Historical ATB Value - ATB VI

I decided to go back in time and recreate our new ATB Value Score for each season we have data for. ATB VI is as far back as our annals go, which is probably a good thing or I would be spending the summer buried in VLOOKUPs and nutty fantasy baseball calculations.

Season 6 was a 14 team league in which the league average batting line was .258 / .325 / .399. Ted Williams led the league in batting with a .354 Average while Barry Bonds was easily the MVP, batting .331 / .472 / .751 with 65 HR, 158 R, and 155 RBI. All but the batting average led the league. Accordingly, he returns a historically significant ATB Value of .404. Remember, the scale for ATB Value is just like that of batting average - a .400 score is off the charts good.

The scale for average raw GPA per position was as follows:

.264 - 1B
.259 - LF
.259 - RF
.250 - CF
.238 - 3B
.234 - SS
.230 - 2B
.220 - C

Catcher
In the pre-King Kelly days, catchers were relatively weak offensive players, even when considering positional scarcity. 1951 Roy Campanella batted .300 ATBV, narrowly besting 1937 Rudy York and his .296 ATBV. Campy slugged .467 with 24 home runs and batted .280 with a .327 OBP. He played in 2002 Fenway Park which inflated offense by 3%. Between his Vg throwing arm and positional scarcity score, his raw GPA increased from .264

First Base
In a poor year for first basemen, Lou Gehrig batted .318 ATBV, running away the award. He batted .280 / .370 / .545 with 36 HR and 36 doubles. The second best first basemen, Willie McCovey, was not close to contending, batting .295. Gehrig's raw GPA was .303; the lefty received a moderate bonus for having played in Jacobs Field 2002 due to its park factor of 97.

Second Base
The race for best second basemen of the year was a toss up heading into the last week of the season. 1901 Nap Lajoie finished the season with an ATB Value of .320, just a single point ahead of 1924 Rogers Hornsby. Hornsby's raw GPA was slightly better, and his park factor was slightly more forgiving to batters, but Lajoie is the better defender giving him the edge. A third shortstop should be mentioned too - Eddie Collins, circa 1909, hit .307 in large part due to his Ex defense.

Lajoie batted .328 / .366 / .501 with 54 doubles.

Third Base
Despite playing in 2004 Olympic Stadium which increased offense by 5%, 1953 Eddie Mathews was third basemen of the year with a .316 ATB Value. His defense was Vg. 1980 George Brett outpaced Mathews in terms of ATB Runs, but only due to his 100 plate appearance edge. Mathews batted .279 / .368 / .526 with 30 HR and 14 triples.

Shortstop
1908 Honus Wagner and 1935 Arky Vaughan battled for supremacy throughout the ATB VI season. Vaughan was the better raw hitter in terms of GPA of, winning handily with .305 to Wagner's .283. However, and this is the key aspect of ATB Value, Vaughan played in 1944 Forbes which carries a BPF of 104 and Wagner's home was the 1901 West Side Grounds. The Chicago ballpark suppressed offense by 4% and coupled with Wagner's Ex defense, pushed him over the top for the highest ATB Value at the shortstop position. Wagner's final line: .341 ATB Value, .322 / .366 / .475, 36 2B, 17 3B, 10 HR.

Left Field
Bonds completed one of the best seasons in ATB History this season and even the Great Babe Ruth couldn't compete directly with him. To put this into perspective, Ruth batted .292 / .449 / .653 with 47 HR and 14 3B, and didn't approach Bonds overall ATB Value score. 2004 Bonds came in at .404 versus Ruth's .383. At .400, Bonds' Raw GPA was also incredible, and he is the only player in ATB history to reach the .400 barrier. His line one more time: .331 / .472 / .751, 65 HR, 158 R, 155 RBI.

Center Field
The oft-underrated 1971 Bobby Murcer won the ATB Value award at center field easily. His raw GPA was .294 and after bonus's for defense, ballpark, and position his final mark was .321, a full 24 points better than 1916 Tris Speaker. One item to note, 1956 Mickey Mantle had a better Raw GPA, but Mantle played in a stadium with a 111 BPF, limiting his accomplishments. Murcer batted .331 / .398 / .460.

Right Field
In a weak year with Ruth playing in left field, 1923 Harry Heilmann came in first with a relatively low .301 ATB Value. He batted .324 / .378 / .446 in a pitchers park, narrowly beating 1919 Gavy Cravath, who came in at .297.

Finally, below are lists of the Top 10 overall and Top 5 players by position. Pay particular attention the the left fielders, 5 of them scored .340 or better.

Here is a link to the full ATB Value Report for the ATB VI season.

Overall
0.404 - Barry Bonds*, DLM
0.383 - Babe Ruth*, SY
0.352 - Ted Williams*, PBD
0.342 - Albert Pujols, TC
0.341 - Honus Wagner, MH
0.333 - Arky Vaughan*, NDN
0.327 - Lou Gehrig*, TC
0.321 - Bobby Murcer*, RM
0.320 - Nap Lajoie, CC
0.319 - Rogers Hornsby, FLP

Catcher
0.300 - Roy Campanella, FLP
0.296 - Bill Dickey*, SY
0.287 - Mickey Cochrane*, MH
0.282 - Carlton Fisk, CC
0.272 - Javy Lopez, PBD

First Base
0.327 - Lou Gehrig*, TC
0.295 - Willie McCovey*, DLM
0.281 - Jason Giambi*, DLM
0.279 - Todd Helton*, SY
0.278 - Jim Thome*, CC

Second Base
0.320 - Nap Lajoie, CC
0.319 - Rogers Hornsby, FLP 0.
0.307 - Eddie Collins*, DLM
0.282 - Joe Morgan*, PC
0.275 - Joe Gordon, TK

Third Base
0.316 - Eddie Mathews*, MFA
0.302 - George Brett*, DLM
0.289 - Frank Baker*, RM
0.282 - Wade Boggs*, FLP
0.271 - Chipper Jones#, SY

Shortstop
0.341 - Honus Wagner, MH
0.333 - Arky Vaughan*, NDN
0.286 - Joe Cronin, RM
0.283 - Lou Boudreau, HO
0.283 - Ernie Banks, SY

Left Field
0.404 - Barry Bonds*, DLM
0.383 - Babe Ruth*, SY
0.352 - Ted Williams*, PBD
0.342 - Albert Pujols, TC
0.291 - George Stone*, MH

Center Field
0.321 - Bobby Murcer*, RM
0.297 - Tris Speaker*, MH
0.289 - Joe DiMaggio, MFA
0.286 - Mickey Mantle#, 8S
0.285 - Mike Donlin*, PC

Right Field
0.301 - Harry Heilmann, HO
0.297 - Gavvy Cravath, FLP
0.296 - Stan Musial*, NDN
0.295 - Frank Robinson, PC
0.281 - Mel Ott*, TC