150 RBI by year. Tommy Davis stands out ... in expanded schedule.

The question during last night's Yankee game against the Orioles was: Who were the three players since 2000 to have 150 RBI in a season. The answer was:

Sammy Sosa 160 in 2001, Cubs; 64 home runs
Miguel Tejada 150 in 2004, first year with Orioles; 34 home runs
Alex Rodriguez 156 in 2007, Yankees; 54 home runs

1950 through 1995 (46 years) only the late Tommy Davis had 150 RBI: 153 in 1962 with the LA Dodgers; 27 home runs.

Note 5/31/2023: added to title: "... in expanded schedule". Davis was aided by the National League expanding from 8 to 10 teams in 1962 as the American League had in 1961 when Roger Maris broke the season home run record. This caused the number of regular season games to increase from 154 to 162. Through his team's first 154 games, Davis had "only" 143 RBI.

In addition, the Dodgers and Giants, now in California, tied for first in 1962. They then played best of three extra REGULAR season games bringing the total to 165 games.

From his 1962 game log:

Davis	Dodgers	Game	Season
game #	game #	RBI	RBI
151	153	2	143
152	154	0	143
153	155	3	146
154	156	1	147
155	157	0	147
156	158	1	148
157	159	1	149
158	160	1	150
159	161	0	150
160	162	0	150
161	163	0	150
162	164	1	151
163	165	2	153

Tommy Davis

Positions: Leftfielder and Third Baseman

Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right

6-2, 195lb (188cm, 88kg)

Born: March 21, 1939 in Brooklyn, NY us

Died: April 3, 2022 (Aged 83-013d) in Phoenix, AZ

There have 30 MLB teams since 1997. 1903-1960 there were 16. Consider that when you look at the number of 150 RBI seasons in the 1920s (10) and especially the 1930s (21). The year 1930 had the most, six (2 Yankees, 2 As):

qry150RBI

First	Last	teamID	lgID	RBI	HR	AB	yearID
Hack	Wilson	CHN	NL	191	56	585	1930
Lou	Gehrig	NYA	AL	174	41	581	1930
Chuck	Klein	PHI	NL	170	40	648	1930
Al	Simmons	PHA	AL	165	36	554	1930
Jimmie	Foxx	PHA	AL	156	37	562	1930
Babe	Ruth	NYA	AL	153	49	518	1930

Players who did it multiple times:

qry150RBI

First	Last	Num	Max	Min	From	To
Lou	Gehrig	7	184	151	1927	1937
Babe	Ruth	6	171	150	1921	1931
Jimmie	Foxx	4	175	156	1930	1938
Al	Simmons	3	165	151	1929	1932
Hank	Greenberg	3	183	150	1935	1940
Hack	Wilson	2	191	159	1929	1930
Sam	Thompson	2	166	165	1887	1895
Sammy	Sosa	2	160	158	1998	2001
Joe	DiMaggio	2	167	155	1937	1948

yearID	CountOfRBI	MaxOfRBI	MinOfRBI
1887	1	166	166
1890	1	152	152
1895	1	165	165
1921	1	171	171
1922	2	155	152
1926	1	150	150
1927	2	175	164
1929	4	159	151
1930	6	191	153
1931	2	184	163
1932	3	169	151
1933	1	163	163
1934	1	165	165
1935	1	170	170
1936	2	162	152
1937	4	183	154
1938	1	175	175
1940	1	150	150
1948	1	155	155
1949	2	159	159
1962	1	153	153
1996	1	150	150
1998	3	158	152
1999	1	165	165
2001	1	160	160
2004	1	150	150
2007	1	156	156