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Monday, November 10, 2008

The Dugout Central: Caimano: The Worst Hitter Ever

Question…How was it possible for scientists to suck the anti-Klotho gene out of Ray Oyler’s abandoning grayflesh and give it to Brandon Fahey, without anyone knowing about it?

Bill Bergen was a catcher for the Cincinnati Reds and Brooklyn Superbas/Dodgers from 1901 to 1911. He played in a total of 947 games and had 3,028 at bats. His career OPS+ was 21 … that’s right, 21. The next lowest career OPS+ was the 49 posted by Hal Lanier. Hal Lanier’s lifetime slash stats (AVG/OBP/SLG) were .228/.255/.275. Bill Bergen was a far worse hitter than Hal Lanier. Bill Bergen’s BEST hitting year was 1903 when he went .227/.252/.266, which equates to an OPS+ of 41 and is worse than Lanier’s career numbers. He had four doubles, two triples and seven walks in 207 at bats.

It’s difficult for me, quite frankly, to find words that do justice to how bad those stats are and, again, that was Bergen’s best year. It was the only time in his eleven major league seasons that he managed to hit for an average above .200. In 1909 he hit .139 in 346 at bats. In 1911, his final year, he hit .132. He had four extra base hits and a slugging percentage of .154. His OPS+ was -1. I didn’t know it was possible to have a negative OPS.

Repoz Posted: November 10, 2008 at 02:30 PM | 52 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
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1. Gamingboy Posted: November 10, 2008 at 03:46 PM (#3006025)

Most similar player to Bergen: Bill Holbert.

2. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 03:58 PM (#3006031)

Anyone have any idea how much defensive value Bergen would have needed to have to justify his PT?

I'm guessing it's virtually impossible. Your average no bat, good glove backup catcher type has to put up an OPS+ in the 60-70 range, doesn't he?

3. AROM Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:05 PM (#3006041)

Looking at the batting runs on B-ref, Bergen is about -60 runs per full season. A replacement level catcher is about 30 runs below average. It is virtually impossible in today's game that a catcher could be good enough on defense to justify that bat. I think Gary Carter had the best defensive runs season at around +25, but that isn't sustainable, if a catcher is that good baserunners can neutralize much of his value by never attempting to steal - see Pudge, late 1990's.

Were catchers of Bergen's time worse hitters relative to other positions than they are today?

4. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:12 PM (#3006044)

No shocker here.

5. Crispix Attacks Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:16 PM (#3006045)

Probably the first piece of baseball trivia I ever remembered was that Bill Bergen was the worst hitter of all time. Because "Bill Bergen" is an easier name to remember than "Vander Meer" or "Wambsganss".

I was hoping for an article that used a projection system to say that, say, Brian Giles was the worst hitter of all time, and then for the author to appear in comments and defend himself strenuously. No such luck.

6. John DiFool2 Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:16 PM (#3006047)

The name "Superbas" always makes me giggle. What is a "ba" anyway?

7. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:19 PM (#3006048)

Were catchers of Bergen's time worse hitters relative to other positions than they are today?

I just did a P-I search on B-Ref. 1900-1911, minimum 250 games at C.

You get 49 players. Bergen is dead last at 21 OPS+. You then have 4 guys in the 40's, 2 in the 50's, 10 in the 60's, 10 in the 70's, 9 in the 80's, 6 in the 90's, and 7 above 100 OPS+.

The same search for 1998-2008 has a similar distribution, but a little worse. 96 players, by OPS+ buckets: 40's 1, 50's 3, 60's 13, 70's 19, 80's 29, 90's 17, over 100 14.

So, even compared to his peers he was absolutely horrific, and his peers don't seem to be that much worse than modern C's.

8. Crispix Attacks Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:20 PM (#3006050)

The name "Superbas" always makes me giggle. What is a "ba" anyway?

Hmmm...there are seven Bas listed here.

Super Ba

Mediocre Ba

9. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:26 PM (#3006053)

The name "Superbas" always makes me giggle. What is a "ba" anyway?

When I was a kid I wondered why the LA baseball team named themselves after dodgeball players.

I didn't get a lot of the team names - Expos, Astros, Mets, the "x" in Sox.

10. flournoy Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:31 PM (#3006055)

The name "Superbas" always makes me giggle. What is a "ba" anyway?

I'm pretty sure that it's Superb-as, not Super-bas. It'd would be like "Terrificas" or "Spectacularas" or "Fantasticas," all of which are equally stupid.

11. Der Komminsk-sar Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:33 PM (#3006058)

Wow - I never figured that out - thanks!

12. Crispix Attacks Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:33 PM (#3006059)

Superba is a girl's name. They should have been the Superbos.

13. The District Attorney Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:34 PM (#3006060)

I'm not sure if I'm missing the joke here, but a "Superba" is most likely a person who is superb... not a super Ba. EDIT: Beaten!

"Bridegrooms" was good too.

Looking over the B-R teams page, I also like the Newark Pepper, the Columbus Solons, and the Wilmington Quicksteps.

I might nominate "Boston Rustlers" for the Utah Jazz Least Appropriate Nickname for the City You're In Award.

14. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:37 PM (#3006061)

I might nominate "Boston Rustlers" for the Utah Jazz Least Appropriate Nickname for the City You're In Award

the LA Lakers say hi

15. Designated Sitter (GGC) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:39 PM (#3006063)

Sox was a Menckenesque attempt to simplify English spelling. My Don Quickote-like attempt to get night changed to nite is something similar.

16. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Moral Idiot

Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:40 PM (#3006065)

Or the current version of the Ole Miss Rebels.

17. SoSH U at work Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:44 PM (#3006066)

Sox was a Menckenesque attempt to simplify English spelling.

I thought it was, like many nicknames of the era, a product of the headline writers.

18. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:50 PM (#3006068)

I'm pretty sure that it's Superb-as, not Super-bas. It'd would be like "Terrificas" or "Spectacularas" or "Fantasticas," all of which are equally stupid.

Or "Perfectos".

19. Designated Sitter (GGC) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:52 PM (#3006071)

A perfecto is a cigar that has a tapered shape. About 100 years ago a local minor league team had a couple of Cubans and they nicknamed their team that.

20. Slinger Francisco Barrios (Dr. Memory) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 04:59 PM (#3006074)

My Don Quickote-like attempt to get night changed to nite is something similar.

But successful on a personal level is your attempt to re-cast "Quixote" into something more Anglo.

21. Designated Sitter (GGC) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 05:03 PM (#3006076)

For SoSH

It turns out that Mencken endorsed the spelling, but he didn't originate it. I stand corrected.

22. Bob Dernier Cri

Posted: November 10, 2008 at 05:04 PM (#3006078)

One thing that ought to be pointed out is that during Bergen's years with Brooklyn, the Superbas were truly terrible. It would be one thing if they were winning pennants with this glove wizard, but man, they stunk.

Cincinnati wasn't bad in 1903, though, when Bergen was a second-string catcher hitting .227. That was his career year ...

23. Chipper Jonestown Massacre Posted: November 10, 2008 at 05:10 PM (#3006083)

I didn't get a lot of the team names - Expos, Astros, Mets, the "x" in Sox.

I blame the Red Sox & White Sox for being placed in the wrong spelling level in elementary school.

One of the words on the placement test was "socks". When the teacher called out the word for us to spell, I deliberated over the spelling for a long time. I initially thought it was "socks", but then I remembered that, not one, but two Major League baseball teams had it spelled "sox" on their uniforms. Surely no professional sports team would have a misspelled word on their uniform, would they?

I concluded that this was just one more of the many exceptions to English spelling rules and spelled the word s-o-x, confident that I had spelled it correctly.

WRONG...!!!

24. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: November 10, 2008 at 05:14 PM (#3006084)

Would a team of Bill Bergens win a single game against a team of Babe Ruths if you ran a DMB simulation?

25. The District Attorney Posted: November 10, 2008 at 05:15 PM (#3006085)

the Superbas were truly terrible.

The writers should have re-named them the "Suckas."

I was guessing Tony Pena Jr. when I saw the headline, BTW... although I knew about Bergen... just seemed more timely.

26. greenback

Posted: November 10, 2008 at 05:27 PM (#3006092)

So why did the Superbas purchase Bergen?

27. Walt Davis Posted: November 10, 2008 at 05:39 PM (#3006097)

Don Quickote

For all your rust-proofing needs.

So why did the Superbas purchase Bergen?

Buy low.

28. Bob T Posted: November 10, 2008 at 05:40 PM (#3006098)

The 1903 version of Buck Martinez said, "There are two positions in baseball where you don't have to hit: catcher and shortstop."

29. greenback

Posted: November 10, 2008 at 05:45 PM (#3006103)

Ned Hanlon, the Superbas manager at the time, is in the Hall of Fame. He may be the reason Buck Martinez says things like that.

30. Obama Bomaye Posted: November 10, 2008 at 05:48 PM (#3006107)

A replacement level catcher is about 30 runs below average. It is virtually impossible in today's game that a catcher could be good enough on defense to justify that bat. I think Gary Carter had the best defensive runs season at around +25, but that isn't sustainable, if a catcher is that good baserunners can neutralize much of his value by never attempting to steal - see Pudge, late 1990's.

This assumes that we've determined how to quantify all catcher defense, which obviously isn't true. It is unlikely the range of abilities in catcher defense was the same then as now. Catcher defense was more important then than it is now, due to far more bunting and base stealing.

So even though his teams were often near the bottom in runs allowed, I think it's safe to say Bergen was worth 250-300 runs a year defensively.

31. Bob Dernier Cri

Posted: November 10, 2008 at 05:52 PM (#3006111)

Bergen was worth 250-300 runs a year defensively

Well, as Casey Stengel said, if you don't have a catcher you're going to have a lot of passed balls back there.

32. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Griffin (Vlad) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 05:53 PM (#3006112)

""Bridegrooms" was good too."

Always a Bridegroom, never a bride.

33. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: November 10, 2008 at 05:54 PM (#3006115)

Well, as Casey Stengel said, if you don't have a catcher you're going to have a lot of passed balls back there.

Making Jose Lima a very valuable commodity. I think Lima will stick around waiting for this inevitable rule change.

34. ess eff Posted: November 10, 2008 at 06:16 PM (#3006132)

Luis Pujols was sort of Bergenesque, though his career 44 OPS for parts of nine seasons is more than double that of the master. Pujols' batting line does help create a remarkable statistical dichotomy for the only two major leaguers of that surname.

35. ellsbury my heart at wounded knee Posted: November 10, 2008 at 06:23 PM (#3006135)

Looking over the B-R teams page, I also like the Newark Pepper, the Columbus Solons, and the Wilmington Quicksteps.

It is rare that I need to look up the definition of a team name, but "solon" was a new one to me. Thanks!

36. ess eff Posted: November 10, 2008 at 06:30 PM (#3006138)

It is rare that I need to look up the definition of a team name, but "solon" was a new one to me. Thanks!

Sacramento's PCL team in the league's golden age was also the Solons.

37. Morally Excellent Posted: November 10, 2008 at 07:37 PM (#3006209)

Always a Bridegroom, never a bride.

I don't think we can have bridegrooms anymore, thanks to proposition 8.

38. The Bones McCoy of THT Posted: November 10, 2008 at 08:24 PM (#3006311)

Uh oh ... Ricciardi just claimed Bergen on waivers and signed him for next season with an option for '10. Since he's dead, he'll probably open 2009 on the 15-day DL.

Ricciardi says he'll back up Rod Barajas and see some time at DH against southpaws.

Best Regards

John

39. Greg Franklin Posted: November 10, 2008 at 08:48 PM (#3006357)

I like "Fantasticos" as a future team name, preferably a club with a Latino vibe.

The Bergen question for WHOAT I would put up from the reference page is that, given the vastly different playing conditions of his day and the emphasis on catcher defense, how many of the other 15 clubs in MLB in his day put up with a Bergenesque hitter as their catcher for any length of time? As Dernier says, it's not like Bergen's outstanding defense lifted his clubs (Reds/Superbas) into pennant contention either.

A nice SABR project would be to compare Bill's press coverage during his career to that of other light hitters of our modern day -- the Laniers and Oylers and Tony Pena Jrs. How many columnists thundered that he should be run out of town, how many columnists thundered he should be kept as a defensive stopper, as a negative influence, positive influence, when and where was he subbed/PH for, did he have blackmail material on his manager, was there an ergot poisoning epidemic making the rounds? That kind of thing. I don't know if such a study exists.

40. Van Lingle Mungo Jerry Posted: November 10, 2008 at 08:50 PM (#3006358)

I concluded that this was just one more of the many exceptions to English spelling rules and spelled the word s-o-x, confident that I had spelled it correctly.

Reminiscent of Charlie Brown's elimination in the first round of his school's spelling bee for hearing his word ("maze"), flashing on the Say Hey Kid and spelling it "M-A-Y-S". Wah wah wah wah-wah wah.

41. Crispix Attacks Posted: November 10, 2008 at 08:58 PM (#3006369)

I like "Fantasticos" as a future team name, preferably a club with a Latino vibe.

Not as good as "Los Hombres Muy Magnifico".

42. AndrewJ Posted: November 10, 2008 at 09:16 PM (#3006384)

The name "Superbas" always makes me giggle. What is a "ba" anyway

For years my latent dyslexia kicked in whenever I came across this nickname -- I always read it as "Superbras."

43. The Bones McCoy of THT Posted: November 10, 2008 at 10:25 PM (#3006434)

For years my latent dyslexia kicked in whenever I came across this nickname -- I always read it as "Superbras."

I think you're confused. Dyslexia isn't another name for testosterone.

Best Regards

John

44. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 11:00 PM (#3006456)

The Bergen question for WHOAT I would put up from the reference page is that, given the vastly different playing conditions of his day and the emphasis on catcher defense, how many of the other 15 clubs in MLB in his day put up with a Bergenesque hitter as their catcher for any length of time? As Dernier says, it's not like Bergen's outstanding defense lifted his clubs (Reds/Superbas) into pennant contention either.

Here's a list of contemporary catchers.

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/aUZw

45. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 11:00 PM (#3006457)

Double post.

46. vortex of dissipation Posted: November 10, 2008 at 11:01 PM (#3006458)

Ned Hanlon, the Superbas manager at the time, is in the Hall of Fame.

That's where the nickname came from. There was a popular acrobatic troupe at the time which worked trapeze acts and tumbling into musical numbers and dramatic sketches (I guess you had to be there). The troupe was run by the six Hanlon Brothers, and their last production, in the 1890s, was called Superba.

Ned Hanlon was not related to the brothers, but someone got the bright idea of nicknaming his team after the Hanlons' act, and voila!, Brooklyn Superbas was born...

47. Chase Utley, Shooty's Favorite Robot (Joey Belle) Posted: November 10, 2008 at 11:17 PM (#3006466)

I'm partial to the Rockford Forest Citys, the Middletown Mansfields, and the Buffalo Buffeds. Oh and the Fort Wayne Kekiongas.

48. vortex of dissipation Posted: November 10, 2008 at 11:37 PM (#3006471)

Obviously it's not baseball, and equally obviously I'm biased, but, to me, the best name, and logo, in North American team sports is clearly this:

Windsor Spitfires

49. vortex of dissipation Posted: November 11, 2008 at 12:22 AM (#3006488)

Disagree:

Austin Ice Bats

I'd like to see an Ice Bat go one-on-one with Adolf Galland.

50. RMc's grumbling has gone far enough Posted: November 11, 2008 at 10:24 AM (#3006682)

Wilmington Quicksteps

Best. Nickname. Ever.

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