1973 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1973 Season

The 1973 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1973 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1973

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	Joe L. Morgan	26.8	17.2	9.7	11.9	1	Joe L. Morgan	26.8	17.2	9.7	11.9
2	Reggie Jackson	24.1	16.4	7.2	9.2	2	Nolan Ryan	22.8	15.7	7.0	9.4
3	John Hiller	12.2	5.1	7.1	8.9	3	Reggie Jackson	24.1	16.4	7.2	9.2
4	Tom Seaver	19.9	13.8	7.1	8.9	4	John Hiller	12.2	5.1	7.1	8.9
5	Nolan Ryan	22.8	15.7	7.0	9.4	5	Tom Seaver	19.9	13.8	7.1	8.9
6	Willie Stargell	25.5	17.3	6.7	8.8	6	Willie Stargell	25.5	17.3	6.7	8.8
7	Jim Palmer	17.8	11.1	6.7	8.5	7	Bobby Bonds	27.1	19.4	6.5	8.8
8	Don Sutton	19.9	14.3	6.6	8.4	8	Jim Palmer	17.8	11.1	6.7	8.5
9	Bobby Bonds	27.1	19.4	6.5	8.8	9	Don Sutton	19.9	14.3	6.6	8.4
10	Johnny Bench	19.8	14.1	5.8	7.5	10	Johnny Bench	19.8	14.1	5.8	7.5

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	Joe L. Morgan	25.8	18.2	7.8	9.9	1	Joe L. Morgan	25.8	18.2	7.8	9.9
2	Willie Stargell	25.7	17.2	7.0	9.1	2	Willie Stargell	25.7	17.2	7.0	9.1
3	Bert Blyleven	19.4	13.0	6.4	8.3	3	Bert Blyleven	19.4	13.0	6.4	8.3
4	Tom Seaver	19.2	14.5	5.8	7.6	4	Bobby Bonds	26.7	19.8	5.7	8.0
5	Bobby Bonds	26.7	19.8	5.7	8.0	5	Nolan Ryan	22.0	16.5	5.4	7.8
6	Reggie Jackson	23.3	17.1	5.7	7.7	6	Reggie Jackson	23.3	17.1	5.7	7.7
7	Darrell Evans	22.6	15.9	5.6	7.5	7	Tom Seaver	19.2	14.5	5.8	7.6
8	Nolan Ryan	22.0	16.5	5.4	7.8	8	Darrell Evans	22.6	15.9	5.6	7.5
9	Bobby Grich	21.7	16.9	5.4	7.3	9	Bobby Grich	21.7	16.9	5.4	7.3
10	Don Sutton	19.0	15.2	5.3	7.2	10	Don Sutton	19.0	15.2	5.3	7.2

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1973 at the end of this article.

1973 Postseason

I was four months old when the last World Series was played before the two leagues were split into divisions. So I have no personal recollection of the debates that surely arose over adding League Championship Series. But surely somebody, somewhere, complained that this would lead to some undeserving team who lucked into winning a weak division eventually making it to the World Series.

For the first three years of the divisional era, the team with the better record won every League Championship Series. Finally, in 1972, the winner of the NLCS had finished 0.5 game back of the team they beat. But that's not too bad.

The 1973 postseason was when the anti-division folks' worst fear came true. In the American League, the 94-win Oakland A's beat the 97-win Baltimore Orioles. Okay, fair enough: 94 wins isn't too bad and the A's were the defending World Champs. But in the National League, the 82-win New York Mets, with the 4th-best record in the league, somehow managed to beat the 99-win Cincinnati Reds 3 games to 2. And then they took the 94-win defending World Champion A's to 7 games in the World Series.

Still, it made for great entertainment. The best performers of the 1973 postseason, as measured by pWins over replacement level, are shown next.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1973 Postseason: Total

Catfish Hunter	OAK	2.2	1.0	1.4
Bert Campaneris	OAK	2.4	1.5	1.4
Rusty Staub	NYN	2.0	0.9	1.2
Tug McGraw	NYN	1.6	1.1	0.8
Ken Holtzman	OAK	1.7	1.1	0.8
Jerry Koosman	NYN	1.3	0.6	0.8
Jim Palmer	BAL	1.0	0.4	0.7
Jon Matlack	NYN	2.1	1.8	0.7
Joe Rudi	OAK	2.1	1.5	0.6
Rollie Fingers	OAK	1.5	1.2	0.6

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1973 World Series

Bert Campaneris	OAK	1.4	0.8	0.6
Tug McGraw	NYN	1.1	0.5	0.5
Rollie Fingers	OAK	1.2	0.8	0.5
Catfish Hunter	OAK	0.8	0.4	0.4
Reggie Jackson	OAK	1.2	0.8	0.3

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1973 Postseason: League Championship Series

Catfish Hunter	OAK	1.4	0.5	0.9
Rusty Staub	NYN	1.1	0.3	0.8
Jon Matlack	NYN	1.0	0.3	0.7
Jim Palmer	BAL	1.0	0.4	0.6
Ken Holtzman	OAK	0.7	0.2	0.5

Best of 1973 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 1973 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	Willie Stargell	17.6	10.0	7.2	1	Willie Stargell	18.0	9.5	8.1
2	Reggie Jackson	15.9	10.8	5.1	2	Joe L. Morgan	17.9	10.2	7.3
3	Bobby Bonds	16.9	11.7	4.7	3	Reggie Jackson	16.4	10.3	6.1
4	Darrell Evans	15.5	10.5	4.5	4	Tony Perez	16.3	10.4	5.5
5	Joe L. Morgan	16.5	11.6	4.4	5	Willie Crawford	13.8	8.1	5.4
6	Tony Perez	15.8	10.9	4.4	6	Willie McCovey	12.5	7.6	4.6
7	John Mayberry Sr.	13.8	9.5	4.2	7	Bobby Bonds	16.8	11.7	4.6
8	Hank Aaron	11.7	7.3	4.1	8	Joe Ferguson	13.9	9.0	4.6
9	Willie McCovey	12.3	7.9	4.1	9	Lee May	14.8	9.9	4.5
10	Ken Singleton	15.0	10.7	3.9	10	Darrell Evans	15.4	10.6	4.4

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Lou Brock	3.2	1.6	1.5	1	Lou Brock	3.1	1.7	1.3
2	Bert Campaneris	2.8	1.5	1.3	2	Bert Campaneris	2.7	1.6	1.2
3	Joe L. Morgan	3.2	2.0	1.1	3	Joe L. Morgan	3.2	2.0	1.1
4	Tommy Harper	2.6	1.6	1.0	4	Tommy Harper	2.6	1.5	1.1
5	Cesar Cedeno	2.4	1.5	0.8	5	Bill E. Russell	1.8	0.9	0.8
6	Billy North	2.7	2.0	0.7	6	Merv Rettenmund	1.3	0.6	0.7
7	Bobby Grich	1.9	1.2	0.6	7	Billy North	2.6	2.0	0.6
8	Don Baylor	1.7	1.0	0.6	8	Davey Lopes	2.2	1.6	0.6
9	Merv Rettenmund	1.3	0.7	0.6	9	Cookie Rojas	1.3	0.8	0.5
10	Rod Carew	2.4	1.8	0.6	10	Larry Hisle	1.5	1.0	0.5

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Bert Blyleven	18.3	13.4	4.9	1	Nolan Ryan	22.3	15.3	7.0
2	Nolan Ryan	20.9	16.8	4.1	2	John Hiller	11.9	5.0	6.9
3	Don Sutton	17.1	13.0	4.1	3	Jim Palmer	17.5	10.9	6.6
4	Tom Seaver	16.5	12.8	3.7	4	Don Sutton	18.1	12.0	6.1
5	John Hiller	10.2	6.6	3.6	5	Tom Seaver	17.7	11.6	6.0
6	Jim Palmer	15.8	12.5	3.3	6	Bert Blyleven	18.4	13.3	5.1
7	Bill Singer	18.9	16.1	2.7	7	Luis Tiant Jr.	17.2	13.0	4.2
8	Mel Stottlemyre Sr.	16.7	14.2	2.6	8	Bill Singer	19.4	15.6	3.8
9	Sparky Lyle	7.1	4.6	2.5	9	Steve Rogers	8.8	5.2	3.6
10	Carl Morton	14.4	12.0	2.4	10	Bill 'Spaceman' Lee	15.3	11.8	3.6

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tom Seaver	0.6	0.3	0.3	1	Tommy John	0.5	0.1	0.4
2	Ron Bryant	0.4	0.2	0.3	2	Tom Seaver	0.6	0.2	0.4
3	Mike G. Marshall	0.4	0.2	0.3	3	Lindy McDaniel	0.5	0.1	0.3
4	Tommy John	0.4	0.2	0.3	4	Ross Grimsley Jr.	0.5	0.2	0.3
5	Jim Colborn	0.5	0.3	0.2	5	Ron Bryant	0.5	0.1	0.3


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Bob Boone	2.5	1.9	0.6	1	Ray Fosse	2.0	1.3	0.7
2	Fran Healy	1.6	1.1	0.5	2	Fran Healy	1.7	1.1	0.6
3	Ray Fosse	1.8	1.5	0.4	3	Bob Boone	2.5	1.9	0.6
4	Johnny Bench	1.6	1.2	0.3	4	Ellie Rodriguez	1.3	0.8	0.5
5	Thurman Munson	2.1	1.8	0.3	5	Johnny Bench	1.7	1.2	0.5


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	George C. Scott	3.1	2.6	0.5	1	Chris Chambliss	3.0	2.3	0.8
2	Chris Chambliss	2.9	2.4	0.5	2	Mike Jorgensen	1.9	1.4	0.5
3	Mike Jorgensen	1.8	1.4	0.4	3	George C. Scott	3.1	2.6	0.5
4	Nate Colbert	2.7	2.3	0.4	4	Tony Perez	2.4	2.0	0.4
5	Carl Yastrzemski	1.6	1.3	0.4	5	Carl Yastrzemski	1.6	1.2	0.4


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Bobby Grich	6.7	4.6	2.1	1	Bobby Grich	6.9	4.4	2.4
2	Ted Sizemore	6.2	5.0	1.2	2	Ted Sizemore	6.2	5.0	1.2
3	Joe L. Morgan	5.7	4.8	0.8	3	Felix Millan	5.7	4.6	1.1
4	Dick Green	4.1	3.7	0.4	4	Dick Green	4.4	3.4	1.0
5	Tony Taylor	2.4	2.0	0.4	5	Tony Taylor	2.7	1.8	0.9


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Brooks Robinson	4.9	3.8	1.0	1	Brooks Robinson	4.8	3.9	0.9
2	Darrell Evans	5.4	4.5	0.9	2	Graig Nettles	6.4	5.5	0.9
3	Graig Nettles	6.4	5.6	0.8	3	Denis Menke	3.1	2.3	0.8
4	Aurelio Rodriguez	5.0	4.4	0.7	4	Ron Cey	5.1	4.3	0.8
5	Ron Cey	5.0	4.4	0.6	5	Wayne Garrett	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	7.0	5.2	1.8	1	Mark Belanger	7.4	4.9	2.5
2	Bert Campaneris	6.4	5.5	0.9	2	Dave Concepcion	4.3	2.9	1.4
3	Bud Harrelson	4.4	3.6	0.9	3	Bert Campaneris	6.7	5.3	1.4
4	Tim Foli	5.9	5.1	0.8	4	Bud Harrelson	4.7	3.3	1.3
5	Bill E. Russell	7.6	6.8	0.8	5	Bill E. Russell	7.9	6.6	1.3


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Joe Rudi	5.4	4.1	1.3	1	Joe Rudi	5.7	3.7	2.0
2	Tom Grieve	0.9	0.2	0.7	2	Tommy Harper	6.8	5.3	1.5
3	Tommy Harper	6.4	5.7	0.7	3	Walt Williams	2.9	2.0	0.9
4	Bob Watson	5.7	5.2	0.6	4	Pete Rose Sr.	7.9	7.2	0.7
5	Billy Williams	5.8	5.3	0.5	5	Bob Watson	5.8	5.1	0.6


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Johnny Grubb	4.3	3.1	1.2	1	Billy North	7.5	5.3	2.2
2	Billy North	6.8	6.0	0.7	2	Paul Blair	5.8	4.2	1.6
3	Paul Blair	5.3	4.7	0.6	3	Cesar Cedeno	6.3	5.0	1.3
4	Cesar Cedeno	6.0	5.4	0.6	4	Cesar Geronimo	2.9	1.9	1.0
5	Steve Hovley	1.2	0.7	0.5	5	Mickey Stanley	6.7	6.0	0.7


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Bobby Bonds	7.4	6.6	0.8	1	Bobby Bonds	8.1	5.9	2.1
2	Willie Crawford	4.3	3.6	0.7	2	Reggie Jackson	6.1	5.0	1.0
3	Bob Coluccio	3.9	3.2	0.7	3	Jose Cardenal	5.7	4.7	1.0
4	Leroy Stanton	2.2	1.7	0.5	4	Ken Singleton	7.3	6.4	0.9
5	Bobby Darwin	5.6	5.1	0.5	5	Jimmy Wynn	5.8	5.1	0.7

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1973 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	Johnny Bench	15.6	12.2	3.7	1	Johnny Bench	16.4	11.5	5.1
2	Thurman Munson	16.1	13.2	3.6	2	Joe Ferguson	13.8	10.5	3.5
3	Ted Simmons	18.5	15.9	3.0	3	Thurman Munson	16.0	13.3	3.4
4	Joe Ferguson	13.3	11.0	2.6	4	Darrell Porter	9.4	7.1	2.6
5	Darrell Porter	9.0	7.5	2.0	5	Ted Simmons	18.2	16.1	2.5


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Tony Perez	18.9	13.9	3.3	1	Tony Perez	19.5	13.3	4.7
2	John Mayberry Sr.	16.3	12.7	2.7	2	Lee May	17.5	13.2	2.8
3	Willie McCovey	14.2	10.4	2.6	3	Willie McCovey	14.3	10.3	2.8
4	George C. Scott	18.6	15.2	2.2	4	Gene Tenace	13.4	10.1	2.5
5	Ron Blomberg	5.0	3.2	1.5	5	George C. Scott	18.7	15.1	2.4


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Joe L. Morgan	25.2	18.6	6.7	1	Joe L. Morgan	26.6	17.1	9.5
2	Bobby Grich	21.4	17.2	4.8	2	Bobby Grich	21.7	16.9	5.4
3	Rod Carew	20.7	18.1	3.3	3	Davey Lopes	18.0	15.1	3.0
4	Davey Johnson	20.7	17.8	3.0	4	Ted Sizemore	18.8	16.4	2.5
5	Ted Sizemore	18.5	16.7	2.0	5	Rod Carew	20.1	18.7	2.1


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Darrell Evans	20.7	14.6	5.2	1	Darrell Evans	20.6	14.7	5.0
2	Sal Bando	20.0	16.1	3.4	2	Sal Bando	20.1	16.0	3.6
3	Bill Melton	19.4	17.2	1.7	3	Graig Nettles	20.4	18.0	1.8
4	Graig Nettles	20.2	18.1	1.5	4	Mike Schmidt	14.0	11.6	1.8
5	Bob Bailey	18.0	15.7	1.4	5	Carl Yastrzemski	5.3	3.4	1.8


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Bert Campaneris	19.6	19.4	2.9	1	Dave Concepcion	13.4	9.9	4.6
2	Dave Concepcion	12.5	10.8	2.9	2	Bert Campaneris	20.4	18.6	4.4
3	Bud Harrelson	11.4	11.0	1.6	3	Bill E. Russell	20.5	19.3	3.2
4	Freddie Patek	17.5	18.2	1.6	4	Mark Belanger	15.4	14.2	3.0
5	Toby Harrah	9.7	9.4	1.6	5	Bud Harrelson	11.9	10.6	2.4


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie Stargell	25.1	17.5	6.1	1	Willie Stargell	25.4	17.5	6.9
2	Hank Aaron	12.8	9.7	2.3	2	Tommy Harper	21.3	17.6	3.2
3	Bob Watson	20.3	16.5	2.2	3	Pete Rose Sr.	24.4	20.1	3.1
4	Ron Fairly	15.5	12.2	2.2	4	Ron Fairly	15.8	12.2	2.7
5	Pete Rose Sr.	23.9	20.1	2.1	5	Bob Watson	20.5	16.5	2.5


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Cesar Cedeno	21.4	16.2	4.2	1	Cesar Cedeno	22.1	15.5	5.6
2	Amos Otis	19.8	16.8	2.4	2	Amos Otis	20.5	16.1	3.9
3	Johnny Grubb	13.2	10.4	2.1	3	Billy North	19.9	15.9	3.5
4	Reggie Smith	14.0	11.6	2.0	4	Dave May	21.8	18.1	3.1
5	Bobby Murcer	22.4	20.0	1.6	5	Willie Davis	19.9	16.4	2.5


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Reggie Jackson	22.7	17.0	5.1	1	Reggie Jackson	23.7	16.0	7.2
2	Bobby Bonds	25.5	19.6	4.8	2	Bobby Bonds	26.0	19.2	5.6
3	Ken Singleton	22.8	18.8	3.0	3	Willie Crawford	17.4	12.1	4.6
4	Willie Crawford	16.4	13.2	2.3	4	Jose Cardenal	19.7	15.9	2.8
5	Merv Rettenmund	10.9	9.2	1.4	5	Merv Rettenmund	11.5	8.6	2.7


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Bert Blyleven	18.6	13.7	4.9	1	Nolan Ryan	22.4	15.6	6.7
2	Nolan Ryan	21.1	16.9	4.1	2	Jim Palmer	17.7	11.1	6.6
3	Don Sutton	17.4	13.4	4.1	3	Tom Seaver	18.3	11.8	6.4
4	Tom Seaver	17.0	13.1	4.0	4	Don Sutton	18.5	12.3	6.2
5	Jim Palmer	16.1	12.7	3.4	5	Bert Blyleven	18.7	13.6	5.1
6	Mel Stottlemyre Sr.	17.1	14.5	2.6	6	Luis Tiant Jr.	17.6	13.4	4.2
7	Bill Singer	19.2	16.7	2.6	7	Steve Rogers	9.0	5.2	3.8
8	Carl Morton	14.8	12.4	2.5	8	Bill Singer	19.7	16.1	3.6
9	Jim Colborn	15.7	13.3	2.4	9	Ron Bryant	17.2	14.0	3.3
10	Luis Tiant Jr.	16.7	14.4	2.3	10	Bill 'Spaceman' Lee	14.8	11.7	3.1


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	John Hiller	10.5	6.9	3.6	1	John Hiller	12.2	5.1	7.1
2	Sparky Lyle	7.2	4.9	2.2	2	Elias Sosa	7.5	3.8	3.7
3	Bob Reynolds	5.3	3.5	1.8	3	Lindy McDaniel	7.3	4.6	2.8
4	Rollie Fingers	7.0	5.4	1.6	4	Cy Acosta	7.1	4.3	2.8
5	Mike G. Marshall	11.0	9.4	1.6	5	Terry Forster	7.3	4.8	2.5
6	Grant Jackson	4.3	3.0	1.3	6	Mike G. Marshall	11.5	9.0	2.5
7	Lindy McDaniel	6.6	5.3	1.3	7	Gene Garber	5.9	3.5	2.4
8	Ramon G. Hernandez	4.5	3.2	1.3	8	Rollie Fingers	7.4	5.0	2.4
9	Terry Forster	6.7	5.4	1.3	9	Dave Giusti	6.6	4.5	2.1
10	Doug Bird	6.1	4.9	1.2	10	Bobby Bolin	4.5	2.7	1.8

I am writing these articles working backwards in time. From that perspective, this is the last time in which the next table appears in one of my articles. From the perspective of a future reader who may be reading through these articles in conventional chronological order, a new table appears in this article for the first time. Whichever way you want to view it, the 1973 season was the first season in major-league history in which the designated hitter rule was used.

The first designated hitter in major-league history was Ron Blomberg who drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the first inning the New York Yankees in their opening game on April 6, 1973.

The best designated hitter in its debut season, as measured by Player won-lost records, was Hall-of-Famer Frank Robinson, who batted .266/.372/.489 with 30 home runs and 97 RBI in 147 games for the California Angels, 123 of which he was the DH.


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Frank Robinson	12.7	9.9	2.8	1	Frank Robinson	12.8	9.9	2.8
2	Carlos May	8.6	6.4	2.1	2	Deron Johnson	9.8	8.2	1.5
3	Deron Johnson	9.7	8.3	1.3	3	Carlos May	8.2	6.8	1.4

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	Ken Brett	1.8	1.6	1.0	1	Ken Brett	1.9	1.5	1.1
2	Steve Renko	1.6	1.5	0.8	2	Steve Renko	1.6	1.4	0.9
3	Rick Wise	1.7	1.7	0.7	3	Rick Wise	1.7	1.6	0.9


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ken McMullen	1.8	0.8	1.0	1	Ken McMullen	2.0	0.6	1.4
2	Phil Gagliano	1.7	0.9	0.8	2	Hal King	2.0	0.7	1.2
3	John Ellis	1.3	0.6	0.8	3	Ron Woods	1.8	0.8	1.1


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Matt Alexander	0.2	0.0	0.2	1	Ted Martinez	0.3	0.1	0.2
2	Billy Grabarkewitz	0.2	0.1	0.1	2	Enos Cabell	0.3	0.1	0.2
3	Ken Brett	0.1	0.0	0.1	3	Matt Alexander	0.2	0.0	0.2

Noteworthy Players of 1973

The top player in 1973, according to Player won-lost records, was Joe Morgan, who was in the midst of one of the best six-year runs in Player won-lost records (as measured by pWORL) of any player for whom I have calculated Player won-lost records. The lists above are also filled with several other of the "usual suspects" from the 1970s: Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, Reggie Jackson.

In addition to the "usual suspects", however, 1973 was the best season in the careers of three players who are worth a bit closer look: two sabermetric darlings and a player considered overrated by some sabermetric observers.

Darrell Evans

In The New Bill James Historical Abstract, Bill James posited that Darrell Evans was "the most underrated player in baseball history". Evans's 1973 season may be the best example of this. The 1973 season was Darrell Evans's best season, measured by eWins over either positional average or replacement level (although I actually find his 1974 season was actually slightly better in context).

And it's not like Player won-lost records are finding something completely hidden from view in traditional statistics. Evans hit 41 home runs, he scored and drove in 100 runs (114 and 104, respectively). He had an on-base percentage over .400 (.403), an OPS over .950 (.959), and led the major leagues with 124 walks. He was 2nd in the NL in times on base, 3rd in total bases. I'm not saying these were all statistics that were widely known and appreciated in 1973; I'm just pointing out that the offensive things that Darrell Evans was good at are fairly obvious things.

Fielding is still a much tougher thing to measure and was all but impossible to evaluate in 1973. Even so, Evans had an above-average fielding percentage and led the National League in range factor per game at third base (a stat which, as crude and "old-school" as it seems today, didn't actually exist in 1973). But I would think that contemporary observers should have at least been able to tell that Darrell Evans was apparently playing a respectable third base in 1973.

Evans did make the All-Star team in 1973 - one of only two such appearances in his 21-year career. And he got MVP votes for the first of only four times in his career. But he finished 18th in NL MVP voting, finishing between Felix Millan and Lee May. No offense to Millan or May, who were very good baseball players in their prime, but the idea that they were comparable in value to Darrell Evans in 1973 is silly.

The next table shows Darrell Evans' career record as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Darrell Evans Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1969	ATL	22	12	0.4	0.9	-0.5	-0.4	0.4	0.8	-0.4	-0.3
1970	ATL	23	12	1.2	1.6	-0.5	-0.4	1.5	1.4	0.0	0.2
1971	ATL	24	88	9.3	7.5	1.5	2.4	8.9	7.9	0.7	1.5
1972	ATL	25	125	16.2	13.9	2.1	3.5	16.2	13.9	2.0	3.5
1973	ATL	26	161	22.0	16.6	4.3	6.2	22.6	15.9	5.6	7.5
1974	ATL	27	160	22.9	17.0	5.3	7.1	22.1	17.9	3.7	5.5
1975	ATL	28	156	21.0	18.5	2.1	3.9	20.8	18.7	1.6	3.5
1976	ATL	29	135	12.1	11.3	-0.2	1.0	12.1	11.4	-0.3	0.9
1977	SFN	30	144	16.7	14.7	1.1	2.7	16.6	14.8	1.0	2.6
1978	SFN	31	159	20.7	17.6	2.3	4.1	20.5	17.8	2.0	3.8
1979	SFN	32	160	18.8	18.2	-0.0	1.7	19.1	17.8	0.7	2.4
1980	SFN	33	154	20.2	19.1	0.5	2.3	21.0	18.4	2.0	3.8
1981	SFN	34	101	11.7	9.9	1.3	2.5	11.7	9.8	1.4	2.5
1982	SFN	35	141	15.4	13.3	1.6	2.9	15.4	13.4	1.4	2.7
1983	SFN	36	142	18.1	14.4	2.7	4.2	18.4	14.1	3.3	4.7
1984	DET	37	131	10.9	9.7	0.8	1.9	11.0	9.7	0.8	1.9
1985	DET	38	151	15.9	12.7	2.5	3.9	15.7	12.9	1.9	3.4
1986	DET	39	151	16.1	11.9	3.5	5.0	15.3	12.7	1.9	3.3
1987	DET	40	150	15.5	11.1	3.4	4.7	14.5	12.0	1.5	2.8
1988	DET	41	144	11.0	10.6	-0.1	1.1	11.0	10.5	0.0	1.2
1989	ATL	42	106	7.3	8.9	-2.1	-1.4	8.0	8.3	-0.9	-0.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,683	303.5	259.5	31.6	59.1	302.7	260.2	29.9	57.3
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			13	1.1	1.3		-0.2	1.1	1.3		-0.2
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,696	304.5	260.8		58.9	303.8	261.5		57.2

Bert Blyleven

For many, many years, Bert Blyleven was the poster boy for sabermetrics. There were probably thousands of articles written in support of his Hall-of-Fame candidacy, which utlimately ended in victory when he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2011 in his 14th year on the ballot.

Like Evans, 1973 was the finest season of Bert Blyleven's career, and the fineness of his season was obvious without resorting to advanced sabermetrics. In 1973, Bert Blyleven finished 4th in the AL in innings pitched (with 325 - lots of pitchers pitched crazy numbers of innings around this time), 3rd in complete games (with 25), led the AL in shutouts (9), was 2nd in strikeouts (258), 3rd in K/9, 2nd in lowest BB/9. He was 2nd in the AL in ERA (and 1st in ballpark-adjusted ERA+) and also 2nd in WHIP. He led the American League in K/BB ratio (admittedly, we've moved closer to "advanced sabermetrics" here).

Blyleven's team, the Minnesota Twins were not a terrible team. They finished at exactly 0.500 (81-81) and tied for 4th in the American League in runs scored. Yet, despite all of that, Bert Blyleven, for all his impressive pitching stats, was able to pick up "only" 20 pitcher wins, 7th in the American League, and was charged with 17 pitcher losses, 5th in the AL.

This perfectly encapsulates the Hall-of-Fame argument against Bert Blyleven, that he didn't win as many games as he should have, the he "pitched just well enough to lose". In 1973, there's some slight merit to this argument. The next table shows Bert Blyleven's 1973 season in and out of context.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Bert Blyleven	40	18.7	13.6	0.578	5.1	7.0	19.4	13.0	0.599	6.4	8.3

Blyeleven's pWins totals were a bit lower than his expected wins (eWins). But, honestly, the difference is not that great, and even in context, Bert Blyleven's 1973 season was excellent.

Exactly like Evans, 1973 was one of two seasons in which Bert Blyleven was named to the All-Star team and one of four seasons in which he received major award votes. Even with that, however, like Evans, his finish in major-award voting was disappointing to say the least: 7th in Cy Young voting and 26th in MVP voting.

The career record of Bert Blyleven as measured by Player won-lost records is presented next. I would note that Bert Blyleven, over the course of his 22-year career, contributed almost exactly as many actual wins to his teams, in context, 289.2 pWins, as expected wins, 291.8 eWins. Both of these numbers are extremely similar, also, to his traditional pitcher wins (287).

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Bert Blyleven Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1970	MIN	19	27	10.5	10.3	0.7	1.9	10.6	10.1	1.2	2.3
1971	MIN	20	38	18.0	15.5	3.4	5.3	17.9	15.6	3.4	5.3
1972	MIN	21	39	17.9	17.1	1.6	3.7	17.9	17.1	1.8	3.9
1973	MIN	22	40	18.7	13.6	5.1	7.0	19.4	13.0	6.4	8.3
1974	MIN	23	37	15.8	12.8	3.0	4.7	16.3	12.3	4.0	5.7
1975	MIN	24	35	15.0	11.9	3.1	4.8	14.9	12.0	2.9	4.6
1976	MIN	25	36	17.5	14.5	3.1	4.9	17.7	14.2	3.5	5.4
1977	TEX	26	30	13.3	10.8	2.7	4.3	13.9	10.2	3.8	5.4
1978	PIT	27	37	15.3	13.5	2.6	4.2	15.5	13.3	3.2	4.8
1979	PIT	28	38	12.7	12.5	1.1	2.5	11.8	13.4	-0.6	0.9
1980	PIT	29	37	11.4	12.9	-0.7	0.7	11.7	12.6	-0.1	1.2
1981	CLE	30	20	8.0	6.8	1.2	2.2	8.2	6.6	1.6	2.6
1982	CLE	31	4	1.3	1.6	-0.2	-0.0	1.5	1.4	0.1	0.2
1983	CLE	32	24	8.9	8.5	0.5	1.5	9.4	8.0	1.5	2.6
1984	CLE	33	33	14.1	9.3	5.0	6.4	13.8	9.7	4.3	5.7
1985	CLE	34	37	17.5	15.2	2.5	4.6	18.5	14.1	4.5	6.6
1986	MIN	35	36	17.5	16.9	0.6	2.8	17.4	17.0	0.6	2.8
1987	MIN	36	37	16.7	15.9	1.1	3.1	15.3	17.3	-1.7	0.3
1988	MIN	37	33	11.7	14.5	-2.7	-1.0	12.5	13.7	-1.1	0.5
1989	CAL	38	33	13.7	9.4	4.6	6.1	12.7	10.4	2.5	4.0
1990	CAL	39	23	6.7	8.4	-1.6	-0.6	7.3	7.8	-0.4	0.5
1992	CAL	41	25	7.1	9.7	-2.6	-1.4	7.7	9.1	-1.4	-0.3
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			699	289.2	261.4	34.3	67.8	291.8	258.9	40.0	73.4
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			8	3.3	2.1		1.7	2.8	2.6		0.7
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			707	292.6	263.5		69.5	294.6	261.5		74.1

Nolan Ryan

Nolan Ryan is something of the mirror image of Bert Blyleven. Ryan had a slightly lower career winning percentage than Blyleven (.534 to .526) and the same number of career pitcher wins as Don Sutton (324). Yet, while it took Blyleven 14 years and Don Sutton 5 years to make the Hall, Nolan Ryan was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility with 491 of 497 (98.8%) votes. Ryan had a higher percentage of HOF votes than Willie Mays (94.7% in 1979), Hank Aaron (97.8% in 1982), Warren Spahn (83.2% in 1973), Jim Palmer (92.6% in 1990), Cal Ripken (98.5% in 2007), Rickey Henderson (94.8% in 2009), and, in fact, every other player ever except for Tom Seaver. Ryan received more votes than any other pitcher in voting for the MLB All Century Team.

Nolan Ryan's greatness is summarized in two numbers: 5,714 strikeouts and 7 no-hitters in his career. The sabermetric argument against him is perhaps best summarized in one other number: 2,795 career walks.

Ryan was frequently used as a foil for pro-Blyleven arguments, suggesting that Blyleven was a better pitcher than even the great Nolan Ryan, in large part because his career walk rate was about half as large as Ryan's. The 1973 season was the best year in the careers of both Blyleven and Ryan. Ryan set a major-league record with 383 strikeouts and threw the first two no-hitters of his career that season. He also finished second in voting for the AL Cy Young Award behind Jim Palmer. Yet, controlling for context, Blyleven beat Ryan in eWins over positional average and replacement level.

Nolan Ryan's career as measured by Player won-lost records is presented in the next table. By Player won-lost records, Ryan had a somewhat more valuable career than Bert Blyleven, although Blyleven nevertheless had an excellent career, highly worthy of the Hall of Fame.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Nolan Ryan Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1966	NYN	19	2	0.1	0.5	-0.4	-0.3	0.2	0.4	-0.2	-0.2
1968	NYN	21	21	7.7	9.9	-1.8	-0.9	7.7	10.0	-1.9	-0.9
1969	NYN	22	25	5.1	4.9	0.5	1.2	5.0	4.9	0.3	1.1
1970	NYN	23	27	8.6	11.2	-2.1	-0.9	9.4	10.3	-0.2	0.9
1971	NYN	24	30	11.6	14.8	-2.7	-1.1	11.7	14.7	-2.3	-0.7
1972	CAL	25	39	21.1	20.1	1.9	4.4	21.0	20.1	1.9	4.5
1973	CAL	26	41	22.8	15.7	7.0	9.4	22.0	16.5	5.4	7.8
1974	CAL	27	42	21.8	18.4	3.3	5.7	21.8	18.4	3.4	5.8
1975	CAL	28	28	12.6	12.1	0.5	2.0	12.2	12.5	-0.4	1.1
1976	CAL	29	39	20.2	17.9	2.3	4.6	20.0	18.1	2.0	4.2
1977	CAL	30	37	19.8	16.6	3.4	5.9	20.0	16.4	3.9	6.4
1978	CAL	31	31	15.3	13.3	1.9	3.6	15.4	13.2	2.2	3.9
1979	CAL	32	34	16.1	13.6	2.6	4.4	16.4	13.3	3.2	5.0
1980	HOU	33	35	14.7	13.9	1.6	3.2	14.2	14.5	0.6	2.2
1981	HOU	34	21	10.7	7.7	3.7	4.8	10.1	8.3	2.5	3.6
1982	HOU	35	35	16.2	15.8	1.6	3.3	15.0	16.9	-0.4	1.3
1983	HOU	36	29	13.2	11.5	2.6	4.0	12.5	12.2	1.5	2.9
1984	HOU	37	30	11.7	13.0	-0.5	0.9	12.2	12.6	0.6	2.0
1985	HOU	38	35	13.5	13.9	0.5	2.1	13.3	14.1	0.4	2.0
1986	HOU	39	30	12.5	11.8	1.4	2.8	12.4	11.9	1.5	2.9
1987	HOU	40	34	13.3	13.8	0.7	2.2	14.7	12.4	3.9	5.4
1988	HOU	41	33	13.8	15.2	-0.5	1.2	13.5	15.5	-1.0	0.7
1989	TEX	42	32	16.1	11.6	4.9	6.7	15.5	12.2	3.6	5.4
1990	TEX	43	30	12.3	10.1	2.3	3.7	12.8	9.6	3.3	4.7
1991	TEX	44	27	10.7	8.0	2.9	4.1	11.5	7.3	4.3	5.5
1992	TEX	45	27	9.6	9.4	0.3	1.5	9.8	9.2	0.7	2.0
1993	TEX	46	13	3.8	4.8	-1.0	-0.5	4.1	4.4	-0.2	0.3
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			807	354.6	329.6	36.9	77.9	354.5	329.7	38.8	79.8
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			9	2.7	2.6		0.6	3.1	2.2		1.4
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			816	357.3	332.2		78.6	357.6	331.8		81.2

John Hiller

John Hiller had a fascinating career. Working backwards, in 1976, Hiller won 12 games and had 13 saves with a 2.38 ERA in 121 innings, 112 in 55 games in relief and 9 in one complete-game shutout. In 1975, Hiller pitched only 70.2 innings in 36 games, with 14 saves and a 2.13 ERA. In 1974, Hiller pitched 59 games, all in relief, in which he pitched 150 innings and earned 17 wins, 13 saves, and 14 losses with a 2.64 ERA.

But 1973 was John Hiller's best season. He pitched in 65 games, all in relief, in which he pitched 125.1 innings with 134 strikeouts and a 1.44 ERA. He won 10 games (against 5 losses) and set a major-league record with 38 saves. For this, Hiller won two awards: the American League Rolaids Relief Man of the Year and American League Comeback Player of the Year. He won the latter award because two years earlier, Hiller had suffered three heart attacks in one day.

As measured by Player won-lost records, John Hiller's 1973 season was the best season ever by a pitcher who did not start a game, as measured by pWins over replacement level. The top five such seasons are shown in the next table.

Player	Season	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
John Hiller	1973	12.2	5.1	7.1	8.9
Willie Hernandez	1984	9.8	3.1	6.4	7.7
John Smoltz	2002	10.3	4.0	6.0	7.6
Dan Quisenberry	1980	11.9	5.8	5.7	7.5
Jim Kern	1979	12.4	6.6	5.6	7.4

John Hiller'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
John Hiller Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1965	DET	22	5	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.1
1966	DET	23	1	0.0	0.0	-0.0	-0.0	0.0	0.0	-0.0	-0.0
1967	DET	24	23	4.3	3.9	0.6	1.2	4.6	3.6	1.2	1.8
1968	DET	25	39	6.9	6.4	0.8	1.7	6.4	6.8	-0.1	0.8
1969	DET	26	41	5.2	5.7	-0.3	0.5	5.1	5.7	-0.4	0.4
1970	DET	27	47	5.2	6.2	-0.7	0.2	5.5	5.9	-0.0	0.9
1972	DET	29	24	2.0	1.9	0.2	0.5	2.0	2.0	-0.0	0.3
1973	DET	30	65	12.2	5.1	7.1	8.9	10.6	6.8	3.9	5.7
1974	DET	31	59	11.3	9.5	1.9	3.9	11.1	9.7	1.4	3.4
1975	DET	32	36	5.3	4.3	1.0	2.0	5.3	4.4	0.8	1.8
1976	DET	33	56	9.0	7.9	1.0	2.6	8.4	8.5	-0.0	1.5
1977	DET	34	45	7.9	10.2	-2.4	-0.9	8.9	9.1	-0.2	1.3
1978	DET	35	51	7.2	4.4	2.8	3.9	6.6	4.9	1.7	2.7
1979	DET	36	43	4.6	6.1	-1.6	-0.5	4.5	6.2	-1.8	-0.7
1980	DET	37	11	0.7	1.2	-0.5	-0.3	0.9	1.0	-0.2	0.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			546	82.2	72.8	10.1	23.9	80.1	74.9	6.2	20.0
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			5	0.0	0.0		-0.0	0.0	0.0		0.0
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			551	82.2	72.8		23.9	80.1	74.9		20.1

Notable Debuts

Two players made their major-league debut in 1973 who have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame: Dave Winfield and George Brett.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Dave Winfield						George Brett
1973	56	4.3	4.6	0.483	-0.7	-0.2	13	0.6	1.0	0.381	-0.4	-0.3
1974	145	18.8	16.3	0.536	1.4	3.1	133	13.0	14.6	0.471	-1.8	-0.5
1975	143	20.5	16.7	0.552	2.6	4.3	159	20.9	17.9	0.538	3.0	4.8
1976	137	22.0	16.6	0.571	4.4	6.3	159	22.3	17.2	0.565	5.0	7.0
1977	157	23.6	20.8	0.532	0.9	3.1	139	21.2	15.7	0.575	5.3	7.2
1978	158	25.1	18.2	0.579	5.8	7.8	128	16.5	14.2	0.539	2.2	3.6
1979	159	26.9	19.8	0.576	5.4	7.6	154	21.2	16.8	0.558	4.2	6.0
1980	162	21.0	20.2	0.510	-0.5	1.5	117	18.5	10.3	0.642	8.1	9.5
1981	105	14.6	12.8	0.534	1.3	2.7	89	10.6	10.5	0.503	-0.2	1.0
1982	140	19.9	18.8	0.515	0.4	2.1	144	18.6	15.1	0.551	3.1	4.6
1983	152	21.4	18.6	0.535	2.1	3.9	123	16.8	13.8	0.549	2.7	4.1
1984	141	20.9	16.8	0.554	3.0	4.7	104	14.9	10.9	0.577	4.1	5.3
1985	155	24.1	18.7	0.563	4.8	6.8	155	22.2	15.4	0.590	6.8	8.6
1986	154	20.4	17.6	0.536	2.0	3.8	123	15.6	13.2	0.541	2.0	3.4
1987	156	20.7	17.7	0.539	2.3	4.0	115	12.6	11.8	0.518	-0.2	1.0
1988	149	21.8	17.1	0.560	3.8	5.7	157	18.2	15.0	0.549	2.3	4.0
1989							124	14.5	12.5	0.537	0.8	2.1
1990	132	16.4	16.3	0.502	-0.3	1.2	142	15.3	14.2	0.520	0.2	1.6
1991	150	16.8	16.5	0.505	-0.5	1.1	131	11.0	11.3	0.494	-1.1	0.3
1992	156	17.7	12.8	0.580	4.3	6.1	152	11.3	12.2	0.482	-1.5	-0.1
1993	143	12.9	14.4	0.473	-1.8	-0.1	145	11.9	12.4	0.490	-0.8	0.9
1994	76	6.1	6.3	0.493	-0.6	0.2
1995	45	1.3	2.4	0.358	-1.2	-1.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,971	397.3	339.8	0.539	38.5	74.7	2,706	327.7	275.9	0.543	43.8	73.8

Last Hurrahs

Finally, 1973 was the final season for two members of the Baseball Hall of Fame: 1951 NL Rookie-of-the-Year Willie Mays and 1956 AL Rookie-of-the-Year Luis Aparicio.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Willie Mays						Luis Aparicio
1951	121	15.6	12.9	0.547	2.1	3.6
1952	34	5.7	3.3	0.629	2.2	2.7
1953
1954	151	24.6	16.5	0.598	6.6	9.0
1955	152	27.2	17.4	0.610	8.5	10.8
1956	152	23.4	17.9	0.567	4.3	6.5	152	17.5	17.5	0.500	0.9	2.8
1957	152	24.5	18.5	0.569	4.7	6.8	143	18.2	16.9	0.518	1.8	3.6
1958	152	26.0	18.4	0.585	6.4	8.6	145	18.2	16.9	0.519	2.4	4.1
1959	151	25.0	16.0	0.610	7.9	9.9	152	20.1	19.3	0.511	1.4	3.3
1960	153	25.5	19.1	0.571	5.0	7.3	153	21.3	19.1	0.528	2.9	5.0
1961	154	26.1	17.3	0.602	7.6	10.1	156	19.3	19.6	0.496	0.6	2.8
1962	162	29.6	18.1	0.621	10.6	13.1	153	17.8	19.1	0.482	-0.6	1.3
1963	157	24.7	19.1	0.564	4.7	6.8	146	19.3	20.2	0.488	0.0	1.9
1964	157	26.2	16.3	0.616	9.1	11.2	146	21.0	17.5	0.545	3.5	5.4
1965	157	26.5	17.6	0.601	7.9	10.1	144	18.3	16.9	0.519	2.2	3.9
1966	152	26.1	16.6	0.611	8.3	10.3	151	20.1	19.5	0.508	1.6	3.4
1967	141	17.9	14.6	0.552	2.6	4.2	134	15.2	18.2	0.456	-1.5	0.1
1968	148	24.1	16.8	0.590	6.2	8.2	157	20.6	20.9	0.497	1.4	3.5
1969	117	14.9	12.7	0.540	1.6	3.1	156	20.5	21.8	0.484	-0.2	2.0
1970	139	17.6	14.7	0.544	2.0	3.7	146	18.2	18.9	0.491	0.5	2.4
1971	136	18.1	11.8	0.605	5.5	7.0	125	14.5	16.0	0.476	-0.0	1.5
1972	88	9.7	7.7	0.558	1.5	2.4	110	13.8	12.9	0.517	1.8	3.1
1973	66	6.1	6.4	0.490	-0.7	-0.1	132	15.9	16.9	0.485	1.2	2.8
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,992	465.3	329.8	0.585	114.8	155.2	2,601	329.9	328.1	0.501	20.0	52.9

Article last updated: May 17, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1973 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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