2008 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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2008 Season

The 2008 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 2008 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 2008

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	Manny Ramirez	24.4	15.2	8.4	10.3	1	Manny Ramirez	24.4	15.2	8.4	10.3
2	Cliff P. Lee	15.7	8.1	7.9	9.5	2	Cliff P. Lee	15.7	8.1	7.9	9.5
3	C.C. Sabathia	17.9	11.1	7.5	9.3	3	C.C. Sabathia	17.9	11.1	7.5	9.3
4	Brandon Webb	19.1	13.5	6.8	8.8	4	Brandon Webb	19.1	13.5	6.8	8.8
5	Tim Lincecum	15.6	10.1	6.4	8.1	5	Carlos Beltran	24.5	17.9	6.2	8.2
6	Lance Berkman	21.6	13.9	6.3	7.9	6	Tim Lincecum	15.6	10.1	6.4	8.1
7	Carlos Beltran	24.5	17.9	6.2	8.2	7	Lance Berkman	21.6	13.9	6.3	7.9
8	Hanley Ramirez	22.6	17.3	6.0	7.8	8	Hanley Ramirez	22.6	17.3	6.0	7.8
9	Albert Pujols	19.2	12.5	5.5	6.9	9	Roy Halladay	16.4	11.5	5.1	7.1
10	Roy Halladay	16.4	11.5	5.1	7.1	10	Albert Pujols	19.2	12.5	5.5	6.9

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	C.C. Sabathia	17.4	11.6	6.5	8.4	1	C.C. Sabathia	17.4	11.6	6.5	8.4
2	Albert Pujols	19.6	12.1	6.3	7.7	2	Brandon Webb	18.5	14.1	6.0	8.0
3	Brandon Webb	18.5	14.1	6.0	8.0	3	Albert Pujols	19.6	12.1	6.3	7.7
4	Hanley Ramirez	22.6	17.3	5.9	7.7	4	Hanley Ramirez	22.6	17.3	5.9	7.7
5	Roy Halladay	16.6	11.3	5.6	7.5	5	Roy Halladay	16.6	11.3	5.6	7.5
6	Cliff P. Lee	14.5	9.2	5.6	7.2	6	Manny Ramirez	22.9	16.7	5.5	7.4
7	Manny Ramirez	22.9	16.7	5.5	7.4	7	Cliff P. Lee	14.5	9.2	5.6	7.2
8	Chase Utley	22.2	17.2	4.9	6.7	8	Chase Utley	22.2	17.2	4.9	6.7
9	Carlos Beltran	23.7	18.6	4.7	6.6	9	Carlos Beltran	23.7	18.6	4.7	6.6
10	Tim Lincecum	14.6	11.1	4.5	6.1	10	Tim Lincecum	14.6	11.1	4.5	6.1

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 2008 at the end of this article.

2008 Postseason

The 2008 postseason featured a number of fascinating team stories.

There were historically inept teams seeking to break through.

There was a team formerly famous for its historic ineptitude trying for its third World Series win in five seasons.

There was an historically great franchise trying to return to glory last seen twenty years earlier.

One team became the first in history to make the playoffs in both the American and National Leagues.

The City of Chicago saw two playoff teams for the first time in over 100 years.

The City of Los Angeles arguably saw two playoff teams for the first time ever.^*

A franchise that had never won more than 70 regular-season games in its history dropped the Devil from its nickname and made the playoffs for the first time ever.

^*The Angels officially changed their name to the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" for the 2005 season. The only time before 2008 when the Angels and Dodgers both made the playoffs in the same season was in 2004.

The 2008 playoffs culminated with a World Series matchup between a Tampa Bay Rays team that won 31 more games than the year before and 27 more games than ever before in its history and a Philadelphia Phillies team looking for only its second World Series winner ever. The Phillies got their World Championship in five games.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	2008 Postseason: Total

Cole Hamels	PHI	2.6	1.0	2.0
B.J. Upton	TBA	3.1	1.9	1.4
Shane Victorino	PHI	2.3	1.2	1.2
Chase Utley	PHI	2.4	1.5	1.0
Jason Bay	BOS	2.2	1.3	1.0
Brad Lidge	PHI	1.3	0.5	1.0
Pat Burrell	PHI	2.2	1.3	1.0
Manny Ramirez	BOS	1.3	0.6	0.8
James Loney	LAN	1.5	0.8	0.7
Ryan Madson	PHI	0.9	0.3	0.7

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	2008 World Series

Jayson Werth	PHI	1.2	0.6	0.6
Cole Hamels	PHI	0.8	0.4	0.4
Eric Bruntlett	PHI	0.4	0.1	0.4
Chase Utley	PHI	0.9	0.6	0.4
James Shields	TBA	0.5	0.2	0.3

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	2008 Postseason: League Championship Series

B.J. Upton	TBA	1.4	0.7	0.7
Matt Garza	TBA	1.1	0.5	0.7
Cole Hamels	PHI	1.1	0.5	0.6
Willy Aybar	TBA	0.8	0.3	0.5
Shane Victorino	PHI	0.9	0.4	0.5

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	2008 Postseason: Division Series

Shane Victorino	PHI	1.1	0.4	0.7
Jon Lester	BOS	0.9	0.2	0.7
Jason Bay	BOS	1.1	0.4	0.7
Cole Hamels	PHI	0.7	0.1	0.6
James Loney	LAN	0.9	0.3	0.6

Best of 2008 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 2008 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	Manny Ramirez	17.7	11.6	5.9	1	Manny Ramirez	18.8	10.5	8.1
2	Albert Pujols	15.1	9.2	5.7	2	Lance Berkman	16.9	11.1	5.4
3	Hanley Ramirez	15.1	10.4	4.4	3	Albert Pujols	14.9	9.4	5.2
4	Mark Teixeira	16.5	12.0	4.2	4	Carlos Beltran	16.6	11.5	4.8
5	Ryan Ludwick	14.5	10.0	4.2	5	Mark Teixeira	16.8	11.7	4.8
6	Carlos Quentin	13.1	9.2	3.9	6	Jason Bay	15.5	10.5	4.8
7	Alex Rodriguez	13.7	9.8	3.8	7	Carlos Quentin	13.5	8.7	4.7
8	Lance Berkman	16.1	11.9	3.8	8	David Wright	16.3	11.4	4.5
9	Matt Holliday	13.6	9.7	3.6	9	Hanley Ramirez	15.1	10.4	4.5
10	Chipper Jones	11.7	7.9	3.5	10	Carlos Pena	14.3	9.8	4.4

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Jimmy Rollins	1.7	0.7	1.0	1	Shane Victorino	2.3	1.3	1.0
2	Jacoby Ellsbury	2.0	1.1	0.8	2	Willy Taveras	1.7	0.8	0.9
3	Ichiro Suzuki	2.2	1.4	0.8	3	Jimmy Rollins	1.7	0.8	0.9
4	Willy Taveras	1.7	0.9	0.8	4	Lance Berkman	1.8	1.0	0.7
5	Nate McLouth	1.6	0.8	0.7	5	Carl Crawford	1.4	0.7	0.7
6	Carlos Beltran	1.5	0.8	0.7	6	Nate McLouth	1.6	0.8	0.7
7	Lance Berkman	1.7	1.1	0.6	7	Matt Holliday	1.5	0.8	0.6
8	Carl Crawford	1.3	0.7	0.6	8	Placido Polanco	1.3	0.6	0.6
9	Ian Kinsler	1.4	0.8	0.6	9	Carlos Beltran	1.5	0.8	0.6
10	Matt Holliday	1.4	0.9	0.5	10	Emmanuel Burriss	1.3	0.7	0.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Cliff P. Lee	13.7	9.4	4.4	1	Cliff P. Lee	15.3	7.8	7.6
2	Brandon Webb	16.2	11.9	4.3	2	C.C. Sabathia	16.4	9.9	6.5
3	C.C. Sabathia	15.3	11.0	4.3	3	Tim Lincecum	14.3	8.6	5.7
4	Roy Halladay	15.5	11.6	4.0	4	Brandon Webb	16.9	11.2	5.7
5	Mariano Rivera	6.6	3.2	3.4	5	Mariano Rivera	7.3	2.5	4.9
6	Tim Lincecum	13.1	9.8	3.3	6	Frankie Rodriguez	9.8	5.1	4.7
7	Ryan Dempster	12.9	9.9	2.9	7	Roy Halladay	15.9	11.2	4.7
8	Derek Lowe	11.3	8.5	2.8	8	Rich Harden	9.2	4.7	4.6
9	Ervin Santana	12.7	10.4	2.3	9	Brad Lidge	7.2	2.8	4.3
10	Jon Lester	12.7	10.4	2.3	10	Johan Santana	14.2	10.0	4.2

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Kenny Rogers	0.7	0.3	0.3	1	Mike Mussina	0.7	0.3	0.5
2	Roy Halladay	0.5	0.2	0.3	2	Brandon Webb	1.0	0.5	0.4
3	Dustin McGowan	0.6	0.3	0.3	3	Kenny Rogers	0.7	0.3	0.4
4	Kyle Lohse	0.4	0.2	0.2	4	Dustin McGowan	0.6	0.3	0.3
5	Brandon Webb	0.9	0.6	0.2	5	Randy Wolf	0.5	0.2	0.3


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Chris Snyder	1.3	0.8	0.5	1	Dioner Navarro	1.5	0.8	0.7
2	Dioner Navarro	1.4	0.9	0.4	2	Jason Kendall	2.3	1.7	0.6
3	Jose Molina	1.2	0.8	0.4	3	Ivan Rodriguez	1.4	1.0	0.4
4	Kurt Suzuki	1.5	1.2	0.3	4	Jose Molina	1.2	0.8	0.4
5	Jason Kendall	2.2	1.9	0.3	5	Kurt Suzuki	1.6	1.2	0.4


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Albert Pujols	3.0	2.3	0.7	1	Lyle Overbay	3.6	2.3	1.3
2	Lyle Overbay	3.3	2.6	0.6	2	Lance Berkman	2.9	1.7	1.2
3	Derrek Lee	2.7	2.1	0.6	3	Albert Pujols	3.1	2.2	1.0
4	Mark Teixeira	3.0	2.5	0.5	4	Mark Teixeira	3.2	2.3	0.9
5	Kevin Youkilis	2.0	1.6	0.5	5	Casey Kotchman	2.5	1.7	0.8


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Chase Utley	5.8	5.0	0.8	1	Howie Kendrick	3.9	2.6	1.3
2	Mark Ellis	3.9	3.4	0.5	2	Chase Utley	6.0	4.8	1.2
3	Asdrubal Cabrera	3.8	3.4	0.4	3	Akinori Iwamura	5.1	4.3	0.7
4	Adam Kennedy	2.7	2.4	0.4	4	Mark Ellis	4.0	3.3	0.7
5	Mark Grudzielanek	3.3	3.0	0.3	5	Mark DeRosa	2.8	2.2	0.6


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Marco Scutaro	1.4	0.9	0.5	1	Juan Uribe	2.6	1.7	0.9
2	Jack Hannahan	3.2	2.7	0.5	2	Joe Crede	3.9	2.9	0.9
3	Troy Glaus	4.2	3.8	0.4	3	Mike Lowell	3.3	2.5	0.8
4	Blake DeWitt	3.3	2.9	0.4	4	Chone Figgins	3.2	2.5	0.7
5	Mike Lowell	3.1	2.7	0.4	5	Pedro Feliz	3.5	2.8	0.7


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Jack Wilson	3.6	2.8	0.8	1	Orlando Cabrera	7.3	5.9	1.4
2	Mike Aviles	3.6	3.0	0.6	2	Jack Wilson	3.7	2.7	1.0
3	Nick Punto	2.6	2.1	0.6	3	J.J. Hardy	6.0	5.0	1.0
4	Marco Scutaro	2.1	1.6	0.5	4	Marco Scutaro	2.3	1.4	0.8
5	Orlando Cabrera	6.9	6.4	0.5	5	Maicer Izturis	2.2	1.4	0.7


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Carl Crawford	4.0	3.1	0.9	1	Garret Anderson	3.8	2.6	1.1
2	Josh Willingham	4.3	3.7	0.7	2	Skip Schumaker	2.7	1.6	1.1
3	Jay Payton	2.1	1.5	0.6	3	Carl Crawford	4.1	3.1	1.0
4	Skip Schumaker	2.5	1.9	0.6	4	Manny Ramirez	4.6	3.8	0.8
5	Delmon Young	6.7	6.1	0.5	5	Darin Erstad	1.3	0.7	0.6


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	B.J. Upton	7.2	5.3	1.9	1	B.J. Upton	7.4	5.1	2.3
2	Carlos Beltran	6.6	5.3	1.2	2	Shane Victorino	6.0	4.4	1.6
3	Adam Jones	5.2	4.4	0.8	3	Cody Ross	4.2	3.3	1.0
4	Aaron Rowand	6.4	5.7	0.7	4	Carlos Beltran	6.4	5.6	0.8
5	Matt Kemp	3.5	2.9	0.6	5	Ichiro Suzuki	3.5	2.7	0.8


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Franklin Gutierrez	4.4	3.3	1.0	1	Franklin Gutierrez	4.8	2.9	1.9
2	Ryan Sweeney	3.2	2.3	0.9	2	Ryan Sweeney	3.5	2.1	1.4
3	Nick Markakis	7.2	6.4	0.8	3	Gabe Gross	3.5	2.1	1.4
4	Randy Winn	6.2	5.5	0.7	4	Geoff Jenkins	3.0	2.0	1.0
5	Jayson Werth	3.4	2.7	0.7	5	Endy Chavez	2.4	1.5	0.9

Best by Position

Next, we look at 2008 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	Joe Mauer	15.1	12.2	3.7	1	Joe Mauer	15.9	11.3	5.4
2	Russ Martin	15.8	13.8	2.6	2	Russ Martin	16.2	13.4	3.4
3	Brian McCann	15.0	13.2	2.4	3	Mike Napoli	8.0	5.4	3.0
4	Mike Napoli	7.7	5.7	2.4	4	Chris Snyder	10.4	8.1	2.7
5	Chris Iannetta	9.2	7.6	2.0	5	Geovany Soto	13.2	11.8	1.9


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Albert Pujols	18.9	12.2	5.4	1	Lance Berkman	21.1	13.4	6.3
2	Lance Berkman	19.8	14.7	3.7	2	Albert Pujols	18.8	12.3	5.2
3	Mark Teixeira	19.9	15.0	3.6	3	Mark Teixeira	20.4	14.5	4.6
4	Carlos Pena	16.2	12.6	2.7	4	Carlos Pena	16.8	12.0	4.0
5	Ryan Howard	19.3	15.5	2.3	5	Ryan Howard	19.6	15.2	2.9


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Chase Utley	21.9	17.3	4.5	1	Chase Utley	21.4	17.8	3.6
2	Dan Uggla	18.5	15.9	2.6	2	Akinori Iwamura	19.1	16.6	2.9
3	Dustin Pedroia	20.4	18.6	2.2	3	Howie Kendrick	11.8	9.3	2.7
4	Ian Kinsler	16.6	14.8	2.1	4	Mark DeRosa	10.0	7.4	2.5
5	Mike Fontenot	7.2	5.5	1.7	5	Dan Uggla	18.3	16.1	2.3


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Chipper Jones	15.3	11.5	3.4	1	Aramis Ramirez	20.1	15.2	4.3
2	Alex Rodriguez	18.1	14.7	3.2	2	David Wright	21.8	17.0	4.2
3	David Wright	21.2	17.6	2.9	3	Evan Longoria	16.6	12.8	3.7
4	Aramis Ramirez	19.2	16.1	2.5	4	Troy Glaus	18.3	14.8	3.0
5	Evan Longoria	15.8	13.6	2.0	5	Chipper Jones	14.9	11.9	2.6


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Hanley Ramirez	22.1	17.6	5.2	1	Hanley Ramirez	22.5	17.2	6.0
2	Jose B. Reyes	21.5	19.7	2.7	2	Orlando Cabrera	21.7	19.7	3.1
3	Mike Aviles	12.4	11.1	2.0	3	J.J. Hardy	19.2	16.8	3.0
4	J.J. Hardy	18.7	17.3	2.0	4	Jimmy Rollins	18.1	16.2	2.5
5	Michael Young	18.4	17.6	1.9	5	Jose B. Reyes	21.4	19.8	2.4


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Matt Holliday	21.0	16.0	4.0	1	Manny Ramirez	20.3	14.1	7.0
2	Manny Ramirez	18.8	14.1	4.0	2	Carlos Quentin	18.8	14.6	4.2
3	Carlos Quentin	18.2	14.6	3.0	3	Matt Holliday	20.7	16.0	3.5
4	Pat Burrell	19.1	16.5	1.6	4	Ryan J. Braun	21.9	18.4	3.3
5	Ryan J. Braun	21.1	18.4	1.6	5	Jason Bay	21.7	19.1	2.8


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Carlos Beltran	23.3	18.8	4.1	1	Carlos Beltran	24.3	17.8	6.1
2	B.J. Upton	19.6	16.8	2.9	2	B.J. Upton	20.3	16.1	4.2
3	Grady Sizemore	19.6	17.1	2.5	3	Rick Ankiel	13.0	9.7	3.1
4	Nate McLouth	20.7	18.0	2.3	4	Shane Victorino	19.7	16.4	2.9
5	Curtis Granderson	17.4	15.5	1.9	5	Torii Hunter	18.7	16.1	2.6


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Nick Markakis	22.3	18.3	3.3	1	Ryan Sweeney	9.2	6.7	2.3
2	Ryan Ludwick	15.9	12.7	2.4	2	Ryan Ludwick	15.8	12.9	2.1
3	Bobby Abreu	21.0	18.7	1.6	3	Nick Markakis	21.6	19.1	1.8
4	Josh Hamilton	5.6	4.0	1.5	4	Jayson Werth	10.4	8.2	1.7
5	Elijah Dukes	10.5	8.5	1.5	5	Andre Ethier	14.0	11.7	1.6


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Brandon Webb	17.0	12.5	4.8	1	Cliff P. Lee	15.7	8.0	7.9
2	C.C. Sabathia	15.7	11.3	4.6	2	C.C. Sabathia	16.8	10.2	6.9
3	Cliff P. Lee	14.0	9.6	4.5	3	Brandon Webb	17.8	11.7	6.3
4	Roy Halladay	15.9	11.8	4.4	4	Tim Lincecum	14.1	8.5	5.8
5	Tim Lincecum	13.0	9.7	3.4	5	Roy Halladay	16.3	11.4	5.1
6	Ryan Dempster	13.2	10.1	3.2	6	Rich Harden	9.3	4.7	4.7
7	Derek Lowe	11.7	8.8	3.0	7	Johan Santana	14.6	10.3	4.4
8	Dan Haren	13.4	10.9	2.7	8	Ryan Dempster	13.8	9.6	4.4
9	Ervin Santana	12.9	10.6	2.5	9	Jon Lester	13.8	9.8	4.2
10	Jon Lester	12.9	10.6	2.5	10	Joe Saunders	13.2	9.2	4.1


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mariano Rivera	6.8	3.3	3.3	1	Mariano Rivera	7.5	2.6	4.7
2	Kerry Wood	6.3	4.2	1.9	2	Frankie Rodriguez	10.0	5.5	4.3
3	Jonathan Papelbon	5.4	3.4	1.9	3	Brad Lidge	7.3	3.0	4.1
4	Joakim Soria	5.5	3.6	1.8	4	Joakim Soria	6.3	2.9	3.2
5	Brian Fuentes	5.9	4.0	1.7	5	Jonathan Papelbon	6.0	2.8	3.0
6	Scott Downs	4.8	3.1	1.6	6	Jose Valverde	6.8	3.6	3.0
7	Chris Sampson	3.2	1.6	1.5	7	Bobby Jenks	5.3	2.2	3.0
8	Hong-Chih Kuo	3.8	2.2	1.5	8	Joe Nathan	6.3	3.2	2.9
9	Bobby Jenks	4.5	3.0	1.4	9	Brian Wilson	7.4	4.3	2.9
10	Brad Ziegler	4.3	2.8	1.4	10	Brian Fuentes	6.4	3.5	2.8


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Milton Bradley	8.9	6.5	2.1	1	David Ortiz	11.9	8.2	3.3
2	Aubrey Huff	10.2	7.8	1.9	2	Vladimir Guerrero Sr.	5.6	3.1	2.4
3	David Ortiz	10.9	9.2	1.3	3	Jason Kubel	7.8	5.7	1.8

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	Carlos Zambrano	1.6	1.5	1.0	1	Carlos Zambrano	1.9	1.2	1.3
2	Brandon Backe	1.2	1.0	0.7	2	Felix Hernandez	0.6	0.0	0.6
3	Felix Hernandez	0.6	0.0	0.6	3	C.C. Sabathia	1.0	1.0	0.6


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jason Giambi	0.9	0.2	0.8	1	Jason Giambi	1.0	0.1	0.9
2	Greg Norton	2.0	1.4	0.7	2	Kurt Suzuki	0.8	0.1	0.7
3	Kurt Suzuki	0.8	0.2	0.6	3	Gabe Kapler	1.2	0.5	0.7


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Adam Jones	0.3	0.0	0.3	1	Adam Jones	0.3	0.0	0.3
2	Greg Golson	0.2	0.0	0.2	2	Greg Golson	0.2	0.0	0.2
3	Eric Bruntlett	0.3	0.1	0.2	3	Reggie Willits	0.2	0.0	0.2

Noteworthy Players of 2008

Pitching Teammates

Two of the top three players in pWins over both positional average and replacement level in 2008 were pitching teammates for most of the season for the Cleveland Indians for whom they won back-to-back Cy Young awards.

The next table compares the 2008 seasons of C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
C.C. Sabathia	35	17.9	11.1	0.616	7.5	9.3	17.4	11.6	0.599	6.5	8.4
Cliff Lee	31	15.7	8.1	0.660	7.9	9.5	14.5	9.2	0.611	5.6	7.2

The career records of C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee, through 2019, as measured by Player won-lost records, are compared next.

Season	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
	C.C. Sabathia					Cliff P. Lee
2001	33	11.6	10.1	1.8	3.3
2002	33	12.7	12.1	0.9	2.6	2	0.6	0.6	0.0	0.1
2003	31	11.1	10.9	0.4	1.9	9	2.6	3.4	-0.8	-0.4
2004	30	9.9	10.0	0.1	1.4	33	11.8	12.6	-0.6	1.0
2005	31	13.1	11.5	1.8	3.3	32	11.7	10.0	1.9	3.3
2006	28	12.2	10.2	2.3	3.7	33	12.0	12.7	-0.5	1.1
2007	34	15.1	9.9	5.6	7.3	20	5.1	6.5	-1.2	-0.4
2008	35	17.9	11.1	7.5	9.3	31	15.7	8.1	7.9	9.5
2009	34	14.9	9.9	5.2	6.8	34	14.5	13.3	1.8	3.6
2010	34	16.1	10.9	5.4	7.1	28	13.1	9.4	3.8	5.2
2011	33	15.0	10.9	4.3	5.9	35	17.3	12.1	6.2	7.9
2012	28	10.8	8.7	2.5	3.7	33	11.9	11.3	1.7	3.0
2013	32	12.1	13.2	-0.8	0.9	34	14.3	12.5	2.9	4.5
2014	8	2.7	4.3	-1.5	-1.1	13	4.6	4.4	0.5	1.0
2015	29	8.7	10.7	-1.8	-0.6
2016	30	11.3	10.1	1.5	3.0
2017	27	8.9	6.9	2.3	3.4
2018	29	9.0	7.9	1.2	2.4
2019	23	6.0	8.3	-2.2	-1.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	562	218.9	187.5	36.6	63.3	337	134.9	116.6	23.8	39.4

League Switchers

Two of the top three players in pWins over positional average and replacement level in 2008 began the season playing for the two teams who had met in the 2007 ALCS. They both ended the 2008 season losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League playoffs.

C.C. Sabathia was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Milwaukee Brewers on July 7, 2008. For the Brewers, Sabathia posted a traditional won-lost record of 11-2 in 17 starts with a 1.65 ERA and 128 K's in 130.2 IP with (an NL-leading) 7 complete games and (an NL-leading) 3 shutouts.

Manny Ramirez was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 31, 2008. For the Dodgers, Ramirez batted .396/.489/.743 (OPS of 1.232) in 229 PAs with 17 home runs and 53 RBI in 53 games.

The next table compares Sabathia's and Ramirez's 2008 American League and National League seasons.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
C.C. Sabathia
American League	18	7.9	6.3	0.556	1.7	2.7	8.0	6.2	0.562	1.8	2.8
National League	17	10.0	4.8	0.673	5.8	6.7	9.4	5.4	0.634	4.7	5.6
Manny Ramirez
American League	100	14.5	9.6	0.603	4.6	5.8	13.3	10.8	0.550	2.0	3.2
National League	53	9.8	5.7	0.634	3.8	4.5	9.6	5.9	0.622	3.5	4.2

Multiple Ramirezes

Two of the four non-pitchers who showed up in all four rankings shown at the beginning of this article - pWins and eWins over either positional average or replacement level - shared a surname, Ramirez.

The next table compares the 2008 seasons of Manny Ramirez and Hanley Ramirez, both in and out of context.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Manny Ramirez	153	24.4	15.2	0.615	8.4	10.3	22.9	16.7	0.578	5.5	7.4
Hanley Ramirez	153	22.6	17.3	0.566	6.0	7.8	22.6	17.3	0.566	5.9	7.7

The career records of Manny and Hanley Ramirez, from ages 22 through 29, as measured by Player won-lost records, are compared next.

Age	Games	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA	eWORL	Games	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA	eWORL
	Manny Ramirez					Hanley Ramirez
22	91	10.6	8.6	1.6	2.5	158	20.6	19.1	2.0	3.8
23	137	19.3	13.3	5.2	6.8	154	20.6	20.9	-0.1	1.7
24	152	22.1	17.3	3.9	5.7	153	22.6	17.3	6.0	7.8
25	150	19.9	17.8	1.0	2.8	151	19.0	16.7	2.8	4.5
26	150	22.1	17.6	3.5	5.5	142	18.2	17.6	1.2	2.8
27	147	23.6	16.3	6.2	8.2	92	11.5	10.9	0.8	1.9
28	118	17.6	12.1	5.0	6.4	157	19.7	19.0	0.4	2.3
29	142	18.8	14.7	3.4	5.5	86	13.1	8.8	4.5	5.6
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
Total	1,087	153.9	117.7	29.7	43.5	1,093	145.4	130.3	17.5	30.4

Lance Berkman

The best major-league player in pWins over positional average who was neither a pitcher nor a Ramirez was Houston Astros first baseman Lance Berkman.

Berkman retired following the 2013 season, ending an excellent but under-appreciated career.

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

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	pWOPA

Lance Berkman Basic Player Won-Lost Records
						Value Decomposition
1999	HOU	23	34	2.3	2.6	-0.2	-0.4
2000	HOU	24	114	12.8	12.2	1.1	-0.1
2001	HOU	25	156	25.3	18.7	7.8	5.5
2002	HOU	26	158	23.1	17.6	6.9	4.8
2003	HOU	27	153	20.7	16.7	4.4	2.5
2004	HOU	28	160	23.1	16.9	7.1	5.1
2005	HOU	29	132	17.2	13.1	4.3	3.0
2006	HOU	30	152	20.2	13.9	6.6	5.1
2007	HOU	31	153	17.8	14.5	3.6	2.2
2008	HOU	32	159	21.6	13.9	7.9	6.3
2009	HOU	33	136	15.9	13.7	1.7	0.4
+– 2010		34	122	12.2	11.1	1.2	0.0
	HOU		85	10.2	8.4	1.7	0.8
	NYA		37	2.0	2.7	-0.5	-0.8
2011	SLN	35	145	20.0	13.9	6.8	5.2
2012	SLN	36	32	2.1	2.6	-0.4	-0.6
2013	TEX	37	73	6.2	5.8	1.3	0.5
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,879	240.7	187.1	60.2	39.3
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			52	7.3	5.4	2.1	1.5
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			1,931	248.0	192.6	62.3	40.8

The Graduating Class of 2008

Players who played their final major-league game in 2008 were first eligible to appear on a Hall-of-Fame ballot in 2014. I wrote about the 2014 Hall-of-Fame ballot in an article when that ballot was first released (in Fall 2013).

The next table shows the career records of all players who first appeared on a Hall-of-Fame ballot in 2014 (hence, players for whom 2008 was their final season), as measured by Player won-lost records.

Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
Greg Maddux	327.2	271.7	78.2	114.0
Mike Mussina	223.1	174.0	52.1	78.6
Tom Glavine	277.8	249.8	46.0	77.6
Frank E. Thomas	254.1	190.3	49.5	75.5
Jeff Kent	301.3	266.1	36.0	63.4
Moises Alou	258.8	223.3	20.6	44.2
Kenny Rogers	194.8	182.5	14.3	40.5
Luis 'Gonzo' Gonzalez	318.7	290.0	10.9	40.3
Ray Durham	233.8	224.0	15.5	37.8
Todd Jones	84.0	65.0	17.3	32.8
Armando Benitez	66.9	48.9	16.5	28.6
Hideo Nomo	129.2	130.5	6.2	22.6
Eric Gagne	50.2	37.2	13.4	21.1
Mike Timlin	69.7	61.9	6.5	19.9
Richie Sexson	146.7	132.9	1.8	15.4
Jacque Jones	150.9	145.1	0.1	14.6
Paul Lo Duca	103.4	103.8	4.2	14.3
J.T. Snow	155.2	144.0	-4.6	10.1
Sean Casey	132.2	127.7	-9.2	3.5

Three players whose final major-league game was played in 2008 were elected to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas. A fourth player who debuted on the 2014 Hall-of-Fame ballot, Mike Mussina, was subsequently elected to the Hall of Fame in 2019.

This article concludes with a look at the careers of these four Hall-of-Famers as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	pWOPA

Greg Maddux Basic Player Won-Lost Records
						Value Decomposition
1986	CHN	20	6	1.6	2.3	-0.3	-0.5
1987	CHN	21	34	9.9	13.6	-1.6	-2.9
1988	CHN	22	37	17.2	12.5	7.4	5.7
1989	CHN	23	35	15.9	14.0	4.8	3.0
1990	CHN	24	35	15.6	14.9	3.5	1.7
1991	CHN	25	39	15.7	14.0	4.4	2.7
1992	CHN	26	35	17.5	12.3	8.0	6.3
1993	ATL	27	36	17.9	13.5	7.1	5.4
1994	ATL	28	25	14.4	8.0	8.4	7.0
1995	ATL	29	28	16.5	7.4	11.4	10.0
1996	ATL	30	35	16.2	11.7	7.4	5.6
1997	ATL	31	33	14.2	9.2	7.4	6.0
1998	ATL	32	34	17.0	12.0	8.0	6.2
1999	ATL	33	33	15.7	12.9	5.4	3.7
2000	ATL	34	35	17.0	12.2	7.7	6.0
2001	ATL	35	35	16.0	11.7	7.3	5.6
2002	ATL	36	35	13.5	10.1	5.9	4.3
2003	ATL	37	37	13.3	14.0	2.1	0.4
2004	CHN	38	34	14.6	13.1	4.2	2.5
2005	CHN	39	35	12.3	14.8	0.3	-1.2
+– 2006		40	34	13.3	12.4	3.6	2.1
	CHN		22	8.2	9.4	0.7	-0.4
	LAN		12	5.0	3.0	2.9	2.4
2007	SDN	41	35	11.7	11.3	2.8	1.4
+– 2008		42	34	10.1	13.8	-1.3	-2.8
	LAN		7	2.3	3.7	-0.7	-1.1
	SDN		27	7.8	10.1	-0.6	-1.8
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			759	327.2	271.7	114.0	78.2
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			37	12.5	12.5	2.4	0.9
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			796	339.6	284.2	116.4	79.1

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	pWOPA

Tom Glavine Basic Player Won-Lost Records
						Value Decomposition
1987	ATL	21	9	3.3	3.7	0.2	-0.2
1988	ATL	22	42	11.3	15.0	-1.4	-2.9
1989	ATL	23	30	11.7	11.2	2.6	1.3
1990	ATL	24	34	11.8	13.3	0.9	-0.5
1991	ATL	25	36	16.8	12.0	7.4	5.8
1992	ATL	26	35	15.4	11.7	6.2	4.5
1993	ATL	27	36	16.5	12.5	6.5	4.8
1994	ATL	28	26	10.8	9.9	2.9	1.6
1995	ATL	29	29	13.9	9.5	6.5	5.0
1996	ATL	30	39	16.0	12.0	6.6	4.9
1997	ATL	31	33	14.3	12.5	4.2	2.6
1998	ATL	32	33	15.1	10.7	6.9	5.3
1999	ATL	33	36	14.2	13.6	3.1	1.5
2000	ATL	34	37	14.7	11.6	5.8	4.2
2001	ATL	35	35	13.2	12.0	3.6	2.1
2002	ATL	36	37	15.4	12.9	5.5	3.7
2003	NYN	37	33	11.2	12.7	0.9	-0.5
2004	NYN	38	35	12.4	11.9	2.8	1.4
2005	NYN	39	33	13.0	13.0	2.3	0.7
2006	NYN	40	32	12.4	10.9	3.7	2.3
2007	NYN	41	35	11.3	11.9	1.8	0.3
2008	ATL	42	14	3.1	5.2	-1.3	-1.9
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			709	277.8	249.8	77.6	46.0
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			36	14.4	14.8	2.3	0.5
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			745	292.1	264.6	79.9	46.5

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	pWOPA

Frank Thomas Basic Player Won-Lost Records
						Value Decomposition
1990	CHA	22	60	6.9	5.0	2.1	1.6
1991	CHA	23	158	18.4	12.1	7.2	5.4
1992	CHA	24	160	21.7	15.5	6.8	5.1
1993	CHA	25	153	21.3	14.1	7.9	6.1
1994	CHA	26	113	15.0	9.4	6.0	4.8
1995	CHA	27	145	15.9	12.6	3.9	2.2
1996	CHA	28	141	16.4	13.4	3.3	1.9
1997	CHA	29	146	17.9	12.0	6.2	4.6
1998	CHA	30	160	14.7	12.3	3.2	1.3
1999	CHA	31	135	13.7	11.2	3.2	1.7
2000	CHA	32	159	17.1	11.8	6.3	4.4
2001	CHA	33	20	1.1	1.5	-0.2	-0.4
2002	CHA	34	148	12.1	12.1	1.1	-0.6
2003	CHA	35	153	17.0	12.2	5.9	4.0
2004	CHA	36	74	7.3	4.6	3.4	2.6
2005	CHA	37	34	2.9	2.0	1.1	0.7
2006	OAK	38	137	14.9	10.2	5.7	4.0
2007	TOR	39	155	13.6	12.0	2.3	0.6
+– 2008		40	71	6.0	6.3	0.2	-0.6
	OAK		55	4.4	5.0	-0.2	-0.8
	TOR		16	1.6	1.3	0.4	0.2
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,322	254.1	190.3	75.5	49.5
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			16	1.3	1.5	-0.1	-0.3
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			2,338	255.4	191.8	75.4	49.2

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	pWOPA

Mike Mussina Basic Player Won-Lost Records
						Value Decomposition
1991	BAL	22	12	4.5	4.8	0.3	-0.3
1992	BAL	23	32	13.9	9.2	6.4	4.8
1993	BAL	24	25	10.2	8.1	3.2	2.1
1994	BAL	25	24	12.1	7.5	6.0	4.6
1995	BAL	26	32	15.9	10.4	7.4	5.6
1996	BAL	27	36	15.2	12.4	4.9	3.0
1997	BAL	28	33	13.2	9.8	5.0	3.4
1998	BAL	29	29	12.7	10.2	4.2	2.6
1999	BAL	30	31	13.5	8.3	6.7	5.3
2000	BAL	31	34	14.3	12.2	4.1	2.4
2001	NYA	32	34	15.5	10.8	6.8	5.1
2002	NYA	33	33	13.1	10.8	4.2	2.5
2003	NYA	34	31	14.1	10.5	5.5	3.8
2004	NYA	35	27	11.0	9.2	3.3	1.9
2005	NYA	36	30	11.0	10.7	1.9	0.5
2006	NYA	37	32	10.7	8.5	3.6	2.4
2007	NYA	38	28	8.6	9.3	0.7	-0.5
2008	NYA	39	34	13.6	11.1	4.4	2.7
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			537	223.1	174.0	78.6	52.1
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			23	7.5	7.0	1.7	0.7
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			560	230.6	181.0	80.3	52.8

Article last updated: September 25, 2019

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 2008 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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