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The title isn't very good, but titles are for suckers. I wanted to compare the start these two are off to compared to other guys that ended up putting up great seasons. Using Baseball-Reference I did a search of all the players that ever had a season in which they put up 45+ Homers, 40+ Doubles, and 120+ RBI. This list netted 10 guys that have done it. You can see them below.
| Player |
HR |
2B |
RBI |
Year |
G |
PA |
AB |
R |
H |
3B |
BB |
IBB |
SO |
HBP |
GDP |
BA
|
OBP
|
SLG
|
OPS
|
| Ruth |
59 |
44 |
171 |
1921 |
152 |
693 |
540 |
177 |
204 |
16 |
145 |
0 |
81 |
4 |
0 |
0.378 |
0.512 |
0.846 |
1.358 |
| Belle |
50 |
52 |
126 |
1995 |
143 |
629 |
546 |
121 |
173 |
1 |
73 |
5 |
80 |
6 |
24 |
0.317 |
0.401 |
0.690 |
1.091 |
| Helton |
49 |
54 |
146 |
2001 |
159 |
696 |
587 |
132 |
197 |
2 |
98 |
15 |
104 |
5 |
14 |
0.336 |
0.432 |
0.685 |
1.117 |
| Belle |
49 |
48 |
152 |
1998 |
163 |
706 |
609 |
113 |
200 |
2 |
81 |
10 |
84 |
1 |
17 |
0.328 |
0.399 |
0.655 |
1.054 |
| Walker |
49 |
46 |
130 |
1997 |
153 |
664 |
568 |
143 |
208 |
4 |
78 |
14 |
90 |
14 |
15 |
0.366 |
0.452 |
0.720 |
1.172 |
| Gehrig |
49 |
40 |
165 |
1934 |
154 |
690 |
579 |
128 |
210 |
6 |
109 |
0 |
31 |
2 |
0 |
0.363 |
0.465 |
0.706 |
1.171 |
| Ortiz |
47 |
40 |
148 |
2005 |
159 |
713 |
601 |
119 |
180 |
1 |
102 |
9 |
124 |
1 |
13 |
0.300 |
0.397 |
0.604 |
1.001 |
| Gehrig |
47 |
52 |
175 |
1927 |
155 |
717 |
584 |
149 |
218 |
18 |
109 |
0 |
84 |
3 |
0 |
0.373 |
0.474 |
0.765 |
1.239 |
| Pujols |
46 |
51 |
123 |
2004 |
154 |
692 |
592 |
133 |
196 |
2 |
84 |
12 |
52 |
7 |
21 |
0.331 |
0.415 |
0.657 |
1.072 |
| Gonzalez |
45 |
50 |
157 |
1998 |
154 |
669 |
606 |
110 |
193 |
2 |
46 |
9 |
126 |
6 |
20 |
0.318 |
0.366 |
0.630 |
0.996 |
|
|
|
|
My next step was to go in and look at how they performed in their first 28 games for that season. I used 28 because that is where Carlos is at and Evan is only one shy. This is not meant to be predictive or to show causality, but merely a comparison of a few of the best season's ever performed to a couple of guys off to a great start. Note I could not find gamelogs for Ruth's or Gehrig's seasons.
|
Year |
Tm |
G |
PA |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
IBB |
SO |
HBP |
SH |
SF |
ROE |
GDP |
SB |
CS |
BA
|
OBP
|
SLG
|
OPS
|
| Evan Longoria |
2009 |
TBR |
27 |
120 |
109 |
21 |
39 |
14 |
0 |
8 |
35 |
9 |
0 |
26 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0.358 |
0.408 |
0.706 |
1.115 |
| Carlos Pena |
2009 |
TBR |
28 |
123 |
105 |
18 |
28 |
5 |
1 |
12 |
29 |
17 |
1 |
35 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0.267 |
0.374 |
0.676 |
1.050 |
| Albert Belle |
1995 |
CLE |
28 |
127 |
115 |
22 |
33 |
12 |
0 |
5 |
19 |
12 |
0 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
0.287 |
0.354 |
0.522 |
0.876 |
| Todd Helton |
2001 |
COL |
28 |
124 |
100 |
29 |
31 |
5 |
0 |
9 |
27 |
22 |
4 |
19 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0.310 |
0.435 |
0.630 |
1.065 |
| Albert Belle |
1998 |
CHW |
28 |
120 |
98 |
13 |
24 |
9 |
0 |
5 |
17 |
18 |
1 |
20 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0.245 |
0.350 |
0.490 |
0.840 |
| Larry Walker |
1997 |
COL |
28 |
128 |
111 |
33 |
46 |
8 |
1 |
11 |
33 |
15 |
3 |
17 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
10 |
2 |
0.414 |
0.492 |
0.802 |
1.294 |
| David Ortiz |
2005 |
BOS |
28 |
119 |
109 |
15 |
28 |
8 |
0 |
7 |
19 |
9 |
1 |
21 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.257 |
0.311 |
0.523 |
0.834 |
| Albert Pujols
|
2004 |
STL |
28 |
129 |
107 |
26 |
29 |
9 |
0 |
8 |
18 |
20 |
6 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
0.271 |
0.388 |
0.579 |
0.967 |
| Juan Gonzalez
|
1998 |
TEX |
28 |
127 |
119 |
22 |
40 |
10 |
0 |
7 |
36 |
4 |
0 |
26 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0.336 |
0.346 |
0.597 |
0.943 |
|
|
|
|
Evan trumps all these guys in doubles as well as having the second most RBI and OPS. Pena leads in dingers as well as K's. If these two can keep it up we won't just be talking about them this year, but for the rest of humankind.
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