1984 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1984 Season

The 1984 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1984 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1984

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	Cal Ripken	25.9	19.4	8.4	10.5	1	Cal Ripken	25.9	19.4	8.4	10.5
2	Eddie Murray	22.3	14.8	6.7	8.4	2	Eddie Murray	22.3	14.8	6.7	8.4
3	Willie Hernandez	9.8	3.1	6.4	7.7	3	Ryne Sandberg	25.1	19.3	6.3	8.3
4	Kirk Gibson	21.9	14.5	6.4	8.1	4	Kirk Gibson	21.9	14.5	6.4	8.1
5	Ryne Sandberg	25.1	19.3	6.3	8.3	5	Alan Trammell	20.0	15.2	6.1	7.8
6	Alan Trammell	20.0	15.2	6.1	7.8	6	Willie Hernandez	9.8	3.1	6.4	7.7
7	Dwight Gooden	16.3	11.6	5.7	7.2	7	Tony Gwynn Sr.	25.4	18.1	5.6	7.6
8	Tony Gwynn Sr.	25.4	18.1	5.6	7.6	8	Dwight Gooden	16.3	11.6	5.7	7.2
9	Rick Sutcliffe	16.3	11.8	5.1	6.7	9	Dwight Evans	25.9	19.6	5.0	7.1
10	Bert Blyleven	14.1	9.3	5.0	6.4	10	Rick Sutcliffe	16.3	11.8	5.1	6.7

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	Cal Ripken	25.5	19.8	7.5	9.6	1	Cal Ripken	25.5	19.8	7.5	9.6
2	Gary Carter	20.6	15.4	5.6	7.2	2	Mike Schmidt	23.0	17.2	5.5	7.4
3	Mike Schmidt	23.0	17.2	5.5	7.4	3	Gary Carter	20.6	15.4	5.6	7.2
4	Eddie Murray	21.5	15.7	5.0	6.7	4	Ryne Sandberg	24.5	19.9	4.9	7.0
5	Ryne Sandberg	24.5	19.9	4.9	7.0	5	Eddie Murray	21.5	15.7	5.0	6.7
6	Dwight Gooden	15.7	12.2	4.9	6.4	6	Dwight Gooden	15.7	12.2	4.9	6.4
7	Rickey Henderson	22.5	17.2	4.5	6.3	7	Rickey Henderson	22.5	17.2	4.5	6.3
8	Bert Blyleven	13.8	9.7	4.3	5.7	8	Dale Murphy	24.8	19.5	4.1	6.2
9	Dale Murphy	24.8	19.5	4.1	6.2	9	Tim Raines Sr.	24.7	19.6	3.9	5.9
10	Tim Raines Sr.	24.7	19.6	3.9	5.9	10	Bert Blyleven	13.8	9.7	4.3	5.7

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1984 at the end of this article.

1984 Postseason

The 1984 National League Championship Series matched up a team making its first postseason appearance in its history against a team making its first postseason appearance in 39 years. Neither of them, nor the Kansas City Royals, making their sixth playoff appearance in nine years, could stop the juggernaut that was the 1984 Detroit Tigers.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1984 Postseason: Total

Alan Trammell	DET	1.9	0.7	1.5
Jack Morris	DET	2.0	0.9	1.3
Kirk Gibson	DET	1.7	0.7	1.1
Milt Wilcox	DET	1.2	0.4	1.0
Larry Herndon	DET	1.2	0.4	0.8
Steve Garvey	SDN	1.3	0.9	0.5
Marty Castillo	DET	0.8	0.4	0.5
Tim Flannery	SDN	0.5	0.1	0.5
Steve Trout	CHN	0.7	0.4	0.4
Aurelio Lopez	DET	0.5	0.2	0.4

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1984 World Series

Alan Trammell	DET	1.3	0.4	0.8
Jack Morris	DET	1.3	0.6	0.7
Kirk Gibson	DET	1.1	0.4	0.7
Larry Herndon	DET	0.9	0.3	0.6
Marty Castillo	DET	0.5	0.2	0.3

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1984 Postseason: League Championship Series

Milt Wilcox	DET	0.8	0.1	0.7
Steve Garvey	SDN	1.0	0.4	0.6
Tony Gwynn Sr.	SDN	0.9	0.4	0.5
Alan Trammell	DET	0.7	0.2	0.4
Garry Templeton	SDN	0.9	0.5	0.4

Best of 1984 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 1984 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	Eddie Murray	17.2	12.0	5.2	1	Dwight Evans	18.2	11.7	6.6
2	Mike Schmidt	15.8	10.6	4.8	2	Kirk Gibson	15.6	9.2	6.5
3	Dale Murphy	16.6	11.5	4.6	3	Eddie Murray	17.7	11.4	6.3
4	Dwight Evans	17.2	12.7	4.5	4	Mike Schmidt	16.0	10.3	5.3
5	Gary Carter	16.8	12.1	4.2	5	Tony Gwynn Sr.	15.8	10.2	5.3
6	Alvin Davis	15.7	11.8	3.9	6	Ryne Sandberg	15.4	10.5	4.5
7	Kirk Gibson	14.3	10.4	3.9	7	Alvin Davis	15.9	11.5	4.4
8	Kent Hrbek	14.8	11.1	3.8	8	Dale Murphy	16.4	11.8	4.2
9	Cal Ripken	15.5	11.8	3.7	9	Gary Matthews Sr.	13.8	9.2	4.2
10	Keith Hernandez	14.6	10.6	3.6	10	Leon Durham	13.4	9.0	4.1

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Tim Raines Sr.	2.8	1.5	1.2	1	Willie Wilson	2.2	0.9	1.3
2	Willie Wilson	2.1	1.0	1.1	2	Rickey Henderson	3.1	2.0	1.1
3	Rickey Henderson	3.1	2.0	1.1	3	Mookie Wilson	2.3	1.1	1.1
4	Mookie Wilson	2.2	1.2	1.0	4	Dave Collins	2.5	1.4	1.1
5	Willie McGee	2.0	1.1	0.9	5	Tim Raines Sr.	2.7	1.6	1.1
6	(Rogers) Bobby Brown	1.3	0.4	0.9	6	(Rogers) Bobby Brown	1.3	0.3	1.0
7	Von Hayes	2.1	1.2	0.9	7	Von Hayes	2.1	1.2	0.9
8	Bob Dernier	2.7	1.7	0.9	8	Cesar Cedeno	1.6	0.7	0.9
9	Jeff Stone	1.4	0.5	0.8	9	Jack Perconte	2.1	1.2	0.9
10	Gary Redus	2.1	1.2	0.8	10	Alan Wiggins	3.4	2.4	0.9

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Dwight Gooden	14.5	10.5	3.9	1	Willie Hernandez	9.6	3.0	6.5
2	Bert Blyleven	13.1	9.8	3.2	2	Dwight Gooden	15.2	9.8	5.4
3	Willie Hernandez	7.9	4.8	3.1	3	Dan Quisenberry	9.5	4.6	4.9
4	Dave Stieb	15.1	12.4	2.7	4	Rick Sutcliffe	15.5	10.7	4.8
5	Doyle Alexander	13.5	10.8	2.6	5	Bert Blyleven	13.8	9.2	4.6
6	Dan Quisenberry	8.3	5.8	2.4	6	Doyle Alexander	14.3	10.0	4.3
7	Bud Black	14.9	12.5	2.4	7	Lee Smith	9.0	5.3	3.8
8	Storm Davis	11.7	9.3	2.4	8	Rich Gossage	9.2	5.6	3.6
9	Scott Sanderson	8.2	5.8	2.4	9	Phil Niekro	13.1	9.6	3.5
10	Rick Sutcliffe	14.3	11.9	2.4	10	Bill Caudill	9.1	5.7	3.5

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Craig McMurtry	0.5	0.2	0.3	1	Mark Thurmond	0.5	0.1	0.3
2	Mark Thurmond	0.4	0.2	0.3	2	Bert Blyleven	0.4	0.1	0.3
3	Joaquin Andujar	0.6	0.3	0.3	3	Mike Boddicker	0.5	0.3	0.3
4	Eric Show	0.4	0.2	0.3	4	Charlie Lea	0.5	0.2	0.3
5	Mike Boddicker	0.5	0.3	0.2	5	Eric Show	0.4	0.2	0.3


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tony Pena Sr.	3.0	2.0	1.0	1	Tony Pena Sr.	3.0	2.1	0.9
2	Mike Scioscia	2.0	1.6	0.4	2	Rich Gedman	1.9	1.4	0.6
3	Bob Boone	1.9	1.5	0.4	3	Mike Scioscia	2.1	1.6	0.5
4	Alex Trevino	1.5	1.2	0.3	4	Lance Parrish	1.8	1.3	0.5
5	Marc Hill	0.7	0.5	0.2	5	Tim Laudner	1.3	0.9	0.4


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Keith Hernandez	3.1	2.5	0.5	1	Keith Hernandez	3.3	2.2	1.1
2	Steve Garvey	2.3	1.8	0.5	2	Leon Durham	2.8	2.1	0.8
3	Pete M. O'Brien	2.8	2.4	0.4	3	Eddie Murray	3.3	2.5	0.7
4	Kent Hrbek	2.6	2.3	0.4	4	Steve Garvey	2.3	1.8	0.6
5	Leon Durham	2.6	2.3	0.3	5	Pete M. O'Brien	2.9	2.4	0.5


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Julio Cruz	5.6	4.7	0.9	1	Tom Herr	6.9	5.3	1.5
2	Tim Teufel	6.5	5.8	0.7	2	Frank White	5.7	4.8	1.0
3	Frank White	5.6	4.9	0.7	3	Julio Cruz	5.7	4.7	1.0
4	Bill D. Doran	5.9	5.4	0.5	4	Glenn Hubbard	5.3	4.4	1.0
5	Johnny C. Ray	5.6	5.1	0.5	5	Bill D. Doran	6.1	5.2	0.9


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Mike Schmidt	6.0	5.2	0.8	1	Tim Wallach	5.4	4.6	0.8
2	Gary Gaetti	5.8	4.9	0.8	2	Tom Brookens	1.3	0.6	0.7
3	Tim Wallach	5.3	4.7	0.6	3	Todd Cruz	1.9	1.3	0.7
4	German Rivera	3.2	2.6	0.6	4	Terry Pendleton	2.8	2.2	0.6
5	Buddy Bell	4.8	4.4	0.4	5	Greg Pryor	2.4	1.8	0.6


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Cal Ripken	8.7	7.4	1.4	1	Cal Ripken	9.1	7.0	2.1
2	Scott Fletcher	5.2	4.5	0.7	2	Ozzie Smith	7.2	5.6	1.6
3	Alan Trammell	4.7	4.0	0.7	3	Garry Templeton	6.9	5.6	1.3
4	Ozzie Smith	6.7	6.1	0.6	4	Scott Fletcher	5.4	4.3	1.1
5	Dave C. Anderson	5.4	4.9	0.5	5	Alan Trammell	4.8	3.8	1.0


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Mickey Hatcher	5.2	4.3	0.9	1	Carmelo Martinez	6.7	5.5	1.2
2	Rickey Henderson	6.5	5.8	0.7	2	Larry Herndon	4.3	3.5	0.8
3	Jeffrey Leonard	5.5	4.9	0.6	3	Mickey Hatcher	5.1	4.4	0.8
4	Mike A. Marshall	5.6	5.0	0.5	4	Mike A. Marshall	5.6	5.0	0.6
5	Terry Harper	1.5	1.1	0.4	5	Jeffrey Leonard	5.5	4.9	0.6


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Gary Pettis	5.2	4.3	0.9	1	Kevin McReynolds	6.3	4.8	1.5
2	Kevin McReynolds	6.0	5.1	0.9	2	Gary Pettis	5.5	4.1	1.4
3	Kirby Puckett	5.6	4.8	0.9	3	Kirby Puckett	5.8	4.5	1.3
4	Dwayne Murphy	7.0	6.4	0.6	4	Eddie Milner	5.0	3.8	1.1
5	Willie McGee	6.1	5.6	0.4	5	Chet Lemon	5.6	4.7	1.0


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tony Gwynn Sr.	6.7	5.9	0.8	1	Tony Gwynn Sr.	7.2	5.4	1.8
2	George Vukovich	5.4	4.7	0.7	2	Jesse Barfield	3.3	2.5	0.8
3	Jesse Barfield	3.2	2.6	0.7	3	George Vukovich	5.4	4.6	0.8
4	Dion James	3.3	2.8	0.5	4	Mike Davis	5.2	4.6	0.7
5	Andre Dawson	5.7	5.4	0.4	5	Mike C. Brown	1.9	1.2	0.6

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1984 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	Gary Carter	17.9	13.6	4.8	1	Gary Carter	17.7	13.8	4.4
2	Bob Brenly	14.0	11.3	3.1	2	Lance Parrish	14.5	12.3	3.1
3	Tony Pena Sr.	17.1	14.7	2.9	3	Rich Gedman	10.3	8.7	2.2
4	Lance Parrish	13.9	12.9	1.9	4	Mike Scioscia	10.3	8.7	2.0
5	Mike Scioscia	10.2	8.8	1.6	5	Darrell Porter	12.7	11.4	1.7


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Eddie Murray	21.1	15.6	4.6	1	Eddie Murray	22.0	14.6	6.5
2	Keith Hernandez	19.0	14.0	3.7	2	Leon Durham	17.4	11.6	4.8
3	Kent Hrbek	18.3	14.1	3.4	3	Keith Hernandez	19.5	13.5	4.7
4	Alvin Davis	18.6	14.6	3.2	4	Kent Hrbek	18.3	14.0	3.4
5	Leon Durham	16.3	12.7	2.5	5	Alvin Davis	18.6	14.6	3.1


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ryne Sandberg	24.2	20.1	4.6	1	Ryne Sandberg	25.1	19.3	6.3
2	Lou Whitaker	18.0	16.3	2.5	2	Lou Whitaker	19.3	15.1	4.9
3	Tim Teufel	20.4	19.5	1.9	3	Tim Teufel	20.9	19.0	2.8
4	Johnny C. Ray	18.7	17.3	1.8	4	Frank White	17.1	15.6	2.2
5	Juan Samuel	23.6	22.7	1.4	5	Damaso Garcia	19.1	17.8	2.1


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mike Schmidt	22.3	17.1	5.0	1	Mike Schmidt	22.0	17.3	4.4
2	Buddy Bell	18.8	16.5	2.5	2	George Brett	14.7	10.6	4.2
3	Wayne Gross	12.6	10.4	2.4	3	Wayne Gross	12.8	10.2	2.7
4	Wade Boggs	18.4	16.9	1.7	4	Buddy Bell	18.8	16.5	2.5
5	Ron Cey	16.3	14.6	1.4	5	Hubie Brooks	15.8	13.2	2.4


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Cal Ripken	25.2	20.1	7.0	1	Cal Ripken	25.9	19.4	8.4
2	Alan Trammell	16.3	14.7	3.2	2	Alan Trammell	17.6	13.4	5.6
3	Robin Yount	17.0	15.6	2.7	3	Ozzie Smith	17.9	15.8	3.3
4	Ozzie Smith	17.2	16.5	1.8	4	Bob Meacham	11.7	11.0	1.8
5	Dave C. Anderson	12.5	12.3	1.0	5	Garry Templeton	15.7	15.1	1.7


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rickey Henderson	22.1	17.1	4.1	1	Rickey Henderson	22.4	17.1	4.8
2	Gary Matthews Sr.	21.0	16.6	3.1	2	Gary Matthews Sr.	21.0	16.6	3.1
3	Jeffrey Leonard	17.3	13.5	2.7	3	Carmelo Martinez	19.2	16.2	2.7
4	Jose Cruz Sr.	24.4	20.5	2.3	4	Joe Carter	6.8	5.5	1.6
5	George Bell	8.7	7.1	1.2	5	Jose Cruz Sr.	24.1	20.5	1.6


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dale Murphy	24.6	19.6	3.9	1	Kevin McReynolds	19.9	15.6	3.4
2	Tim Raines Sr.	24.3	19.8	3.3	2	Dale Murphy	24.3	19.9	3.4
3	Lloyd Moseby	21.3	17.7	3.1	3	Chet Lemon	18.4	14.6	3.3
4	Dwayne Murphy	21.7	18.4	2.7	4	Mookie Wilson	20.8	17.1	2.8
5	Fred Lynn	8.2	6.2	1.8	5	Tim Raines Sr.	23.9	20.1	2.6


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dwight Evans	24.7	20.5	2.8	1	Kirk Gibson	21.2	13.9	6.2
2	Kirk Gibson	19.5	15.6	2.7	2	Tony Gwynn Sr.	25.4	17.9	5.7
3	Dave Winfield	18.7	15.1	2.6	3	Dwight Evans	25.9	19.3	5.3
4	Larry Parrish	12.8	10.2	1.9	4	Darryl Strawberry	18.9	14.0	3.5
5	Tony Gwynn Sr.	23.5	19.7	1.9	5	Dave Winfield	18.7	15.1	2.6


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dwight Gooden	14.6	10.8	4.0	1	Dwight Gooden	15.4	10.0	5.6
2	Bert Blyleven	13.2	9.9	3.5	2	Rick Sutcliffe	15.7	11.0	4.9
3	Dave Stieb	15.4	12.7	2.9	3	Bert Blyleven	13.8	9.2	4.8
4	Doyle Alexander	13.7	11.1	2.8	4	Doyle Alexander	14.6	10.2	4.6
5	Bud Black	15.4	12.9	2.7	5	Mike Boddicker	16.4	12.8	3.7
6	Scott Sanderson	8.4	6.0	2.5	6	Phil Niekro	13.4	9.8	3.7
7	Rick Sutcliffe	14.5	12.2	2.4	7	Mike Witt	14.6	11.0	3.7
8	Geoff Zahn	11.2	9.0	2.3	8	Alejandro Pena	10.8	7.3	3.6
9	Storm Davis	11.3	9.3	2.1	9	Dave Stieb	15.7	12.4	3.4
10	Orel Hershiser	8.2	6.3	2.1	10	Bud Black	15.7	12.5	3.4


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie Hernandez	8.1	4.9	2.9	1	Willie Hernandez	9.8	3.1	6.4
2	Dan Quisenberry	8.6	6.0	2.3	2	Dan Quisenberry	9.8	4.7	4.8
3	Dave Righetti	8.0	6.2	1.5	3	Lee Smith	9.4	5.4	3.7
4	Ernie Camacho	7.3	5.8	1.4	4	Rich Gossage	9.3	5.7	3.4
5	Bill Caudill	8.1	6.7	1.1	5	Bill Caudill	9.2	5.7	3.2
6	Jay Howell	5.0	3.8	1.1	6	Jesse Orosco	8.7	5.4	3.1
7	Bob Stanley	7.6	6.3	1.1	7	Bruce Sutter	10.0	6.7	3.0
8	Donnie Moore	4.2	3.0	1.0	8	Dave Righetti	8.6	5.5	2.9
9	Dave J. Schmidt	4.8	3.7	1.0	9	Craig Lefferts	5.8	3.2	2.4
10	Bruce Sutter	9.0	7.8	1.0	10	Rollie Fingers	5.0	2.5	2.3


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mike Easler	12.6	9.4	2.5	1	Mike Easler	12.7	9.3	2.7
2	Cliff Johnson	8.2	5.8	1.9	2	Don Baylor	12.9	9.7	2.5
3	Don Baylor	12.6	10.0	1.9	3	Ken Phelps	7.8	5.2	2.3

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	Tim Lollar	1.5	1.4	0.8	1	Tim Lollar	1.7	1.3	1.1
2	Rick Rhoden	1.5	1.6	0.7	2	Rick Rhoden	1.6	1.5	0.9
3	Eric Show	1.3	1.4	0.6	3	Steve Carlton	1.7	1.8	0.8


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Len Matuszek	2.1	1.0	1.2	1	Len Matuszek	2.3	0.8	1.5
2	Tito Landrum	1.4	0.6	0.8	2	Dave Collins	1.3	0.6	0.7
3	Dave Collins	1.2	0.6	0.7	3	Dane Iorg	1.1	0.5	0.7


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Miguel Dilone	0.4	0.1	0.3	1	Jose Oquendo	0.3	0.0	0.3
2	(Rogers) Bobby Brown	0.3	0.0	0.3	2	(Rogers) Bobby Brown	0.3	0.0	0.3
3	Jose Oquendo	0.3	0.1	0.3	3	Miguel Dilone	0.4	0.1	0.3

Noteworthy Players of 1984

The big story in 1984 was the Detroit Tigers, who began the season 35-5, ended the 1984 season with 104 regular-season victories and then went 7-1 in the postseason. The Tigers had three of the top 10 players in baseball in 1984 as measured by pWins over either positional average or replacement level.

Ironically, the top two players in baseball in both pWOPA and pWORL were teammates who finished 1-2 in MVP voting for a team that won the World Series. But Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray finished 1-2 in MVP voting for the World Champion Baltimore Orioles in 1983. The 1984 Orioles won only 85 games despite having the two best players in baseball in the middle of their lineup.

Willie Hernandez

Based on Player won-lost records, Tigers relief pitcher Willie Hernandez probably didn't deserve the 1984 AL MVP award, although he was arguably one of the top 3-5 most valuable players in the American League. Moreover, Willie Hernandez had one of the top five seasons ever by a relief pitcher, as measured by Player wins over positional average, either in or out of context.

The next table show the top ten seasons by relief pitchers in pWins over positional average, across all seasons for which I have calculated Player won-lost records.

Player	Season	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
John Hiller	1973	12.2	5.1	7.1
Willie Hernandez	1984	9.8	3.1	6.4
Keith Foulke	2000	9.1	2.9	6.1
John Smoltz	2002	10.3	4.0	6.0
Mariano Rivera	1996	9.6	3.6	5.9
Dan Quisenberry	1980	11.9	5.8	5.7
Edwin O. Diaz	2018	9.1	3.3	5.7
Zach Britton	2016	7.8	1.8	5.7
Blake Treinen	2018	9.3	3.5	5.7
Jim Kern	1979	12.4	6.6	5.6

Breakout National League Stars

The National League, meanwhile, featured two breakout seasons in 1984 by young stars who led teams that improved by 25 and 22 games, respectively: Ryne Sandberg of the Chicago Cubs and Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets. The next table compares the careers of Ryne Sandberg, who would go on to be elected to the Hall of Fame 21 years later, and Dwight Gooden, whose career is widely viewed as having been a disappointment after his exceptional start.

Player won-lost records really, really like Dwight Gooden (so much so that I wrote an article about him), and, in fact, think that his career ended up matching up extremely well with that of (deserving) Hall-of-Famer Ryne Sandberg.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Ryne Sandberg					Dwight Gooden
1981	13	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0
1982	156	18.2	19.5	-2.1	-0.4
1983	158	19.3	20.8	-1.2	0.6
1984	156	25.1	19.3	6.3	8.3	31	16.3	11.6	5.7	7.2
1985	153	23.9	19.2	4.5	6.5	35	21.1	11.0	11.1	13.0
1986	154	19.5	18.6	1.4	3.2	33	16.2	12.4	4.8	6.4
1987	132	16.6	16.0	1.1	2.6	25	12.6	10.3	3.1	4.4
1988	155	20.1	18.8	1.6	3.5	34	14.9	12.8	3.0	4.5
1989	157	21.2	18.3	2.7	4.5	19	8.0	7.7	0.9	1.8
1990	155	22.1	18.7	3.4	5.2	35	15.5	12.2	4.2	5.8
1991	158	22.7	17.0	5.3	7.1	27	12.8	10.9	2.9	4.2
1992	158	24.6	18.9	5.5	7.5	33	13.0	13.0	1.1	2.6
1993	117	13.0	13.8	-0.6	0.7	30	13.6	14.2	0.5	2.0
1994	57	6.9	7.1	-0.1	0.6	7	3.0	3.7	-0.5	-0.1
1995
1996	150	19.6	16.9	3.4	5.2	29	9.9	9.4	0.6	1.9
1997	135	12.6	13.8	-1.0	0.3	20	7.1	7.1	0.2	1.1
1998						23	7.3	6.9	0.5	1.4
1999						26	5.8	6.3	-0.4	0.4
2000						27	5.9	6.9	-0.9	0.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,164	285.5	256.7	30.3	55.5	434	183.1	156.3	36.6	56.7

Notable Debuts

The 1984 season saw the major-league debut of one player who was subsequently elected to the Hall of Fame, Kirby Puckett, and one player who was subsequently elected to the Hall of Merit, Bret Saberhagen.

The next table compares the careers of Puckett and Saberhagen, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Bret Saberhagen					Kirby Puckett
1984	39	8.0	7.6	0.5	1.5	128	15.1	16.7	-2.1	-0.6
1985	32	15.8	8.5	7.5	9.1	161	21.9	22.1	-0.7	1.3
1986	30	9.5	9.3	0.2	1.4	161	21.4	19.5	1.5	3.4
1987	33	15.5	10.6	5.2	6.8	157	21.1	18.3	2.3	4.1
1988	35	14.2	14.6	-0.2	1.6	158	24.3	18.8	5.2	7.3
1989	39	16.6	9.3	7.6	9.3	159	22.3	20.0	2.4	4.3
1990	20	7.6	6.8	0.8	1.8	146	19.1	17.6	1.0	2.6
1991	28	13.0	8.0	5.2	6.5	152	20.1	17.5	2.4	4.1
1992	17	6.1	6.3	0.0	0.9	160	21.5	18.5	2.7	4.5
1993	19	7.4	6.8	1.2	2.0	156	19.6	19.8	-0.5	1.5
1994	24	11.1	7.7	4.1	5.3	108	16.0	12.6	2.8	4.2
1995	25	8.2	8.5	0.2	1.3	137	15.7	15.5	-0.7	0.9
1996
1997	6	0.9	1.9	-1.0	-0.8
1998	31	10.8	8.8	2.2	3.5
1999	22	8.0	5.0	3.2	4.0
2000
2001	3	0.9	1.3	-0.3	-0.2
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	403	153.6	120.9	36.4	53.8	1,783	238.2	216.9	16.1	37.7

Puckett and Saberhagen make a nice statistical comparison and, I think, show the difference in the statistical rigor of the Hall of Merit as compared to the Hall of Fame.

Last Hurrahs

Finally, 1984 was the final season for two of the best players of the 1970s: Joe Morgan and Jim Palmer. Morgan's and Palmer's careers, as measured by Player won-lost records, are compared in the final table of this article.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Joe Morgan					Jim Palmer
1963	8	1.1	0.6	0.6	0.7
1964	10	1.1	1.5	-0.3	-0.1
1965	157	20.9	20.5	1.1	3.2	29	4.0	4.6	-0.4	0.2
1966	122	16.3	14.3	2.8	4.2	36	14.3	13.6	1.4	3.0
1967	133	16.8	16.1	1.1	2.7	9	2.5	3.1	-0.4	-0.1
1968	10	1.0	0.7	0.3	0.4
1969	147	19.0	17.5	1.9	3.8	27	12.7	7.7	5.5	6.7
1970	144	20.1	17.8	3.6	5.6	44	20.5	15.3	6.1	8.1
1971	160	22.0	18.7	3.7	5.7	38	19.9	14.4	6.4	8.3
1972	149	25.7	16.1	10.2	12.3	36	18.9	13.7	5.9	7.8
1973	157	26.8	17.2	9.7	11.9	38	17.8	11.1	6.7	8.5
1974	149	23.8	16.9	7.4	9.2	26	9.1	10.1	-0.9	0.2
1975	146	24.3	15.4	9.0	10.8	39	20.2	12.1	8.2	10.2
1976	141	23.2	14.4	9.2	11.0	40	19.2	13.4	5.9	7.8
1977	153	22.1	14.9	7.9	9.7	39	18.4	13.2	5.3	7.4
1978	132	16.7	13.5	3.6	5.0	38	17.5	13.3	4.2	6.0
1979	126	15.1	14.1	1.3	2.7	23	8.5	6.1	2.4	3.3
1980	141	17.5	15.4	2.6	4.2	34	11.7	10.9	0.9	2.3
1981	90	12.0	9.4	2.8	3.9	22	6.6	8.0	-1.3	-0.3
1982	134	18.1	13.9	4.5	5.9	36	14.9	9.9	5.3	6.8
1983	123	16.4	13.0	3.6	4.9	14	4.1	4.0	0.1	0.7
1984	116	12.0	12.2	0.4	1.5	5	0.7	1.6	-0.9	-0.7
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,648	371.9	293.9	87.0	119.3	573	241.5	186.1	60.4	86.2

Article last updated: January 27, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1984 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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