1986 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1986 Season

The 1986 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1986 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1986

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	Roger Clemens	17.2	9.8	7.5	9.2	1	Roger Clemens	17.2	9.8	7.5	9.2
2	Mike Scott	18.9	12.7	7.2	9.0	2	Mike Scott	18.9	12.7	7.2	9.0
3	Wade Boggs	22.0	15.1	6.5	8.2	3	Wade Boggs	22.0	15.1	6.5	8.2
4	Teddy Higuera	17.7	11.5	6.4	8.2	4	Teddy Higuera	17.7	11.5	6.4	8.2
5	Bob Ojeda	14.7	9.9	5.6	7.0	5	Jesse Barfield	24.9	18.8	5.4	7.4
6	Darryl Strawberry	20.6	14.1	5.5	7.2	6	Darryl Strawberry	20.6	14.1	5.5	7.2
7	Jesse Barfield	24.9	18.8	5.4	7.4	7	Bob Ojeda	14.7	9.9	5.6	7.0
8	Eric Davis	19.3	13.4	5.1	6.6	8	Jim Rice	24.9	19.3	4.8	6.9
9	Gary Carter	17.9	13.3	4.9	6.4	9	Eric Davis	19.3	13.4	5.1	6.6
10	Dwight Evans	21.2	15.7	4.8	6.5	10	Dwight Evans	21.2	15.7	4.8	6.5

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	Mike Scott	18.8	12.8	7.5	9.3	1	Mike Scott	18.8	12.8	7.5	9.3
2	Roger Clemens	16.3	10.7	5.7	7.4	2	Roger Clemens	16.3	10.7	5.7	7.4
3	Eric Davis	19.3	13.4	5.1	6.7	3	Jesse Barfield	24.8	18.9	5.1	7.1
4	Jesse Barfield	24.8	18.9	5.1	7.1	4	Mike Schmidt	21.2	15.3	5.0	6.7
5	Mike Schmidt	21.2	15.3	5.0	6.7	5	Eric Davis	19.3	13.4	5.1	6.7
6	Mike Witt	16.0	11.6	4.5	6.3	6	Fernando Valenzuela	18.1	15.2	4.4	6.3
7	Fernando Valenzuela	18.1	15.2	4.4	6.3	7	Mike Witt	16.0	11.6	4.5	6.3
8	Alan Trammell	20.0	17.2	4.2	5.9	8	Cal Ripken	22.2	19.8	4.0	6.0
9	Cal Ripken	22.2	19.8	4.0	6.0	9	Alan Trammell	20.0	17.2	4.2	5.9
10	Wade Boggs	20.7	16.3	4.0	5.7	10	Teddy Higuera	16.5	12.7	3.9	5.7

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1986 at the end of this article.

1986 Postseason

The 1986 postseason was one of the best postseasons in major-league history. Two of the three series went the full seven games and the third series went six games, including four one-run games with the final two games (both Mets victories) being 12 and 16 innings long. The most famous play of the 1986 postseason was recreated by Kenyan children in one of my favorite videos.

The best players of the 1986 postseason, as measured by Player won-lost records, are shown in the next table.

It is rare, but not completely unprecedented, for a player from the team which loses the World Series to nevertheless show up as having the best postseason according to Player won-lost records. But Mike Scott's team did not even make the World Series. In fact, Scott's team played the fewest postseason games of any of the four postseason teams. But two complete games with 1 run, 8 hits, and 1 walk allowed in 18 innings with 19 strikeouts, while getting only 4 runs in support from your offense, has a lot of value.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1986 Postseason: Total

Mike Scott	HOU	1.9	0.7	1.4
Bruce Hurst	BOS	2.5	1.5	1.4
Bob Ojeda	NYN	1.8	0.8	1.2
Lenny Dykstra	NYN	2.3	1.2	1.1
Dave Henderson	BOS	1.7	1.0	0.9
Darryl Strawberry	NYN	1.9	1.2	0.8
Dwight Evans	BOS	2.2	1.5	0.8
Jesse Orosco	NYN	0.9	0.2	0.7
Marty G. Barrett	BOS	1.8	1.4	0.7
Wade Boggs	BOS	2.0	1.5	0.6

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1986 World Series

Bruce Hurst	BOS	1.7	0.9	0.8
Bob Ojeda	NYN	0.9	0.4	0.5
Dwight Evans	BOS	1.2	0.8	0.4
Mookie Wilson	NYN	0.9	0.6	0.4
Jesse Orosco	NYN	0.4	0.0	0.4

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1986 Postseason: League Championship Series

Mike Scott	HOU	1.9	0.7	1.2
Lenny Dykstra	NYN	1.4	0.5	0.9
Darryl Strawberry	NYN	1.3	0.5	0.8
Dave Henderson	BOS	0.7	0.1	0.6
Bob Ojeda	NYN	0.9	0.4	0.5

Best of 1986 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 1986 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	Mike Schmidt	15.9	10.9	4.6	1	Wade Boggs	16.0	10.1	5.9
2	Jesse Barfield	15.7	11.3	4.4	2	Darryl Strawberry	14.2	9.0	4.8
3	Don Mattingly	16.2	12.1	4.1	3	Mike Schmidt	16.0	10.9	4.7
4	Eric Davis	12.1	8.0	3.8	4	Jesse Barfield	15.8	11.2	4.6
5	Wade Boggs	14.9	11.1	3.8	5	Kirk Gibson	12.6	8.2	4.4
6	Darryl Strawberry	13.7	9.6	3.7	6	Glenn Davis	16.4	11.8	4.2
7	Kevin McReynolds	15.5	11.6	3.4	7	Keith Hernandez	14.4	9.9	4.1
8	Kirk Gibson	12.0	8.7	3.3	8	Eric Davis	12.2	8.0	3.9
9	Glenn Davis	15.9	12.3	3.1	9	Jim Rice	15.9	12.0	3.9
10	Ken Phelps	9.5	6.5	3.0	10	Dwight Evans	13.9	10.0	3.9

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Vince Coleman	3.8	1.9	1.9	1	Vince Coleman	3.7	2.0	1.6
2	Tim Raines Sr.	3.1	1.5	1.6	2	Rickey Henderson	3.0	1.5	1.4
3	Eric Davis	2.6	1.3	1.3	3	Eric Davis	2.7	1.2	1.4
4	Rickey Henderson	2.8	1.6	1.2	4	Tim Raines Sr.	2.9	1.7	1.2
5	Gary Pettis	2.1	1.4	0.8	5	Billy Hatcher	2.1	1.2	0.9
6	Oddibe McDowell	2.1	1.4	0.6	6	Lenny Dykstra	1.7	0.9	0.8
7	Jeffrey Leonard	1.2	0.6	0.6	7	Gary Pettis	2.2	1.4	0.8
8	Paul Molitor	1.1	0.5	0.6	8	Willie Upshaw	1.6	0.8	0.8
9	Billy Hatcher	2.0	1.3	0.6	9	Joe Carter	1.6	0.8	0.8
10	Gary Redus	1.4	0.8	0.6	10	Wally Joyner	1.8	1.1	0.7

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Mike Scott	17.0	11.2	5.8	1	Roger Clemens	16.9	9.2	7.7
2	Roger Clemens	15.3	10.8	4.5	2	Mike Scott	17.4	10.8	6.6
3	Mark Eichhorn	8.7	5.4	3.3	3	Teddy Higuera	17.4	11.3	6.1
4	Mike Witt	15.1	11.8	3.3	4	Bob Ojeda	13.9	8.5	5.5
5	Dave Righetti	9.5	6.6	2.9	5	Ron Darling	14.3	9.7	4.7
6	Teddy Higuera	15.7	13.0	2.7	6	Dwight Gooden	14.7	10.3	4.4
7	Bob Welch	13.1	10.5	2.6	7	Fernando Valenzuela	16.3	12.2	4.1
8	Fernando Valenzuela	15.6	13.0	2.6	8	Dave Righetti	10.1	6.0	4.0
9	Bob Ojeda	12.4	9.9	2.5	9	Jack Morris	16.5	12.7	3.8
10	Tom Henke	7.1	4.8	2.3	10	Dan Plesac	7.9	4.1	3.8

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Fernando Valenzuela	0.9	0.5	0.4	1	Fernando Valenzuela	0.9	0.5	0.4
2	Bryn Smith	0.5	0.3	0.3	2	Roger McDowell	0.5	0.2	0.3
3	Rick Reuschel	0.5	0.3	0.2	3	Dwight Gooden	0.6	0.3	0.3
4	Tom Candiotti	0.4	0.2	0.2	4	Bob Ojeda	0.5	0.2	0.3
5	Mike Mason	0.3	0.1	0.2	5	Rick Reuschel	0.5	0.3	0.3


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Jody Davis	2.9	2.2	0.7	1	Jody Davis	2.9	2.2	0.7
2	Terry Kennedy	2.2	1.7	0.5	2	Bob Boone	1.7	1.1	0.6
3	Rich Gedman	1.7	1.3	0.4	3	Rich Gedman	1.7	1.3	0.5
4	Mark Salas	1.0	0.7	0.3	4	Mike LaValliere	1.6	1.2	0.4
5	Bo Diaz	2.0	1.7	0.3	5	Ozzie Virgil Jr.	2.4	2.0	0.4


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Sid Bream	3.2	2.7	0.6	1	Keith Hernandez	3.2	2.0	1.2
2	Greg Brock	1.8	1.3	0.5	2	Wally Joyner	3.0	2.2	0.8
3	Darrell Evans	1.6	1.2	0.4	3	Darrell Evans	1.7	1.1	0.6
4	Keith Hernandez	2.8	2.4	0.4	4	Don Mattingly	2.7	2.2	0.5
5	Don Mattingly	2.7	2.3	0.4	5	Will Clark	2.0	1.6	0.4


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tom Herr	5.7	5.0	0.7	1	Tom Herr	5.8	4.9	0.9
2	Glenn Hubbard	6.7	6.0	0.7	2	Steve Lombardozzi, Sr.	5.4	4.5	0.9
3	Frank White	5.9	5.2	0.6	3	Robby Thompson	5.7	4.9	0.8
4	Ryne Sandberg	5.9	5.3	0.5	4	Lou Whitaker	5.2	4.4	0.8
5	Tim Hulett	2.3	1.9	0.5	5	Marty G. Barrett	5.6	4.8	0.8


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Terry Pendleton	6.2	4.4	1.8	1	Terry Pendleton	6.2	4.4	1.8
2	Steve Buechele	3.9	3.3	0.6	2	Wade Boggs	4.5	3.3	1.2
3	Mike Schmidt	3.7	3.2	0.6	3	Steve Buechele	4.1	3.0	1.1
4	Tim Wallach	4.4	4.0	0.4	4	Mike Schmidt	3.9	3.0	0.9
5	Doug DeCinces	3.6	3.2	0.4	5	Tim Wallach	4.5	3.9	0.6


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ozzie Guillen	6.7	5.4	1.3	1	Rafael Santana	6.0	4.3	1.7
2	Jose Uribe	6.4	5.5	1.0	2	Ozzie Smith	6.6	5.4	1.2
3	Rafael Santana	5.6	4.7	0.9	3	Tony Fernandez	6.6	5.4	1.1
4	Tony Fernandez	6.4	5.6	0.9	4	Ozzie Guillen	6.5	5.5	1.0
5	Scott Fletcher	5.1	4.3	0.8	5	Garry Templeton	5.6	4.8	0.8


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Gary Redus	3.8	3.2	0.6	1	Jim Rice	8.1	6.3	1.8
2	Candy Maldonado	1.9	1.5	0.5	2	Mookie Wilson	2.1	1.2	0.9
3	Joel Youngblood	0.9	0.5	0.4	3	Brian Downing	5.4	4.6	0.8
4	Brian Downing	5.2	4.8	0.4	4	George Bell	6.7	5.8	0.8
5	Nick Esasky	1.7	1.3	0.4	5	Gary Redus	3.8	3.2	0.6


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Gary Pettis	7.1	5.8	1.3	1	Gary Pettis	7.5	5.5	2.0
2	Brett Butler	5.8	4.6	1.2	2	Lenny Dykstra	5.0	3.5	1.4
3	Barry Bonds	4.8	3.9	0.9	3	Oddibe McDowell	6.2	5.0	1.2
4	John Shelby	2.1	1.4	0.8	4	Brett Butler	5.8	4.6	1.2
5	Eddie Milner	4.3	3.7	0.6	5	Dwayne Murphy	4.0	3.1	0.9


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Jesse Barfield	7.3	6.3	1.0	1	Glenn Wilson	7.8	5.9	1.9
2	Tony Gwynn Sr.	6.9	6.0	0.9	2	Dwight Evans	6.3	4.5	1.8
3	Glenn Wilson	7.3	6.4	0.8	3	Tony Gwynn Sr.	7.2	5.7	1.5
4	Dave Henderson	2.0	1.3	0.6	4	Jesse Barfield	7.5	6.0	1.5
5	Joe Carter	3.5	2.9	0.6	5	Darryl Strawberry	5.1	4.1	1.0

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1986 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	Lance Parrish	10.0	8.0	2.5	1	Gary Carter	16.7	12.3	4.8
2	Gary Carter	15.2	13.8	1.9	2	Lance Parrish	10.2	7.8	2.9
3	Bob Brenly	8.7	7.3	1.6	3	Terry Kennedy	11.9	9.9	2.4
4	Ozzie Virgil Jr.	11.3	10.1	1.5	4	Ozzie Virgil Jr.	11.4	9.9	1.9
5	Tony Pena Sr.	14.8	14.0	1.3	5	Alan Ashby	8.1	7.2	1.1


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Glenn Davis	20.3	16.2	2.7	1	Keith Hernandez	18.6	13.2	4.2
2	Keith Hernandez	17.5	14.3	1.9	2	Wally Joyner	19.5	14.7	3.9
3	Pete M. O'Brien	16.2	13.6	1.8	3	Glenn Davis	20.9	15.6	3.9
4	Don Mattingly	18.7	16.2	1.6	4	Don Mattingly	19.7	15.3	3.5
5	Kent Hrbek	15.6	13.4	1.5	5	Pete M. O'Brien	16.7	13.1	2.9


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Lou Whitaker	18.2	16.7	2.4	1	Lou Whitaker	19.1	15.8	4.2
2	Frank White	20.0	18.9	2.2	2	Marty G. Barrett	20.6	18.0	3.5
3	Steve Sax	21.3	20.0	1.8	3	Wally Backman	12.9	10.9	2.3
4	Willie Randolph	16.1	15.3	1.5	4	Juan Samuel	20.5	18.9	2.2
5	Tony Bernazard	17.9	17.3	1.5	5	Tony Bernazard	18.2	17.0	2.0


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Wade Boggs	20.5	16.5	3.6	1	Wade Boggs	21.9	15.1	6.5
2	Mike Schmidt	16.3	12.2	3.5	2	Mike Schmidt	16.3	12.1	3.5
3	George Brett	15.2	12.2	2.8	3	Buddy Bell	20.4	16.3	3.3
4	Buddy Bell	19.8	16.9	2.0	4	Paul Molitor	12.9	10.2	2.4
5	Ron Cey	8.5	6.3	1.8	5	Ray Knight	15.1	12.0	2.4


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Alan Trammell	19.7	17.3	3.9	1	Dick Schofield Jr.	16.5	13.6	3.9
2	Cal Ripken	21.9	20.1	3.5	2	Cal Ripken	22.0	20.0	3.7
3	Hubie Brooks	12.6	9.8	3.4	3	Alan Trammell	19.4	17.6	3.2
4	Tony Fernandez	20.2	19.4	2.5	4	Hubie Brooks	12.4	10.0	3.0
5	Scott Fletcher	15.6	14.9	2.0	5	Ozzie Smith	18.6	16.7	2.9


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Brian Downing	19.5	16.2	2.7	1	Jim Rice	24.8	20.6	4.8
2	Eric Davis	8.4	5.9	2.1	2	Brian Downing	19.9	16.2	3.4
3	Tim Raines Sr.	21.4	18.1	2.0	3	George Bell	22.1	19.2	2.5
4	Jim Rice	23.4	20.6	1.9	4	Eric Davis	8.5	5.9	2.4
5	Phil P. Bradley	17.5	15.0	1.9	5	Jose Cruz Sr.	16.9	15.0	2.2


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Kevin McReynolds	14.5	11.2	2.7	1	Gary Pettis	20.5	16.7	3.5
2	Rickey Henderson	19.4	16.8	2.3	2	Lenny Dykstra	15.5	11.5	3.4
3	Barry Bonds	16.6	13.7	2.2	3	Fred Lynn	15.3	12.2	2.9
4	Eric Davis	9.4	7.0	2.1	4	Kevin McReynolds	14.5	11.2	2.8
5	Kirby Puckett	21.4	19.1	2.0	5	Dale Murphy	21.1	17.8	2.5


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jesse Barfield	22.5	18.1	3.6	1	Darryl Strawberry	20.5	13.5	6.0
2	Darryl Strawberry	19.1	14.8	3.2	2	Jesse Barfield	23.2	17.3	5.1
3	Dwight Evans	19.8	16.8	2.2	3	Dwight Evans	21.1	15.5	4.9
4	Tony Gwynn Sr.	22.7	19.4	1.9	4	Kirk Gibson	17.4	13.0	3.9
5	Kevin Bass	16.3	13.8	1.4	5	Dave Winfield	20.1	16.9	2.4


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mike Scott	17.4	11.5	6.0	1	Roger Clemens	17.2	9.8	7.5
2	Roger Clemens	15.6	11.4	4.3	2	Mike Scott	17.7	11.1	6.7
3	Mike Witt	15.4	12.1	3.4	3	Teddy Higuera	17.7	11.5	6.4
4	Fernando Valenzuela	16.4	13.4	3.1	4	Bob Ojeda	14.1	8.6	5.6
5	Teddy Higuera	16.0	13.2	3.0	5	Dwight Gooden	15.4	10.7	4.8
6	Bob Welch	13.3	10.8	2.6	6	Ron Darling	14.8	10.2	4.7
7	Bob Ojeda	12.5	10.1	2.5	7	Fernando Valenzuela	17.2	12.7	4.7
8	Dwight Gooden	14.1	11.9	2.3	8	Jack Morris	16.9	13.2	3.9
9	John Candelaria	6.3	4.1	2.2	9	John Candelaria	6.8	3.6	3.2
10	Rick Rhoden	13.2	11.2	2.1	10	Mike Witt	15.3	12.3	3.2


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mark Eichhorn	9.0	5.6	3.3	1	Dave Righetti	10.3	6.3	3.9
2	Dave Righetti	9.7	6.9	2.7	2	Dan Plesac	8.2	4.2	3.9
3	Tom Henke	7.1	4.8	2.2	3	Mark Eichhorn	9.2	5.4	3.7
4	Roger McDowell	8.5	6.5	1.8	4	Tom Henke	7.7	4.2	3.4
5	Mark Clear	4.8	3.3	1.4	5	Jeff Reardon	9.1	6.5	2.5
6	Kent Tekulve	4.8	3.3	1.4	6	Roger McDowell	8.8	6.2	2.4
7	Dan Plesac	6.9	5.5	1.3	7	Mark Clear	5.3	2.8	2.4
8	Dan Quisenberry	4.6	3.4	1.2	8	Todd Worrell	10.2	7.9	2.2
9	Dave S. Smith	6.1	5.0	1.1	9	Steve Bedrosian	8.6	6.3	2.2
10	Lee Smith	8.4	7.2	1.0	10	Gene Garber	5.8	3.6	2.1


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ken Phelps	4.8	2.8	1.8	1	Don Baylor	14.4	11.2	2.6
2	Johnny Grubb	4.0	2.4	1.5	2	Johnny Grubb	4.2	2.2	1.8
3	Larry Parrish	9.1	7.2	1.4	3	Larry Parrish	9.2	7.1	1.7

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	Rick Rhoden	1.8	2.0	0.8	1	Rick Rhoden	1.9	1.9	1.0
2	Orel Hershiser	1.2	1.5	0.5	2	Ray Burris	0.8	0.4	0.6
3	Mike LaCoss	0.9	1.1	0.4	3	Mark Thurmond	0.8	0.3	0.6


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Candy Maldonado	2.5	1.3	1.2	1	Candy Maldonado	2.5	1.3	1.2
2	Harry Spilman	1.7	1.0	0.7	2	Craig Reynolds	1.5	0.7	0.8
3	Randy Bush	1.2	0.6	0.6	3	Bruce Bochy	1.2	0.5	0.7


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Eric Davis	0.6	0.1	0.5	1	Eric Davis	0.6	0.1	0.5
2	Billy Hatcher	0.5	0.1	0.4	2	Billy Hatcher	0.6	0.0	0.5
3	Tony B. Walker	0.6	0.3	0.4	3	Tony B. Walker	0.7	0.3	0.4

Noteworthy Players of 1986

Top Pitchers of 1986

Looking at the above lists, 1986 looks to have been something of a "Year of the Pitcher". There are at least four pitchers in each of the first four tables: the top 10 players as measured by either pWins or eWins over either positional average or replacement level.

The number of quality pitching performances in 1986 was recognized at the time as well. Starting pitcher Roger Clemens won the American League MVP award; relief pitcher Todd Worrell won the NL Rookie-of-the-Year award; and, Mike Scott was named MVP of the NLCS.

Measured by pWins over positional average, four of the top five players in major-league baseball were pitchers: two in each league.

The next table compares the 1986 seasons of these four pitchers, both in and out of context.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Mike Scott	38	18.9	12.7	0.599	7.2	9.0	18.8	12.8	0.595	7.5	9.3
Teddy Higuera	34	17.7	11.5	0.607	6.4	8.2	16.5	12.7	0.565	3.9	5.7
Bob Ojeda	32	14.7	9.9	0.597	5.6	7.0	13.3	11.4	0.537	3.0	4.5
Roger Clemens	33	17.2	9.8	0.637	7.5	9.2	16.3	10.7	0.605	5.7	7.4

The next tables compares the career records of these four pitchers.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Mike Scott	348	129.5	131.0	0.497	7.3	22.3	129.5	131.0	0.497	9.1	24.1
Teddy Higuera	213	85.9	69.0	0.555	17.9	27.7	84.2	70.6	0.544	14.6	24.4
Bob Ojeda	353	108.9	107.7	0.503	6.1	19.3	107.4	109.2	0.496	4.0	17.2
--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------
Sum of Scott, Higuera, and Ojeda		324.3	307.7	0.513	31.3	69.3	321.2	310.8	0.508	27.6	65.7
--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------	--------
Roger Clemens	709	316.9	228.6	0.581	94.0	129.3	314.8	230.7	0.577	90.0	125.3

One of these things is not like the others - or, perhaps more accurately, one of these things is more than the sum of the others.

Top Position Player of 1986: Wade Boggs

The top position player in major-league baseball in 1986, as measured by pWins over either positional average or replacement level, was Boston Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs.

Joe Posnanski wrote a very nice blog post on Wade Boggs as part of an earlier attempt of his to write about his top 100 players of all-time (which unfortunately does not seem to exist any more). In it, Posnanski made the observation that "Boggs probably has a lock on best player to never receive one MVP first-place vote." I would amend that by (a) limiting it to players who played under modern MVP voting rules, and (b) excluding pitchers (5-time Cy Young winner Randy Johnson never received a first-place MVP vote, for example). But with those caveats, it's an interesting and highly defensible position.

On the one hand, by Player won-lost records, I'm not sure that there's a season where I'm absolutely sure that I would have given Wade Boggs a first-place vote for AL MVP. So, it's perhaps a little unfair to be critical that nobody else did. On the other hand, it's easy enough to make a case for Boggs in a few seasons. Here in 1986, if you take the "pitchers have their own awards and therefore shouldn't win the MVP award" position, Boggs is the best choice as measured by pWins over either positional average or replacement level. Shifting to eWins, Boggs is at least in the conversation in 1985, 1987, and 1988.

Wade Boggs's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is shown in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Wade Boggs Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1982	BOS	24	104	10.4	9.1	1.0	1.9	10.3	9.2	0.9	1.7
1983	BOS	25	153	22.2	18.3	3.5	5.3	22.5	18.0	4.1	5.9
1984	BOS	26	157	18.0	17.6	0.5	2.2	18.8	16.8	2.2	3.9
1985	BOS	27	161	22.9	18.7	4.2	6.2	23.4	18.1	5.4	7.4
1986	BOS	28	149	22.0	15.1	6.5	8.2	20.7	16.3	4.0	5.7
1987	BOS	29	147	19.6	14.8	4.5	6.1	20.1	14.3	5.5	7.1
1988	BOS	30	155	20.0	15.7	4.4	6.1	20.2	15.4	4.8	6.6
1989	BOS	31	156	17.9	15.9	2.0	3.6	18.8	15.1	3.6	5.2
1990	BOS	32	155	18.0	17.7	0.5	2.1	17.9	17.7	0.5	2.1
1991	BOS	33	144	19.5	15.6	3.9	5.4	19.2	15.9	3.2	4.8
1992	BOS	34	143	16.3	16.9	-0.9	0.7	16.6	16.6	-0.2	1.4
1993	NYA	35	143	16.4	15.6	0.9	2.5	15.6	16.4	-0.6	1.0
1994	NYA	36	97	14.1	10.1	4.1	5.3	13.6	10.6	3.1	4.3
1995	NYA	37	126	13.7	12.0	1.6	2.9	13.6	12.2	1.3	2.6
1996	NYA	38	132	13.4	13.3	-0.1	1.2	13.1	13.7	-0.9	0.4
1997	NYA	39	104	9.2	8.7	0.5	1.4	9.2	8.7	0.5	1.4
1998	TBA	40	123	10.5	11.3	-1.1	0.1	10.8	11.0	-0.4	0.8
1999	TBA	41	90	7.8	9.4	-1.6	-0.8	8.1	9.0	-0.8	0.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,439	291.6	255.8	34.5	60.5	292.5	254.9	36.1	62.2
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			39	4.4	4.0		0.7	4.2	4.3		0.2
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,478	296.0	259.8		61.2	296.6	259.2		62.4

Infamous Record Setters

Baseball loves and cherishes its records more than any other sport. Arguably the two most well-known baseball records are career hits and career home runs. The holders of these two records have two things in common. First, neither Pete Rose (4,256 hits) nor Barry Bonds (762 home runs) are in the Hall of Fame. Second, their careers overlapped for one season: 1986.

The 1986 season was the final season in Pete Rose's 24-year career and the first season in Barry Bonds's 22-year career. Their careers, as measured by Player won-lost records, are compared in the final table of this article.

Age	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Pete Rose Sr.						Barry Bonds
21							113	15.7	14.8	0.515	0.2	1.6
22	157	18.5	20.4	0.475	-1.1	0.8	150	19.0	16.8	0.531	1.1	2.7
23	136	15.2	15.4	0.497	1.0	2.5	144	22.0	15.6	0.585	5.4	7.3
24	162	21.4	19.2	0.526	2.8	4.8	159	21.1	19.1	0.526	0.6	2.5
25	156	19.5	20.2	0.492	0.4	2.2	151	24.9	16.3	0.605	7.3	9.1
26	148	21.5	18.6	0.536	1.5	3.5	153	24.7	15.6	0.613	8.3	10.1
27	149	21.6	18.6	0.538	1.6	3.6	140	22.3	14.5	0.606	7.0	8.7
28	156	24.3	17.7	0.580	5.1	7.3	159	27.5	15.4	0.642	11.1	13.3
29	159	22.5	18.5	0.549	2.8	4.9	112	18.7	12.8	0.594	5.3	6.8
30	160	22.3	19.5	0.534	1.5	3.5	144	25.0	17.1	0.594	6.9	9.0
31	154	22.7	18.4	0.552	2.8	4.8	158	25.6	17.5	0.594	6.8	8.8
32	160	24.5	19.6	0.555	3.1	5.3	159	25.4	17.1	0.598	7.7	9.7
33	163	22.6	19.6	0.536	1.5	3.4	156	24.7	16.6	0.599	7.4	9.5
34	162	22.8	17.8	0.562	4.4	6.3	102	15.8	10.8	0.593	4.4	5.7
35	162	21.6	17.3	0.555	3.7	5.6	142	24.0	15.1	0.613	7.9	9.7
36	162	17.4	16.8	0.508	-0.2	1.5	153	28.3	15.2	0.651	12.1	14.4
37	159	19.9	17.1	0.537	2.0	3.8	143	24.5	12.6	0.661	11.1	13.0
38	163	16.7	16.4	0.505	-1.3	0.3	130	21.2	11.4	0.651	8.9	10.5
39	162	17.2	15.8	0.522	-0.0	1.5	147	23.7	11.4	0.674	11.5	13.3
40	107	11.3	10.2	0.527	0.4	1.6	14	1.8	1.3	0.583	0.4	0.6
41	162	15.2	16.2	0.485	-2.4	-1.0	130	15.4	11.7	0.569	3.0	4.3
42	151	12.4	13.8	0.473	-2.3	-1.1	126	15.3	12.0	0.562	2.8	4.0
43	121	10.6	11.3	0.483	-1.5	-0.5
44	119	12.2	10.7	0.533	0.3	1.4
45	72	5.5	5.7	0.489	-0.7	-0.2
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	3,562	439.3	394.7	0.527	25.4	65.9	2,985	466.8	310.6	0.600	137.3	174.8

Article last updated: January 19, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1986 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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