Saturday, December 18, 2021

Best rookie Home Run hitter: Pete Alonso or Aaron Judge? Maybe Mark McGwire? Frank Robinson, Wally Berger, ...?

Those five batters held the rookie Home Run record progressive going back to 1930.

Aaron Judge was the first rookie to reach 50 Home Runs: 52 in 2017. But then Pete Alonso hit 53 in 2019. So Alonso is the answer, right? Well, yes, if all you do is what pretty much all baseball fans do when considering Home Runs: stare at the totals.

What about the number of plate appearances (PA: AB + BB + HBP + SF + SH) or at bats (AB)? AB:

Judge 542
Alonso 597

Alonso took 55 more AB to hit only one more Home Run, so it must be Aaron Judge between those two, right? But they played in different leagues in different years. So we should look at Home Run hitting in each league in those years, right?

That's basically the flow of my logic. See my next post:

Should Sacrifice Flies (SF) be in the Home Run rate: (AB+SF)/HR? Saturday, December 18, 2021

Oh, in 1937 Detroit rookie Rudy York hit 35 Home Runs in only 375 AB! So, let's extend our evaluation beyond the six progressive record holders. Let's look at rookie seasons with at least 30 Home Runs. That list contains 32 rookies: AL 21, NL 11. Boston Brave rookie Wally Berger was the first with 38 in 1930.

This post will look at the Home Run rate: AB/HR. Lower is better. The objective is to see the percent difference between the AB/HR for the player and his league that season: Dif/(L AB/HR).

Ballpark factor for Home Run hitting should be factored in but it's beyond the scope of this post. As suggested in this blog years ago, there should be a HR+ that takes all this into account, instead of just staring at totals, which we hardly do anymore with anything else.

Below the list of 32 is sorted twice. First by Home Runs descending, year ascending. Then by percent difference from the league Home Run rate. Bold is max. Red is min.

RkPlayerYearHRABAB/HRL AB/HRDif% DifOPS+AgeTmLgGPARH2B3BRBIBBIBBSOBAOBPSLGPlayer
1Pete Alonso20195359711.2625.2013.9355.29%14724NYMNL161693103155302120726183.260.358.583Pete Alonso
2Aaron Judge20175254210.4226.1915.7760.21%17125NYYAL15567812815424311412711208.284.422.627Aaron Judge
3Mark McGwire19874955711.3729.5418.1861.52%16423OAKAL15164197161284118718131.289.370.618Mark McGwire
4Cody Bellinger20173948012.3128.1215.8156.23%14321LADNL13254887128264976413146.267.352.581Cody Bellinger
6Wally Berger19303855514.6148.9834.3870.18%13724BSNNL15162898172271411954769.310.375.614Wally Berger
5Frank Robinson19563857215.0534.3319.2856.15%14320CINNL1526681221662768364795.290.379.558Frank Robinson
8Al Rosen19503755414.9743.5828.6165.65%14526CLEAL155668100159234116100372.287.405.543Al Rosen
7Albert Pujols20013759015.9529.8413.9046.57%15721STLNL16167611219447413069693.329.403.610Albert Pujols
9José Abreu20143655615.4438.4723.0259.85%17327CHWAL145622801763521075115131.317.383.581José Abreu
13Hal Trosky19343562517.8662.4044.5471.38%15021CLEAL154685117206459142581249.330.388.598Hal Trosky
12Rudy York19373537510.7153.7343.0180.06%15123DETAL1044177211518310141352.307.375.651Rudy York
11Ron Kittle19833552014.8640.8926.0463.67%11825CHWAL14557075132193100398150.254.314.504Ron Kittle
10Mike Piazza19933554715.6339.6223.9960.55%15324LADNL1496028117424211246686.318.370.561Mike Piazza
15Walt Dropo19503455916.4443.5827.1462.28%13427BOSAL13660910118028814445375.322.378.583Walt Dropo
14Ryan Braun20073445113.2633.0819.8259.90%15423MILNL1134929114626697291112.324.370.634Ryan Braun
19Jimmie Hall19633349715.0636.9421.8859.23%13625MINAL1565718812921580634101.260.342.521Jimmie Hall
18Earl Williams19713349715.0647.7932.7368.49%12322ATLNL145550641291418742580.260.324.491Earl Williams
17Jose Canseco19863360018.1833.7915.6146.19%11621OAKAL15768285144291117651175.240.318.457Jose Canseco
16Ryan Mountcastle20213353416.1826.5910.4139.14%11224BALAL1445867713623189412161.255.309.487Ryan Mountcastle
22Tony Oliva19643267221.0035.5814.5840.97%15025MINAL1617191092174399434868.323.359.557Tony Oliva
21Matt Nokes19873246114.4129.5415.1451.24%13323DETAL135508691331428735270.289.345.536Matt Nokes
20Chris Young20073256917.7833.0815.3046.25%8823ARINL1486248513529368431141.237.295.467Chris Young
27Ted Williams19393156518.2353.5135.2865.94%16020BOSAL14967713118544111451071264.327.436.609Ted Williams
26Jim Ray Hart19643156618.2645.6527.3960.01%13222SFGNL153625711621568147494.286.342.498Jim Ray Hart
25Tim Salmon19933151516.6137.3720.7655.55%14324CALAL1426109314635195825135.283.382.536Tim Salmon
24Eloy Jimenez20193146815.1024.028.9337.16%11622CHWAL1225046912518279300134.267.315.513Eloy Jimenez
23Adolis García20213158118.7426.597.8529.51%10128TEXAL1496227714126290320194.243.286.454Adolis García
32Bob Allison19593057019.0038.4619.4650.60%12224WSHAL150639831491898560192.261.333.482Bob Allison
31Willie Montanez19713059919.9747.7927.8258.22%12423PHINL15868378153276996714105.255.327.471Willie Montanez
30Pete Incaviglia19863054018.0033.7915.7946.73%10922TEXAL1536068213521288552185.250.320.463Pete Incaviglia
29Nomar Garciaparra19973068422.8031.588.7827.81%12323BOSAL15373412220944119835292.306.342.534Nomar Garciaparra
28Mike Trout20123055918.6330.9712.3439.84%16820LAAAL13963912918227883674139.326.399.564Mike Trout
RkPlayerYearHRABAB/HRL AB/HRDif% DifOPS+AgeTmLgGPARH2B3BRBIBBIBBSOBAOBPSLGPlayer

Sorted by % Dif:

RkPlayerYearHRABAB/HRL AB/HRDif% DifOPS+AgeTmLgGPARH2B3BRBIBBIBBSOBAOBPSLGPlayer
12Rudy York19373537510.7153.7343.0180.06%15123DETAL1044177211518310141352.307.375.651Rudy York
13Hal Trosky19343562517.8662.4044.5471.38%15021CLEAL154685117206459142581249.330.388.598Hal Trosky
6Wally Berger19303855514.6148.9834.3870.18%13724BSNNL15162898172271411954769.310.375.614Wally Berger
18Earl Williams19713349715.0647.7932.7368.49%12322ATLNL145550641291418742580.260.324.491Earl Williams
27Ted Williams19393156518.2353.5135.2865.94%16020BOSAL14967713118544111451071264.327.436.609Ted Williams
8Al Rosen19503755414.9743.5828.6165.65%14526CLEAL155668100159234116100372.287.405.543Al Rosen
11Ron Kittle19833552014.8640.8926.0463.67%11825CHWAL14557075132193100398150.254.314.504Ron Kittle
15Walt Dropo19503455916.4443.5827.1462.28%13427BOSAL13660910118028814445375.322.378.583Walt Dropo
3Mark McGwire19874955711.3729.5418.1861.52%16423OAKAL15164197161284118718131.289.370.618Mark McGwire
10Mike Piazza19933554715.6339.6223.9960.55%15324LADNL1496028117424211246686.318.370.561Mike Piazza
2Aaron Judge20175254210.4226.1915.7760.21%17125NYYAL15567812815424311412711208.284.422.627Aaron Judge
26Jim Ray Hart19643156618.2645.6527.3960.01%13222SFGNL153625711621568147494.286.342.498Jim Ray Hart
14Ryan Braun20073445113.2633.0819.8259.90%15423MILNL1134929114626697291112.324.370.634Ryan Braun
9José Abreu20143655615.4438.4723.0259.85%17327CHWAL145622801763521075115131.317.383.581José Abreu
19Jimmie Hall19633349715.0636.9421.8859.23%13625MINAL1565718812921580634101.260.342.521Jimmie Hall
31Willie Montanez19713059919.9747.7927.8258.22%12423PHINL15868378153276996714105.255.327.471Willie Montanez
4Cody Bellinger20173948012.3128.1215.8156.23%14321LADNL13254887128264976413146.267.352.581Cody Bellinger
5Frank Robinson19563857215.0534.3319.2856.15%14320CINNL1526681221662768364795.290.379.558Frank Robinson
25Tim Salmon19933151516.6137.3720.7655.55%14324CALAL1426109314635195825135.283.382.536Tim Salmon
1Pete Alonso20195359711.2625.2013.9355.29%14724NYMNL161693103155302120726183.260.358.583Pete Alonso
21Matt Nokes19873246114.4129.5415.1451.24%13323DETAL135508691331428735270.289.345.536Matt Nokes
32Bob Allison19593057019.0038.4619.4650.60%12224WSHAL150639831491898560192.261.333.482Bob Allison
30Pete Incaviglia19863054018.0033.7915.7946.73%10922TEXAL1536068213521288552185.250.320.463Pete Incaviglia
7Albert Pujols20013759015.9529.8413.9046.57%15721STLNL16167611219447413069693.329.403.610Albert Pujols
20Chris Young20073256917.7833.0815.3046.25%8823ARINL1486248513529368431141.237.295.467Chris Young
17Jose Canseco19863360018.1833.7915.6146.19%11621OAKAL15768285144291117651175.240.318.457Jose Canseco
22Tony Oliva19643267221.0035.5814.5840.97%15025MINAL1617191092174399434868.323.359.557Tony Oliva
28Mike Trout20123055918.6330.9712.3439.84%16820LAAAL13963912918227883674139.326.399.564Mike Trout
16Ryan Mountcastle20213353416.1826.5910.4139.14%11224BALAL1445867713623189412161.255.309.487Ryan Mountcastle
24Eloy Jimenez20193146815.1024.028.9337.16%11622CHWAL1225046912518279300134.267.315.513Eloy Jimenez
23Adolis García20213158118.7426.597.8529.51%10128TEXAL1496227714126290320194.243.286.454Adolis García
29Nomar Garciaparra19973068422.8031.588.7827.81%12323BOSAL15373412220944119835292.306.342.534Nomar Garciaparra
RkPlayerYearHRABAB/HRL AB/HRDif% DifOPS+AgeTmLgGPARH2B3BRBIBBIBBSOBAOBPSLGPlayer

The leaders in number of rookie Home Runs drop down significantly in rank except for one who moves up:
Alonso 20
Judge 11
McGwire 9
Berger 3
Frank Robinson 18


Photo of Rudy York

Rudy York

Positions: First Baseman and Catcher

Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right

6-1209lb (185cm, 94kg)

Born: August 171913 in Ragland, AL us

Died: February 51970 (Aged 56-172d) in Rome, GA






Rudy York is our champ with 35 Home Runs in 1937 in only 375 AB. He hit 34 in in 1943 for the only time he led the league but that was in the middle of World War II. He also hit 33 in both 1938 and 1940. He played in seven games in each of three World Series: 1940 (one homer) and 1945 with Detroit and 1946 with the Boston Red Sox (two homers). Here are the 1937 Home Run leaders:

Home Runs
1.DiMaggio • NYY46
2.Greenberg • DET40
3.Gehrig • NYY37
4.Foxx • BOS36
5.York • DET35
6.Trosky • CLE32
7.Clift • SLB29
Dickey • NYY29
9.Johnson • PHA25
Moses • PHA25


AB per HR
1.York • DET10.7
2.DiMaggio • NYY13.5
3.Greenberg • DET14.9
4.Gehrig • NYY15.4
5.Foxx • BOS15.8
6.Dickey • NYY18.3
7.Trosky • CLE18.8
8.Johnson • PHA19.1
9.Clift • SLB19.7
10.Bonura • CHW23.5

Joe DiMaggio was in his second season in 1937. His Home Run rate was 75% above the AL rate.

Source: https://stathead.com/ by way of https://www.baseball-reference.com/

2 comments:

Vinnie said...

York had 375 official at bats that season.

Kenneth Matinale said...

Thanks, Vinnie. The correct number was in the table. It was my verbiage that was off. I corrected that. Ken