Saturday, December 7, 2013

Curtis Granderson Is About To Join An Exclusive Club

Photo by Paul J. Bereswill

I am on board with Curtis Granderson becoming an outfielder for the Mets over the next four seasons.  But not everyone is.  So I decided to generate a chart that lists all the players in baseball history who have produced 200 doubles, 200 homers, 80 triples and 100 stolen bases in their respective careers.

For the record, Curtis Granderson's first double for the Mets will be the 200th in his career.  When he gets it, he will join this group of players in the 200 double, 200 homer, 80 triple, 100 steal club.  See if you recognize any of the names listed below.


Rk Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1 Hank Aaron 3298 12364 2175 3771 624 98 755 2297 239 .305 .374 .555 .929
2 Willie Mays 2992 10881 2060 3283 523 140 660 1903 336 .302 .384 .557 .942
3 Dave Winfield 2973 11003 1669 3110 540 88 465 1833 223 .283 .353 .475 .827
4 Robin Yount 2856 11008 1632 3142 583 126 251 1406 271 .285 .342 .430 .772
5 George Brett 2707 10349 1583 3154 665 137 317 1596 201 .305 .369 .487 .857
6 Paul Molitor 2683 10835 1782 3319 605 114 234 1307 504 .306 .369 .448 .817
7 Joe Morgan 2649 9277 1650 2517 449 96 268 1133 689 .271 .392 .427 .819
8 Andre Dawson 2627 9927 1373 2774 503 98 438 1591 314 .279 .323 .482 .806
9 Steve Finley 2583 9397 1443 2548 449 124 304 1167 320 .271 .332 .442 .775
10 Johnny Damon 2490 9736 1668 2769 522 109 235 1139 408 .284 .352 .433 .785
11 Vada Pinson 2470 9644 1365 2757 485 127 256 1169 305 .286 .327 .442 .769
12 Babe Ruth 2457 8297 2156 2842 495 135 710 2193 123 .343 .475 .691 1.167
13 Roberto Alomar 2379 9073 1508 2724 504 80 210 1134 474 .300 .371 .443 .814
14 Goose Goslin 2287 8658 1482 2735 500 173 248 1619 175 .316 .387 .500 .887
15 Rogers Hornsby 2241 8115 1574 2916 539 169 301 1460 135 .359 .435 .579 1.014
16 Lou Gehrig 2164 8000 1888 2721 534 163 493 1997 102 .340 .448 .633 1.080
17 Curtis Granderson 1187 4438 780 1157 199 80 217 606 122 .261 .340 .488 .828
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/7/2013.

Thirteen of the players listed above are in the Hall of Fame.  Three others (Steve Finley, Johnny Damon, Vada Pinson) had outstanding careers that warranted Hall of Fame consideration.  The 17th member of that group - once he legs out his first two-bagger for the Mets - is Curtis Granderson.  And if he gets that double before his 13th game with the team, he will have joined that exclusive club before playing in his 1,200th career game.  Everyone else on the list played in at least 2,164 games.

Granderson already has as many triples and just seven fewer homers than Roberto Alomar, who is one of the players on the list.  Another player on the list (Lou Gehrig) had 20 fewer stolen bases than Granderson already has.  In addition, Granderson's on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS (.340/.488/.828) are all higher than the numbers put up by Hall of Famer Andre Dawson (.323/.482/.806). And his .488 slugging percentage is higher than ten of the 16 other players on the list.

Many home run hitters can produce doubles.  But they don't usually don't have the speed to leg out triples or steal bases.  Similarly, great triples hitters who also steal bases aren't usually among the league's best power hitters.  That's why only 16 players have ever produced 200 doubles, 200 homers, 80 triples and 100 stolen bases in their careers.  That's also why all but three of those players have their plaques hanging in Cooperstown.

Curtis Granderson is about to become the 17th player to reach those career marks.  And now he has four years to add to those numbers as a member of the New York Mets.  Get used to it, Mets fans.  Come March 31st, you'll be cheering for a very special player.


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