How often does a home run leader get traded midseason

[BCubb2003]

I remember it happening to Mark McGwire...

[OldXOhio]

About as often as a guy with 600+ HR does.

[macro]

I think ESPN said that the last time the ML home run leader got traded mid season was over 100 years ago. That guy probably had about four homers at the time.

[bucksfan2]

Another question.

How often does the HR leader play in the playoffs?

[RedsBaron]

Another question.

How often does the HR leader play in the playoffs?

In the last 90 years, around 44 times.
Let's see.....
Ruth: 1918, 21, 23, 26, 27, 28
Bottomley: 1928
Collins: 1934
Greenberg: 1935
Gehrig: 1936
DiMaggio: 1937
Doby: 1954
Mantle: 1955, 56, 58, 60
Snider: 1956
Maris: 1961
Mays: 1962
Robinson: 1966
Yastremzski: 1967
Killebrew: 1969
Bench: 1970, 72
Stargell: 1971
Nettles: 1976
Schmidt: 1976, 80, 81, 83
Jackson: 1973, 75, 80, 82
Armas: 1981
Strawberry: 1988
Canseco: 1988
Mitchell: 1989
Griffey: 1997
Ramirez: 2004
Jones: 2005
Rodriguez: 2005, 07
Ortiz: 2006

[15fan]

The Reds have a knack for making some interesting trades. A few of the more recent ones off the top of my head:

1) Their Opening Day starting pitcher on the day before Opening Day (Burba to the Tribe on 3/30/98)

2) Their representative in the All-Star game (Shaw to the Dodgers on 7/4/98)

3) The 1997 Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year one season removed from the honor (Konerko to the White Sox 11/98)

4) 2/3 of an OF with a combined 878 ML homers and 2,402 ML RBI within 2 weeks of each other in 2008.

[MrCinatit]

Another question.

How often does the HR leader play in the playoffs?

A quick look shows quite a bit - Boston and New York make the playoffs almost every year and have had the leader almost every year.
Unless I skipped over someone, Schmidt was the last NL home run king to play for a world champion in 1980. Manny Ramirez lead the AL in homers in 2004, the year of the Sox.

[RedsBaron]

Out of curiousity, I checked how many Cy Young winners have played on a World Championship team since the award was created in 1956: I found 14.
Spahn-1957
Ford-1961
Koufax-1963, 65
Seaver-1969
Hunter-1974
Lyle-1977
Guidry-1978
Carlton-1980
Valenzuela-1981
Hernandez-1984
Hershiser-1988
Maddux-1995
Johnson-2001

[bucksfan2]

In the last 90 years, around 44 times.
Let's see.....
Ruth: 1918, 21, 23, 26, 27, 28
Bottomley: 1928
Collins: 1934
Greenberg: 1935
Gehrig: 1936
DiMaggio: 1937
Doby: 1954
Mantle: 1955, 56, 58, 60
Snider: 1956
Maris: 1961
Mays: 1962
Robinson: 1966
Yastremzski: 1967
Killebrew: 1969
Bench: 1970, 72
Stargell: 1971
Nettles: 1976
Schmidt: 1976, 80, 81, 83
Jackson: 1973, 75, 80, 82
Armas: 1981
Strawberry: 1988
Canseco: 1988
Mitchell: 1989
Griffey: 1997
Ramirez: 2004
Jones: 2005
Rodriguez: 2005, 07
Ortiz: 2006

So since 1990 the HR leader's team has made the playoffs 6 times. So basically its about 33% of the time. IIRC the two greatest home run seasons of all time resulted in the HR leader not making the playoffs. In 01 and 98 Bond's and McGwire's teams didn't make the playoffs. I don't know if this means anything or now. I just find it ironic that over the past 18 years the team with the HR champ makes the playoffs 33% of the time.

[westofyou]

I don't know if this means anything or now.

It doesn't mean squat.

IMO trying to paint it as it does just creates data noise, and I see it as detracting from the players performance (the micro) and in turn trying to wholly assign that matrix into the context of a teams performance (the macro). Its' a square hole round peg moment.

Of course if you go down that road you have to ask how many batting champs or MLB hit leaders have made it to the World Series in that same time span?

Or stolen base leaders, sac bunt leaders or guys with the most doubles?

I'm sure it's as equally non telling and noisy.

[BuckeyeRedleg]

It doesn't mean squat.

IMO trying to paint it as it does just creates data noise, and I see it as detracting from the players performance (the micro) and in turn trying to wholly assign that matrix into the context of a teams performance (the macro). Its' a square hole round peg moment.

Of course if you go down that road you have to ask how many batting champs or MLB hit leaders have made it to the World Series in that same time span?

Or stolen base leaders, sac bunt leaders or guys with the most doubles?

I'm sure it's as equally non telling and noisy.

What he said.

[BCubb2003]

I think ESPN said that the last time the ML home run leader got traded mid season was over 100 years ago. That guy probably had about four homers at the time.

In 1997 Mark McGwire led the majors with 58 home runs and was traded in midseason. Maybe he wasn't leading at the time of the trade, though. A guy name of Griffey was having a good year, too.

[westofyou]

In 1997 Mark McGwire led the majors with 58 home runs and was traded in midseason. Maybe he wasn't leading at the time of the trade, though. A guy name of Griffey was having a good year, too.

34 was his total day of the trade, 32 for Griffey.

However Tino Martinez led MLB with 36 on that day.