Best Players At Advancing Runners Since 1950

This a continuation of my series on runner advancement statistics for batters.  Other posts are listed below:

• Introduction to Advancement Stats

• Amending the advancement stats

• Advancement by team and Tigers players, 2012

In this piece, I'll look at advancement for batters since 1950, the first complete year of the retrosheet database.  The columns in the tables below are as follows:

• OPP - Runners on base in batters plate appearances excluding neutral results (i.e. no base runner advancement and no outs on play).

• ADV - Base runners advanced.

• ADV% - Percentage of base runners advanced.

• ADVAA - Base runners Advanced Above Average.

Table 1 shows that the highest advancement percentage was by Giants outfielder Barry Bonds in 2004 when he advanced 211 of 313 runners for a .674 ADV%.  It's no wonder why he was intentionally walked 232 times that year.  He was more than eight percentage points higher than the runner-up - Rockies first baseman Todd Helton at .591 in 2000.

Table 2 tells us that Bonds also posted the highest single-season ADVAA in 2004 when he was 83 runs above average.

Table 1: Singe-season Advance Percentage Leaders, 1950-2012

Player	Team	Year	OPP	ADV	ADV%
Barry Bonds	San Francisco	2004	313	211	.674
Todd Helton	Colorado	2000	462	273	.591
Ted Williams	Boston	1950	284	167	.588
Barry Bonds	San Francisco	2002	302	177	.586
Roberto Alomar	Cleveland	2001	375	218	.581
Barry Bonds	San Francisco	2003	293	170	.580
Bob Abreu	Philadelphia	2006	252	146	.579
George Brett	Kansas City	1980	323	187	.579
Rod Carew	Minnesota	1977	403	233	.578
Mike Hargrove	Cleveland	1981	225	130	.578
Ted Williams	Boston	1957	276	159	.576
Barry Bonds	San Francisco	1996	387	222	.574
Pete Rose	Cincinnati	1969	302	173	.573
Ted Williams	Boston	1951	475	272	.573
Derek Jeter	New York	2006	420	239	.569
Rusty Greer	Texas	1999	398	226	.568
Rod Carew	California	1979	284	161	.567
Roberto Alomar	Cleveland	1999	468	263	.562
Rickey Henderson	Oakland	1995	226	127	.562
Mark McLemore	Texas	1998	331	186	.562

Table 2: Single-season Advances Above Average Leaders, 1950-2012

Player	Team	Year	OPP	ADV	ADVAA
Barry Bonds	San Francisco	2004	313	211	83
Todd Helton	Colorado	2000	462	273	76
Ted Williams	Boston	1951	475	272	71
Rod Carew	Minnesota	1977	403	233	66
Roberto Alomar	Cleveland	1999	468	263	65
Derek Jeter	New York	2006	420	239	62
Joe Morgan	Cincinnati	1972	369	204	62
Roberto Alomar	Cleveland	2001	375	218	61
Tom Herr	St. Louis	1985	417	228	59
Barry Bonds	San Francisco	1996	387	222	59
Rusty Greer	Texas	1999	398	226	58
Gus Bell	Cincinnati	1954	435	233	57
David Ortiz	Boston	2005	479	255	57
Rod Carew	Minnesota	1974	389	212	57
Billy Williams	Chicago	1972	357	193	55
Tony Gwynn	San Diego	1997	399	222	55
Mickey Vernon	Washington	1953	500	260	55
Jason Giambi	Oakland	2000	424	238	55
Pete Rose	Cincinnati	1969	302	173	54
Roberto Clemente	Pittsburgh	1967	381	201	54

Table 3 lists Ted Williams with the best career ADV% since 1950 with .543.  Current Twins catcher Joe Mauer is second at .513.  The best thing about lists like this is the surprises.  Braves long-time pitching great Tommy Glavine is tied for seventh with Bonds at .502.  Whereas Bonds advanced runners with power, Glavine did it more with sacrifice bunts.  Players like first baseman Ferris Fain (.508) and shortstop Johnny Pesky (.505) who rarely struck out and consistently put the ball in play also excelled at advancement.

Finally, Table 4 shows the career ADVAA leaders starting with Barry Bonds (590).  

Table 3: Career Advancement Percentage Leaders, 1950-2012

Player	OPP	ADV	ADV%
Ted Williams	2849	1547	.543
Joe Mauer	2570	1319	.513
Tony Gwynn	5469	2785	.509
Ferris Fain	1713	871	.508
Joey Votto	1631	826	.506
Johnny Pesky	1078	544	.505
Tom Glavine	1060	532	.502
Barry Bonds	6693	3358	.502
Rod Carew	5824	2910	.500
Joe Cunningham	2281	1132	.496
Mike Hargrove	3741	1845	.493
Bob Abreu	5699	2797	.491
Manny Mota	2677	1309	.489
Todd Helton	5177	2529	.489
Elvis Andrus	1330	648	.487
Chipper Jones	6433	3131	.487
Kevin Seitzer	3255	1584	.487
Lyman Bostock	1377	669	.486
Mark Grace	5383	2615	.486
Denard Span	1310	630	.481

Table 4: Career Advances Above Average Percentage, 1950-2012

Player	OPP	ADV	ADVAA
Barry Bonds	6693	3358	590
Rod Carew	5824	2910	580
Tony Gwynn	5469	2785	535
Carl Yastrzemski	8311	3818	513
Pete Rose	6904	3226	483
Chipper Jones	6433	3131	473
Bob Abreu	5699	2797	443
Rusty Staub	6912	3164	411
Todd Helton	5177	2529	396
Mark Grace	5383	2615	385
Wade Boggs	5719	2727	371
Roberto Clemente	5597	2557	367
Mickey Mantle	5608	2636	367
Derek Jeter	6390	3027	365
Roberto Alomar	5675	2727	364
Joe Morgan	5892	2714	363
Ted Williams	2849	1547	361
Billy Williams	6014	2721	359
George Brett	6631	3059	351
Nellie Fox	5428	2569	340

The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet.  Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at Retrosheet.org.