Walker Cooper, July 6, 1949, at Crosley
Field
in Cincinnati vs. the Chicago Cubs, 37 tBG!!!!
Walker
Cooper is a baseball legend. On July 6, 1949, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati,
Cooper, the Reds’ catcher, had one of the best offensive performances
in MLB history. See the Most
tBG by a Player in a Game Report. His performance is ranked 1st, two
above Mark Whitten’s 35 total bases on Sept. 7, 1993. Cooper generated
37 tBG, going 6 for 7 with 3 HRs and 10 RBI, and the 7th place Reds beat
the visiting Cubs 23-4. The Reds had 26 hits. Ken Raffensberger pitched
a complete game for the Reds.
All of Cooper’s hit were with men on base, which helped him generate
his record-breaking number of bases. Here’s how he did it:
- 1st inning, single with runner on 1st to 3rd: 3 bases generated
- 2nd, single with runners on 1st and 2nd; runners scored a throwing
error with Walker to 2nd: 7 bases generated
- 3rd, HR with runners on 1st and 3rd: 8 bases generated
- 4th, single with runner on 1st to 2nd: 2 bases generated
- 6th, HR with runners on 1st and 3rd: 8 bases generated
- 7th, HR with runners on 1st and 2nd: 9 bases generated
- 8th, grounder with runner on 1st, who was forced at 2nd: 0 bases
generated
He was the only major league player to collect 6 hits and 10 RBI in
a game until Anthony Rendon did it on April 30, 2017. His RBI total remains
the single-game record for a catcher. (The 6 hits and 10 RBI are not a
record. Wilbert Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles had 7 hits and 11 RBI
on June 10, 1892.)
At 6’ 3” and 210 lb, Cooper was the Johnny Bench of his day.
He was selected for the NL All Star team eight times and played on two
World Series winning teams. Cooper played on six different teams between
1940 and 1957 and accumulated 1,341 hits, 173 HR, 812 RBI, and a career
BA of .285. In 1947, he homered in six straight games for the New York
Giants.
Game
description on the SABR site.
Baseball
Reference box score.
Josh Hamilton, May 8, 2012, at Camden Yards,
Texas Rangers vs. the Baltimore Orioles, 30 tBG
93.75% PossBG%!!!!
Josh
Hamilton’s performance at Camden Yards on May 8, 2012, has got to
be one of the greatest offensive performances in MLB history. He went
5 for 5 with 4 HRs and a double for 8 RBI. He hit 2 HRs and a double off
a young Jake Arieta, who probably still has nightmares about that game.
Hamilton’s performance that day generated 30 bases
(tBG) and is tied for 16th in the Most
tBG by a Player in a Game Report, seven bases behind the overall leader,
Walker Cooper on July 6, 1949.
However, for each of Hamilton’s homers, only one player
was on base. For Cooper, 2 players were on base for most of his hits,
which increased his tBG. Oddly, Hamilton drove in Elvis Andrus, the Ranger’s
shortstop, on all four his homers that game.
But the 6’4”, 240 lb Hamilton leads that report
in Possible Bases Generated at 93.75%. He generated 30 out of 32 possible
bases. Most players on that report have PossBG% between 60% - 80%. Walker’s
was 64.9%.
Hamilton also had 18 Total Bases (TB) for that game, while
Cooper had 15. (Note: TB is not the same as tBG.)
Hamilton’s BA after that monster game was .406, and
his OPS was 1.298. The Rangers beat the Orioles 10-3. The Orioles’s
fans gave him a standing ovation after his 4th homer.
That year, Hamilton batted .285 with 43 HR and 128 RBI.
He was the AL MVP in 2010 and was selected for five All Star games. He
played for nine seasons, 2007 to 2015.
Game
description on the SABR site.
Youtube
video highlights.
Note: The tBG database currently goes back to 1914.
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