1990 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
Home List of Articles

1990 Season

The 1990 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1990 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1990

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	Rickey Henderson	23.9	14.5	8.8	10.5	1	Rickey Henderson	23.9	14.5	8.8	10.5
2	Roger Clemens	16.5	8.7	8.0	9.6	2	Roger Clemens	16.5	8.7	8.0	9.6
3	Barry Bonds	24.9	16.3	7.3	9.1	3	Barry Bonds	24.9	16.3	7.3	9.1
4	Jose Canseco	19.6	12.7	6.6	8.1	4	Jose Canseco	19.6	12.7	6.6	8.1
5	Doug Drabek	16.0	10.5	6.4	7.9	5	Doug Drabek	16.0	10.5	6.4	7.9
6	Ramon J. Martinez	16.0	11.2	5.6	7.2	6	Ramon J. Martinez	16.0	11.2	5.6	7.2
7	Barry Larkin	22.5	18.3	5.0	6.8	7	Barry Larkin	22.5	18.3	5.0	6.8
8	Chuck Finley	15.5	10.8	4.8	6.5	8	Chuck Finley	15.5	10.8	4.8	6.5
9	Dave Stieb	13.9	9.4	4.7	6.2	9	Matt D. Williams	21.2	16.3	4.6	6.3
10	Matt D. Williams	21.2	16.3	4.6	6.3	10	Dave Stieb	13.9	9.4	4.7	6.2

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	Rickey Henderson	23.1	15.2	7.2	9.0	1	Rickey Henderson	23.1	15.2	7.2	9.0
2	Roger Clemens	15.9	9.3	6.8	8.4	2	Roger Clemens	15.9	9.3	6.8	8.4
3	Barry Bonds	24.0	17.1	5.7	7.5	3	Barry Bonds	24.0	17.1	5.7	7.5
4	Ryne Sandberg	23.1	17.6	5.5	7.3	4	Ryne Sandberg	23.1	17.6	5.5	7.3
5	Cecil Fielder	19.5	14.2	4.3	5.9	5	Cecil Fielder	19.5	14.2	4.3	5.9
6	Jose Canseco	18.5	13.8	4.3	5.8	6	Jose Canseco	18.5	13.8	4.3	5.8
7	Lenny Dykstra	22.2	17.2	4.1	5.8	7	Lenny Dykstra	22.2	17.2	4.1	5.8
8	Doug Drabek	14.7	11.8	4.0	5.5	8	Cal Ripken	20.7	18.1	3.9	5.6
9	Alan Trammell	19.8	17.1	3.9	5.6	9	Alan Trammell	19.8	17.1	3.9	5.6
10	Cal Ripken	20.7	18.1	3.9	5.6	10	Greg Maddux	16.4	14.1	3.8	5.5

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1990 at the end of this article.

1990 Postseason

The 1990 postseason was something of a throwback to the 1970s. The four 1990 playoff teams - the Boston Red Sox, Oakland A's, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cincinnati Reds - won a combined 10 pennants and 7 World Championships in the 1970s. The 1990 postseason ended with the Cincinnati Reds winning their first (and, so far, only) World Series since the days of the Big Red Machine.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1990 Postseason: Total

Paul O'Neill	CIN	1.8	0.8	1.0
Billy Hatcher	CIN	1.5	0.6	1.0
Chris Sabo	CIN	1.8	0.9	1.0
Eric Davis	CIN	2.0	1.0	1.0
Barry Larkin	CIN	1.5	0.8	0.8
Randy Myers	CIN	0.8	0.2	0.7
Jose Rijo	CIN	1.7	1.3	0.7
Rick Honeycutt	OAK	0.5	0.1	0.5
Doug Drabek	PIT	1.1	0.7	0.5
Rob Dibble	CIN	0.5	0.1	0.5

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1990 World Series

Chris Sabo	CIN	1.2	0.2	0.9
Eric Davis	CIN	0.9	0.3	0.6
Billy Hatcher	CIN	0.8	0.2	0.6
Jose Rijo	CIN	1.0	0.5	0.5
Barry Larkin	CIN	0.7	0.2	0.4

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1990 Postseason: League Championship Series

Paul O'Neill	CIN	1.1	0.4	0.6
Jose Canseco	OAK	0.8	0.2	0.6
Randy Myers	CIN	0.8	0.2	0.6
Dave Stewart	OAK	1.0	0.5	0.5
Rick Honeycutt	OAK	0.4	0.0	0.4

Best of 1990 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 1990 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	Rickey Henderson	14.8	9.2	5.6	1	Rickey Henderson	15.4	8.6	6.8
2	Cecil Fielder	16.9	11.3	5.6	2	Barry Bonds	16.0	9.6	6.1
3	Barry Bonds	15.4	10.2	4.8	3	Cecil Fielder	17.0	11.2	5.7
4	Fred McGriff	14.6	9.9	4.6	4	Mark McGwire	15.3	9.9	5.4
5	Jose Canseco	13.4	9.3	4.1	5	Eddie Murray	16.6	10.8	5.4
6	Eddie Murray	16.0	11.4	4.1	6	Jose Canseco	14.0	8.7	5.3
7	Jack Clark	10.9	6.6	4.0	7	Fred McGriff	14.3	10.1	4.2
8	Kal Daniels	13.0	8.8	3.9	8	Andy Van Slyke	13.2	8.8	4.0
9	Kevin Mitchell	14.5	10.3	3.7	9	Ellis Burks	15.7	11.9	3.8
10	Mark McGwire	14.4	10.7	3.7	10	Kelly Gruber	14.5	10.8	3.8

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Rickey Henderson	3.0	1.8	1.2	1	Barry Larkin	2.2	0.8	1.4
2	Barry Larkin	2.0	1.1	0.9	2	Tim Raines Sr.	2.4	1.3	1.0
3	Bip Roberts	2.4	1.7	0.7	3	Rickey Henderson	2.9	1.9	1.0
4	Milt Thompson	1.4	0.7	0.6	4	Chris Sabo	1.8	1.0	0.8
5	Ryne Sandberg	1.7	1.0	0.6	5	Brett Butler	2.7	1.9	0.7
6	Andres Galarraga	1.5	0.9	0.6	6	Mookie Wilson	1.5	0.8	0.7
7	Robin Yount	1.6	1.0	0.6	7	Andres Galarraga	1.5	0.9	0.6
8	Lance Johnson	2.0	1.5	0.6	8	Ryne Sandberg	1.7	1.0	0.6
9	Kelly Gruber	1.3	0.7	0.6	9	Robin Yount	1.6	1.0	0.6
10	Mookie Wilson	1.4	0.9	0.5	10	Alex Cole	1.4	0.8	0.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Roger Clemens	15.0	9.7	5.3	1	Roger Clemens	16.2	8.4	7.8
2	Dennis Eckersley	5.5	2.8	2.8	2	Ramon J. Martinez	14.7	9.5	5.2
3	Greg Maddux	14.8	12.1	2.7	3	Chuck Finley	15.2	10.1	5.1
4	Ed Whitson	12.9	10.2	2.6	4	Doug Drabek	13.9	8.9	4.9
5	Nolan Ryan	12.3	9.7	2.6	5	Lee Smith	8.7	4.2	4.5
6	Erik Hanson	14.5	11.9	2.6	6	Dave Stieb	13.4	9.1	4.3
7	Doug Drabek	12.6	10.2	2.4	7	Dennis Eckersley	6.2	2.0	4.2
8	Frank Viola	14.8	12.5	2.3	8	Rick Aguilera	7.4	3.4	4.0
9	Ramon J. Martinez	13.2	11.0	2.2	9	Bobby Witt	15.1	11.3	3.9
10	Rob Dibble	6.7	4.5	2.2	10	Erik Hanson	15.1	11.3	3.7

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Mark Langston	0.5	0.2	0.3	1	Storm Davis	0.4	0.1	0.3
2	Allan Anderson	0.3	0.1	0.2	2	Dave Stieb	0.5	0.3	0.3
3	David Wells	0.3	0.1	0.2	3	Cecilio Guante	0.3	0.1	0.3
4	Les Lancaster	0.3	0.1	0.2	4	Norm Charlton	0.4	0.1	0.2
5	Jack Armstrong	0.3	0.1	0.2	5	Jack Armstrong	0.3	0.1	0.2


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Lance Parrish	2.3	1.6	0.8	1	Lance Parrish	2.4	1.5	0.8
2	Tom Pagnozzi	1.5	0.8	0.7	2	Joe Oliver	1.8	1.4	0.4
3	Geno Petralli	1.6	1.3	0.3	3	Greg Myers	1.0	0.6	0.4
4	Craig Biggio	2.0	1.7	0.3	4	Tom Pagnozzi	1.3	1.0	0.3
5	Mike LaValliere	1.4	1.2	0.3	5	Tom Lampkin	0.5	0.2	0.3


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Mark McGwire	2.9	2.0	0.8	1	Andres Galarraga	3.3	2.1	1.2
2	Andres Galarraga	3.0	2.4	0.6	2	Will Clark	3.2	2.5	0.7
3	Will Clark	3.0	2.6	0.4	3	Mark McGwire	2.8	2.1	0.7
4	Eddie Murray	2.6	2.3	0.4	4	Brook Jacoby	1.3	0.9	0.4
5	Ricky Jordan	1.8	1.4	0.3	5	Wally Joyner	1.7	1.4	0.4


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Jose Lind	6.0	5.4	0.7	1	Mike Gallego	3.9	2.3	1.6
2	Lou Whitaker	4.2	3.6	0.6	2	Jose Lind	6.5	4.9	1.5
3	Mike Gallego	3.4	2.8	0.6	3	Jody Reed	5.2	4.0	1.2
4	Al Newman	2.3	1.8	0.5	4	Robby Thompson	6.0	5.0	1.1
5	Jose Oquendo	4.9	4.4	0.5	5	Willie Randolph	3.9	3.1	0.9


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Gary Gaetti	5.0	4.3	0.6	1	Jeff King	3.9	3.0	0.9
2	Jeff King	3.7	3.1	0.6	2	Gary Gaetti	5.0	4.3	0.8
3	Chris Sabo	4.6	4.1	0.5	3	Charlie Hayes	5.1	4.3	0.7
4	Robin Ventura	4.7	4.2	0.5	4	Tim Wallach	5.0	4.3	0.7
5	Tim Wallach	4.8	4.4	0.4	5	Matt D. Williams	4.7	4.0	0.7


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ozzie Smith	5.3	4.3	1.1	1	Barry Larkin	6.9	5.6	1.3
2	Ozzie Guillen	6.8	6.1	0.7	2	Ozzie Guillen	7.1	5.8	1.3
3	Walt Weiss	4.8	4.2	0.6	3	Kevin Elster	3.9	3.0	0.9
4	Felix Fermin	5.9	5.3	0.5	4	Walt Weiss	4.9	4.1	0.8
5	Greg Gagne	4.9	4.4	0.5	5	Spike Owen	5.5	4.7	0.8


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Barry Bonds	6.3	5.6	0.8	1	Barry Bonds	6.8	5.1	1.7
2	Mike Felder	1.9	1.2	0.8	2	Rickey Henderson	5.6	4.0	1.6
3	Bip Roberts	2.9	2.3	0.6	3	Oscar Azocar	2.1	1.3	0.8
4	Rickey Henderson	5.1	4.5	0.6	4	Rex Hudler	1.2	0.4	0.8
5	Kevin McReynolds	5.8	5.2	0.5	5	Eric Davis	3.0	2.3	0.7


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Lenny Dykstra	6.8	5.4	1.4	1	Dave Henderson	4.9	2.9	1.9
2	Dave Henderson	4.4	3.3	1.1	2	Lenny Dykstra	6.9	5.4	1.5
3	Mitch Webster	4.0	3.2	0.8	3	Stan Javier	3.0	1.8	1.2
4	Willie McGee	6.4	5.7	0.7	4	Brett Butler	6.7	5.7	1.0
5	Stan Javier	2.7	2.1	0.6	5	Eric Davis	2.5	1.9	0.6


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tony Gwynn Sr.	5.9	4.8	1.1	1	Jose Canseco	4.5	3.2	1.3
2	Larry Walker	5.1	4.2	0.9	2	Jesse Barfield	6.8	5.7	1.1
3	Chet Lemon	4.0	3.1	0.8	3	Chet Lemon	4.1	3.0	1.0
4	Felix Jose	3.5	2.7	0.8	4	Felix Jose	3.6	2.6	1.0
5	Sammy Sosa	6.8	6.1	0.8	5	Larry Walker	5.1	4.2	0.8

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1990 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	12.2	10.0	2.7	1	Carlton Fisk	12.7	9.5	3.7
2	Lance Parrish	13.4	11.9	2.2	2	Lance Parrish	13.9	11.5	3.0
3	Mickey Tettleton	8.2	6.9	1.7	3	Mike Scioscia	13.0	10.8	2.3
4	B.J. Surhoff	12.2	11.5	1.2	4	Mike R. Fitzgerald	9.5	7.5	2.2
5	Mike R. Fitzgerald	9.0	8.0	1.2	5	Ron Karkovice	5.7	3.9	2.0


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Cecil Fielder	18.0	12.8	4.1	1	Mark McGwire	18.7	13.0	4.5
2	Fred McGriff	17.4	12.8	3.5	2	Cecil Fielder	18.1	12.7	4.4
3	Eddie Murray	19.7	15.0	2.9	3	Eddie Murray	20.2	14.6	3.9
4	Jack Clark	13.3	9.4	2.8	4	Fred McGriff	17.1	13.1	2.9
5	Randy Milligan	12.3	9.1	2.5	5	Randy Milligan	12.2	9.2	2.3


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ryne Sandberg	22.8	17.8	4.9	1	Ryne Sandberg	22.1	18.5	3.5
2	Julio Franco	20.4	18.4	2.6	2	Julio Franco	20.5	18.4	2.6
3	Bill D. Doran	14.1	11.6	2.5	3	Jody Reed	14.8	13.1	2.1
4	Gregg Jefferies	16.1	14.5	1.6	4	Mariano Duncan	14.1	12.1	2.0
5	Lou Whitaker	15.3	14.2	1.6	5	Gregg Jefferies	16.2	14.4	1.8


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Kelly Gruber	19.7	16.1	3.8	1	Matt D. Williams	21.1	16.3	4.6
2	Chris Sabo	18.4	15.2	2.9	2	Tim Wallach	22.5	17.8	4.4
3	Matt D. Williams	20.2	17.3	2.6	3	Kelly Gruber	19.9	15.9	4.2
4	Edgar Martinez	16.6	15.0	1.8	4	Chris Sabo	18.2	15.4	2.6
5	Tim Wallach	21.2	19.1	1.8	5	Gary Sheffield	16.2	14.5	1.9


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Cal Ripken	20.6	18.2	3.7	1	Barry Larkin	22.3	18.2	4.9
2	Alan Trammell	19.3	16.9	3.7	2	Alan Trammell	19.5	16.7	4.0
3	Barry Larkin	21.1	19.5	2.5	3	Walt Weiss	15.2	12.4	3.6
4	Tony Fernandez	21.6	21.0	2.1	4	Cal Ripken	20.4	18.4	3.3
5	Howard Johnson	8.9	7.9	1.3	5	Ozzie Guillen	17.8	17.0	1.9


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rickey Henderson	21.4	14.3	6.4	1	Rickey Henderson	22.5	14.3	8.7
2	Barry Bonds	23.8	17.1	5.3	2	Barry Bonds	24.7	17.1	7.4
3	Kevin Mitchell	21.7	18.0	2.4	3	Eric Davis	9.4	7.0	2.6
4	Kal Daniels	18.2	14.8	2.3	4	Kevin Mitchell	21.4	18.0	1.9
5	Kevin McReynolds	20.2	17.2	1.6	5	Kevin McReynolds	20.1	17.2	1.4


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Lenny Dykstra	22.0	17.4	3.6	1	Dave Henderson	15.8	11.3	4.1
2	Dave Henderson	15.1	12.0	2.7	2	Andy Van Slyke	19.1	14.4	3.9
3	Andy Van Slyke	18.2	15.2	2.1	3	Lenny Dykstra	21.6	17.8	2.7
4	Ron Gant	15.4	12.7	2.1	4	Ellis Burks	20.4	17.2	2.7
5	Ken Griffey Jr.	19.9	18.1	1.4	5	Willie McGee	21.7	18.2	2.6


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jose Canseco	14.6	10.5	3.9	1	Jose Canseco	16.1	9.0	6.9
2	Jesse Barfield	19.3	15.8	3.1	2	Jesse Barfield	19.9	15.3	4.1
3	Darryl Strawberry	20.6	16.8	2.7	3	Darryl Strawberry	21.0	16.4	3.7
4	David Justice	9.3	6.7	2.2	4	Paul O'Neill	18.4	15.6	2.0
5	Larry Walker	15.1	12.8	1.6	5	Von Hayes	11.5	9.3	1.6


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Roger Clemens	15.3	10.0	5.5	1	Roger Clemens	16.5	8.7	8.0
2	Greg Maddux	15.5	12.6	3.0	2	Ramon J. Martinez	15.1	9.9	5.4
3	Ed Whitson	13.3	10.5	2.9	3	Doug Drabek	14.2	9.2	5.2
4	Nolan Ryan	12.5	10.0	2.6	4	Chuck Finley	15.5	10.8	4.8
5	Erik Hanson	14.7	12.2	2.6	5	Dave Stieb	13.9	9.4	4.7
6	Frank Viola	15.2	12.8	2.6	6	Bobby Witt	15.2	11.4	4.0
7	Doug Drabek	12.9	10.5	2.6	7	Bob Welch	15.0	11.2	4.0
8	Ramon J. Martinez	13.6	11.4	2.4	8	Dave Stewart	17.2	13.5	3.9
9	Kevin Tapani	10.6	8.4	2.3	9	Erik Hanson	15.3	11.6	3.8
10	Dave Stewart	16.4	14.3	2.3	10	Dwight Gooden	14.2	10.7	3.6


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dennis Eckersley	5.5	2.8	2.6	1	Lee Smith	8.8	4.2	4.3
2	Randy Myers	7.4	5.1	2.1	2	Dennis Eckersley	6.2	2.1	4.1
3	Rob Dibble	6.8	4.5	2.1	3	Rick Aguilera	7.5	3.5	3.9
4	Bobby Thigpen	8.8	7.1	1.6	4	John Franco	7.0	3.7	3.1
5	Larry Andersen	5.4	3.8	1.5	5	Rob Dibble	7.2	4.1	3.0
6	Jeff Brantley	6.8	5.2	1.5	6	Mike Henneman	7.1	4.0	2.9
7	Doug Jones	7.6	5.9	1.5	7	Jeff Brantley	7.5	4.4	2.9
8	Gregg Olson	6.5	5.0	1.4	8	Randy Myers	7.8	4.8	2.8
9	Barry Jones	6.2	4.7	1.4	9	Barry Jones	6.8	4.1	2.5
10	Lee Smith	7.2	5.7	1.4	10	Tom Henke	6.4	3.9	2.4


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Brian Downing	7.6	6.3	1.2	1	Harold Baines	11.1	8.4	2.6
2	Harold Baines	10.4	9.1	1.2	2	Dwight Evans	12.9	10.6	2.2
3	Alvin Davis	7.1	5.9	1.1	3	Dan Pasqua	5.5	4.2	1.2

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	Fernando Valenzuela	1.6	1.4	1.0	1	Doug Drabek	1.8	1.3	1.2
2	Doug Drabek	1.3	1.7	0.5	2	Fernando Valenzuela	1.6	1.4	0.9
3	Derek Lilliquist	1.0	1.1	0.5	3	Dwight Gooden	1.3	1.4	0.7


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Tommy Gregg	1.9	1.1	0.9	1	Tommy Gregg	1.9	1.0	1.0
2	Carlos Baerga	1.5	0.8	0.8	2	Carlos Baerga	1.6	0.7	1.0
3	Dave C. Anderson	0.9	0.3	0.6	3	Glenn Wilson	1.2	0.6	0.6


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rick Parker	0.2	0.0	0.2	1	Otis Nixon	0.7	0.4	0.3
2	Daryl Boston	0.2	0.0	0.2	2	Jose Gonzalez	0.3	0.1	0.2
3	Darryl Hamilton	0.3	0.1	0.2	3	Stan Jefferson	0.4	0.1	0.2

Noteworthy Players of 1990

Top AL Position Player: Rickey Henderson

The top player in the first four tables of this article - pWOPA, pWORL, eWOPA, and eWORL - was Rickey Henderson. Henderson was rewarded for his outstanding season by being elected American League MVP. The 1990 season was the best of Henderson's career, although, measured by eWins, it was essentially tied with the 1985 season.

Henderson not only led the major leagues in all of eWOPA, eWORL, pWOPA, and pWORL in 1990 - an impressive performance, of course - Henderson also led the major leagues in context-neutral batting wins over non-pitcher average and baserunning wins over non-pitcher average. The next tables shows everybody who has led the major leagues in both of these statistics (eWOPA_b and eWOPA_r) in a single season across all of the seasons for which I have calculated Player won-lost records (1916 - 2019).

	Major-League Leaders in Batting & Baserunning in the same season
		Batting			Baserunning
Player	Season	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA
Hank Aaron	1963	18.5	11.6	6.5	2.2	1.1	1.1
Willie Mays	1964	17.4	10.6	6.4	2.2	1.1	1.0
Rickey Henderson	1990	14.8	9.2	5.6	3.0	1.8	1.2

In some ways, I think that Henderson's outstanding baserunning overshadowed how great a hitter he also was. Henderson'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
Rickey Henderson Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1979	OAK	20	89	12.1	12.2	-0.4	0.7	11.7	12.6	-1.3	-0.1
1980	OAK	21	158	26.6	20.5	4.7	6.9	26.6	20.5	4.8	7.0
1981	OAK	22	108	18.0	13.4	3.9	5.6	17.9	13.6	3.5	5.1
1982	OAK	23	149	22.1	19.0	2.2	4.1	22.8	18.4	3.5	5.4
1983	OAK	24	145	20.7	17.2	2.7	4.4	21.5	16.4	4.4	6.1
1984	OAK	25	142	22.7	17.0	4.7	6.6	22.5	17.2	4.5	6.3
1985	NYA	26	143	23.1	15.8	6.9	8.8	23.3	15.6	7.2	9.1
1986	NYA	27	153	20.9	18.3	2.1	4.0	21.2	18.0	2.7	4.5
1987	NYA	28	95	13.5	10.7	2.4	3.6	13.6	10.7	2.5	3.7
1988	NYA	29	140	22.7	16.6	5.5	7.5	22.1	17.3	4.5	6.4
1989	NYA	30	150	22.7	17.2	4.6	6.4	22.3	17.6	3.9	5.7
1990	OAK	31	136	23.9	14.5	8.8	10.5	23.1	15.2	7.2	9.0
1991	OAK	32	134	19.5	15.1	4.0	5.6	19.3	15.3	3.7	5.3
1992	OAK	33	116	17.9	12.1	5.5	6.9	17.3	12.7	4.2	5.6
1993	OAK	34	134	19.2	16.3	2.3	4.1	20.1	15.4	4.2	6.1
1994	OAK	35	87	11.3	9.0	2.1	3.1	11.3	9.0	2.1	3.2
1995	OAK	36	112	14.9	12.1	2.4	3.8	14.9	12.1	2.3	3.7
1996	SDN	37	148	15.7	13.9	0.7	2.1	15.5	14.2	0.3	1.7
1997	ANA	38	120	11.9	12.1	-0.5	0.7	12.2	11.7	0.1	1.4
1998	OAK	39	152	18.3	18.4	-0.5	1.4	19.1	17.6	1.2	3.0
1999	NYN	40	121	14.7	14.0	-0.0	1.3	15.0	13.7	0.5	1.8
2000	NYN	41	123	14.0	14.3	-1.2	0.2	13.4	14.9	-2.3	-1.0
2001	SDN	42	123	13.5	12.3	0.2	1.5	13.1	12.7	-0.6	0.8
2002	BOS	43	72	6.4	6.1	-0.0	0.6	6.4	6.2	-0.1	0.6
2003	LAN	44	30	1.9	2.0	-0.3	-0.1	2.0	1.9	0.1	0.3
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			3,080	428.4	350.3	62.8	100.4	428.2	350.5	63.1	100.6
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			60	8.1	6.6		1.8	8.3	6.4		2.3
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			3,140	436.4	356.9		102.2	436.4	356.9		102.8

Top AL Pitcher: Roger Clemens

The top pitcher in each of the first four tables of this article showed up in these tables across multiple seasons in his career, Roger Clemens.

The 1990 season was the best season of Roger Clemens career to that point, as measured by pWins over either positional average or replacement level. Overall, it was the second-best season of Clemens's career in pWOPA and pWORL, behind only 1997.

Clemens's career record, as measured by Player won-lost records, is presented next.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Roger Clemens Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1984	BOS	21	21	7.2	5.8	1.5	2.2	7.1	5.8	1.4	2.2
1985	BOS	22	15	5.8	4.6	1.3	2.0	6.0	4.4	1.6	2.3
1986	BOS	23	33	17.2	9.8	7.5	9.2	16.3	10.7	5.7	7.4
1987	BOS	24	36	18.1	11.8	6.7	8.6	17.9	12.0	6.2	8.1
1988	BOS	25	35	17.9	11.8	6.2	8.1	18.3	11.4	7.0	8.8
1989	BOS	26	35	14.7	12.7	2.3	4.1	15.3	12.2	3.4	5.2
1990	BOS	27	31	16.5	8.7	8.0	9.6	15.9	9.3	6.8	8.4
1991	BOS	28	35	16.7	11.2	5.7	7.5	16.7	11.1	5.8	7.5
1992	BOS	29	32	15.5	10.2	5.3	7.1	15.5	10.2	5.5	7.2
1993	BOS	30	29	12.7	12.6	0.2	1.7	13.8	11.5	2.4	3.9
1994	BOS	31	24	10.6	8.0	2.5	3.8	10.8	7.8	2.9	4.2
1995	BOS	32	23	8.8	6.7	2.1	3.2	7.9	7.5	0.4	1.5
1996	BOS	33	34	13.3	11.0	2.6	4.2	14.1	10.2	4.2	5.8
1997	TOR	34	34	18.6	9.7	9.0	10.9	19.0	9.3	9.8	11.7
1998	TOR	35	33	15.7	9.4	6.5	8.2	15.0	10.0	5.2	7.0
1999	NYA	36	30	13.1	12.4	1.0	2.6	13.2	12.3	1.1	2.7
2000	NYA	37	32	13.9	12.0	2.1	3.8	13.7	12.3	1.7	3.4
2001	NYA	38	33	13.9	8.9	5.3	6.8	12.3	10.4	2.2	3.8
2002	NYA	39	29	11.5	9.6	2.1	3.6	11.0	10.1	1.1	2.6
2003	NYA	40	33	13.4	11.0	2.6	4.3	13.0	11.3	1.9	3.5
2004	HOU	41	33	14.7	10.7	5.0	6.5	14.2	11.3	4.1	5.6
2005	HOU	42	32	14.1	9.8	5.1	6.5	14.7	9.2	6.3	7.7
2006	HOU	43	19	7.2	4.9	2.8	3.5	7.1	5.0	2.6	3.3
2007	NYA	44	18	5.9	5.5	0.6	1.3	5.9	5.5	0.6	1.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			709	316.9	228.6	94.0	129.3	314.8	230.7	90.0	125.3
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			35	12.4	11.2		3.2	13.0	10.6		4.4
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			744	329.3	239.8		132.4	327.8	241.3		129.6

Top NL Position Player: Barry Bonds

The best player in the National League in 1990, as measured by either pWins or eWins, over either positional average or replacement level, was a 25-year-old left fielder making his first appearance on one of these tables. It would not be his last. In fact, from 1991 through 2004, Barry Bonds had only two seasons in which he earned fewer eWins over positional average than he did in 1990, the strike-shortened 1994 season and the 1999 season, when injuries limited Bonds to only 102 games.

Barry Bonds's amazing career, as measured by Player won lost records, is presented next.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Barry Bonds Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1986	PIT	21	113	15.7	14.8	0.2	1.6	16.9	13.7	2.5	4.0
1987	PIT	22	150	19.0	16.8	1.1	2.7	19.5	16.3	2.1	3.7
1988	PIT	23	144	22.0	15.6	5.4	7.3	21.2	16.4	3.7	5.6
1989	PIT	24	159	21.1	19.1	0.6	2.5	21.5	18.7	1.3	3.2
1990	PIT	25	151	24.9	16.3	7.3	9.1	24.0	17.1	5.7	7.5
1991	PIT	26	153	24.7	15.6	8.3	10.1	23.4	16.9	5.8	7.6
1992	PIT	27	140	22.3	14.5	7.0	8.7	22.1	14.7	6.7	8.4
1993	SFN	28	159	27.5	15.4	11.1	13.3	26.8	16.1	9.7	11.8
1994	SFN	29	112	18.7	12.8	5.3	6.8	18.9	12.6	5.6	7.2
1995	SFN	30	144	25.0	17.1	6.9	9.0	24.8	17.2	6.5	8.6
1996	SFN	31	158	25.6	17.5	6.8	8.8	26.1	17.0	7.9	9.9
1997	SFN	32	159	25.4	17.1	7.7	9.7	25.0	17.5	6.8	8.8
1998	SFN	33	156	24.7	16.6	7.4	9.5	24.1	17.1	6.2	8.2
1999	SFN	34	102	15.8	10.8	4.4	5.7	15.5	11.1	4.0	5.3
2000	SFN	35	142	24.0	15.1	7.9	9.7	23.3	15.8	6.2	8.1
2001	SFN	36	153	28.3	15.2	12.1	14.4	28.4	15.2	11.6	13.9
2002	SFN	37	143	24.5	12.6	11.1	13.0	24.3	12.8	10.6	12.5
2003	SFN	38	130	21.2	11.4	8.9	10.5	20.9	11.8	8.0	9.6
2004	SFN	39	147	23.7	11.4	11.5	13.3	23.3	11.8	10.4	12.2
2005	SFN	40	14	1.8	1.3	0.4	0.6	1.9	1.2	0.6	0.8
2006	SFN	41	130	15.4	11.7	3.0	4.3	15.4	11.7	3.0	4.3
2007	SFN	42	126	15.3	12.0	2.8	4.0	15.5	11.8	3.1	4.4
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,985	466.8	310.6	137.3	174.8	462.8	314.6	127.9	165.4
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			48	6.4	6.5		0.1	7.2	5.7		1.8
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			3,033	473.2	317.1		174.9	470.0	320.3		167.2

Top NL Pitcher: Doug Drabek

The best pitcher in the National League in 1990 in each of the first four tables of this article was, like his Pirates teammate, making his first appearance on one of these tables. Unlike Bonds, however, this was Drabek's career year, although he had a few more solid seasons. But Drabek's 1990 season was legitimately great.

Doug Drabek's career, 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
Doug Drabek Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1986	NYA	23	27	7.5	6.8	0.8	1.7	7.5	6.9	0.7	1.6
1987	PIT	24	30	10.2	11.5	-0.2	0.9	11.0	10.7	1.3	2.5
1988	PIT	25	33	12.2	12.0	0.9	2.3	11.9	12.3	0.4	1.8
1989	PIT	26	40	15.0	14.6	1.7	3.4	14.2	15.4	0.2	1.9
1990	PIT	27	33	16.0	10.5	6.4	7.9	14.7	11.8	4.0	5.5
1991	PIT	28	36	13.3	14.6	-0.3	1.3	13.3	14.5	-0.1	1.5
1992	PIT	29	35	16.0	13.9	3.2	5.0	16.2	13.7	3.7	5.5
1993	HOU	30	34	13.5	15.7	-1.1	0.5	14.5	14.7	1.0	2.6
1994	HOU	31	24	11.0	8.2	3.5	4.6	11.0	8.2	3.6	4.8
1995	HOU	32	33	10.6	11.2	0.1	1.4	10.7	11.1	0.3	1.6
1996	HOU	33	32	9.9	13.6	-2.9	-1.5	10.4	13.1	-1.8	-0.4
1997	CHA	34	32	11.2	12.8	-1.5	0.1	11.1	12.9	-1.8	-0.2
1998	BAL	35	23	5.8	8.6	-2.8	-1.8	6.1	8.2	-2.1	-1.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			412	152.2	154.0	7.7	26.0	152.6	153.5	9.5	27.7
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			7	2.9	3.1		0.4	3.1	2.9		0.8
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			419	155.1	157.1		26.4	155.8	156.4		28.5

First Basemen Passing in the Night

The 1990 season saw the debut of a first baseman who was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first ballot, Frank Thomas. The 1990 season was also the final season for a first baseman who was elected to Baseball Think Factory's Hall of Merit, Keith Hernandez.

Other than playing the same position and having their careers overlap by one season (although their careers did not actually overlap at all: Hernandez played his final game on July 24th while Thomas made his major-league debut nine days later), it's hard to think of two star major-league players who were more different.

Frank Thomas was 6'5", 275 pounds (according to Google), became a full-time designated hitter by age 30 and probably should have been one several years earlier. For his career, Thomas hit 521 home runs and drove in 1,704 runs, both of which put him in the top 25 all-time.

Keith Hernandez was 5 inches shorter and perhaps as much as 100 pounds lighter than Thomas. He won 11 Gold Gloves - most ever by a first baseman - and is widely regarded as the finest defensive first baseman ever (watch the play at about the 2:10 mark of this video). He hit fewer than one-third as many home runs as Thomas (162) and drove in almost 700 fewer runs.

It's hard to look at the raw stat lines for two players like this and know exactly how to compare them. Player won-lost records, however, make it straightforward. The final table of this article compares the career records of Frank Thomas and Keith Hernandez, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Age	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Frank Thomas						Keith Hernandez
20							14	1.0	0.6	0.617	0.3	0.4
21							64	5.0	4.7	0.515	-0.2	0.2
22	60	6.9	5.0	0.582	1.6	2.1	129	10.6	9.6	0.525	0.0	1.0
23	158	18.4	12.1	0.603	5.4	7.2	161	18.2	14.3	0.560	2.6	4.2
24	160	21.7	15.5	0.584	5.1	6.8	159	15.6	15.4	0.503	-1.3	0.2
25	153	21.3	14.1	0.602	6.1	7.9	161	21.4	14.7	0.592	5.3	7.1
26	113	15.0	9.4	0.616	4.8	6.0	159	17.9	16.0	0.528	0.5	2.1
27	145	15.9	12.6	0.559	2.2	3.9	103	12.5	8.5	0.595	3.4	4.6
28	141	16.4	13.4	0.550	1.9	3.3	160	18.8	14.3	0.568	3.3	4.8
29	146	17.9	12.0	0.598	4.6	6.2	150	14.9	14.1	0.514	-0.3	1.0
30	160	14.7	12.3	0.545	1.3	3.2	154	19.5	13.6	0.589	4.6	6.1
31	135	13.7	11.2	0.550	1.7	3.2	158	19.0	14.1	0.574	3.3	4.9
32	159	17.1	11.8	0.591	4.4	6.3	149	18.6	13.2	0.586	4.2	5.7
33	20	1.1	1.5	0.434	-0.4	-0.2	154	17.3	14.7	0.540	0.4	1.9
34	148	12.1	12.1	0.499	-0.6	1.1	95	11.4	8.5	0.574	2.1	3.1
35	153	17.0	12.2	0.582	4.0	5.9	75	5.5	5.7	0.492	-0.8	-0.3
36	74	7.3	4.6	0.616	2.6	3.4	43	2.1	3.7	0.358	-2.0	-1.7
37	34	2.9	2.0	0.586	0.7	1.1
38	137	14.9	10.2	0.595	4.0	5.7
39	155	13.6	12.0	0.531	0.6	2.3
40	71	6.0	6.3	0.486	-0.6	0.2
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,322	254.1	190.3	0.572	49.5	75.5	2,088	229.1	185.6	0.552	25.6	45.3

Article last updated: December 29, 2019

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1990 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.

Home List of Articles