The Mets Who Believed A Walk Was As Good As A Hit

Lucas Duda is a great admirer of pitches.  After all, he's kept the bat on his shoulder for 91% of first pitches he's seen and 68% of all pitches, regardless of the count.  By not taking his hacks at the plate, Duda has walked 21 times through the Mets' first 26 games.  But by the same token, it's quite a challenge to pick up a hit without swinging at a pitch every so often.  That would explain why Duda only has 19 hits.

Through the season's first month, the Mets' leftfielder has reached base via a hit two fewer times than he has taken ball four.  How rare has this been in franchise history?  Almost as rare as a Rey Ordoñez home run.

Let's take a look at the players who have come closest to accomplishing this rare feat for the Mets, considering only those players who played regularly or semi-regularly and had no more than 20 more hits than walks (min. 300 PA).

   

Player	Year	Plate Appearances	Hits	Walks
Elio Chacon	1962	449	87	76
Bobby Klaus	1965	337	55	45
Joe Foy	1970	399	76	68
Wayne Garrett	1970	454	93	81
Ken Singleton	1971	366	73	61
Wayne Garrett	1972	377	69	70
Bud Harrelson	1974	412	75	71
Wayne Garrett	1976	305	56	52
Ron Hodges	1983	305	65	49
Robin Ventura	2001	549	108	88

As you can see from the list above, there have been just ten instances in Mets history in which a player with at least 300 plate appearances came within 20 walks of his full-season base hit total.  Wayne Garrett is the only player to accomplish the rare feat more than once, doing it three times.  Garrett is also the sole player to have more walks than hits in a season in which he compiled at least 300 plate appearances.

But why stop with 300 plate appearances?  Why not delve a little deeper to see how many players had more walks than hits, regardless of the number of plate appearances?  So that we don't have players with one hit and two walks on the list, let's just consider players with at least twenty hits and walks.  The list is shorter than Bill Pulsipher's career in New York.

 

Player	Year	Plate Appearances	Hits	Walks
Wayne Garrett	1972	377	69	70
Ron Hodges	1984	132	22	23
Tom Herr	1991	192	30	32
Rickey Henderson	2000	124	21	25
Jay Bell	2003	142	21	22

That brings us back to Lucas Duda.  With 19 hits and 21 walks in his first 99 plate appearances, Duda is one hit away from joining the walk firm of Garrett, Bell, Henderson, Herr and Hodges.  But since Duda stands to collect far more at-bats than his colleagues in the firm did in their unusual seasons, he might end up etching his name on the list that includes those everyday players with the best eyes and most patience at the plate.

Players such as Wayne Garrett, Bud Harrelson, Ron Hodges and Robin Ventura were fan-favorites during their time in New York, but none of them hit for a particularly high average.  Hodges was a .240 hitter in 12 years as a Met, while Garrett (.237) and Harrelson (.234) were regularly out of contention for the batting title by late April.  Ventura did hit .301 in his first year in New York, but hit .232 and .237 in his other two seasons as a Met.  They couldn't hit, but they didn't have to.  They found other ways to reach base.

Lucas Duda is hitting .250 through the Mets' first 26 games.  But with two more walks than hits, his on-base percentage sits at an impressive .424.  Duda is never going to compete for a batting title, but like a number of Mets before him, he doesn't have to.  He can still contribute to the team's offense even with his share of oh-fers at the plate, as long as those oh-fers include a walk or two.

Little leaguers are taught that a walk is as good as a hit.  For Lucas Duda and a select number of players in Mets history, it appears that major leaguers have been taught that mantra as well.