The Rays Discover Walks

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 9, 2009 1:00 AM EST

Pat Burrell's career OBP is .367.

In the Rays history, 180 different individual seasons have recorded 100 or more plate appearances. Only 23 have had an OBP greater than or equal to .367. That number declines 20 with 200 plate appearances, 16 with 300, 10 with 400, and 9 with 500 - B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena own a total of four of those nine. Fred McGriff owns three, Jose Canseco and Ben Grieve each own one.

The Rays never really became walk conscious until Friedman and company took over. Observe:

Year	Rays BB	LL BB	LL-Rays
1998	393	678	285
1999	544	770	226
2000	558	775	217
2001	456	678	222
2002	456	643	187
2003	420	684	264
2004	469	705	236
2005	412	653	241
2006	441	672	231
2007	545	689	144
2008	626	646	20

Or, in dandy graph form:

Raysbb_medium

Pretty, no? I would also like to note the decline in walks since 2000, then a sudden spike in 2004. Some will note the Rays climbing over the 500 walks plateau twice early on, and that's great, but look at the differences listed in the table again. 558 walks in 2000 is like 429 walks in 2008.

Year	LAVG BB
1998	548
1999	596
2000	608
2001	527
2002	542
2003	530
2004	541
2005	507
2006	528
2007	536
2008	545

Raysavg_medium

I believe a few commenters brought up how the lineup has changed since Friedman arrived. Physically, the names and numbers have changed, but there's also some philosophical differences between what Chuck LaMar and company wanted in a hitter and what Andrew Friedman and company want in a hitter. That's not groundbreaking, but it's pretty clear part of Friedman's recipe calls for walks.

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Top Josh Paul Pornos- Big Navi Stroking, 2pitchers1cup, BJ to the Balls, Riggans Your Thingans

by SRQman on Jan 9, 2009 1:01 AM EST reply actions 1 recs

Stomper?

What a subtle Moneyball reference.

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 9, 2009 1:07 AM EST up reply actions

Was that Damon Hollins with that song?

I remember laughing my ass off whenever I heard it. Maybe it was Craw

Anyway, as I was lying in the puddle, I think I may have found a way for us to get Bonds and Griffey, and we wouldn't have to give up that much.

~George Costanza~

by Sandy Kazmir on Jan 9, 2009 12:31 PM EST up reply actions

I did not know that anybody actually used that song.

That’s absolutely horrible news, because the song is retarded; Hollins probably isn’t a bad guess.

by kericr on Jan 9, 2009 1:09 PM EST up reply actions

Not a Hyphy fan?

My brother new a crazy broad in boarding school from San Fran that had HYPHY tatted on the inside of her lip.

by rglass44 on Jan 9, 2009 1:11 PM EST up reply actions

The Hyphy movement is the single most ignorant thing I've ever seen.

Worse then Crunk. By a hell of a lot.

by kericr on Jan 9, 2009 1:37 PM EST up reply actions

Call me old

But what the hell is Hyphy?

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Jan 9, 2009 4:01 PM EST up reply actions

Wiki has a brief summary

Here. And honestly, I’m right on the borderline of being too old to know about this myself. You can do a google search for the standard terms if you want to know more.

by kericr on Jan 10, 2009 11:37 AM EST up reply actions

ooo ooo

I was one of them!

by BossmanJunior333 on Jan 9, 2009 2:06 AM EST reply actions

Interesting how the LL and Rays totals are in sync.

Could you maybe add the league-average data? I hadn’t realized league walk-rate had fluctuated so much.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Jan 9, 2009 11:37 AM EST reply actions

Sure.

Year Walks
1998 548
1999 596
2000 608
2001 527
2002 542
2003 530
2004 541
2005 507
2006 528
2007 536
2008 545

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 9, 2009 11:46 AM EST up reply actions

Cool, thanks.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Jan 9, 2009 1:36 PM EST up reply actions

I just saw the first pitch swing vs. walks article on FG

Since we seemed like the most extreme outlier any thoughts on if that is due to regress?

Anyway, as I was lying in the puddle, I think I may have found a way for us to get Bonds and Griffey, and we wouldn't have to give up that much.

~George Costanza~

by Sandy Kazmir on Jan 9, 2009 11:50 AM EST reply actions

We had the lowest O-Swing% (which is good)

I’m not sure where Matthew is taking that series, but I think he’s going to theorize something like:

Swinging at the first pitch isn’t that bad if it’s a good pitch, and the teams who were cautious in swinging out of zone still drew a good number of walks.

Or maybe not.

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 9, 2009 11:53 AM EST up reply actions