THE BASEBALL
MANIAC’S
ALMANAC
Also by Bert Randolph Sugar
Baseball’s 50 Greatest Games
Baseball Picture Quiz Book
The Baseball Trivia Book
The Baseball Trivia Book to End All Baseball Trivia Books, Promise!
The Great Baseball Players from McGraw to Mantle
Rain Delays
Who Was Harry Steinfeldt? & Other Baseball Trivia Questions
THE BASEBALL
MANIAC’S
ALMANAC
The ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY,
and WITHOUT QUESTION
GREATEST Book of Baseball
FACTS, FIGURES, & Astonishing
LISTS Ever Compiled!
Ber t Sugar
Editor
Copyright © 2005 by Bert Randolph Sugar. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States
of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this
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or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
0-07-144266-9
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DOI: 10.1036/0071442669
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C O N T E N T S
Preface
xxvii
Part 1
Individual Statistics
1 Batting
3
Base Hits
3
Most Hits by Decade
1
3
Evolution of Singles Record
4
Base Hit Leaders by State of Birth
4
Players with 200 Hits and 40 Home Runs, Season
5
Players with 200 Base Hits and Fewer Than 40 Extra-Base Hits,
Season (Post-1900)
5
Players with 3000 Hits, Career
Most Hits by Position, Season
6
6
Most Times at Bat Without a Hit, Season
6
Players with 200 Hits in Each of First Three Major League Seasons
Players with 200-Hit Seasons in Each League
7
Players with 200 Hits in Five Consecutive Seasons
Rookies with 200 or More Hits
7
7
Teammates Finishing One-Two in Base Hits
7
Players Getting 1000 Hits Before Their 25th Birthday
v
8
7
vi
Contents
Players with 10000 At Bats and Fewer Than 3000 Hits, Career
Players with 200 Hits, Batting Under .300, Season
8
8
Players with 2500 Hits and Career .300 Batting Average, Never
Winning Batting Title (Post-1900)
8
Players with 2500 Career Hits, Never Having a 200-Hit Season
Most Hits by Switch-Hitter, Career
Most Hits by Catcher, Career
Most Singles, Career
9
9
9
Fewest Singles, Season (Min. 150 Games)
Most Singles, Season
9
10
11
Largest Differential Between League Leader in Hits and Runner-Up
Batting Average
12
12
Evolution of Batting Average Record
12
Highest Batting Average by Position, Season
12
Highest Batting Average by Decade (2000 At Bats)
13
Top 10 Rookie Batting Averages, Each League (Min. 100 Games)
14
Lifetime Batting Averages of 20-Year Players (Not Including Pitchers)
Players Never Hitting Below .270 in Career (Min. 10 Years)
.400 Hitters and How Their Team Finished
15
15
.400 Hitters Versus League Batting Average (Post-1900)
16
Players Hitting .370 Since Ted Williams’s .406 Season (1941)
16
Players Hitting .300 in Rookie and Final Seasons (Post-1900; Min.
Five Years)
16
Players Hitting .300 in Their Only Major League Season (Post-1900;
Min. 100 Games, 300 At Bats)
16
Players 40 or Older Hitting .300 (Min. 50 Games)
17
Batters Hitting .325 for Two or More Different Clubs (Post-1945)
Batting Title
19
Closest Batting Races
19
Teammates Finishing One-Two in Batting Race
19
17
14
Contents
Switch-Hitting Batting Champions
20
Catchers Winning Batting Titles
20
Batting Champions on Last-Place Teams
20
Batting Title Winners Without a Home Run
21
Batting Champions Driving in Fewer Than 40 Runs
21
Batting Champions with 100 Strikeouts in Year They Led League
Lowest Batting Averages to Lead League
21
21
Highest Batting Average Not to Win Batting Title
Runners-Up for Batting Titles in Both Leagues
21
22
Players Winning Batting Title in Season After Joining New Club
Players Changing Team in Season After Winning Batting Title
Largest Margin Between Batting Champion and Runner-Up
22
23
23
Champions Whose Next Season’s Batting Average Declined the Most
Lowest Lifetime Batting Averages for Players Who Led League
24
Two-Time Batting Champions with Lifetime Batting Averages
Below .300
25
Years in Which Right-Handed Batters Won Batting Titles in Both
Leagues
Home Runs
25
26
Evolution of Home Run Record
Most Home Runs by Decade
26
26
Career Home Run Leaders by Zodiac Sign
27
All-Time Home Run Leaders by First Letter of Last Name
Home Run Leaders by State of Birth
28
Most Home Runs in First Three Seasons in Majors
Most Home Runs for One Club
27
29
29
Most Home Runs by Position, Career
29
Most Home Runs Not Leading League, Season
Most Home Runs, Never Leading League, Career
30
30
Most Inside-the-Park Home Runs, Career (Post-1898)
31
Players with 10 or More Letters in Last Name, Hitting 40 or More
Home Runs in Season
31
24
vii
viii
Contents
Most Home Runs, Month by Month
31
Most Home Runs by Position, Season
31
Players Leading League in Home Runs for Different Teams
32
Players Hitting a Total of 100 Home Runs in Two Consecutive Seasons
Players with First 20-Home Run Season After 35th Birthday
33
Shortstops with at Least Seven Consecutive 20-Home Run Seasons
Players Hitting Four Home Runs in One Game
33
33
34
Players with Three Home Runs in One Game, Fewer Than 10 in Season
Rookies Hitting 30 or More Home Runs
35
Players with 50 Home Runs, Batting Under .300, Season
35
Players Hitting 49 Home Runs in Season, Never Hitting 50
Most Consecutive Seasons Hitting Grand Slams
Most Home Runs by Age
36
36
36
Teenagers Hitting Grand Slams
36
Oldest Players to Hit Grand Slams
Oldest Home Run Champions
36
37
Most Career Home Runs by Players Hitting Home Run on First Pitch
in Majors
37
Players Hitting Home Run in First At Bat, Never Hitting Another
Most At Bats, No Home Runs, Career
38
38
Most Consecutive At Bats Without a Home Run
38
Lowest Batting Average for Home Run Leaders, Season (Post-1900)
Players Hitting 30 or More Home Runs in First Three Seasons
39
Reverse 30–30 Club: Players with 30 Home Runs and 30 Errors,
Season
39
Players Increasing Their Home Run Production in Seven Consecutive
Seasons
39
Most Home Runs by Switch-Hitters, Career
Most Home Runs by Catcher, Season
40
Most Home Runs by Catcher, Career
40
100 Home Runs, Both Leagues
40
41
Most Home Runs Hit in One Ballpark, Career
41
38
35