1997 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1997 Season

The 1997 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1997 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1997

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	Roger Clemens	18.6	9.7	9.0	10.9	1	Roger Clemens	18.6	9.7	9.0	10.9
2	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	16.1	8.4	7.8	9.4	2	Barry Bonds	25.4	17.1	7.7	9.7
3	Barry Bonds	25.4	17.1	7.7	9.7	3	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	16.1	8.4	7.8	9.4
4	Ken Griffey Jr.	22.8	15.9	6.9	8.7	4	Ken Griffey Jr.	22.8	15.9	6.9	8.7
5	Pedro J. Martinez	17.8	12.0	6.8	8.7	5	Pedro J. Martinez	17.8	12.0	6.8	8.7
6	Greg Maddux	14.2	9.2	6.0	7.4	6	Craig Biggio	23.9	18.6	5.7	7.7
7	Andy Pettitte	13.9	8.2	5.8	7.3	7	Greg Maddux	14.2	9.2	6.0	7.4
8	Craig Biggio	23.9	18.6	5.7	7.7	8	Andy Pettitte	13.9	8.2	5.8	7.3
9	Jeff Bagwell	22.0	14.6	5.1	6.9	9	Larry Walker	24.8	18.1	5.1	7.1
10	Larry Walker	24.8	18.1	5.1	7.1	10	Nomar Garciaparra	22.9	19.4	4.9	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	Roger Clemens	19.0	9.3	9.8	11.7	1	Roger Clemens	19.0	9.3	9.8	11.7
2	Pedro J. Martinez	18.2	11.6	7.9	9.8	2	Pedro J. Martinez	18.2	11.6	7.9	9.8
3	Barry Bonds	25.0	17.5	6.8	8.8	3	Barry Bonds	25.0	17.5	6.8	8.8
4	Craig Biggio	24.5	18.0	6.7	8.7	4	Craig Biggio	24.5	18.0	6.7	8.7
5	Greg Maddux	14.4	9.1	6.4	7.8	5	Jeff Bagwell	22.6	14.0	6.4	8.1
6	Jeff Bagwell	22.6	14.0	6.4	8.1	6	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	15.4	9.2	6.3	7.9
7	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	15.4	9.2	6.3	7.9	7	Greg Maddux	14.4	9.1	6.4	7.8
8	Ken Griffey Jr.	22.4	16.3	6.0	7.8	8	Ken Griffey Jr.	22.4	16.3	6.0	7.8
9	Mike Piazza	18.6	12.9	5.8	7.4	9	Mike Piazza	18.6	12.9	5.8	7.4
10	Larry Walker	24.8	18.0	5.2	7.3	10	Larry Walker	24.8	18.0	5.2	7.3

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1997 at the end of this article.

1997 Postseason

In the 1997 postseason, the Cleveland Indians came two outs away from winning their first World Championship since 1948. Instead, the World Series was won by the Florida Marlins. Their win represented two firsts: the quickest trip from expansion team to World Champion (since broken) and first wild card team to win the World Series. In retrospect, the 1997 season was also the only one in the five years from 1996 through 2000 that did not end in a World Series win for the New York Yankees.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1997 Postseason: Total

Gary Sheffield	FLO	2.7	1.4	1.3
Livan Hernandez	FLO	2.3	1.3	1.3
Jose Mesa	CLE	1.8	0.9	1.1
Moises Alou	FLO	2.2	1.2	1.1
Mike Mussina	BAL	1.6	0.8	1.0
Mike R. Jackson	CLE	1.2	0.4	0.9
Tony Fernandez	CLE	1.8	1.2	0.9
Sandy Alomar Jr.	CLE	2.2	1.7	0.8
Greg Maddux	ATL	1.8	1.3	0.8
Andruw Jones	ATL	1.1	0.3	0.8

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1997 World Series

Moises Alou	FLO	1.4	0.6	0.8
Chad Ogea	CLE	1.0	0.6	0.5
Gary Sheffield	FLO	1.0	0.7	0.3
Darren Daulton	FLO	0.7	0.3	0.3
Robb Nen	FLO	0.4	0.1	0.3

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1997 Postseason: League Championship Series

Livan Hernandez	FLO	1.2	0.4	0.8
Jose Mesa	CLE	1.0	0.3	0.6
Marquis Grissom	CLE	1.3	0.7	0.5
Scott Kamieniecki	BAL	0.6	0.2	0.4
Matt D. Williams	CLE	0.9	0.5	0.4

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1997 Postseason: Division Series

Jeff Fassero	SEA	0.9	0.2	0.7
Greg Maddux	ATL	1.1	0.5	0.6
Mike Mussina	BAL	1.2	0.6	0.6
Gary Sheffield	FLO	0.7	0.1	0.6
Jeff Blauser	ATL	0.6	0.1	0.5

Best of 1997 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 1997 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	Larry Walker	17.4	10.6	6.4	1	Barry Bonds	16.5	9.9	6.2
2	Jeff Bagwell	17.4	10.8	6.2	2	Larry Walker	17.3	10.7	6.1
3	Frank E. Thomas	15.7	9.8	5.8	3	Frank E. Thomas	15.8	9.7	6.1
4	Mark McGwire	16.4	10.5	5.8	4	Jeff Bagwell	17.2	10.9	5.9
5	Barry Bonds	16.3	10.2	5.7	5	Tino Martinez	16.8	11.4	5.3
6	Mike Piazza	15.5	9.7	5.5	6	Mike Piazza	15.3	9.9	5.0
7	Jim Thome	13.2	8.6	4.6	7	David Justice	13.9	9.3	4.6
8	Ken Griffey Jr.	15.2	10.9	4.3	8	Jay Buhner	15.2	10.7	4.5
9	Craig Biggio	15.5	10.9	4.2	9	Jim Thome	13.1	8.6	4.5
10	Edgar Martinez	13.7	9.7	4.0	10	Tony Gwynn Sr.	15.2	10.5	4.4

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Alex Rodriguez	1.8	0.9	0.9	1	Ozzie Guillen	1.4	0.5	0.9
2	Craig Biggio	2.4	1.5	0.9	2	Alex Rodriguez	1.8	0.9	0.9
3	Stan Javier	1.4	0.6	0.8	3	Stan Javier	1.4	0.6	0.8
4	Chuck Knoblauch	2.2	1.4	0.8	4	Chuck Knoblauch	2.1	1.4	0.7
5	Ozzie Guillen	1.3	0.6	0.7	5	Ken Caminiti	1.3	0.6	0.7
6	Brian L. Hunter	2.2	1.5	0.6	6	Brian L. Hunter	2.2	1.5	0.7
7	Ken Caminiti	1.3	0.6	0.6	7	Raul Mondesi Sr.	1.9	1.2	0.7
8	Scott Rolen	1.5	0.9	0.6	8	Travis Fryman	1.2	0.6	0.6
9	Jeff Bagwell	1.8	1.1	0.6	9	Craig Biggio	2.3	1.6	0.6
10	Tony Womack	2.1	1.5	0.6	10	B.J. Surhoff	1.0	0.4	0.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Roger Clemens	17.3	10.1	7.2	1	Roger Clemens	18.0	9.4	8.6
2	Pedro J. Martinez	16.5	10.5	5.9	2	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	16.0	8.3	7.7
3	Greg Maddux	12.8	7.7	5.1	3	Pedro J. Martinez	16.8	10.1	6.7
4	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	14.5	9.7	4.8	4	Greg Maddux	13.2	7.3	5.9
5	Andy Pettitte	12.9	8.7	4.2	5	Andy Pettitte	13.6	8.0	5.7
6	J. Kevin Brown	12.7	9.0	3.7	6	Randy Myers	7.9	3.2	4.6
7	John Smoltz	15.3	12.2	3.1	7	J. Kevin Brown	13.0	8.6	4.4
8	Doug Jones	6.0	3.0	3.0	8	Jeff Shaw	7.9	3.5	4.4
9	Curt Schilling	15.7	12.7	3.0	9	Denny Neagle	14.4	10.1	4.3
10	Justin Thompson	12.9	10.0	2.9	10	Roberto M. Hernandez	8.5	4.7	3.8

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Alex Fernandez	0.6	0.3	0.3	1	Charles Nagy	0.7	0.3	0.4
2	Andy Ashby	0.4	0.2	0.2	2	Mike Hampton	0.6	0.3	0.3
3	Bobby J. Jones	0.5	0.2	0.2	3	Andy Ashby	0.4	0.2	0.3
4	John Franco	0.3	0.0	0.2	4	John Franco	0.3	0.0	0.2
5	Bob Tewksbury	0.4	0.2	0.2	5	Roger Clemens	0.5	0.2	0.2


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Charles Johnson	2.1	1.3	0.7	1	Charles Johnson	2.0	1.4	0.7
2	Scott Servais	2.1	1.4	0.6	2	Scott Servais	2.1	1.4	0.7
3	Brad Ausmus	1.9	1.3	0.6	3	Mike Matheny	1.7	1.1	0.6
4	Jim Leyritz	1.0	0.6	0.4	4	Joe Girardi	1.8	1.2	0.6
5	Jorge Fabregas	1.7	1.4	0.3	5	Ivan Rodriguez	1.8	1.3	0.5


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Jeff King	3.5	2.4	1.2	1	Jeff Bagwell	3.2	2.4	0.7
2	Jeff Bagwell	3.2	2.4	0.8	2	Rafael Palmeiro	2.7	2.1	0.6
3	Mark Grace	3.0	2.4	0.7	3	Will Clark	1.8	1.2	0.6
4	Will Clark	1.8	1.2	0.6	4	Mark Grace	3.0	2.4	0.5
5	Kevin Young	1.6	1.2	0.4	5	Kevin Young	1.6	1.1	0.5


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Fernando Vina	2.7	2.1	0.7	1	Mark Lemke	4.4	3.4	1.0
2	Bret Boone	4.7	4.0	0.6	2	Jeff Reboulet	2.1	1.2	0.9
3	Jody Reed	1.5	0.9	0.6	3	Neifi Perez	2.0	1.3	0.8
4	Scott Spiezio	5.3	4.8	0.5	4	Luis A. Castillo	2.8	2.1	0.7
5	Mike Lansing	5.3	4.8	0.5	5	Tony Graffanino	2.3	1.6	0.6


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Edgardo Alfonzo	4.9	3.4	1.5	1	Edgardo Alfonzo	5.0	3.2	1.8
2	Jeff Cirillo	5.2	4.0	1.3	2	Jeff Cirillo	5.2	4.0	1.2
3	Scott Brosius	3.3	2.5	0.7	3	Ken Caminiti	5.1	4.2	1.0
4	Kevin Orie	4.1	3.4	0.7	4	Cal Ripken	5.2	4.3	0.9
5	Gary Gaetti	4.5	3.8	0.7	5	Bill Spiers	2.8	1.9	0.9


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Rey Ordonez	5.0	3.6	1.4	1	Rey Ordonez	5.3	3.2	2.1
2	Royce Clayton	6.4	5.7	0.7	2	Pokey Reese	4.6	3.0	1.6
3	Jose Valentin	5.6	5.0	0.6	3	Mike Bordick	6.1	4.9	1.2
4	Omar Vizquel	5.6	5.1	0.5	4	Omar Vizquel	5.7	5.0	0.7
5	Benji Gil	4.3	3.8	0.5	5	Deivi Cruz	5.6	4.9	0.6


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Bernard Gilkey	6.5	5.4	1.1	1	Bernard Gilkey	7.0	4.9	2.2
2	Garret Anderson	5.3	4.3	1.0	2	Barry Bonds	7.3	5.7	1.6
3	B.J. Surhoff	4.8	3.9	0.9	3	B.J. Surhoff	4.8	3.8	1.0
4	Barry Bonds	6.8	6.2	0.6	4	Luis 'Gonzo' Gonzalez	5.9	5.1	0.7
5	Doug Glanville	4.8	4.3	0.6	5	Moises Alou	3.3	2.6	0.7


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Rondell White	6.5	5.1	1.3	1	Kenny Lofton	5.9	3.2	2.7
2	Gerald Williams	4.8	4.2	0.6	2	Ken Griffey Jr.	6.6	4.3	2.3
3	Ken Griffey Jr.	5.7	5.2	0.6	3	Gerald Williams	5.1	3.8	1.3
4	Kenny Lofton	4.8	4.3	0.5	4	Rondell White	6.3	5.3	1.0
5	Johnny Damon	1.9	1.4	0.5	5	Bernie Williams	4.3	3.6	0.7


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Sammy Sosa	7.2	6.2	1.0	1	Raul Mondesi Sr.	8.0	5.6	2.5
2	Raul Mondesi Sr.	7.3	6.3	0.9	2	Orlando Merced	4.8	3.2	1.6
3	Vladimir Guerrero Sr.	4.0	3.3	0.7	3	Andruw Jones	3.5	2.2	1.4
4	Paul O'Neill	5.5	4.9	0.6	4	Sammy Sosa	7.4	6.0	1.3
5	Tim Salmon	6.7	6.1	0.6	5	Tim Salmon	6.9	5.9	1.0

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1997 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	Mike Piazza	17.3	12.5	5.0	1	Mike Piazza	17.3	12.6	4.9
2	Todd Hundley	13.8	10.4	3.7	2	Todd Hundley	13.9	10.3	3.7
3	Jim Leyritz	7.3	5.6	2.0	3	Sandy Alomar Jr.	12.6	10.3	2.7
4	Sandy Alomar Jr.	12.2	10.7	2.0	4	Ivan Rodriguez	14.4	12.7	2.3
5	Ivan Rodriguez	14.1	13.0	1.8	5	Jim Leyritz	7.4	5.4	2.3


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jeff Bagwell	21.9	14.0	5.6	1	Jeff Bagwell	21.6	14.4	4.9
2	Frank E. Thomas	12.8	8.3	3.5	2	Tino Martinez	19.8	14.2	3.9
3	Mark McGwire	19.0	13.9	3.2	3	Frank E. Thomas	12.6	8.5	3.0
4	Jim Thome	16.3	11.9	3.0	4	Jim Thome	16.2	12.0	2.8
5	Mo Vaughn	15.6	12.1	2.0	5	Rafael Palmeiro	18.9	14.4	2.6


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Craig Biggio	23.8	18.2	5.9	1	Craig Biggio	23.7	18.4	5.6
2	Chuck Knoblauch	21.0	19.1	2.8	2	Jeff Kent	20.7	17.1	3.8
3	Mike Lansing	18.9	16.9	2.2	3	Roberto Alomar	15.2	12.9	2.8
4	Jeff Kent	19.8	18.0	2.1	4	Damion Easley	16.8	15.9	1.5
5	Roberto Alomar	14.7	13.4	1.8	5	Mike Lansing	18.5	17.3	1.5


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ken Caminiti	19.8	15.0	4.4	1	Ken Caminiti	20.2	14.6	5.3
2	Edgardo Alfonzo	17.6	14.2	3.0	2	Edgardo Alfonzo	18.5	13.3	4.8
3	Chipper Jones	20.8	17.7	2.6	3	Chipper Jones	21.2	17.4	3.3
4	Scott Rolen	21.4	18.4	2.5	4	Jeff Cirillo	20.0	16.7	3.2
5	Jeff Cirillo	19.4	17.3	2.1	5	Matt D. Williams	18.8	16.2	2.6


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Nomar Garciaparra	22.3	20.0	3.7	1	Nomar Garciaparra	22.9	19.4	4.9
2	Jeff Blauser	18.6	16.2	3.1	2	Jeff Blauser	19.4	15.4	4.7
3	Alex Rodriguez	19.2	17.7	2.8	3	Alex Rodriguez	19.8	17.1	3.9
4	Jay Bell	19.0	17.8	2.5	4	Derek Jeter	21.1	20.2	2.2
5	Barry Larkin	8.5	7.0	1.8	5	Omar Vizquel	17.9	17.6	1.5


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Barry Bonds	24.6	18.0	6.0	1	Barry Bonds	25.4	18.0	7.7
2	Moises Alou	12.8	10.1	2.3	2	Moises Alou	13.5	10.1	3.7
3	David Justice	9.9	8.1	1.7	3	B.J. Surhoff	17.0	14.4	3.5
4	Rusty Greer	19.7	17.9	1.7	4	Bernard Gilkey	19.5	17.3	2.5
5	B.J. Surhoff	16.0	14.4	1.5	5	Jose Cruz Jr.	13.7	11.8	2.4


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ken Griffey Jr.	21.7	16.3	5.4	1	Ken Griffey Jr.	22.6	15.4	7.2
2	Ray Lankford	18.2	13.7	4.2	2	Kenny Lofton	18.9	13.9	4.6
3	Bernie Williams	17.1	13.8	3.3	3	Bernie Williams	17.1	13.9	3.2
4	Ellis Burks	11.9	9.6	2.1	4	Jim Edmonds	15.4	12.3	3.0
5	Jim Edmonds	14.8	12.9	1.9	5	Mike Cameron	13.0	10.1	2.8


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Larry Walker	24.1	17.8	4.7	1	Larry Walker	24.2	17.7	4.9
2	Tim Salmon	22.6	18.6	2.9	2	Paul O'Neill	20.7	15.3	4.4
3	Raul Mondesi Sr.	23.4	19.1	2.6	3	Raul Mondesi Sr.	24.0	18.5	3.8
4	Paul O'Neill	19.6	16.4	2.2	4	Tim Salmon	23.0	18.2	3.7
5	Matt Stairs	7.8	5.4	2.1	5	Jay Buhner	20.8	17.2	2.6


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Roger Clemens	17.8	10.3	7.5	1	Roger Clemens	18.5	9.6	8.9
2	Pedro J. Martinez	16.8	10.8	6.1	2	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	16.0	8.4	7.7
3	Greg Maddux	13.2	8.0	5.2	3	Pedro J. Martinez	17.3	10.4	7.0
4	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	14.6	9.8	4.9	4	Greg Maddux	13.7	7.6	6.2
5	Andy Pettitte	13.1	9.0	4.2	5	Andy Pettitte	13.9	8.2	5.8
6	J. Kevin Brown	13.2	9.4	3.8	6	J. Kevin Brown	13.5	9.1	4.4
7	John Smoltz	15.7	12.6	3.2	7	Denny Neagle	14.8	10.6	4.3
8	Curt Schilling	15.9	13.0	3.0	8	Darryl Kile	15.8	11.9	3.9
9	Justin Thompson	13.2	10.3	3.0	9	Brad Radke	15.3	11.6	3.8
10	Denny Neagle	14.1	11.3	2.9	10	Francisco Cordova	11.1	7.6	3.6


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Doug Jones	6.2	3.3	2.9	1	Randy Myers	7.9	3.2	4.6
2	Randy Myers	6.7	4.4	2.3	2	Jeff Shaw	8.1	4.1	3.9
3	John Wetteland	5.6	3.4	2.1	3	Roberto M. Hernandez	8.6	4.8	3.7
4	Jeff Shaw	7.1	5.1	2.0	4	Doug Jones	6.5	3.0	3.4
5	Roberto M. Hernandez	7.6	5.9	1.7	5	Armando Benitez	6.7	3.5	3.1
6	Mariano Rivera	6.5	4.8	1.6	6	Mariano Rivera	7.2	4.1	3.1
7	Danny Patterson	4.7	3.2	1.5	7	Robb Nen	7.4	4.6	2.7
8	Mike R. Jackson	5.0	3.5	1.4	8	Billy Howell Taylor	6.5	3.7	2.7
9	Paul Quantrill	6.0	4.6	1.3	9	John Wetteland	5.8	3.2	2.5
10	Greg Swindell	4.8	3.4	1.3	10	Rich Loiselle	6.7	4.1	2.5


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Edgar Martinez	13.7	10.2	3.0	1	Edgar Martinez	13.4	10.5	2.4
2	Chili Davis	12.3	10.5	1.3	2	Brady Anderson	3.9	1.7	2.1
3	Juan Gonzalez	7.0	5.6	1.2	3	David Justice	6.9	4.8	1.8

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	Todd Stottlemyre	1.1	1.3	0.5	1	Tom Glavine	1.2	1.4	0.6
2	John Smoltz	1.2	1.7	0.5	2	Chan Ho Park	1.1	1.0	0.6
3	Tom Glavine	1.1	1.5	0.4	3	Todd Stottlemyre	1.1	1.3	0.5


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Bill Spiers	1.9	0.9	1.1	1	Keith Lockhart	2.5	1.3	1.4
2	Harold Baines	1.3	0.5	0.9	2	Harold Baines	1.4	0.4	1.1
3	Dave Clark	2.2	1.7	0.7	3	Phil Nevin	1.3	0.3	1.0


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rich Amaral	0.3	0.1	0.2	1	Rich Amaral	0.3	0.1	0.2
2	Johnny Damon	0.2	0.0	0.2	2	John Wehner	0.2	0.0	0.2
3	Doug Glanville	0.2	0.0	0.2	3	Johnny Damon	0.2	0.1	0.2

Noteworthy Players of 1997

Pitching in a Hitting Environment

The 1997 season was in the heart of the era that has been called (less judgmentally than its more popular name) the Sillyball Era. This was the season just after Ken Caminiti won his MVP award (and five years before he confessed that he was on steroids when he did so) and the season just before the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 when Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs and Sammy Sosa added 66.

It may, therefore, seem somewhat curious that, in the heart of this great hitting era, the top two players in three of the first four tables in this article (pWOPA, eWOPA, and eWORL) were pitchers. In fact, four pitchers are among the top seven players in all of pWOPA, pWORL, eWOPA, and eWORL.

As an interesting contract, the most pitcher-friendly season since the Deadball Era was 1968. The top two players and four of the top nine players in pWOPA and pWORL were pitchers in 1968.

By traditional statistics, the top pitchers of 1968 were much better: 22 wins, 1.12 ERA, 31 wins, 1.96 ERA, 21 wins, 1.60 ERA, and 22 wins, 1.95 ERA. In contrast, the most pitcher wins by any of the four 1997 pitchers was 21 and neither Maddux nor Martinez even won 20 games. Of the four, only Roger Clemens had an ERA below 2 (1.90).

But, in the context of their times, the top four pitchers of 1968 and the top four pitchers of 1997 stack up remarkably well.

These four pitchers' seasons are compared in the next table.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL

		Top Pitchers of 1968
Bob Gibson	35	21.7	14.3	8.3	10.2	21.3	14.7	7.8	9.6
Denny McLain	43	22.9	15.7	8.2	10.1	20.5	18.1	3.8	5.8
Dave McNally	35	19.2	13.7	6.4	8.1	18.0	15.0	4.0	5.7
Luis Tiant	34	18.9	12.6	7.3	9.0	18.0	13.5	5.8	7.5

		Top Pitchers of 1997
Roger Clemens	34	18.6	9.7	9.0	10.9	19.0	9.3	9.8	11.7
Randy Johnson	30	16.1	8.4	7.8	9.4	15.4	9.2	6.3	7.9
Pedro Martinez	31	17.8	12.0	6.8	8.7	18.2	11.6	7.9	9.8
Greg Maddux	33	14.2	9.2	6.0	7.4	14.4	9.1	6.4	7.8

Craig Biggio

In The New Bill James Historical Abstract, Bill James argued that "Craig Biggio [was] the best player in major league baseball" at the time the book was published (after the 1999 season).

I think that even Bill James has subsequently admitted that was probably an exaggeration. But Craig Biggio was an excellent player in his prime and the 1997 season is a good example of where Bill James was coming from. In a season which saw 12 players hit 40 or more home runs, 6 players bat .330 or better, and 5 players slug over .600, arguably the second-best position player in the major leagues batted .309/.415/.501 with 22 home runs.

The career record of Craig Biggio, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented next.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	pWOPA

Craig Biggio
						Value Decomposition
1988	HOU	22	50	2.8	3.3	-0.1	-0.4
1989	HOU	23	134	13.7	12.1	3.5	2.3
1990	HOU	24	150	16.6	16.7	1.3	-0.2
1991	HOU	25	149	14.3	14.2	2.2	0.9
1992	HOU	26	162	21.4	20.5	2.7	0.8
1993	HOU	27	155	21.3	19.0	4.5	2.5
1994	HOU	28	114	17.0	12.8	5.8	4.3
1995	HOU	29	141	22.4	17.0	7.7	5.7
1996	HOU	30	162	22.4	19.6	5.5	3.5
1997	HOU	31	162	23.9	18.6	7.7	5.7
1998	HOU	32	160	25.1	18.0	9.4	7.2
1999	HOU	33	160	22.8	20.7	4.2	2.1
2000	HOU	34	101	11.3	11.8	0.8	-0.2
2001	HOU	35	155	21.0	16.6	6.4	4.4
2002	HOU	36	145	17.1	17.4	1.9	0.1
2003	HOU	37	153	18.3	17.9	1.9	0.1
2004	HOU	38	156	17.8	19.2	-0.6	-2.4
2005	HOU	39	155	20.3	17.5	4.3	2.7
2006	HOU	40	145	15.4	16.8	0.4	-1.1
2007	HOU	41	141	12.8	16.1	-2.1	-3.4
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,850	357.7	325.7	67.4	34.5
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			40	3.7	5.1	-1.0	-1.4
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			2,890	361.4	330.7	66.4	33.1

Notable Debuts

No players who debuted in 1997 have made the Hall of Fame yet - mostly because it is too recent. The two players with perhaps the best chance of eventual Hall-of-Fame induction who debuted in 1997 are Todd Helton, who first appeared on a Hall-of-Fame ballot last year (in 2019), and David Ortiz, who will not appear on a Hall-of-Fame ballot until 2022. Their career Player won-lost records are compared below.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Todd Helton					David Ortiz
1997	35	2.2	2.7	-0.6	-0.4	15	1.0	1.2	-0.3	-0.2
1998	152	15.4	14.5	-1.0	0.6	86	7.0	7.8	-1.5	-0.7
1999	159	17.0	14.8	0.7	2.2	10	0.2	0.7	-0.5	-0.4
2000	160	22.4	14.5	5.9	7.7	128	9.6	9.8	-0.8	0.4
2001	159	20.4	14.9	3.6	5.5	89	7.7	7.1	0.3	1.4
2002	156	19.0	14.9	2.2	4.0	125	10.2	8.8	1.0	2.3
2003	160	19.9	14.7	3.6	5.3	128	13.8	10.7	2.6	4.1
2004	154	17.1	13.7	2.1	3.7	150	17.2	12.6	4.0	6.0
2005	144	15.6	14.0	0.3	1.6	159	20.2	11.7	7.7	9.8
2006	145	15.7	14.7	-0.7	0.7	151	19.1	11.4	6.8	8.8
2007	154	18.0	14.3	2.4	3.8	149	18.3	13.0	4.3	6.3
2008	83	8.2	8.5	-1.1	-0.3	109	11.9	8.3	3.1	4.5
2009	151	16.1	13.8	0.5	1.8	150	13.9	11.2	2.1	3.8
2010	118	10.1	9.8	-0.9	0.0	145	16.0	11.0	4.6	6.4
2011	124	12.8	11.5	0.1	1.2	145	14.6	11.4	2.6	4.3
2012	69	6.3	6.4	-0.6	0.0	90	9.7	6.4	3.1	4.2
2013	124	10.7	10.9	-1.2	-0.1	137	14.8	10.7	4.2	5.9
2014						142	14.0	11.2	2.3	3.9
2015						146	14.3	11.7	1.9	3.7
2016						151	17.4	12.4	4.5	6.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,247	247.1	208.7	15.5	37.4	2,405	250.9	189.0	51.8	80.9

Farewell Seasons

Finally, the 1997 season was the final season for three Hall-of-Famers: Eddie Murray, Ryne Sandberg, and Lee Smith. The next table compares the career Player won-lost records for Murray and Sandberg. Lee Smith's career, as viewed by Player won-lost records, is then shown in the final table of this article.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Eddie Murray					Ryne Sandberg
1977	160	16.5	12.9	3.1	4.9
1978	161	20.1	15.1	4.0	5.6
1979	159	20.0	14.3	4.8	6.5
1980	158	19.1	14.9	3.3	4.9
1981	99	13.2	9.0	3.9	5.0	13	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0
1982	151	18.9	13.1	5.1	6.6	156	18.2	19.5	-2.1	-0.4
1983	156	20.3	13.2	6.5	8.0	158	19.3	20.8	-1.2	0.6
1984	162	22.3	14.8	6.7	8.4	156	25.1	19.3	6.3	8.3
1985	156	20.4	13.8	5.5	7.1	153	23.9	19.2	4.5	6.5
1986	137	13.3	14.2	-1.7	-0.4	154	19.5	18.6	1.4	3.2
1987	160	17.6	17.3	-1.5	0.1	132	16.6	16.0	1.1	2.6
1988	161	16.9	17.3	-1.4	0.5	155	20.1	18.8	1.6	3.5
1989	160	18.2	16.3	-0.3	1.3	157	21.2	18.3	2.7	4.5
1990	155	20.2	14.7	3.7	5.3	155	22.1	18.7	3.4	5.2
1991	153	19.5	15.9	2.1	3.7	158	22.7	17.0	5.3	7.1
1992	156	18.7	16.7	0.2	1.9	158	24.6	18.9	5.5	7.5
1993	154	15.4	17.6	-4.4	-2.7	117	13.0	13.8	-0.6	0.7
1994	108	9.9	9.9	-0.8	0.5	57	6.9	7.1	-0.1	0.6
1995	113	11.4	8.7	2.0	3.4
1996	152	11.7	11.3	-0.3	1.2	150	19.6	16.9	3.4	5.2
1997	55	2.9	4.3	-1.4	-1.0	135	12.6	13.8	-1.0	0.3
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	3,026	346.7	285.5	39.0	70.6	2,164	285.5	256.7	30.3	55.5

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	pWOPA

Lee Smith
						Value Decomposition
1980	CHN	22	18	0.6	0.7	-0.0	-0.1
1981	CHN	23	40	3.1	4.3	-0.5	-1.2
1982	CHN	24	72	6.2	5.6	1.4	0.5
1983	CHN	25	66	8.6	5.2	4.5	3.2
1984	CHN	26	69	9.4	5.5	5.1	3.7
1985	CHN	27	65	10.1	6.1	5.4	3.8
1986	CHN	28	66	8.7	6.9	3.1	1.6
1987	CHN	29	62	7.4	5.7	2.7	1.4
1988	BOS	30	64	7.7	5.4	3.3	2.1
1989	BOS	31	64	5.1	3.7	2.0	1.1
+– 1990		32	64	8.8	4.2	5.6	4.3
	BOS		11	1.4	0.7	0.9	0.7
	SLN		53	7.4	3.5	4.7	3.7
1991	SLN	33	67	8.5	5.3	4.3	2.9
1992	SLN	34	70	7.1	4.7	3.4	2.3
+– 1993		35	62	5.9	4.6	2.2	1.2
	NYA		8	0.5	0.2	0.4	0.4
	SLN		54	5.4	4.5	1.8	0.8
1994	BAL	36	41	4.6	3.2	2.2	1.4
1995	CAL	37	52	5.4	3.8	2.5	1.6
+– 1996		38	54	2.4	2.5	0.4	-0.1
	CAL		11	0.3	0.3	0.1	0.0
	CIN		43	2.1	2.2	0.3	-0.2
1997	MON	39	25	0.8	1.2	-0.2	-0.4
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,021	110.2	78.8	47.3	29.2
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			4	0.3	0.9	-0.5	-0.6
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			1,025	110.6	79.7	46.8	28.6

Article last updated: November 13, 2019

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1997 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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