Big Flys, Few Hits

In the History of the Twins Part 1 posted over at the MDBL FM Twins blog, it was noted that in the 2000 MDBL season John Jaha had 42 home runs on just 106 hits. That calculates to Jaha's homers accounting for 39.6% of his hits. That is the actually only the ninth best mark in MDBL history with at least 20 home runs in the season and one player holds four of the top five marks in this rather esoteric category. Who is that player? The answer at the end of this post.

There are some interesting names on the list of top 25 HR/H% in a season:

#4 - Daryl Ward (29 HR/67 H/43.2 OPS) - The well-traveled Ward has played with four teams in his six MDBL seasons. In the 2001 season playing for the Batavia Muckdogs, Ward hit 29 dingers but only generated an OPS of .752.

#6 - Henry Rodriguez (34/81/42.0%) – Now here is a name from the past. HRod was an excellent slugger in his three years in the MDBL. In 1999 for the Fort Worth Cats (nee Indianapolis Clowns), he homered in 42.0% of his hits. HRod moved to the Cherryville Red Barons (aka Somerset Sun Devils) and had an even better all-around year belting 30 round-trippers, driving in 108 runs and posting an OPS of .985. Rodriguez played one more year for the Red Barons and then retired from the MDBL.

#8 - Glenallen Hill (21/52/40.3%) – In what would be his final year in the MDBL (and after signing in ill-fated three year contract with the new owners of the Tempe Spiders), Hill made his hits count. The Spiders were rescued from their free agency faux paux by the Kennebec Colt 45’s (nee Boston Spiders) who, looking to bolster their team for the playoffs, took Hill and his fat contract off their hands.

#14 - Darryl Strawberry (29/79/36.7%) – Straw played only one season in the MDBL working the 1999 season for the de Oriente Caribes. In 316 plate appearances, Strawberry ripped 29 home runs, plated 77 runs and generated an OPS of 1.052. Never heard of the Caribes? Not surprising as they were contracted after the 1999 season.

#17 - Jeff Liefer (22/63/34.9%) – Nearly another one-season wonder, Liefer put together a great rookie season for the Fayetteville Swamp Dogs (aka Winchester Cannons) in 2002. Liefer appeared in only 16 games in 2003 for the relocated Cannons and was out of the league.

Answer: Who else but Mark McGwire. Big Mac played in only four MDBL seasons and his HR per hit percentages ranked 1st, 2nd , 3rd and 5th in league history. What is stunning is that in those four seasons, Red played for FIVE different teams. The numbers:

For his career, McGwire accumulated 232 homers and 472 hits. Home runs accounted for 49.2% of his hits. The second best career mark belongs to Barry Bonds with 31.5% (395 HR/ 1254 H).

The top 25 HR/H%: