Yaz’s Double Play Rate Helped Make For Indispensable 1967 Season
From SABR member Cyril Morong at Cybermetrics on October 15, 2011:
Carl Yastrzemski’s [grounded into double plays] rate in 1967? 3%.
That was by far the lowest of his career. So another reason why that season was so great. I did not see very much on this. …
Yastrzemski’s only season when he had a higher AVG against lefties was 1967. He also hit especially great after August 31. He batted .417 (40 for 96). He ended August with a .3085 AVG. He slugged .760 after Aug. 31. Through that date it was .594. (See Was The Left Hand Of God Responsible For The Red Sox Miracle In 1967?)
That season was also one of the most indispensable seasons ever, meaning his team really needed him to have a great year. (See Indispensable Seasons Go To WAR!)
The table below show’s his GDPs and GDP rate for each year of his career. 1967 was much lower than any other year. I also show his SO rate for each year (using PA – IBB – SH). Data from Baseball Reference. I thought maybe if his strikeout rate had been alot higher that year it would account for the lower DP rate. But it does not look that way.
Read the full article here: http://cybermetric.blogspot.com/2011/10/carl-yastrzemskis-gdp-rate-in-1967-3.html
Originally published: October 17, 2011. Last Updated: October 17, 2011.