To help celebrate ESPN's 25th birthday, I've been asked to compile a list of the 10 best seasons by major league baseball players since 1979. I agreed, but with one caveat: no player is allowed to appear on the list more than once. I know that's not fair to Barry Bonds, but without this rule the list would very nearly be just Barry Bonds. And that's a list for a different time. Instead, here are 10 different players, and I should say beforehand that everything counts, including postseason performance (good or bad):
10. Will Clark, 1989
It's perhaps the great unknown season of the last quarter-century. In Win Shares, Bill James argues that "the best (hitter's) season of the 1980s ... was by Will Clark in 1989." Why would James argue that was better than not only his Giants teammate Kevin Mitchell -- who hit 47 home runs and was named MVP -- but also every other great hitter in that decade? The little things, mostly. Clark batted .333, scored 104 runs, and drove in 111, which of course are impressive numbers but not heroic. Dig a little deeper, though, and Clark's 1989 season looks a bit more impressive with every shovelful of dirt. The National League that season was a pitcher's league, and Clark played his home games in a pitcher's park. And he thrived in clutch situations; he batted .389 with runners in scoring position, and 13 of his 23 home runs came with men on the bases. I'm not going to argue that Clark's 1989 season was the best season of that decade, because I don't trust Win Shares that much. But I will argue that it was great, and that it shouldn't be forgotten.
9. Rickey Henderson, 1990
How would you like to have a speedy left fielder with a league-leading .439 on-base percentage and a league-leading 65 stolen bases? Pretty good leadoff man, right? Now throw in 28 home runs, and you've got Rickey Henderson in one of his two greatest seasons (he was nearly as good in 1985). In 1990 he was named MVP, and deservedly so. He makes this list despite playing only 136 games, thanks in part to an excellent World Series against the Reds (though the A's were swept, four straight).
8. Albert Pujols, 2003
In case anybody thought Pujols' phenomenal rookie season (2001) was a fluke, he came back and did roughly the same thing in 2002. And in case anybody thought those first two seasons were a fluke, he raised his game a notch or three in 2003. In addition to winning the NL batting title with a .359 mark, Pujols also led the majors in runs (137), doubles (51), and extra-base hits (95). And for the second straight season, Pujols finished second to Barry Bonds in the MVP balloting.
7. Ken Caminiti, 1996
Yes, Caminiti's brawn was loaded with anabolic steroids in 1996, which might well disqualify him from winning the highly coveted "Great Example for Kids Award." But it ain't cheatin' if you don't get caught, and Caminiti didn't get caught (not surprising, considering that nobody was trying to catch him). In addition to being considered the spiritual leader of a Padres team that reached the playoffs, Caminiti destroyed his previous career highs by hitting 40 home runs and knocking in 130 runs, and he also won his second of three straight Gold Gloves at third base.
6. Cal Ripken, 1983
Ripken was almost identically brilliant in 1983 and 1984, but '83 gets the nod here because the Orioles won the World Series and (not coincidentally) Ripken took first prize in the MVP sweepstakes. In just his second full season -- he'd been Rookie of the Year in 1982 -- Ripken played in every game (of course) and batted .318 with 76 extra-base hits (47 doubles and 27 homers), tops in the American League. (There is a real argument for Ripken's 1984 campaign, though, as he apparently was better with the glove that season.)
5. Sammy Sosa, 2001
When most people think of Sammy Sosa, they still think of Sosa's 1998 season and that thrilling (until late September) duel with Mark McGwire. But he was significantly better in 2001. That season his on-base percentage was 60 points higher (.437-.377), his slugging percentage was 90 points higher, he drove in a career-best 160 runs ... and he also managed to hit 64 home runs, which today ranks as the fifth-highest total in major league history.
4. George Brett, 1980
I'm reluctant to consider a player-season that included only 117 regular-season games, even if those 117 games did feature 118 RBI and a flirtation with the magical .400 until the closing days of the season. It was a great season, obviously, but what puts Brett on this list is a single moment on Oct. 10. The Royals had lost American League Championship Series to the Yankees in 1976, 1977, and 1978, and after a year off for both teams they faced off again in 1980. The Royals took Games 1 and 2 in Kansas City, but they trailed 2-1 in the seventh inning of Game 3. In the top of the seventh, though, Brett launched a Goose Gossage fastball into the right-field upper deck -- back in those days, not many home runs landed there -- for a three-run homer and a two-run lead that carried the Royals to the World Series. George Brett got a lot of big hits in his Hall of Fame career, but this one was the biggest.
3. Robin Yount, 1982
Brewers shortstop Yount led the American League with 210 hits, 46 doubles, a .578 slugging percentage, and a .962 OPS ... Oh, and did I mention he played pretty good defense for a team that won its first pennant, and wound up his brilliant year with the MVP Award?
2. Mark McGwire, 1998
In July and even August, we still wondered if McGwire could really hit more home runs in a season than Roger Maris. Would he be healthy enough? Would he be able to handle the pressure? Could he answer the same stupid questions in yet one more city without losing his mind? The answer to all of these questions was, of course, an emphatic yes. McGwire tied Maris on Sept. 7, passed him on Sept. 8, and toward the end of the month he hit five homers in his last three games to finish with a previously unthinkable total: 70 home runs. Of course, we had no idea that McGwire's new record would last only three seasons because of this guy ...
1. Barry Bonds, 2002
If we allowed one player to occupy multiple spots on this list, Bonds certainly would appear three times, and perhaps five or six times. His best regular season was actually 2001, when he played in 153 games and hit 73 home runs. In 2002 his games fell to 143 and his home runs to 46. He compensated with a .370 batting average and a major-league record .584 on-base percentage, but what really sets Bonds's 2002 season apart was what happened after the season. Long criticized for his postseason struggles with the Pirates and Giants -- prior to 2002, Bonds had batted .196 with just one home run in 27 postseason games -- he exploded in 2002, hitting eight home runs in 17 games. Bonds' 2002 season is not only the best of the ESPN Era, but quite possibly the best ever.
Just missing the list: Mike Schmidt (1980), Jeff Bagwell (1994), Craig Biggio (1997), Mike Piazza (1997), Alex Rodriguez (take your pick), and Jeff Kent (2000).
― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 19:30 (twenty-one years ago)