Baseball's Best Decade (17 page)

1980s –
In line with a trend that began in the 1950s, total major league scoring in the 1980s increased again, this time by 6.0% over the total number of runs scored in the 1970s. The difference almost certainly would have been slightly greater if not for the strike-shortened, split-season of 1981. The Boston Red Sox repeated as baseball’s best offensive team, 3 times leading the American League – which produced all of the top 5 scoring teams in the 1980s. In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies led the league for the decade with 6,633, ranking thirteenth among all major league teams. Was all this increased output due to the first full decade of the designated hitter?

Who almost made the list?
California Angels at 7,077, Toronto Blue Jays at 7,056, Baltimore Orioles at 7,001.

1990s –
The 1990s were the first decade when major league teams scored over 200,000 runs combined, averaging 8.97 runs per game, the highest per-game average since the 1930s. The top 11 teams all played in the American League, led by the Cleveland Indians who set the pace in American League scoring by leading the league 3 times. The team that ranked number 12, the Milwaukee Brewers, spent the first 7 years of the decade in the American League. The highest ranking “true” National League team was the Atlanta Braves at number 14 among major league teams.

Who almost made the list?
Detroit Tigers at 7,599, Baltimore Orioles at 7,568, Oakland Athletics at 7,554.

2000s –
Major league teams scored a record 230,982 runs during the 2000s, the highest total for any decade and 26.7% more than they scored in the 1990s. In terms of total runs per game, games in the 2000s averaged 8.92 runs, the highest average since the 1930s, when major league games averaged 9.86 runs per game. The New York Yankees led the American League in scoring 4 times during the decade, and the Boston Red Sox were the league leaders in scoring 3 times. The Philadelphia Phillies scored the most runs among National league teams 3 times.

Who almost made the list?
Chicago White Sox at 8,125, St. Louis Cardinals at 8,039, Philadelphia Phillies at 7,978.

Individual Slugging Leaders for Each Decade
(1920s -1940s)

During the 1920s, Rogers Hornsby led the National League in slugging average 8 times, with a career best .756 in 1925.

Yankee first baseman Lou Gehrig finished third in slugging average for both the 1920s and 1930s. In his first trial-run with the Yankees in 1923, Gehrig batted .423 with a .769 slugging average. Six of his 11 hits were for extra bases. He finished with a .632 career slugging average.

From 1928 through 1939, Jimmie Foxx had a combined slugging average of .643. He led the American League in slugging 5 times during the 1930s.

Ted Williams led the American League in slugging average for 6 of the 7 seasons he played in the 1940s.

1920s –
The usual suspects for the 1920s show up again, with the addition of Jimmie Foxx. Baseball’s premier slugger of the 1930s broke into the major leagues with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1928 (after playing parts of the previous 3 seasons with the A’s). Therefore his power totals for the 1920s do not rank with the decade’s leaders. But his slugging average put Foxx at number 4 for the ‘20s, an indication of what was to come in the decade ahead.

Who almost made the list?
Harry Heilmann at .558, Hack Wilson at .557, Jim Bottomley at .547.

1930s –
With the offense generated throughout major league baseball, it’s no wonder that the 1930s produced 5 hitters with slugging percentages above .600 for the decade. Only 3 players since have accomplished that feat. Babe Ruth’s .644 percentage was especially remarkable for a player on the downside of his career. Jimmie Foxx led the American League 5 times. Among National League hitters, the highest slugging average for the decade belonged to the New York Giants’ Mel Ott.

Who almost made the list?
Rudy York at .590, Charlie Gehringer at .563, Mel Ott at .560.

1940s –
Ted Williams’ slugging average led all other major league hitters by more than 60 percentage points. Williams led the American League in slugging for 6 of the 7 seasons that he played. The National League’s most proficient slugger over the course of the decade of Johnny Mize, who led the league twice and finished in the top 5 on 3 other occasions. (Mize had also led the league in 1938 and 1939.)