Greatest fluke seasons

[Peter_Spaeth]

Norm cash hit .361 in 1961 his next highest average was .289. Tommy Davis had 153 RBI in 1962 his next best total was 89. Other examples?

[Mikehealer]

I don't remember the year, but Brady Anderson hitting 50 HR's was certainly a fluke. I don't think he hit 30 in any other year.

[Jlighter]

Recently we have had Ubaldo Jimenez in 2010, although this might have been steroid aided.

19-8, 1.15-WHIP, 2.88-ERA, 214 SO.

2011

10-13, 1.40-WHIP, 4.68-ERA, 180 SO

2012

9-17, 1.61-WHIP, 5.40-ERA, 143 SO.

[z28jd]

Earl Webb hitting 67 doubles in 1931. He only had 155 career doubles.

Joe Charboneau ROY in 1980, out of majors by 1982

[freakhappy]

McGwire and Bonds 70 homer seasons...I heard they were hitting the weights extra heavy those years :eek:;)

[z28jd]

Maris hitting 61 or Hack Wilson setting the RBI record would have to be the greatest fluke seasons. Wilson at least showed that potential in another season, but 191 RBI's is a fluke, especially when you walk 104 times!

[novakjr]

As Mike said, Brady Anderson's 1996 stands out to me. Although steroids were probably the main cause. I just can't imagine steroids alone, taking a guy with a previous career high of 21, and suddenly make him hit 50, and then never again top 24 afterwards. There had to have been an insane amount of luck as well..

Now this next one isn't really a fluke season...But rather a lucky MVP Award. And that's Bagwell's NL MVP in '94. He had broken his hand, which would've forced him to sit a significant amount of time.. That more than likely would've put him out of the running. Especially with Matt Williams still on pace to tie Maris' single season HR record.. But then the strike happened a few days later.. I guess there's still a chance that Baggy could've won it anyways though..

[kmac32]

The 2011 Cardinals winning the World Series.

[bbcard1]

Let me throw this at you....Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak. Had it not been stopped by two great plays Kenny Keltner would have stretched to more than seventy games...but despite a career that puts him in the upper pantheon of the greatest players of all-time, he never again hit in more than 23 consecutive games.

[Scott T]

Davey Johnson hitting 43 HRs for the 1973 Braves after coming over from the Orioles, where he hit 5 in 1972 (I know it was the "Launching Pad", but...)

[howard38]

.

[quinnsryche]

I don't remember the year, but Brady Anderson hitting 50 HR's was certainly a fluke. I don't think he hit 30 in any other year.

That's not a fluke, that's PEDs!:mad:

[itjclarke]

Let me throw this at you....Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak. Had it not been stopped by two great plays Kenny Keltner would have stretched to more than seventy games...but despite a career that puts him in the upper pantheon of the greatest players of all-time, he never again hit in more than 23 consecutive games.

Can't forget the 61 gamer he had with the Seals though.

Jim Gentile's 46 HR season always stands out to me, though many like Brady Anderson's 50 beat it. How about 57 HRs from Luis Gonzalez! I wonder how much his chewed gum is worth now?? Seem to remember someone thought it was worth over $50K in 2001.

[frankbmd]

1959 Elroy Leon Face , Pittsburgh Pirates

18-1 from the bull pen in 57 games and 93 innings. (104-95 career record)

Unlike current practice, Murtaugh liked to use his bull pen ace in losing games.

At least for one year, it worked.

[brob28]

Earl Webb hitting 67 doubles in 1931. He only had 155 career doubles.

Joe Charboneau ROY in 1980, out of majors by 1982



+1 Charboneau was my first thought, another would be Ron Kittle.

[sycks22]

Dontrelle Willis 2005

22-10 2.63 ERA 5 SO 7 CG

72-69 career over 4.00 ERA

[Jay Wolt]

Like Brady Anderson, Luis Gonzalez 2001 season had to be a fluke.
He hit .325 w/ 57 home runs & 142 RBI, no other season of his came close to any of those marks.


edited for spelling

[mrvster]

Does this count as a "fluke" :)

[barrysloate]

Steve Stone going 25-8 and winning the Cy Young Award. The next season he was 5-8.

[EvilKing00]

what about the thought process in reverse. Adam dunn just, 1 season ago not even comming close to his normal 40 or so HR, that hes pretty steady with. Where he hit only 11, then the following year, he was right back to 41

[atx840]

Johnny, your arms are as cut as your cards. :D

[mrvster]

Thanks my BRO:D

That was last year, i'm a little outta shape this year:o

[z28jd]

Thanks my BRO:D

That was last year, i'm a little outta shape this year:o

I think we need to test you for fishing PED's Johnny. I notice you caught bigger first last season than any year before

[mrvster]

ok ok.......:D

[Mikehealer]

Johnny this is no fluke, but my 5 year old caught this a couple of weeks ago.


http://photos.imageevent.com/mhgt/irelandgolfjune2011/royalcountydown/large/image.jpg

[Blunder19]

Arods 2009 playoff performance... vs every other playoff performance he's ever had.. that guy cant swing the bat in the playoffs.

[travrosty]

i dont think an entire season can be a fluke, give me the biggest fluke decade for any player. flukes are one day, one week maybe, something like that, a hot streak for a little while, not an entire season. you dont hit 191 rbi's in a season and its a fluke.

[WillowGrove]

But how 'bout that Gary Gaetti season of 5 HR's nestled between many seasons of 20+ HRs? And to make it even flukier, he played in all 162 games.

[mrvster]

Mike!
That's a Huge Largemouth!!
Like 5-6 pounder......The kid has the HEALER gene in him:D

[D. Bergin]

I see a general trend. Player has an unusual season before 1986........it's a "fluke". Player has an unusual season after 1986, it is proof positive he was on PED's.

Just sayin'. ;)


How bout Kevin Mitchell going from scrappy little utility player to best hitter in baseball in 1989?

Had one more good year, and though nearly always efficient at the plate after that, never had close to another full season under his belt.

[packs]

Bob Welch going 27 - 6 in 1990.

Esteban Loaiza going 21 - 9 and leading the league in strike outs in 2003.

[Sean]

Greatest fluke season for a pitcher: Aolpho Luque. He went 27-8 in 1923 on a mediocre Cincinnati team. Over the rest of his career he was a below .500 pitcher (167-171).

[D. Bergin]

Mike Norris 1980

22-9 2.53 ERA

One of many promising early 80's Oakland A's pitchers Billy Martin successfully built up, and then promptly ruined.

[ctownboy]

mrvster,

Looking at the picture with the big fish, you kind of look like Robert DeNiro saying, "Hey, you talkin' to me?" or "What you lookin' at?".

David

[r2678]

Tito Francona lifetime .272 hitter batting .363 in 1959 in 399 at bats.

[WillowGrove]

LOVE that Francona year. Absolutely - what a fluke. The 1961 season had a few anomalies that are typically attributed to expansion but Tito's 1963 season is flukey.

Who else? hmmmmm. Giants pitcher Ron Bryant in 1973 won I believe 22 games and I can swear he didn't do anything before or since.

[RCMcKenzie]

i dont think an entire season can be a fluke, give me the biggest fluke decade for any player. flukes are one day, one week maybe, something like that, a hot streak for a little while, not an entire season. you dont hit 191 rbi's in a season and its a fluke.

I agree with this statement, with the exception being the 1986 Mets.

..............

By the way, Bob Welch has a great career winning percentage and had many 17 + W seasons.

[z28jd]

John Cassidy hit .378 in 1877, never hit higher than .277 in any of his other ten seasons, .246 career hitter

[itjclarke]

Gotta love Ned Williamson's 1884 season with 27 homeruns. He ended up with 64 homeruns, never reaching double figures during any of his other 12 seasons.

I guess a 186 foot LF fence and an 1884 rule change making balls hit over the fence HRs instead of ground rule doubles had a hand in this, but his is still pretty ridiculous stat line to look at.

[D. Bergin]

i dont think an entire season can be a fluke, give me the biggest fluke decade for any player. flukes are one day, one week maybe, something like that, a hot streak for a little while, not an entire season. you dont hit 191 rbi's in a season and its a fluke.

OK, by this criteria, how about Shane Spencer at the end of 1998 for the Yanks.

Late call-up, career minor leaguer. No major league experience and finished the season 27 games, 10 HR's, 27 RBI's, .373 BA, 1.321 OPS, Beat up on the Rangers in his first playoff series.

Middling career after that. Probably only stayed in the major leagues the following six years, based on his reputation from that late season call-up.

[deebro041]

Phil Plantier 1993 SD, 34 hrs, 100 rbi's.

[MMarvelli]

Bob 'Hurricane' Hazle is remembered for his 1957 performance. He was called up from Wichita and did not play until the Braves' 100th game.
In less than three weeks he batted .473 with 5 home runs and 19 RBI in 14 games. That earned him the nickname "Hurricane." The original hurricane Hazel had struck the coast of Hazle's home state, South Carolina, in 1954.
The first-place Braves swept the second-place Cardinals on August 9–11, which went a long way towards sealing the National League pennant for Milwaukee; the first two games of the series were blowouts, and Hazle had seven hits and five RBI. He batted a torrid .556 in his first dozen games. For the season, Hazle batted .403 in only 41 games, with 7 home runs and 27 RBI. On the next-to-last day of the season, Hazle broke up a no-hit bid by Cincinnati's Johnny Klippstein with a two-out, eighth inning single.
The following year he played only 63 games (112 at-bats) for the Braves and Tigers and was finished.

[Sean]

Gotta love Ned Williamson's 1884 season with 27 homeruns. He ended up with 64 homeruns, never reaching double figures during any of his other 12 seasons.

I guess a 186 foot LF fence and an 1884 rule change making balls hit over the fence HRs instead of ground rule doubles had a hand in this, but his is still pretty ridiculous stat line to look at.

I just want to add that of Williamson's 27 home runs, 26 were hit at home, only 1 on the road.

[Sean]

LOVE that Francona year. Absolutely - what a fluke. The 1961 season had a few anomalies that are typically attributed to expansion but Tito's 1963 season is flukey.

Who else? hmmmmm. Giants pitcher Ron Bryant in 1973 won I believe 22 games and I can swear he didn't do anything before or since.

I'm pretty sure Bryant won 24 games (it was in 1973). He fractured his hip in spring the next year when he fell off a water slide, and was never the same after that.

[itjclarke]

I just want to add that of Williamson's 27 home runs, 26 were hit at home, only 1 on the road.

Dante Bichette and Vinny Castilla had nuthin on that guy.

[pclpads]

i dont think an entire season can be a fluke, give me the biggest fluke decade for any player. flukes are one day, one week maybe, something like that, a hot streak for a little while, not an entire season. you dont hit 191 rbi's in a season and its a fluke.

Johnny Vander Meer - journeyman pitcher, not close to being a HOFer, 119-121 record. But, back-to-back no-hitters in '38. Vander Meer! Not Hubbel. Not Grove. Not Gomez. Not Feller. And, hasn't been done since!

[pepis]

Kevin Mass was a huge fluke for the yankees and an equal fluke to collectors
after becoming the 1st $20 rookie card in his current year of issue.

[itjclarke]

Johnny Vander Meer - journeyman pitcher, not close to being a HOFer, 119-121 record. But, back-to-back no-hitters in '38. Vander Meer! Not Hubbel. Not Grove. Not Gomez. Not Feller. And, hasn't been done since!

Can't imagine that one ever being repeated

[Bored5000]

I have to go with Steve Carlton's 27-win season for a Phillies team that went 59-97 in 1972. Obviously, Carlton was a Hall of Fame pitcher entering the prime of his career. But it still seems really "flukey" that the team averaged more than seven tenths of a run higher in Carlton's 41 starts that season than in the other 115 games Carlton did not pitch.

The increased emphasis on SABRmetrics in recent years means that pitching wins aren't quite the be all and end all that they may have been in the past, but any modern pitcher winning 46 percent of his team's games in a given season is pretty flukey, IMO.

Carlton's win percentage that year was .730; the win percentage for the rest of the staff that year was .279.

[mrvster]

LOL!....I wish I had his moola....Id have a Wagner:D

[novakjr]

OK, by this criteria, how about Shane Spencer at the end of 1998 for the Yanks.

Late call-up, career minor leaguer. No major league experience and finished the season 27 games, 10 HR's, 27 RBI's, .373 BA, 1.321 OPS, Beat up on the Rangers in his first playoff series.

Middling career after that. Probably only stayed in the major leagues the following six years, based on his reputation from that late season call-up.
For short spurt flukes.

Chris Shelton's start to 2006.. The guy had 9 HR's through the first 13 games.. At that point he was batting .471/.500/1.216. Yet managed to find himself back in the minors by the end of July.

Another full season one.

Fausto Carmona's(Roberto Hernandez Heredia) 2007 seems to stand out as well.. 19-8 3.06 era. In '06 he was 1-10 with a 5.42. In '08 he was 8-7 with a 5.44...To make things worse he followed that up with 5-12 with a 6.32 in '09..

On the bad luck side of the fence, I'd have to say Kevin Millwood's losing record in '05. He led the AL with a 2.86 era, yet only had a 9-11 record..And it's not like he was on a bad team, as the Indians were 93-69 that year.

[chris6net]

As a kid I remember looking at Bert Campaneris,s baseball card and his 22 home runs in 1970 stood out. He hit 79 home runs in 19 seasons but 22 in one year

[dodgerfanjohn]

Steve Stone going 25-8 and winning the Cy Young Award. The next season he was 5-8.

I was gonna point that out....25-8, 3.23 ERA.

He never had more than 15 wins in a season(and even that was only 1 season..next highest was 12 wins), and his next lowest ERA was 3.77 ERA.

He was out of baseball after only one more season.

Also Daren Erstad in the Angels championship season in 2002.. .355 BA. Never hit over .299 any other season.

[barrysloate]

I was gonna point that out....25-8, 3.23 ERA.

He never had more than 15 wins in a season(and even that was only 1 season..next highest was 12 wins), and his next lowest ERA was 3.77 ERA.

He was out of baseball after only one more season.

Also Daren Erstad in the Angels championship season in 2002.. .355 BA. Never hit over .299 any other season.

My numbers were slightly off...he was 25-7 followed by 4-7.

[packs]

Sort of a different take on flukes, but somehow last year Zach Cozart managed to hit 15 home runs while only driviing in 35 runs.

[novakjr]

Sort of a different take on flukes, but somehow last year Zach Cozart managed to hit 15 home runs while only driviing in 35 runs.

Rob Deer '92 had 32 HR's and only 64 RBIs.
Garret Jones in 2009 had 21/44
Chris Duncan in 2006 had 22/43
Kevin Maas in '90 had 21/41
Chris Hoiles in '92 had 20/40
Carlton Fisk in '84 had 21/43

[stlcardsfan]

Deleted

[mybuddyinc]

........... one of my heroes ............ :)

87513

[flavius]

Roctober

[itjclarke]

Rob Deer '92 had 32 HR's and only 64 RBIs.
Garret Jones in 2009 had 21/44
Chris Duncan in 2006 had 22/43
Kevin Maas in '90 had 21/41
Chris Hoiles in '92 had 20/40
Carlton Fisk in '84 had 21/43

Those stat lines look weird. What's crazy is all those guys still had a higher RBI to HR ratio (near or above 2:1) than Bonds did in his 73 HR season.. Think he ended up with like 132 RBIs.

[D. Bergin]

Those stat lines look weird. What's crazy is all those guys still had a higher RBI to HR ratio (near or above 2:1) than Bonds did in his 73 HR season.. Think he ended up with like 132 RBIs.

Yeah, that's because they usually walked Bonds if anybody was on base. Sometimes even with the bases loaded.

PED's or not, he had a really mind-boggling effect on National League pitching for a while there. To think he did what he did while everybody was blatantly trying to pitch around him.

[itjclarke]

Yeah, that's because they usually walked Bonds if anybody was on base. Sometimes even with the bases loaded.

PED's or not, he had a really mind-boggling effect on National League pitching for a while there. To think he did what he did while everybody was blatantly trying to pitch around him.

It was totally nuts! Regardless of your feelings on the matter, to witness it was awe inspiring. I must have gone to 25-30 games that year and it seemed like he went deep each time.. If not twice. And it seemed those were often his only official at bats in the game. I remember his hitting singles that year that were lasers off the bricks that bounced back to the outfielder too quickly for Bonds to reach 2nd. 232 walks, that was not a fluke and that will not happen again.

[Eric72]

...but worth mention, I think.

Pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm, in his first major league at-bat, hit a home run.

He went the rest of his 21 year (432 at-bats) career without hitting another.

[texmrsport]

Virgil Trucks threw 2 no-hitters in 1952 with an overall record of 5-19.

[boneheadandrube]

1914 Miracle Boston Braves? Anybody?
GB

[sdkammeyer]

ok ok.......:D

That's a hell of a fish sir! What did you use to land it? Or was it a "fluke"? :D

[mrvster]

Thanks Steve! was caught about 500 yards off of Seaside Pier in N.J.(Which Was Destroyed by Sandy this year) in June.....Bait- Live Bunker.....
Rod- Shimano Trevala w/ 15 # test mono.....fish took me 20 minutes to land(I was on a party boat w like 30 other fisherman)......Fish is a "STRIPED BASS"....fish is close to 40 pounder....:)

[sdkammeyer]

Thanks Steve! was caught about 500 yards off of Seaside Pier in N.J.(Which Was Destroyed by Sandy this year) in June.....Bait- Live Bunker.....
Rod- Shimano Trevala w/ 15 # test mono.....fish took me 20 minutes to land(I was on a party boat w like 30 other fisherman)......Fish is a "STRIPED BASS"....fish is close to 40 pounder....:)

I'm an angler myself. Most of my "real" fishing is done on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan now. When I said "fluke" I meant did you just accidentally fall into that one or were you set up to get him. Sounds like you were set up!

I'm a big Shimano fan myself. At least for reels anyways. Some of their rods are ok for the river fishin' around here. I picked up my first St. Croix rod last year and i'm hooked now. (no pun intended)

Anyways, nice fish!! I'll dig out some pics of a few gigantic Northern Pike and pm you :)

[packs]

How about Herb Washington's 1974 season? 92 games, 29 stolen bases, no official at bats and a World Series championship.

[Griffins]

i dont think an entire season can be a fluke, give me the biggest fluke decade for any player. flukes are one day, one week maybe, something like that, a hot streak for a little while, not an entire season. you dont hit 191 rbi's in a season and its a fluke.

Ok, how about Fernando Tatis with 2 grand slams in an inning?
That was a one hour fluke.

[itjclarke]

How about Herb Washington's 1974 season? 92 games, 29 stolen bases, no official at bats and a World Series championship.

Just looked him up.. as much a fluke they maintained this tactic. He was caught 16 times!! for a whopping 64% success rate.

[AustinMike]

i dont think an entire season can be a fluke, give me the biggest fluke decade for any player. flukes are one day, one week maybe, something like that, a hot streak for a little while, not an entire season. you dont hit 191 rbi's in a season and its a fluke.

How about this line in the box score for a pitcher:

AB R H BI
Tony Cloninger P 5 2 3 9

which includes two grand slams.
(July 3, 1966 Braves beat the Giants 17-3)

[Sean]

If you want to talk about just one game: Rick Wise pitched a no-hitter and hit two home runs in the same game ( I think it was 1971).

[itjclarke]

Tuffy Rhodes and Kevin Elster hitting 3 HRs each on separate opening days. Both finished with fewer than 100. Elster hit his in the first game ever played at then PacBell Park, and was the only person until Pablo Sandoval (game 1 WS) to hit 3 in a single game at AT&T. Bonds never did it.

[novakjr]

Ok, how about Fernando Tatis with 2 grand slams in an inning?
That was a one hour fluke.

Carlos Baerga's switch hit HR's in the same inning..

In 2003 Corey Patterson had 7 RBI's in MARCH.
Posada had 6 in March in '06.

Mark Whitten had 12 RBI in one game in '93, only 87 in the other games that season..

Ed Delehanty's 4 HR game in 1896, only had 9 in the other games.
Joe Adcock's 4 HR game in '54, only hit 19 in the other games..

Bob Horner had a 4 HR game in '86, his next ML season of '88 he hit a grand total of 3(in 60 games)

[novakjr]

NOW here's an awesome one..

In 1884 Pitcher Guy Hecker had a 3 HR game for Louisville(AA), and only 1 more in all other games that year(378 AB's) He had more HRs in that game, that he did shutouts(2) in 48 starts. His HR total in that game(3) was higher than his CAREER era(2.93) over 322 starts.

[Sean]

And as for a fluke poor performance, Enzo Hernandez had 549 at-bats with only 12 RBIs in 1971 (for San Diego).

[RCMcKenzie]

Bob Horner had a 4 HR game in '86, his next ML season of '88 he hit a grand total of 3(in 60 games)


I bought a stack of 24 of these Bob Horner cards in 1981 thinking they might be worth alot of money one day. Just checked ebay, no takers $1 a piece bin.

87606

[itjclarke]

And as for a fluke poor performance, Enzo Hernandez had 549 at-bats with only 12 RBIs in 1971 (for San Diego).

Duane Kuiper 1 HR (off the afore mentioned Steve Stone) in 3300+ career at bats.. no fluke, just no juice. Fellow No Cal-ers know he's an awesome play by play guy though.

[mrvster]

Thanks my Bro!!! I was set up to catch that striper.....the "fluke" is the flat fish I showed before(flounder- summer time they call them "fluke" here in NJ)...

I LOvE St. Croix!!! Bad Axx Rod....Love to see some fish pics...:)

jvanderbeck@verizon.net

:)

[D. Bergin]

And as for a fluke poor performance, Enzo Hernandez had 549 at-bats with only 12 RBIs in 1971 (for San Diego).


I guess he was one of the reasons Nate Colbert drove in nearly 25% of his teams runs, by himself, a year after that.

Even Hack Wilson, in his 191 RBI season, only managed a 20% ratio.

[howard38]

.

[Sean]

I guess he was one of the reasons Nate Colbert drove in nearly 25% of his teams runs, by himself, a year after that.

Even Hack Wilson, in his 191 RBI season, only managed a 20% ratio.

Dave, I was going to mention that season as well. I believe Colbert's pct. of RBI's for his team is still the highest ever.

[tschock]

Ok, how about Fernando Tatis with 2 grand slams in an inning?
That was a one hour fluke.

Similar to Harry Hooper with a lead off home run in both games of a double header. Considering how few DHs are played these days, it might never happen again.