BEST SEASON OF ALL TIME: Right Field edition

[Blackout]

sam thompson 1894: .407/.458/.686 13 HR 141 RBI 108 runs 177 OPS+

ty cobb 1909: .377/.431/.517 9 HR 107 RBI 116 runs 194 OPS+

babe ruth 1923: .393/.545/.764 41 HR 131 RBI 151 runs 239 OPS+

stan musial 1948: .376/.450/.702 39 HR 131 RBI 135 runs 200 OPS+

hank aaron 1959: .355/.401/.636 39 HR 123 RBI 116 runs 181 OPS+

roger maris 1961 .269/.372/.620 61 HR 142 RBI 132 runs 167 OPS+

frank robinson 1966: .316/.410/.637 49 HR 122 RBI 122 runs 198 OPS+

reggie jackson 1969: .275/.410/.608 47 HR 118 RBI 123 Runs 189 OPS+

manny ramirez 2000: .351/.457/.697 38 HR 122 RBI 92 runs 186 OPS+ (or 1999)

sammy sosa* 2002: .328/.437/.737 64 HR 160 RBI 146 runs 203 OPS+


my apologies to Vlad Guerrero, who's had some brilliant seasons that just didnt' make the cut.

[Blackout]

1-ruth
2-sosa
3-cobb

[brett]

OK this one's pretty easy. Ruth in '23 was not only as good a hitter (maybe better) than in '21, but he had possibly the most valuable defensive year ever by a right fielder. His FRAA slightly tops the best years by Clemente.

I might include Larry Walker '97 on the list.
He had a 178 OPS+ which is behind Sosa*, but Tony Gwynn called Walker the best all around baserunner in the game, he stole 33 of 41, and was an all-time great right fielder-probably the best in baseball at the time.

Considering baserunning and fielding I think it is on par with Musial '48 if not a little better.

I will go
Ruth
Cobb
Larry Walker

[AstrosFan]

It doesn't even have to be the best defensive season by a right fielder. It's gold glove defense, and that's enough, because it's probably one of the top five or six offensive seasons of all time, and that's if you take Bonds's seasons at face value. This should be a runaway for Ruth.

[bob]

Ruth '23, by a long way for me as well.
My top 3 from that list would be Babe, Musial, Sosa.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

OK this one's pretty easy. Ruth in '23 was not only as good a hitter (maybe better) than in '21, but he had possibly the most valuable defensive year ever by a right fielder. His FRAA slightly tops the best years by Clemente.

I might include Larry Walker '97 on the list.
He had a 178 OPS+ which is behind Sosa*, but Tony Gwynn called Walker the best all around baserunner in the game, he stole 33 of 41, and was an all-time great right fielder-probably the best in baseball at the time.

Walker was a stud. Great arm, smart player, opportunist basestealer...funny thing about '97. Depite having 36 more AB at home, he actually had 9 more homers on the road. Course he did hit about 40 points higher at home.

[Blackout]

brett, not signing on with the Sosa train?

[dgarza]

1. Babe Ruth 1926
2. Babe Ruth 1927
3. Sammy Sosa 2001
4. Chuck Klein 1930
5. Babe Ruth 1930

6. Ichiro Suzuki 2004
7. Willie Keeler 1897
8. Babe Ruth 1931
9. Ty Cobb 1911
10. Sam Thompson 1894

[brett]

Walker was a stud. Great arm, smart player, opportunist basestealer...funny thing about '97. Depite having 36 more AB at home, he actually had 9 more homers on the road. Course he did hit about 40 points higher at home.

Yes, but just consider the road split. .346 with 29 home runs! That's Hack Wilson '30 territory if you double it. The 29 HRs by the was was just 2 short of the NL road record (at the time). .733 road slugging too.

[Blackout]

1. Babe Ruth 1926
2. Babe Ruth 1927
3. Sammy Sosa 2001
4. Chuck Klein 1930
5. Babe Ruth 1930

6. Ichiro Suzuki 2004
7. Willie Keeler 1897
8. Babe Ruth 1931
9. Ty Cobb 1911
10. Sam Thompson 1894

there is NO WAY ichiro belongs ahead of those 4

[brett]

brett, not signing on with the Sosa train?

Sosa's ranks up there with a 203 OPS+, and while hitting is the most important factor, especially for a right fielder, Walker was 178 and could very well have been another +8 runs on the bases, +3-4 for steals, and +10 or so in the field. That's about equal to 25 OPS+ points which would put them virtually equal IF Sosa was an average baserunner and fielder.

By the way, I am not TOTALLY sure that Sosa used steroids. He got bigger and stronger, but no more than I did during that period of my life, and he did as a point of fact RADICALLY alter his swing prior to '98 to one of the most perfect power swings in history.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

By the way, I am not TOTALLY sure that Sosa used steroids.

You're not TOTALLY sure that the sun will come up tomorrow, either, I guess. Seriously, the naive, head-in-the-sand bs can stop now. Time to grow up and come to grips with reality.

[AstrosFan]

Oh, there's proof now? I didn't realize this. Can you elaborate?

[Knick9]

This one's so easy, it's not even funny. Babe Ruth, played right field for the New York Yankees in 1927 and needless to say his season is what it is. *shrug*

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Oh, there's proof now? I didn't realize this. Can you elaborate?

The combination of two eyes, a brain, and reason is all you need. People like you who need "proof" are hilarious to me. Only two things could happen that would satisfy you I suppose. The first being, the player comes out and admits it. But even then maybe he's just making it up to get people off his back Or the other would be actual video evidence of him with the needle coming out of his arse. But even then the video has been manipulated, how do we know what is in the needle, etc...blah, blah. So in the end, you'll never have proof so your position in the sand is secure.