Statistical Foray: World Series Hitting Streaks

I recently acquired a children's book (I read at a third grade level) about the life of Roberto Clemente. At the end of the book is a picture of his Hall of Fame plaque. There were the career highlights and such, but one piece of information caught my eye.

"BATTED .362 IN TWO WORLD SERIES, HITTING IN ALL 14 GAMES."

Every single World Series game Clemente played in he got at least one hit. That's outstanding. But is it the record? Are there longer World Series hitting streaks?

Initially I didn't think there'd be any easy way to do the research. But fortunately for me Baseball-Reference.com has opened up their Play Index to non-subscribers until the 19th of July. What this means is I am very nearly able to look up everything that ever happened ever.

Just go to the batting streak finder,
click "Postseason,"
click the "Series/Game" drop down menu to read WS (any game),
click "Consecutive Hs" on the far right,
click "Get Results,"
then get results.

Yankee outfielder Hank Bauer holds the record with 17 consecutive World Series games with at least one hit. Very impressive. With the Yankees during their decade of dominance, Bauer played in far more than 17 games. In fact he played in 53 World Series games, and accruing a hit in each of those contests would have been an unfathomable feat (though if we're talking streaks of 50+ games I can think of one person who was probably capable of doing it).

Bauer hadn't fared so well at the plate prior to his hitting streak. In his World Series appearances from 1949 to 1955 (32 games) he batted .202, had an on-base percentage of .265, and a slugging percentage of only .245. Zero home runs, zero doubles (though two triples to his credit). He was even caught stealing in his only two attempts. But from Game 1 of the '56 Series to Game 3 of the '58 Series he was a monster. Seventeen games, 24 hits, .316 batting average, .605 slugging percentage, six homers, two doubles, and a triple. And this time he was 1-for-1 in stolen base attempts. Go Hank!

But despite this sudden burst of hitting his strikeouts-per-at-bat ratio went way up.
First 32 games: 9 strikeouts in 94 at-bats.
Next 17 games: 13 strikeouts in 76 at-bats.
I get the feeling Casey Stengel told Bauer to just go up there and hit the ball real hard.

Bauer went 0-for-4 in Game 4 of the '58 Series to end the streak, but singled in Game 5 and homered in Game 6.


Next on the list with the second-longest World Series hitting streak is... Marquis Grissom?
Grissom was an average hitter but was a consistently awesome hitter during the World Series. Hit managed hits in his first 15 World Series games, ultimately hitting safely in 17 of 19 (and reached base safely in all but his final World Series game). During his 15 game hitting streak he hit an astounding .452, had an OBP of .500, hit 4 doubles, a triple, and stole 4 bases. He didn't hit any home runs, but he came around to score 11 times anyway (add that to his 8 RBIs and he played a part in 19 runs scored).


Third is another great Yankee, Derek Jeter. As an active player I suppose he still has an opportunity to break Bauer's record, but it seems less and less likely with each passing season.

From Game 6 of the 1996 World Series to Game 5 of the 2000 World Series Jeter hit in 14 consecutive games, same as Clemente. Jeter's 14 games were very similar to Clemente's 14 games with a few key exceptions.
Similarities:

- Jeter, 60 at-bats. Clemente, 58 at-bats.
- Jeter, 22 hits. Clemente, 21 hits.
- Jeter, .367 batting average. Clemente, .362 batting average.
- Jeter, 3 doubles, 2 homers, 1 triple. Clemente, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 1 triple.
Differences:
- Jeter, 4 steals. Clemente, 0 steals (though stolen bases are inconsequential to hitting stats).
- Jeter, 7 walks. Clemente, 2 walks.
- Jeter, 15 (!) strikeouts. Clemente, 6 strikeouts.
- Jeter, 15 (!) runs. Clemente, 4 runs.

Unlike Clemente, Jeter did not get a hit in every World Series game he played in (though a hit in 26 out of 32 games is still very good). And since nobody besides all the players we just mentioned have hit in 14 consecutive World Series games, Clemente holds the record for most World Series games with a hit where that same player had zero World Series games without a hit. It sounds wordy, but you know what I mean. Clemente got a hit in every World Series game he played, and he's the only one to do it with 14 games.

Who has the next longest streak for hits in all his World Series games? Riggs Stephenson who, for the Cubs in the 1929 and 1932 World Series, played in 9 games, hit .378, had 7 RBIs, and slapped 12 singles and 2 doubles. But despite his best efforts the Cubs lost 8 of those 9 games.

Who's the highest active player who's had a hit in all of his World Series games? Garret Anderson with seven. They were all accumulated during the 2002 World Series. If Anderson were to find himself in another seven-game series he'd have a shot at Clemente's mark. It's unlikely but possible.

As always mentioned during any discussion concerning Roberto Clemente, there's no telling what he could have accomplished given a few more years to do so. The Pirates fell to the Reds in the 1972 NLCS (where Clemente played his last games), and perhaps he could have given them the three wins they needed in 1973 to reach the playoffs again. Always a great hitter and outstanding fielder, he might've had enough left in the tank to advance the Pirates to the World Series in 1974 and 1975 (where they fell to the Dodgers and Reds, respectively, in the NLCSs). Tragically he was never given the chance to advance his World Series hitting streak or build upon his other great achievements. But there is no question that he seized the opportunities he was given and left a unique mark upon baseball.

Alex Rodriguez: Coloring By Numbers

I get the impression that people think Alex Rodriguez is something of a liability. Critics, many of them in the New England region, many of them Yankee "supporters", consider him a choker, or a selfish goon disinterested in team cohesion.

He's currently making his free agent rounds and will end up with whoever is willing to pay the most cash for him. Thus far there aren't many takers, and it's not due to post-season unproductivity or big fat jerkiness. The only reason Major League ballclubs aren't clamoring for Rodriguez is because he's the highest payed player. He's simply unaffordable.

Let's say I'm a big league team. Probably the Royals. I'm poor but I want to -- I don't know -- street race. I can't afford the high-performance sports cars, so I'm left with my dumb (and ageing) Ford Escort. If I want to seriously compete I can't simply go out and purchase the best models. I'll need to build up my own cars myself and work with what my budget allows.

Alex Rodriguez, therefore, is a gold-plated time-traveling DeLorean with a rocket engine. His salary this season (part of that gargantuan 10-year, $252 million deal) was $22.7 million. Tampa Bay's 2007 TEAM payroll totaled $24.1 million.

(Completely amusing, by the way, is the thought of Alex Rodriguez in a Rays uniform... and, for financial reasons, the only player on the field.)

(You'll notice, too, that I'll never call him A-Rod. He's not some sort of load-bearing I-Beam, and I'm not so lazy that I can't say and spell his dang name.)

As far as Rodriguez's talent is concerned, FireJoeMorgon.com has already beaten this topic to death. I like to play with the numbers myself, though, so here's my argument that Alex Rodriguez is not as crappy as you think. And not crappy at all. And actually quite good.

Postseason Meltdown
Some time ago Alex Rodriguez got the reputation of being a clutch choker. I don't remember when the scapegoating began, but it probably started during the 2004 ALCS. In the twelfth innings of Game 5 against the Red Sox, the Yanks up three games to one, Rodriguez had a chance to knock in the go-ahead run standing on second base. A win here would take the Yankees to the World Series. With two outs, instead of hitting a Hobbs-like home run, he flied out to centerfield. In fact, for the rest of the series he could do absolutely nothing with runners on base. It was hard to watch, and since so much expectation had been heaped upon him, and since it absolutely mortified Yankee fans to watch New York botch a three-game series lead, he was the natural boo-ee.

Fast-forward a year to the 2005 ALDS against the Angels. Two-for-fifteen, five strikeouts, no home runs. Yankees did not advance.

The 2006 ALDS against the Tigers. One-for-fourteen, four strikeouts, no home runs. Yankees did not advance.

Naturally the Yankees' failure as a team is due to Alex Rodriguez's inability to play the game of baseball, ain't it? Right? Aren't they awful because Choke-Rod is awful?
Well, first of all I don't consider four playoff appearances in four years awful.
Secondly AREN'T THERE, LIKE, THIRTY OTHER PEOPLE ON THE TEAM?

2007 ALDS Breakdown
So the Yankees fall to the Indians in the first round of playoffs and it's all Rodriguez's fault again.
Yes and no.
Yes -- because Rodriguez amassed zero hits in his first eight plate appearances.
No -- because A) he then went four-for-nine with a homer, and B) he wasn't getting much help from his teammates.

In this series the only Yankees who got more hits than Rodriguez were Robinson Cano and Johnny Damon with five. The Yankees as a team batted .228 (.223 without Rodriguez). Derek Jeter, the Captain, Clipper, Savior, Etc., went three-for-seventeen with four strikeouts. No walks, no extra-base hits. Grounded into three double plays. And Chokey Rodriguez is the bad guy?

Hideki Matsui, two-for-eleven.
Jorge Posada, two-for-fifteen.
Melky Cabrera, three-for-sixteen.
Chien-Ming Wang, fourteen hits, twelve(!) earned runs in five-and-two-thirds innings.
Roger Clemens, three earned runs in two-and-two-thirds.
Some guy named Ohlendorf, three runs in one inning.

Again, Alex Rodriguez, .267 series batting average, a home run, a couple walks, a couple runs, grounded into ZERO double plays. Not great, but not deserving of his wretched public perception.

And if you go back and check the numbers for the 2004, 2005, and 2006 playoffs series you'll find that, shockingly, Alex Rodriguez was NOT the only player on the New York Yankees who performed poorly. Egads! In fact, you'll find that he was one of the better ones on the 2004 team where in that postseason he hit .320 with three home runs, eight RBIs, two stolen bases, and five doubles.

And if you go back even further, as a member of the Seattle Mariners his postseason totals are fairly impressive. In fifteen postseason games spanning from 1995 to 2000 he hit .340, had three homers, three doubles, six runs, eight RBIs. These are not choking numbers.

Rodriguez and Jeter, Head-to-Head
It's the natural tendancy of Yankee fans to like Derek Jeter and dislike Alex Rodriguez. Jeter is a born-and-bred Yankee, a first-round draft pick who rose up through the organization to become the first Yankee captain since Don Mattingly. For many years Rodriguez was seen as something of a rival; both played shortstop, both excelled at baseball, and they would meet each other in the playoffs. So when Rodriguez came to the Yankees and gave up his shortstop position it was immediately apparent that he was to be second-banana. And when, heaven forbid, they weren't chummy with each other... well, every good guy needs a bad guy.

But I would much MUCH rather have Alex Rodriguez on my team than Derek Jeter. I mean, it's great to have them both together, but if I had to choose it'd be Rodriguez all the way. That's not to say that I don't like Derek Jeter. I love the guy. He's got a great bat and seems to be a pretty good team leader. But athletically he's no Alex Rodriguez.

Although they are different types of hitters (Jeter with his inside-out good-for-gaps swing, Rodriguez with his big good-for-home runs swing) they both have remarkably similar offensive stats. Per 162 games they average about two-hundred hits, thirty-four doubles, seventy-ish walks, and a .388 on-base percentage. (Interestingly they're both also hit by pitches about eleven times every season.) So it's clear that they're both equally adept at reaching base, but it's how they reach base that's so very important.

Per 162 games:
Derek Jeter's slugging% = .462
Alex Rodriguez's SLG% = .578
This means that for each at bat, Rodriguez is going to average more bases. More bases equals more opportunities to knock in runs and be in scoring position himself. Speaking of runs batted in...

Per 162 games:
Derek Jeter's RBIs = 82
Alex Rodriguez's RBIs = 128
It's quite an accomplishment to attain 100 RBIs in a season, even extrapolated to 162 games. Rodriguez averages 128.

There's also Bill James' Runs Created stat, which is a calculation of how many runs a team of Derek Jeters or a team of Alex Rodriguezes would score.

In 13 seasons Derek Jeter's Runs Created per game is 6.8, meaning a team of Jeters would score 6.8 runs per game in Major League baseball.
In 14 seasons Alex Rodriguez's RC/G is 8.4, meaning a team of Rodriguezes would score more runs than a team of Jeters.
In 2007 Jeter's RC/G was 6.3. Rodriguez's was 10.4.

So clearly, and I don't even know why I'm arguing this, Alex Rodriguez is a much better offensive weapon than Derek Jeter. But what about DEfensively? Both are Gold Glove shortstops, but which one is better at his position?

By the numbers Rodriguez is only an average third baseman, but I don't think it's fair to compare stats from his secondary position. So any numbers I pull up for Rodriguez will strictly be for games played at shortstop.

Their fielding percentage is about the same (Jeter's .975 to Rodriguez's .977), but we need to be able to figure out who has the better range. The point of being a fielder is to make outs, and naturally you'll be able to make more outs if you're able to get to more balls. Fortunately there's a range statistic, and in this instance the results are very telling.

The Range Factor is calculated by adding assists and put-outs and then, for the sake of averaging, dividing by games played. Somebody who is able to get to more balls will have a higher RFg.

Derek Jeter's career RFg is 4.05, which is actually below the league average of 4.12 for that span of time he's played.
Alex Rodriguez's career RFg at shortstop is 4.42, well above the league average of 4.15 for his span of time.

And as for double plays turned, Jeter averages a double play every 1.8 games played, or 90 every 162 games.
Rodriguez at short averaged a double play every 1.5 games played, or 108 every 162 games.

Alex Rodriguez is a better shortstop than Derek Jeter.
Alex Rodriguez. Is a better. Shortstop. Than Derek Jeter.
So why did Rodriguez have to move to third base? Because Jeter wouldn't have even been able to play the hot corner. He's a subpar shortstop who wins Gold Glove awards because of that neat jumpy throw he does.

But Alex Rodriguez is the bad guy. And the boos of finnicky fans and finger-pointing media probably aided in his decision to persue free agency. And now the Yankees will lose their best player.


[By the way, I didn't pull any of these numbers out of my hindquarters. Baseball-Reference.com is the source for all of these stats and more.]