Yesterday’s post announcing the Allen Watson Award of hitting excellence by a St. Louis Cardinals pitcher met with such wild, unrestrained interest, I was inspired to write part two of the story.
Because 2009 marks the first semi-official Watson Award, there actually is no history to report. Yet there are batting results from each season about which to reminisce.
Adam Wainwright is the 2009 winner, but his .515 OPS was the lowest of any annual team leader this decade. Had there been a Watson Award before now, these top-hitting pitchers would have been the annual honorees.
| Year | Team leader | OPS |
| 2009 | Adam Wainwright | 0.515 |
| 2008 | Adam Wainwright | 0.636 |
| 2007 | Kip Wells | 0.717 |
| 2006 | Mark Mulder | 0.880 |
| 2005 | Jason Marquis | 0.786 |
| 2004 | Jason Marquis | 0.672 |
| 2003 | Woody Williams | 0.670 |
| 2002 | Woody Williams | 0.640 |
| 2001 | Woody Williams | 0.619 |
| 2000 | Rick Ankiel | 0.674 |
| min 30 PA |
Not surprisingly, Rick Ankiel was the best hitting pitcher on the Cardinals in 2000. Once he stepped aside, first Woody Williams then Jason Marquis led the staff in OPS in each of the following five seasons.
Looking at Williams’ and Marquis’ career numbers tend to suggest there may be something to the increased focus the Cardinals put on their pitchers being able to handle the bat.
In the table below, compare the two’s OPS marks as Cardinals compared to the entire body of their respective careers, including their time with St. Louis. Each has about a 100 point edge in OPS while with the Cardinals.
| Year | Player | OPS | PA |
| StL | Woody Williams | 0.585 | 221 |
| Career | Woody Williams | 0.489 | 617 |
| StL | Jason Marquis | 0.646 | 252 |
| Career | Jason Marquis | 0.518 | 552 |
Before anyone gets too excited about this phenomenon, Kyle Lohse and Chris Carpenter did not follow the trend. In all fairness, Carp only had 14 plate appearances with Toronto, though Lohse’s hitting has declined as a Cardinal.
| Year | Player | OPS | PA |
| StL | Kyle Lohse | 0.335 | 117 |
| Career | Kyle Lohse | 0.363 | 230 |
| StL | Chris Carpenter | 0.271 | 315 |
| Career | Chris Carpenter | 0.277 | 329 |
The final table shows the top OPS seasons by a Cardinals pitcher post-1900 with a minimum of 30 plate appearances. Bob Forsch has three of the top ten seasons of all time, while Mark Mulder’s 2006 season was the second-best of all time. That still won’t bring Dan Haren back, however…
| Rank | Pitcher | Year | OPS |
| 1 | Allen Watson | 1995 | 0.975 |
| 2 | Mark Mulder | 2006 | 0.880 |
| 3 | Clyde Barfoot | 1922 | 0.862 |
| 4 | Curt Davis | 1939 | 0.855 |
| 5 | Bob Forsch | 1987 | 0.842 |
| 6 | Bob Forsch | 1975 | 0.803 |
| 7 | Harry Gumbert | 1941 | 0.798 |
| 8 | Al Grabowski | 1930 | 0.788 |
| 9 | Bob Forsch | 1980 | 0.787 |
| 10 | Bill Sherdel | 1923 | 0.786 |
| min 30 PA |
Is the award named for watson for his great season or for his career? If it is career, do we look at renaming it the Wainwright award?
The intent and focus was on a single season, not career. I only diverged into career stats for a few current players on the side question on whether pitchers are better hitters in StL vs. when they were with other clubs.
Maybe Wainy liked hitting 8th in ’08 better than 9th in ’09.
When do we get to see a picture of the trophy? Surely there is a trophy.
Good old Clyde Barfoot, remember him from my younger days. Menacing at the plate as well as on the mound. And fortunately uninfluenced by Hal McRae’s tutoring.
’22 would have been Hornsby/Branch Rickey , you lucky dawg Jumbo. Those past life regression sessions must be working well. That was a triple crown year wasn’t it?
Meanwhile…………….. The buyouts and out right releases begin to mount. The term flooding the market might apply. Abreu’s agent didn’t want to fool around with it. Lets hear some speculation on what the Cardinals might end up with. Jermaine Dye instead of Ludwick? He responds well to competitive environments. He is also an African American to replace Thirsty. I found myself fondling his world series game winning bat awhile back. He mills the end of the handle down for an “empty inch grip”. Will BD start shaving his Holiday offer to be sure it doesn’t work? Will there be a formal offer announced. Big pressure on Scottie B. If he botches that, again, he gets fired. He would be essentially be free in CC world view anyway. I guess.
The answer is there Westy, you just don’t know it. When it was revealed that Our Brendan was taking the pilgimage to Big Mac Land this winter nobody thought much about it, but I did. Ludwick, who made $3.7M had an OPS only35 points higher than Our Brendan, who made $400K. Brendan’s BA was 27pts higher, his OBP 11 pts higher and he struck out 13.7% compared to 21.5%. Now for the eye opener. At Busch for the whole season 2009, Our Brendan’s BA/OPS .302/.771, Ludwick .238/.647. That’s a mighty big sample size. Still not on board? For the whole season, vs. RHP, Our Brendan .306/.780, Luddy .264/.787. That’s an even bigger sample size. The very least that can concluded is that Our Brendan is a better choice for 4th spot at home against righties, probably all the time against righties, maybe all the time at home. Craig and Luddy (or someone cheeper) can play the corners and compete for the 4th spot against lefties. BDW will like that, keep Mo’s hand off his wallet. Spend it on Albert. (Lets hope Brendan doesn’t show up in Jupiter bulked up with 30 pounds of muscle)
Our resident Shaman must be Caucasian. He makes comments about brothers like Brian Barton, Thurston, now Dye. He ranted about Hal McRae, but nary a peep about the white coach, Mike Aldrete.
In case you think the idea is absurd, and TLR would never go for it, check out the career and 2008 stats of Tony’s 2009 opening day cleanup hitter, and compare to Our Brendan. One may wish to compare the salary and defensive stats in the interest of due diligence.
Be nice Jumbo. Barton, Thurston and McRae are among a larger group of uniformed personnel which can reasonably be subject to criticism based upon 2009 performance. Westy has criticised them all. None of us know if Aldrete is deserving of criticism. As to the Dye remark, it is understandable that no one wishes to discuss the paucity of african americans among the team’s uniformed personnel, but the number may well be zero next year. This would be unseemly, and to be avoided if possible. Westy’s comment accepts this reality.
There will be one BB…….guaranteed…..its a business…………. Brendan will never bat 4th……..never. That would send Albert away faster than anything. And Cardinal fans too.
Jumbo you’re drinking again, in the style of your father. Give that up. You’ve done it before. You don’t wear it well.
Be honest……Bartons rule 5 full season…..and give away……… Thurstons retention on the playoff roster for no reason what so ever. There is a variable here and it appears to have nothing to do with baseball.
All: Please put aside the racial points that have been made before and the personal jabs.
I will conclude by saying I doubt the Cards design rosters based on superficial matters, like the hue of hair or epidermis, etc. In 2008, Barton filled a slot previously served by a Japanese gentleman Taguchi, right swinging reserve OF. Where was our Asian in 2009? We did not have one. ML roster decisions are made based on performance and who is available for the right price within the pool of possible players. If Holliday leaves it will be because of his earning potential elsewhere and if Dye were to come to St Lou, it would be because his salary is more within our means. Money can explain a lot of personnel decisions inside baseball. The only color that matters is green.
I see Westie is alrready out there with rumblings about Ludwick being non tendered. Care to put a friendly wager on that one Westie. Or would that force you to take a definitive satand on something?
I here some noise at the very end of the bench……….. Who knows what Ludwicks future is. I take Dye in a heart beat. We were 2/10 to close things out……..with Holiday. Luddy will probably be offered a one year deal before arbitration with no raise. Team has to improve some how. If not right field, where………….where will you find impact to encourage Pujols. If they are going to start winning, Ludwick is the first man out ……………..to no one in particular.
Dye would be pricey and not much if any improvement over Luddy. Marlon Byrd would serve equally well on all fronts and would be cheaper I think. Other than Holliday and Bay, nobody on the market offers the kind of OPS that would encourage Albert. Maybe take a chance on Xavier Nady, especially if Scottie holds out and comes up dry, he will get crazy money for Damon. I’m beginning to think we should try to hold on to Glaus, and hope MM turns out to be the DD of hitting coaches.
Some SF Giants writer says Wagner Mateo went to Miami for lasik, didn’t say if it happened.
Jack Clark is poo pooing the MM thing. I like Jack, hope he’s wrong. He probably hopes he’s wrong too.
Its a provocative world BB. Its going to be a cut throat market. Many teams have empty stadiums. If the Yankees start something like we have seen in our lifetimes, it will drain even more energy out of MLB……………… I appreciate your loyalty to Ludwick. He will become an issue shortly. I hope.
I believe Mo/BD know where the market is heading……… so does Scottie B. You will notice Boston trying its hardest to avoid dealing with him. A a professional level, some things are obvious. The Cards play, if they really want Holiday, is to make a solid offer on paper right now, date it till the end of November, and shut up. Holiday may panic and set things straight. They are not talking with Boras. He is just trying to get Matt to open FA so that he can ego trip and they know talk is a waste of time. Boras has to inform Matt of a formal offer. Thats their only play. If they don’t make it, then they fulfill my prophecy of really never intending to. The MM problem is a Tony frailty. He does not know hitting. That why he let Hal stay for so long. I will say it again, Shu is technically a poor hitter. He wouldn’t survive a year on another ball club that doesn’t have a fetish for platooning. Its his job though. Ryan is the Short Stop. They baited DeRo into looking elsewhere with they’re meaningless Freese declaration. Rasmus is in center. They have a 1st baseman and a catcher. They will be looking at two outfield spots, or a front line 3rd baseman,(unlikely). Dye numbers don’t reflect how much better a hitter he is than Luddy. The White Sox suck. Dye would be stimulated by the SL community. Nady? Bay? we could have had them cheap not long ago. Tony and Albert have leverage for mystery reasons. If its real, Mo must make changes.
A small aside. Holiday’s reported comments about not really wanting to play in NY can’t be setting well with Scottie. Also Smoltz hasn’t got an offer of any importance yet either. Mo had time to prepare a position. No sign yet. I’m watching with interest. If we pass through our exclusive window, its unlikely we get any of these guys.
The G.M. meeting is at a Chicago airport hotel this year, not a posh seaside resort. Message there. Boras is out of his element in this type of market.
If they are only going to offer Luddy what he made last year they might as well release him or non-tender him now. Luddy has more value than he will make in salary arbitration. If the Cards don´t want him some one will trade for him.
“When you have a franchise player available, that is the foundation of how you build a champion,” Boras said. “Because of that I expect Matt to have a very aggressive market.”
Boras disputed the theory that Holliday does not want to play at Citi Field. Boras said Holliday is a line-drive hitter who would be helped by the deep gaps, which might depress a few homers but enhance doubles. Boras guaranteed his client would be a 100 RBI/100 run guy in Citi Field.
This is good………….disputed the theory. Holiday doesn’t like NY because its NY Scottie!!!
The bigger problem with the Mets is that owner Fred Wilpon reportedly lost $700 million in the Madoff Ponzi scheme. Word is the club cannot spend enough this off-season to sign Holliday. Rumors are that Wilpon will probably have to sell the team.
If you have 700 million to give Madoff, Brian, you will survive. He complains of losing 700 large that was probably being laundered anyway. Those stadium deals are gold mines.
No way Holiday plays for the Mets………….Boras is just trying to slow the momentum of party poopers. Its the Yankees that he is baiting. If they keep all the faces of 09, they won’t have room. Holiday would feed off the egos in NY. His wife will be dragging her feet on that chance to add a little tension. ARod is once again a bad example, along with Derek the romantic.