I’ll admit it. I’ve groused quite a bit in recent weeks about the plethora of strikeouts plaguing today’s game. Two of my volleys were especially intense. The first came in a May 25 piece about the lack of action in 2021, followed by a June 1 entry that focused on the sport’s strikeout kings.
So let me take this opportunity to redress the balance. It’s time to celebrate the batters who have excelled at making contact over the years.
I began by collecting the records for all 1,026 batters throughout big-league history who appeared at the plate more than 5,000 times during their careers, as reported by Baseball-Reference.com. (Keep in mind, of course, that appearances are different from at-bats.)
Then I calculated the contact rate (CT) for each player, a simple thing to do. Just subtract strikeouts from at-bats, then divide the quotient by at-bats. That gives us the percentage of times that a batter put the ball in play, exclusive of appearances that ended with walks, hit batsmen, or sacrifices.
I didn’t do anything special to the resulting CT figures, such as equalizing them to account for changing conditions in different ballparks or seasons. I simply ranked them from top to bottom, then slotted them into five rough eras.
I allocated players to eras after determining the midpoints of their careers. Ty Cobb, for example, made his first big-league appearance in 1905 and bowed out after the 1928 season. Babe Ruth’s career spanned from 1914 to 1935. Their respective midpoints were 1917 and 1925.
My intent below is to spotlight the contact champions of specific periods, the best men in their eras when it came to putting the bat on the ball. Each section features the batters with the top 10 CT rates, listed with their career spans, strikeouts, and at-bats. (Numbers encompass each player’s entire big-league tenure, even if it spilled over into another era.)
The fluctuations in CT scores from one era to the next indicate the relative value that their contemporaries placed on the basic act of putting the ball in play.
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Dead Ball Era (1871-1919)
1. Willie Keeler (1892-1910), .984 CT, 136 SO in 8,591 AB
2. Charlie Comiskey (1882-1894), .977 CT, 132 SO in 5,796 AB
3. Lave Cross (1887-1907), .976 CT, 217 SO in 9,084 AB
3. Chicken Wolf (1882-1892), .976 CT, 120 SO in 4,959 AB
5. Doggie Miller (1884-1896), .975 CT, 129 SO in 5,171 AB
6. Lou Bierbauer (1886-1898), .972 CT, 160 SO in 5,713 AB
7. Jack Glasscock (1879-1895), .970 CT, 212 SO in 7,033 AB
8. Cap Anson (1871-1897), .968 CT, 330 SO in 10,281 AB
8. Stuffy McInnis (1909-1927), .968 CT, 251 SO in 7,822 AB
10. Deacon White (1871-1890), .967 CT, 221 SO in 6,624 AB
10. Cub Stricker (1882-1893), .967 CT, 152 SO in 4,635 AB
Notes: You undoubtedly know Keeler’s famous summary of his key to success. “Hit ‘em where they ain’t,” he recommended. He never struck out more than 13 times in a season. He whiffed just twice in 570 at-bats for Brooklyn in 1899....The worst CT for any batter with at least 5,000 appearances in this era was Sam Wise’s .864, which would rank among the 10 best for today’s longterm players.
Lively Ball Era (1920-1944)
1. Joe Sewell (1920-1933), .984 CT, 114 SO in 7,132 AB
2. Lloyd Waner (1927-1945), .978 CT, 173 SO in 7,772 AB
3. Sam Rice (1915-1934), .970 CT, 275 SO in 9,269 AB
3. Frankie Frisch (1919-1937), .970 CT, 272 SO in 9,112 AB
5. Frank McCormick (1934-1948), .967 CT, 189 SO in 5,723 AB
6. Edd Roush (1913-1931), .965 CT, 260 SO in 7,363 AB
7. Pie Traynor (1920-1937), .963 CT, 278 SO in 7,559 AB
8. Doc Cramer (1929-1948), .962 CT, 345 SO in 9,140 AB
9. Paul Waner (1926-1945), .960 CT, 376 SO in 9,459 AB
9. George Sisler (1915-1930), .960 CT, 327 SO in 8,267 AB
9. Sparky Adams (1922-1934), .960 CT, 223 SO in 5,557 AB
9. Lou Finney (1931-1947), .960 CT, 186 SO in 4,631 AB
Notes: Reporters pestered Sewell to divulge the secret to his constant contact. “Keep your eye on the ball,” he laughed, “and it sure isn’t much of a secret, is it?” The infielder for the Indians and Yankees struck out only 48 times in the final nine seasons of his 14-year career....The biggest swinger of the era, of course, was Babe Ruth, but his .842 CT was not the lowest. That distinction belonged to Dolph Camilli at .820.
Postwar Era (1945-1960)
1. Nellie Fox (1947-1965), .977 CT, 216 SO in 9,232 AB
2. Tommy Holmes (1942-1952), .976 CT, 122 SO in 4,992 AB
3. Red Schoendienst (1945-1963), .959 CT, 346 SO in 8,479 AB
3. Vic Power (1954-1965), .959 CT, 247 SO in 6,046 AB
5. George Kell (1943-1957), .957 CT, 287 SO in 6,702 AB
6. Johnny Pesky (1942-1954), .954 CT, 218 SO in 4,745 AB
7. Lou Boudreau (1938-1952), .949 CT, 309 SO in 6,029 AB
8. Yogi Berra (1946-1965), .945 CT, 414 SO in 7,555 AB
9. Elmer Valo (1940-1961), .944 CT, 284 SO in 5,029 AB
10. Jim Gilliam (1953-1966), .942 CT, 416 SO in 7,119 AB
10. Harvey Kuenn (1952-1966), .942 CT, 404 SO in 6,913 AB
10. Billy Goodman (1947-1962), .942 CT, 329 SO in 5,644 AB
Notes: Fox was a multidimensional player, winning the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1959, four times leading the league in hits, and earning three Gold Gloves as a second baseman for the White Sox. He never suffered more than 18 strikeouts in a season....Sluggers Eddie Mathews and Duke Snider joined Fox in the Hall of Fame, but their CT rates were the era’s lowest at .826 and .827, respectively.
Expansion Era (1961-2020)
1. Felix Millan (1966-1977), .958 CT, 242 SO in 5,791 AB
2. Bobby Richardson (1955-1966), .955 CT, 243 SO in 5,386 AB
3. Tony Gwynn (1982-2001), .953 CT, 434 SO in 9,288 AB
3. Glenn Beckert (1965-1975), .953 CT, 243 SO in 5,208 AB
5. Bill Buckner (1969-1990), .952 CT, 453 SO in 9,397 AB
6. Dave Cash (1969-1980), .944 CT, 309 SO in 5,554 AB
7. Tommy Helms (1964-1977), .940 CT, 301 SO in 4,997 AB
8. Ozzie Smith (1978-1996), .937 CT, 589 SO in 9,396 AB
8. Don Mattingly (1982-1995), .937 CT, 444 SO in 7,003 AB
8. Gregg Jefferies (1987-2000), .937 CT, 348 SO in 5,520 AB
8. Johnny Ray (1981-1990), .937 CT, 329 SO in 5,188 AB
Notes: Millan was a smooth-fielding second baseman for the Braves and Mets. He lacked power, hitting just 22 homers in 12 years, but he controlled the bat well. He finished his career with a respectable .279 BA, and his maximum strikeout total for a season was 35....Five batters tied for the era’s worst CT at .816. The most prominent member of that group was Boog Powell, who won the 1970 American League MVP trophy.
Current Players (Active in 2021)
1. Yadier Molina (2004-2021), .885 CT, 836 SO in 7,263 AB
2. Michael Brantley (2009-2021), .880 CT, 595 SO in 4,971 AB
3. Albert Pujols (2001-2021), .879 CT, 1,326 SO in 10,973 AB
4. Jose Altuve (2011-2021), .871 CT, 696 SO in 5,379 AB
5. Kurt Suzuki (2007-2021), .868 CT, 698 SO in 5,295 AB
6. Buster Posey (2009-2021), .860 CT, 662 SO in 4,724 AB
7. Elvis Andrus (2009-2021), .848 CT, 997 SO in 6,555 AB
8. Pablo Sandoval (2008-2021), .837 CT, 750 SO in 4,588 AB
9. Starlin Castro (2010-2021), .819 CT, 1,092 SO in 6,046 AB
10. Anthony Rizzo (2011-2021), .816 CT, 884 SO in 4,808 AB
Notes: This list is confined to the players who have taken the field in 2021 and have already made more than 5,000 career plate appearances. Molina’s .885 CT is 73 points lower than Millan’s benchmark for the Expansion Era, yet it is easily the best on this list. The Cardinals catcher has never struck out more than 74 times in a season, though he is on track to exceed that figure in 2021....Giancarlo Stanton has the lowest career CT (.676) for any current player above 5,000 appearances.