1985 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1985 Season

The 1985 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1985 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1985

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	Dwight Gooden	21.1	11.0	11.1	13.0	1	Dwight Gooden	21.1	11.0	11.1	13.0
2	Pedro Guerrero	23.6	14.6	8.3	10.1	2	Pedro Guerrero	23.6	14.6	8.3	10.1
3	Jesse Barfield	24.0	15.9	7.6	9.5	3	Jesse Barfield	24.0	15.9	7.6	9.5
4	Bret Saberhagen	15.8	8.5	7.5	9.1	4	Bret Saberhagen	15.8	8.5	7.5	9.1
5	Rickey Henderson	23.1	15.8	6.9	8.8	5	Rickey Henderson	23.1	15.8	6.9	8.8
6	George Brett	22.2	15.4	6.8	8.6	6	George Brett	22.2	15.4	6.8	8.6
7	John Tudor	16.1	10.6	6.6	8.1	7	Willie McGee	25.3	18.2	6.2	8.3
8	Gary Carter	20.1	14.0	6.4	8.0	8	Tom Herr	25.4	19.1	6.1	8.2
9	Willie McGee	25.3	18.2	6.2	8.3	9	John Tudor	16.1	10.6	6.6	8.1
10	Tom Herr	25.4	19.1	6.1	8.2	10	Gary Carter	20.1	14.0	6.4	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	Dwight Gooden	19.7	12.5	8.4	10.2	1	Dwight Gooden	19.7	12.5	8.4	10.2
2	Rickey Henderson	23.3	15.6	7.2	9.1	2	Rickey Henderson	23.3	15.6	7.2	9.1
3	Pedro Guerrero	22.6	15.6	6.1	7.9	3	Pedro Guerrero	22.6	15.6	6.1	7.9
4	John Tudor	15.8	10.9	6.1	7.6	4	John Tudor	15.8	10.9	6.1	7.6
5	Wade Boggs	23.4	18.1	5.4	7.4	5	Wade Boggs	23.4	18.1	5.4	7.4
6	George Brett	21.2	16.5	5.2	7.0	6	George Brett	21.2	16.5	5.2	7.0
7	Willie McGee	24.7	18.8	4.9	7.0	7	Willie McGee	24.7	18.8	4.9	7.0
8	Bret Saberhagen	14.5	9.8	4.9	6.5	8	Dale Murphy	24.3	18.9	4.6	6.7
9	Rick Reuschel	11.8	7.9	4.7	5.8	9	Bert Blyleven	18.5	14.1	4.5	6.6
10	Dale Murphy	24.3	18.9	4.6	6.7	10	Cal Ripken	23.1	20.4	4.5	6.5

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1985 at the end of this article.

1985 Postseason

The 1985 postseason saw one team make the first postseason appearance in its history, two teams who had been to the World Series earlier in the 1980s and would return again in two of the next three years.

And a team who capped off a ten-season, seven playoff appearance, run with the first World Series win in its franchise history.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1985 Postseason: Total

Danny Jackson	KCA	1.7	0.9	1.1
Tito Landrum	SLN	1.9	1.0	0.9
Bret Saberhagen	KCA	1.6	1.1	0.8
George Brett	KCA	2.1	1.4	0.8
Ozzie Smith	SLN	1.8	1.3	0.8
Jack Clark	SLN	2.0	1.2	0.7
Tom Herr	SLN	1.4	1.0	0.6
Terry Pendleton	SLN	1.8	1.4	0.5
Lonnie Smith	KCA	2.0	1.6	0.5
Danny Cox	SLN	1.1	0.8	0.4

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1985 World Series

Terry Pendleton	SLN	1.3	0.7	0.6
Bret Saberhagen	KCA	0.9	0.5	0.4
Lonnie Smith	KCA	1.1	0.8	0.3
Tito Landrum	SLN	1.1	0.8	0.3
Danny Jackson	KCA	0.9	0.6	0.3

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1985 Postseason: League Championship Series

Ozzie Smith	SLN	1.4	0.6	0.8
Tom Herr	SLN	1.1	0.4	0.7
Jack Clark	SLN	1.2	0.5	0.7
George Brett	KCA	1.3	0.7	0.6
Danny Jackson	KCA	0.8	0.3	0.5

Best of 1985 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 1985 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	Pedro Guerrero	15.5	9.4	5.8	1	Pedro Guerrero	16.2	8.7	7.2
2	George Brett	14.8	9.7	5.1	2	Eddie Murray	16.5	9.9	6.6
3	Dale Murphy	16.6	11.3	4.9	3	George Brett	15.2	9.3	5.9
4	Don Mattingly	17.3	12.6	4.7	4	Dave Parker	18.1	12.1	5.6
5	Mike Schmidt	15.1	10.1	4.7	5	Gary Carter	16.4	10.6	5.5
6	Rickey Henderson	14.3	10.0	4.4	6	Don Mattingly	17.6	12.3	5.2
7	Eddie Murray	15.3	11.1	4.2	7	Willie McGee	15.1	9.7	5.0
8	Wade Boggs	16.5	12.3	4.1	8	Darryl Strawberry	12.0	7.0	4.8
9	Darryl Strawberry	11.7	7.3	4.1	9	Dale Murphy	16.5	11.4	4.7
10	Jack Clark	12.5	8.5	3.7	10	Jesse Barfield	14.4	9.7	4.7

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Rickey Henderson	3.7	1.4	2.3	1	Rickey Henderson	3.7	1.4	2.3
2	Tim Raines Sr.	3.7	1.6	2.0	2	Vince Coleman	4.5	2.5	1.9
3	Vince Coleman	4.5	2.5	2.0	3	Mariano Duncan	3.1	1.2	1.9
4	Willie McGee	3.6	2.1	1.4	4	Tim Raines Sr.	3.6	1.7	1.8
5	Mariano Duncan	2.7	1.5	1.2	5	Ryne Sandberg	2.4	1.4	1.0
6	Jack Perconte	1.8	0.9	1.0	6	Mookie Wilson	1.6	0.7	0.9
7	Ryne Sandberg	2.4	1.4	0.9	7	Ozzie Guillen	1.6	0.7	0.9
8	Davey Lopes	1.5	0.7	0.8	8	Bill D. Doran	2.1	1.3	0.8
9	Juan Samuel	2.6	1.8	0.7	9	Tom Herr	2.2	1.4	0.8
10	Gary Pettis	2.0	1.3	0.7	10	Willie McGee	3.2	2.5	0.7

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Dwight Gooden	16.6	11.0	5.6	1	Dwight Gooden	18.6	8.9	9.6
2	John Tudor	13.6	9.1	4.5	2	Bret Saberhagen	15.5	8.2	7.3
3	Bret Saberhagen	13.8	9.9	3.8	3	John Tudor	14.4	8.4	6.0
4	Rick Reuschel	10.1	6.7	3.5	4	Jack Morris	16.3	11.5	4.8
5	Orel Hershiser	12.1	8.6	3.4	5	Ron Guidry	14.4	9.7	4.7
6	Bert Blyleven	17.8	14.4	3.4	6	Bob James	9.1	4.8	4.3
7	Dennis Eckersley	9.3	6.3	3.0	7	Rich Gossage	7.1	3.0	4.1
8	Bryn Smith	11.3	8.6	2.7	8	Lee Smith	9.9	5.9	4.1
9	Bob James	8.2	5.7	2.6	9	Bryn Smith	12.0	7.9	4.1
10	Dave Stieb	15.1	12.6	2.5	10	Orel Hershiser	12.1	8.6	3.5

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Charlie Leibrandt	0.9	0.3	0.6	1	Andy McGaffigan	0.6	0.1	0.5
2	Andy McGaffigan	0.5	0.1	0.4	2	Dwight Gooden	0.8	0.3	0.5
3	Jimmy Key	0.5	0.2	0.3	3	Jimmy Key	0.5	0.1	0.4
4	Fernando Valenzuela	0.6	0.2	0.3	4	Randy O'Neal	0.5	0.1	0.4
5	Kevin Gross	0.4	0.2	0.3	5	Rick Mahler	0.7	0.3	0.3


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tony Pena Sr.	2.9	2.2	0.7	1	Rich Gedman	2.1	1.3	0.8
2	Terry Kennedy	2.5	1.9	0.6	2	Bob Boone	1.9	1.4	0.5
3	Steve Lake	0.7	0.3	0.4	3	Mike Scioscia	2.3	1.8	0.5
4	Bob Boone	1.8	1.5	0.4	4	Steve Yeager	1.0	0.5	0.5
5	Carlton Fisk	1.8	1.4	0.4	5	Steve Lake	0.8	0.3	0.5


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Pete M. O'Brien	3.0	2.6	0.5	1	Keith Hernandez	3.4	2.3	1.1
2	Keith Hernandez	3.1	2.7	0.4	2	Darrell Evans	2.3	1.9	0.4
3	Steve Garvey	2.8	2.5	0.3	3	Steve Garvey	2.9	2.5	0.4
4	Willie Upshaw	2.4	2.2	0.2	4	Mike Schmidt	2.3	2.0	0.3
5	Mike Hargrove	1.6	1.4	0.2	5	Greg Brock	1.9	1.7	0.3


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ron Oester	6.2	5.5	0.8	1	Ron Oester	6.7	5.0	1.7
2	Bobby Grich	4.2	3.6	0.6	2	Bobby Grich	4.3	3.4	0.9
3	Marty G. Barrett	5.8	5.3	0.5	3	Julio Cruz	2.9	2.3	0.6
4	Glenn Hubbard	6.4	5.9	0.5	4	Tom Herr	7.1	6.5	0.6
5	Jim Gantner	5.0	4.6	0.4	5	Damaso Garcia	5.7	5.1	0.6


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Terry Pendleton	6.1	5.0	1.1	1	Terry Pendleton	6.1	5.0	1.2
2	Tim Wallach	6.6	5.5	1.0	2	Tim Hulett	3.4	2.7	0.8
3	Wade Boggs	5.2	4.7	0.5	3	Tim Wallach	6.4	5.7	0.7
4	Paul Molitor	4.7	4.2	0.5	4	George Brett	5.9	5.3	0.6
5	Graig Nettles	4.2	3.8	0.4	5	Dave C. Anderson	1.9	1.3	0.6


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ozzie Smith	8.4	7.2	1.3	1	Ozzie Smith	8.9	6.8	2.1
2	Jose Uribe	7.4	6.4	1.0	2	Ozzie Guillen	5.8	4.1	1.7
3	Tony Fernandez	7.3	6.5	0.7	3	Garry Templeton	7.5	6.3	1.2
4	Ozzie Guillen	5.3	4.7	0.6	4	Bob Meacham	6.6	5.5	1.1
5	Cal Ripken	7.2	6.6	0.6	5	Greg Gagne	4.7	3.6	1.1


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Vince Coleman	5.8	4.9	0.8	1	Vince Coleman	6.0	4.7	1.3
2	Larry Herndon	5.2	4.5	0.7	2	George Bell	7.1	5.9	1.2
3	Ruppert Jones	1.6	1.1	0.5	3	Darryl Motley	2.3	1.3	1.0
4	Jeffrey Leonard	6.2	5.7	0.5	4	Pedro Guerrero	3.6	2.6	1.0
5	Joe Carter	5.4	5.0	0.4	5	Jose Cruz Sr.	6.6	5.7	0.9


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Gary Pettis	5.4	4.4	1.0	1	Gary Pettis	5.6	4.2	1.4
2	Kevin McReynolds	6.6	6.0	0.7	2	Lenny Dykstra	2.9	1.6	1.3
3	Eddie Milner	5.4	4.8	0.6	3	Kevin McReynolds	6.9	5.7	1.2
4	Herm Winningham	4.1	3.6	0.5	4	Herm Winningham	4.4	3.3	1.1
5	Willie McGee	6.7	6.2	0.5	5	Willie McGee	7.0	5.9	1.1


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Jesse Barfield	7.4	5.5	1.9	1	Jesse Barfield	8.0	5.0	2.9
2	Tony Gwynn Sr.	7.2	6.2	1.0	2	Darryl Strawberry	4.2	2.8	1.3
3	Dave Winfield	7.0	6.3	0.7	3	Andy Van Slyke	4.8	3.5	1.3
4	Glenn Wilson	7.8	7.2	0.6	4	Dave Parker	7.2	6.1	1.1
5	Mike Davis	5.6	5.0	0.6	5	Tom Brunansky	7.2	6.4	0.8

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1985 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	17.7	14.8	3.3	1	Gary Carter	19.1	13.4	6.0
2	Carlton Fisk	14.4	11.7	3.3	2	Carlton Fisk	14.8	11.3	4.1
3	Rich Gedman	13.4	11.2	2.7	3	Rich Gedman	13.4	11.2	2.8
4	Mike Scioscia	12.6	10.7	2.1	4	Mike Scioscia	12.9	10.5	2.7
5	Lance Parrish	13.0	11.6	2.0	5	Mark Bailey	10.7	8.3	2.6


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Don Mattingly	21.3	16.2	3.7	1	Eddie Murray	20.3	13.7	5.5
2	Mike Schmidt	14.0	9.5	3.4	2	Don Mattingly	21.4	16.1	3.9
3	Eddie Murray	19.1	14.9	2.9	3	Mike Schmidt	13.8	9.7	3.1
4	Jack Clark	14.8	11.7	1.8	4	Darrell Evans	12.9	9.2	3.0
5	Darrell Evans	12.0	10.1	1.2	5	Keith Hernandez	18.4	14.1	2.6


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Tom Herr	24.2	20.2	3.9	1	Tom Herr	25.2	19.1	5.9
2	Ryne Sandberg	23.2	19.8	3.3	2	Ryne Sandberg	23.9	19.2	4.5
3	Bill D. Doran	21.2	18.1	2.9	3	Vance Law	16.9	14.0	2.8
4	Toby Harrah	15.7	13.4	2.4	4	Lou Whitaker	21.1	18.6	2.7
5	Lou Whitaker	20.9	18.8	2.3	5	Bryan Little	6.6	5.1	1.6


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Wade Boggs	23.2	18.3	4.9	1	George Brett	22.1	15.2	6.9
2	George Brett	20.7	16.6	4.2	2	Wade Boggs	22.8	18.7	4.2
3	Graig Nettles	15.5	12.9	2.3	3	Rance Mulliniks	11.0	8.8	2.2
4	Tim Wallach	19.3	17.1	1.9	4	Doug DeCinces	14.6	12.8	1.8
5	Chris Brown	15.0	13.3	1.4	5	Mike Pagliarulo	11.1	9.8	1.3


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Cal Ripken	22.9	20.6	4.1	1	Ozzie Smith	22.5	18.3	5.3
2	Ozzie Smith	21.1	19.7	2.6	2	Cal Ripken	23.1	20.4	4.3
3	Tony Fernandez	18.9	18.9	1.6	3	Glenn Hoffman	10.4	8.5	2.6
4	Garry Templeton	18.1	17.7	1.4	4	Tony Fernandez	19.4	18.4	2.4
5	Alan Trammell	18.6	19.0	1.2	5	Mariano Duncan	17.1	15.9	2.2


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Pedro Guerrero	13.6	8.1	5.0	1	Pedro Guerrero	14.7	8.1	7.3
2	Tim Raines Sr.	22.6	18.1	3.3	2	Brian Downing	18.7	15.3	4.1
3	Phil P. Bradley	19.2	15.8	2.8	3	George Bell	22.4	19.0	3.7
4	Carmelo Martinez	21.6	18.6	1.8	4	Phil P. Bradley	19.5	15.8	3.4
5	Mike Young	10.7	8.7	1.6	5	Vince Coleman	19.6	17.2	2.7


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rickey Henderson	22.5	15.6	6.5	1	Rickey Henderson	22.8	15.3	7.2
2	Dale Murphy	24.1	19.0	4.2	2	Willie McGee	24.8	17.9	6.1
3	Willie McGee	23.9	18.8	4.2	3	Lloyd Moseby	21.3	17.5	3.4
4	Mitch Webster	6.4	5.1	1.1	4	Dale Murphy	23.3	19.8	2.6
5	Brett Butler	20.9	19.4	1.0	5	Gary Pettis	16.2	14.1	1.8


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jesse Barfield	20.9	17.1	3.3	1	Jesse Barfield	22.7	15.3	6.9
2	Darryl Strawberry	13.9	10.2	3.1	2	Darryl Strawberry	14.8	9.2	5.1
3	Dwight Evans	22.3	18.8	2.9	3	Dave Parker	26.2	19.9	5.1
4	Mike Davis	18.7	15.9	2.3	4	Dave Winfield	23.2	18.5	4.1
5	Mike A. Marshall	17.9	14.8	2.2	5	Mike A. Marshall	18.6	14.1	3.7


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dwight Gooden	17.2	11.5	5.8	1	Dwight Gooden	19.4	9.3	10.3
2	John Tudor	14.2	9.5	4.8	2	Bret Saberhagen	15.8	8.5	7.5
3	Bret Saberhagen	14.0	10.2	4.0	3	John Tudor	14.9	8.8	6.2
4	Bert Blyleven	18.0	14.6	3.6	4	Ron Guidry	14.7	9.9	4.9
5	Rick Reuschel	10.2	6.6	3.6	5	Jack Morris	16.6	11.9	4.9
6	Dennis Eckersley	9.6	6.5	3.1	6	Bryn Smith	12.4	8.5	4.0
7	Orel Hershiser	12.2	9.2	3.1	7	Bob Welch	10.8	7.1	3.9
8	Charlie Leibrandt	14.0	11.1	3.0	8	Walt Terrell	14.2	10.8	3.6
9	Dave Stieb	15.7	13.0	2.8	9	Rick Reuschel	10.1	6.7	3.6
10	Bryn Smith	11.7	9.2	2.6	10	Tom Seaver	14.3	10.9	3.6


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rich Gossage	6.3	3.9	2.3	1	Bob James	9.2	5.0	4.1
2	Bob James	8.3	5.9	2.2	2	Rich Gossage	7.2	3.1	3.9
3	Willie Hernandez	8.5	6.1	2.2	3	Lee Smith	10.1	6.1	3.8
4	Dan Quisenberry	9.8	7.7	1.9	4	Dan Quisenberry	10.5	7.0	3.3
5	Tom Niedenfuer	7.0	5.1	1.8	5	Jeff Reardon	8.0	4.8	3.0
6	Greg A. Harris	6.6	4.8	1.6	6	Jeff Lahti	5.1	2.1	2.9
7	Brian Fisher	5.6	3.8	1.6	7	Donnie Moore	9.5	6.5	2.8
8	Jay Howell	8.4	6.8	1.4	8	Dave S. Smith	6.7	3.9	2.7
9	Steve Ontiveros (1985)	4.0	2.5	1.3	9	John Franco	6.3	3.8	2.4
10	Donnie Moore	8.7	7.3	1.3	10	Roger McDowell	7.8	5.4	2.2


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Gorman Thomas	13.2	11.0	2.2	1	Hal McRae	9.0	6.2	2.7
2	Ruppert Jones	4.0	2.9	1.1	2	Don Baylor	11.7	9.4	2.2
3	Don Baylor	11.0	10.1	0.9	3	Rufino Linares	2.0	0.8	1.3

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	Dwight Gooden	1.7	1.8	0.7	1	Dwight Gooden	1.7	1.7	0.8
2	Joe Niekro	1.2	1.6	0.4	2	Eric Show	1.5	1.6	0.7
3	Fernando Valenzuela	1.4	1.9	0.4	3	Orel Hershiser	1.2	1.3	0.5


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Thad Bosley	2.2	1.5	0.9	1	Jim Wohlford	1.4	0.6	0.9
2	Rance Mulliniks	1.3	0.6	0.8	2	Rance Mulliniks	1.3	0.5	0.9
3	Dusty Baker	1.3	0.7	0.6	3	Enos Cabell	1.4	0.7	0.8


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	(Rogers) Bobby Brown	0.4	0.2	0.2	1	Lou Thornton	0.2	0.1	0.2
2	Ron Washington	0.2	0.0	0.2	2	Gary Gaetti	0.2	0.0	0.2
3	Lou Thornton	0.2	0.1	0.2	3	Ron Washington	0.2	0.0	0.2

Noteworthy Players of 1985

The 1985 season was the breakthrough season for 20-year-old Dwight Gooden who almost certainly had the best season by a 20-year-old in major-league history and one of the best seasons, period. Among players for whom I have calculated Player won-lost records, Gooden's 1985 season ranks top 25 in pWins over positional average (pWOPA) and replacement level (pWORL). Rather than write more about Gooden here, I decided to give him his own article.

I will, however, take a somewhat closer look at two of the top non-pitchers in all four tables above: Rickey Henderson and Pedro Guerrero.

Rickey Henderson

The 1985 AL MVP Award was given to Don Mattingly on the strength of his major-league leading 145 RBIs, the most in the American League in 35 years.

The player who Mattingly drove in more than any other (56 times) was Rickey Henderson, who scored a major-league leading 146 runs, the most runs scored in the major leagues in 48 years.

MVP voters obviously were more impressed by Mattingly for driving in all those runs. Player won-lost records (and most other sabermetric measures) are more impressed by the guy who got on base and ran the bases well enough to score all of those runs.

The next table breaks down the (context-neutral) performance of Henderson and Mattingly in 1985 to show how Henderson ends up more valuable.

	Decomposition of eWORL
	Wins over Average
	Batting	Baserunning	Fielding	Position	Replacement	eWORL
Rickey Henderson	4.4	2.3	0.3	0.2	1.8	9.1
Don Mattingly	4.7	0.1	0.1	-1.1	1.8	5.7

Pedro Guerrero

Based on Player won-lost records, the best non-pitcher in the National League in 1985 was probably Pedro Guerrero.

Pedro Guerrero was what you might call a hitting savant. He could fall out of bed and rip line drives. At his peak, he was as reliable a guy to give you a .300/.370/.500 line with 30 home runs as anybody in baseball.

The top 10 players in Player batting wins over non-pitcher average for the 1980s are shown in the next table.

	Top 10 Players in Batting Wins over Non-Pitcher Average (1980 - 1989)
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
1	Mike Schmidt	138.0	93.5	40.8
2	Dwight Evans	136.9	105.3	31.6
3	Jack Clark	115.8	82.1	31.0
4	Eddie Murray	144.8	113.7	30.7
5	Dale Murphy	144.6	109.9	30.5
6	Pedro Guerrero	113.9	81.8	29.0
7	George Brett	118.7	91.4	27.3
8	Rickey Henderson	122.9	96.3	26.6
9	Darryl Strawberry	95.1	66.8	25.7
10	Wade Boggs	109.1	84.4	24.7

Unfortunately, he gave about half of that value back with below-average baserunning and fielding.

His teams (the Dodgers and Cardinals) tried him all over the field - he saw most of his time at first base, third base, right field, and left field, but also saw time (somewhat surprisingly) in center field and at second base. He was something of a born DH who had the misfortune to play his entire career in a non-DH league. Even more unfortunate than his fielding record, however, Guerrero has had more than his fair share of misfortune in his life outside of baseball.

But the man could hit well enough that he was one of the best players in baseball for a few years. The last table in this section presents Pedro Guerrero's career Player won-lost record.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Pedro Guerrero Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1978	LAN	22	5	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1
1979	LAN	23	25	1.4	1.5	-0.2	-0.1	1.3	1.6	-0.4	-0.3
1980	LAN	24	75	5.9	5.7	-0.0	0.5	6.4	5.2	1.0	1.6
1981	LAN	25	98	13.8	10.1	3.0	4.3	12.4	11.4	0.2	1.5
1982	LAN	26	150	24.6	18.5	5.1	7.0	24.7	18.4	5.4	7.3
1983	LAN	27	160	22.0	16.9	4.3	6.0	22.2	16.7	4.6	6.3
1984	LAN	28	144	19.0	16.9	1.2	2.9	19.5	16.5	2.2	3.9
1985	LAN	29	137	23.6	14.6	8.3	10.1	22.6	15.6	6.1	7.9
1986	LAN	30	30	1.0	2.0	-1.0	-0.9	1.6	1.4	0.1	0.3
1987	LAN	31	152	19.1	16.7	0.9	2.6	19.4	16.4	1.7	3.3
1988	LAN	32	103	11.1	10.5	-0.0	1.0	11.0	10.6	-0.1	1.0
1989	SLN	33	162	20.3	16.2	1.9	3.6	19.8	16.7	1.0	2.7
1990	SLN	34	136	12.5	14.0	-3.0	-1.9	13.2	13.3	-1.7	-0.5
1991	SLN	35	115	12.8	13.9	-2.3	-1.1	13.0	13.7	-1.8	-0.6
1992	SLN	36	43	2.9	4.1	-1.6	-1.3	2.9	4.2	-1.7	-1.3
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,535	190.1	161.8	16.6	32.9	190.2	161.7	16.9	33.2
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			26	4.2	3.2		1.1	3.9	3.5		0.6
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			1,561	194.3	165.0		34.0	194.1	165.2		33.8

End of an Era

When I first became a baseball fan in the late 1970s, one of the elite franchises in the major leagues was the Kansas City Royals. From 1976 through 1985, the Royals won the AL West 6-1/2 times (they won the AL West in the "second half" of 1981) in 10 seasons, a run which culminated in their only World Championship in 1985.

The next table shows the players who appeared on the first and last Royals teams to make the playoffs. Not surprisingly, at the top of the list is the best player in Kansas City Royals' history, first-ballot Hall-of-Famer George Brett.

Player	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWORL	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWORL
Basic Player Won-Lost Records
Players for 1976 and 1985 Kansas City Royals (sorted by 1976 pWORL)
	1976 Royals						1985 Royals
George Brett	22.3	17.2	7.0	22.1	17.4	6.5	22.2	15.4	8.6	21.2	16.5	7.0
Hal McRae	17.7	13.3	5.9	17.1	13.8	4.9	9.6	6.9	3.7	8.5	8.0	1.7
Dennis Leonard	13.3	12.5	2.4	12.8	13.0	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Frank White	13.6	13.4	2.2	13.0	14.0	1.2	18.6	18.8	1.7	18.5	18.8	1.7
Larry Gura	1.8	1.2	0.8	1.6	1.3	0.6	0.2	0.6	-0.3	0.2	0.5	-0.2
Willie Wilson	0.3	0.4	-0.1	0.3	0.3	-0.0	18.0	18.0	1.3	17.2	18.8	-0.3
John Wathan	0.8	1.1	-0.1	0.9	1.1	-0.0	3.1	3.7	-0.1	3.2	3.6	0.1
Jamie Quirk	2.3	3.3	-0.6	2.4	3.2	-0.4	1.3	1.6	-0.1	1.3	1.6	-0.1

Goodbye to a Couple of Great Ones

Finally, 1985 was the final season for two Hall-of-Famers: Rod Carew and Rollie Fingers. Their career records, as measured via Player won-lost records, are presented in the final table here.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Rod Carew					Rollie Fingers
1967	137	16.3	16.9	-0.2	1.5
1968	127	14.7	14.9	0.5	2.0	1	0.0	0.1	-0.0	-0.0
1969	123	16.6	12.9	4.2	5.7	60	6.7	7.9	-1.0	0.3
1970	51	6.8	6.3	1.0	1.7	45	8.7	8.7	0.5	1.7
1971	146	18.4	17.7	1.1	2.9	48	7.0	7.0	0.3	1.4
1972	142	18.6	16.2	3.1	4.8	65	7.9	5.0	3.1	4.4
1973	149	20.2	18.8	2.0	3.9	62	8.0	5.9	2.1	3.5
1974	153	22.2	19.0	4.2	6.1	76	8.6	5.7	2.9	4.3
1975	143	18.8	16.1	3.1	4.8	76	9.1	5.6	3.4	4.9
1976	156	20.6	15.1	4.5	6.3	70	9.2	8.3	0.8	2.4
1977	155	19.7	13.6	5.3	6.9	78	9.1	7.7	1.3	2.9
1978	152	16.8	14.9	1.1	2.6	67	9.2	6.7	2.7	4.1
1979	110	11.3	11.6	-0.9	0.2	54	5.0	7.8	-2.8	-1.6
1980	144	15.5	14.0	0.8	2.3	66	7.5	6.6	0.8	2.2
1981	93	10.4	10.1	-0.1	1.0	47	7.1	3.7	3.3	4.3
1982	138	14.3	13.1	0.5	1.7	50	7.9	3.9	3.5	4.6
1983	129	11.6	11.2	-0.1	1.0
1984	93	8.7	8.3	-0.0	0.8	33	5.0	2.5	2.3	3.0
1985	127	12.1	11.5	-0.3	0.8	47	4.3	4.5	-0.3	0.6
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,468	293.7	262.1	29.8	57.0	945	120.3	97.7	23.0	43.0

Article last updated: January 24, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1985 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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