100 Extra-base hits in a season - only for the best of the best
Only 12 players in MLB history have ever done it
Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers had played 30 games through Sunday’s game. That’s a few more than most of the MLB teams since the Dodgers opened their season in Korea vs. the Padres who through Sunday have played 31 games. Most MLB teams have played about 1/6th of their schedule through Sunday.
After his second Tommy John surgery, Ohtani signed a monster $700M contract with the crosstown Dodgers. He already has put up terrific numbers, including 7 home runs, 14 doubles and one triple as well as 18 RBI’s. Shohei’s OPS+ is a ridiculous 182 and his 78 total bases is tops in MLB. Buried in those stats is the 14 doubles in 30 games, which projects to 75 doubles for Ohtani in 2024. The MLB record is 67 doubles in a single season by Earl Webb for the Red Sox in 1931. Were Ohtani able to maintain the hot star for the remainder of the season, he would have 118 extra base hits (38 homers, 75 doubles and 5 triples).
If you’re thinking 100 extra base hits (XBH) seems like a lot, you’re right since only 12 players in the history of MLB have reached that level. Three players did it twice in their careers. The ‘Iron Horse’ Lou Gehrig, Chuck Klein, and soon-to-be elected Todd Helton. The total number of 100 XBH seasons is 15. In all of baseball history!
You’ve heard of all these high achievers.
Rank Player (age that year) Year PA Bats
1. Babe Ruth+ (26) 119 1921 693 L
2. Lou Gehrig+ (24) 117 1927 717 L
3. Barry Bonds (36) 107 2001 664 L
Chuck Klein+ (25) 107 1930 722 L
5. Todd Helton+ (27) 105 2001 697 L
6. Albert Belle (28) 103 1995 631 R
Hank Greenberg+ (26) 103 1937 701 R
Todd Helton+ (26) 103 2000 697 L
Chuck Klein+ (27) 103 1932 711 L
Stan Musial+ (27) 103 1948 698 L
Sammy Sosa (32) 103 2001 711 R
12. Rogers Hornsby+ (26) 102 1922 704 R
13. Jimmie Foxx+ (24) 100 1932 702 R
Lou Gehrig+ (27) 100 1930 703 L
Luis Gonzalez (33) 100 2001 728 L
Once Helton is inducted this summer, 10 of these exclusive club members are Hall of Famers, EXCEPT, Albert Belle, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Luis Gonzalez. One season does not a Hall of Fame career make, but the achievement is legendary because it’s so rare. For comparison’s sake, In the history of baseball there have been 35 batters that hit .400 or above for an entire season. It’s easier to hit .400 than it is to have 100 XBH.
Nine of the 100+ XBH seasons occurred before 1949. None occurred before 1922 (Rogers ‘The Rajah’ Hornsby was the first), with Chuck Klein reaching 100 XBH twice, in 1930 and 1932. After 1948, (Stan Musial), over the next 75 years only Belle in 1995, Helton in 2000 and 2001, as well as Bonds, Sosa, and Luis Gonzalez (what’s he doing on this list?), also in 2001, made the mark.
Baseball’s ‘Dead-Ball’ Era ended in 1920. Though it may appear to be, it was not a reaction to the taint of the 1919 Black Sox, (that story did not come to light until late in the 1920 season). While the ball may have been a bit livelier than it had been, the outlawing of spitballs was probably more responsible for MLB hitter’s improvement after 1920.
Having all-time greats like Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby playing their best years in the 1920’s shouldn’t be overlooked. Hornsby had 301 career home runs, but in 1922 had his career high of 42, to go with 46 doubles, and 14 triples. Ruth posted the highest total XBH ever with 119 in 1921, playing his home games for the Yankees at the Polo Grounds, (home of the Giants), since Yankee Stadium was still two years from being opened. Ruth swatted 59 home runs, (he had 54 in 1920), with 44 doubles and a career high 16 triples. Ruth was daring on the bases and was a faster runner earlier in his career than many fans remember.
Jimmie Foxx won the inaugural MVP award in 1932 hitting 58 home runs with 33 doubles. He added 9 triples to total exactly 100 XBH.
Hall-of-Famer Chuck Klein had a career worthy of the highest praise, but too often goes unremembered in part because he played for Phillies and Cubs teams that never won the World Series. Klein only reached the Fall Classic once with the Cubs in 1935 when they lost to the Tigers. 1930 also was one of the most remarkable offensive seasons in the history of MLB, something I will write about in a future article.
Hank Greenberg who won an MVP in 1935, did not win one in 1937 when he powered 40 home runs, 49 doubles, and 14 triples none of which were career highs but totaled 103 XBH. Greenberg did lead the league that year with 184 RBIs.
In 1948, a young and fleet Stan the Man Musial led the National League with 46 doubles and 18 triples to go along with his 39 home runs for a total of 103 XBH. Musial also posted the highest single season batting average of his stellar career batting .376.
It took another 47 years until Albert Belle of Cleveland hit 50 home runs and 52 doubles to go with one triple in 1995. Belle is the only player to ever record a 50 homer/50 double season.
The other five 100 XBH seasons occurred in 2000 and 2001. Todd Helton in the first of two back-to-back 100 XBH seasons, hit 59 homers, 42 doubles and two triples in 2000. He followed that up in 2001 with a 54 homer, 49 double, two triple, encore performance.
Like 1930, 2001 also was an extraordinary offensive season. Besides Helton, Bonds had his 73-homer season to go with his 32 doubles and two triples. It’s a lot easier to reach 100 XBH when you are 73% of the way there just on home runs! Sammy Sosa, three years after his epic 1998 home run race with Mark McGwire, pounded 64 home runs in 2001 to go with 34 doubles and five triples.
Finally, Luis Gonzalez played all 162 games for the Diamondbacks in 2001 crushing a career high (by 28,) 57 home runs along with 36 doubles and seven triples. He hit the 100 XBH total on the nose.
One thing that stands out is that Musial in 1948 and the others that preceded him, hit many more triples than power hitters do today. Shohei Ohtani may or may not reach 100 XBH this season. I am betting he will fall short, but his ability to do it will not be as dependent on hitting triples as it was for those that played in the first half of the 20th century. My next article will dig into triples and why they’ve become so much rarer.
Here’s what I wrote for the Mets this week:
https://mlbreport.com/2024/04/the-streaky-mets/
https://mlbreport.com/2024/04/best-mets-closers-in-team-history/
https://mlbreport.com/2024/04/can-this-mets-pattern-last/
About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.