Baseball Evolution - News and Notes by Richard Van Zandt

Daily News and Notes
by Richard Van Zandt, BaseballEvolution.com

10/03/06 - Notes through the end of regular season play

Daily News and Notes

Free Swinger – A Final Update

Well, with the 2006 season in the books, it’s time to take one final look at our favorite free swinger Jeff Francoeur. Our boy Jeff finished the 2006 season with a flourish, drawing 14 walks in the final two months of the season. Nonetheless, he still managed to put up some impressively free swinging numbers. For the year, Francoeur averaged a walk once every 29.83 plate appearances out of a total of 686. With 14 more PA, he would have recorded the fifth most free-swinging season in major league history with at least 700 plate appearances. Still, out of all hitters in history with at least 675 PA, he managed to record the ninth worst BB to PA ratio of all-time. Here’s a look at the top, or rather bottom ten single season marks with that many PA.

Rk	Player	Year	PA	AB	BB	IBB	ABB	PA/BB	PA/ABB
1	Woody Jensen	1936	731	696	16		16	45.69	45.69
2	Garry Templeton	1979	696	672	18	4	14	38.67	49.71
3	Rennie Stennett	1976	682	654	19	2	17	35.89	40.12
4	Alfonso Soriano	2002	741	696	23	1	22	32.22	33.68
5	Raph Garr	1973	698	668	22	5	17	31.73	41.06
6	Larry Bowa	1974	717	669	23	0	23	31.17	31.17
7	Lou Brock	1967	724	689	24	6	18	30.17	40.22
8	Kirby Puckett	1988	691	657	23	4	19	30.04	36.37
9	Jeff Francoeur	2006	686	651	23	6	17	29.83	40.35
10	Felipe Alou	1966	706	666	24	6	18	29.42	39.22

Further than that, with at least 675 PA, Francoeur’s .293 on-base percentage tied him for the 16^th lowest mark in major league history. The other all-time “out-machines.”

	Player	Yr	PA	OBP
1	Rennie Stennett	1976	682	0.279
2	Bert Campaneris	1972	681	0.279
3	Devon White	1989	678	0.283
4	Don Kessinger	1968	707	0.283
5	Del Unser	1968	690	0.284
6	Alfredo Griffen	1980	696	0.285
7	Willie Davis	1968	686	0.286
8	Bill Virdon	1962	705	0.287
9	Bobby Richardson	1965	713	0.288
10	Horace Clarke	1970	732	0.289
11	Roger Metzger	1972	715	0.289
12	Granny Hammer	1949	700	0.290
13	Woody Williams	1944	707	0.290
14	Ruben Sierra	1993	692	0.292
15	Dave Cash	1978	703	0.292
16	Joe Carter	1990	697	0.293
17	Jeff Francoeur	2006	686	0.293
	Min 675 PA

All-time, Francoeur’s rate of one walk every 29.83 PA is pretty impressive. For the season, it ranks just fourth among all qualified hitters (502 PA). Here are the final top ten in the majors in PA/BB for 2006.

	Player	PA	AB	BB	IBB	ABB	PA/BB	PA/ABB
1	Angel Berroa	503	474	14	1	13	35.93	38.69
2	Y. Betancourt	584	558	17	0	17	34.35	34.35
3	Ronny Cedeno	572	534	17	4	13	33.65	44.00
4	Jeff Francoeur	686	651	23	6	17	29.83	40.35
5	Robinson Cano	508	482	18	3	15	28.22	33.87
6	Kenji Johjima	542	506	20	1	19	27.10	28.53
7	Shea Hillenbrand	566	530	21	2	19	26.95	29.79
8	Jay Payton	588	557	22	1	21	26.73	28.00
9	Jose Lopez	655	603	26	1	25	25.19	26.20
10	Ivan Rodriguez	553	525	22	3	19	25.14	29.11

Lowering the bar gives us a whole new set of leaders. Here are the final top ten with at least 150 plate appearances.

	Player	PA	AB	BB	IBB	ABB	PA/BB	PA/ABB
1	Vance Wilson	168	152	2	0	2	84.00	84.00
2	Tomas Perez	254	241	5	0	5	50.80	50.80
3	Miguel Olivo	452	430	9	4	5	50.22	90.40
4	Mike Redmond	190	179	4	0	4	47.50	47.50
5	Shane Costa	252	237	6	2	4	42.00	63.00
6	Neifi Perez	316	301	8	2	6	39.50	52.67
7	Luis Gonzalez	158	149	4	0	4	39.50	39.50
8	Juan Uribe	495	463	13	1	12	38.08	41.25
9	Angel Berroa	503	474	14	1	13	35.93	38.69
10	Robb Quinlan	244	234	7	1	6	34.86	40.67

And as we know, factoring in intentional base on balls and adjusting the rate for that gives us a few more impressively free swinging hitters. This includes Eliezer Alfonzo, whose 34.33 un-adjusted rate is nothing compared to his adjusted rate of 1 walk every 154.50 plate appearances. Here now are the final top ten in plate appearances per adjusted base on balls.

	Player	PA	AB	BB	IBB	ABB	PA/BB	PA/ABB
1	Eliezer Alfonzo	309	286	9	7	2	34.33	154.50
2	Miguel Olivo	452	430	9	4	5	50.22	90.40
3	Vance Wilson	168	152	2	0	2	84.00	84.00
4	Johnny Estrada	443	414	13	7	6	34.08	73.83
5	Shane Costa	252	237	6	2	4	42.00	63.00
6	Neifi Perez