1980 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1980 Season

The 1980 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

It has been said that baseball fans tend to think that Major League Baseball was at its best when the fan was twelve years old. Next in my continuing series of articles about individual seasons is the season when Major League Baseball was at its best, or at least, it's the season during which I turned 12: 1980.

The Best of 1980

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

The top 10 players in pWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	George Brett	18.5	10.3	8.1	9.5	1	Steve Carlton	19.8	13.2	7.8	9.6
2	Steve Carlton	19.8	13.2	7.8	9.6	2	George Brett	18.5	10.3	8.1	9.5
3	Mike Norris	17.5	11.0	6.7	8.4	3	Willie Wilson	26.0	18.9	6.4	8.5
4	Willie Randolph	20.5	14.9	6.4	8.0	4	Mike Norris	17.5	11.0	6.7	8.4
5	Willie Wilson	26.0	18.9	6.4	8.5	5	Mike Schmidt	23.7	17.0	6.2	8.1
6	Mike Schmidt	23.7	17.0	6.2	8.1	6	Willie Randolph	20.5	14.9	6.4	8.0
7	Dale Murphy	23.6	16.7	6.1	8.0	7	Dale Murphy	23.6	16.7	6.1	8.0
8	Dan Quisenberry	11.9	5.8	5.7	7.5	8	Dan Quisenberry	11.9	5.8	5.7	7.5
9	Tommy John	16.1	11.1	5.2	6.8	9	Robin Yount	21.6	18.1	5.1	6.9
10	Reggie Jackson	19.7	14.0	5.2	6.9	10	Rickey Henderson	26.6	20.5	4.7	6.9

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Mike Schmidt	23.7	17.0	6.4	8.3	1	Mike Schmidt	23.7	17.0	6.4	8.3
2	George Brett	17.4	11.3	6.0	7.3	2	Robin Yount	21.8	17.9	5.5	7.4
3	Robin Yount	21.8	17.9	5.5	7.4	3	George Brett	17.4	11.3	6.0	7.3
4	Steve Carlton	18.5	14.5	5.4	7.2	4	Steve Carlton	18.5	14.5	5.4	7.2
5	Mike Norris	16.7	11.8	5.1	6.7	5	Rickey Henderson	26.6	20.5	4.8	7.0
6	Willie Randolph	19.7	15.7	4.9	6.6	6	Mike Norris	16.7	11.8	5.1	6.7
7	Rickey Henderson	26.6	20.5	4.8	7.0	7	Willie Wilson	25.1	19.8	4.6	6.7
8	Willie Wilson	25.1	19.8	4.6	6.7	8	Willie Randolph	19.7	15.7	4.9	6.6
9	Dale Murphy	22.9	17.5	4.6	6.5	9	Dale Murphy	22.9	17.5	4.6	6.5
10	Gary Carter	17.2	13.2	4.3	5.7	10	Ben Oglivie	25.1	19.8	4.2	6.3

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1980 at the end of this article.

1980 Postseason

The story of the 1980 postseason was one of redemption. The Kansas City Royals finally beat the New York Yankees after losing to them in three previous postseasons. The Philadelphia Phillies also won after losing three previous LCS's, although not all to the same team, and none to their 1980 opponent.

The 1980 World Series featured two teams who had never previously won a World Series, the first such meeting since 1920. The 1980 postseason culminated in the Philadelphia Phillies winning their first World Series in their then-98-year history.

The best of the 1980 postseason in table form:

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1980 Postseason: Total

Willie Aikens	KCA	1.5	0.4	1.2
Steve Carlton	PHI	1.7	1.0	0.9
Pete Rose Sr.	PHI	1.6	0.8	0.8
Tug McGraw	PHI	1.5	1.0	0.7
George Brett	KCA	1.4	0.9	0.6
Amos Otis	KCA	1.4	1.0	0.5
Jose Cruz Sr.	HOU	1.2	0.7	0.5
Del Unser	PHI	0.7	0.3	0.5
Willie Wilson	KCA	1.5	1.2	0.5
Joe Niekro	HOU	0.6	0.3	0.4

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1980 World Series

Willie Aikens	KCA	1.2	0.3	0.9
Bake McBride	PHI	1.1	0.5	0.6
Steve Carlton	PHI	1.0	0.6	0.4
Tug McGraw	PHI	1.0	0.6	0.4
Del Unser	PHI	0.5	0.1	0.4

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1980 Postseason: League Championship Series

George Brett	KCA	0.8	0.2	0.5
Willie Wilson	KCA	0.8	0.3	0.5
Jose Cruz Sr.	HOU	1.2	0.7	0.5
Greg Luzinski	PHI	0.8	0.4	0.5
Pete Rose Sr.	PHI	0.9	0.5	0.5

Best of 1980 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in various aspects of the game.

Best by Factor: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, Fielding

There are four basic factors for which players earn Player won-lost records: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, and Fielding. The top players in 1980 in wins over positional average (WOPA) by factor were as follows.


Batting
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Mike Schmidt	17.1	10.5	6.1	1	George Brett	13.3	6.7	6.6
2	Reggie Jackson	14.8	9.6	5.3	2	Reggie Jackson	15.4	9.0	6.5
3	George Brett	12.4	7.6	4.9	3	Mike Schmidt	17.2	10.4	6.4
4	Ben Oglivie	15.8	11.4	4.4	4	Dale Murphy	16.3	10.3	5.6
5	Cecil Cooper	15.2	11.3	4.0	5	Steve Garvey	18.2	12.1	5.6
6	Ken Singleton	15.1	11.2	4.0	6	Ken Singleton	15.6	10.8	4.8
7	Mike Easler	11.2	7.1	3.8	7	George Foster	15.4	10.5	4.5
8	Dale Murphy	15.4	11.2	3.7	8	Ben Oglivie	15.7	11.5	4.2
9	Keith Hernandez	14.6	10.8	3.4	9	Eddie Murray	16.2	12.1	4.2
10	Dusty Baker	14.6	10.8	3.4	10	Mike Easler	11.3	7.0	4.0

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Ron LeFlore	4.2	1.7	2.4	1	Willie Wilson	3.4	1.2	2.2
2	Willie Wilson	3.2	1.3	1.9	2	Ron LeFlore	3.8	2.0	1.8
3	Rodney Scott	2.9	1.9	1.0	3	Rickey Henderson	3.9	2.7	1.1
4	Andre Dawson	2.2	1.1	1.0	4	Andre Dawson	2.1	1.2	0.9
5	Paul Molitor	2.0	1.0	0.9	5	Davey Lopes	1.8	0.9	0.9
6	Rickey Henderson	3.7	2.9	0.8	6	Rodney Scott	2.9	2.0	0.8
7	Robin Yount	1.8	0.9	0.8	7	Cesar Cedeno	2.1	1.3	0.8
8	Gene Richards	2.8	1.9	0.8	8	Mickey Rivers	1.9	1.2	0.7
9	Jerry Mumphrey	1.8	1.0	0.8	9	Rick Peters	1.8	1.1	0.7
10	Al Bumbry	2.6	1.9	0.7	10	Robin Yount	1.7	1.0	0.7

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Steve Carlton	16.5	12.6	3.9	1	Steve Carlton	18.3	10.8	7.4
2	Mike Norris	15.8	12.3	3.5	2	Mike Norris	17.2	10.9	6.2
3	Doug Corbett	9.1	6.1	2.9	3	Dan Quisenberry	11.3	5.7	5.7
4	J.R. Richard	7.9	5.1	2.8	4	Tommy John	15.5	10.6	4.9
5	Tommy John	14.4	11.8	2.6	5	Rich Gossage	9.0	4.3	4.7
6	Scott McGregor	14.1	11.5	2.6	6	Jerry Reuss	12.3	7.8	4.5
7	Rudy May	10.5	8.0	2.5	7	Scott McGregor	15.0	10.6	4.4
8	Rich Gossage	7.9	5.4	2.4	8	Tom Burgmeier	7.5	3.5	4.0
9	Jerry Reuss	11.2	8.9	2.3	9	Steve Stone	15.7	11.7	4.0
10	Britt Burns	14.2	12.0	2.2	10	Don Sutton	12.4	8.6	3.7

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Paul Splittorff	0.5	0.2	0.3	1	Dan Quisenberry	0.5	0.1	0.4
2	Tom Burgmeier	0.3	0.0	0.3	2	Paul Splittorff	0.6	0.2	0.4
3	Jerry Garvin	0.3	0.0	0.2	3	Shane Rawley	0.5	0.1	0.3
4	Don Stanhouse	0.2	0.0	0.2	4	Tom Burgmeier	0.3	0.0	0.3
5	Mike Caldwell	0.4	0.2	0.2	5	Mike Norris	0.4	0.1	0.3


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Gary Carter	2.9	1.9	1.0	1	Gary Carter	3.1	1.8	1.3
2	Rick Dempsey	1.5	1.1	0.4	2	Rick Dempsey	1.7	0.9	0.8
3	Alex Trevino	1.6	1.2	0.4	3	Rick Cerone	2.2	1.6	0.5
4	Larry Cox	1.2	0.9	0.3	4	Dan Graham	1.2	0.7	0.4
5	Lance Parrish	1.7	1.4	0.3	5	Bruce Benedict	2.0	1.6	0.4


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Chris Chambliss	2.7	2.3	0.3	1	Pete Rose Sr.	2.4	1.8	0.6
2	Ron D. Jackson	1.7	1.4	0.3	2	Dan Driessen	2.9	2.3	0.5
3	Mike Cubbage	1.2	1.0	0.3	3	Mike Squires	2.1	1.6	0.4
4	Jason D. Thompson	1.4	1.2	0.2	4	Willie Aikens	1.9	1.6	0.3
5	Pete Rose Sr.	2.2	2.0	0.2	5	Darrell Evans	0.6	0.3	0.3


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Manny Trillo	5.6	4.8	0.8	1	Manny Trillo	6.1	4.2	1.9
2	Glenn Hubbard	5.1	4.4	0.8	2	Rich Dauer	4.9	3.7	1.2
3	Willie Randolph	5.7	5.2	0.5	3	Willie Randolph	6.0	4.9	1.2
4	Junior Kennedy	3.4	3.0	0.4	4	Frank White	5.8	5.0	0.8
5	Frank White	5.6	5.2	0.4	5	Glenn Hubbard	5.1	4.4	0.8


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ron Cey	4.5	3.6	0.9	1	Doug DeCinces	5.3	3.5	1.8
2	Doug DeCinces	4.8	4.0	0.8	2	George Brett	4.1	2.8	1.3
3	Buddy Bell	3.9	3.3	0.6	3	Buddy Bell	4.1	3.1	1.0
4	John Castino	5.0	4.4	0.6	4	Ron Cey	4.5	3.6	0.9
5	Ken Reitz	4.4	3.9	0.5	5	Toby Harrah	4.7	4.0	0.8


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Rick Burleson	7.5	6.2	1.3	1	Bucky Dent	6.8	5.3	1.4
2	Garry Templeton	6.1	5.3	0.8	2	Ozzie Smith	8.2	6.8	1.4
3	Bucky Dent	6.4	5.7	0.7	3	Chris Speier	5.8	4.9	0.9
4	Ozzie Smith	7.8	7.1	0.7	4	U L Washington	6.8	5.9	0.9
5	Tim Foli	5.5	5.0	0.5	5	Dave Concepcion	6.4	5.6	0.9


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Willie Wilson	6.3	4.7	1.6	1	Rickey Henderson	8.7	6.0	2.7
2	Rickey Henderson	8.0	6.7	1.4	2	Willie Wilson	6.7	4.2	2.5
3	Jose Cruz Sr.	8.3	7.3	1.0	3	Jose Cruz Sr.	8.6	7.0	1.5
4	Paul Hodgson	1.1	0.2	0.9	4	Dusty Baker	6.5	5.5	1.0
5	Ben Oglivie	8.1	7.4	0.6	5	Ben Oglivie	8.1	7.4	0.7


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Omar Moreno	8.5	6.9	1.6	1	Omar Moreno	8.8	6.6	2.2
2	Tony Scott	4.3	3.5	0.8	2	Dwayne Murphy	7.4	5.8	1.6
3	Dale Murphy	4.9	4.1	0.8	3	Amos Otis	4.5	3.2	1.4
4	Rod Craig	2.3	1.7	0.6	4	Willie Wilson	3.1	1.9	1.2
5	Amos Otis	4.1	3.6	0.5	5	Dale Murphy	5.0	4.0	1.0


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tony Armas Sr.	7.2	5.6	1.6	1	Tony Armas Sr.	7.4	5.5	1.9
2	Terry Puhl	5.1	4.1	1.0	2	Terry Puhl	5.5	3.8	1.7
3	Dave Winfield	6.3	5.4	0.9	3	Mickey Hatcher	1.4	0.2	1.2
4	Ellis Valentine	4.2	3.5	0.6	4	Hosken Powell	6.4	5.2	1.2
5	Hosken Powell	6.1	5.5	0.6	5	Reggie Smith	4.1	3.3	0.8

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1980 Major-League leaders by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position.


Catcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Gary Carter	16.9	13.2	3.9	1	Gary Carter	16.6	13.5	3.3
2	Ted Simmons	16.1	13.1	3.2	2	Ted Simmons	16.0	13.2	3.0
3	Johnny Bench	11.2	8.8	2.5	3	Dan Graham	8.4	5.6	3.0
4	Gene Tenace	9.1	7.1	2.1	4	Ron Hassey	10.2	7.6	2.9
5	Carlton Fisk	11.1	9.6	1.9	5	Rick Cerone	14.3	12.4	2.4


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Cecil Cooper	17.9	13.8	3.3	1	Steve Garvey	21.7	15.9	4.3
2	Keith Hernandez	18.9	14.9	2.7	2	Eddie Murray	18.7	14.7	3.1
3	Steve Garvey	20.3	17.3	1.4	3	Dan Driessen	17.0	13.1	2.7
4	Willie Stargell	6.3	4.6	1.2	4	Cecil Cooper	17.4	14.3	2.3
5	John Mayberry Sr.	12.9	11.1	1.2	5	Art Howe	7.9	5.8	1.6


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie Randolph	19.6	15.8	4.6	1	Willie Randolph	20.5	14.9	6.4
2	Paul Molitor	14.1	11.4	3.2	2	Paul Molitor	14.0	11.5	3.2
3	Bobby Grich	16.8	15.2	2.4	3	Frank White	18.0	15.8	3.1
4	Joe L. Morgan	16.4	15.1	1.9	4	Joe L. Morgan	17.0	14.5	3.1
5	Glenn Hubbard	15.6	14.3	1.7	5	Rich Dauer	15.7	13.4	3.1


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	George Brett	17.0	11.4	5.6	1	George Brett	18.3	10.1	8.2
2	Mike Schmidt	23.4	17.3	5.6	2	Mike Schmidt	23.7	17.0	6.2
3	Buddy Bell	16.0	12.8	3.1	3	Doug DeCinces	17.3	13.2	4.0
4	Bob Horner	17.2	13.7	3.1	4	Ron Cey	19.2	14.8	3.9
5	Ron Cey	18.4	15.6	2.3	5	Toby Harrah	19.5	16.3	3.1


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Robin Yount	20.5	17.2	4.9	1	Robin Yount	20.6	17.0	5.1
2	Alan Trammell	18.6	16.9	3.4	2	Alan Trammell	18.8	16.7	3.6
3	Garry Templeton	17.5	15.8	2.8	3	U L Washington	18.3	16.5	3.2
4	Roy Smalley III	17.6	16.9	2.2	4	Dave Concepcion	19.7	18.5	2.5
5	Rick Burleson	20.6	20.6	1.9	5	Roy Smalley III	17.6	16.9	2.2


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rickey Henderson	26.2	20.8	4.1	1	Rickey Henderson	26.6	20.8	4.8
2	Ben Oglivie	23.9	19.3	3.6	2	George Foster	22.6	17.8	4.1
3	Mike Easler	12.0	8.3	3.1	3	Jose Cruz Sr.	25.8	21.2	4.1
4	Willie Wilson	15.6	12.4	2.6	4	Mike Easler	12.4	8.3	3.8
5	George Foster	21.8	17.8	2.5	5	Willie Wilson	16.1	12.4	3.5


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dale Murphy	19.1	14.6	3.9	1	Dale Murphy	20.3	13.4	6.3
2	Andre Dawson	22.4	18.2	3.4	2	Al Bumbry	22.0	17.7	4.0
3	Cesar Cedeno	19.6	16.2	2.8	3	Willie Wilson	10.0	6.8	3.1
4	Al Bumbry	21.1	18.6	2.3	4	Dwayne Murphy	22.7	19.4	3.0
5	Dwayne Murphy	22.1	19.9	1.9	5	Andre Dawson	22.1	18.4	2.9


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Tony Armas Sr.	21.8	18.1	2.9	1	Tony Armas Sr.	22.5	17.4	4.4
2	Ellis Valentine	13.3	9.9	2.8	2	Terry Puhl	16.5	11.4	4.4
3	Reggie Smith	13.0	9.6	2.8	3	Jack Clark	18.3	13.7	3.7
4	Jack Clark	17.8	14.2	2.7	4	Ken Singleton	20.4	16.1	3.6
5	Terry Puhl	15.5	12.4	2.3	5	Ellis Valentine	13.3	9.9	2.9


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Steve Carlton	16.8	12.8	4.2	1	Steve Carlton	18.6	11.0	7.8
2	Mike Norris	16.1	12.4	3.9	2	Mike Norris	17.5	11.0	6.7
3	J.R. Richard	8.0	5.1	2.9	3	Tommy John	16.1	11.1	5.2
4	Scott McGregor	14.3	11.7	2.8	4	Scott McGregor	15.3	10.8	4.7
5	Tommy John	14.9	12.3	2.8	5	Steve Stone	16.0	12.2	4.1
6	Britt Burns	14.2	11.9	2.5	6	Vida Blue	14.2	10.6	3.9
7	Vida Blue	13.4	11.3	2.3	7	J.R. Richard	8.4	4.7	3.8
8	Dave Stieb	13.9	11.9	2.2	8	Don Sutton	12.5	9.1	3.6
9	Jerry Reuss	10.4	8.7	1.8	9	Jerry Reuss	11.3	7.8	3.6
10	Rudy May	7.2	5.5	1.8	10	Rudy May	7.9	4.8	3.2


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Doug Corbett	9.2	6.3	2.6	1	Dan Quisenberry	11.9	5.8	5.7
2	Rich Gossage	7.9	5.6	2.1	2	Rich Gossage	9.0	4.5	4.3
3	Tom Burgmeier	6.8	4.6	2.0	3	Tom Burgmeier	7.9	3.5	4.1
4	Tug McGraw	5.6	3.5	2.0	4	Tug McGraw	6.3	2.7	3.4
5	Dan Quisenberry	9.7	7.9	1.6	5	Doug Corbett	9.4	6.2	3.0
6	Joe Sambito	5.8	4.1	1.5	6	Woodie Fryman	6.5	3.8	2.6
7	Greg Minton	5.8	4.4	1.3	7	Tim Stoddard	6.8	4.0	2.5
8	Jerry Garvin	5.0	3.7	1.2	8	Greg Minton	6.5	3.8	2.5
9	Rollie Fingers	7.5	6.1	1.2	9	Aurelio Lopez	8.6	6.0	2.3
10	Tim Stoddard	6.1	4.8	1.1	10	Rick Camp	6.3	4.1	2.0


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jason D. Thompson	4.7	2.8	1.9	1	Reggie Jackson	5.5	3.0	2.4
2	Otto Velez	9.1	7.2	1.7	2	Otto Velez	9.1	7.1	1.8
3	Reggie Jackson	5.2	3.4	1.6	3	Champ Summers	5.4	3.8	1.5

Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitting, and pinch running.


Pitcher Offense
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Don Robinson	1.4	1.0	0.8	1	Don Robinson	1.5	1.0	1.0
2	Bob Forsch	1.6	1.4	0.8	2	Bob Forsch	1.6	1.4	0.9
3	Rick Rhoden	1.0	0.7	0.6	3	Larry Christenson	1.0	0.3	0.9


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jeff Burroughs	1.7	0.7	1.0	1	Terry Crowley	3.1	1.9	1.3
2	Terry Crowley	3.0	2.1	1.0	2	Jeff Burroughs	1.6	0.8	0.9
3	Richie Hebner	1.1	0.4	0.7	3	John Lowenstein	1.2	0.4	0.9


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Matt Alexander	0.9	0.6	0.3	1	Dave Stegman	0.3	0.0	0.3
2	Dave Stegman	0.3	0.0	0.3	2	Jeffrey Leonard	0.3	0.0	0.3
3	Jeffrey Leonard	0.3	0.0	0.2	3	Bert Campaneris	0.2	0.1	0.1

Noteworthy Players of 1980

MVP Third Basemen: George Brett vs. Mike Schmidt

The Most Valuable Player in both leagues was the starting third baseman for the league's eventual pennant winner. In the American League, George Brett flirted with .400 all season, when he wasn't missing 45 games with injuries. Meanwhile, in the National League, Mike Schmidt led his league in home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage.

Mike Schmidt was the top player in 1980 as measured by eWins over either positional average or replacement level (eWOPA and eWORL). George Brett was the top player in 1980 as measured by pWins over either positional average or replacement level.

Fun factoid: George Brett and Mike Schmidt were drafted back-to-back in the second round of the 1971 MLB draft (the 29th and 30th overall picks). The career records of these two first-ballot Hall-of-Famers are compared in the next table.

Season	Games	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA	eWORL	Games	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA	eWORL
	Mike Schmidt					George Brett
1972	13	1.2	1.3	-0.1	0.0
1973	131	13.8	12.5	0.5	1.8	13	0.6	1.0	-0.4	-0.3
1974	162	24.0	16.5	7.0	8.8	133	13.5	14.1	-0.7	0.5
1975	158	22.5	16.1	6.2	8.0	159	20.2	18.6	1.5	3.3
1976	160	23.1	16.8	5.8	7.8	159	22.1	17.4	4.5	6.5
1977	154	21.5	15.1	5.7	7.6	139	20.1	16.8	3.2	5.1
1978	145	20.2	16.3	3.3	5.0	128	16.4	14.3	1.9	3.3
1979	160	23.7	17.8	5.5	7.5	154	20.9	17.1	3.6	5.4
1980	150	23.7	17.0	6.4	8.3	117	17.4	11.3	6.0	7.3
1981	102	16.8	11.0	5.4	6.9	89	11.1	10.0	0.8	1.9
1982	148	22.7	16.1	5.9	7.6	144	18.4	15.3	2.8	4.3
1983	154	22.6	16.8	5.0	6.8	123	16.8	13.8	2.6	4.0
1984	151	23.0	17.2	5.5	7.4	104	13.3	12.4	1.1	2.3
1985	158	20.1	15.1	3.8	5.4	155	21.2	16.5	5.2	7.0
1986	160	21.2	15.3	5.0	6.7	123	16.0	12.8	2.9	4.2
1987	147	22.5	16.6	5.1	6.9	115	13.3	11.1	1.2	2.3
1988	108	13.2	12.4	0.6	1.8	157	18.6	14.5	3.2	4.9
1989	42	5.2	5.2	-0.1	0.4	124	14.4	12.5	0.8	2.1
1990						142	16.2	13.3	1.9	3.3
1991						131	10.9	11.4	-1.5	-0.1
1992						152	11.9	11.7	-0.4	1.0
1993						145	11.9	12.4	-0.8	0.9
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,403	341.1	255.1	76.5	104.7	2,706	325.2	278.4	39.5	69.4

Unappreciated Greatness

The 1980 season was the finest season in Willie Randolph's career. Willie Randolph was a six-time All-Star, but only received scattered MVP votes twice (with a high finish of 15th). Surprisingly (to me), he never won a Gold Glove, and when he appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot for the first (and only) time, in 1998, he received 5 votes.

In contrast, Willie Randolph was elected to the Hall of Merit in "2001" (the Hall of Merit elected their "2001" class in July, 2007). At the time, I thought of this as a great example of how the Hall of Fame is too big (the Hall of Merit was designed to be the same size). I certainly never thought of Willie Randolph as a Hall-of-Famer when I watched him play.

But having constructed Player won-lost records and looking at Willie Randolph's career with them, I am reconsidering. The fact is, Willie Randolph had a terrific career and is, I believe, deservedly in the Hall of Merit.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Willie Randolph Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1975	PIT	20	30	1.4	2.0	-0.5	-0.4	1.4	2.1	-0.6	-0.5
1976	NYA	21	125	14.4	13.7	1.4	2.8	14.7	13.5	1.9	3.2
1977	NYA	22	147	18.4	16.6	2.9	4.6	17.9	17.1	1.9	3.7
1978	NYA	23	134	17.8	15.0	3.6	5.2	17.3	15.5	2.7	4.2
1979	NYA	24	153	20.3	17.4	3.8	5.6	20.0	17.7	3.2	5.0
1980	NYA	25	138	20.5	14.9	6.4	8.0	19.7	15.7	4.9	6.6
1981	NYA	26	93	12.6	12.0	1.2	2.5	12.4	12.1	0.9	2.3
1982	NYA	27	144	17.2	17.5	0.4	2.0	17.7	17.1	1.3	2.9
1983	NYA	28	104	13.6	12.3	1.8	2.9	13.3	12.5	1.4	2.5
1984	NYA	29	142	17.8	17.0	1.7	3.3	17.5	17.3	1.0	2.6
1985	NYA	30	143	16.5	16.1	0.7	2.2	16.8	15.8	1.2	2.7
1986	NYA	31	141	16.3	15.6	1.5	3.0	16.4	15.5	1.7	3.2
1987	NYA	32	120	17.0	13.6	4.1	5.5	16.6	14.0	3.4	4.8
1988	NYA	33	110	12.5	12.1	1.0	2.2	12.1	12.5	0.2	1.4
1989	LAN	34	145	19.0	17.1	1.8	3.4	18.6	17.4	1.0	2.6
1990	LAN	35	119	12.2	11.5	1.0	2.0	11.6	12.1	-0.2	0.9
1991	MIL	36	124	15.8	13.7	2.2	3.5	15.6	14.0	1.7	3.0
1992	NYN	37	90	9.4	9.8	-0.5	0.4	9.7	9.4	0.3	1.2
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,202	272.9	247.9	34.2	58.8	269.3	251.5	27.7	52.2
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			47	4.8	4.7		0.8	4.7	4.8		0.6
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,249	277.7	252.6		59.6	274.0	256.3		52.9

1980 Baseball: Basestealers, Firemen, and Pinch Runners

Major League Baseball in 1980 (and the surrounding seasons) was very different than the baseball that came both before and after. The two most prominent ways in which this era of baseball stands alone in baseball history are in the relative value of baserunning and in the use of relief pitchers and pinch runners.

Baserunning

The top 10 single-season baserunning totals, measured by eWins over non-pitcher average, across all seasons for which I have calculated Player won-lost records are shown in the next table.

Top 10 Single-Season Baserunning Totals (Wins over non-Pitcher Average)
Player	Season	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Maury Wills	1962	4.6	1.6	2.9
Ron LeFlore	1980	4.2	1.7	2.4
Rickey Henderson	1988	4.3	1.9	2.4
Bobby Bonds	1972	3.2	0.9	2.3
Rickey Henderson	1985	3.7	1.4	2.3
Tim Raines Sr.	1985	3.7	1.6	2.0
Vince Coleman	1985	4.5	2.5	2.0
Willie Wilson	1980	3.2	1.3	1.9
Rickey Henderson	1983	3.6	1.7	1.9
Vince Coleman	1986	3.8	1.9	1.9

The relative importance of baserunning varies over time. The time period around 1980 was one in which baserunning was a more significant aspect of the game than time periods just before (e.g, the 1950s and 1960s) and after (e.g., the 1990s and 2000s).

The biggest differences in baserunning across seasons are those associated with what I call Component 1, basestealing. In 1980, Rickey Henderson stole 100 bases, Ron LeFlore stole 97 bases, and Omar Moreno stole 96 bases. At the time, these were 3 of the top 6 single-season stolen base totals of the 20th century.

In 1980, 10 players stole at least 50 bases. No player has stolen 50 bases since 2017; 10 players have stolen at least 50 bases in a season over the past seven seasons (2013 - 2019).

Even beyond Component 1, however, baserunning was a larger part of the game in 1980 than most seasons either before or after.

The table below shows how the percentage of total offensive Player decisions that were baserunning compares in 1980 relative to the average for all of the seasons over which Player won-lost records have been calculated.

Season(s)	Total	Basestealing	Other
Percentage of Total Offensive Decisions Attributed to Baserunning
	Percentage
1916 - 2019	8.4%	2.2%	6.2%
1980	9.4%	2.9%	6.4%

Relief Pitching

The late 1970s and the early 1980s were the era of the "Fireman", relief pitchers who came in whenever needed to put out fires and who then stayed to the end of the game. Fourteen pitchers threw 100 or more innings without starting a game in 1980; three of these pitchers (Doug Corbett, Ron Davis, and Tom Hume) threw more than 130 innings (no pitcher has thrown 130 relief innings in a season since Mark Eichhorn in 1986).

The top relief season of 1980 was by Dan Quisenberry. Taking context into account, Dan Quisenberry's 1980 season generated the 7^th-most pWins and the 1^st-most pWins over replacement level (pWORL) of any pitcher who did not start a game for all seasons for which I have calculated Player won-lost records.

The top ten seasons by a pitcher who did not start a game, as measured by pWORL, are shown in the next table.

	Player	Season	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
1	John Hiller	1973	DET	12.2	5.1	0.703	7.1	8.9
2	Wilcy Moore	1927	NYA	13.9	9.1	0.602	5.6	7.7
3	Willie Hernandez	1984	DET	9.8	3.1	0.759	6.4	7.7
4	John Smoltz	2002	ATL	10.3	4.0	0.718	6.0	7.6
5	Dan Quisenberry	1980	KCA	11.9	5.8	0.672	5.7	7.5
6	Jim Kern	1979	TEX	12.4	6.6	0.651	5.6	7.4
7	Keith Foulke	2000	CHA	9.1	2.9	0.760	6.1	7.4
8	Mariano Rivera	1996	NYA	9.6	3.6	0.728	5.9	7.2
9	Rich Gossage	1975	CHA	12.0	6.9	0.637	5.1	7.1
10	Blake Treinen	2018	OAK	9.3	3.5	0.726	5.7	7.0

Pinch Running

The top pinch runner of 1980 was probably Matt Alexander, who played in 37 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 34 of which he entered as a pinch runner. For his career, Alexander was a pinch runner in 271 of his 374 career games.

Alexander is one of 7 players for whom I have calculated Player won-lost records with at least one full Player decision to amass a majority of his Player decisions as a pinch runner. Alexander is also the best pinch runner over the seasons for which I have calculated Player won-lost records - by a lot.

The top ten players in career Player wins over positional average as a pinch runner are shown in the table below.

	Career Leaders in Pinch Runner WOPA
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Matt Alexander	5.3	3.6	2.0
Otis Nixon	3.5	2.3	1.2
Miguel Dilone	2.9	2.2	0.9
Carlos Gomez	1.1	0.4	0.7
John Moses	1.4	0.8	0.6
Eric Davis	1.1	0.5	0.6
James Mouton	1.5	0.8	0.6
Chris Singleton	0.8	0.2	0.6
Rajai Davis	1.9	1.3	0.6
Rod Kanehl	0.8	0.2	0.6

Notable Debuts

Two players who debuted in 1980 have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Harold Baines and Lee Smith, who were elected together in December 2018 and inducted in the summer of 2019.

The next table compares the career records of Baines and Smith, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Games	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA	eWORL	Games	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA	eWORL
	Harold Baines					Lee Smith
1980	141	14.3	15.5	-1.8	-0.4	18	0.7	0.6	0.2	0.3
1981	81	9.1	8.1	0.7	1.6	40	3.6	3.8	-0.1	0.5
1982	161	20.8	20.0	0.1	1.9	72	6.3	5.5	0.7	1.6
1983	156	20.1	19.9	-0.1	1.7	66	8.1	5.7	2.2	3.5
1984	147	21.3	18.8	1.3	3.1	69	7.7	7.2	0.6	2.0
1985	160	21.7	21.4	-0.3	1.8	65	8.7	7.5	1.2	2.9
1986	145	19.5	18.0	0.8	2.5	66	8.3	7.3	1.1	2.5
1987	132	11.5	10.6	0.6	1.9	62	7.2	5.9	1.0	2.3
1988	158	13.6	12.8	0.3	1.9	64	7.0	6.1	0.7	2.0
1989	146	14.3	12.2	2.0	3.6	64	4.8	4.0	0.5	1.3
1990	135	11.4	10.0	1.2	2.6	64	7.2	5.8	1.4	2.7
1991	141	12.7	10.4	1.7	3.1	67	7.4	6.4	0.8	2.1
1992	140	11.7	11.3	-0.0	1.4	70	6.2	5.6	0.4	1.6
1993	117	10.6	8.7	1.7	3.0	62	5.2	5.4	-0.1	0.9
1994	94	7.4	6.9	0.1	1.1	41	4.2	3.7	0.6	1.4
1995	127	10.6	8.8	1.0	2.4	52	5.1	4.2	0.9	1.8
1996	143	13.0	11.1	1.2	2.8	54	2.5	2.4	0.0	0.5
1997	136	10.5	9.6	0.7	2.0	25	0.9	1.1	-0.2	0.0
1998	103	7.5	6.9	0.1	1.1
1999	134	11.4	9.7	1.3	2.7
2000	95	5.3	6.1	-1.1	-0.3
2001	30	1.0	2.1	-1.2	-1.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,822	279.5	258.9	10.3	40.7	1,021	101.0	88.1	11.9	30.0

2 Players: 45 Seasons

The 1980 season was the final season in the Hall-of-Fame career of Willie McCovey. It was also the first full season as a big-league regular for another Hall-of-Famer, Rickey Henderson.

Between McCovey and Henderson, their major-league careers spanned 45 seasons, from 1959, when Willie McCovey won the NL Rookie of the Year by hitting .354 with 13 home runs in only 52 games at the age of 21, through 2003, when Rickey Henderson appeared in 30 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers (his 9th major-league team), at the age of 44.

This article ends, then, with a comparison of the Hall-of-Fame careers of Willie McCovey and Rickey Henderson, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Age	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Willie McCovey						Rickey Henderson
20						89	12.1	12.2	-0.4	0.7
21	52	7.4	4.5	2.5	3.1	158	26.6	20.5	4.7	6.9
22	101	9.1	6.9	1.6	2.5	108	18.0	13.4	3.9	5.6
23	106	10.4	8.5	0.9	1.9	149	22.1	19.0	2.2	4.1
24	89	9.3	6.4	2.3	3.1	145	20.7	17.2	2.7	4.4
25	152	22.1	16.4	4.4	6.2	142	22.7	17.0	4.7	6.6
26	129	13.3	11.2	1.3	2.6	143	23.1	15.8	6.9	8.8
27	160	21.2	13.1	6.7	8.4	153	20.9	18.3	2.1	4.0
28	149	19.7	12.4	5.9	7.4	95	13.5	10.7	2.4	3.6
29	135	18.5	11.5	5.6	7.1	140	22.7	16.6	5.5	7.5
30	148	21.5	14.4	5.3	7.1	150	22.7	17.2	4.6	6.4
31	149	22.2	12.3	8.2	10.0	136	23.9	14.5	8.8	10.5
32	152	21.7	12.6	7.5	9.2	134	19.5	15.1	4.0	5.6
33	105	12.4	8.2	3.1	4.1	116	17.9	12.1	5.5	6.9
34	81	6.6	7.7	-2.5	-1.8	134	19.2	16.3	2.3	4.1
35	130	14.7	10.5	3.1	4.3	87	11.3	9.0	2.1	3.1
36	128	11.4	9.8	0.8	1.8	112	14.9	12.1	2.4	3.8
37	122	11.6	12.2	-2.0	-0.8	148	15.7	13.9	0.7	2.1
38	82	6.0	6.7	-1.2	-0.5	120	11.9	12.1	-0.5	0.7
39	141	13.8	12.9	-0.4	1.0	152	18.3	18.4	-0.5	1.4
40	108	11.5	10.0	0.5	1.6	121	14.7	14.0	-0.0	1.3
41	117	9.2	9.5	-1.0	-0.1	123	14.0	14.3	-1.2	0.2
42	48	3.2	3.1	-0.1	0.2	123	13.5	12.3	0.2	1.5
43						72	6.4	6.1	-0.0	0.6
44						30	1.9	2.0	-0.3	-0.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,584	296.7	220.6	52.7	78.5	3,080	428.4	350.3	62.8	100.4

Article last updated: February 18, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1980 season. Positional averages for starting pitching and relief pitching are calculated using single-year data for all starting pitchers and all relief pitchers.

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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