MLB is not that easy - For some players it’s all downhill

[David W]

Dave Stapleton is the only player to have a lower batting average every year he played.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/p...taplda01.shtml

[todeen]

Originally Posted by orioles70

Coco Laboy should certainly be mentioned. You wont stick around long going downhill and his stats show a giant slalom slope as opposed to a bunny run

LOL nice analogy

[brob28]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Negative. Cup of coffee.

9 years would be one big cup of coffee. - My bad, somehow I missed that disqualifier.

[SAllen2556]

The Bird reminded me of Dave Rozema. He was supposed to be the Bird II. In 1977 he went 15-7 with 16 complete games, pitched 218 innings and won rookie pitcher of the year and was 8th in Cy Young voting. Pitched through the '86 season but never topped his rookie year.

[A2000]

Orestes Destrade.

[Leon]

So I guess if I threw out here, conversely, that Sandy Koufax's best year was arguably his very last one, I would get harshly criticized and possibly exiled?

Originally Posted by frankbmd

“Best first year, who never had another year that was better.”

Clearly stated in the OP.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Leon

So I guess if I threw out here, conversely, that Sandy Koufax's best year was arguably his very last one, I would get harshly criticized and possibly exiled?

I can’t find the “banned” button.

[egri]

How about Billy Rohr? In his first start, he came a strike away from a no-hitter. He went 1-2 the following year, and was gone from the majors.

[Bigdaddy]

Ok, I'm squeezing Frank's timeline here a bit, but in 1961 Cuno Barragan of the Cubs hit a homerun on the first pitch he saw in the majors. Never hit another one in his career.

So maybe not such a great first year, but a great first pitch. Finished with a career .202 avg (and 1 HR) after starting at 1.000 avg and a 4.000 slugging percentage.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by egri

How about Billy Rohr? In his first start, he came a strike away from a no-hitter. He went 1-2 the following year, and was gone from the majors.

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

Ok, I'm squeezing Frank's timeline here a bit, but in 1961 Cuno Barragan of the Cubs hit a homerun on the first pitch he saw in the majors. Never hit another one in his career.

So maybe not such a great first year, but a great first pitch. Finished with a career .202 avg (and 1 HR) after starting at 1.000 avg and a 4.000 slugging percentage.

I have checked and neither Billy or Cuno ever received any Hall of Fame votes for their first game accomplishments.

Of note Billy in his first year with Boston followed his one hitter with another complete game win before finishing the year 2-3. But in his second and final year in the bigs with Cleveland he was undefeated posting a 1-0 record.

Cuno in his third and final year played three innings and struck out in his only AB.
Despite his auspicious start, he was a bit of a hot potato, initially affiliated with the Cubs, then the Braves, then the Dodgers, then the Braves and back to the Cubs, who finally sent him to the Dodgers (bypassing the Braves this time around.

Both are good candidates for the thread, but the length of career takes precedence over a precipitous decline in productivity.

[mrmopar]

I had to check if Lefty O'Doul's monster year was his first full season and it was his 2nd. He had a smattering of appearances across several years prior too, so he would clearly be out.