Will Walks Determine if the Cubs Will Compete?
What happens when the Chicago Cubs and their opponents don't hit the ball may be at least as important as what happens when the ball is put in play.
The Cubs’ pitching staff set a franchise record by allowing 687 walks in 2006. At the same time, there was a steady decline in the number of walks the team’s hitters drew during the four-year tenure of fired manager Dusty Baker. Chicago recorded a major league-low 395 walks last season, a differential of -292. That’s the worst differential since the 1971 Indians were -303, collecting 467 walks and allowing 770. Since 1900, the only differentials worse than those posted by the 1971 Indians and 2006 Cubs were generated by the Athletics in 1915-16.
Worst Walk Differential, Team minus Opponents, Since 1901
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Team. . . . . . . . . . .Opp
Team. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Walks. . . . . . . . . . Walks. . . . . . . . . . . Diff
1915 Athletics. . . . . . . . . . . .436. . . . . . . . . . . 827. . . . . . . . . . . .-391
1916 Athletics. . . . . . . . . . . .406. . . . . . . . . . . 715. . . . . . . . . . . .-309
1971 Indians. . . . . . . . . . . . . 467. . . . . . . . . . . 770. . . . . . . . . . . .-303
2006 Cubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .395. . . . . . . . . . . 687. . . . . . . . . . . .-292
1951 Browns. . . . . . . . . . . . .521. . . . . . . . . . . 801. . . . . . . . . . . .-280
1972 Angels. . . . . . . . . . . . . 358. . . . . . . . . . . 620. . . . . . . . . . . .-262
1955 Athletics. . . . . . . . . . . 463. . . . . . . . . . . 707. . . . . . . . . . . . -244
1910 Braves. . . . . . . . . . . . . 359. . . . . . . . . . . 599. . . . . . . . . . . . -240
1996 Tigers. . . . . . . . . . . . . .546. . . . . . . . . . .784. . . . . . . . . . . . -238
1935 Athletics. . . . . . . . . . . 475. . . . . . . . . . . 704. . . . . . . . . . . . -229
1999 Rockies. . . . . . . . . . . . 508. . . . . . . . . . . 737. . . . . . . . . . . . -229
Comments
An interesting group of teams.
The 1915 and 1916 Athletics were the awful results of Connie Mack's refusal to pay his veterans, who left to join the Federal League in 1914 and 1915. Similarly, the 1935 A's came after another money-induced retrenchment by Mack.
The 1910 Braves were just a terrible team. I doubt that anyone reading this would recognize any of their names, unless you collect cigarette cards. They led the league in walks allowed and in fewest walks received.
The 1951 Browns would have been -279 if Bill Veeck hadn't sent Eddie Gaedel up to bat. As can be seen, they weren't that bad at drawing walks, but were dreadful at issuing them, with the second-highest number on this list.
On the 1971 Indians, Sudden Sam McDowell led the league with 153 BB, and teammate Steve Dunning chipped in with 109.
The following year, Nolan Ryan's 157 led the league, and the Angels walked 62 times fewer than the Indians, who were the next-worst team in that category.
Then came the DH, and for whatever reason, no other teams joined this list until Buddy Bell's 1996 Tigers, who did it mainly with pitching.
In 1999, the Rockies under Jim Leyland became the first NL team since 1910 to join this list, probably because the pitchers were afraid to throw strikes and the hitters started swinging in the on-deck circle at Coors Field. But the 2006 Cubs were far worse, exceeding the Rockies' differential by 63.
Posted by: Ron T. | March 24, 2007 2:33 PM
The Cubbies need to get more ABs for DeRosa and The Money Man, Matt Murton. Those are two guys who will take some pitches. Also, Ronny Cedeno has drawn 10 walks this spring, most on the club.
Posted by: Walter Lis | March 27, 2007 12:15 PM
The last AL club on this list needed another 10 years to go to the playoffs. And most of these clubs made little noise in the 10 years following their nightmarish seasons. Free agency is a benefit the Cubs have over many of these clubs in terms of turning things around. Still, is there hope the Cubs will be a contender anytime soon?
Posted by: TH | March 29, 2007 1:56 PM
Yes. The hope is that the Tribune Company seems to be on the point of either selling the club or itself being taken over by new ownership. As the experience of the Angels shows, a perennial doormat can be turned around in about 3 or 4 years if bad ownership is replaced by a knowledgeable and involved new owner,
Posted by: Dion | March 29, 2007 5:17 PM