Swinging and lacking (time and again)

No batter in your entire Trendy Period suffered a worse day on the plate than Tommie Agee on April 15, 1968.

Apart from Ron Swoboda.

Agee went 0-for-10 for the New York Mets, who misplaced to the Houston Astros, 1-0, in a 24-inning marathon. Cleanup hitter Swoboda, who was proper behind Agee within the Mets’ batting order, additionally went 0-for-10 that night time.

So why is Swoboda’s output thought-about to be worse? He struck out 5 instances within the recreation, a contact worse than Agee’s 4 whiffs.

I rated the single-game performances of all big-league batters since 1961 on this ladder of statistics:

• Fewest bases reached. The depend of all bases that the batter reached via hits, walks, hit batsmen, and stolen bases, in addition to these he attained for his workforce via sacrifice hits and sacrifice flies. The determine is similar for all 11 batters listed beneath — zero.

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• Most outs made. If a batter hit right into a double play, he was credited — debited might be the higher phrase — with the additional out.

• Most strikeouts.

• Fewest plate appearances.

Everyone mentioned beneath was tied on step one of the ladder (fewest bases), so I dropped to the second step (most outs) to interrupt the tie. In the event that they had been nonetheless deadlocked, I went to the subsequent step (most strikeouts), then the ultimate one (fewest plate appearances). Some gamers had been nonetheless tied after this four-tiered process, as you’ll see beneath, so they’re listed as such.

At this time’s rankings, by the way in which, are the flip aspect of Tuesday’s checklist, which celebrated one of the best single-game hitting outputs. Click here to see it.

Swoboda would have appeared an unlikely candidate to qualify for the period’s checklist of worst batting performances, particularly going into 1968.

He had endured a few shaky years after being known as as much as the large leagues, however his third season, 1967, was indisputably profitable. The Mets proper fielder hit a stable .281, this at a time when batting averages had been depressed all through the majors.

So Swoboda entered 1968 with excessive hopes, which had been immediately confirmed by a five-for-13 hitting streak in New York’s first 4 outings. The fifth recreation, nonetheless, was tough sufficient to shake anyone’s confidence.

Two younger fireballers took the mound on April 15 — Tom Seaver for the Mets, Don Wilson for the Astros. Neither workforce scored earlier than the sport reached additional innings, and the zeros saved rolling for greater than six hours. Houston lastly tallied the sport’s lone run on a Mets error within the backside of the twenty fourth.

No person had an excellent day on the plate, however Swoboda’s was the worst of all, the aforementioned 0-for-10 with 5 strikeouts. His batting common for the younger season was .385 when the day started, .217 when it ended. He would end 1968 at .242, virtually 40 factors beneath 1967.

One fewer strikeout was all that saved Swoboda’s teammate from the doubtful honor of sharing first place in these rankings. However Tommie Agee does have one other distinction. He certified twice for the underside 10 (which really covers 11 performances), making 10 outs whereas going 0-for-8 (together with a pair of double performs) towards the Atlanta Braves on August 5, 1971.

Every entry within the following rundown contains the variety of bases the batter reached, the outs and strikeouts he made, his variety of plate appearances, an inning-by-inning account of his efficiency, and a hyperlink to the field rating on Baseball Reference.

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1. Ron Swoboda

• Date: April 15, 1968

• Staff: Mets (vs. Astros)

• Bases reached: 0

• Outs made: 10

• Strikeouts: 5

• Plate appearances: 10

• Outcomes: Flyout in second inning, popout in fourth inning, strikeout in sixth inning, strikeout in eighth inning, strikeout in eleventh inning, flyout in thirteenth inning, flyout in sixteenth inning, strikeout in 18th inning, strikeout in twenty first inning, flyout in twenty third inning.

• Field rating: Click here

2. Tommie Agee

• Date: April 15, 1968

• Staff: Mets (vs. Astros)

• Bases reached: 0

• Outs made: 10

• Strikeouts: 4

• Plate appearances: 10

• Outcomes: Groundout in first inning, flyout in third inning, strikeout in sixth inning, popout in eighth inning, groundout in tenth inning, groundout in twelfth inning, strikeout in fifteenth inning, strikeout in 18th inning, strikeout in twentieth inning, groundout in twenty third inning.

• Field rating: Click here

3. Tommie Agee

• Date: August 5, 1971

• Staff: Mets (vs. Braves)

• Bases reached: 0

• Outs made: 10

• Strikeouts: 1

• Plate appearances: 8

• Outcomes: Double play in first inning, lineout in third inning, double play in fifth inning, flyout in seventh inning, flyout in ninth inning, flyout in twelfth inning, strikeout in 14th inning, flyout in sixteenth inning.

• Field rating: Click here

4. Manny Mota

• Date: Could 24, 1973

• Staff: Dodgers (vs. Mets)

• Bases reached: 0

• Outs made: 10

• Strikeouts: 1

• Plate appearances: 9

• Outcomes: Strikeout in first inning, groundout in third inning, groundout in fifth inning, popout in seventh inning, double play in ninth inning, groundout in eleventh inning, groundout in 14th inning, flyout in sixteenth inning, lineout in seventeenth inning.

• Field rating: Click here

5. (tie) J.D. Martinez

• Date: June 18, 2019

• Staff: Pink Sox (vs. Twins)

• Bases reached: 0

• Outs made: 9

• Strikeouts: 5

• Plate appearances: 8

• Outcomes: Double play in first inning, strikeout in fourth inning, flyout in sixth inning, strikeout in ninth inning, strikeout in eleventh inning, lineout in thirteenth inning, strikeout in fifteenth inning, strikeout in seventeenth inning.

• Field rating: Click here

5. (tie) Chris Davis

• Date: Could 6, 2012

• Staff: Orioles (vs. Pink Sox)

• Bases reached: 0

• Outs made: 9

• Strikeouts: 5

• Plate appearances: 8

• Outcomes: Strikeout in second inning, strikeout in fourth inning, strikeout in fifth inning, strikeout in eighth inning, strikeout in tenth inning, double play in thirteenth inning, groundout in fifteenth inning, groundout in seventeenth inning.

• Field rating: Click here

5. (tie) Jim Thome

• Date: July 2, 2004

• Staff: Phillies (vs. Orioles)

• Bases reached: 0

• Outs made: 9

• Strikeouts: 5

• Plate appearances: 8

• Outcomes: Strikeout in first inning, foulout in second inning, double play in fourth inning, groundout in seventh inning, strikeout in ninth inning, strikeout in eleventh inning, strikeout in thirteenth inning, strikeout in fifteenth inning.

• Field rating: Click here

8. Trot Nixon

• Date: July 9, 2006

• Staff: Pink Sox (vs. White Sox)

• Bases reached: 0

• Outs made: 9

• Strikeouts: 4

• Plate appearances: 9

• Outcomes: Groundout in first inning, strikeout in fourth inning, lineout in fifth inning, strikeout in seventh inning, groundout in tenth inning, flyout in twelfth inning, strikeout in thirteenth inning, groundout in sixteenth inning, strikeout in nineteenth inning.

• Field rating: Click here

9. (tie) Paul Lo Duca

• Date: July 7, 2007

• Staff: Mets (vs. Astros)

• Bases reached: 0

• Outs made: 9

• Strikeouts: 3

• Plate appearances: 8

• Outcomes: Double play in second inning, groundout in fifth inning, groundout in seventh inning, groundout in ninth inning, strikeout in eleventh inning, strikeout in 14th inning, groundout in sixteenth inning, strikeout in seventeenth inning.

• Field rating: Click here

9. (tie) Sandy Alomar

• Date: July 30, 1998

• Staff: Indians (vs. Mariners)

• Bases reached: 0

• Outs made: 9

• Strikeouts: 3

• Plate appearances: 8

• Outcomes: Popout in second inning, groundout in fifth inning, double play in sixth inning, strikeout in eighth inning, strikeout in tenth inning, strikeout in thirteenth inning, popout in fifteenth inning, flyout in seventeenth inning.

• Field rating: Click here

9. (tie) Mike Davis

• Date: Could 23, 1983

• Staff: Athletics (vs. Brewers)

• Bases reached: 0

• Outs made: 9

• Strikeouts: 3

• Plate appearances: 8

• Outcomes: Flyout in first inning, strikeout in third inning, strikeout in sixth inning, strikeout in eighth inning, double play in ninth inning, flyout in eleventh inning, flyout in thirteenth inning, groundout in fifteenth inning.

• Field rating: Click here