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 28th), 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
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.