Tigers Run Participation Leaders Since 1950

Following up on my previous post on run participation for all major league players since 1950, I will look at the Tigers today.   As a reminder, a player can participate in his teams' runs in three ways:

• Runs Scored (RS)

• Runs Batted In (RBI)

• Runs Assisted (RAS)

A Run Assisted is any contribution to a team run that does not result in a run scored or RBI for the batter.  The ways a player can get a Run Assisted (RAS) are described below:

• A batter advances a runner to either second or third with a hit, base on balls, hit batsmen, error, sacrifice bunt, or another kind of out.  If that runner then scores either during the same at bat or an ensuing at bat, the batter who advanced him is given a Run Assisted.

• A batter reaches base and is removed for a pinch runner or is replaced by another runner on a force out.  If the new runner then scores, the batter who originally reached base is given a Run Assisted. 

A player gets credit for a Run Participated In (RPI) if he either scores, drives in or assists a run.  There is no double counting for home runs so the formula is RPI = RS + RBI + RAS - HR

Table 1 presents the Tigers RPI leaders since 1950, the first complete year of Retrosheet data (required in order to calculated RAS).  Hall-of-Fame outfielder Al Kaline is the leader with 3,777 RPI followed by the dynamic duo of Lou Whitaker (2,998) and Alan Trammell (2,853).  Current slugger Miguel Cabrera figures to move up the list quickly.  He is currently 19th with 1,181, but if he keep up the same pace, he'll move into the top five in just three more years. 

Table 1: Tigers Run Participation Leaders, 1950-2012

Player	PA	RS	RBI	RAS	HR	RPI
Al Kaline	11,596	1,622	1,582	972	399	3,777
Lou Whitaker	9,967	1,386	1,084	772	244	2,998
Alan Trammell	9,375	1,231	1,003	804	185	2,853
Norm Cash	7,775	1,027	1,088	604	373	2,346
Dick McAuliffe	6,828	856	671	397	192	1,732
Willie Horton	5,973	671	886	384	262	1,679
Bobby Higginson	5,663	736	709	419	187	1,677
Bill Freehan	6,900	706	758	409	200	1,673
Kirk Gibson	4,773	698	668	391	195	1,562
Travis Fryman	4,792	607	679	372	149	1,509
Cecil Fielder	4,252	558	758	329	245	1,400
Mickey Stanley	5,478	641	500	343	117	1,367
Lance Parrish	4,674	577	700	279	212	1,344
Harvey Kuenn	4,737	619	423	349	53	1,338
Jim Northrup	4,926	571	570	334	145	1,330
Brandon Inge	5,196	527	589	325	140	1,301
Chet Lemon	4,676	570	536	308	142	1,272
Magglio Ordonez	3,531	452	533	331	107	1,209
Miguel Cabrera	3,401	512	600	252	183	1,181
Carlos Guillen	3,384	469	449	320	95	1,143

Runs Participated In is a counting statistic which is influenced greatly by length of career, so it's good to also have a rate measure.  One such metric is Runs Participated In Percentage (RPI%) which is the percentage of a teams' total runs in which a player participated.  For example, Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera participated in 253 runs out of 726 total runs for the Tigers in 2012, so he had a 34.8% RPI%.  The RPI% statistic might tell us how much a team relied on a player to score runs.  As such, some fans might find it useful in MVP voting.  The limitation of course is that a player may benefit from having less productive teammates surrounding him in the order. 

Over the course of a career, you can average a player's annual RPI%'s to arrive at a career RPI%.  The RPI% leaders since 1950 among Tigers with at least 2,000 PA are listed in Table 2 below.  Cabrera is the leader averaging 30.9% in his five years in Detroit.  He is followed by outfielders Rocky Colavito (28.9) and Steve Kemp (28.2).   

Table 2: Tigers Run Participation Percentage Leaders, 1950-2012

Player	PA	RPI	RPI%
Miguel Cabrera	3,401	1,181	30.9
Rocky Colavito	2,723	856	28.9
Steve Kemp	2,930	969	28.2
Rusty Staub	2,407	758	27.5
Tony Phillips	3,320	1,023	26.2
Cecil Fielder	4,252	1,400	26.2
Al Kaline	11,596	3,777	24.8
Travis Fryman	4,792	1,509	24.6
Harvey Kuenn	4,737	1,338	24.3
Ron LeFlore	3,559	954	23.5
Norm Cash	7,775	2,346	22.5
Ray Boone	2,854	925	22.4
Bill Bruton	2,228	677	22.4
Mickey Tettleton	2,343	685	21.6
Magglio Ordonez	3,531	1,209	21.4
Frank Bolling	3,265	841	21.3
Lou Whitaker	9,967	2,998	21.2
Placido Polanco	2,819	851	21.1
Bobby Higginson	5,663	1,677	21.0
Darrell Evans	2,809	820	20.7

The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet.  Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at Retrosheet.org.

Tigers Sign Anibal Sanchez for Five Years

Multiple sources are reporting that the Tigers have agreed to a five-year contract $80 million contract with free agent starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez.  It looked the Cubs had outbid the Tigers as of last night, but Sanchez gave the Tigers a chance to match the Cubs offer and they did. Sanchez came to the Tigers last summer in a trade that also brought second baseman Omar Infante to the Tigers from the Marlins.  He posted a 3.74 ERA and 57/15 K/BB ratio in 74 2/3 regular-season innings for Detroit.  He then excelled in the post-season with a 1.77 ERA in three starts.

So, that's another big contract for owner Mike Ilitch and the Tigers.  They have been looking like the Yankees of the Midwest the last couple of years and one has to wonder how much higher Ilitch can go.  According to Cots Contracts, the Tigers already have $125 million committed to 11 players in 2013 and $107 million to six players in 2014.  Then there is the matter of extending Justin Verlander soon and eventually Miguel Cabrera, Max Scherzer and Doug Fister.  Illitch has a passion to win a World Series, so they will probably be OK as long as he is around.  Once his influence is gone however, the Tigers end up making some unpopular decisions.

For now though, the Tigers are in great shape entering 2013.  The starting rotation is especially strong with the addition of Sanchez.  Several people have referred to Sanchez as a number four starter on Tigers, but his performance says otherwise. I would say that Fister, Sanchez and Scherzer are 2A, 2B and 2C as none really stands above the others.  Scherzer has the eye-popping strikeout totals and perhaps the most upside, but has not been consistently dominant.

In terms of FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement which helps to combine quantity and quality of innings pitched, the Tigers big four are all in the top 20 at Fan Graphs:

1. Verlander 20.0 WAR
16. Sanchez 12.0
18. Fister 11.8
20. Scherzer 11.1

They look almost as formidable by Baseball-Reference WAR:

1. Verlander 20
22. Fister 9.2
23. Sanchez 9.0
27. Scherzer 8.2

That's a great staff to along with a much improved starting line-up.  They will now be the consensus favorites to win the World Series.  Of course, once you get to the playoffs, anything can happen, but if anything gives a team an edge in winning the championship, it's starting pitching.