1970 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1970 Season

The 1970 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1970 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1970

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	Bob Gibson	21.5	13.6	9.0	10.8	1	Bob Gibson	21.5	13.6	9.0	10.8
2	Willie McCovey	21.7	12.6	7.5	9.2	2	Tony Oliva	26.3	18.0	7.1	9.3
3	Tony Oliva	26.3	18.0	7.1	9.3	3	Willie McCovey	21.7	12.6	7.5	9.2
4	Johnny Bench	21.9	15.1	6.6	8.5	4	Johnny Bench	21.9	15.1	6.6	8.5
5	Tony Perez	23.5	16.2	6.3	8.3	5	Roy White	26.9	18.7	6.0	8.3
6	Jim Palmer	20.5	15.3	6.1	8.1	6	Tony Perez	23.5	16.2	6.3	8.3
7	Hank Aaron	23.3	16.1	6.1	8.1	7	Hank Aaron	23.3	16.1	6.1	8.1
8	Tom Seaver	20.4	15.4	6.1	8.0	8	Jim Palmer	20.5	15.3	6.1	8.1
9	Roy White	26.9	18.7	6.0	8.3	9	Fergie Jenkins	21.6	16.9	6.0	8.0
10	Fergie Jenkins	21.6	16.9	6.0	8.0	10	Tom Seaver	20.4	15.4	6.1	8.0

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	Bob Gibson	21.1	14.1	8.3	10.1	1	Bob Gibson	21.1	14.1	8.3	10.1
2	Tom Seaver	21.2	14.6	7.8	9.7	2	Tom Seaver	21.2	14.6	7.8	9.7
3	Fergie Jenkins	22.0	16.5	6.9	9.0	3	Fergie Jenkins	22.0	16.5	6.9	9.0
4	Tony Perez	23.5	16.3	6.1	8.2	4	Tony Perez	23.5	16.3	6.1	8.2
5	Carl Yastrzemski	23.7	15.8	6.0	8.0	5	Carl Yastrzemski	23.7	15.8	6.0	8.0
6	Willie McCovey	20.6	13.7	5.2	6.9	6	Denis Menke	21.2	17.3	5.1	7.0
7	Denis Menke	21.2	17.3	5.1	7.0	7	Gaylord Perry	22.5	19.4	4.6	6.9
8	Johnny Bench	21.0	16.0	4.9	6.8	8	Willie McCovey	20.6	13.7	5.2	6.9
9	Jim Fregosi	21.8	18.1	4.8	6.8	9	Jim Fregosi	21.8	18.1	4.8	6.8
10	Gaylord Perry	22.5	19.4	4.6	6.9	10	Johnny Bench	21.0	16.0	4.9	6.8

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1970 at the end of this article.

1970 Postseason

The 1970 World Series featured two of the dominant teams of the 1970s. The Cincinnati Reds won six division titles in the 1970s and appeared in four World Series, winning two of them. They were defeated in this World Series by the Baltimore Orioles, who won five division titles in the 1970s (as well as one in 1969) and played in three World Series (plus 1969). This was the only World Series championship of the decade for the Orioles, though.

The star of the 1970 postseason was World Series MVP and future Hall-of-Famer Brooks Robinson.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1970 Postseason: Total

Brooks Robinson	BAL	1.7	0.5	1.3
Dave McNally	BAL	1.4	0.7	0.9
Jim Palmer	BAL	1.8	1.3	0.8
Merv Rettenmund	BAL	0.8	0.2	0.6
Lee May	CIN	1.3	0.6	0.6
John 'Boog' Powell	BAL	1.2	0.6	0.6
Ellie Hendricks	BAL	0.8	0.3	0.6
Don Buford	BAL	1.0	0.4	0.6
Mike Cuellar	BAL	1.2	0.9	0.6
Mark Belanger	BAL	1.1	0.7	0.5

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1970 World Series

Brooks Robinson	BAL	1.3	0.3	1.0
Lee May	CIN	1.0	0.4	0.6
Ellie Hendricks	BAL	0.7	0.2	0.4
Dave McNally	BAL	0.7	0.3	0.4
Clay Carroll	CIN	0.4	0.1	0.3

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1970 Postseason: League Championship Series

Gary Nolan	CIN	0.9	0.2	0.6
Bobby Tolan	CIN	0.8	0.2	0.6
Jim Palmer	BAL	0.8	0.3	0.5
Don Gullett	CIN	0.5	0.1	0.4
Tony Perez	CIN	0.7	0.3	0.4

Best of 1970 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 1970 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	Carl Yastrzemski	16.9	9.9	6.7	1	Willie McCovey	18.5	9.8	8.3
2	Willie McCovey	17.5	10.9	6.2	2	Harmon Killebrew	18.0	10.5	7.1
3	Frank Howard	18.1	11.6	6.0	3	Hank Aaron	17.7	10.2	7.0
4	Tony Perez	17.5	11.1	5.9	4	Carl Yastrzemski	17.0	9.8	6.8
5	Rico Carty	15.0	9.1	5.5	5	John 'Boog' Powell	16.2	9.2	6.6
6	John 'Boog' Powell	15.4	10.0	5.0	6	Frank Howard	18.3	11.4	6.5
7	Harmon Killebrew	16.9	11.5	5.0	7	Tony Perez	17.4	11.2	5.8
8	Gentleman Jim Hickman	15.9	10.7	4.8	8	Johnny Bench	18.0	11.8	5.8
9	Billy Williams	17.6	12.5	4.6	9	Billy Williams	18.0	12.0	5.5
10	Dick Dietz	14.6	9.8	4.4	10	Dick Dietz	15.2	9.3	5.5

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Roy White	2.5	1.1	1.3	1	Roy White	2.4	1.2	1.2
2	Amos Otis	1.7	0.8	0.9	2	Cesar Tovar	2.9	1.7	1.1
3	Reggie Smith	1.9	1.0	0.8	3	Bobby Murcer	1.9	1.0	0.8
4	Bobby Bonds	2.1	1.4	0.6	4	Amos Otis	1.7	0.8	0.8
5	Sandy Alomar Sr.	2.3	1.6	0.6	5	Willie Davis	1.7	0.9	0.8
6	Ed Stroud	1.5	0.8	0.6	6	Bobby Bonds	2.2	1.4	0.8
7	Bobby Tolan	2.7	2.0	0.6	7	Sandy Alomar Sr.	2.3	1.6	0.6
8	Mark Belanger	1.4	0.8	0.6	8	Bobby Tolan	2.7	2.0	0.6
9	Willie Davis	1.6	1.0	0.6	9	Reggie Smith	1.7	1.1	0.6
10	Bobby Murcer	1.8	1.2	0.6	10	Dave May	1.2	0.6	0.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Fergie Jenkins	19.2	13.9	5.3	1	Bob Gibson	18.6	11.1	7.6
2	Tom Seaver	18.3	13.1	5.2	2	Sam McDowell	20.7	14.6	6.1
3	Bob Gibson	17.4	12.3	5.1	3	Fergie Jenkins	19.5	13.6	5.8
4	Bill Hands	15.9	12.4	3.6	4	Jim Palmer	18.4	12.8	5.6
5	Gaylord Perry	20.3	16.9	3.3	5	Tom Seaver	18.4	13.0	5.4
6	Sam McDowell	19.2	16.1	3.0	6	Jim Perry	17.5	12.5	5.0
7	Jim Perry	16.5	13.5	3.0	7	Dave McNally	17.6	13.6	4.1
8	Jim Palmer	16.8	14.4	2.4	8	Mike Cuellar	17.5	13.5	4.0
9	Dick Bosman	13.4	11.1	2.3	9	Mudcat Grant	9.0	5.0	4.0
10	Tom Hall	8.3	6.0	2.3	10	Fritz Peterson	14.6	10.7	3.9

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Gaylord Perry	0.6	0.3	0.3	1	Gaylord Perry	0.7	0.2	0.5
2	Jim Rooker	0.5	0.3	0.3	2	Jim McGlothlin	0.6	0.2	0.4
3	Joe Horlen	0.5	0.3	0.3	3	Jim Rooker	0.6	0.2	0.3
4	Fritz Peterson	0.8	0.5	0.3	4	Tom A. Murphy	0.5	0.2	0.3
5	Pat Jarvis	0.4	0.2	0.2	5	Wayne Simpson	0.4	0.2	0.2


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	George Mitterwald	1.7	1.2	0.5	1	Paul Casanova	1.4	0.8	0.6
2	Johnny Edwards	2.0	1.5	0.5	2	Johnny Bench	1.8	1.2	0.6
3	Ray Fosse	2.0	1.6	0.4	3	Ray Fosse	2.0	1.5	0.5
4	Paul Casanova	1.3	0.9	0.4	4	Johnny Edwards	2.0	1.5	0.5
5	Johnny Bench	1.6	1.3	0.3	5	Thurman Munson	1.7	1.3	0.5


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Wes Parker	2.6	2.0	0.6	1	Wes Parker	2.7	1.9	0.7
2	John 'Boog' Powell	2.0	1.5	0.5	2	Don Mincher	2.4	1.7	0.7
3	Bob Oliver	1.8	1.5	0.4	3	Lee May	2.8	2.2	0.6
4	Don Mincher	2.2	1.9	0.3	4	Willie McCovey	2.5	1.9	0.6
5	Mike Hegan	2.7	2.4	0.3	5	Jim Spencer	2.1	1.8	0.4


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Sandy Alomar Sr.	6.0	5.1	0.9	1	Sandy Alomar Sr.	6.3	4.9	1.4
2	Tim Cullen	3.7	3.0	0.8	2	Davey Johnson	5.7	4.5	1.2
3	Davey Johnson	5.4	4.8	0.6	3	Bill Mazeroski	4.3	3.3	1.0
4	Cookie Rojas	4.0	3.5	0.5	4	Tim Cullen	3.8	2.9	1.0
5	Bill Mazeroski	4.0	3.6	0.5	5	Tommy Helms	6.2	5.5	0.7


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Aurelio Rodriguez	6.0	4.3	1.7	1	Aurelio Rodriguez	6.0	4.3	1.6
2	Graig Nettles	5.4	4.5	0.9	2	Graig Nettles	5.6	4.3	1.3
3	Clete Boyer	4.1	3.7	0.4	3	Ken McMullen	4.8	3.7	1.2
4	Al Gallagher	2.0	1.6	0.4	4	Brooks Robinson	5.0	3.9	1.1
5	Jerry Kenney	4.3	4.0	0.4	5	Richie Hebner	4.1	3.4	0.7


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Mark Belanger	5.9	4.8	1.1	1	Mark Belanger	6.4	4.3	2.1
2	Bobby Wine	7.0	6.0	1.0	2	Dal Maxvill	5.8	4.4	1.4
3	Ed Brinkman	7.6	6.7	0.9	3	Woody Woodward	3.4	2.6	0.9
4	Dal Maxvill	5.5	4.7	0.8	4	Bobby Wine	6.9	6.1	0.8
5	Bert Campaneris	6.0	5.4	0.7	5	Gene Alley	5.2	4.6	0.7


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Willie Stargell	6.1	5.0	1.1	1	Billy Conigliaro	4.2	2.3	1.9
2	Billy Conigliaro	3.8	2.7	1.1	2	Roy White	7.5	6.1	1.4
3	Joe Rudi	2.1	1.4	0.7	3	Joe Rudi	2.5	1.1	1.3
4	Roy White	7.1	6.5	0.6	4	Jim Holt	2.8	1.7	1.1
5	Manny Mota	3.9	3.5	0.4	5	Willie Stargell	5.9	5.1	0.8


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Reggie Smith	5.8	4.6	1.2	1	Reggie Smith	6.2	4.2	2.0
2	Bobby Murcer	5.7	4.7	1.0	2	Paul Blair	5.7	4.2	1.5
3	Paul Blair	5.4	4.5	0.9	3	Bobby Tolan	6.5	5.1	1.4
4	Willie Davis	5.6	4.8	0.9	4	Bobby Murcer	5.6	4.7	0.8
5	Mickey Stanley	4.8	4.1	0.7	5	Cesar Tovar	4.4	3.6	0.8


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tony Conigliaro	5.7	4.5	1.2	1	Tony Oliva	8.8	5.3	3.5
2	Tony Oliva	7.6	6.5	1.1	2	Byron Browne	2.9	1.6	1.3
3	Bill E. Russell	2.6	1.7	0.8	3	Ollie Brown	6.6	5.6	1.0
4	Byron Browne	2.6	1.9	0.7	4	Bill E. Russell	2.6	1.7	0.9
5	Felipe Alou	3.1	2.5	0.6	5	Tony Conigliaro	5.5	4.6	0.9

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1970 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	Dick Dietz	16.6	12.8	3.9	1	Dick Dietz	17.2	12.2	5.1
2	Johnny Bench	16.6	12.9	3.8	2	Johnny Bench	17.1	12.3	5.0
3	Thurman Munson	13.7	11.4	2.4	3	Thurman Munson	13.8	11.3	2.6
4	Ray Fosse	13.1	11.1	2.1	4	Jake Gibbs	5.3	3.1	2.2
5	Joe Torre	10.5	8.5	2.0	5	Frank Fernandez	7.8	5.7	2.1


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie McCovey	20.2	13.8	4.6	1	Willie McCovey	21.6	12.4	7.5
2	Carl Yastrzemski	11.7	7.7	3.1	2	John 'Boog' Powell	18.7	11.4	5.7
3	John 'Boog' Powell	17.4	12.8	2.8	3	Wes Parker	20.7	14.9	3.9
4	Wes Parker	20.0	15.6	2.2	4	Carl Yastrzemski	11.9	7.5	3.5
5	Frank Howard	6.3	4.0	1.8	5	Gentleman Jim Hickman	10.1	6.7	2.5


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Joe L. Morgan	19.5	18.3	2.6	1	Davey Johnson	17.2	14.7	3.7
2	Dick McAuliffe	15.6	14.5	2.2	2	Joe L. Morgan	20.0	17.8	3.5
3	Davey Johnson	16.4	15.5	2.1	3	Dick McAuliffe	16.1	14.0	3.1
4	Rod Carew	7.0	5.9	1.7	4	Sandy Alomar Sr.	19.5	18.7	2.4
5	Felix Millan	17.3	17.6	1.2	5	Dave Cash	7.7	6.0	2.1


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Tony Perez	22.8	16.1	5.7	1	Tony Perez	23.2	15.8	6.3
2	Harmon Killebrew	19.0	14.7	3.3	2	Harmon Killebrew	19.7	14.0	4.8
3	Sal Bando	20.3	16.1	3.2	3	Richie Hebner	14.8	11.0	3.1
4	Tommy Harper	18.1	14.3	2.9	4	Brooks Robinson	19.7	15.7	3.0
5	Billy Grabarkewitz	11.9	9.7	1.6	5	Ron Santo	20.4	16.8	2.5


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jim Fregosi	20.8	17.7	4.3	1	Denis Menke	18.6	14.1	5.3
2	Denis Menke	17.8	14.8	4.0	2	Rico Petrocelli	19.2	15.2	5.0
3	Rico Petrocelli	18.5	15.9	3.7	3	Jim Fregosi	20.4	18.1	3.6
4	Bert Campaneris	20.4	18.0	3.7	4	Bert Campaneris	20.2	18.2	3.4
5	Luis Aparicio	18.8	18.0	1.9	5	Mark Belanger	15.0	12.9	3.0


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rico Carty	20.6	14.6	4.3	1	Roy White	26.9	19.7	6.1
2	Roy White	25.8	19.7	3.8	2	Billy Williams	24.7	18.3	5.0
3	Billy Williams	24.0	18.3	3.5	3	Don Buford	20.0	15.8	3.8
4	Carl Yastrzemski	11.1	8.1	2.2	4	Rico Carty	19.7	14.6	2.4
5	Bernie Carbo	14.7	11.4	2.0	5	Jimmy Wynn	10.3	7.8	2.1


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie Mays	17.6	12.9	3.9	1	Bobby Tolan	23.7	17.6	5.0
2	Reggie Smith	20.2	16.2	3.0	2	Reggie Smith	20.7	15.7	4.1
3	Bobby Murcer	20.4	17.2	2.1	3	Cesar Tovar	18.9	14.3	3.6
4	Bobby Tolan	22.3	19.0	2.1	4	Paul Blair	19.0	14.6	3.5
5	Tommie Agee	21.6	18.5	1.9	5	Tommie Agee	21.9	18.2	2.5


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Hank Aaron	20.4	16.0	3.3	1	Tony Oliva	25.9	17.5	7.2
2	Frank Robinson	16.9	13.0	3.1	2	Hank Aaron	21.8	14.6	6.3
3	Roberto Clemente	15.9	12.2	2.9	3	Frank Robinson	17.2	12.7	3.6
4	Tony Oliva	23.8	19.7	2.9	4	Roberto Clemente	16.1	12.0	3.3
5	Rusty Staub	22.6	18.9	2.5	5	Pete Rose Sr.	21.8	17.7	3.0


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Tom Seaver	18.6	13.3	5.3	1	Bob Gibson	19.0	11.3	7.6
2	Fergie Jenkins	19.5	14.5	5.1	2	Sam McDowell	20.9	15.0	5.9
3	Bob Gibson	17.6	12.6	5.0	3	Fergie Jenkins	19.9	14.1	5.9
4	Gaylord Perry	20.9	17.2	3.7	4	Jim Palmer	18.9	13.2	5.7
5	Bill Hands	16.3	13.1	3.2	5	Tom Seaver	18.8	13.2	5.6
6	Jim Perry	16.9	13.9	3.0	6	Jim Perry	17.9	12.9	5.0
7	Sam McDowell	19.4	16.6	2.8	7	Dave McNally	18.0	13.8	4.3
8	Dick Bosman	13.7	11.1	2.6	8	Mike Cuellar	17.8	13.7	4.0
9	Jim Palmer	17.3	14.8	2.5	9	Fritz Peterson	15.0	11.0	4.0
10	Pat Jarvis	15.1	12.6	2.5	10	Pat Jarvis	15.8	11.9	4.0


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ken Sanders	5.7	3.5	2.3	1	Mudcat Grant	9.3	5.1	4.1
2	Lindy McDaniel	8.0	6.0	2.1	2	Lindy McDaniel	8.8	5.2	3.6
3	Dick Selma	9.1	7.1	2.0	3	Dick Selma	9.7	6.5	3.2
4	Mudcat Grant	8.1	6.2	1.8	4	Wayne Granger	7.4	4.4	2.9
5	Clay Carroll	5.8	4.4	1.4	5	Clay Carroll	6.5	3.7	2.8
6	Darold Knowles	9.4	8.1	1.3	6	Stan Williams	6.7	4.1	2.6
7	Stan Williams	6.1	4.7	1.3	7	Ron Perranoski	9.1	6.6	2.5
8	Tug McGraw	5.7	4.5	1.1	8	Dave Giusti	6.7	4.5	2.2
9	Tom Hall	3.8	2.7	1.0	9	Ted Abernathy	6.4	4.3	2.1
10	Pete Richert	4.8	3.7	1.0	10	Jack Aker	4.5	2.6	1.9

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	Bob Gibson	2.2	2.4	1.0	1	Bob Gibson	2.5	2.1	1.4
2	Jim Kaat	1.6	1.8	0.7	2	Gary Peters	1.8	1.4	1.1
3	Mel Stottlemyre Sr.	1.5	1.7	0.6	3	Jim Rooker	1.7	1.3	1.0


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Frank Fernandez	1.4	0.5	0.9	1	Curt Blefary	1.5	0.3	1.2
2	Vic Davalillo	2.6	2.1	0.8	2	Frank Fernandez	1.5	0.4	1.1
3	Curt Blefary	1.3	0.6	0.7	3	Tom Haller	1.2	0.3	1.0


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Paul Blair	0.2	0.0	0.1	1	Jim Qualls	0.2	0.0	0.2
2	Chico Salmon	0.1	0.0	0.1	2	Paul Blair	0.2	0.0	0.2
3	Jim Qualls	0.2	0.0	0.1	3	Blue Moon Odom	0.2	0.0	0.1

Noteworthy Players of 1970

Bob Gibson

The best player in MLB in 1970, on all four tables, is Bob Gibson. The 1970 season was arguably the best in Bob Gibson's career. Considering he had a 1.12 ERA two years earlier, that's a pretty remarkable statement. Comparing Gibson's 1968 and 1970 seasons is an interesting lesson in context.

Here's how Gibson's Player won-lost records line up those two years. The first table shows total Player wins and losses, in and out of context. The second table looks at (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins by factor.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
1968	35	21.7	14.3	0.604	8.3	10.2	21.3	14.7	0.592	7.8	9.6
1970	40	21.5	13.6	0.613	9.0	10.8	21.1	14.1	0.600	8.3	10.1

	Batting			Baserunning			Pitching			Fielding
	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
1968	1.2	1.6	0.4	0.3	0.2	0.1	18.7	13.3	5.6	0.5	0.3	0.2
1968	2.2	2.2	0.9	0.1	0.3	0.1	17.4	12.3	5.0	0.2	0.3	-0.1

The context numbers are conveniently simple in this case. Bob Gibson's ERA in 1968 was 1.12; in 1970, it was exactly two runs higher, 3.12. In 1968, major-league teams scored 3.60 runs per 27 outs. In 1970, major-league teams scored exactly one run more per 27 outs, 4.60. So, one can somewhat simplify the case and say that half of Gibson's higher ERA - and, hence, apparently poorer performance - in 1970 is because of the run-scoring context in which it took place (run-scoring actually increased by slightly more than one run per game in the National League from 1968 to 1970).

Looking at the above tables, most of the rest is Gibson's batting. In 1968, he batted .170/.233/.223 in 110 plate appearances with no home runs, 3 runs scored, and 6 RBI. In 1970, he batted .303/.347/.404 in 124 PAs with 2 home runs, 14 runs scored, and 19 RBI. Even adjusting for context, the latter numbers are a lot stronger than the former.

Bob Gibson's career record, 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
Bob Gibson Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1959	SLN	23	21	4.9	4.7	0.3	0.9	4.7	5.0	-0.0	0.6
1960	SLN	24	40	4.6	6.5	-1.5	-0.8	5.2	5.9	-0.4	0.3
1961	SLN	25	40	14.9	13.1	2.4	4.2	14.7	13.3	2.0	3.7
1962	SLN	26	43	17.3	13.7	4.2	6.2	17.5	13.6	4.7	6.7
1963	SLN	27	41	17.4	14.2	4.0	5.9	16.6	15.0	2.7	4.6
1964	SLN	28	40	19.7	16.1	4.4	6.9	19.0	16.9	3.2	5.7
1965	SLN	29	42	20.1	17.3	4.0	6.2	19.4	18.1	2.6	4.8
1966	SLN	30	46	19.3	15.2	5.1	7.1	18.4	16.1	3.3	5.3
1967	SLN	31	27	11.9	9.7	2.8	4.0	11.7	9.9	2.6	3.8
1968	SLN	32	35	21.7	14.3	8.3	10.2	21.3	14.7	7.8	9.6
1969	SLN	33	37	22.0	16.7	6.4	8.7	22.0	16.8	6.4	8.7
1970	SLN	34	40	21.5	13.6	9.0	10.8	21.1	14.1	8.3	10.1
1971	SLN	35	31	17.4	15.1	3.1	4.9	17.5	15.1	3.4	5.2
1972	SLN	36	34	19.9	14.1	6.7	8.7	19.6	14.4	6.1	8.2
1973	SLN	37	25	10.8	11.0	0.7	1.8	11.8	10.0	2.5	3.6
1974	SLN	38	33	13.1	14.2	-0.6	0.8	13.0	14.3	-0.7	0.8
1975	SLN	39	22	5.7	8.8	-2.7	-1.8	6.4	8.1	-1.5	-0.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			597	262.4	218.4	56.6	84.8	259.6	221.2	52.9	81.1
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			9	5.4	3.5		2.8	5.4	3.6		2.6
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			606	267.9	221.9		87.6	265.0	224.8		83.7

Tony Oliva

The 1970 American League MVP award was won by Boog Powell, who had a solid year but, as you can see, didn't make the top 10 in any of the four tables above. The top American League player in pWins over either positional average or replacement level in 1970 was Tony Oliva.

The 1970 season was Oliva's seventh straight solidly above-average season. Unfortunately, it was also his last such season. The next table shows the top 6 players in (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins over positional average in right field from 1964 through 1970.

eWins over Positional Average, Right Field (1964 - 1970)
Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Hank Aaron	159.5	123.7	24.8
Frank Robinson	120.9	90.7	21.8
Roberto Clemente	151.3	119.2	21.5
Tony Oliva	147.4	117.7	18.7
Al Kaline	90.9	71.6	12.6
Reggie Jackson	56.0	42.7	9.6

That's mighty fine company that Tony Oliva is keeping there: five Hall-of-Famers, all of them elected in their first year of eligibility. Unfortunately for Oliva, the other five players brought more to the table either before 1964, after 1970, or both.

Tony Oliva's career record, 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
Tony Oliva Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1962	MIN	23	9	0.4	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.4	0.2	0.2	0.2
1963	MIN	24	7	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.1
1964	MIN	25	161	21.1	17.3	2.2	4.1	21.4	17.0	2.6	4.6
1965	MIN	26	149	22.5	14.7	6.5	8.4	21.2	16.0	3.7	5.6
1966	MIN	27	159	22.8	18.1	2.9	4.8	22.8	18.2	2.9	4.7
1967	MIN	28	146	21.3	17.3	2.4	4.3	21.5	17.1	2.7	4.6
1968	MIN	29	128	19.2	15.2	2.7	4.5	19.3	15.1	2.9	4.6
1969	MIN	30	153	22.7	18.4	2.2	4.4	22.6	18.6	1.8	4.0
1970	MIN	31	157	26.3	18.0	7.1	9.3	24.4	19.9	3.2	5.4
1971	MIN	32	126	17.9	16.3	0.4	2.1	18.5	15.7	1.6	3.3
1972	MIN	33	10	0.7	1.0	-0.4	-0.3	0.8	0.9	-0.2	-0.1
1973	MIN	34	146	13.6	12.8	0.8	2.4	13.4	13.0	0.4	2.1
1974	MIN	35	127	9.9	11.0	-1.3	0.0	10.3	10.6	-0.5	0.8
1975	MIN	36	131	9.6	10.8	-1.4	-0.1	10.1	10.3	-0.4	0.9
1976	MIN	37	66	2.1	2.8	-0.6	-0.3	2.0	2.9	-0.9	-0.6
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,675	210.4	174.1	23.8	43.8	208.8	175.7	20.2	40.3
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			13	1.8	2.0		-0.1	2.2	1.5		0.8
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			1,688	212.2	176.0		43.8	211.0	177.2		41.0

The Perry Brothers: Gaylord and Jim

One noteworthy pairing in the above tables is numbers 5 and 7 on the Context-Neutral Pitching (Net eWins) list: brothers Jim and Gaylord Perry. The next table compares their careers, as measured by (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins, for the fourteen seasons when they were both in the major leagues, 1962 - 1975.

Season	Games	eWins	eLoss	Win Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL	Games	eWins	eLoss	Win Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
	Gaylord Perry						Jim Perry
1962	13	2.3	2.5	0.475	-0.1	0.2	35	10.9	12.0	0.476	-0.3	1.1
1963	32	3.4	4.6	0.429	-1.0	-0.3	40	10.8	11.8	0.477	-0.4	1.0
1964	46	11.9	10.9	0.521	1.5	3.2	42	2.9	2.9	0.495	0.1	0.6
1965	49	11.4	12.8	0.471	-0.6	1.0	36	9.4	9.8	0.489	0.2	1.5
1966	36	16.5	13.5	0.549	4.0	5.8	33	11.2	9.9	0.531	1.9	3.1
1967	42	19.1	16.7	0.533	3.8	5.9	39	7.2	7.2	0.503	0.5	1.5
1968	39	16.3	14.1	0.537	3.3	4.9	32	7.8	6.9	0.533	1.3	2.2
1969	40	20.8	18.8	0.525	3.3	5.7	47	15.9	14.0	0.531	2.9	4.7
1970	41	22.5	19.4	0.536	4.6	6.9	40	18.7	15.2	0.552	4.6	6.4
1971	38	15.9	16.4	0.493	0.7	2.5	40	15.2	18.8	0.448	-2.5	-0.6
1972	41	24.1	18.6	0.564	7.0	9.6	35	14.1	14.5	0.493	0.4	2.1
1973	41	20.1	18.3	0.524	1.8	4.2	35	12.1	12.8	0.486	-0.7	0.8
1974	37	18.6	14.0	0.571	4.6	6.5	36	14.0	11.4	0.551	2.6	4.1
1975	37	18.5	14.5	0.561	4.1	6.1	23	5.8	7.2	0.446	-1.4	-0.5
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	532	221.2	195.0	0.531	37.1	62.3	513	156.0	154.3	0.503	9.0	28.1

Little brother Gaylord established himself as the better brother pretty early on - at age 25 in 1964 - with only hiccup in 1965. Outside of that, this season, 1970, was the only one where Jim was able to keep pace with his little brother.

Notable Debuts

One player made his major-league debut in 1970 who went on to be elected to the Hall of Fame: Bert Blyleven. One other player who debuted in 1970 was elected to the Hall of Merit: Bobby Grich.

The career records for Bert Blyleven and Bobby Grich, as measured by Player won-lost records, are compared in the table below.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Bert Blyleven						Bobby Grich
1970	27	10.5	10.3	0.505	0.7	1.9	30	2.6	2.7	0.492	0.1	0.4
1971	38	18.0	15.5	0.538	3.4	5.3	7	1.8	0.7	0.725	1.2	1.3
1972	39	17.9	17.1	0.511	1.6	3.7	132	19.5	15.5	0.556	4.6	6.3
1973	40	18.7	13.6	0.578	5.1	7.0	162	21.7	16.9	0.562	5.4	7.3
1974	37	15.8	12.8	0.553	3.0	4.7	160	23.0	18.3	0.557	5.7	7.5
1975	35	15.0	11.9	0.558	3.1	4.8	150	20.7	16.8	0.553	4.5	6.3
1976	36	17.5	14.5	0.547	3.1	4.9	144	20.2	16.4	0.552	4.6	6.5
1977	30	13.3	10.8	0.553	2.7	4.3	52	6.2	6.5	0.488	0.4	1.0
1978	37	15.3	13.5	0.531	2.6	4.2	144	15.6	14.6	0.517	1.8	3.3
1979	38	12.7	12.5	0.505	1.1	2.5	153	20.1	15.2	0.570	5.6	7.3
1980	37	11.4	12.9	0.469	-0.7	0.7	150	16.6	16.4	0.503	1.1	2.6
1981	20	8.0	6.8	0.539	1.2	2.2	100	13.4	11.8	0.532	2.1	3.5
1982	4	1.3	1.6	0.459	-0.2	-0.0	145	18.1	16.1	0.529	2.7	4.2
1983	24	8.9	8.5	0.509	0.5	1.5	120	14.7	13.7	0.517	1.4	2.7
1984	33	14.1	9.3	0.603	5.0	6.4	116	13.1	12.8	0.507	0.7	1.9
1985	37	17.5	15.2	0.535	2.5	4.6	144	15.3	14.8	0.508	0.6	2.0
1986	36	17.5	16.9	0.508	0.6	2.8	97	9.6	9.8	0.495	0.2	1.1
1987	37	16.7	15.9	0.512	1.1	3.1
1988	33	11.7	14.5	0.447	-2.7	-1.0
1989	33	13.7	9.4	0.594	4.6	6.1
1990	23	6.7	8.4	0.446	-1.6	-0.6
1991
1992	25	7.1	9.7	0.423	-2.6	-1.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	699	289.2	261.4	0.525	34.3	67.8	2,006	252.2	218.9	0.535	42.6	65.1

Article last updated: June 28, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1970 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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