1999 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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The 1999 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 1999 season.

The Best of 1999

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	Pedro J. Martinez	16.3	6.5	5.1	6.3	1	Derek Jeter	26.2	17.8	4.9	6.7
2	Derek Jeter	26.2	17.8	4.9	6.7	2	Pedro J. Martinez	16.3	6.5	5.1	6.3
3	Mike Hampton	17.1	10.9	3.9	5.2	3	Robin Ventura	23.3	15.4	3.8	5.3
4	Robin Ventura	23.3	15.4	3.8	5.3	4	Mike Hampton	17.1	10.9	3.9	5.2
5	Chipper Jones	22.6	15.0	3.6	5.1	5	Roberto Alomar	23.0	16.5	3.6	5.1
6	Roberto Alomar	23.0	16.5	3.6	5.1	6	Chipper Jones	22.6	15.0	3.6	5.1
7	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	18.5	13.3	3.4	4.9	7	Edgardo Alfonzo	23.2	16.3	3.4	5.0
8	Edgardo Alfonzo	23.2	16.3	3.4	5.0	8	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	18.5	13.3	3.4	4.9
9	Omar Vizquel	21.2	15.8	3.3	4.8	9	Omar Vizquel	21.2	15.8	3.3	4.8
10	Jeff Bagwell	22.8	14.2	3.3	4.7	10	Jeff Bagwell	22.8	14.2	3.3	4.7

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	Pedro J. Martinez	14.7	6.7	4.2	5.3	1	Pedro J. Martinez	14.7	6.7	4.2	5.3
2	Derek Jeter	23.0	18.2	3.1	4.7	2	Derek Jeter	23.0	18.2	3.1	4.7
3	Mike Hampton	16.2	11.9	3.0	4.3	3	Roberto Alomar	22.1	16.9	2.9	4.4
4	Roberto Alomar	22.1	16.9	2.9	4.4	4	Mike Hampton	16.2	11.9	3.0	4.3
5	Nomar Garciaparra	19.2	14.8	2.7	4.1	5	Chipper Jones	21.8	16.0	2.7	4.2
6	Chipper Jones	21.8	16.0	2.7	4.2	6	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	17.8	14.2	2.6	4.1
7	J. Kevin Brown	16.4	12.3	2.7	4.1	7	Nomar Garciaparra	19.2	14.8	2.7	4.1
8	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	17.8	14.2	2.6	4.1	8	J. Kevin Brown	16.4	12.3	2.7	4.1
9	Mark McGwire	20.8	13.8	2.6	3.9	9	Mark McGwire	20.8	13.8	2.6	3.9
10	John Smoltz	12.5	8.7	2.5	3.5	10	Edgardo Alfonzo	21.4	16.6	2.4	3.9

American League

The 1999 American League MVP vote was not the BBWAA's finest moment.

Pedro Martinez pitched 213.1 innings with 313 strikeouts (and only 37 walks), an ERA of 2.07 (in a league with an ERA of 4.86), and a traditional won-lost record of 23-4.

Derek Jeter batted .349 with 134 runs scored and 102 RBI while playing shortstop for a team that won a league-high 98 games and would end the season winning their third World Series in four years.

As the above tables show, Martinez and Jeter were easily the two best players in the American League (if not the major leagues) in 1999. Yet, they finished 2nd and 6th in MVP voting.

Pedro Martinez's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented next.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Pedro J. Martinez Basic Player Won-Lost Records
												Value Decomposition
1992	LAN	20	2	0.2	0.3	0.394	-0.0	-0.0	0.4	0.3	0.603	0.1	0.1
1993	LAN	21	65	7.5	5.4	0.580	0.9	1.7	5.3	4.4	0.550	0.4	1.0
1994	MON	22	24	9.7	7.9	0.552	1.3	2.2	8.9	7.5	0.541	1.0	1.9
1995	MON	23	30	11.6	11.3	0.507	0.8	1.9	11.2	11.3	0.497	0.5	1.7
1996	MON	24	33	13.3	13.2	0.501	0.8	2.2	14.0	12.0	0.538	1.8	3.1
1997	MON	25	31	18.0	11.9	0.601	3.8	5.4	16.7	10.5	0.615	3.8	5.3
1998	BOS	26	33	15.6	10.7	0.593	2.7	4.1	15.2	11.5	0.568	2.1	3.5
1999	BOS	27	31	16.3	6.5	0.714	5.1	6.3	14.7	6.7	0.688	4.2	5.3
2000	BOS	28	29	16.4	7.1	0.699	4.9	6.1	15.3	6.3	0.706	4.6	5.8
2001	BOS	29	18	7.4	4.0	0.650	1.9	2.5	7.9	3.8	0.676	2.2	2.9
2002	BOS	30	30	14.8	7.5	0.663	3.9	5.1	12.6	7.5	0.627	2.8	3.8
2003	BOS	31	29	13.8	7.3	0.654	3.4	4.7	12.6	6.4	0.664	3.3	4.4
2004	BOS	32	33	14.7	10.9	0.574	2.2	3.7	13.9	10.4	0.571	2.0	3.4
2005	NYN	33	31	13.4	11.0	0.548	1.8	2.9	14.1	10.3	0.577	2.5	3.6
2006	NYN	34	23	8.4	9.9	0.459	-0.3	0.6	8.8	9.1	0.492	0.3	1.2
2007	NYN	35	5	2.3	1.5	0.607	0.5	0.7	1.9	1.6	0.550	0.3	0.5
2008	NYN	36	20	6.5	8.1	0.443	-0.4	0.3	6.8	9.4	0.418	-0.9	-0.1
2009	PHI	37	9	3.8	2.7	0.580	0.7	1.0	2.7	3.5	0.440	-0.2	0.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			476	193.7	137.5	0.585	33.9	51.4	183.0	132.5	0.580	30.8	47.5
			------	------	------				------	------
PostSeason (career)			16	5.2	4.8	0.518		0.9	6.3	4.7	0.575		1.6
			------	------	------	------		------	------	------	------		------
COMBINED			492	198.8	142.3	0.585		52.2	189.3	137.2	0.580		49.0

Derek Jeter's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented next.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Derek Jeter Basic Player Won-Lost Records
												Value Decomposition
1995	NYA	21	15	1.0	1.6	0.380	-0.3	-0.2	1.2	1.5	0.453	-0.1	0.0
1996	NYA	22	157	18.3	19.5	0.483	0.0	1.5	18.7	19.5	0.490	0.3	1.8
1997	NYA	23	159	21.4	20.3	0.513	1.4	3.0	21.0	21.4	0.495	0.6	2.3
1998	NYA	24	149	23.2	16.7	0.581	4.0	5.5	21.5	17.6	0.549	2.7	4.2
1999	NYA	25	158	26.2	17.8	0.595	4.9	6.7	23.0	18.2	0.558	3.1	4.7
2000	NYA	26	148	20.6	16.6	0.553	2.5	4.0	19.1	17.3	0.525	1.5	2.9
2001	NYA	27	150	20.3	17.3	0.540	2.0	3.6	19.7	17.3	0.531	1.7	3.3
2002	NYA	28	157	20.4	17.5	0.539	2.0	3.5	20.0	18.6	0.518	1.2	2.8
2003	NYA	29	119	16.0	12.8	0.555	2.0	3.1	15.3	14.0	0.524	1.1	2.2
2004	NYA	30	154	22.8	18.1	0.558	2.9	4.5	20.7	19.1	0.519	1.3	2.8
2005	NYA	31	158	23.1	20.4	0.532	2.0	3.5	22.1	20.0	0.526	1.6	3.2
2006	NYA	32	154	22.7	17.1	0.570	3.3	4.7	21.4	18.4	0.538	2.0	3.4
2007	NYA	33	156	21.4	18.0	0.542	2.0	3.4	20.1	19.1	0.514	0.9	2.3
2008	NYA	34	150	18.6	17.8	0.511	1.0	2.3	18.4	18.2	0.503	0.7	2.1
2009	NYA	35	153	19.5	16.5	0.541	2.0	3.3	21.3	19.2	0.526	1.6	3.1
2010	NYA	36	157	20.4	20.1	0.504	0.8	2.3	18.0	18.9	0.488	0.1	1.5
2011	NYA	37	131	16.0	15.4	0.510	0.7	1.9	15.2	15.5	0.496	0.2	1.4
2012	NYA	38	159	20.2	18.8	0.518	1.2	2.7	20.9	19.8	0.514	1.0	2.6
2013	NYA	39	17	1.5	1.8	0.465	-0.1	0.1	1.5	1.9	0.429	-0.2	-0.1
2014	NYA	40	145	15.9	18.1	0.468	-0.8	0.5	15.2	18.5	0.451	-1.3	-0.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,746	369.4	322.2	0.534	33.4	60.1	354.5	333.9	0.515	20.0	46.6
			------	------	------				------	------
PostSeason (career)			158	21.3	18.4	0.536		3.6	21.8	19.6	0.526		3.3
			------	------	------	------		------	------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,904	390.7	340.6	0.534		63.7	376.2	353.5	0.515		49.9

National League

As for the National League, the top players, as measured by Player won-lost records, are something of a surprise.

Mike Hampton

Mike Hampton is best remembered these days as an underperforming, oft-injured pitcher who ended up being one of the worst free-agent signings ever. Because of how Hampton's career ended (1,007.2 IP, 4.84 ERA, $110.4 million in salary from 2001 - 2010), it's easy to forget what earned him that free-agent contract in the first place.

This season is what earned him that contract. In 1999, Mike Hampton pitched 239 innings with a 2.90 ERA (and remember, this was the late 1990s - the NL ERA that year was 4.56), and amassed a traditional won-lost record of 22-4. And he also batted .311/.373/.432. In 1999, Hampton finished second in Cy Young voting to Randy Johnson. Based on Player won-lost records, Hampton had a very strong case as the best pitcher in the National League in 1999. In fact, based on the above tables, Mike Hampton has a case as the best player in the National League in 1999, regardless of position (he finished 21st in MVP voting).

Mike Hampton's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented next.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Mike Hampton Basic Player Won-Lost Records
												Value Decomposition
1993	SEA	20	13	1.1	2.4	0.312	-0.7	-0.5	1.0	1.9	0.349	-0.4	-0.3
1994	HOU	21	44	1.5	1.7	0.469	-0.1	0.1	1.9	2.2	0.463	-0.2	0.1
1995	HOU	22	24	8.7	8.7	0.500	0.5	1.4	9.7	9.2	0.513	0.8	1.7
1996	HOU	23	27	10.4	10.4	0.502	0.6	1.7	10.2	10.1	0.504	0.6	1.7
1997	HOU	24	34	13.8	13.4	0.507	0.9	2.4	13.8	13.9	0.499	0.7	2.2
1998	HOU	25	32	12.7	11.5	0.525	1.3	2.4	14.1	13.5	0.510	1.0	2.4
1999	HOU	26	34	17.1	10.9	0.610	3.9	5.2	16.2	11.9	0.577	3.0	4.3
2000	NYN	27	34	15.2	12.9	0.541	1.9	3.3	14.6	12.0	0.549	2.0	3.3
2001	COL	28	37	14.6	15.0	0.493	0.8	2.3	13.6	13.9	0.494	0.8	2.1
2002	COL	29	34	10.5	15.6	0.402	-1.9	-0.6	11.2	14.2	0.439	-0.9	0.4
2003	ATL	30	32	12.5	11.7	0.518	1.1	2.4	12.1	11.1	0.520	1.1	2.3
2004	ATL	31	33	11.8	10.9	0.519	1.2	2.3	11.1	11.3	0.496	0.6	1.8
2005	ATL	32	12	4.5	4.0	0.527	0.5	0.9	4.6	4.0	0.536	0.6	1.0
2008	ATL	35	13	4.2	4.7	0.472	0.0	0.5	5.1	5.1	0.502	0.3	0.8
2009	HOU	36	21	7.3	9.0	0.450	-0.3	0.5	7.3	7.4	0.498	0.5	1.2
2010	ARI	37	10	0.2	0.1	0.554	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.1	0.642	0.0	0.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			434	146.2	143.0	0.506	9.9	24.3	146.6	141.7	0.509	10.7	25.0
			------	------	------				------	------
PostSeason (career)			11	3.8	4.2	0.475		0.4	4.0	3.7	0.525		0.8
			------	------	------	------		------	------	------	------		------
COMBINED			445	150.0	147.2	0.506		24.7	150.6	145.3	0.509		25.8

Robin Ventura

Based on pWins over either positional average or replacement level, Hampton's chief competition for best player in the National League is something of a surprise: New York Mets third baseman Robin Ventura.

Ventura's raw statistics were very good in 1999: he batted over .300 for the only time in his career (.301) with career highs in OBP (.379), SLG (.529), and, of course, OPS (.908). He hit 32 home runs, drove in 120 runs (8th in the NL) and won a Gold Glove (the last of his six career Gold Gloves).

One reason why Ventura looks so much better in pWins than he does in other measures, even other sabermetric measures (Baseball-Reference shows Ventura 6th in the NL in WAR, for example) is because pWins tie to team wins. In Mets victories, Ventura batted .357/.427/.659 with 99 RBI in 96 games. With runners in scoring position, Ventura batted .340/.430/.535 (vs. .285/.352/.534 with nobody on). With the bases loaded, Ventura batted .529/.600/1.659 with 3 grand slams and 24 RBI in 20 plate appearances.

Ventura looking better in context was not just true in 1999, but was true of his career in general. For his career, he batted .340/.370/.676 with the bases loaded with 18 grand slams in 238 plate appearances. That puts him 5th all-time in career major-league grand slams; his 294 career home runs rank 140th.

Robin Ventura's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented next.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Robin Ventura Basic Player Won-Lost Records
												Value Decomposition
1989	CHA	21	16	1.7	1.5	0.529	0.1	0.2	1.5	1.5	0.496	-0.0	0.1
1990	CHA	22	149	14.9	13.5	0.525	0.8	1.9	14.4	14.6	0.497	0.0	1.1
1991	CHA	23	157	21.1	18.4	0.534	1.4	2.9	20.5	18.3	0.528	1.1	2.6
1992	CHA	24	157	22.0	17.7	0.554	2.1	3.6	22.4	18.3	0.551	2.0	3.5
1993	CHA	25	157	18.8	16.4	0.534	1.2	2.6	17.9	15.9	0.530	1.0	2.4
1994	CHA	26	109	13.1	11.9	0.523	0.7	1.7	12.3	11.3	0.522	0.6	1.6
1995	CHA	27	135	14.6	13.9	0.513	0.3	1.4	16.4	14.1	0.537	1.0	2.3
1996	CHA	28	158	18.3	17.1	0.517	0.5	2.0	18.8	17.1	0.523	0.7	2.2
1997	CHA	29	54	6.7	5.1	0.566	0.8	1.2	6.1	5.4	0.532	0.4	0.8
1998	CHA	30	161	18.7	16.6	0.530	1.1	2.5	17.3	15.8	0.522	0.8	2.1
1999	NYN	31	161	23.3	15.4	0.603	3.8	5.3	20.0	15.5	0.563	2.1	3.4
2000	NYN	32	141	15.6	14.2	0.522	0.6	1.8	14.4	14.0	0.507	0.2	1.3
2001	NYN	33	140	15.3	14.6	0.513	0.2	1.5	15.3	14.7	0.510	0.1	1.4
2002	NYA	34	141	17.0	12.5	0.577	2.4	3.6	15.9	13.4	0.543	1.4	2.5
+– 2003		35	138	11.7	10.1	0.537	0.8	1.6	11.0	10.7	0.506	0.1	0.9
	LAN		49	2.9	2.9	0.506	-0.1	0.1	2.8	2.7	0.514	-0.1	0.2
	NYA		89	8.8	7.3	0.548	0.9	1.5	8.1	8.0	0.503	0.1	0.8
2004	LAN	36	98	5.0	4.1	0.545	0.4	0.8	4.0	3.8	0.514	0.1	0.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,072	237.8	203.1	0.539	17.0	34.6	228.2	204.4	0.527	11.6	28.8
			------	------	------				------	------
PostSeason (career)			37	3.7	3.9	0.483		0.2	3.5	3.9	0.474		0.1
			------	------	------	------		------	------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,109	241.5	207.0	0.539		34.7	231.7	208.3	0.527		28.9

1999 Postseason

The 1999 World Series was the fifth World Series appearance of the decade by the Atlanta Braves. It was only the third World Series appearance of the decade by the New York Yankees, but they already led the Braves in World Series wins for the decade, 2 to 1, including a head-to-head win three years earlier. The winner of the 1999 matchup would have a clear claim as the best team of the 1990s. The New York Yankees won their third World Series in four years and solidified their claim as the best team of the 1990s.

The best players of the 1999 postseason, as measured by Player won-lost records, are presented next.

	1999 Postseason: Total
		pWins	pLosses	pWORL
Orlando Hernandez	NYA	2.0	0.7	0.8
Chuck Knoblauch	NYA	2.2	1.1	0.7
Derek Jeter	NYA	2.1	1.1	0.7
Mariano Rivera	NYA	1.4	0.2	0.7
John Olerud	NYN	2.0	1.0	0.6
Bernie Williams	NYA	2.0	1.2	0.5
Andy Pettitte	NYA	1.4	0.6	0.5
Roger Clemens	NYA	1.6	0.9	0.5
Pedro J. Martinez	BOS	1.1	0.2	0.5

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

	1999 Postseason: World Series
		pWins	pLosses	pWORL
Chuck Knoblauch	NYA	1.1	0.3	0.5
Derek Jeter	NYA	0.9	0.3	0.4
Tino Martinez	NYA	0.8	0.3	0.3
Mariano Rivera	NYA	0.6	0.1	0.3
Roger Clemens	NYA	0.5	0.1	0.3

	1999 Postseason: League Championship Series
		pWins	pLosses	pWORL
Orlando Hernandez	NYA	0.9	0.3	0.4
Eddie Perez	ATL	0.9	0.3	0.4
Bernie Williams	NYA	1.1	0.5	0.4
Melvin Mora	NYN	0.9	0.5	0.3
Tom Glavine	ATL	0.7	0.2	0.3
Mariano Rivera	NYA	0.5	0.1	0.3
John Olerud	NYN	1.2	0.7	0.3
Pedro J. Martinez	BOS	0.5	0.1	0.2
Ramiro Mendoza	NYA	0.4	0.0	0.2
Brian Jordan	ATL	1.0	0.6	0.2
Derek Jeter	NYA	0.9	0.6	0.2
Andy Pettitte	NYA	0.5	0.2	0.2
Paul O'Neill	NYA	0.9	0.6	0.2
Chuck Knoblauch	NYA	0.8	0.5	0.2
Kevin Millwood	ATL	0.6	0.4	0.2
Nomar Garciaparra	BOS	0.7	0.5	0.2
David Cone	NYA	0.5	0.3	0.2
Greg Maddux	ATL	0.6	0.5	0.2

	1999 Postseason: Division Series
		pWins	pLosses	pWORL
John Valentin	BOS	1.1	0.5	0.4
Brian Jordan	ATL	1.0	0.3	0.4
Kevin Millwood	ATL	0.7	0.2	0.3
Edgardo Alfonzo	NYN	0.9	0.4	0.3
Orlando Hernandez	NYA	0.7	0.2	0.3
John Olerud	NYN	0.8	0.3	0.3
Roger Clemens	NYA	0.6	0.2	0.3
Jim Thome	CLE	0.9	0.4	0.3
Darryl Strawberry	NYA	0.6	0.1	0.3
Troy O'Leary	BOS	0.9	0.4	0.3
Andy Pettitte	NYA	0.7	0.3	0.3
John Rocker	ATL	0.6	0.2	0.3
Travis Fryman	CLE	0.8	0.4	0.3
John Smoltz	ATL	0.6	0.2	0.2
Harold Baines	CLE	0.6	0.2	0.2
Pedro J. Martinez	BOS	0.5	0.1	0.2
Todd Stottlemyre	ARI	0.6	0.3	0.2
Bernie Williams	NYA	0.7	0.3	0.2
Todd Pratt	NYN	0.5	0.1	0.2
Nomar Garciaparra	BOS	0.6	0.3	0.2
Jose Offerman	BOS	0.8	0.5	0.2
Steve Finley	ARI	0.7	0.4	0.2
Rick Reed	NYN	0.5	0.4	0.2

Best of 1999 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins over Positional Average 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 1999 in eWOPA by factor were as follows.

	Batting
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Mark McGwire	17.5	10.1	3.4

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense

	Baserunning
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Tony Womack	2.7	1.5	0.5
Roberto Alomar	1.7	0.9	0.4
Doug Glanville	1.9	1.1	0.4

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense

	Pitching
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Pedro J. Martinez	12.7	6.8	5.9

	Fielding, P
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Tom Glavine	0.4	0.1	0.3

	Fielding, C
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Ivan Rodriguez	1.8	1.3	0.5
John Flaherty	1.8	1.3	0.5

	Fielding, 1B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Kevin Young	3.0	2.3	0.8

	Fielding, 2B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Pokey Reese	5.6	3.9	1.7

	Fielding, 3B
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Scott Rolen	3.8	2.8	1.0

	Fielding, SS
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Rey Ordonez	5.4	4.0	1.3

	Fielding, LF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Geoff Jenkins	5.3	4.2	1.2

	Fielding, CF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Andruw Jones	8.0	6.3	1.7

	Fielding, RF
	eWins	eLosses	Net Wins
Jermaine Dye	7.4	5.8	1.6

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1999 Major-League leaders in eWOPA by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position, and include no contextual adjustments (expected or actual).

	Catcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Mike Piazza	15.9	12.7	1.9

	First Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Mark McGwire	20.6	14.0	2.3

	Second Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Roberto Alomar	21.6	17.1	2.6

	Third Base
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Chipper Jones	21.7	16.2	2.5

	Shortstop
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Derek Jeter	22.9	18.5	2.9

	Left Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Barry Bonds	13.7	10.0	1.5

	Center Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Ken Griffey Jr.	21.8	18.2	1.7

	Right Field
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Manny Ramirez	21.1	15.7	2.1

	Starting Pitcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Pedro J. Martinez	12.6	6.6	3.2

	Relief Pitcher
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Derek Lowe	6.1	3.8	1.0
Keith Foulke	6.3	4.1	1.0
Mariano Rivera	4.1	2.0	1.0

For relief pitchers, context-neutral records may not be the best measure of how good they are, as context can matter a great deal, depending on how a pitcher is used. Here are the top relief pitchers of 1999 in context, in terms of pWins and pWOPA.

Player	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Top Relief Pitchers of 1999, based on pWORL
Roberto M. Hernandez	9.2	4.0	0.700	2.5	3.3
Billy Wagner	7.3	2.7	0.731	2.2	2.8
John Wetteland	7.7	3.5	0.686	1.9	2.7
Derek Lowe	7.7	3.7	0.676	1.9	2.6
Mariano Rivera	6.6	2.5	0.727	1.9	2.5

	Designated Hitter
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
John Jaha	12.2	8.4	1.6

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

	Pitcher Offense
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Mike Hampton	1.5	1.7	0.5

	Pinch Hitter
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Jeff Conine	1.0	0.7	0.2
Chris Stynes	0.6	0.3	0.2
Matt Franco	1.5	1.3	0.2
Bruce Aven	0.8	0.5	0.2
Dale Sveum	0.8	0.5	0.2
Jim Leyritz	0.8	0.4	0.2
Alex Arias	0.7	0.4	0.2
Al Martin	0.5	0.1	0.2
Russ Johnson	1.1	0.9	0.2
Wilton Guerrero	1.3	1.1	0.2
Preston Wilson	0.5	0.2	0.2
Dave Hansen	1.4	1.2	0.2
Corey Koskie	0.4	0.2	0.2
Armando Rios	0.6	0.3	0.2
Jay Canizaro	0.4	0.1	0.2

	Pinch Runner
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Luis Ordaz	0.2	0.0	0.1

Noteworthy Players of 1999

Finally, let's take a look at some players who had noteworthy 1999 seasons.

Notable Debuts

It is too early for any players who debuted in 1999 to have been elected to the Hall of Fame. And honestly, I am not sure that there are any players who debuted in 1999 who are obvious or even likely Hall-of-Fame candidates.

Probably the players with the two best careers of players who debuted in 1999 are Tim Hudson and Lance Berkman, both of whom probably deserve serious consideration for the Hall of Fame when they become eligible.

The next table compares the careers of Tim Hudson and Lance Berkman, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Tim Hudson						Lance Berkman
1999	22	9.1	6.3	0.591	1.5	2.3	34	2.3	2.6	0.470	-0.2	-0.0
2000	32	13.6	10.9	0.556	1.6	2.9	114	12.8	12.4	0.507	-0.2	0.8
2001	35	14.5	11.1	0.566	2.0	3.5	156	25.1	19.0	0.569	2.3	4.2
2002	34	13.9	10.6	0.567	1.9	3.2	158	23.7	17.6	0.574	2.6	4.2
2003	34	15.5	9.5	0.620	3.3	4.7	153	20.3	17.0	0.545	0.8	2.3
2004	27	11.2	8.7	0.564	1.5	2.7	160	23.0	17.0	0.576	2.3	3.9
2005	29	13.1	12.5	0.512	1.0	2.2	132	17.2	13.2	0.567	1.4	2.5
2006	35	13.1	13.8	0.486	0.3	1.7	152	20.2	14.1	0.589	2.3	3.5
2007	34	13.8	10.8	0.560	2.3	3.5	153	17.7	14.5	0.550	0.9	2.1
2008	23	9.3	7.4	0.555	1.4	2.2	159	21.6	13.9	0.609	3.0	4.3
2009	7	2.3	2.3	0.495	0.2	0.4	136	16.0	13.6	0.540	0.3	1.3
2010	35	15.3	13.0	0.542	1.9	3.3	122	12.2	11.1	0.524	0.0	1.0
2011	33	14.0	12.1	0.537	1.7	2.9	145	19.9	13.8	0.590	2.4	3.7
2012	28	12.5	9.6	0.565	2.2	3.1	32	2.2	2.6	0.452	-0.3	-0.1
2013	21	8.6	7.8	0.524	0.9	1.7	73	6.3	5.6	0.529	0.4	1.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	429	179.9	146.5	0.551	23.6	40.1	1,879	240.5	187.9	0.561	17.9	34.7

Last Hurrahs

Finally, 1999 was the final season for Hall-of-Fame third baseman Wade Boggs. The final table of this article presents Wade Boggs's career, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Wade Boggs Basic Player Won-Lost Records
												Value Decomposition
1982	BOS	24	104	10.4	9.0	0.538	0.6	1.3	10.6	9.4	0.530	0.5	1.2
1983	BOS	25	153	22.2	18.3	0.547	1.7	3.2	21.9	17.6	0.555	2.0	3.4
1984	BOS	26	157	17.9	17.5	0.506	0.3	1.7	20.4	18.2	0.528	1.2	2.7
1985	BOS	27	161	22.8	18.6	0.551	2.2	3.7	23.7	18.3	0.565	2.8	4.3
1986	BOS	28	149	21.9	15.0	0.594	3.3	4.6	20.2	15.9	0.560	2.0	3.3
1987	BOS	29	147	19.5	14.8	0.569	2.3	3.6	20.2	14.4	0.584	2.8	4.2
1988	BOS	30	155	19.9	15.4	0.563	2.3	3.6	20.0	15.2	0.568	2.5	3.8
1989	BOS	31	156	18.0	15.8	0.532	1.1	2.3	20.0	16.0	0.555	2.0	3.3
1990	BOS	32	155	18.1	17.7	0.506	0.3	1.7	18.1	17.8	0.504	0.3	1.6
1991	BOS	33	144	19.5	15.3	0.560	2.2	3.5	18.6	15.4	0.547	1.7	3.0
1992	BOS	34	143	16.3	16.7	0.494	-0.3	1.1	16.1	16.1	0.501	-0.1	1.2
1993	NYA	35	143	16.4	15.5	0.515	0.5	1.8	16.0	16.8	0.488	-0.4	1.0
1994	NYA	36	97	14.3	10.2	0.584	2.1	3.2	13.9	10.8	0.563	1.7	2.7
1995	NYA	37	126	13.8	11.9	0.537	0.9	2.0	13.6	12.2	0.527	0.7	1.7
1996	NYA	38	132	13.4	13.4	0.500	-0.1	1.0	12.7	13.4	0.488	-0.4	0.7
1997	NYA	39	104	9.2	8.6	0.517	0.3	1.1	9.9	9.3	0.515	0.3	1.1
1998	TBA	40	123	10.5	11.3	0.483	-0.5	0.6	11.2	11.3	0.497	-0.1	0.9
1999	TBA	41	90	7.7	9.3	0.453	-0.8	-0.1	8.1	8.9	0.476	-0.4	0.3
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,439	291.9	254.3	0.534	18.5	39.8	295.2	257.1	0.535	18.8	40.4
			------	------	------				------	------
PostSeason (career)			39	4.4	4.0	0.521		0.5	4.2	4.4	0.492		0.2
			------	------	------	------		------	------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,478	296.3	258.3	0.534		40.3	299.4	261.4	0.535		40.6

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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