Offensive WAR (oWAR) anomaly: Eddie Stanky 1950.

I was minding my own business, cruising through top ten per year in oWAR:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_off_top_ten.shtml

Statistic Description: Offensive Wins Above Replacement (everything but Fielding) The same statistic as Wins Above Replacement for Position Players (WAR), but with the fielding value excluded. oWAR + dWAR does not equal WAR. Adding would count positions twice. Contains the factor for batting stats, baserunning, a positional adjustment, and the replacement player adjustment. Factors developed by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.com

This statistic is computed from play-by-play data which is only complete from 1974 to the present. From 1938-1973, the data is incomplete, though for most seasons only less than 20 games per season total are missing. Please see our page on data coverage for a full view of the data used to create these lists.

This table lists the MLB top ten for each season in this category. When possible we have used the leaderboard standards at that time to compute the top ten players for this statistic.
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When suddenly I noticed Eddie Stanky number two in oWAR in 1950, his first season as a Giant. So I checked top ten per year in OPS+:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/onbase_plus_slugging_plus_top_ten.shtml

Statistic Description: OPS+ 100*[OBP/lg OBP + SLG/lg SLG - 1] Adjusted to the player’s ballpark(s)
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Sure enough, Stanky was nowhere to be found in 1950. So I ran ad hoc queries. oWAR is a total and OPS+ is an average. I wanted to see some underlying data.

For 1950, oWAR>=5, sorted by greatest Offensive WAR

Rk	Player	oWAR	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Stan Musial	7.7	1950	29	STL	NL	146	645	555	105	192	41	7	28	109	87		36	3	0		11	5		.346	.437	.596	1.034	3789/H
2	Eddie Stanky	6.7	1950	34	NYG	NL	152	692	527	115	158	25	5	8	51	144		50	12	8		8	9		.300	.460	.412	.872	*4/H
3	Jackie Robinson	6.6	1950	31	BRO	NL	144	613	518	99	170	39	4	14	81	80		24	5	10		11	12		.328	.423	.500	.923	*4/H
4	Ralph Kiner	6.4	1950	27	PIT	NL	150	672	547	112	149	21	6	47	118	122		79	3	0		22	2		.272	.408	.590	.998	*7
5	Andy Pafko	6.4	1950	29	CHC	NL	146	595	514	95	156	24	8	36	92	69		32	11	1		9	4		.304	.397	.591	.989	*89/H
6	Duke Snider	6.2	1950	23	BRO	NL	152	684	620	109	199	31	10	31	107	58		79	0	6		9	16		.321	.379	.553	.932	*8/H
7	Larry Doby	6.2	1950	26	CLE	AL	142	609	503	110	164	25	5	25	102	98		71	6	2		9	8	6	.326	.442	.545	.986	*8/H
8	Sid Gordon	5.9	1950	32	BSN	NL	134	561	481	78	146	33	4	27	103	78		31	2	1		14	2		.304	.403	.557	.960	*75/H
9	Earl Torgeson	5.7	1950	26	BSN	NL	156	707	576	120	167	30	3	23	87	119		69	1	8		10	15		.290	.412	.472	.885	*3/H
10	Phil Rizzuto	5.6	1950	32	NYY	AL	155	735	617	125	200	36	7	7	66	92		39	7	19		6	12	8	.324	.418	.439	.857	*6
11	Yogi Berra	5.5	1950	25	NYY	AL	151	656	597	116	192	30	6	28	124	55		12	4	0		11	4	2	.322	.383	.533	.915	*2/H
12	Joe DiMaggio	5.2	1950	35	NYY	AL	139	606	525	114	158	33	10	32	122	80		33	1	0		14	0	0	.301	.394	.585	.979	*8/H3
13	Bob Elliott	5.2	1950	33	BSN	NL	142	601	531	94	162	28	5	24	107	68		67	2	1		18	2		.305	.386	.512	.898	*5/H
14	Al Rosen	5.0	1950	26	CLE	AL	155	668	554	100	159	23	4	37	116	100		72	10	4		27	5	7	.287	.405	.543	.948	*5/H
15	Eddie Yost	5.0	1950	23	WSH	AL	155	730	573	114	169	26	2	11	58	141		63	8	9		13	6	6	.295	.440	.405	.845	*5

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/1/2016.

I used oWAR 5 to include DiMaggio in his last big season when he led the American League (AL) in slugging average (SLG) way down at number 12 and Eddie Yost, the Walking Man, who led the AL with 141 BB. Stanky led the National League with 144 BB, 12 HBP and .460 OBP. Dobby led AL with .442 OBP.

For 1950, OPS+>=130 and Qualified for league batting title), sorted by greatest Adjusted OPS+

Rk	Player	OPS+	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Stan Musial	164	1950	29	STL	NL	146	645	555	105	192	41	7	28	109	87		36	3	0		11	5		.346	.437	.596	1.034	3789/H
2	Andy Pafko	157	1950	29	CHC	NL	146	595	514	95	156	24	8	36	92	69		32	11	1		9	4		.304	.397	.591	.989	*89/H
3	Sid Gordon	156	1950	32	BSN	NL	134	561	481	78	146	33	4	27	103	78		31	2	1		14	2		.304	.403	.557	.960	*75/H
4	Ralph Kiner	156	1950	27	PIT	NL	150	672	547	112	149	21	6	47	118	122		79	3	0		22	2		.272	.408	.590	.998	*7
5	Larry Doby	156	1950	26	CLE	AL	142	609	503	110	164	25	5	25	102	98		71	6	2		9	8	6	.326	.442	.545	.986	*8/H
6	Joe DiMaggio	151	1950	35	NYY	AL	139	606	525	114	158	33	10	32	122	80		33	1	0		14	0	0	.301	.394	.585	.979	*8/H3
7	Al Rosen	145	1950	26	CLE	AL	155	668	554	100	159	23	4	37	116	100		72	10	4		27	5	7	.287	.405	.543	.948	*5/H
8	Del Ennis	141	1950	25	PHI	NL	153	655	595	92	185	34	8	31	126	56		59	2	1		25	2		.311	.372	.551	.923	*97/H8
9	Hoot Evers	141	1950	29	DET	AL	143	610	526	100	170	35	11	21	103	71		40	4	9		17	5	9	.323	.408	.551	.959	*7/H8
10	Bob Elliott	140	1950	33	BSN	NL	142	601	531	94	162	28	5	24	107	68		67	2	1		18	2		.305	.386	.512	.898	*5/H
11	Jackie Robinson	139	1950	31	BRO	NL	144	613	518	99	170	39	4	14	81	80		24	5	10		11	12		.328	.423	.500	.923	*4/H
12	Duke Snider	139	1950	23	BRO	NL	152	684	620	109	199	31	10	31	107	58		79	0	6		9	16		.321	.379	.553	.932	*8/H
13	Earl Torgeson	138	1950	26	BSN	NL	156	707	576	120	167	30	3	23	87	119		69	1	8		10	15		.290	.412	.472	.885	*3/H
14	Vic Wertz	137	1950	25	DET	AL	149	657	559	99	172	37	4	27	123	91		55	4	3		13	0	1	.308	.408	.533	.941	*9/H
15	Yogi Berra	135	1950	25	NYY	AL	151	656	597	116	192	30	6	28	124	55		12	4	0		11	4	2	.322	.383	.533	.915	*2/H
16	Walt Dropo	134	1950	27	BOS	AL	136	609	559	101	180	28	8	34	144	45		75	5	0		16	0	0	.322	.378	.583	.961	*3/H
17	Roy Campanella	134	1950	28	BRO	NL	126	494	437	70	123	19	3	31	89	55		51	2	0		17	1		.281	.364	.551	.916	*2/H
18	Eddie Stanky	130	1950	34	NYG	NL	152	692	527	115	158	25	5	8	51	144		50	12	8		8	9		.300	.460	.412	.872	*4/H

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/1/2016.

Because it's a total oWAR will favor players who play more. OPS+ in addition to being an average treats SLG the same as OBP when it should give a bit more weight to OBP; that bias is not great.

Musial is number one on both lists. DiMaggio rises from 12 to 6. Stanky plummets from 2 to 18. Yost had OPS+ 122.

What's the difference? Base running. 1950 was the last season the NL did not have caught stealing (CS). Stanky stole 9 bases. That doesn't seem like it should be enough to boost him so much. While his OBP was .460 his SLG was only .412. DiMaggio was like a DH: zero steal attempts.

Maybe Stanky was really good at going from first to third. Stanky was 34 years old. Many players were in about the same relative position.

WAR may be even more confusing than you think. Sunday, August 16, 2015

And this mess doesn't even get into my not trusting the fielding data.
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wRC+ v. OPS+: top 25 in 2013 Tuesday, December 3, 2013

wRC+ is the new rage and supposedly more accurate.  OPS+ is easier to find and easier to understand...

Top three are the same guys.
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wRC+ v. OPS+ top 25 career. Wednesday, December 4, 2013