HOW THE PIRATES TOP 100 CAME ABOUT.

BY DAVE FINOLI

When putting together our thoughts for the book my colleague Bill Ranier and I wrote called "The Pittsburgh Pirates Encyclopedia", we both agreed probably the highlight of the project was going to be the creation of a list, the top 100 Pirates of all time.



A list such as that is never going to be one that is agreed on by any two people who look at it, but Bill and I wanted to use not only our opinions, but we wanted to create a statistical formula, that would not only reward a player for leading the league in various categories, but compare his statistics with that of the league average that particular year. A 2.50 ERA is much more impressive in today's game than it would be in the early 1900's and conversely a .280 batting average was a big number in 1968 as compared to 1930 for example.



We both created our top 100 list and awarded points in inverse order of the selection( the number 1 guy got 100 pts while the number 100 bucco received only 1). Bill and I both put are lists together and added up the points, creating our combined top 100 Pirate list. We then did the same with this list as the other, giving points in inverse order of their finish, and then doubled the total so it would have the proper weight with the points derived from the formula we were about to put together. We added to two numbers (our list and the formula points) and wa-la, the top 100 Pirates of all-time came together.



The following will not only give the formula, but will show the top 20 Pirates from our list, the formula list and the top 20 point getters:

TOP 20 PIRATES


OUR LIST PTS LIST

#

PLAYER

PTS

#

PLAYER

PTS

1

WAGNER

200

1

WAGNER

674

2

CLEMENTE

198

2

CLEMENTE

368

3

P WANER

196

3

P WANER

363

4

STARGELL

194

4

STARGELL

272

5

KINER

192

5

ADAMS

227

6

BONDS

190

6

KINER

225

7

TRAYNOR

188

7

BONDS

172.5

8

VAUGHAN

186

8

PARKER

166

9

COOPER

184

9

VAUGHAN

160

10

PARKER

182

10

CAREY

154

11

MAZEROSKI

180

11

L WANER

150

12

L WANER

178

12

KREMER

147.5

13

ADAMS

176

13

FACE

147

14

CUYLER

174

14

TRAYNOR

143.5

15

CLARKE

172

15

COOPER

136

16

CAREY

170

16

CLARKE

133

17

PHILLIPPE

168

17

MAZEROSKI

132

18

LEEVER

166

18

LEEVER

117.5

19

GILES

164

19

PHILLIPPE

108

20

OLIVER

162

20

FRIEND

104.5


FINAL TOP 20 LIST

#

PLAYER

PTS

1

WAGNER

874

2

CLEMENTE

566

3

P WANER

559

4

STARGELL

466

5

KINER

417

6

ADAMS

403

7

BONDS

362.5

8

PARKER

348

9

VAUGHAN

346

10

TRAYNOR

331.5

11

L WANER

328

12

CAREY

324

13

COOPER

320

14

MAZEROSKI

312

15

KREEMER

305.5

16

CLARKE

305

17

FACE

293

18

LEEVER

283.5

19

PHILLIPPE

276

20

CUYLER

267.5




THE FORMULA

Offense

League leaders: Homers, runs, average, on base percentage and slugging

7,4,3,2,1

doubles, triples

3,2,1

stolen bases

2

RBIs

9,5,3,2,1

mvp

15,10,7,5,3,

wins

9,5,4,3,2,1

era, saves, win% opob%

7,4,3,2,1

k, relief ranking, ratio

3,2,1

cy young

15,10,7,5,3

BONUS POINTS

Hall of fame as a pirate, 25

Hall of fame 3 significant years 12.5

For every 20 pts over the league average in slugging and batting average 1 pt

For every 20 pts over the team win % in pitchers win % 1 pt(use for reliever when more than 10 wins)

Leading the league in fielding 3 pts

Gold glove, 5 pts

ERA 1 pt for every .1 below the league average (starter 154 ip reliever 1950-1979 70 ip)

Saves 1950-1960 15 or more 1pt, 1pt for every 3 above

1960-1982 20 saves 1pt, 1pt per every 3 above

1982 and above- 30 saves 1pt, 1 pt for every three above

all-time records 20 pts

1 pt for every year of service as a starter, for pitchers 1965-2001 top 5 starter, before top 4, relief every season of 20 games or more

hits- 180 in a year 3 pts, 200, 5 pts 1 pt for every 20 more hits, 1 pt for leading the league

Wins-after deadball- 18 wins 3-pts, 20- 5pts, 1 pt for every 3 wins more.

Deadball, 20 wins 3 pts, 25- 5pts, 1 for every 3 more wins

Pre 1900, 27 wins 3 pts, 30 wins 5 pts, 1 pt for every 4 wins.



Here is an example of how the Formula works, using Babe Adams, who was the most surprising player to us, scoring the 5th highest total in the list.

BABE ADAMS-227 PTS


SCORING IN THE TOP 100 PIRATE SYSTEM


ERA VS LEAGUE ERA-65 PTS ERA-17 PTS

YEARS

ERA

LEAGUE ERA

POINTS

YEAR

PL-PTS

1910

2.24

3.0

7

1910

5-1

1911

2.33

3.4

11

1911

3-3

1912

2.91

3.2

3

1913

2-4

1913

2.15

3.0

8

1919

5-1

1914

2.51

2.6

1

1920

2-4

1919

1.98

3.0

10

1921

2-4

1920

2.16

3.2

10



1921

2.64

3.8

11



1922

3.57

4.0

4




WINS-1 PTS SAVES-4 PTS WIN %-12 PTS

YEAR

PL-PTS

YEAR

PL-PTS

YEAR

PL-PTS

1911

5-1

1925

3-3

1909

3-3



1926

5-1

1910

5-1





1921

1-7





1923

5-1

OP OB %-42 PTS K’S-1 PT BB+H/9 INN RATIO-19PTS

YEAR

PL-PTS

YEAR

PL-PTS

YEAR

PL-PTS

1910

4-2

1913

5-1

1911

1-3

1911

1-7



1913

2-2

1912

5-1



1914

1-3

1914

1-7



1919

1-3

1915

5-1



1920

1-3

1919

1-7



1921

1-3

1920

1-7



1922

2-2

1921

1-7





1922

3-3






CY YOUNG PTS (WE USED TOTAL BASEBALL’S TOTAL PITCHER RANKINGS DUE TO LACK OF CY YOUNG AWARD DURING HIS TIMEPERIOD)-25 PTS

YEAR

FINISH

PTS

1911

3RD

7

1913

3RD

7

1919

5TH

3

1920

5TH

3

1921

4TH

5




BONUS POINTS- 41 PTS

· 25-WORLD SERIES 1909 MVP

· 10- YEARS AS TOP 4 STARTER

· 6-2 20 WIN SEASONS (1911 & 1913)



While we were both pleased with the final outcome, we are still trying to perfect the formula for a potential second edition. Any suggestions anyone has, please do not hesitate to e mail me at nosecat91874@aol.com. Any comments or suggestions would be most appreciated