SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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I Was a Teenage Hall of Famer
Bryce Harper has completed his first regular season as a major league player at the age of 19. Here are his key (traditional) numbers:
139 games (G)
.270 batting average, (BA) .340 on base percentage, (OBP).477 slugging percentage (SP)
144 hits, (H) 56 walks (W) 26 doubles (D) 9 triples (T), 22 homers (HR) 18 steals (S)
59 runs batted in, (RBI), 99 runs scores (RS)
I’ll add my favorite numbers:
328 based produced (BP), which is the sum of total (hitting) bases, walks and steals
136 runs produced (RP), which is RBIs + RS - HR.
Bryce was supposed to be the phenomenon of the season but he got eclipsed by another young player a year older, Mike Trout. Here are Trout’s numbers as a 20 year old this year:
139G .326BA .399OBP .564SP 182H 67W 27D 8T 30HR 49SB 83RBI 129RS 431BP 182RP
To be fair we ought to look at Trout as a 19 year old last year:
40G .220BA .281OBP .390SP 27H 9W 6D 0T 5HR 4SB 16RBI 20RS 61BP 31RP
So maybe it’s premature to compare Harper to Trout. Harper may not be able to match Trout’s tremendous second year. He could spend his career not being as good as Mike Trout and still be a great player. Me might be next year’s Mike Trout.
It led me to wonder how many Hall-of-Famers had debuted as teenagers and what kind of numbers they put up. Naturally, I had to look that up, (using Baseball Reference.com). I’ve excluded pitchers and players who are in the Hall due to their managerial career. The ages are as of the day of their first game of the season.
Cap Anson at age 19 (1871)
25G .325BA .366OBP .467SP 39H 2W 11D 3T 0HR 6SB 16RBI 29RS 64BP 45RP
Johnny Bench at age 19 (1967)
26G .163BA .207OBP .256SP 14H 5W 3D 1T 1HR 0SB 6RBI 7RS 27BP 12RP
Roger Bresnahan at age 18 (1897)- he then went back to the minors for a couple of years
6G .375BA .412OBP .375SP 6H 1W 0D 0T 0HR 0SB 3RBI 1RS 7BP 4RP
Ty Cobb at age 18 (1905)
41G .240BA .288OBP .300SP 36H 10W 6D 0T 1HR 2SB 15RBI 19RS 55BP 33RP
…at age 19 (1906)
98G .316BA .355OBP .394SP 113H 19W 15D 5T 1HR 23SB 34RBI 45RS 160BP 79RP
Eddie Collins at age 19 (1906)
6G .200BA .200OBP .200SP 3H 0W 0D 0T 0HR 1SB 0RBI 2RS 4BP 2RP
Sam Crawford at age 19 (1899)
31G .307BA .318OBP .465SP 39H 2W 3D 7T 1HR 6SB 20RBI 25RS 67BP 44RP
Joe Cronin at age 19 (1926)
38G .265BA .315OBP .337SP 22H 6W 2D 2T 0HR 0SB 11RBI 9RS 34BP 20RP
George Davis at age 19 (1890)
136G .264BA .336OBP .375SP 139H 53W 22D 9T 6HR 22SB 73RBI 98RS 272BP 165RP
Bobby Doerr at age 19 (1937)
55G .224BA .313OBP .313SP 33H 18W 5D 1T 2HR 2SB 14RBI 22RS 66BP 34RP
Nelson Fox at age 19 (1947)
7G .000ba .250OBP .000SP 0H 1W 0D 0T 0HR 0SB 0RBI 2RS 1BP 2RP
Jimmie Foxx at age 17 (1925)
10G .667BA .667OBP .778SP 6H 0W 1D 0T 0HR 0SB 0RBI 2RS 7BP 2RP
…at age 18 (1926)
26G .313BA .333OBP .438SP 10H 1W 2D 1T 0HR 1SB 5RBI 8RS 15BP 13RP
…at age 19 (1927)
61G .323BA .393OBP .515SP 42H 14W 6D 5T 3HR 2SB 20RBI 23RS 81BP 40RP
Hank Greenberg at age 19 (1930)
1G .000BA .000OBP .000SP 0H 0W 0D 0T 0HR 0SB 0RBI 0RS 0BP 0RP
Harry Heilmann at age 19 (1914)
68G .225BA .316OBP .313SP 41H 22W 8D 1T 2HR 1SB 18RBI 25RS 79BP 41RS
Rogers Hornsby at age 19 (1915)
18G .246BA .271OBP .281SP 14H 2W 2D 0T 0HR 0SB 4RBI 5RS 18BP 9RS
Travis Jackson at age 18 (1922)
3G .000BA .000OBP .000SP 0H 0W 0D 0T 0HR 0SB 0RBI 1RS 0BP 1RP
…at age 19 (1923)
96G .275BA .321OBP .391SP 90H 22W 12D 7T 4HR 3SB 37RBI 45RS 150BP 78RP
Al Kaline at age 18 (1953)
30G .250BA .300OBP .357SP 7H 1W 0D 0T 1HR 1SB 2RBI 9RS 12BP 10RP
…at age 19 (1954)
138G .276BVA .305OBP .347SP 139H 22W 18D 3T 4HR 9SB 43RBI 42RS 197BP 81RP
Joe Kelley at age 19 (1891)
12G .244BA .277OBP .311SP 11H 2W 1D 1T 0HR 0SB 3RBI 7RS 16RBI 10RS
George Kelly at age 19 (1915)
17G .158BA .179OBP .237SP 6H 1W 0D 0T 1HR OSB 4RBI 2RS 10BP 6RP
Harmon Killebrew at age 18 (1954)
9G .308BA .400OBP .385SP 4H 2W 1D 0T 0HR 0SB 3RBI 1RS 7BP 4RP
…at age 19 (1955)
44G .200BA .281OBP .363SP 22H 10W 2D 0T 5HR 0SB 13RBI 10RS 49BP 18RP
Fred Lindstrom at age 18 (1924)
52G .253BA .314OBP .316SP 20H 6W 3D 1T 0HR 3SB 4RBI 19RS 31BP 23RP
…at age 19 (1925)
104G .287BA .332OBP .430SP 102H 22W 15D 12T 4HR 5SB 33RBI 43RS 175BP 72BP
Mickey Mantle at age 19 (1951)
96G .267BA .349OBP .443SP 91H 43W 11D 5T 13HR 8SB 65RBI 61RS 202BP 113RP
Bill Mazeroski at age 19 (1956)
81G .243BA .293OBP .318SP 62H 18W 8D 1T 3HR 0SB 14RBI 30RS 99BP 41RP
John McGraw at age 18 (1891)
33G .270BA .359OBP .383SP 31H 12W 3D 5T 0HR 4SB 14RBI 17RS 60BP 31RP
…at age 19 (1892)
79G .269BA .315OBP .359SP 77H 32W 13D 2T 1HR 15SB 26RBI 41RS 129BP 66RP
Mel Ott at age 17 (1926)
35G .383BA .393OBP .417SP 23H 1W 2D 0T 0HR 1SB 4RBI 7RS 27BP 11RP
…at age 18 (1927)
82G .282BA .335OBP .380SP 46H 13W 7D 3T 1HR 2SB 19RBI 23RS 77BP 41RP
…at age 19 (1928)
124G .322BA .397OBP .524SP 140H 52W 26D 4T 18HR 3SB 77RBI 69RS 283BP 128RP
Brooks Robinson at age 18 (1955)
5G .200BA .200OBP .300SP 2H 0W 0D 0T 1HR 0SB 1RBI 0RS 5BP 1RP
…at age 19 (1956)
15G .227BA .244OBP .386SP 10H 0W 4D 0T 1HR 0SB 1RBI 5RS 17BP 5RP
Babe Ruth at age 19 (1914)
5G .200BA .200OBP .300SP 2H 0W 1D 0T 0HR 0SB 2RBI 1RS 3BP 3RP
Ray Schalk at age 19 (1912)
23G .286BA .357OBP .317SP 18H 3W 2D 0T 0HR 2SB 8RBI 7RS 25BP 15RP
Tris Speaker at age 19 (1907)
7G .158BA .200OBP .158SP 3H 1W 0D 0T 0HR 0SB 1RBI 0RS 4BP 1RP
Robin Yount at age 18 (1974)
107G .250BA .276OBP .346SP 86H 12W 14D 5T 3HR 7SB 26RBI 48RS
…at age 19 (1975)
147G .267BA .307OBP .367SP 149H 33W 28D 2T 8HR 12SB 52RBI 67RS 250BP 111RP
Here are some notable teenage debuts of the last generation that might add to the above list:
Juan Gonzalez at age 19 (1989)
24G .150BA .227OBP .250SP 9H 6W 3D 0T 1HR 0SB 7RBI 6RS 21BP 12RP
Ken Griffey Jr. at age 19 (1989)
127G .264BA .329OBP .420SP 120H 44W 23D 0T 16HR 16SB 61RBI 61RS 251BP 106RP
Ivan Rodriguez at age 19 (1991)
88G .264BA .276OBP .354SP 74H 5W 16D 0T 3HR 0SB 27RBI 24RS 104BP 48RP
Alex Rodriguez at age 18 (1994)
17G .204BA .241OBP .204SP 11H 3W 0D 0T 0HR 3SB 2RBI 4RS 17BP 6RP
…at age 19 (1995)
48G .232BA .264OBP .408SP 33H 6W 6D 2T 5HR 4SB 19RBI 15RS 68BP 29RP
Andruw Jones at age 19 (1996)
31G .217BA .265OBP .443SP 23H 7W 7D 1T 5HR 3SB 13RBI 11RS 57BP 18RP
Adrian Beltre at age 19 (1998)
77G .215BA .275OBP .369SP 42H 14W 9D 0T 7HR 3SB 22RBI 18RS 89BP 33RP
Harper at age 19 put up better numbers than any of these players. The closest are Ott, Griffey, Yount and Mantle. Ott was probably comparable but base stealing was not in vogue at the time. So while young Mr. Harper may have been overshadowed by young Mr. Trout, he still bares watching in the coming years. You may see something really special.
Bryce Harper has completed his first regular season as a major league player at the age of 19. Here are his key (traditional) numbers:
139 games (G)
.270 batting average, (BA) .340 on base percentage, (OBP).477 slugging percentage (SP)
144 hits, (H) 56 walks (W) 26 doubles (D) 9 triples (T), 22 homers (HR) 18 steals (S)
59 runs batted in, (RBI), 99 runs scores (RS)
I’ll add my favorite numbers:
328 based produced (BP), which is the sum of total (hitting) bases, walks and steals
136 runs produced (RP), which is RBIs + RS - HR.
Bryce was supposed to be the phenomenon of the season but he got eclipsed by another young player a year older, Mike Trout. Here are Trout’s numbers as a 20 year old this year:
139G .326BA .399OBP .564SP 182H 67W 27D 8T 30HR 49SB 83RBI 129RS 431BP 182RP
To be fair we ought to look at Trout as a 19 year old last year:
40G .220BA .281OBP .390SP 27H 9W 6D 0T 5HR 4SB 16RBI 20RS 61BP 31RP
So maybe it’s premature to compare Harper to Trout. Harper may not be able to match Trout’s tremendous second year. He could spend his career not being as good as Mike Trout and still be a great player. Me might be next year’s Mike Trout.
It led me to wonder how many Hall-of-Famers had debuted as teenagers and what kind of numbers they put up. Naturally, I had to look that up, (using Baseball Reference.com). I’ve excluded pitchers and players who are in the Hall due to their managerial career. The ages are as of the day of their first game of the season.
Cap Anson at age 19 (1871)
25G .325BA .366OBP .467SP 39H 2W 11D 3T 0HR 6SB 16RBI 29RS 64BP 45RP
Johnny Bench at age 19 (1967)
26G .163BA .207OBP .256SP 14H 5W 3D 1T 1HR 0SB 6RBI 7RS 27BP 12RP
Roger Bresnahan at age 18 (1897)- he then went back to the minors for a couple of years
6G .375BA .412OBP .375SP 6H 1W 0D 0T 0HR 0SB 3RBI 1RS 7BP 4RP
Ty Cobb at age 18 (1905)
41G .240BA .288OBP .300SP 36H 10W 6D 0T 1HR 2SB 15RBI 19RS 55BP 33RP
…at age 19 (1906)
98G .316BA .355OBP .394SP 113H 19W 15D 5T 1HR 23SB 34RBI 45RS 160BP 79RP
Eddie Collins at age 19 (1906)
6G .200BA .200OBP .200SP 3H 0W 0D 0T 0HR 1SB 0RBI 2RS 4BP 2RP
Sam Crawford at age 19 (1899)
31G .307BA .318OBP .465SP 39H 2W 3D 7T 1HR 6SB 20RBI 25RS 67BP 44RP
Joe Cronin at age 19 (1926)
38G .265BA .315OBP .337SP 22H 6W 2D 2T 0HR 0SB 11RBI 9RS 34BP 20RP
George Davis at age 19 (1890)
136G .264BA .336OBP .375SP 139H 53W 22D 9T 6HR 22SB 73RBI 98RS 272BP 165RP
Bobby Doerr at age 19 (1937)
55G .224BA .313OBP .313SP 33H 18W 5D 1T 2HR 2SB 14RBI 22RS 66BP 34RP
Nelson Fox at age 19 (1947)
7G .000ba .250OBP .000SP 0H 1W 0D 0T 0HR 0SB 0RBI 2RS 1BP 2RP
Jimmie Foxx at age 17 (1925)
10G .667BA .667OBP .778SP 6H 0W 1D 0T 0HR 0SB 0RBI 2RS 7BP 2RP
…at age 18 (1926)
26G .313BA .333OBP .438SP 10H 1W 2D 1T 0HR 1SB 5RBI 8RS 15BP 13RP
…at age 19 (1927)
61G .323BA .393OBP .515SP 42H 14W 6D 5T 3HR 2SB 20RBI 23RS 81BP 40RP
Hank Greenberg at age 19 (1930)
1G .000BA .000OBP .000SP 0H 0W 0D 0T 0HR 0SB 0RBI 0RS 0BP 0RP
Harry Heilmann at age 19 (1914)
68G .225BA .316OBP .313SP 41H 22W 8D 1T 2HR 1SB 18RBI 25RS 79BP 41RS
Rogers Hornsby at age 19 (1915)
18G .246BA .271OBP .281SP 14H 2W 2D 0T 0HR 0SB 4RBI 5RS 18BP 9RS
Travis Jackson at age 18 (1922)
3G .000BA .000OBP .000SP 0H 0W 0D 0T 0HR 0SB 0RBI 1RS 0BP 1RP
…at age 19 (1923)
96G .275BA .321OBP .391SP 90H 22W 12D 7T 4HR 3SB 37RBI 45RS 150BP 78RP
Al Kaline at age 18 (1953)
30G .250BA .300OBP .357SP 7H 1W 0D 0T 1HR 1SB 2RBI 9RS 12BP 10RP
…at age 19 (1954)
138G .276BVA .305OBP .347SP 139H 22W 18D 3T 4HR 9SB 43RBI 42RS 197BP 81RP
Joe Kelley at age 19 (1891)
12G .244BA .277OBP .311SP 11H 2W 1D 1T 0HR 0SB 3RBI 7RS 16RBI 10RS
George Kelly at age 19 (1915)
17G .158BA .179OBP .237SP 6H 1W 0D 0T 1HR OSB 4RBI 2RS 10BP 6RP
Harmon Killebrew at age 18 (1954)
9G .308BA .400OBP .385SP 4H 2W 1D 0T 0HR 0SB 3RBI 1RS 7BP 4RP
…at age 19 (1955)
44G .200BA .281OBP .363SP 22H 10W 2D 0T 5HR 0SB 13RBI 10RS 49BP 18RP
Fred Lindstrom at age 18 (1924)
52G .253BA .314OBP .316SP 20H 6W 3D 1T 0HR 3SB 4RBI 19RS 31BP 23RP
…at age 19 (1925)
104G .287BA .332OBP .430SP 102H 22W 15D 12T 4HR 5SB 33RBI 43RS 175BP 72BP
Mickey Mantle at age 19 (1951)
96G .267BA .349OBP .443SP 91H 43W 11D 5T 13HR 8SB 65RBI 61RS 202BP 113RP
Bill Mazeroski at age 19 (1956)
81G .243BA .293OBP .318SP 62H 18W 8D 1T 3HR 0SB 14RBI 30RS 99BP 41RP
John McGraw at age 18 (1891)
33G .270BA .359OBP .383SP 31H 12W 3D 5T 0HR 4SB 14RBI 17RS 60BP 31RP
…at age 19 (1892)
79G .269BA .315OBP .359SP 77H 32W 13D 2T 1HR 15SB 26RBI 41RS 129BP 66RP
Mel Ott at age 17 (1926)
35G .383BA .393OBP .417SP 23H 1W 2D 0T 0HR 1SB 4RBI 7RS 27BP 11RP
…at age 18 (1927)
82G .282BA .335OBP .380SP 46H 13W 7D 3T 1HR 2SB 19RBI 23RS 77BP 41RP
…at age 19 (1928)
124G .322BA .397OBP .524SP 140H 52W 26D 4T 18HR 3SB 77RBI 69RS 283BP 128RP
Brooks Robinson at age 18 (1955)
5G .200BA .200OBP .300SP 2H 0W 0D 0T 1HR 0SB 1RBI 0RS 5BP 1RP
…at age 19 (1956)
15G .227BA .244OBP .386SP 10H 0W 4D 0T 1HR 0SB 1RBI 5RS 17BP 5RP
Babe Ruth at age 19 (1914)
5G .200BA .200OBP .300SP 2H 0W 1D 0T 0HR 0SB 2RBI 1RS 3BP 3RP
Ray Schalk at age 19 (1912)
23G .286BA .357OBP .317SP 18H 3W 2D 0T 0HR 2SB 8RBI 7RS 25BP 15RP
Tris Speaker at age 19 (1907)
7G .158BA .200OBP .158SP 3H 1W 0D 0T 0HR 0SB 1RBI 0RS 4BP 1RP
Robin Yount at age 18 (1974)
107G .250BA .276OBP .346SP 86H 12W 14D 5T 3HR 7SB 26RBI 48RS
…at age 19 (1975)
147G .267BA .307OBP .367SP 149H 33W 28D 2T 8HR 12SB 52RBI 67RS 250BP 111RP
Here are some notable teenage debuts of the last generation that might add to the above list:
Juan Gonzalez at age 19 (1989)
24G .150BA .227OBP .250SP 9H 6W 3D 0T 1HR 0SB 7RBI 6RS 21BP 12RP
Ken Griffey Jr. at age 19 (1989)
127G .264BA .329OBP .420SP 120H 44W 23D 0T 16HR 16SB 61RBI 61RS 251BP 106RP
Ivan Rodriguez at age 19 (1991)
88G .264BA .276OBP .354SP 74H 5W 16D 0T 3HR 0SB 27RBI 24RS 104BP 48RP
Alex Rodriguez at age 18 (1994)
17G .204BA .241OBP .204SP 11H 3W 0D 0T 0HR 3SB 2RBI 4RS 17BP 6RP
…at age 19 (1995)
48G .232BA .264OBP .408SP 33H 6W 6D 2T 5HR 4SB 19RBI 15RS 68BP 29RP
Andruw Jones at age 19 (1996)
31G .217BA .265OBP .443SP 23H 7W 7D 1T 5HR 3SB 13RBI 11RS 57BP 18RP
Adrian Beltre at age 19 (1998)
77G .215BA .275OBP .369SP 42H 14W 9D 0T 7HR 3SB 22RBI 18RS 89BP 33RP
Harper at age 19 put up better numbers than any of these players. The closest are Ott, Griffey, Yount and Mantle. Ott was probably comparable but base stealing was not in vogue at the time. So while young Mr. Harper may have been overshadowed by young Mr. Trout, he still bares watching in the coming years. You may see something really special.
