Dimaggio's Best Season?

[GiambiJuice]

My initial feeling was that it was 1941, with the 56-game hitting streak and all. But after looking at Joe D.'s B-Ref page, I was struck by two things:

1) Just how great a player he truly was. If not for missing 3 full seasons right smack in the prime of his career during WWII, I think he'd be a top 10 player.

2) How unbelievable his 1937 season was, and that it was probably the best of his career. As a 22 year old, and righthanded hitter playing half his games at the old Yankee Stadium, he hit 46 home runs. 19 at home and 27 on the road! Truly amazing. I just wonder how many he would have hit in a ballpark that was just a little more forgiving to righthanded hitters.

Interestingly, 1941 is ranked higher according to WAR.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I always wondered how many rbi's he woulda ended up with if he didnt miss those three years. He may have gotten close or exceeded 1900 rbi's if he was able to play a 16 year career.

[redban]

1941.

56 game hitting streak
13 strikeouts in 622 Plate Appearances
184 OPS+, highest of his career.
8.6 WAR, highest of his career.

[GiambiJuice]

1941.

56 game hitting streak
13 strikeouts in 622 Plate Appearances
184 OPS+, highest of his career.
8.6 WAR, highest of his career.

You make a very compelling case for 1941. But on the other hand:

418 total bases in 1937. 348 total bases in 1941. A huge difference.
151 runs scored in 1937. 122 runs scored in 1941.
46 home runs in 1937. 30 home runs in 1941.

The WAR is close enough that I don't thinks we can put one season over the other based on WAR alone, especially with the quirks in the defensive metrics. 1941 was a more historic/memorable season, but I still think 1937 was even better. He never again came close to the HR, TB, and XBH numbers that he put up in 1937. It is very very close either way, and I'm probably wrong.

[pheasant]

I have 1937, mainly due to his outstanding run production. Joltin' Joe was amazing, but not incredibly durable. The war really messed up his stats.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

I am fond of Joe's 1939 season simply because he nearly hit .400 that season. He would have, too, if he hadn't contracted an eye infection late in the season. As late as September 10, 1939 Joe was hitting .401.

[pheasant]

Joe Dimaggio's road stats were among the best ever: .333/.405/.610.

Just my gut, but I think that the only players in history that had better road stats(rate stats) were Ruth, Gehrig, Williams, and Pujols.

[GiambiJuice]

Joe Dimaggio's road stats were among the best ever: .333/.405/.610.

Just my gut, but I think that the only players in history that had better road stats(rate stats) were Ruth, Gehrig, Williams, and Pujols.

Barry Bonds hit .296/.440/.597, which is comparable, and he did it over a lot more PA's than Dimaggio.

Rogers Hornsby hit .364 /.438/.583 on the road, though this doesn't include '15, '16 and '17.

[oolalaa]

Surely his '37 season was his best ever, simply because he had almost 170 more plate appearances than in '39. Also, aren't 16 more home runs more valuable than an extra .36 points in OBP%?

[pheasant]

Barry Bonds hit .296/.440/.597, which is comparable, and he did it over a lot more PA's than Dimaggio.

Rogers Hornsby hit .364 /.438/.583 on the road, though this doesn't include '15, '16 and '17.

Bonds' road OPS is actually higher than Hornsby's and Dimaggio's. I never would have guessed that one.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Bonds' road OPS is actually higher than Hornsby's and Dimaggio's. I never would have guessed that one.

Not really much of a difference and again, have to say it, would Barry even have that bit of an edge without his late explosion, the answer is no.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

I like 1937. Here is another streak, two fairly long streaks and broken up by only missing one game without a hit.
This guy could hit, his streaks the result of not taking many walks and most of all, low strikeout rate, contact.........contact.
Get rid of the luck factor, the lucky breaks. Sure there are some breaks in most streaks but lets give this guy credit, he's always making contact. You can't get a break if you don't put the ball in play. Looked over a number of box scores and he had a number of streaks, 16, 17 games or more broken up buy a couple or few hitless games.
A coincidence, the only hitter in organized baseball to gave two streaks of 56 or more, 61 in the PCL, he earned it.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

We see this highlight now and then, 1939 World Series.
Charlie Keller collides with Red's catcher Lombardi. Dimaggio rounds third and makes a terrific slide as Lombardi picks up the ball and attempts to tag Joe.
More to this than meets the eye. Fadeaway slide by Joe.............but he has to raise his foot over Lombardi's glove and then quickly with little room to spare........bring his foot down to make contact with the plate. In one frame we see Bill Dickey waving to Joe, telling him to hold up on third base.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Fletcher's take on that play.

[brett]

My initial feeling was that it was 1941, with the 56-game hitting streak and all. But after looking at Joe D.'s B-Ref page, I was struck by two things:

1) Just how great a player he truly was. If not for missing 3 full seasons right smack in the prime of his career during WWII, I think he'd be a top 10 player.

2) How unbelievable his 1937 season was, and that it was probably the best of his career. As a 22 year old, and righthanded hitter playing half his games at the old Yankee Stadium, he hit 46 home runs. 19 at home and 27 on the road! Truly amazing. I just wonder how many he would have hit in a ballpark that was just a little more forgiving to righthanded hitters.

Interestingly, 1941 is ranked higher according to WAR.

I have seen guestimates that had he not missed the 3 war years and had he played in a park that was neutral to right handed hitters he might have just edged Foxx for second place on the all time home run list for at least a time. Maybe that was a stretch, but doubling his road home runs would have given him 426 (even though most players hit about 6% more home runs at home than on the road) and that would have required just 25 for each of the 3 missed years to get past 500. Also there have been suggestions that he played poorly in '42 because he was stressed out about the war, and that he was mentally burned out when he returned.

His road rates of .333/.405/.610 really put him in a different category than his true career rates. With a normal home boost we would have about .340/.413/.628 TOTAL rates for both home and road and that would have been a 171 OPS+, or another way of saying it, his road OPS+ WAS 171 relative to all players on the road during his career.