1988 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1988 Season

The 1988 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1988 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1988

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	Darryl Strawberry	26.7	16.2	9.1	11.2	1	Darryl Strawberry	26.7	16.2	9.1	11.2
2	Jose Canseco	25.7	16.6	8.1	10.2	2	Jose Canseco	25.7	16.6	8.1	10.2
3	Orel Hershiser	20.1	13.4	7.8	9.7	3	Orel Hershiser	20.1	13.4	7.8	9.7
4	Alan Trammell	20.9	14.9	6.9	8.7	4	Alan Trammell	20.9	14.9	6.9	8.7
5	Eric Davis	20.7	13.7	6.4	8.1	5	Mike Greenwell	26.5	19.4	6.3	8.6
6	Mike Greenwell	26.5	19.4	6.3	8.6	6	Eric Davis	20.7	13.7	6.4	8.1
7	Roger Clemens	17.9	11.8	6.2	8.1	7	Roger Clemens	17.9	11.8	6.2	8.1
8	Frank Viola	17.4	11.6	5.9	7.8	8	Frank Viola	17.4	11.6	5.9	7.8
9	Danny Jackson	18.2	13.4	5.8	7.6	9	Danny Jackson	18.2	13.4	5.8	7.6
10	Will Clark	21.4	14.3	5.7	7.5	10	Will Clark	21.4	14.3	5.7	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	Roger Clemens	18.3	11.4	7.0	8.8	1	Roger Clemens	18.3	11.4	7.0	8.8
2	Darryl Strawberry	25.2	17.7	6.1	8.2	2	Darryl Strawberry	25.2	17.7	6.1	8.2
3	Kevin McReynolds	23.6	17.1	5.4	7.4	3	Mike Greenwell	25.9	20.1	5.2	7.5
4	Jose Canseco	24.3	18.0	5.3	7.4	4	Kevin McReynolds	23.6	17.1	5.4	7.4
5	Mike Greenwell	25.9	20.1	5.2	7.5	5	Jose Canseco	24.3	18.0	5.3	7.4
6	Mark Gubicza	16.1	11.3	4.9	6.6	6	Andy Van Slyke	23.5	17.9	4.8	6.8
7	Wade Boggs	20.2	15.4	4.8	6.6	7	Cal Ripken	21.7	17.9	4.7	6.6
8	Andy Van Slyke	23.5	17.9	4.8	6.8	8	Mark Gubicza	16.1	11.3	4.9	6.6
9	Will Clark	20.9	14.8	4.7	6.5	9	Orel Hershiser	18.3	15.2	4.6	6.6
10	Cal Ripken	21.7	17.9	4.7	6.6	10	Wade Boggs	20.2	15.4	4.8	6.6

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1988 at the end of this article.

1988 Postseason

The 1988 postseason had a chance to produce a repeat of the classic 1986 postseason, but both the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets lost in their respective League Championship Series. The result was a World Series matchup between the 104-win Bash Brothers, in their first of three straight World Series appearances, and the 94-win Los Angeles Dodgers.

It was expected to be an A's rout. But then this happened and the Dodgers went on to win in five games.

The top performers of the 1988 postseason, as measured by Player won-lost records, are shown in the next table.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1988 Postseason: Total

Kirk Gibson	LAN	1.8	0.7	1.2
Mickey Hatcher	LAN	1.7	0.7	1.1
Orel Hershiser	LAN	2.4	1.7	1.1
Steve Sax	LAN	1.8	1.1	0.8
Mike A. Marshall	LAN	1.7	1.0	0.7
Mike Davis	LAN	0.7	0.1	0.6
Ron Hassey	OAK	0.7	0.2	0.5
Gene Nelson	OAK	0.6	0.2	0.5
Dave Henderson	OAK	1.2	0.8	0.5
Dave Stewart	OAK	1.6	1.4	0.5

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1988 World Series

Kirk Gibson	LAN	0.8	0.0	0.8
Orel Hershiser	LAN	1.3	0.5	0.8
Mickey Hatcher	LAN	1.0	0.3	0.6
Mike Davis	LAN	0.7	0.1	0.6
Mike A. Marshall	LAN	0.6	0.2	0.4

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1988 Postseason: League Championship Series

Dave Stewart	OAK	1.1	0.5	0.6
Dennis Eckersley	OAK	0.7	0.1	0.6
Dave Henderson	OAK	0.7	0.2	0.5
Steve Sax	LAN	1.1	0.6	0.5
Carney Lansford	OAK	0.7	0.3	0.4

Best of 1988 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 1988 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	Darryl Strawberry	17.1	10.9	5.8	1	Darryl Strawberry	18.1	9.9	7.8
2	Jose Canseco	16.4	11.0	5.3	2	Mike Greenwell	19.0	12.0	7.0
3	Mike Greenwell	17.9	13.1	4.8	3	Jose Canseco	17.2	10.2	7.0
4	Will Clark	16.7	11.6	4.7	4	Eric Davis	15.3	9.0	6.0
5	Kevin McReynolds	15.5	11.0	4.1	5	Mark McGwire	16.4	10.8	5.7
6	George Brett	15.5	11.5	4.0	6	Will Clark	17.1	11.1	5.6
7	Dave Winfield	14.5	10.5	4.0	7	Dave Winfield	15.0	10.0	4.9
8	Andres Galarraga	16.1	11.8	3.8	8	Alan Trammell	14.5	9.9	4.6
9	Danny Tartabull	14.5	10.7	3.8	9	Rickey Henderson	13.1	8.5	4.5
10	Wade Boggs	14.7	11.0	3.7	10	Kevin McReynolds	15.6	10.9	4.2

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Rickey Henderson	4.3	1.9	2.4	1	Rickey Henderson	4.1	2.0	2.1
2	Carney Lansford	2.1	1.0	1.1	2	Kirk Gibson	2.4	0.9	1.5
3	Vince Coleman	3.1	2.0	1.0	3	Barry Larkin	2.3	1.0	1.2
4	Brett Butler	3.1	2.0	1.0	4	Steve Sax	2.7	1.5	1.1
5	Barry Larkin	2.1	1.2	0.9	5	Willie Wilson	1.9	0.8	1.1
6	Rex Hudler	1.5	0.6	0.9	6	Eric Davis	1.7	0.7	1.0
7	Willie Wilson	1.8	0.9	0.9	7	Rex Hudler	1.5	0.6	0.9
8	Paul Molitor	2.4	1.6	0.8	8	Roberto Alomar	1.9	1.0	0.8
9	Gary Pettis	2.0	1.2	0.8	9	Paul Molitor	2.4	1.6	0.8
10	Ozzie Smith	2.2	1.4	0.8	10	Kelly Gruber	1.6	0.8	0.8

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Roger Clemens	17.2	12.1	5.2	1	Orel Hershiser	18.6	11.0	7.6
2	Orel Hershiser	16.7	12.9	3.8	2	Roger Clemens	17.6	11.7	5.9
3	Mark Gubicza	15.2	11.6	3.6	3	Doug Jones	9.4	3.5	5.9
4	Teddy Higuera	13.5	10.0	3.5	4	Frank Viola	17.2	11.5	5.7
5	Doug Jones	8.2	4.7	3.5	5	Greg Maddux	15.2	10.3	4.9
6	Greg Swindell	14.9	11.8	3.1	6	Danny Jackson	16.0	11.3	4.7
7	Frank Viola	15.8	12.9	2.9	7	Mark Gubicza	15.7	11.1	4.7
8	Danny Jackson	15.0	12.3	2.7	8	Teddy Higuera	14.0	9.5	4.5
9	Tim Belcher	9.9	7.3	2.6	9	David Cone	13.0	8.9	4.1
10	Jose Rijo	8.6	6.4	2.2	10	Bruce Hurst	13.1	9.4	3.7

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Atlee Hammaker	0.5	0.1	0.3	1	Bert Blyleven	0.7	0.2	0.4
2	Pascual Perez	0.6	0.2	0.3	2	Pascual Perez	0.6	0.2	0.4
3	Jesse Orosco	0.4	0.1	0.3	3	Kevin Gross	0.6	0.2	0.4
4	Roger McDowell	0.4	0.1	0.2	4	Mike Maddux	0.5	0.2	0.3
5	Frank Tanana	0.4	0.2	0.2	5	Frank Tanana	0.5	0.2	0.3


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tony Pena Sr.	2.8	2.3	0.5	1	Tony Pena Sr.	2.9	2.2	0.8
2	Damon Berryhill	1.8	1.3	0.5	2	Benito Santiago	2.2	1.5	0.7
3	Bob Boone	1.7	1.3	0.4	3	Damon Berryhill	1.9	1.3	0.6
4	Jeff Reed	1.6	1.2	0.4	4	Mike Scioscia	2.3	1.7	0.6
5	Bruce Benedict	1.5	1.2	0.4	5	Jeff Reed	1.6	1.2	0.4


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Greg Brock	2.1	1.4	0.7	1	Sid Bream	2.6	1.7	0.9
2	Sid Bream	2.5	1.8	0.7	2	Mark McGwire	2.3	1.6	0.7
3	Fred McGriff	2.6	2.1	0.5	3	Greg Brock	2.1	1.5	0.6
4	Glenn Davis	2.6	2.2	0.4	4	Pete M. O'Brien	3.1	2.6	0.6
5	Will Clark	2.7	2.3	0.4	5	Don Mattingly	2.4	1.8	0.5


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Bill D. Doran	4.9	3.9	1.0	1	Willie Randolph	4.9	3.4	1.5
2	Willie Randolph	4.6	3.8	0.8	2	Bill D. Doran	5.0	3.8	1.2
3	Jose Lind	6.2	5.4	0.8	3	Jeff Treadway	3.5	2.4	1.1
4	Frank White	5.4	4.8	0.7	4	Mike Gallego	2.7	1.8	0.9
5	Tim Teufel	2.7	2.2	0.5	5	Tim Teufel	2.9	2.0	0.9


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tim Wallach	5.0	3.6	1.4	1	Chris Sabo	5.5	3.9	1.6
2	Chris Sabo	5.3	4.2	1.1	2	Tim Wallach	4.9	3.6	1.3
3	Kelly Gruber	5.4	4.7	0.7	3	Terry Pendleton	3.8	3.0	0.9
4	Rene Gonzales	2.5	1.9	0.6	4	Kelly Gruber	5.4	4.7	0.7
5	Terry Pendleton	3.7	3.1	0.6	5	Carney Lansford	3.6	3.0	0.6


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ozzie Smith	7.1	5.6	1.5	1	Ozzie Smith	7.3	5.4	2.0
2	Ozzie Guillen	7.3	6.5	0.8	2	Walt Weiss	5.9	4.5	1.4
3	Alan Trammell	5.0	4.3	0.7	3	Alan Trammell	5.2	4.1	1.0
4	Scott Fletcher	5.1	4.5	0.6	4	Dick Schofield Jr.	6.3	5.3	1.0
5	Rey Quinones	5.1	4.5	0.6	5	Tony Fernandez	6.7	5.9	0.8


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Dan Gladden	5.8	4.5	1.4	1	Dan Gladden	6.3	3.9	2.4
2	Kevin McReynolds	6.5	5.4	1.1	2	Barry Bonds	6.9	5.0	1.9
3	Vince Coleman	6.1	5.4	0.7	3	Luis Polonia	3.7	2.1	1.5
4	Stan Javier	2.0	1.3	0.7	4	Kevin McReynolds	6.5	5.4	1.1
5	Luis Polonia	3.2	2.6	0.6	5	Stan Javier	2.1	1.2	1.0


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Dave Henderson	5.6	4.3	1.2	1	Dave Henderson	6.1	3.8	2.2
2	Andy Van Slyke	7.0	5.8	1.2	2	Andy Van Slyke	7.5	5.3	2.1
3	Robin Yount	6.6	5.6	0.9	3	Robin Yount	7.2	5.1	2.1
4	Devon White	5.2	4.4	0.8	4	Kirby Puckett	7.5	5.6	1.9
5	Brett Butler	6.2	5.5	0.7	5	Herm Winningham	2.3	0.9	1.4


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Dale Murphy	7.8	6.1	1.7	1	Jose Canseco	7.0	5.0	2.0
2	Jesse Barfield	5.8	4.8	1.0	2	Darryl Strawberry	7.0	5.0	2.0
3	Ruben Sierra	7.1	6.4	0.8	3	Kevin Bass	6.0	5.0	1.0
4	Paul O'Neill	4.1	3.4	0.7	4	Jesse Barfield	5.7	4.8	0.9
5	Cory Snyder	6.9	6.2	0.7	5	Paul O'Neill	4.2	3.3	0.9

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1988 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	7.9	6.2	2.2	1	Ron Hassey	8.6	6.2	2.8
2	Ernie Whitt	10.8	9.9	1.6	2	Ernie Whitt	11.4	9.4	2.7
3	Tony Pena Sr.	14.0	13.2	1.3	3	Mike LaValliere	10.2	8.6	1.9
4	Matt Nokes	9.4	8.9	1.1	4	Terry Steinbach	7.5	6.3	1.7
5	Bob Boone	8.8	8.5	0.9	5	Matt Nokes	9.6	8.8	1.4


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Will Clark	20.8	14.7	4.6	1	Will Clark	21.4	14.1	5.9
2	Fred McGriff	16.3	12.5	3.0	2	Mark McGwire	18.8	13.2	4.8
3	Andres Galarraga	20.2	16.1	2.5	3	Andres Galarraga	20.6	15.7	3.4
4	Glenn Davis	18.8	14.8	2.5	4	Fred McGriff	16.1	12.7	2.6
5	George Brett	15.0	12.1	2.1	5	Don Mattingly	17.1	14.0	2.2


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Lou Whitaker	13.2	11.7	2.0	1	Roberto Alomar	20.1	17.2	3.2
2	Bill D. Doran	16.4	14.7	1.9	2	Bill D. Doran	16.9	14.2	3.0
3	Ryne Sandberg	20.0	18.7	1.7	3	Wally Backman	10.5	8.5	2.2
4	Jose Oquendo	7.7	6.5	1.3	4	Lou Whitaker	13.2	11.6	2.1
5	Jose Lind	18.8	17.8	1.3	5	Jose Oquendo	7.9	6.2	1.8


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Wade Boggs	19.5	15.5	4.1	1	Wade Boggs	19.6	15.5	4.1
2	Bobby Bonilla	22.4	18.3	3.7	2	Paul Molitor	15.4	11.7	3.8
3	Gary Gaetti	15.0	11.9	3.1	3	Gary Gaetti	15.2	11.7	3.6
4	Paul Molitor	14.7	12.4	2.4	4	Bobby Bonilla	22.0	18.8	2.8
5	Kelly Gruber	17.7	16.1	1.6	5	Carney Lansford	16.8	14.5	2.4


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Cal Ripken	21.5	18.1	4.3	1	Alan Trammell	20.4	14.8	6.4
2	Ozzie Smith	21.5	18.3	3.9	2	Ozzie Smith	22.3	17.5	5.3
3	Alan Trammell	19.1	16.1	3.9	3	Barry Larkin	22.7	19.1	4.2
4	Barry Larkin	21.9	19.9	2.6	4	Kevin Elster	14.1	12.1	2.4
5	Tony Fernandez	21.0	20.6	1.6	5	Tony Fernandez	21.4	20.2	2.4


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Kevin McReynolds	23.1	17.2	4.8	1	Mike Greenwell	24.1	18.3	6.3
2	Mike Greenwell	23.1	18.3	4.1	2	Rickey Henderson	22.0	16.9	5.3
3	Rickey Henderson	21.2	16.9	3.7	3	Barry Bonds	21.4	16.2	5.2
4	Barry Bonds	20.5	16.2	3.3	4	Kevin McReynolds	23.1	17.2	4.9
5	Kirk Gibson	21.2	17.0	3.1	5	Kirk Gibson	21.9	17.0	4.6


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Andy Van Slyke	23.4	18.0	4.6	1	Eric Davis	19.8	12.8	6.4
2	Kirby Puckett	23.8	19.4	4.0	2	Andy Van Slyke	23.8	17.5	5.5
3	Dave Henderson	19.1	15.1	3.8	3	Dave Henderson	19.9	14.3	5.3
4	Eric Davis	18.3	14.2	3.4	4	Kirby Puckett	24.3	18.8	5.2
5	Brett Butler	22.5	18.3	3.4	5	Robin Yount	23.4	19.3	3.7


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Darryl Strawberry	24.8	17.9	5.3	1	Darryl Strawberry	26.6	16.0	9.1
2	Jose Canseco	23.1	17.1	4.9	2	Jose Canseco	24.4	15.8	7.7
3	Dave Winfield	20.6	17.3	2.3	3	Dave Winfield	21.2	16.7	3.5
4	Danny Tartabull	19.8	16.5	2.3	4	Chet Lemon	19.4	16.2	2.3
5	Cory Snyder	19.6	17.0	1.7	5	Andre Dawson	22.0	18.3	2.2


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Roger Clemens	17.5	12.2	5.5	1	Orel Hershiser	19.0	11.6	7.6
2	Mark Gubicza	15.5	11.8	3.8	2	Roger Clemens	17.9	11.8	6.2
3	Orel Hershiser	17.1	13.5	3.8	3	Frank Viola	17.4	11.6	5.9
4	Teddy Higuera	13.8	10.2	3.7	4	Danny Jackson	16.6	11.6	5.1
5	Greg Swindell	15.2	12.1	3.2	5	Greg Maddux	15.7	10.8	5.1
6	Frank Viola	16.0	13.1	3.1	6	Mark Gubicza	16.1	11.3	4.9
7	Danny Jackson	15.5	12.7	2.9	7	Teddy Higuera	14.3	9.7	4.7
8	Tim Belcher	9.3	6.8	2.6	8	David Cone	12.7	8.7	4.1
9	Mike Moore	13.6	11.2	2.4	9	Bruce Hurst	13.4	9.7	3.9
10	Scott Bankhead	8.4	6.3	2.2	10	Tim Leary	14.4	10.9	3.6


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Doug Jones	8.5	5.2	3.1	1	Doug Jones	9.6	4.1	5.3
2	John Franco	6.9	4.9	1.9	2	Dennis Eckersley	6.8	3.5	3.2
3	Mark W. Davis	8.5	6.5	1.9	3	Mark W. Davis	9.1	5.9	3.0
4	Dennis Eckersley	6.1	4.2	1.8	4	Bryan Harvey	6.6	3.6	2.8
5	Jay Howell	5.2	3.5	1.6	5	Steve Bedrosian	7.3	4.4	2.8
6	Dan Plesac	5.0	3.5	1.4	6	Jay Howell	5.8	3.0	2.7
7	Alejandro Pena	5.8	4.4	1.3	7	John Franco	7.2	4.5	2.5
8	Mike R. Jackson	6.0	4.9	1.0	8	Duane Ward	7.3	4.9	2.3
9	Greg Minton	4.1	3.0	1.0	9	Mike Henneman	7.4	5.1	2.2
10	Bryan Harvey	5.6	4.5	1.0	10	Alejandro Pena	6.3	4.0	2.2


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Eddie Murray	6.6	4.3	2.1	1	Rance Mulliniks	8.7	5.6	2.8
2	Rance Mulliniks	8.3	6.0	2.0	2	Jack Clark	10.7	7.9	2.4
3	Brian Downing	12.8	10.4	1.9	3	Brian Downing	12.9	10.3	2.1

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	David Palmer	1.1	1.0	0.6	1	Danny Jackson	1.5	1.7	0.7
2	Dennis Rasmussen	1.2	1.5	0.5	2	Scott Terry	1.0	0.8	0.6
3	Sid Fernandez	1.2	1.4	0.5	3	Greg Maddux	1.4	1.7	0.6


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Wallace Johnson	2.4	1.8	0.9	1	Larry Sheets	1.4	0.3	1.2
2	Larry Sheets	1.1	0.6	0.6	2	Ernest Riles	1.1	0.4	0.7
3	John Kruk	0.9	0.4	0.6	3	John Kruk	1.0	0.3	0.7


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mark Davidson	0.4	0.1	0.3	1	Mark Davidson	0.4	0.2	0.3
2	Daryl Boston	0.3	0.0	0.2	2	Daryl Boston	0.2	0.1	0.2
3	Donell Nixon	0.4	0.2	0.2	3	Bob Brower	0.3	0.1	0.2

Noteworthy Players of 1988

Measured by pWins over either positional average or replacement level, the top three players in major-league baseball in 1988 were AL MVP Award winner Jose Canseco, NL Cy Young Award winner Orel Hershiser, and Darryl Strawberry.

I take a closer look at these three players next.

Orel Hershiser

Orel Hershiser closed the 1988 regular season with 59 consecutive scoreless innings, breaking the record for consecutive scoreless innings that had been set by Don Drysdale in "The Year of the Pitcher", 1968.

Orel Hershiser's career record, 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
Orel Hershiser Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1983	LAN	24	8	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.4	0.4	-0.1	-0.0
1984	LAN	25	45	10.8	8.1	3.3	4.4	10.1	8.8	1.9	3.0
1985	LAN	26	37	13.7	10.4	4.0	5.4	13.6	10.5	4.1	5.5
1986	LAN	27	37	15.5	15.3	1.2	2.9	16.0	14.8	2.3	4.0
1987	LAN	28	40	16.5	15.3	2.6	4.3	17.0	14.7	3.7	5.4
1988	LAN	29	36	20.1	13.4	7.8	9.7	18.3	15.2	4.6	6.6
1989	LAN	30	35	14.5	14.3	1.3	3.0	16.0	12.8	4.4	6.1
1990	LAN	31	4	1.4	1.7	-0.2	-0.0	1.5	1.5	0.1	0.3
1991	LAN	32	21	7.0	4.3	3.0	3.6	6.5	4.8	2.1	2.8
1992	LAN	33	35	12.0	12.9	-0.1	1.4	12.3	12.6	0.6	2.2
1993	LAN	34	33	13.6	13.7	1.0	2.5	14.4	12.9	2.5	3.9
1994	LAN	35	21	7.6	9.0	-0.9	0.2	7.2	9.4	-1.7	-0.7
1995	CLE	36	26	9.8	8.3	1.5	2.8	9.8	8.4	1.4	2.7
1996	CLE	37	33	14.0	10.4	3.7	5.3	13.2	11.2	2.2	3.9
1997	CLE	38	32	10.8	10.8	0.2	1.6	10.5	11.1	-0.5	1.0
1998	SFN	39	34	12.6	12.5	0.9	2.5	11.9	13.3	-0.5	1.1
1999	NYN	40	32	11.5	12.6	-0.1	1.3	11.5	12.6	0.1	1.4
2000	LAN	41	10	1.4	3.7	-2.3	-1.9	1.6	3.5	-1.7	-1.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			519	193.3	177.1	27.0	49.2	192.0	178.4	25.6	47.8
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			22	7.5	6.3		2.5	7.7	6.1		2.8
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			541	200.9	183.4		51.7	199.7	184.5		50.6

Orel Hershiser's career numbers end up probably just a tick below Hall-of-Fame caliber, perhaps more inner-circle "Hall of Very Good". The top 10 players most similar to Orel Hershiser in career value, as measured by Player won-lost records, are shown in the next table.

Player	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	Batting	Baserunning	Pitching	Fielding
		Most Similar Players to Orel Hershiser in Value
						Wins over Baseline
Orel Hershiser	519	193.3	177.1	27.0	49.2	-6.1	-0.5	17.0	0.1
Cole Hamels	429	171.7	153.8	29.3	49.4	-7.2	-0.4	17.2	1.0
Mark Buehrle	518	195.0	175.8	23.7	48.0	-2.0	-0.0	17.7	1.2
Rick Reuschel	579	218.2	206.7	24.8	48.8	-11.4	-0.3	18.0	0.6
Tommy Bridges	424	187.5	163.5	29.9	51.9	-8.9	0.1	14.4	1.2
Curt Simmons	609	205.7	198.3	17.2	42.4	-11.0	-0.1	16.1	0.7
Steve Rogers	406	170.0	160.7	20.2	38.7	-10.6	-0.4	19.3	0.3
David Wells	660	206.6	179.7	30.8	56.9	-2.1	-0.3	17.4	0.3
Dwight Gooden	434	183.1	156.3	36.6	56.7	-5.8	-0.3	15.3	0.7
David Cone	451	183.5	154.0	35.5	56.9	-4.1	-0.2	18.4	0.8
Felix Hernandez	419	166.0	146.8	22.9	43.3	-0.3	-0.0	17.0	0.5

No Hall-of-Famers on the list, but three players in Baseball Think Factory's Hall of Merit (Reuschel, Cone, and Stieb).

Jose Canseco

Jose Canseco burst onto the scene in 1986, winning the American League Rookie-of-the-Year award. In 1988, at the age of 23, he became the first player in major-league history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season. He led the American League in home runs, RBI, and slugging percentage and was unanimously elected American League Most Valuable Player.

The future looked unlimited. Instead, he never had another season as good as 1988.

Darryl Strawberry

Darryl Strawberry's career trajectory to that point was similar. He was the first player taken in the 1980 draft. He burst onto the scene in 1983, when he was elected National League Rookie-of-the-Year. By 1986, at age 24, Strawberry was the best player on a World Championship team. And in 1988, Strawberry, like Canseco, had his best season, leading his league in home runs and slugging percentage.

Unfortunately, the rest of Strawberry's career also played out much like Canseco's, and both players ended up being remembered more for the unfulfilled potential than for the genuine greatness they flashed early.

Jose Canseco's and Darryl Strawberry's career records, as measured by Player won-lost records, are compared in the next table.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Jose Canseco					Darryl Strawberry
1983						122	17.1	14.6	1.9	3.4
1984						147	21.2	16.5	3.2	5.0
1985	29	3.2	2.8	0.3	0.5	111	18.2	11.9	5.7	7.1
1986	157	20.5	19.3	0.4	2.3	136	20.6	14.1	5.5	7.2
1987	159	21.9	18.7	2.5	4.4	154	24.2	17.0	5.9	7.8
1988	158	25.7	16.6	8.1	10.2	153	26.7	16.2	9.1	11.2
1989	65	10.5	6.9	3.4	4.2	134	19.2	15.1	3.2	4.8
1990	131	19.6	12.7	6.6	8.1	152	21.1	16.6	3.5	5.2
1991	154	21.4	15.7	4.9	6.7	139	19.0	14.6	3.2	4.8
1992	119	14.6	11.7	2.6	3.9	43	5.4	5.1	0.1	0.6
1993	60	6.7	7.4	-0.9	-0.2	32	3.3	3.5	-0.4	-0.0
1994	111	11.9	8.8	2.5	4.0	29	3.1	2.3	0.6	0.9
1995	102	10.4	7.2	2.5	3.8	32	3.4	2.0	1.2	1.5
1996	96	8.4	8.7	-0.9	0.2	63	6.4	5.5	0.5	1.2
1997	107	10.0	11.3	-1.8	-0.6	11	0.3	0.9	-0.6	-0.5
1998	151	17.7	14.3	2.6	4.5	101	9.5	6.1	3.0	4.1
1999	113	9.7	9.6	-0.6	0.7	24	1.3	1.1	0.2	0.4
2000	98	7.6	7.3	-0.0	1.0
2001	76	5.9	6.1	-0.4	0.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	1,886	225.6	185.1	31.7	54.1	1,583	219.9	163.2	46.0	64.2

Notable Debuts

The 1988 season saw the major-league debut of four players who have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame: two second basemen and two pitchers.

The next table compares the career records of Roberto Alomar and Craig Biggio, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Roberto Alomar					Craig Biggio
1988	143	20.1	17.2	3.2	5.0	50	2.8	3.3	-0.4	-0.1
1989	158	21.8	20.0	1.6	3.5	134	13.7	12.1	2.3	3.5
1990	147	19.2	19.2	0.0	1.7	150	16.6	16.7	-0.2	1.3
1991	161	23.4	21.3	2.2	4.2	149	14.3	14.2	0.9	2.2
1992	152	23.0	17.7	5.6	7.4	162	21.4	20.5	0.8	2.7
1993	153	23.3	17.6	6.3	8.3	155	21.3	19.0	2.5	4.5
1994	107	12.8	12.9	0.3	1.6	114	17.0	12.8	4.3	5.8
1995	130	15.2	16.4	-0.5	1.1	141	22.4	17.0	5.7	7.7
1996	153	21.6	16.3	6.2	8.0	162	22.4	19.6	3.5	5.5
1997	110	15.3	13.1	2.8	4.1	162	23.9	18.6	5.7	7.7
1998	147	17.4	19.2	-1.2	0.7	160	25.1	18.0	7.2	9.4
1999	159	22.7	16.4	6.7	8.6	160	22.8	20.7	2.1	4.2
2000	155	19.3	18.1	1.9	3.7	101	11.3	11.8	-0.2	0.8
2001	157	21.5	16.5	5.5	7.5	155	21.0	16.6	4.4	6.4
2002	149	16.6	18.3	-1.2	0.6	145	17.1	17.4	0.1	1.9
2003	140	14.8	17.4	-2.3	-0.7	153	18.3	17.9	0.1	1.9
2004	56	4.3	5.7	-1.3	-0.7	156	17.8	19.2	-2.4	-0.6
2005						155	20.3	17.5	2.7	4.3
2006						145	15.4	16.8	-1.1	0.4
2007						141	12.8	16.1	-3.4	-2.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,377	312.3	283.2	35.9	64.7	2,850	357.7	325.7	34.5	67.4

The next table compares the career records of Randy Johnson and John Smoltz.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Randy Johnson					John Smoltz
1988	4	1.7	1.3	0.5	0.7	12	4.4	6.4	-1.8	-1.2
1989	29	9.2	10.3	-0.8	0.4	33	14.3	12.7	2.5	4.1
1990	33	13.9	12.5	1.5	3.2	38	14.6	15.6	0.1	1.9
1991	33	14.0	13.4	0.8	2.5	38	14.5	13.5	1.9	3.6
1992	31	14.3	15.6	-1.3	0.7	36	17.0	16.1	1.8	3.9
1993	36	17.0	11.3	5.7	7.5	35	15.3	14.6	1.6	3.3
1994	23	11.2	8.4	2.8	4.2	21	8.9	9.6	-0.3	0.9
1995	30	16.4	7.4	9.1	10.7	29	11.7	10.8	1.5	3.0
1996	14	3.9	2.6	1.4	1.9	35	18.1	11.8	7.3	9.1
1997	30	16.1	8.4	7.8	9.4	36	16.4	14.9	2.5	4.4
1998	34	18.0	14.9	3.6	5.8	26	13.1	7.7	6.1	7.3
1999	35	18.4	13.3	6.5	8.3	29	13.4	10.8	3.3	4.7
2000	35	18.5	13.4	6.2	8.1
2001	35	19.0	12.5	7.8	9.8	36	4.3	2.4	1.9	2.5
2002	35	19.0	10.5	9.6	11.5	75	10.3	4.0	6.0	7.6
2003	18	7.5	7.6	0.4	1.3	62	5.6	2.4	3.1	3.9
2004	35	15.2	12.6	4.0	5.6	73	7.8	3.5	4.0	5.2
2005	34	13.1	11.0	2.4	4.0	33	13.5	11.8	2.6	4.2
2006	33	11.6	11.4	0.5	2.0	35	15.3	13.6	3.0	4.7
2007	10	3.5	3.5	0.4	0.8	32	12.9	10.9	3.1	4.6
2008	30	11.5	11.5	0.9	2.3	6	2.4	2.0	0.6	0.9
2009	22	6.8	7.5	-0.3	0.7	15	4.9	6.5	-1.4	-0.7
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	619	279.8	221.0	69.5	101.4	735	238.8	201.8	49.7	77.9

Last Hurrahs

Finally, 1988 was the final season for two 300-game winners who have subsequently been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The career records of Steve Carlton and Don Sutton, 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
	Steve Carlton					Don Sutton
1965	15	0.9	0.9	-0.0	0.1
1966	9	3.2	3.2	0.2	0.6	38	14.2	12.0	2.9	4.4
1967	30	13.0	11.0	2.6	4.0	43	13.1	14.4	-0.6	1.0
1968	35	14.2	14.1	0.8	2.3	36	11.9	12.1	0.5	1.8
1969	32	16.1	15.1	1.8	3.7	41	17.7	18.6	0.2	2.4
1970	34	16.0	17.8	-1.0	0.8	40	15.6	17.4	-1.0	0.8
1971	37	18.6	16.1	3.2	5.2	39	17.2	13.1	4.8	6.5
1972	41	25.0	14.9	11.0	13.4	33	17.9	13.5	5.1	7.0
1973	40	18.5	21.6	-2.0	0.3	33	19.9	14.3	6.6	8.4
1974	39	18.1	16.0	2.9	4.7	40	17.5	15.3	3.1	4.8
1975	37	16.2	16.2	1.0	2.8	35	16.1	14.8	2.5	4.2
1976	35	17.0	12.6	5.3	6.9	35	17.5	14.7	3.7	5.4
1977	36	20.3	15.6	5.7	7.8	33	14.6	13.2	2.2	3.9
1978	34	15.5	15.4	0.9	2.6	34	13.5	14.1	0.3	1.8
1979	36	16.8	15.0	2.9	4.7	33	12.3	14.0	-0.8	0.6
1980	38	19.8	13.2	7.8	9.6	32	13.0	10.7	3.2	4.5
1981	24	11.4	8.3	3.7	4.9	23	9.5	8.1	2.2	3.3
1982	38	21.5	15.5	7.5	9.4	34	15.2	14.0	2.1	3.7
1983	37	17.5	16.9	2.0	3.9	31	11.0	11.6	-0.4	0.9
1984	34	12.9	11.9	2.0	3.3	33	11.5	11.6	0.0	1.4
1985	16	4.7	6.9	-1.7	-1.1	34	12.6	11.1	1.7	3.2
1986	32	10.3	13.9	-3.1	-1.7	34	11.8	11.2	0.7	2.2
1987	32	7.6	12.3	-4.7	-3.4	35	10.1	11.3	-1.0	0.3
1988	4	0.5	1.5	-1.0	-0.9	16	4.9	6.3	-1.1	-0.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	745	335.6	305.9	47.7	83.7	785	318.6	297.3	36.8	72.3

Article last updated: January 12, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1988 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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