Ryan Howard and RBI

[Judge Jude]

funny column here on Clutchy McClutchy Howard

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/05/06/jon-heyman-credits-ryan-howard-for-being-worth-every-penny-of-a-contract-that-hasnt-started/

"Here’s a tidbit from Jon Heyman’s latest column at SI.com:

It’s early in Ryan Howard‘s $125 million contract. But Howard, who has a league-leading 29 RBIs, is worth every penny so far.

Couple things.

One, it’s so “early in Ryan Howard’s $125 million contract” that the contact hasn’t even started yet. He signed a five-year, $125 million extension that starts in 2012....

Beyond that, Howard “has a league-leading 29 RBIs” largely because he’s come to the plate with significantly more runners on base than anyone else in the league. Howard has had 111 runners on base for his 125 plate appearances. No other NL hitter has had more than 96. Howard is hitting .266 with an .851 OPS with runners on, which is hardly anything special. He’s also hitting .276 with six homers and an .854 OPS overall, which ranks 11th among MLB first basemen......."

[Lucky]

Brings to mind the baseball analysts who talk about "RBI men". RBIs depend on things the batters have so little control over.

I think I remember one year when Terry Pendleton was the most efficient hitter in the league so far as driving in runners in scoring position. Or maybe it was from third base. In any event, Pendleton was certainly not known as an RBI man. I think it was his first year in Atlanta.

Joe Morgan was one who always talked about RBI men.

[Judge Jude]

The batting title is won by the guy with the best average.

But the RBI title is won, in many cases, by the slugger who bats with the most runners in scoring position. And then we pile on and call a guy "clutch" even if all he did was hit for the league average in those spots. It is strange: If one hitter was 200 for 650 and the other hitter was 198 for 620, in the same amount of games (with a worse offense), we wouldn't say that the first guy was a better hitter for an extra 2 hits in 30 free tries.

Joe Carter had a couple of years where he was mediocre, yet knocked in 100 runs. Jeff Francoeur has made millions off that good fortune.

[Hornsby]

Does it take into account the 40 plus times a season where he knocks himself in?

[Erik]

It helps that he is hitting behind Polanco, who has been an on-base machine so far. Who knows if that will continue.