Game HR/Game BAVG OBA SLG OPS Triple Milestone Hitters
—- ——— ——- —- —- —- — ————————
1990 8.51 1.58 .258 .324 .386 .710 2
1991 8.62 1.61 .255 .323 .384 .707 3
1992 8.23 1.44 .256 .322 .377 .699 2
1993 9.20 1.78 .266 .332 .404 .736 5
1994 9.85 2.07 .270 .339 .424 .763 3
1995 9.69 2.02 .267 .338 .417 .755 8
1996 10.07 2.19 .270 .340 .427 .767 21
1997 9.53 2.05 .267 .337 .419 .756 7
1998 9.58 2.08 .266 .335 .420 .755 14
1999 10.17 2.28 .271 .345 .434 .779 19
2000 10.28 2.34 .271 .345 .437 .782 26
2001 9.55 2.25 .264 .332 .427 .759 21
2002 9.24 2.09 .261 .331 .417 .748 12
2003 9.46 2.14 .264 .332 .422 .754 8
2004 9.63 2.25 .266 .335 .428 .763 12
2005 9.18 2.06 .265 .330 .419 .749 10
2006 9.72 2.22 .269 .336 .432 .768 13
2007 9.59 2.04 .268 .336 .423 .759 8
2008 9.30 2.01 .264 .333 .417 .750 7
2009 9.23 2.02 .262 .333 .418 .751 6
2010 8.77 1.90 .257 .325 .403 .728 6
2011 8.57 1.87 .255 .321 .399 .720 7
Jose Bautista of Toronto led the majors with 43 home runs in 2011, two more than Curtis Granderson. Bautista was the only player over 50 in 2010 with 54. In a bit of a surprise, the 30 home run level was reached by 24 players in 2011 compared to 18 in 2010.
A useful indicator for tracking offense is the number of players who hit for both power and average by achieving a .300 batting average, 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in. A record 26 players reached all three milestones in 2000, but that figure has dropped significantly in recent years. Only seven players reached all three milestones in 2011, up from six in 2010. Paul Konerko and Miguel Cabrera were the only players who made it in both 2010 and 2011. For the first time in his eleven year career, Albert Pujols is not on the list, missing by a couple of whiskers (.299-37-99).
There were four newcomers to the .300-30-100 club in 2011, Jose Bautista, Matt Kemp, Jacoby Ellsbury and Troy Tulowitzki bringing the total to 170 players who have registered at least one .300-30-100 season starting with Babe Ruth in 1920.
Following is a listing of players who achieved triple milestones
in 2011:
Player Times BAVG-HR-RBI Comments
National
Ryan Braun 3 .332-33-111 Consistently productive.
Matt Kemp 1 .324-39-126 Breakout year.
Troy Tulowitzki 1 .302-30-105 Came close in 2010.
Player Times BAVG-HR-RBI Comments
American
Miguel Cabrera 4 .344-30-105 Barely made it on home runs.
Paul Konerko 3 .300-31-105 A model of consistency.
Jose Bautista 1 .302-43-103 Led majors in HR last 2 years.
Jacoby Ellsbury 1 .321-32-105 New highs in HR and RBI.
Four players achieved triple milestones in 2010 but fell short in 2011:
Player Times BAVG-HR-RBI BAVG-HR-RBI
In Past 2011 2010 Comments
Albert Pujols 10 .299-37- 99 .312-42-118 Missed for the first time..
Josh Hamilton 2 .298-25- 94 .359-32-100 Slowed by injuries.
Joey Votto 1 .309-29-103 .324-37-113 Needed one more HR.
Carlos Gonzalez 1 .295-26- 92 .336-34-117 Held back by injuries.
The biggest obstacle in reaching triple milestones in 2011 was batting average. Five players had 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in 2011 but fell short of a .300 batting average.
Prince Fielder .299-38-120 Had better year than Pujols.
Adrian Beltre .296-32-105 Strong in all 3 categories.
Curtis Granderson .262-41-119 Batting average hurt by strikeouts.
Ryan Howard .253-33-116 6 years with 30+ HR and 100+ RBI.
Mark Teixeira .248-39-111 Career low batting average.
A growing list contains the names of players, active in 2011, who have had multiple .300-30-100 seasons in the past but have not done it in the last three years. Many have been limited by injuries. Some are still very productive players like Lance Berkman and David Ortiz, but not at the same level they were in their peak years. Since this list was started in 2004, not one player has come back with another .300-30-100 season.
Last
.300-30-100 .300-30-100
Player Seasons Season 2012 Comments
Manny Ramirez 10 2008 .059- 0- 1 An inglorious end.
Alex Rodriguez 8 2008 .276-16- 62 Worst year of career.
Vladimir Guerrero 8 2006 .290-13- 63 Clearly in decline.
Todd Helton 5 2003 .302-14- 69 Pretty good comeback year.
Chipper Jones 5 2001 .275-18- 70 Might be time to retire.
Jason Giambi 4 2002 .260-13- 32 Still has power off the bench.
Magglio Ordonez 4 2002 .255- 5- 32 Too many injuries.
Lance Berkman 3 2006 .301-31- 94 Comeback player of the year.
David Ortiz 3 2007 .309-29- 96 Similar numbers as Berkman.
Mark Teixeira 3 2008 .248-39-111 Career low batting average.
Jim Thome 2 2002 .256-15- 50 Reached the 600 HR mark.
Aramis Ramirez 2 2004 .306-26- 93 Still a dangerous hitter.
Miguel Tejada 2 2004 .239- 4- 26 Looks like end of the line.
Travis Hafner 2 2006 .280-13- 57 Essentially duplicated 2010.
Vernon Wells 2 2006 .218-25- 66 Big disappointment in Anaheim.
Matt Holliday 2 2007 .296-22- 75 Too many injuries.
Aubrey Huff 2 2008 .246-12- 59 Mixes bad years with good ones.
David Wright 2 2008 .254-14- 61 Bring back Shea Stadium.
In his 1988 Baseball Abstract, Bill James referred to triple milestone seasons as "Hall of Fame Seasons". This was because all of the eligible players with 5 or more triple milestone seasons had been elected to the Hall of Fame. This correlation was broken in 2011 when Juan Gonzalez and Jeff Bagwell fell short of election in their first year of eligibility.
No teams had two players with triple milestones in 2011. Twenty nine of the thirty major league teams have now had at least one triple milestone hitter since the year 2000. Kansas City has not had a triple milestone hitter since Danny Tartabull in 1991.
Minor league players also recorded triple milestone seasons in 2011.
Player Team (Level) Organization Age BAVG-HR-RBI
Bryan LaHair Iowa (AAA) Chicago Cubs 28 .331-38-109
Chicago (NL) .288- 2- 6
.326-40-115
Mike Carp Tacoma (AAA) Seattle 25 .343-21- 64
Seattle (AL) .276-12- 46
.307-33-110
Matt Adams Springfield (AA) St. Louis 22 .300-32-101
Another was on the verge of a triple milestone season in the minor leagues before he was called up to the majors.
Paul Goldschmidt Mobile (AA) Arizona 23 .306-30- 94
Arizona (NL) .250- 8- 26
.289-38-120
Goldschmidt had a minor league triple milestone season in 2010.
Two former major leaguers had triple milestones in 2011 in the Mexican League.
Luis Terrero Mexico City (MEX) None 31 .390-38-110
Mendy Lopez Puebla (MEX) None 37 .321-31-106
No college players achieved triple milestones in 2011
Pitchers also strive for triple milestones – 20 wins, 200 strikeouts and an ERA under 3.00. Two pitchers made it in 2011, the same number as in 2010, Justin Verlander (24-5, 250, 2.40) and Clayton Kershaw (21-5, 248, 2.28). Both made it for the first time and they both won the triple crown for pitchers in their leagues.
A complete list of players with triple milestone seasons since 1920 can be found at Baseball-Almanac, with the following link.
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/triple_milestones.shtml