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MLB: Strikeouts at record pace for 9th straight year

By Phil Watson

Among hitters qualified for the batting title, no one strikes out more frequently this year than Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox, once every 2.6 at-bats. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Among hitters qualified for the batting title, no one strikes out more frequently this year than Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox, once every 2.6 at-bats. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nate Colbert hit a lot of home runs and piled up a lot of strikeout for the expansion San Diego Padres in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Nate Colbert hit a lot of home runs and piled up a lot of strikeout for the expansion San Diego Padres in the late 1960s and early 1970s. /

1966-75: Down Comes The Mound

In an attempt to curb the dominance of pitchers, MLB decided to lower the mound after the 1968 season, after some embarrassing offensive numbers were recorded.

The MLB-wide batting average in 1968 was just .237, with a .299 on-base percentage, and teams were scoring an average of only 3.42 runs per game.

It was a significant change. The mound was dropped from a height of 15 inches to just 10—losing a third of its size—in one fell swoop.

The change, along with another round of expansion (four new teams joined MLB in 1969, two in each league), increased scoring throughout the game … for a couple of years.

But then the scoring rate plummeted again in 1971 and 1972, leading to the biggest change in baseball in the 20th century.

YEAR R/G HR SO AB/SO
1966 3.99 137 940 5.82
1967 3.77 115 971 5.63
1968 3.42 100 957 5.67
1969 4.07 130 936 5.84
1970 4.34 143 932 5.91
1971 3.89 119 873 6.23
1972* 3.69 106 863 6.03
1973 4.21 129 848 6.50
1974 4.12 110 812 6.78
1975 4.21 112 803 6.82

*–1972 season was shortened by players’ strike in April.

In 1973, the American League implemented the designated hitter rule, eliminating the pitcher’s spot in the batting order in favor of a ninth hitter who would not play the field and would instead simply bat when his turn in the order came up.

Scoring increased by more than a half-run per game in the first year of the DH and at the same time, strikeout rates went down—likely a by-product of not having half of the pitchers in baseball flailing away at the plate two or three times a game.

But there were some sluggers emerging who were very free at the plate. From 1966-75, there were six players who struck out more than once every four at-bats, led by Nate Colbert’s 3.82 ratio.

Among the 10 most hitters who made the walk back to the pine with the most frequency, however, there were two Hall of Famers and only two players in the top 10 (Deron Johnson and Donn Clendenon) never appeared in an All-Star Game.

Rk Player AB/SO G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG
1 Nate Colbert 3.8245 988 3377 476 825 139 25 171 514 373 883 .244 .321 .452
2 Larry Hisle 3.8322 680 2284 328 604 103 24 75 298 247 596 .264 .339 .429
3 Reggie Jackson 3.8530 1231 4350 714 1154 220 26 254 733 600 1129 .265 .359 .503
4 Donn Clendenon 3.8750 824 2759 341 727 100 22 111 435 235 712 .264 .320 .436
5 Dick Allen 3.9416 1277 4588 804 1332 229 50 282 861 692 1164 .290 .382 .546
6 Bobby Bonds 3.9688 1159 4576 858 1249 214 45 218 637 589 1153 .273 .358 .482
7 Willie Stargell 4.1209 1374 4875 799 1407 278 27 309 961 640 1183 .289 .373 .547
8 Rick Monday 4.1891 1204 4076 619 1087 178 49 136 472 622 973 .267 .365 .434
9 Dave Duncan 4.2396 811 2548 252 550 72 3 104 319 225 601 .216 .281 .369
10 Deron Johnson 4.2512 1332 4485 515 1068 179 18 184 670 472 1055 .238 .310 .409

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/23/2014.

Hank Aaron led this period with 347 home runs, striking out once every 8.23 at-bats. But of the top 10 home run hitters of this era, only Billy Williams, with a strikeout rate of 9.73 at-bats per whiff, stood out for their ability to make contact.

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