Wins Above Replacement player (WAR): leading league 1903-2024: Ruth, Hornsby, Bonds 11 times.

Position players: no pitchers. WAR is a total, not an average.

Yearly League Leaders & Records for WAR Position Players

A single number that presents the number of wins the player added to the team above what a replacement player (think AAA or AAAA) would add. Scale: 8+ MVP Quality, 5+ All-Star Quality, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Reserve, < 0 Replacement Level Developed by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.com

_______________________

Note: only one decimal place is shown. Players may appear to be tied, such as Cobb and Collins in 1910 AL, but one player is ranked higher based on additional decimals.

Email:

from:		Kenneth Matinale
to:		bugs_3@sports-reference.com
date:		Dec 17, 2024, 10:53 PM
subject:		1910 Player Batting Season & Career Stats Finder - Baseball | Stathead.com

https://stathead.com/tiny/R3Xxy

Two players tied for most WAR. Why is Cobb shown as leading AL?

The same is true:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1910-batting-leaders.shtml

 

... where Cobb leads.

______________

I know that oWAR cannot be added to dWAR to get WAR.

One decimal place is not very detailed. Cobb may lead with more decimal places. Is that why he is shown as #1? If so, why not show the additional decimal places

Kenneth Matinale

_________________________

Players who led at least five times:

#	Years	thePlayer	Year1	YearL	WARmax	WARmin	WARave
11	13	Babe Ruth	1919	1931	14.1	8.1	11.127
11	13	Rogers Hornsby	1917	1929	12.1	5.4	9.500
11	15	Barry Bonds	1990	2004	11.9	7.5	9.582
10	13	Willie Mays	1954	1966	11.2	8.3	10.000
9	10	Honus Wagner	1903	1912	11.5	6.6	8.856
6	7	Mickey Mantle	1955	1961	11.3	6.6	9.617
6	11	Ted Williams	1941	1951	10.6	7.1	9.517
6	10	Alex Rodriguez	1998	2007	10.4	8.4	9.150
6	6	Albert Pujols	2005	2010	9.7	7.5	8.667
5	9	Ty Cobb	1909	1917	11.3	9.5	10.380
5	5	Mike Trout	2012	2016	10.5	7.7	9.440
5	6	Nap Lajoie	1903	1908	10.0	7.6	8.380

Pujols and Trout led all in consecutive years.

Led at least twice but with highest lower than 9.0:

2	2	Snuffy Stirnweiss	1944	1945	8.8	8.6	8.700
2	5	George Sisler	1918	1922	8.7	6.8	7.750
2	2	Tony Gwynn	1986	1987	8.6	6.7	7.650
2	6	Jeff Bagwell	1994	1999	8.2	7.4	7.800
2	3	Brooks Robinson	1962	1964	8.1	6.1	7.100
2	6	Graig Nettles	1971	1976	8.0	7.5	7.750
2	2	Bill Terry	1930	1931	7.9	6.6	7.250
2	2	Johnny Mize	1939	1940	7.5	7.4	7.450
2	3	Gavy Cravath	1913	1915	7.0	5.7	6.350
#	Years	thePlayer	Year1	YearL	WARmax	WARmin	WARave

Led only once but with WAR >= 9.0:

thePlayer	Year1	YearL	WARmax
Robin Yount	1982	1982	10.6
Ernie Banks	1959	1959	10.2
Al Rosen	1953	1953	10.2
Rico Petrocelli	1969	1969	10.0
Ron Santo	1967	1967	9.8
Larry Walker	1997	1997	9.8
Bryce Harper	2015	2015	9.7
Henry Aaron	1961	1961	9.4
George Brett	1980	1980	9.4
Ichiro Suzuki	2004	2004	9.2
Shohei Ohtani	2024	2024	9.2
Jason Giambi	2001	2001	9.2
Eddie Collins	1913	1913	9.0

Aaron is highlighted as the most surprising to have led only once.

244 records of players leading either the American League (AL) or National League (NL) in WAR. Number of times >=:

12: 5

11: 19 (including the 5 >= 12)

10: 57 (23%)

9: 108 (44%)

8: 178 (73%)

7: 225 (92%)

>= 11:

theYear	Player	team	WAR/pos	L	HOF	PA	BirthYear	OPS
1923	Babe Ruth	NYY	14.1	AL	Y	699	1895	1.3089
1921	Babe Ruth	NYY	12.8	AL	Y	693	1895	1.3586
1927	Babe Ruth	NYY	12.6	AL	Y	691	1895	1.2582
1967	Carl Yastrzemski	BOS	12.5	AL	Y	675	1939	1.0400
1924	Rogers Hornsby	STL	12.1	NL	Y	640	1896	1.2031
1920	Babe Ruth	NYY	11.9	AL	Y	615	1895	1.3818
2001	Barry Bonds	SFG	11.9	NL		662	1964	1.3785
2002	Barry Bonds	SFG	11.8	NL		610	1964	1.3807
1908	Honus Wagner	PIT	11.5	NL	Y	641	1874	.9569
1991	Cal Ripken	BAL	11.5	AL	Y	708	1960	.9399
1924	Babe Ruth	NYY	11.4	AL	Y	681	1895	1.2517
1926	Babe Ruth	NYY	11.4	AL	Y	652	1895	1.2530
1917	Ty Cobb	DET	11.3	AL	Y	669	1886	1.0138
1948	Stan Musial	STL	11.3	NL	Y	694	1920	1.1523
1957	Mickey Mantle	NYY	11.3	AL	Y	620	1931	1.1766
1956	Mickey Mantle	NYY	11.2	AL	Y	648	1931	1.1693
1965	Willie Mays	SFG	11.2	NL	Y	636	1931	1.0430
1964	Willie Mays	SFG	11.0	NL	Y	662	1931	.9898
1975	Joe Morgan	CIN	11.0	NL	Y	633	1930	.9744

< 7.0 (WAR is a total, not an average.):

1918	George Sisler	SLB	6.8	AL	Y	506	1893	.8407
1950	Phil Rizzuto	NYY	6.8	AL	Y	735	1917	.8568
1910	Sherry Magee	PHI	6.7	NL		647	1884	.9515
1919	Rogers Hornsby	STL	6.7	NL	Y	577	1896	.8142
1981	Dwight Evans	BOS	6.7	AL		501	1951	.9370
1986	Tony Gwynn	SDP	6.7	NL	Y	680	1960	.9580
2006	Grady Sizemore	CLE	6.7	AL		747	1982	.9075
1911	Honus Wagner	PIT	6.6	NL	Y	558	1874	.9305
1931	Bill Terry	NYG	6.6	NL	Y	662	1898	.9256
1959	Mickey Mantle	NYY	6.6	AL	Y	637	1931	.9041
1914	George Burns	NYG	6.5	NL		544	1893	.7397
2014	Giancarlo Stanton	MIA	6.5	NL		636	1989	.9497
1916	Art Fletcher	NYG	6.3	NL		542	1885	.7046
1962	Brooks Robinson	BAL	6.1	AL	Y	687	1937	.8279
1913	Gavy Cravath	PHI	5.7	NL		594	1881	.9741
1918	Rogers Hornsby	STL	5.4	NL	Y	466	1896	.7644
1926	Paul Waner	PIT	5.4	NL	Y	618	1903	.9405
2020	Mookie Betts	LAD	3.6	NL		245	1992	.9275
2020	DJ LeMahieu	NYY	3.0	AL		215	1988	1.0110
theYear	Player	team	WAR/pos	L	HOF	PA	BirthYear	OPS

Players who did not lead the league but had WAR >= 9.7 derived from:

https://stathead.com/tiny/6pKGz

For single seasons, from 1903 to 2024, Playing in the AL or NL, in the regular season, requiring Wins Above Replacement (WAR) >= 9.7, sorted by descending Wins Above Replacement (WAR).

Rk	Player	WAR	Season	Age	Team	Lg	G	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	First
6	Lou Gehrig	11.9	1927	24	NYY	AL	155	717	.373	.474	.765	1.240	220	Ruth
39	Eddie Collins	10.5	1910	23	PHA	AL	153	667	.324	.382	.418	.800	150	Cobb
45	Sammy Sosa	10.3	2001	32	CHC	NL	160	711	.328	.437	.737	1.174	203	Bonds
64	Mike Trout	9.9	2018	26	LAA	AL	140	608	.312	.460	.628	1.088	198	Betts
69	Nap Lajoie	9.8	1910	35	CLE	AL	159	679	.383	.444	.514	.958	197	Cobb
74	George Sisler	9.7	1920	27	SLB	AL	154	692	.407	.449	.632	1.082	181	Ruth
78	Eddie Collins	9.7	1909	22	PHA	AL	153	666	.347	.416	.450	.866	170	Cobb
80	Ted Williams	9.7	1957	38	BOS	AL	132	547	.388	.526	.731	1.257	233	Mantle

Willie Mays led league in WAR ten times. TEN. Sorting WAR, OPS+, HR. Friday, December 13, 2024