Thanks very much to long-time Bauxite and first-time poster James Strapp for sending us this article, inspired by Mick's "All My Exes Played for Texas?" piece. James is even willing to share the spreadsheet (a 3.5 MB zip file) he used for this self-described "quick analysis", which to a relative Excel novice, looks like a lot of work. Enjoy.
Debut Teams
by James Strapp
Yesterday’s Baseball's Hall of Names game about what team can boast the best possible roster of players who formerly wore their uniform, got me thinking. What if players were never traded and there were no free agents? The team you started with is the team you stayed with, good or bad. Who would have the best team then? I wanted to know which team has produced the most, good players in the major leagues. Turns out, we should be very proud of our Canadian teams. I thought you might be interested.
To keep it simple, I only look at batting, not pitchers. To get the data, I extracted hits and home runs for each major league batter since 1960 from Sean Lehman’s Baseball Archive and determined the team with which they debut.
Last year, players who played their first major league game with the Blue Jays combined for 2,493 hits. That includes current Jays like Vernon’s league-leading 215 hits, and ex-Jays like Shawn Green (171), John Olerud (145), and Casey Blake (145). In fact, the 2,493 total for this “debut” team of current Jays’ players and those who started with the Jays, was tops in the majors last year.
Since the real Toronto squad were fourth in the majors in hits in 2003, this may not be surprising. But guess who finished second among the “debut” teams? Montreal. Yes, the Expos finished 24th in total hits with only 1,404 from their current team of players. By adding in Marquis Grissom, Mark Grudzielanek and all the others who have left, the “debut” Expos team connected for 2,391 hits. These weren’t cheap singles hitters either. The story is identical for home runs and total bases: debut Toronto #1, debut Montreal #2.
And 2003 is not unique. Players introduced to the majors as Montreal Expos combined to lead the majors in hits in 1995, and every year from 1997 to 2002, until the Jays surpassed them last year. Seven times over the last ten years, the Expos debut team has combined for the most total bases.
In total over the past 10 years, original Expos players have gone onto collect a total of 22,916 hits, the most in the majors. In comparison, of the non-expansion teams, Cincinnati is last with an equivalent of 10,130 hits, less than half of Montreal’s total. Montreal debut players also have the most home runs and total bases during the same period.
As for Toronto, their debut team is fourth in total hits and home runs, and third in total bases over the same 10-year period. Oakland, LA, and Minnesota have also done well. Think Chavez, Giambi, Tejada, Piazza, Konerko, and Hunter.
Interestingly, the Yankees fare pretty well, typically appearing about tenth in the list with Soriano, Jeter, Matsui, Posada, Williams, and others. Of course, they tend to be able to keep their stars. As for player sinks, rather than sources, look to Cincinnati, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Baltimore.
Here are the rankings for total hits, home runs and total bases since 1994 by the team the player made his debut with. I have left off expansion teams such as Florida, Colorado and Tampa Bay.
Team | Hits | Team | HR | Team | TB | ||
1. MON | 22,916 | 1. MON | 2,823 | 1. MON | 37,105 | ||
2. LAN | 19,411 | 2. OAK | 2,553 | 2. OAK | 30,381 | ||
3. MIN | 19,030 | 3. ATL | 2,469 | 3. TOR | 29,933 | ||
| 4. TOR | 18,461 | 4. TOR | 2,339 | 4. LAN | 29,921 | ||
5. OAK | 18,453 | 5. CLE | 2,274 | 5. MIN | 29,448 | ||
| 6. ATL | 17,298 | 6. TEX | 2,212 | 6. ATL | 28,562 | ||
7. ATL | 17,298 | 7. HOU | 2,155 | 7. NYA | 27,075 | ||
| 8. NYN | 16,655 | 8. NYN | 2,076 | 8. NYN | 26,797 | ||
9. CLE | 16,036 | 9. LAN | 2,042 | 9. CLE | 26,665 | ||
| 10. SEA | 16,016 | 10. SEA | 1,998 | 10. HOU | 26,183 | ||
| 11. HOU | 15,807 | 11. NYA | 1,956 | 11. SEA | 25,791 | ||
| 12. KCA | 15,530 | 12. MIN | 1,895 | 12. KCA | 24,217 | ||
13. CAL | 15,263 | 13. CAL | 1,789 | 13. CAL | 24,158 | ||
| 14. SLN | 14,359 | 14. DET | 1,769 | 14. TEX | 24,112 | ||
15. PIT | 14,333 | 15. MIL | 1,637 | 15. DET | 23,139 | ||
| 16. DET | 14,305 | 16. KCA | 1,578 | 16. SLN | 22,449 | ||
| 17. TEX | 14,236 | 17. PIT | 1,557 | 17. PIT | 22,384 | ||
| 18. CHN | 13,673 | 18. SLN | 1,520 | 18. MIL | 21,720 | ||
| 19. MIL | 13,623 | 19. BOS | 1,427 | 19. CHN | 20,879 | ||
| 20. SDN | 12,226 | 20. CHA | 1,379 | 20. CHA | 18,971 | ||
21. CHA | 11,975 | 21. CHN | 1,362 | 21. BOS | 18,231 | ||
22. BOS | 11,250 | 22. BAL | 1,319 | 22. SDN | 18,096 | ||
23. BAL | 11,107 | 23. SFN | 1,162 | 23. BAL | 17,674 | ||
24. SFN | 10,945 | 24. CIN | 1,109 | 24. SFN | 16,946 | ||
25. PHI | 10,615 | 25. PHI | 1,022 | 25. PHI | 16,393 | ||
26. CIN | 10,130 | 26. SDN | 1,014 | 26. CIN | 15,854 |
| Your Debut Jays | Your Debut Expos |
| 1. Alex Gonzalez* | 1. Andres Galarraga* |
| 2. Carlos Delgado | 2. Brad Fullmer |
| 3. Casey Blake | 3. Brad Wilkerson |
| 4. Cesar Izturis* | 4. Brian Schneider |
| 5. Chris Woodward | 5. Cliff Floyd* |
| 6. Eric Hinske | 6. Geoff Blum* |
| 7. Felipe Lopez* | 7. Henry Mateo |
| 8. Fred McGriff* | 8. Jamey Carroll |
| 9. Greg Myers | 9. John Vander Wal* |
| 10. John Olerud* | 10. Larry Walker* |
| 11. Jose Cruz Jr.* | 11. Mark Grudzielanek* |
| 12. Josh Phelps | 12. Marquis Grissom* |
| 13. Kevin Cash | 13. Matt Stairs* |
| 14. Kevin Witt* | 14. Michael Barrett |
| 15. Miguel Cairo* | 15. Milton Bradley* |
| 16. Orlando Hudson | 16. Moises Alou* |
| 17. Reed Johnson | 17. Orlando Cabrera |
| 18. Ryan Freel* | 18. Ron Calloway |
| 19. Shannon Stewart* | 19. Rondell White* |
| 20. Shawn Green* | 20. Tim Laker* |
| 21. Tomas Perez* | 21. Vladimir Guerrero |
| 22. Vernon Wells | 22. Wil Cordero* |
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20040708023704999