Here’s a baseball trivia question that will probably surprise you.

Who is the greatest post-season hitter of the integration era? I have defined that as measured by OPS, and I set a minimum of 100 or more post-season at bats to eliminate some dudes who went like 1-for-1.

Even if I included the entire span of MLB history, this guy would still be #3, and you’ve probably heard of the two ahead of him, even if you have no interest in baseball. They are a couple of guys named Ruth and Gehrig.

The surprising answer, and the entire Top 25, appear after the jump

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5 thoughts on “Here’s a baseball trivia question that will probably surprise you.

  1. I was kind of surprised that Duke Snyder was on the list but there didn’t seem to be any of his contempries there. If the integration era began in 1947, I would expect at least a few more players from the 1950’s and 60’s to have made it. I suppose the prevalence of players from the 1970s onward is because of the beginning of divisional play leading to more postseason opportunities to reach 100 plate appearances. One thing this list provides though, is yet another reason trading Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell for Juan Samuel was a terrible trade for the Mets.

    1. Here’s the deal: unless a 50s player wore Yankee pinstripes or Dodger Blue, he was not likely to get many post-season at bats. There was only one year in the 1950s when neither of those teams made the World Series. (1954 – Indians-Giants) There were no playoffs, so it was the World Series or nothing. Henry Aaron would be high on the list if he had enough plate appearances. His OPS is higher than Lenny’s, but he only had 69 post-season at bats.

      In the period 1947-1968, there are only 17 players with 100 or more post-season at bats, and they are all Yankees (10) or Dodgers (7). Only Mantle and Snider had an OPS over .900.

      If I lower the requirement to 50 at bats, Lenny Drops to 7th, behind Aaron and others.

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    2. I’m old. I read “Roger McDowell” but was thinking “Sam McDowell” and trying to figure out how he could have possibly played with Dykstra.

  2. Not at all surprising. I guessed it right. He was extraordinary on the big stage. And it wasn’t his pure numbers it was when he did it. ’86 NLCS game winning homer in the ninth in Game Three with his team trailing. He started the ninth inning rally with a double in Game Six to help the Mets tie and eventually win the game. In the WS that year with the Mets down 2-0 he homered of the Oil Can to get the Mets started in Game Three.

    He was one of the only Mets to hit well in the ’88 NLCS vs that great Dodger pitching staff.

    In the ’93 postseason he hit the game winning homer off Wohlers in game five of the NLCS vs Atl to give the Phillies a 3-2 series lead. And he went bonkers in that year’s WS.

    Say what you will about him as a man, but his play in big games was incredible. A guy that fed off the energy of the postseason and knew how to focus.

    1. His power numbers are the most surprising. Over the course of his career he averaged 11 homers per 560 at bats. In the post season he averaged 50.

      He not only topped those lists, he dominated them. If I sorted by slugging average – he would be #1. If I sorted by on base percentage, he would be number 1.

      HOWEVER, if I lowered the required number of at bats just slightly – to 96 instead of 100, the answer would be Randy Arozarena by a country mile! That guy’s post-season stats are so good they look like misprints. His slugging average even tops Ruth and Gehrig.

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