September 12, 2007
Hanley and History.
Hanley Ramirez knocked out two home runs and a double Tuesday night to bring his extra-base hit total for the season to seventy-seven. It's very likely he'll end the year with eighty or more extra-base hits. There was a time when that was an impressive accomplishment. Take a look at the period from 1982-1992, the eleven non-strike seasons leading up to the offensive boom of the 1990s:
Players with 80+ extra base hits, 1982-1992
| Player | Season | EXBH |
| Robin Yount | 1982 | 87 |
| Kevin Mitchell | 1989 | 87 |
| Don Mattingly | 1985 | 86 |
| Don Mattingly | 1986 | 86 |
| Cal Ripken Jr. | 1991 | 85 |
| George Bell | 1987 | 83 |
| Hal McRae | 1982 | 81 |
| Mark McGwire | 1987 | 81 |
| Juan Samuel | 1987 | 80 |
| Dave Parker | 1985 | 80 |
| Howard Johnson | 1989 | 80 |
Just one dozen players accomplished the deed, and three of those came in the big home run year of 1987. From 1993 to 2006, players reached 80 extra-base hits 112 times, including three such seasons in the strike shortened 1995 season. (We've had two reach that level already in 2007.) Twenty years ago, a season like this would win Hanley the MVP, now it's a common occurrence.
Posted by David Pinto at
07:55 AM
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It's pretty impressive that Ramirez doesn't even rank first (or second!) in extra-base hits among MLB's lead-off hitters.