2042: More Offense?

[jleddy]

Last year around this time I did a quick look at the 2041 assault on the record books, pointing out all the new top ten accomplishments in offensive categories thanks to the influx of hitter talent (among other reasons.) I'm sure Ron can confirm, but I believe this year's offensive environment as a whole has been a hair behind last year's pace, but still a healthy dose of hits and runs.

Here's all the records -- or at the very least, top ten modern-era (1995 and on) all-time marks -- that were set in 2042:

BLUE designates 2042
GREEN designates 2041

TEAM OFFENSE
SLUGGING %

TEAM	YEAR	STAT
San Fernando	2037	.530
Louisville	2042	.511
Jacksonville	2038	.509
Vancouver	2041	.508
Atlantic City	2042	.506
Jacksonville	2040	.505
Boise	2041	.503
Louisville	2041	.502
Atlantic City	2041	.501
Rockville	2041	.500

So yeah, extra bases are being tallied at a record pace. San Fernando's mark will likely stand for a long, long time, but just look at the assault on the top ten in the last two seasons.


OPS

TEAM	YEAR	STAT
San Fernando	2037	.893
Louisville	2042	.876
Rockville	2041	.876
Vancouver	2041	.873
Boise	2041	.869
Montreal	2032	.861
Yellow Springs	2041	.860
Las Vegas	2033	.860
Jacksonville	2038	.857
Long Beach	2009	.856

When slugging goes up, so likely does on-base plus slugging. Some really impressive team totals in 2041 and 2042.


DOUBLES

TEAM	YEAR	STAT
Yellow Springs	2040	393
Rockville	2038	392
Vancouver	2041	391
Twin Cities	2042	385
Rockville	2041	381
Montreal	2041	380
Seattle	2000	377
Rockville	2040	375
Seattle	2041	374
Edmonton	2042	374
Boise	2042	374

No surprise here, based on the changing park factors in the league encouraging extra-base hits. Doubles continue to be racked up at an jaw-dropping pace.


TRIPLES

TEAM	YEAR	STAT
Louisville	2041	82
Yellow Springs	2041	70
Atlantic City	2010	70
Omaha	1997	69
Louisville	2042	69
Omaha	1998	65
Omaha	2002	65
Halifax	2020	65
Atlantic City	2040	62
Montreal	2041	61

More of the same. The increase in gappers, along with potentially more outfielders with less range, is causing fans to see more of the "most exciting play in baseball."


HOME RUNS

TEAM	YEAR	STAT
San Fernando	2037	365
Valencia	2041	323
Omaha	2040	311
Omaha	2042	309
Valencia	2039	307
Jacksonville	2036	306
Phoenix	2039	304
San Fernando	2040	304
Jacksonville	2040	303
Jacksonville	2037	302
Jacksonville	2038	302
New Orleans	2040	302

That ungodly total by the Bears is the gold standard, but Omaha has done their damndest in the last three seasons. Note to Gregg: see how Jacksonville used to hit dingers, not give them up?


RUNS

TEAM	YEAR	STAT
Long Beach	2011	1,041
Louisville	2042	1,040
Boise	2041	1,033
Yellow Springs	2041	1,028
San Fernando	2037	1,014
Edmonton	2041	1,011
Baltimore	2007	1,009
Vancouver	2041	1,000
Long Beach	2009	999
Twin Cities	2042	998

Holy scoring environment, Batman! The Sluggers lived up to their name and just missed the all-time modern-era record this year. Six marks in the last two seasons is crazy. Not crazy bad, necessarily, just crazy. Coinciding, Louisville's 2042 was the third-highest single season RBI mark, with Twin Cities pacing the way to sixth in modern-era.


WALKS

TEAM	YEAR	STAT
Long Beach	2011	854
Long Beach	2012	835
San Fernando	2042	757
San Fernando	2041	753
Baltimore	2006	751
Marquette	2011	750
Long Beach	2009	745
Baltimore	2007	745
Long Beach	2006	745
New Orleans	2004	744

Either San Fernando is stressing patience and a strong batting eye or they are just feasting on poor Pacific Division pitching. There's more than one way to reach base and the Bears are doing it the hard way, so kudos to them.


INDIVIDUAL OFFENSE
BATTING AVERAGE

PLAYER	TEAM	YEAR	STAT
M. Aguilar	RCK	2003	.413
G. L'Archibudelli	LV	2042	.399
D. Whitley	MTL	2002	.394
R. Empire	MTL	2003	.393
D. Rhodes	EDM	2039	.388
P. Larkin Jr.	SA	2001	.386
A. Santos	SEA	2003	.381
D. Labrie	BRK	2002	.380
M. Clarke	BRK	2002	.380
D. Whitley	MTL	2005	.379
M. Clarke	BRK	1995	.379

Oh man, so freakin' close! The Italian Stallion had us watching this chase all year long...hell of an accomplishment. Truly one of the most exciting players in the entire league.


SLUGGING %

PLAYER	TEAM	YEAR	STAT
M. Aguilar	RCK	2003	.749
J. Rivera	ATC	2041	.733
N. Halime	DM	2004	.724
J. Zúñiga	JAX	2040	.723
S. Kwakou	LOU	2042	.699
J. Rivera	ATC	2042	.696
R. White	ATC	1998	.694
C. Gonzáles	LBC	2031	.691
T. Bourges	LOU	2041	.688
F. Moreno	CHI	2031	.688

Rivera fell short of duplicating his monster 2041 but still had a historic year and Kwakou's attempt at the Frick Triple Crown was paced by his impressive slugging this season.


HITS

PLAYER	TEAM	YEAR	STAT
D. French	BOI	2041	260
D. Rhodes	EDM	2039	257
H. Blackwell	BRK	2029	256
T. Mohler	RCK	1995	255
J. García	NSH	2016	253
M. Aguilar	RCK	2003	253
J. Heredia	LBC	2007	250
D. Thum	YS9	2042	244
D. Whitley	MTL	2005	248
H. Valentín	SEA	2031	245

L'Archibudelli failed to reach the top ten due to an injury and early-season platooning. Should he get a full season of at-bats (or continue to improve against southpaws), he could find his way in the top ten one season.


DOUBLES

PLAYER	TEAM	YEAR	STAT
D. French	BOI	2042	70
P. Huerta	EDM	2041	67
P. Huerta	EDM	2042	63
S. Dempsey	MAD	2031	62
Á. González	VAN	2041	62
L. Aldo	MTL	2041	62
D. Fierro	SFB	2012	61
T. Rice	SEA	2040	60
D. Whitley	MTL	2007	60
V. Fitas	SA	2039	60
T. Meyer	PHX	2035	60
S. Kwakou	LOU	2040	60
E. González	ATC	2042	60

Are you shocked by those 2041 and 2042 individual totals? You shouldn't be if you've been paying attention. French set the all-time modern era mark as the first player to reach seventy two-baggers since Emile Santos hit a whopping 87 (!) in 1986. Huerta was right behind him for a second-straight incredible doubles mark.


HOME RUNS

PLAYER	TEAM	YEAR	STAT
E. Morales	OMA	2040	66
B. Ritchie	NSH	2010	66
C. Gonzáles	LBC	2031	65
E. Morales	OMA	2037	64
E. Morales	OMA	2035	64
C. Winson	CCJ	2034	64
J. Belinda	YS9	1996	64
R. Grant	CLG	2035	62
F. Moreno	CHI	2031	61
J. Rivera	ATC	2042	61
F. Medina	CLG	2042	61

Sure, all the talk has been about doubles and triples, but that didn't stop Rivera and Medina from touching sixty round-trippers. It was only the third time in modern-era history that two players hit at least sixty bombs in the same season (2031, 2035).


RUNS

PLAYER	TEAM	YEAR	STAT
D. Thum	YS9	2041	160
J. Rivera	ATC	2041	157
S. Slizz	BRK	2042	156
D. Thum	YS9	2042	153
D. French	BOI	2041	152
M. Raider	EDM	2041	148
J. Neely	MTL	2002	146
J. Gillstrom	MTL	2032	146
P. Barfoot	LBC	2011	145
S. Kwakou	LOU	2039	145
F. Rigsby	SA	2015	145

Brewster batters are seeing home more than an agoraphobe during a quarantine. 2042's big showings were nearly as impressive as last year's.


WALKS

PLAYER	TEAM	YEAR	STAT
M. Wareham	TWC	2042	164
M. Wareham	TWC	2034	162
M. Simpson	CHI	2041	159
A. Martínez	LV	2028	149
D. Newhouse	VAN	2001	147
M. Wareham	CHI	2041	147
M. Simpson	CHI	2042	146
T. Wie	SFB	2042	144
R. Morales	LBC	2012	142
M. Wareham	TWC	2032	142
M. Wareham	TWC	2039	142

Another modern-era offensive record set in 2042...congrats to Wareham! Just a quick glance at the top ten and you can probably come to the conclusion that he's one of the best ever at drawing a free pass. He's currently 10th all-time in career walks with 1541. That's 26.26 miles in base-on-balls. Maybe we should give him the nickname "Marathon Mark" from here on out?

Although this feature is focusing on offensive totals, I'd be remiss to not congratulate the Yellow Springs' pitching staff in setting the modern-era all-time strikeout record with 1578, 40 more than #2 Birmingham (1995). Additionally, Jacksonville batters set a modern-era futility record for swings-and-missess with 1640, easily eclipsing #2 Charm City (2037) with 1583. San Fernando ended up this year with the third-highest mark with 1536, meaning the Bears are as close to a three-true-outcomes team as they come.

For more historical career numbers, check back when the 2043 Media Guide hits newsstands, as Randy will likely grace us with his fantastic work once again. Until then, what a fun season (if you weren't a Brewster pitcher) and here's to what should be an exciting, if not high-scoring playoffs!

[DugoutDesperado]

Pretty inspiring to see all of those Jacksonville entries in the Home Run list. I am afraid with the rebuild that the new version of the Canes will scale back on home runs but hopefully make up for hit with defense and more base-runners.

[usnspecialist]

Always fun to see some all time lists, especially when I see myself on top.

[usnspecialist]

I have pulled the seasonal data into my spreadsheet and here are the top 10 years in terms of Runs/Game (Modern post-1995 only).

YEAR R/G RUNS
2041 5.43 881
2042 5.18 839
1997 5.04 817
2009 5.02 813
2039 5.01 813
2040 4.98 807
2011 4.96 803
2001 4.93 799
2008 4.91 797
2037 4.91 796