Pretty sure it helped that Ichiro was already on base and was a major stealing threat.

How is that mathematically possible, if you start with BA and then add the same number to the numerator and denominator (walks plus hit by pitch, right?) you necessarily come up with a higher number, no?

Sacrifice flies count as plate appearances when calculating OBP.

Ah. Thank you.

I thought that name rang a bell. The Brewers acquired him in '82 to back up Yount at shortstop.

I have no idea how he was able to stick around as long as he did. I don't remember him having any special defensive skills, and he was deplorable with a bat in his hands. He was a lifetime .234 hitter. His career slash line was, are you ready? .246/.312/.558. Yet somehow he was able to remain in the Majors for 9 seasons. He played in 730 games, and totaled 1,720 plate appearances. I guess he was able to play a lot of defensive positions. But would that explain how somebody with a -1.8 career WAR was able to hang around for nine years?

Picciolo is the first modern player I've seen that challenges Ray Oyler for worst hitter of all-time. Oyler as a lot worse but he at least walked once in awhile. Oyler was also an elite defender.

Chris,

If we're talking the worst hitter of all-time, we need to include the originator of "the Mendoza line". Mario Mendoza ended his career with a .215 career batting average. As terrible as Picciolo was, he did hit 17 home runs in 1,618 ABs. Mendoza managed a mere 4 in 1,337. Ironic that he end his career with 1,337 at bats. The kids today like to use those numbers to spell the word "leet". There was nothing elite about Mendoza.

Picciolo's extra base hits: 1,628 ABs, 56 doubles, 10 triples, 17 home runs
Mendoza's extra base hits: 1,337 ABs, 33 doubles, 9 triples, 4 home runs

Picciolo's slash line: .246/.312/.558
Mendoza's slash line: .245/.262/.507

Picciolo's career OPS +: 56
Mendoza's career OPS +: 41

If Picciolo was terrible with a career -1.8 WAR, what does that make Mendoza, he of the -2.5 WAR.

Surprisingly, Mendoza had a 4.0 dWAR his career. He played short, third base and second base for Pittsburgh, Texas and Seattle in his 9 year career. Picciolo's dWAR was a 1.9.

Again, the question begs asking. How do Picciolo and Mendoza last 9 years each in the Majors? Mendoza from '74 to '82, Picciolo from '77 to '85.

They're both pretty awful, but only Mendoza's name is brought up when a player threatens to fall below the .200 batting average.

He might just be the worst hitter ever.

Ok, I had to run a report. It turns out that Mendoza is almost the worst ever. I ran a report for the modern era (1919 was the end of the dead ball era, so 1920 to current day). Mendoza has the second worst career OPS of non pitchers who have had 1,000 or more at bats. The winner? Luis Gomez, he of the career .500 OPS. His OBP of .261 is better than the other guys. Gomez walked 86 times in his career. But his slugging percentage was downright embarrassing. In 1,251 at bats, Gomez hit 26 doubles, 5 triples and no home runs. His career slugging percentage? .239. I didn't know a percentage could get that low.

Here is the wall of shame:

http://imageshack.com/a/img746/6992/vU03lp.png