The Worst RBI men

Today, I'll continue with the RBI theme by looking at some of the worst seasons and careers for players who had large numbers of RBI. As I did in a recent article about Magglio Ordonez, I will use Runs Created Above Average (RCAA) to evaluate each player's season. Table 1 looks at the lowest RCAAs among players with 100 RBI in one season. The table illustrates that the 100 benchmark does not guarantee a good season.

All of the players on the list created 13 or more runs less than league average. Without looking at every case, I would guess that most, if not all of these players, played on teams which gave them a lot of opportunities to drive home runs. Here are some highlights:

• Vinny Castilla's 102 RBIs was not a good total in a season where so many players were hitting for power and on a team (the Rockies) which gave him a very large number of base runners.

• Moose Solters of the St. Louis Browns had 134 RBI in 1936 so he must have had a great season. Right? Nope, he created 20 runs below league average.

• Joe Carter, who played for the Blue Jays during the 1990s, appeared on the list 3 times. Ruben Sierra is on the list twice.

• The lone Tiger on the list is Marv Owen who drove in 105 runs for the 1936 Tigers.

Table 1: Lowest RCAAs for players with 100+ RBI in Season

PLAYER	YEAR	AB	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	RCAA
Vinny Castilla	1999	615	102	.275	.331	.478	-34
Tony Armas	1983	574	107	.218	.254	.453	-29
Joe Carter	1997	612	102	.234	.284	.399	-21
Tony Batista	2004	606	110	.241	.272	.455	-20
Moose Solters	1936	628	134	.291	.336	.467	-20
Sammy Sosa	1997	642	119	.251	.300	.480	-19
Jeff Francoeur	2006	651	103	.260	.293	.449	-19
Joe Carter	1990	634	115	.232	.290	.391	-19
Roy Pepper	1934	564	101	.298	.333	.399	-18
George Kelly	1929	577	103	.293	.332	.428	-17
Butch Hobson	1977	593	112	.265	.300	.489	-16
Gee Walker	1939	598	111	.291	.330	.443	-16
Paul O'Neill	2000	566	100	.283	.336	.424	-16
Ruben Sierra	1987	643	109	.263	.302	.470	-15
Ruben Sierra	1993	630	101	.233	.288	.390	-15
Joe Carter	1996	625	107	.253	.306	.475	-14
Ray Jablonski	1953	604	112	.268	.308	.427	-14
Rico Brogna	1998	565	104	.265	.319	.446	-14
Marv Owen	1936	583	105	.295	.361	.389	-13
Joe Pepitone	1964	613	100	.251	.281	.418	-13

Table 2 lists the players with the lowest RCAAs among players with 1,000 or more career RBI. Here are the highlights:

• Vinny Castilla heads this list as well with 187 runs created below average for his career.

• Joe Carter knocked in 1,445 runs in his career but was still barely above average.

• Two popular Tigers made this dubious list: Lance Parrish and Travis Fryman.

Table 2: Lowest RCAAs among players with 1000+ Career RBI

PLAYER	AB	RBI	AVG	OBA	SLG	RCAA
Vinny Castilla	6822	1105	.276	.321	.476	-187
Gary Gaetti	8951	1341	.255	.308	.434	-126
Jimmy Dykes	8046	1071	.280	.365	.399	-77
Charlie Grimm	7917	1078	.290	.341	.397	-64
Dante Bichette	6381	1141	.299	.336	.499	-31
Bill Buckner	9397	1208	.289	.321	.408	-26
Tim Wallach	8099	1125	.257	.316	.416	-26
B.J. Surhoff	8258	1153	.282	.332	.413	-22
Bret Boone	6683	1021	.266	.325	.442	-16
Lance Parrish	7067	1070	.252	.313	.440	-15
Todd Zeile	7573	1110	.265	.346	.423	-5
Travis Fryman	6481	1022	.274	.336	.443	14
Ruben Sierra	8044	1322	.268	.315	.450	20
Mike Higgins	6636	1075	.292	.370	.427	25
Joe Carter	8422	1445	.259	.306	.464	28
Stuffy McInnis	7822	1060	.308	.343	.381	30
Garret Anderson	7432	1208	.297	.327	.471	36
George Scott	7433	1051	.268	.333	.435	46
Eric Karros	6441	1027	.268	.325	.454	47
Brooks Robinson	10654	1357	.267	.322	.401	51