Hot News : The Thome - update.
Earlier this season I made note of the fact that Jim Thome had become the all-time three true outcomes (TTO) king, as he amassed the highest combined career total of home runs, walks, and strikeouts (which are the three true outcomes, the three results of any plate appearance that require no one but the pitch and hitter). It's fun to look at career totals, but I like counting individual games too, so I'm going to look at instances in which a player collected all the TTO in a single game. Because Thome is the king of the TTO and has a spot on my Mount Rushmore of baseball heroes, I'm naming this feat the "Thome."As with many of my statistical scavenger hunts, this one owes a tip of the hat to Baseball-Reference and its Play Index, my annual subscription to which is probably the most rewarding money I spend all year.
All stats listed below are current through 2012.
Here are the all-time leaders in Thomes (games with at least one HR, BB, and K):
Rank | Player | Thomes |
1 | Jim Thome | 154 |
2 | Mark McGwire | 133 |
3 | Babe Ruth | 125* |
3 | Barry Bonds | 125 |
5 | Harmon Killebrew | 111 |
6 | Adam Dunn | 110 |
7 | Manny Ramirez | 105 |
8 | Alex Rodriguez | 98 |
9 | Sammy Sosa | 97 |
10 | Frank Thomas | 94 |
11 | Ken Griffey | 92 |
12 | Mickey Mantle | 87 |
13 | Mike Schmidt | 85 |
14 | Frank Robinson | 84 |
15 | Willie Stargell | 82 |
16 | Fred McGriff | 81 |
16 | Eddie Mathews | 81 |
16 | Reggie Jackson | 81 |
16 | Jeff Bagwell | 81 |
20 | Jim Edmonds | 80 |
These stats go back to 1916. For the most part, I think it's safe to consider the above list an all-time ranking, because none of the players listed above hit fewer than Edmonds' 393 home runs, whereas the career home run leader through 1915 was Roger Conner, with 138 of them. The only minor issue with any of it is Ruth's career total. Ruth hit 4 home runs before 1916. The 710 home runs he hit from 1916 on led to those 125 Thomes, so there's chance he's being cheated out of Thome. Maybe we consider him the "winner" of the tie at #3.
Here are the active (played in 2012) Thome leaders:
Rank | Player | Thomes |
1 | Jim Thome | 154 |
2 | Adam Dunn | 110 |
3 | Alex Rodriguez | 98 |
4 | Bobby Abreu | 72 |
5 | Carlos Pena | 70 |
6 | Chipper Jones | 69 |
7 | Ryan Howard | 68 |
8 | David Ortiz | 62 |
t9 | Lance Berkman | 59 |
t9 | Carlos Beltran | 59 |
Adam Dunn is obviously charging up both of these lists and if he keeps doing what he's been doing for another another four or five years, he has a good shot at passing Jim Thome for the most Thomes (that doesn't mean he'll get it named after him though).
Here's a look at the single-season Thome leaders:
Rank | Player | Year | Thomes |
1 | Mark McGwire | 1999 | 21 |
2 | Mark McGwire | 1998 | 20 |
3 | Adam Dunn | 2004 | 17 |
4 | Babe Ruth | 1921 | 16 |
4 | Barry Bonds | 2001 | 16 |
4 | Adam Dunn | 2012 | 16 |
7 | Mark McGwire | 1997 | 15 |
7 | Carlos Pena | 2007 | 15 |
7 | Carlos Pena | 2008 | 15 |
7 | Ryan Howard | 2008 | 15 |
11 | Harmon Killebrew | 1964 | 14 |
11 | Harmon Killebrew | 1969 | 14 |
11 | Mark McGwire | 1996 | 14 |
11 | Jim Edmonds | 2000 | 14 |
11 | Sammy Sosa | 2001 | 14 |
11 | Jim Thome | 2002 | 14 |
11 | Manny Ramirez | 2003 | 14 |
11 | Ryan Howard | 2007 | 14 |
Dunn looked to have a shot at breaking this record, but he slowed down his pace and missed some games. McGwire's mark is safe.
Finally, there is the double-Thome. Seven times in history a player has had at least TWO home runs, TWO walks, and TWO strikeouts:
Player | Date |
Ted Williams | June 6, 1949 |
George Foster | October 1, 1978 |
Manny Ramirez | July 29, 2000 |
Bret Boone | May 2, 2002 |
Bernie Williams | May 17, 2002 |
Alex Rodriguez | June 22, 2004 |
Richie Sexson | September 22, 2006 |
That's some good Thome-ing!
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