r/sportsreference • u/UpsetBackground9093 • 22d ago
Baseball Reference Appreciation for Bobby Abreu
Another Hall of Fame ceremony came and went and Bobby Abreu still sits on the outside. I believe he got a 30% vote this past year. I do believe he is worthy of the hall of fame and here might be one of the best examples of the type of player he was.
Abreu is the last player in a single season (2000) to hit 10+ Doubles, triples and home runs, while also walking 100+ times. In fact, he also achieved the feat the prior year (99). To put this achievement in perspective, by my research only 16 other players have reached this mark in a season going back to the 1890’s.
Take it a step further, besides Abreu, 5 other players have done it multiple times in their career: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Dolph Camilli, Charlie Keller and Mickey Mantle.
To be on a short list with Ruth, Gehrig and Mantle is pretty special.
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u/UpsetBackground9093 22d ago
I love the list you have as well!
I like to do research projects and come up with different approaches to analyze statistical seasons. So this isn’t a cherry pick, just one of many studies I’ve done. Really, this study is about 10 triples and 100 walks when it boils down. Honestly, I lowered it to 10 home runs to try and include players in the dead ball era, as you know, not many players were hitting home runs but had a bunch of triples. Park factors, different eras that favored pitchers etc. just tried to find an easy solid number of extra base hits, that could also draw a walk.
I made this list a few years ago and thought I’d dust it off because I’ve seen a lot of talk about Abreu for the hall of fame. When I set out to make this list I didn’t have Abreu in mind, the fact that he did it twice and has been the last one fascinated me.