1981 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1981 Season

The 1981 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

Next in my continuing series of looking at individual seasons through the prism of Player won-lost records is the 1981 season.

The 1981 season was a strange and disappointing season, with a 60-day hole in the middle from June 12th through August 10th because of a strike that cost every team between 52 and 60 games played. It then ended with a postseason that featured twice as many teams as the surrounding seasons, but somehow did not include the team with the best record in MLB or the second best team in the NL.

Still, it was major-league baseball and major-league baseball is great.

The Best of 1981

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	Dwight Evans	19.0	12.2	6.3	8.0	1	Dwight Evans	19.0	12.2	6.3	8.0
2	Mike Schmidt	17.1	10.7	5.9	7.4	2	Mike Schmidt	17.1	10.7	5.9	7.4
3	Fernando Valenzuela	15.2	10.6	5.4	6.9	3	Fernando Valenzuela	15.2	10.6	5.4	6.9
4	Dwayne Murphy	17.0	11.5	5.3	6.8	4	Dwayne Murphy	17.0	11.5	5.3	6.8
5	Robin Yount	14.6	10.7	4.8	6.2	5	Robin Yount	14.6	10.7	4.8	6.2
6	Andre Dawson	18.1	13.2	4.2	5.9	6	Andre Dawson	18.1	13.2	4.2	5.9
7	Dave Concepcion	16.1	12.8	4.1	5.7	7	George Foster	17.6	12.5	4.1	5.7
8	George Foster	17.6	12.5	4.1	5.7	8	Dave Concepcion	16.1	12.8	4.1	5.7
9	Steve McCatty	12.2	8.2	4.1	5.4	9	Rickey Henderson	18.0	13.4	3.9	5.6
10	Rickey Henderson	18.0	13.4	3.9	5.6	10	Steve McCatty	12.2	8.2	4.1	5.4

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	16.8	11.0	5.4	6.9	1	Dwight Evans	18.5	12.7	5.2	6.9
2	Dwight Evans	18.5	12.7	5.2	6.9	2	Mike Schmidt	16.8	11.0	5.4	6.9
3	Bobby Grich	14.7	10.5	4.6	5.9	3	Andre Dawson	18.2	13.1	4.5	6.2
4	Andre Dawson	18.2	13.1	4.5	6.2	4	Bobby Grich	14.7	10.5	4.6	5.9
5	Eddie Murray	13.0	9.2	3.5	4.7	5	Rickey Henderson	17.9	13.6	3.5	5.1
6	Rickey Henderson	17.9	13.6	3.5	5.1	6	Fernando Valenzuela	14.1	11.7	3.3	4.9
7	Fernando Valenzuela	14.1	11.7	3.3	4.9	7	Eddie Murray	13.0	9.2	3.5	4.7
8	Robin Yount	13.7	11.6	3.2	4.6	8	Robin Yount	13.7	11.6	3.2	4.6
9	Steve McCatty	11.7	8.6	3.1	4.5	9	Steve McCatty	11.7	8.6	3.1	4.5
10	Steve Carlton	10.9	8.8	3.0	4.2	10	Steve Carlton	10.9	8.8	3.0	4.2

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1981 at the end of this article.

1981 Postseason

The Cincinnati Reds had the best record in the major leagues in 1981. The St. Louis Cardinals had the second-best winning percentage in the National League. One-third of the teams in the National League made the playoffs in 1981, but not the Reds or the Cardinals.

Because of the players' strike in the middle of the 1981 season, MLB decided to do a split-season schedule with the teams that were leading the four divisions when the strike hit - the Yankees, A's, Phillies, and Dodgers - playing the teams with the best post-strike records - Brewers, Royals, Expos, and Astros - in a preliminary round of "divisional series".

The final result was the third World Series meeting between the Yankees and Dodgers in five years (and, if I counted correctly, the 10th overall such World Series matchup). At least the winner was different than the two previous times.

The best postseason performances of 1981 are shown in the next table.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1981 Postseason: Total

Rich Gossage	NYA	1.6	0.4	1.4
Burt Hooton	LAN	2.7	1.8	1.3
Pedro Guerrero	LAN	3.0	1.9	1.2
Fernando Valenzuela	LAN	2.7	2.1	1.1
Steve Garvey	LAN	2.3	1.4	1.0
Dwayne Murphy	OAK	1.3	0.5	0.9
Steve Rogers	MON	2.0	1.3	0.9
Ron Cey	LAN	2.0	1.2	0.9
Gary Carter	MON	1.4	0.7	0.8
Bob Watson	NYA	1.6	1.0	0.8

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1981 World Series

Pedro Guerrero	LAN	1.4	0.5	0.9
Bob Watson	NYA	1.0	0.5	0.5
Ron Cey	LAN	1.2	0.7	0.5
Steve Yeager	LAN	0.7	0.2	0.4
Tommy John	NYA	0.9	0.5	0.4

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1981 Postseason: League Championship Series

Burt Hooton	LAN	1.2	0.6	0.6
Willie Randolph	NYA	0.8	0.3	0.5
Rick Monday	LAN	0.7	0.2	0.5
Ray Burris	MON	1.1	0.6	0.4
Graig Nettles	NYA	0.7	0.2	0.4

Best of 1981 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 1981 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	12.5	7.3	4.9	1	Dwight Evans	13.0	7.4	5.6
2	Dwight Evans	12.3	8.2	4.0	2	Mike Schmidt	12.8	7.0	5.6
3	Bobby Grich	9.4	6.1	3.3	3	George Foster	12.5	7.4	4.9
4	Andre Dawson	11.3	7.7	3.3	4	Dwayne Murphy	11.4	7.1	4.3
5	Eddie Murray	10.5	7.5	3.0	5	Ron Cey	9.0	5.2	3.6
6	George Foster	11.5	8.4	2.8	6	Eddie Murray	10.7	7.2	3.5
7	Ron Cey	8.5	5.8	2.5	7	Pedro Guerrero	9.0	5.6	3.2
8	Greg Luzinski	10.3	7.8	2.5	8	Andre Dawson	11.1	7.8	3.0
9	Chet Lemon	8.7	6.4	2.3	9	Gary Matthews Sr.	10.4	7.2	3.0
10	Tom Paciorek	9.9	7.6	2.2	10	Graig Nettles	9.8	6.9	2.8

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Tim Raines Sr.	2.8	1.3	1.4	1	Rickey Henderson	2.5	1.5	1.0
2	Julio Cruz	1.8	0.9	0.9	2	Toby Harrah	1.4	0.6	0.8
3	Willie Wilson	1.6	0.7	0.9	3	Willie Wilson	1.5	0.7	0.8
4	Toby Harrah	1.4	0.6	0.8	4	Tim Raines Sr.	2.5	1.6	0.8
5	Eddie L. Miller	1.4	0.6	0.8	5	Ken Griffey Sr.	1.5	0.7	0.8
6	Ken Griffey Sr.	1.5	0.8	0.7	6	Rick Manning	1.3	0.6	0.7
7	Rick Manning	1.3	0.6	0.7	7	Alan Bannister	1.0	0.3	0.7
8	Ken Landreaux	1.3	0.6	0.6	8	Andre Dawson	1.5	0.8	0.7
9	Andre Dawson	1.4	0.8	0.6	9	Eddie L. Miller	1.3	0.6	0.7
10	Ron LeFlore	1.8	1.2	0.6	10	Terry Puhl	1.4	0.7	0.7

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Rollie Fingers	6.4	3.7	2.7	1	Fernando Valenzuela	13.4	9.0	4.4
2	Don Sutton	8.8	6.3	2.5	2	Steve McCatty	11.7	8.0	3.8
3	Steve Carlton	9.8	7.5	2.3	3	Rollie Fingers	6.8	3.3	3.6
4	Fernando Valenzuela	12.3	10.1	2.3	4	Burt Hooton	8.9	5.5	3.4
5	Steve McCatty	10.9	8.7	2.2	5	Nolan Ryan	9.5	6.2	3.3
6	Dave Righetti	6.5	4.5	2.1	6	Steve Carlton	10.3	7.0	3.2
7	Ken Forsch	8.8	6.9	1.9	7	Ken Forsch	9.3	6.4	2.9
8	Mario Soto	10.9	9.0	1.8	8	Tom Seaver	9.1	6.3	2.8
9	Bill Gullickson	8.5	6.7	1.8	9	Dennis Martinez	10.5	7.8	2.7
10	Burt Hooton	8.1	6.4	1.8	10	Mario Soto	11.3	8.6	2.7

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Bill 'Spaceman' Lee	0.4	0.1	0.3	1	Bill 'Spaceman' Lee	0.5	0.1	0.4
2	Dennis Leonard	0.4	0.1	0.2	2	Shane Rawley	0.3	0.0	0.2
3	Shane Rawley	0.3	0.0	0.2	3	Dan Quisenberry	0.3	0.1	0.2
4	Dave Stieb	0.4	0.2	0.2	4	Ross Baumgarten	0.3	0.1	0.2
5	Ross Baumgarten	0.3	0.2	0.2	5	Dennis Leonard	0.4	0.1	0.2


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Gary Carter	2.0	1.3	0.8	1	Gary Carter	1.9	1.3	0.6
2	Jim Sundberg	1.3	1.0	0.3	2	Jim Sundberg	1.3	0.9	0.4
3	Jody Davis	1.1	0.8	0.3	3	Rick Dempsey	1.2	0.9	0.3
4	Ron Hassey	0.9	0.6	0.2	4	Mike Scioscia	1.6	1.3	0.3
5	Alan Ashby	1.7	1.5	0.2	5	Ron Hassey	0.9	0.6	0.3


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Eddie Murray	1.8	1.2	0.6	1	Keith Hernandez	2.2	1.3	0.9
2	Chris Chambliss	2.3	1.8	0.6	2	Eddie Murray	1.8	1.2	0.6
3	Keith Hernandez	2.0	1.5	0.5	3	Chris Chambliss	2.3	1.8	0.5
4	Rod Carew	1.7	1.6	0.2	4	Cecil Cooper	2.2	1.8	0.4
5	Dennis Werth	0.3	0.1	0.1	5	Steve Garvey	1.8	1.5	0.3


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tom Herr	4.4	3.7	0.7	1	Ron Oester	4.7	3.5	1.3
2	Lou Whitaker	4.0	3.5	0.6	2	Jim Gantner	5.0	3.8	1.2
3	Glenn Hubbard	3.9	3.4	0.5	3	Lou Whitaker	4.3	3.2	1.2
4	Bobby Grich	4.5	4.1	0.3	4	Willie Randolph	3.8	3.0	0.8
5	Tony Bernazard	4.2	3.9	0.3	5	Joe L. Morgan	3.6	3.0	0.6


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Buddy Bell	4.1	3.0	1.0	1	Ken Oberkfell	4.4	3.0	1.4
2	Art Howe	3.2	2.6	0.6	2	Buddy Bell	4.0	3.1	0.9
3	Danny Ainge	2.5	2.0	0.5	3	Art Howe	3.3	2.4	0.9
4	Hubie Brooks	3.2	2.7	0.5	4	Graig Nettles	3.4	2.9	0.5
5	Darrell Evans	3.0	2.6	0.4	5	Hubie Brooks	3.2	2.7	0.5


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Robin Yount	5.0	4.1	0.9	1	Robin Yount	5.4	3.7	1.7
2	Alan Trammell	4.5	3.7	0.8	2	Alan Trammell	4.8	3.4	1.4
3	Ozzie Smith	5.1	4.6	0.5	3	Larry Bowa	4.0	3.2	0.8
4	Rick Burleson	5.1	4.7	0.5	4	Bill E. Russell	3.9	3.1	0.8
5	Garry Templeton	3.9	3.5	0.5	5	Garry Templeton	4.1	3.3	0.8


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Willie Wilson	6.0	4.5	1.5	1	Willie Wilson	6.8	3.8	3.0
2	Rickey Henderson	5.6	4.3	1.3	2	Mike Easler	4.6	3.3	1.4
3	Mike Easler	4.3	3.6	0.7	3	Rickey Henderson	5.5	4.3	1.2
4	Dusty Baker	4.8	4.3	0.5	4	Terry Francona	1.2	0.5	0.7
5	Rick Sofield	1.7	1.3	0.4	5	Jim Rice	5.4	5.0	0.5


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Dwayne Murphy	4.3	3.5	0.8	1	Amos Otis	4.1	2.3	1.8
2	Al Bumbry	3.5	2.8	0.7	2	Dale Murphy	5.4	4.1	1.3
3	Amos Otis	3.5	2.8	0.7	3	Dwayne Murphy	4.3	3.5	0.9
4	Mookie Wilson	3.3	2.6	0.7	4	Andre Dawson	5.5	4.7	0.8
5	Rick Manning	4.5	3.8	0.7	5	Jerry Mumphrey	3.4	2.8	0.6


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Dwight Evans	5.0	4.0	1.0	1	Ellis Valentine	3.8	2.7	1.1
2	Tony Armas Sr.	5.1	4.3	0.8	2	Tony Armas Sr.	5.2	4.1	1.1
3	Joe Lefebvre	4.1	3.4	0.7	3	Lynn Jones	2.0	0.9	1.1
4	Jack Clark	4.5	3.9	0.6	4	Dave Engle	3.7	2.8	0.9
5	Lynn Jones	1.7	1.2	0.5	5	Joe Lefebvre	4.1	3.3	0.9

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1981 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	12.0	10.0	2.2	1	Gary Carter	12.4	9.7	2.9
2	Jim Sundberg	8.7	7.5	1.6	2	Bo Diaz	6.0	4.3	1.9
3	Carlton Fisk	9.6	8.5	1.5	3	Darrell Porter	5.9	4.5	1.5
4	Bo Diaz	5.7	4.6	1.3	4	Ted Simmons	7.9	7.0	1.3
5	Bruce Benedict	9.0	8.4	0.7	5	Jim Sundberg	8.4	7.7	1.0


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Eddie Murray	12.9	9.3	3.3	1	Eddie Murray	13.2	9.0	3.9
2	Cecil Cooper	12.7	10.0	2.3	2	Keith Hernandez	12.1	8.1	3.5
3	Keith Hernandez	11.4	8.9	2.0	3	Cecil Cooper	13.3	9.5	3.4
4	Jason D. Thompson	7.1	5.4	1.4	4	Mike Hargrove	9.5	8.2	0.9
5	John Mayberry Sr.	9.1	7.8	1.0	5	Johnny Bench	4.5	3.5	0.8


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Bobby Grich	14.5	10.7	4.2	1	Ron Oester	13.2	10.4	3.1
2	Lou Whitaker	12.2	11.1	1.7	2	Lou Whitaker	12.9	10.4	2.9
3	Joe L. Morgan	11.2	9.8	1.7	3	Joe L. Morgan	11.6	9.3	2.6
4	Tony Bernazard	12.9	11.9	1.5	4	Bobby Grich	13.4	11.8	2.1
5	Julio Cruz	11.4	10.8	1.1	5	Jim Gantner	11.5	9.9	1.9


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mike Schmidt	16.3	11.0	4.8	1	Mike Schmidt	16.7	10.7	5.4
2	Buddy Bell	13.9	11.2	2.4	2	Graig Nettles	13.5	9.7	3.5
3	Ron Cey	11.5	9.2	1.8	3	Ron Cey	12.3	8.4	3.4
4	Bill Madlock	10.1	8.0	1.7	4	Buddy Bell	14.0	11.1	2.7
5	Toby Harrah	12.3	10.4	1.6	5	Toby Harrah	12.7	10.0	2.4


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Robin Yount	13.3	11.3	3.0	1	Robin Yount	14.2	10.3	4.8
2	Dave Concepcion	15.3	13.6	2.6	2	Dave Concepcion	16.1	12.8	4.1
3	Rick Burleson	15.3	14.5	2.0	3	Alan Trammell	13.8	12.3	2.6
4	Alan Trammell	13.1	13.0	1.3	4	Garry Templeton	11.1	9.6	2.1
5	Roy Smalley III	5.6	4.9	1.1	5	Bucky Dent	9.0	7.5	2.1


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rickey Henderson	17.7	13.7	3.3	1	George Foster	17.6	13.8	4.1
2	Willie Wilson	14.2	11.6	2.1	2	Rickey Henderson	18.0	13.7	3.9
3	Tim Raines Sr.	13.3	10.9	1.5	3	Willie Wilson	14.9	11.6	3.4
4	George Foster	16.3	13.8	1.5	4	Ben Oglivie	14.9	12.8	2.7
5	Dusty Baker	14.3	12.2	1.3	5	Gary Matthews Sr.	15.7	13.1	2.5


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Andre Dawson	18.1	13.3	4.2	1	Dwayne Murphy	16.9	11.4	5.1
2	Amos Otis	11.7	9.7	1.7	2	Andre Dawson	18.1	13.2	4.2
3	Dwayne Murphy	15.2	13.1	1.7	3	Amos Otis	12.0	9.4	2.4
4	Chet Lemon	12.4	10.6	1.5	4	Al Bumbry	13.8	11.5	2.0
5	Rick Manning	12.2	11.1	0.9	5	Chet Lemon	12.4	10.6	1.5


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dwight Evans	18.3	12.9	4.8	1	Dwight Evans	19.0	12.2	6.3
2	Jack Clark	14.1	11.4	1.9	2	Tony Armas Sr.	16.2	12.3	3.4
3	Tony Armas Sr.	15.4	13.1	1.7	3	Pedro Guerrero	10.3	6.9	2.9
4	Gorman Thomas	7.0	5.5	1.3	4	Lynn Jones	5.6	3.6	1.8
5	Rick Monday	4.3	3.0	1.1	5	Jack Clark	13.8	11.6	1.3


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Steve McCatty	11.4	9.0	2.4	1	Fernando Valenzuela	13.8	9.2	4.6
2	Don Sutton	9.0	6.6	2.4	2	Steve McCatty	12.2	8.2	4.1
3	Steve Carlton	9.9	7.7	2.3	3	Nolan Ryan	9.7	6.3	3.5
4	Fernando Valenzuela	12.6	10.4	2.2	4	Burt Hooton	9.1	5.8	3.4
5	Dave Righetti	6.7	4.7	2.0	5	Steve Carlton	10.4	7.2	3.3
6	Dave Stieb	11.2	9.3	2.0	6	Dennis Martinez	10.9	7.8	3.2
7	Ken Forsch	9.1	7.2	1.9	7	Ken Forsch	9.6	6.7	3.0
8	Mario Soto	11.0	9.1	1.9	8	Tom Seaver	9.4	6.5	2.9
9	Bill Gullickson	8.7	6.9	1.9	9	Mario Soto	11.4	8.7	2.8
10	Nolan Ryan	8.9	7.1	1.9	10	Scott McGregor	9.6	6.9	2.8


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rollie Fingers	6.6	4.1	2.5	1	Rollie Fingers	7.1	3.7	3.3
2	Ron G. Davis	5.8	4.3	1.5	2	Rich Gossage	4.7	2.4	2.3
3	Rich Gossage	4.3	2.8	1.4	3	Dan Quisenberry	5.2	2.9	2.3
4	Dan Quisenberry	4.7	3.4	1.2	4	Rick Camp	5.4	3.4	2.0
5	Gary Lucas	4.9	3.9	1.0	5	Steve Comer	4.3	2.4	1.8
6	Steve Comer	3.8	2.9	0.9	6	Jeff Reardon	3.6	1.7	1.8
7	Greg Minton	5.9	5.0	0.8	7	Bruce Sutter	6.6	4.7	1.8
8	Jeff Reardon	3.1	2.2	0.8	8	La Marr Hoyt	5.2	3.4	1.8
9	Kent Tekulve	2.9	2.2	0.8	9	Neil Allen	6.3	4.7	1.6
10	Joe Sambito	3.6	2.9	0.7	10	Don Aase	4.7	3.1	1.5


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Greg Luzinski	10.8	8.4	2.2	1	Greg Luzinski	10.9	8.3	2.3
2	Cliff Johnson	6.2	4.5	1.5	2	Don Baylor	9.9	8.2	1.4
3	Richie Zisk	8.0	6.7	1.1	3	Cliff Johnson	5.9	4.7	1.1

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	Tom Seaver	0.9	1.2	0.3	1	Fernando Valenzuela	1.4	1.3	0.7
2	Fernando Valenzuela	1.2	1.6	0.3	2	Gaylord Perry	1.0	0.8	0.6
3	Gaylord Perry	0.8	1.0	0.3	3	Tom Seaver	1.1	1.0	0.6


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Bob Molinaro	1.9	1.3	0.6	1	Terry Crowley	1.4	0.7	0.8
2	Bobby Murcer	1.2	0.7	0.6	2	Alan Ashby	0.8	0.1	0.7
3	Alan Ashby	0.7	0.1	0.6	3	Jose M. Morales	1.2	0.6	0.7


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Scott Loucks	0.4	0.0	0.3	1	Scott Loucks	0.4	0.0	0.4
2	Eddie L. Miller	0.5	0.2	0.2	2	Eddie L. Miller	0.5	0.2	0.3
3	Lee Lacy	0.3	0.1	0.2	3	Lee Lacy	0.3	0.1	0.1

Noteworthy Players of 1981

Fernando-Mania!

Before the strike became the dominant story that sucked the air out of everything else about the 1981 season, the first major story of the 1981 season was a 20-year-old left-hander from Mexico who started the 1981 season - his first full major-league season - by throwing 5 complete-game shutouts in his first seven starts, over which he went a combined 7-0 with a 0.29 ERA in 63 innings. He won his 8th start, 3-2, in a game that saw his ERA nearly double all the way to 0.50.

Obviously, Fernando Valenzuela couldn't keep that pace up all season, but that alone was enough to win him the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards. Based on Player won-lost records, both were well-deserved.

Valenzuela never again matched the greatness of that first month-plus of 1981 in his career. Of course, very, very few pitchers have ever matched that stretch by Valenzuela. It seems unfair, but his career was almost inevitably seen as a disappointment after that start. The truth, however, is that Fernando Valenzuela had a fine major-league career: he even managed to match his overall 1981 season on a couple of occasions (1982, 1986). Fernando Valenzuela's career, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Fernando Valenzuela Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1980	LAN	19	10	0.7	0.2	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.3	0.3	0.4
1981	LAN	20	25	15.2	10.6	5.4	6.9	14.1	11.7	3.3	4.9
1982	LAN	21	38	19.1	15.0	5.4	7.3	18.8	15.3	5.0	6.9
1983	LAN	22	36	16.1	15.4	1.9	3.7	15.8	15.7	1.4	3.1
1984	LAN	23	35	16.1	16.7	0.6	2.4	16.8	16.0	2.0	3.8
1985	LAN	24	35	15.6	14.9	1.8	3.5	16.5	14.0	3.7	5.4
1986	LAN	25	39	18.2	15.0	4.4	6.3	18.1	15.2	4.4	6.3
1987	LAN	26	38	16.8	17.8	0.4	2.3	16.0	18.6	-1.2	0.7
1988	LAN	27	23	8.2	10.1	-1.3	-0.3	8.3	10.0	-1.1	-0.0
1989	LAN	28	34	11.5	13.1	-0.7	0.7	11.5	13.0	-0.5	0.9
1990	LAN	29	35	13.0	13.6	0.3	1.8	12.8	13.8	-0.2	1.3
1991	CAL	30	2	0.7	1.7	-1.0	-0.9	0.5	1.9	-1.4	-1.3
1993	BAL	32	32	10.7	11.1	-0.4	0.9	10.9	10.9	0.1	1.4
1994	PHI	33	8	1.7	2.0	-0.3	-0.0	1.8	1.9	0.0	0.2
1995	SDN	34	29	6.1	5.7	0.8	1.5	5.4	6.4	-0.8	-0.0
1996	SDN	35	36	11.5	10.8	1.4	2.8	10.8	11.6	0.1	1.6
1997	SDN	36	19	5.9	8.7	-2.5	-1.6	6.2	8.3	-1.7	-0.8
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			474	187.0	182.7	16.5	37.9	184.9	184.8	13.5	34.9
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			9	4.5	3.3		2.0	4.2	3.7		1.3
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			483	191.6	186.0		39.9	189.1	188.4		36.2

Mike Schmidt

Just looking at counting stats, Mike Schmidt's 1981 season doesn't look like anything special. Schmidt hit 35 or more home runs eleven times in his career; in 1981, he hit 31. Schmidt drove in over 100 runs in a season nine times; in 1981, he drove in 91. Mike Schmidt scored more than 80 runs in a season thirteen times; in 1981, he scored 78 runs. Mike Schmidt had 280 or more total bases twelve times; in 1981, he had 228 total bases. Of course, that's because Mike Schmidt played 145 or more games in his career thirteen times, but played in only 102 games in 1981. And, of course, he didn't play in only 102 games because he was injured or ineffective; no, he played in only 102 games in 1981 because the Phillies only played 107 games because of the 1981 strike.

In fact, taking season length into consideration, 1981 may well have been Mike Schmidt's finest season. He led the National League in on-base percentage (.435), slugging percentage (.644), times on base (189), total bases (228), runs scored (78), runs batted in (91), home runs (31), and walks (73).

Mike Schmidt's career, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Mike Schmidt Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1972	PHI	22	13	1.3	1.2	0.1	0.2	1.2	1.3	-0.1	0.0
1973	PHI	23	131	14.3	12.0	1.6	2.9	13.8	12.5	0.5	1.8
1974	PHI	24	162	23.8	16.7	6.5	8.4	24.0	16.5	7.0	8.8
1975	PHI	25	158	21.4	17.2	4.0	5.8	22.5	16.1	6.2	8.0
1976	PHI	26	160	23.7	16.2	6.9	8.9	23.1	16.8	5.8	7.8
1977	PHI	27	154	21.6	15.1	5.9	7.7	21.5	15.1	5.7	7.6
1978	PHI	28	145	20.2	16.3	3.3	5.0	20.2	16.3	3.3	5.0
1979	PHI	29	160	24.3	17.2	6.5	8.4	23.7	17.8	5.5	7.5
1980	PHI	30	150	23.7	17.0	6.2	8.1	23.7	17.0	6.4	8.3
1981	PHI	31	102	17.1	10.7	5.9	7.4	16.8	11.0	5.4	6.9
1982	PHI	32	148	22.6	16.3	5.6	7.3	22.7	16.1	5.9	7.6
1983	PHI	33	154	22.5	17.0	4.6	6.4	22.6	16.8	5.0	6.8
1984	PHI	34	151	22.6	17.6	4.8	6.6	23.0	17.2	5.5	7.4
1985	PHI	35	158	19.0	16.2	1.5	3.2	20.1	15.1	3.8	5.4
1986	PHI	36	160	21.0	15.4	4.7	6.4	21.2	15.3	5.0	6.7
1987	PHI	37	147	22.3	16.8	4.7	6.5	22.5	16.6	5.1	6.9
1988	PHI	38	108	12.5	13.2	-0.9	0.3	13.2	12.4	0.6	1.8
1989	PHI	39	42	4.6	5.8	-1.3	-0.8	5.2	5.2	-0.1	0.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,403	338.5	257.6	70.6	98.8	341.1	255.1	76.5	104.7
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			36	4.2	4.4		0.0	4.4	4.1		0.6
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,439	342.6	262.0		98.8	345.5	259.2		105.3

One way to tell how impressive Schmidt's 1981 season was: don't look at the columns headed "Season" or "Games" and try to figure out which season was 1981. Yes, it's the only season between 1974 and 1984 where Schmidt earned fewer than 20 pWins (and the only season between 1974 and 1987 with fewer than 19 pWins), but in terms of pWOPA and pWORL, 1981 fits very comfortably with the surrounding seasons. Now imagine if Schmidt had been able to play another 50 games that season. That would have made his 1981 season really stand out.

Peak Seasons for Hall-of-Merit Members

Because it was so much shorter than the surrounding seasons, the 1981 season saw somewhat more seasons that could be viewed as outliers: both good and bad. Two such players - on the good side - show up among the top four players on the eWOPA and eWORL leaderboards above: Dwight Evans and Bobby Grich. Evans and Grich have three things in common: the 1981 season was their best (on a rate basis, controlling for context), both of them are in the Hall of Merit, and, finally, neither of them are in the Hall of Fame.

While 1981 was the best season (rate-wise) in the careers of Evans and Grich, they both had several other excellent seasons and excellent overall careers. Their careers are compared below, as measured by (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins.

Season	Games	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA	eWORL	Games	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA	eWORL
	Dwight Evans					Bobby Grich
1970						30	2.4	3.0	-0.3	-0.0
1971						7	1.5	0.9	0.7	0.8
1972	18	2.4	1.9	0.4	0.6	132	19.4	15.6	4.5	6.2
1973	119	10.0	9.0	0.7	1.6	162	21.7	16.9	5.4	7.3
1974	133	16.7	14.7	1.4	2.9	160	22.3	19.0	4.2	6.1
1975	126	15.0	13.2	1.1	2.5	150	20.5	16.9	4.1	5.9
1976	146	18.6	15.7	2.3	4.0	144	20.1	16.5	4.4	6.2
1977	73	8.1	6.6	1.2	1.9	52	6.8	5.9	1.5	2.2
1978	147	17.7	15.0	1.9	3.4	144	15.3	14.9	1.2	2.7
1979	152	16.9	15.9	-0.0	1.6	153	19.5	15.7	4.6	6.3
1980	147	16.2	14.8	0.9	2.3	150	17.2	15.7	2.3	3.9
1981	108	18.5	12.7	5.2	6.9	100	14.7	10.5	4.6	5.9
1982	162	24.2	19.1	4.3	6.3	145	18.2	16.1	2.8	4.3
1983	126	14.5	13.7	0.6	1.9	120	15.4	12.9	2.9	4.1
1984	162	24.9	20.7	2.9	5.0	116	13.5	12.4	1.4	2.6
1985	159	23.0	19.2	3.3	5.3	144	15.5	14.6	1.0	2.4
1986	152	20.0	16.9	2.4	4.1	97	9.7	9.7	0.4	1.4
1987	154	19.4	14.9	3.5	5.0
1988	149	20.3	17.8	1.5	3.4
1989	146	17.8	14.8	2.8	4.5
1990	122	12.1	11.6	0.4	1.9
1991	101	9.1	8.6	0.3	1.2
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,602	325.3	276.7	37.0	66.2	2,006	253.8	217.2	45.8	68.2

Notable Debuts

Finally, the 1981 season saw the major-league debuts of two infielders who would go on to win a combined 3 MVP awards, 11 Gold Gloves, start 26 All-Star games, and both be elected to the Hall of Fame: Cal Ripken and Ryne Sandberg.

Their careers, as measured by Player won-lost records, are compared in the table below.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Cal Ripken					Ryne Sandberg
1981	23	0.6	0.9	-0.2	-0.2	13	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0
1982	160	21.6	18.0	4.3	6.1	156	18.2	19.5	-2.1	-0.4
1983	162	24.8	19.4	6.5	8.4	158	19.3	20.8	-1.2	0.6
1984	162	25.9	19.4	8.4	10.5	156	25.1	19.3	6.3	8.3
1985	161	23.1	20.4	4.3	6.4	153	23.9	19.2	4.5	6.5
1986	162	22.0	20.0	3.7	5.6	154	19.5	18.6	1.4	3.2
1987	162	19.3	21.4	-0.6	1.2	132	16.6	16.0	1.1	2.6
1988	161	19.9	19.7	1.2	3.1	155	20.1	18.8	1.6	3.5
1989	162	22.4	19.6	4.3	6.2	157	21.2	18.3	2.7	4.5
1990	161	20.4	18.4	3.3	5.0	155	22.1	18.7	3.4	5.2
1991	162	23.2	20.2	4.1	6.1	158	22.7	17.0	5.3	7.1
1992	162	19.7	18.7	2.4	4.2	158	24.6	18.9	5.5	7.5
1993	162	20.4	19.4	2.2	4.2	117	13.0	13.8	-0.6	0.7
1994	112	14.9	12.8	3.1	4.5	57	6.9	7.1	-0.1	0.6
1995	144	17.6	18.3	0.7	2.4
1996	163	20.6	19.4	2.3	4.2	150	19.6	16.9	3.4	5.2
1997	162	19.4	17.1	2.3	4.0	135	12.6	13.8	-1.0	0.3
1998	161	16.4	17.5	-1.1	0.6
1999	86	10.0	9.3	0.7	1.6
2000	83	8.7	7.7	1.2	2.0
2001	128	11.5	14.0	-2.5	-1.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	3,001	382.3	351.6	50.5	85.1	2,164	285.5	256.7	30.3	55.5

Article last updated: February 10, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1981 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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