Your Sacrifice Bunt Career Leaderboards

Earlier in the series: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6

The Sacrifice Bunt Series reaches its thrilling conclusion. Let no one say that we've cut corners; let no one say that there haven't been enough Excel-based line graphs. We have gotten here together, you and I.

Today's post will go a little light on the analysis, and instead present the individual career leaderboards for the sacrifice bunt. Think of it as an appendix. Some of the names will be expected, and others will shock you, if you're the sort of person who can be shocked. We're talking about bunting, of course, not the mating habits of the paper nautilus octopus.

Successful Bunt %, Career (minimum 30 sac attempts)

(times all runners advance / sacrifice bunts attempted)

Carlos Beltran	50.0%			Mike Tyson	0.0%
Angel Pagan	48.7%			Mark Wagner	0.0%
Kirby Puckett	48.4%			Rod Barajas	0.0%
Gregor Blanco	48.4%			Henry Blanco	2.0%
Luis Polonia	46.3%			Fred Lynn	2.6%
Ichiro Suzuki	44.7%			Dave Valle	2.6%
Hal Morris	44.2%			Bill Stein	2.7%
Kenny Lofton	43.7%			Larry Parrish	2.8%
J.D. Drew	43.2%			So Taguchi	2.8%
Paul Molitor	40.8%			Rich Gedman	3.0%
Damon Buford	40.0%			Rafael Landestoy	3.1%
Ben Zobrist	40.0%			Lenny Dykstra	3.1%
Rafael Furcal	39.6%			Alan Ashby	3.3%
John Stearns	39.4%			Rob Andrews	3.3%
Alex Cole	38.9%			Jose Molina	3.4%

Most of these guys make a lot of sense to be great bunters. They're quick out of the box. They're strong enough hitters to keep the infielders back. They've got the speed to beat out the barehanded throw. Carlos Beltran is one of those guys where you could expect him to be halfway down the line before the pitcher could accept the bunt as real.

Then there's Hal Morris. The first baseman. The guy who stole 45 bases in twelve seasons. The guy who was basically a prototype for Sean Casey. And it's no fluke: 18 of the 23 times he reached, they were solid base hits. You're going to have to admit to yourself that you've underappreciated Hal Morris.

On the minus side, first of all, that's Cubs utility infielder Mike Tyson we're talking about. Lots of catchers on this list, including our friend Dave Valle. It's surprising to see two athletic outfielders there, however, in the form of Fred Lynn and Lenny Dykstra. Dykstra reached once in thirty-two sac bunts: it was on an error.

Successful Bunt %, Mariners (minimum 10 sac attempts)

Ichiro Suzuki	47.6%			Felix Fermin	0.0%
John Moses	35.0%			Bill Stein	0.0%
Stan Javier	33.3%			Bob Stinson	0.0%
Ken Griffey	31.3%			Jay Buhner	0.0%
Jeremy Reed	30.4%			Todd Cruz	0.0%
Trayvon Robinson	30.0%			Jose Baez	0.0%
Phil Bradley	29.6%			Dave Valle	2.8%
Endy Chavez	28.6%			Dan Wilson	4.9%
Edgar Martinez	28.6%			Bruce Bochte	5.0%
Mickey Brantley	27.3%			Larry Cox	5.6%

Not too many surprises on this list, unless you count Edgar Martinez, Athletic Third Baseman. But it's valuable just to have a new way to understand how awesome Ichiro is. And it's nice to see that Johnny Moses was good at something. On the negative side, the depressing one is Dan Wilson, not because we expect him to beat out base hits, but because... well, you'll see.

Acceptable Bunt %, Career

(times at least lead runner advances / sacrifice bunts attempted)

Bob Bailor	100.0%	43		Jerome Walton	60.6%
Dave Anderson	100.0%	40		Fred Lynn	66.7%
Ken Reitz	100.0%	36		Drew Stubbs	67.6%
Peter Bourjos	100.0%	35		Tom Foley	67.7%
Ron Jackson	100.0%	35		Quilvio Veras	67.9%
Enos Cabell	100.0%	35		Joey Gathright	68.3%
Dale Berra	100.0%	33		Damian Jackson	69.2%
Jim Anderson	100.0%	32		Curtis Goodwin	69.8%
Todd Cruz	100.0%	30		Tim Bogar	70.0%
Rob Wilfong	99.1%	117		Jose Hernandez	71.0%
Johnnie LeMaster	98.3%	60		Mike Kingery	71.0%
Bob Randall	98.3%	59		Cecil Espy	71.0%
Damion Easley	98.0%	49		Damon Buford	71.4%
Rich Dauer	97.8%	45		Benji Gil	72.0%
Amos Otis	97.7%	44		Orlando Hudson	72.2%

You'll notice that most of these guys are seventies and early 80s guys, no surprise given how the bunt has fared recently. That makes Peter Bourjos's achievement that much more impressive. He's due back from injury, and he only needs nine more successful sacrifices to have the most while remaining perfect since 1973. Rob Wilfong's career 116/117 line is perhaps equally impressive.

The worst-of list looks like a sampler of toolsy, reputedly undisciplined guys. Former rookie of the year Jerome Walton stands alone, though it should be noted that if the 30-bunt minimum were reduced to 29, Deion Sanders would check in at second place with 62.1%.

Acceptable Bunt %, Mariners

Spike Owen	100.0%	29		Charles Gipson	60.0%
Bruce Bochte	100.0%	20		Michael Saunders	66.7%
John Moses	100.0%	20		Jeremy Reed	69.6%
Mike Cameron	100.0%	15		Trayvon Robinson	70.0%
Edgar Martinez	100.0%	14		Jay Buhner	70.6%
Todd Cruz	100.0%	13		Rey Quinones	72.2%
Stan Javier	100.0%	12		Mike Blowers	72.2%
Tino Martinez	100.0%	12		Jeff Schaefer	75.0%
Craig Reynolds	96.8%	31		Ken Griffey	75.0%
Mario Mendoza	96.2%	26		Lenny Randle	75.0%

Edgar makes another list, and Tino joins him for this one. It's sad to see Michael Saunders second-worst, however. Worse still, four of his seven failures have been force outs, so it's clearly something he needs to practice, especially for the seasons when he's hitting .220. "You bunt worse than Rey Quinones" is actually a statement that officially binds people into duels in some nations.

Total Bunts, Career and Mariners

Omar Vizquel	352			Dan Wilson	102
Ozzie Smith	271			Omar Vizquel	84
Roberto Alomar	263			Harold Reynolds	82
Juan Pierre	249			Julio Cruz	65
Brett Butler	230			Ichiro Suzuki	63
Ozzie Guillen	209			Joey Cora	45
Alfredo Griffin	195			Larry Milbourne	42
Jay Bell	182			Rich Amaral	40
Bert Campaneris	178			Chone Figgins	37
Kenny Lofton	174			Jose Lopez	37
Scott Fletcher	170
Larry Bowa	168
Bob Boone	167
Tim Foli	167
Royce Clayton	163

Perhaps the only thing surprising about the career leaderboards is that Juan Pierre is so low, although Omar had a dozen years on him. The only player on that list to have more home runs than sacrifice bunts: Jay Bell, with 195 dingers. Meanwhile, for the Mariners... Dan Wilson has laid down more sacrifice bunts than any other Mariner. For those inclined to look back on the Pinella Years as blissful, unblemished times, keep Dan Wilson in mind. Then draw a picture of Gil Meche's shoulder, scan it, and set it as your desktop background.

Win Percentage Added through Sacrifice Bunting, Career

Kenny Lofton	3.53			Omar Vizquel	-1.87
Robby Thompson	2.44			Jamey Carroll	-1.65
Derek Jeter	2.38			Greg Gagne	-1.57
Roberto Alomar	2.18			Felix Fermin	-1.55
Ichiro Suzuki	2.08			Alcides Escobar	-1.38
Larry Bowa	2.06			Alvaro Espinoza	-1.34
Mickey Rivers	1.71			Gary Disarcina	-1.32
Rafael Furcal	1.64			Jay Bell	-1.31
Rod Carew	1.6			Walt Weiss	-1.28
Luis Polonia	1.53			Manuel Lee	-1.26
Corey Patterson	1.43			Abraham Nunez	-1.25
Brett Butler	1.41			Orlando Hudson	-1.23
Hal Morris	1.37			Placido Polanco	-1.21
Ozzie Smith	1.26			Jose Molina	-1.19
Jose Reyes	1.22			Neifi Perez	-1.16

Kenny Lofton stands alone as the most productive bunter of his time. Easy to understand. But second place isn't a stereotypical speedster, but our very own Robby Thompson. His stolen base totals in his first six seasons: 12, 16, 14, 12, 14, 14. Thompson had one of those great underrated careers, playing in the shadow of Clark and Mitchell, and his back basically finished him by 31, but his 28.3 WAR is better than the totals that Ian Kinsler, Michael Young and Nick Swisher have amassed so far in their (equally lengthy) careers.

And at the bottom, there's Little O. This is a career achievement; Omar's 18.8%/90.9% rate is far better than the rest of the guys on this list. But he gave up so many outs at -0.02 WPA a pop that he "wins" regardless. Remember, kids: a successful sacrifice is not successful.

Win Percentage Added through Sacrifice Bunting, Mariners

Ichiro Suzuki	1.65			Dan Wilson	-0.91
Chone Figgins	0.63			Omar Vizquel	-0.8
John Moses	0.4			Harold Reynolds	-0.76
Phil Bradley	0.35			Dave Valle	-0.69
David Bell	0.28			Felix Fermin	-0.57
Yuniesky Betancourt	0.23			Jay Buhner	-0.57
Jeremy Reed	0.18			Michael Saunders	-0.55
Alex Rodriguez	0.15			Bill Stein	-0.52
Jeff Cirillo	0.14			Randy Winn	-0.45
Brendan Ryan	0.13			Joey Cora	-0.42

Ichiro is pretty amazing. Chone Figgins... well, let's just say that there are lots of pictures of Chone Figgins bunting in the SBN photo archive. But hey, he did something well! Let's put it this way: Chone Figgins was worth 0.63 WPA sacrificing over three seasons, and -4.29 WPA swinging the bat.

This series is going to end on the subject of Chone Figgins.