Adam Dunn, Dan Uggla, Walks, OBP, and Baseball History

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Adam Dunn seems a lock to win the American League’s Comeback Player of the Year Award, because after having a historically awful 2011 season, he’s bounced back to hit 41 home runs this year (all stats in this article are through play on Thursday, September 28^th), only two shy of the MLB lead. He’s also gotten attention for leading the league in walks and strikeouts, neither of which is a big surprise, given that he’s done each of those things before, and is one of the greatest “three true outcomes” players in baseball history.

The thing is, he’s also only batting .208, so even with a Major League best 103 walks, his on-base percentage is just .338, not a terrible figure, but not a good one either. I got to wondering, what’s the worst OBP a player has ever had for a season in which he led the league in walks???

The American League has been around since 1901. the National League goes back all the way to 1876. Here are the “top” twenty OBPs in either league’s history:

	Player	Year	Team	League	Walks	OBP
1	Adam Dunn	2012	White Sox	American	103	.338
2	Dan Uggla	2012	Braves	National	91	.343
3	Miller Huggins	1907	Reds	National	83	.346
4	Jack Graney	1917	Indians	American	94	.348
5	Donie Bush	1911	Tigers	American	98	.349
6	Jimmy Barrett	1904	Tigers	American	79	.353
7	Ron Santo	1968	Cubs	National	96	.354
8	Ned Williamson	1885	Cubs	National	75	.357
9	Max Carey	1918	Pirates	National	62	.363
10	Topsy Hartsel	1906	Athletics	American	88	.363
11	George Burns	1920	Giants	National	76	.365
12	Donie Bush	1910	Tigers	American	78	.365
13	Joe Morgan	1980	Astros	National	93	.367
14	Gene Tenace	1974	Athletics	American	110	.367
15	Mel Ott	1933	Giants	National	75	.367
16	Mark McGwire	1990	Athletics	American	110	.370
17	Heinie Groh	1916	Reds	National	84	.370
18	Topsy Hartsel	1908	Athletics	American	93	.371
19	Joe Morgan	1965	Astros	National	97	.373
20	Donie Bush	1914	Tigers	American	112	.373

Yep, Adam Dunn has the very worst OBP ever, among all players to lead either league in walks. Incredibly, the second worst OBP is from this year too, from Dan Uggla. Who knew we were witnessing double-history, every time these guys manage to go 0 for 4 with one BB?!

It’s also notable that most of the seasons on the list come from a long time ago. Including Dunn and Uggla, only seven of the twenty are from the last 75 years and none of the other eighteen seasons are from the last twenty years. I guess guys just don’t walk a ton but hit not a lick like they used to.

There are still six days left in the season, but Dunn has a 12 walk lead over Ben Zobrist for the American League lead, so he’s secure there. Uggla is only 3 walks ahead of Joey Votto, so there’s still a chance he could drop off of the list entirely. The other possibility is that one or both of them will raise their OBP enough over the season’s final days to drop down the list.

If not? Then Adam Dunn and Dan Uggla will have performed quite the statistical feat.