Off-season. Waiting for news on the free agent market. I spent a few hours re-classifying my baseball cards and saw a 2010 Topps heritage then & now. On the front, we can see Yankees legend Mickey Mantle and Adrian Gonzalez in the Padres jersey. On the back, it indicated that Mantle was the 1961 bases on balls leader and Adrian Gonzalez the 2009 bases on balls leader.
Base on balls (BB) is also known as a walk. I didn’t really notice that the card was about the records for walks when I got it. Well, 10 years later. Something came to my mind.
How many walks did they draw in their careers?
Mickey Mantle had played 18 years in the MLB, all in pinstripes. In his legendary career, he drew 1733 walks and there were 10 seasons that Mantle drew at least 100 walks. In his final season (1968), he still had 106 walks.
Adrian Gonzalez began his career in the Ranges and his final season was with the New York Mets in 2018. In his career, he drew 782 walks. A-Gon had only one season with at least 100 walks, as it was shown on the card, the 2009 season, a season that he had a career high 119 walks.
How about single season records for Walks?
Barry Bonds drew 232 walks in the 2004 season, the MLB record for the most walks in a single season. In 2004, Bonds was 39 years old. Bonds spent 22 years in the big league. In these 22 years, he had 14 seasons with at least 100 walks.
In 1923, Babe Ruth drew 170 walks, the most walks drawn in a single season during his career. Babe Ruth played 22 seasons in the majors. In these 22 seasons, he had 13 seasons with at least 100 walks. At the beginning of Babe Ruth’s career, he was mainly a pitcher for the Red Sox. In Ruth’s 15 years with the Yankees, he had 12 seasons with at least 100 walks.
Mark McGwire had 162 walks in 1998, a year that he crushed 70 homers. Ted Williams had 162 walks in 1947 and 1949. McGwire played 16 seasons and had 5 seasons with at least 100 walks. Ted Williams spent all his 19 playing years with the Red Sox, there were 11 seasons that he had at least 100 walks.
Eddie Yost was an All-Star in 1952. He drew 151 walks in 1956 and 1614 walks in his career.
Career leaders for Walks?
Barry Bonds, Rickey Henderson, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams each drew more than 2000 walks in their careers. Mickey Mantle had 1733 walks, 8th most in MLB history. Among these 10 players, 9 of them are Hall of Famers.
How about BB% in the league?
BB% is something interesting to see. In 2000, BB% in the majors was 9.6%. Then, from 2001 to 2012, BB% remained below 9%. However, from 2013 to 2015, BB% dropped to below 8%. From 2016 to 2019, it went up again, over 8%. In the 2020 season, BB% reached 9.2%.
Look back at baseball history. In the early days, BB% was even below 5%. From 1948 to 1950, BB% reached more than 10% in these three seasons. 9.6% in 2000 was the highest since 1951. We will have to wait. But it will be truly worth noticing to see if BB% in 2021 will go high or not.
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