1977 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1977 Season

The 1977 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

Next up in my ongoing series on the seasons for which Player won-lost records have been calculated is the first season which I followed closely from beginning to end and the first season in which I attended a live major-league baseball game: 1977.

The Best of 1977

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	22.1	14.9	7.9	9.7	1	Joe L. Morgan	22.1	14.9	7.9	9.7
2	Tom Seaver	19.0	12.3	7.7	9.6	2	Tom Seaver	19.0	12.3	7.7	9.6
3	George Foster	27.4	19.3	6.9	9.3	3	George Foster	27.4	19.3	6.9	9.3
4	Davey Lopes	19.8	13.7	6.7	8.4	4	Davey Lopes	19.8	13.7	6.7	8.4
5	John Candelaria	16.2	10.5	6.6	8.1	5	John Candelaria	16.2	10.5	6.6	8.1
6	Carlton Fisk	18.4	12.0	6.4	8.0	6	Carlton Fisk	18.4	12.0	6.4	8.0
7	Rick Reuschel	17.9	12.9	6.1	7.9	7	Greg Luzinski	23.7	16.7	5.9	7.9
8	Graig Nettles	21.5	15.3	5.9	7.8	8	Rick Reuschel	17.9	12.9	6.1	7.9
9	Mike Schmidt	21.6	15.1	5.9	7.7	9	Steve Carlton	20.3	15.6	5.7	7.8
10	Greg Luzinski	23.7	16.7	5.9	7.9	10	Graig Nettles	21.5	15.3	5.9	7.8

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	21.7	15.2	7.1	9.0	1	Joe L. Morgan	21.7	15.2	7.1	9.0
2	George Foster	27.2	19.6	6.3	8.7	2	George Foster	27.2	19.6	6.3	8.7
3	Tom Seaver	18.2	13.1	6.3	8.2	3	Tom Seaver	18.2	13.1	6.3	8.2
4	Mike Schmidt	21.5	15.1	5.7	7.6	4	Mike Schmidt	21.5	15.1	5.7	7.6
5	Mitchell Page	22.3	16.2	5.5	7.4	5	Mitchell Page	22.3	16.2	5.5	7.4
6	Rod Carew	19.8	13.5	5.4	7.1	6	Jim Palmer	18.3	13.3	5.1	7.3
7	Jim Palmer	18.3	13.3	5.1	7.3	7	Rod Carew	19.8	13.5	5.4	7.1
8	Dave Parker	25.2	18.7	4.7	6.9	8	Dave Parker	25.2	18.7	4.7	6.9
9	Dennis Leonard	17.5	13.1	4.6	6.7	9	Dennis Leonard	17.5	13.1	4.6	6.7
10	Reggie Smith	21.9	15.8	4.6	6.5	10	J.R. Richard	18.4	14.9	4.5	6.6

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1977 at the end of this article.

1977 Postseason

Three of the four playoff teams in 1977 were repeat division winners from 1976: the Yankees, Royals, and Phillies. The only variety was that the Los Angeles Dodgers supplanted the two-time defending World Champion Cincinnati Reds in the NL West. As if that wasn't boring enough for fans of variety and/or other teams, the same four teams repeated again in 1978, right down to the same winners of each of the three postseason series.

Probably the most enduring memory from the 1977 postseason was Reggie Jackson's three home runs in Game 6 of the World Series. Jackson had an outstanding World Series for the Yankees that season, which more than made up for a disappointing ALCS in which he batted .125/.222/.125.

In addition to Jackson, the best players in the 1977 postseason, as measured by pWins over replacement level were fellow Yankees Ron Guidry, Mickey Rivers, and Mike Torrez, and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Dusty Baker. I have no recollection of Mike Torrez playing for the Yankees; when I think "Mike Torrez" and "Yankees", this game comes to mind, along with the name Bucky Dent.

The best of the 1977 postseason in table form:

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1977 Postseason: Total

Ron Guidry	NYA	1.6	0.8	0.9
Mickey Rivers	NYA	1.7	1.0	0.8
Mike Torrez	NYA	1.8	1.4	0.7
Sparky Lyle	NYA	0.9	0.4	0.7
Reggie Jackson	NYA	1.5	0.9	0.6
Lou Piniella	NYA	1.9	1.4	0.6
Dusty Baker	LAN	1.8	1.3	0.6
Cliff Johnson	HOU	0.7	0.2	0.6
Ron Cey	LAN	1.5	1.0	0.6
Hal McRae	KCA	0.9	0.5	0.5

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1977 World Series

Reggie Jackson	NYA	1.3	0.5	0.8
Chris Chambliss	NYA	0.8	0.3	0.5
Ron Guidry	NYA	0.9	0.5	0.4
Thurman Munson	NYA	0.6	0.4	0.3
Mike Torrez	NYA	1.2	1.0	0.2

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1977 Postseason: League Championship Series

Dusty Baker	LAN	1.1	0.3	0.7
Cliff Johnson	HOU	0.7	0.2	0.5
Mickey Rivers	NYA	0.9	0.4	0.5
Hal McRae	KCA	0.9	0.5	0.5
Ron Cey	LAN	0.7	0.3	0.4

Best of 1977 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 1977 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	George Foster	18.8	12.3	6.1	1	Greg Luzinski	18.2	10.4	7.5
2	Greg Luzinski	17.2	11.5	5.3	2	George Foster	19.4	11.7	7.2
3	Reggie Smith	14.7	9.2	5.1	3	Ken Singleton	15.7	9.1	6.6
4	Ken Singleton	14.8	9.9	4.9	4	Reggie Jackson	15.8	9.3	6.4
5	Mike Schmidt	14.4	9.4	4.6	5	Carlton Fisk	14.6	9.6	5.1
6	Rod Carew	14.9	10.3	4.5	6	Graig Nettles	15.2	10.5	4.7
7	Reggie Jackson	14.7	10.4	4.3	7	Mike Schmidt	14.4	9.4	4.7
8	Bobby Bonds	16.6	12.6	4.0	8	Joe L. Morgan	14.1	9.1	4.7
9	Joe L. Morgan	13.8	9.5	3.9	9	Oscar Gamble	11.8	7.1	4.7
10	Oscar Gamble	11.3	7.6	3.8	10	Al Cowens	15.4	10.8	4.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Gene Richards	2.7	1.5	1.1	1	Toby Harrah	1.9	0.9	1.0
2	Larry Bowa	1.7	0.7	1.0	2	Rod Carew	2.2	1.2	1.0
3	Cesar Cedeno	2.5	1.5	0.9	3	Davey Lopes	2.5	1.6	0.9
4	Mitchell Page	1.9	1.0	0.9	4	Larry Bowa	1.7	0.8	0.8
5	Frank Taveras	2.3	1.4	0.9	5	George Brett	1.8	1.0	0.8
6	Davey Lopes	2.5	1.6	0.8	6	Joe L. Morgan	2.2	1.4	0.8
7	Rod Carew	2.1	1.3	0.8	7	Carl Yastrzemski	1.3	0.5	0.7
8	Toby Harrah	1.7	1.1	0.6	8	Lyman Bostock Jr.	1.8	1.1	0.7
9	Al Bumbry	1.6	1.0	0.6	9	Mitchell Page	1.7	1.1	0.6
10	Steve Henderson	1.4	0.8	0.6	10	Amos Otis	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	Tom Seaver	15.6	11.5	4.1	1	Tom Seaver	16.8	10.3	6.5
2	Steve Rogers	17.8	14.2	3.7	2	John Candelaria	14.4	8.7	5.7
3	Dennis Leonard	16.8	13.2	3.6	3	Rick Reuschel	15.9	10.6	5.2
4	Bruce Sutter	8.7	5.3	3.5	4	Dennis Leonard	17.6	12.4	5.2
5	Jim Palmer	17.1	13.7	3.4	5	Bruce Sutter	9.5	4.5	5.1
6	Ron Guidry	12.7	9.4	3.3	6	Tommy John	14.5	9.5	5.0
7	Rich Gossage	10.4	7.2	3.2	7	Jim Palmer	17.8	13.0	4.8
8	Frank Tanana	14.3	11.0	3.2	8	Ron Guidry	13.2	8.9	4.4
9	Rick Reuschel	14.8	11.7	3.1	9	Steve Carlton	17.5	13.6	4.0
10	Nolan Ryan	19.3	16.2	3.1	10	Frank Tanana	14.6	10.7	4.0

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Jim Palmer	0.6	0.2	0.3	1	Jim Palmer	0.6	0.2	0.4
2	Bert Blyleven	0.5	0.3	0.3	2	Joe Niekro	0.5	0.1	0.3
3	Joe Niekro	0.4	0.2	0.2	3	Geoff Zahn	0.4	0.1	0.3
4	Bill Bonham	0.5	0.2	0.2	4	Dennis Martinez	0.4	0.1	0.3
5	Ken Brett	0.4	0.2	0.2	5	Gary Lavelle	0.4	0.1	0.3


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Carlton Fisk	2.2	1.5	0.7	1	Carlton Fisk	2.4	1.4	1.0
2	Jim Sundberg	2.0	1.4	0.6	2	Jim Sundberg	2.1	1.2	0.9
3	Ted Simmons	2.4	1.9	0.5	3	Bob Boone	2.2	1.5	0.7
4	Bob Boone	2.1	1.6	0.5	4	Dave Skaggs	1.3	0.8	0.5
5	Terry Humphrey	2.1	1.7	0.4	5	Steve Yeager	2.0	1.5	0.5


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Steve Garvey	2.9	2.2	0.6	1	Steve Garvey	3.0	2.1	0.8
2	Rod Carew	2.6	2.1	0.5	2	Keith Hernandez	2.9	2.2	0.8
3	Mike Hargrove	2.4	2.1	0.4	3	Rod Carew	2.7	2.0	0.7
4	Dan T. Meyer	2.6	2.3	0.3	4	Bill Robinson	1.4	0.8	0.6
5	Bill Robinson	1.3	0.9	0.3	5	Mike Hargrove	2.5	2.0	0.5


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Joe L. Morgan	5.5	4.5	1.0	1	Frank White	5.5	4.0	1.4
2	Mike Tyson	5.3	4.4	0.9	2	Joe L. Morgan	5.7	4.3	1.4
3	Frank White	5.2	4.4	0.8	3	Davey Lopes	5.2	3.9	1.3
4	Davey Lopes	4.9	4.2	0.8	4	Mike Tyson	5.4	4.3	1.1
5	Willie Randolph	5.7	5.1	0.7	5	Bob Randall	3.8	2.8	0.9


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Mike Schmidt	5.6	4.5	1.1	1	Graig Nettles	5.3	3.8	1.5
2	Ron Cey	5.7	4.9	0.7	2	Doug DeCinces	5.5	4.1	1.4
3	Wayne Garrett	1.7	1.1	0.6	3	Mike Schmidt	5.7	4.4	1.3
4	Doug DeCinces	5.1	4.5	0.6	4	Ron Cey	5.9	4.7	1.2
5	Ken Reitz	4.2	3.6	0.5	5	Ken Reitz	4.4	3.4	0.9


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Larry Bowa	6.9	5.1	1.8	1	Bill E. Russell	7.9	5.9	2.0
2	Dave Concepcion	7.2	6.2	1.0	2	Mark Belanger	6.3	4.6	1.7
3	Tim Foli	5.2	4.4	0.8	3	Larry Bowa	6.8	5.2	1.6
4	Bucky Dent	5.9	5.2	0.8	4	Rick Burleson	7.0	5.6	1.4
5	Rick Burleson	6.7	6.0	0.7	5	Freddie Patek	6.1	4.7	1.4


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Mitchell Page	7.0	6.0	1.1	1	Larry Biittner	2.2	1.2	1.0
2	Joe Rudi	2.4	1.7	0.7	2	Joe Rudi	2.5	1.6	0.9
3	Dusty Baker	5.9	5.3	0.5	3	Tom Poquette	3.8	3.0	0.9
4	Warren Cromartie	7.0	6.4	0.5	4	Al Oliver	4.9	4.2	0.7
5	Gene Richards	3.7	3.2	0.5	5	Roy White	5.4	4.7	0.7


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Amos Otis	5.0	4.0	1.0	1	Amos Otis	5.5	3.5	1.9
2	Omar Moreno	4.9	3.9	1.0	2	Jerry Mumphrey	3.7	2.2	1.4
3	Jerry Mumphrey	3.4	2.5	1.0	3	Omar Moreno	4.9	3.8	1.1
4	Tony Armas Sr.	3.6	2.9	0.7	4	Chet Lemon	7.1	6.0	1.1
5	Cesar Cedeno	5.9	5.4	0.5	5	Tony Armas Sr.	3.7	2.9	0.8


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Dave Parker	9.3	6.5	2.8	1	Dave Parker	9.5	6.3	3.2
2	Bobby Murcer	5.3	3.9	1.4	2	Bake McBride	3.2	1.6	1.6
3	Dave Winfield	7.9	7.0	1.0	3	Al Cowens	6.4	5.2	1.1
4	Steve Bowling	2.0	1.2	0.9	4	Reggie Smith	6.3	5.2	1.1
5	Al Cowens	6.2	5.4	0.8	5	Bobby Murcer	5.1	4.1	1.0

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1977 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	Carlton Fisk	17.2	13.0	4.2	1	Carlton Fisk	18.4	11.8	6.6
2	Ted Simmons	17.5	13.5	3.7	2	Johnny Bench	15.2	11.3	3.6
3	Johnny Bench	14.9	11.5	3.1	3	Ted Simmons	17.4	13.6	3.5
4	Gary Carter	15.9	13.0	2.6	4	Thurman Munson	15.9	13.7	2.2
5	Joe Ferguson	13.8	11.2	2.3	5	Joe Ferguson	13.7	11.2	2.2


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rod Carew	19.1	13.4	4.9	1	Rod Carew	19.1	13.4	4.8
2	Bob Watson	18.1	14.3	2.4	2	Bill Robinson	11.9	6.9	4.2
3	Andre Thornton	13.9	10.9	2.3	3	Bob Watson	18.9	13.6	4.0
4	Mike Hargrove	15.5	12.9	1.8	4	Keith Hernandez	18.1	14.1	2.7
5	Steve Garvey	18.0	15.0	1.5	5	Richie Hebner	11.3	7.9	2.6


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Joe L. Morgan	21.3	15.3	6.6	1	Joe L. Morgan	21.9	14.7	7.8
2	Davey Lopes	18.0	15.3	3.3	2	Davey Lopes	19.6	13.7	6.5
3	Don Money	14.1	12.9	2.1	3	Rennie Stennett	15.0	12.6	2.9
4	Willie Randolph	17.9	17.1	1.8	4	Willie Randolph	18.4	16.6	2.8
5	Bump Wills	18.2	17.7	1.7	5	Jorge Orta	17.0	15.5	2.5


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mike Schmidt	21.1	15.2	5.2	1	Mike Schmidt	21.5	14.9	6.0
2	Toby Harrah	19.5	15.8	3.5	2	Graig Nettles	21.3	15.2	5.8
3	George Brett	19.7	16.5	2.9	3	George Brett	21.0	15.2	5.5
4	Ron Cey	21.4	18.2	2.5	4	Toby Harrah	19.9	15.3	4.4
5	Graig Nettles	19.6	16.9	2.3	5	Doug DeCinces	18.6	14.7	3.6


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dave Concepcion	18.4	17.3	2.6	1	Garry Templeton	20.6	19.0	3.2
2	Garry Templeton	20.3	19.4	2.6	2	Freddie Patek	16.5	15.2	3.0
3	Larry Bowa	18.1	17.4	2.3	3	Rick Burleson	20.1	19.5	2.8
4	Bert Campaneris	19.2	20.0	1.5	4	Bill E. Russell	20.1	19.3	2.6
5	Rick Burleson	19.4	20.3	1.4	5	Larry Bowa	18.2	17.4	2.5


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mitchell Page	20.6	15.4	4.6	1	Greg Luzinski	23.7	17.8	5.9
2	George Foster	21.4	16.7	3.6	2	George Foster	21.9	16.7	4.7
3	Greg Luzinski	22.6	17.8	3.6	3	Joe Rudi	9.7	7.0	3.0
4	Carl Yastrzemski	20.6	17.4	2.6	4	Dusty Baker	19.4	15.8	2.8
5	Dusty Baker	19.3	15.8	2.4	5	Carl Yastrzemski	20.7	17.4	2.7


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Cesar Cedeno	20.2	17.0	2.5	1	Amos Otis	17.3	12.4	4.7
2	George Foster	5.6	3.1	2.3	2	Mickey Rivers	19.8	16.6	2.9
3	George Hendrick	18.6	15.6	2.3	3	Lyman Bostock Jr.	13.3	10.9	2.2
4	Lyman Bostock Jr.	13.4	10.9	2.2	4	George Foster	5.5	3.2	2.2
5	Amos Otis	16.0	13.7	2.0	5	Chet Lemon	19.6	17.1	2.2


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dave Parker	25.1	18.8	4.5	1	Reggie Jackson	20.6	14.2	5.4
2	Reggie Smith	21.1	15.5	4.1	2	Dave Parker	25.4	18.5	5.1
3	Ken Singleton	20.6	16.6	2.8	3	Ken Singleton	21.5	15.6	4.9
4	Reggie Jackson	19.2	15.7	2.4	4	Reggie Smith	21.4	15.2	4.7
5	Dave Winfield	24.0	20.1	2.1	5	Al Cowens	20.3	15.2	4.1


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Tom Seaver	15.9	11.7	4.4	1	Tom Seaver	17.1	10.4	6.9
2	Jim Palmer	17.7	13.9	4.0	2	John Candelaria	14.6	8.9	5.9
3	Steve Rogers	18.3	14.7	3.8	3	Rick Reuschel	16.3	11.0	5.4
4	Dennis Leonard	17.0	13.6	3.6	4	Tommy John	15.1	9.9	5.3
5	Ron Guidry	12.5	9.2	3.4	5	Jim Palmer	18.4	13.2	5.3
6	Frank Tanana	14.7	11.4	3.4	6	Dennis Leonard	17.9	12.8	5.3
7	Rick Reuschel	15.2	12.1	3.2	7	Ron Guidry	13.1	8.6	4.6
8	Nolan Ryan	19.6	16.8	3.0	8	Frank Tanana	15.1	11.1	4.2
9	Bert Blyleven	13.5	10.6	3.0	9	Steve Carlton	17.9	13.9	4.1
10	Burt Hooton	12.9	10.1	3.0	10	Steve Rogers	18.5	14.6	4.1


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Bruce Sutter	9.1	5.5	3.4	1	Bruce Sutter	9.9	4.7	5.0
2	Rich Gossage	10.6	7.4	3.0	2	Sparky Lyle	10.2	6.3	3.7
3	Gary Lavelle	8.2	5.6	2.4	3	Bill Campbell	12.2	8.3	3.7
4	Bill Campbell	11.4	9.1	2.1	4	Rich Gossage	10.9	7.1	3.5
5	Gene Garber	6.8	4.6	2.0	5	Gary Lavelle	8.7	5.1	3.4
6	Sparky Lyle	9.1	7.4	1.6	6	Lerrin LaGrow	7.4	4.3	2.9
7	Kent Tekulve	5.2	3.7	1.3	7	Adrian Devine	6.7	3.8	2.7
8	Skip Lockwood	6.5	5.2	1.2	8	Ron Reed	6.0	3.5	2.4
9	Tug McGraw	4.4	3.2	1.2	9	Don Stanhouse	4.4	2.2	2.2
10	Adrian Devine	5.9	4.6	1.1	10	Tom R. Johnson	8.6	6.4	2.0


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jim Rice	12.2	8.9	3.1	1	Jim Rice	12.3	8.9	3.2
2	Hal McRae	11.2	9.4	1.6	2	Oscar Gamble	7.3	4.4	2.8
3	Oscar Gamble	6.7	5.0	1.5	3	Pete LaCock	2.7	1.6	1.1

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


Pitcher Offense
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Steve Carlton	2.0	2.1	0.9	1	Steve Carlton	2.4	1.7	1.5
2	J.R. Richard	1.5	1.6	0.6	2	Tom Seaver	1.8	1.9	0.8
3	Rick Rhoden	1.2	1.6	0.4	3	J.R. Richard	1.5	1.5	0.7


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Manny Mota	2.0	1.3	0.8	1	Craig Kusick	2.1	1.3	1.0
2	Jack Clark	1.6	0.8	0.8	2	Davey Johnson	1.6	0.7	1.0
3	Ed Kranepool	1.8	1.1	0.8	3	Joe Zdeb	1.2	0.5	0.8


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Matt Alexander	1.1	0.9	0.4	1	Matt Alexander	1.1	0.9	0.4
2	Eddie L. Miller	0.3	0.0	0.2	2	Eddie L. Miller	0.3	0.0	0.3
3	Wilbur Howard	0.2	0.0	0.2	3	Johnny Oates	0.2	0.0	0.2

Noteworthy Players of 1977

Joe Morgan

The top player on each of the first four tables in this article (pWOPA, pWORL, eWOPA, and eWORL) is Joe Morgan. This was the last year of a 6-year run by Morgan in which he was clearly the best player in baseball. As measured by pWORL, this run by Morgan was one of the finest 6-year run of any player in the past ninety years. Joe Morgan's record from 1972 - 1977 is shown below.

Season	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
1972	149	25.7	16.1	0.615	10.2	12.3	24.5	17.4	0.585	7.7	9.8
1973	157	26.8	17.2	0.609	9.7	11.9	25.8	18.2	0.587	7.8	9.9
1974	149	23.8	16.9	0.585	7.4	9.2	23.8	16.9	0.585	7.3	9.2
1975	146	24.3	15.4	0.611	9.0	10.8	23.7	16.0	0.597	7.8	9.7
1976	141	23.2	14.4	0.617	9.2	11.0	22.7	14.9	0.604	8.2	10.1
1977	153	22.1	14.9	0.598	7.9	9.7	21.7	15.2	0.588	7.1	9.0

The next table shows the top 10 six-year runs since 1930 (basically, since Babe Ruth's prime), as measured by pWins over replacement level (pWORL).