Batting Titles

With the 2012 batting race currently featuring 4 players within 16 points of each other, I thought I'd go back and find other close batting titles in SFL history. Surprisingly, there weren't many, but this is what I found:

1985-- John Decker and Tony Connor tie at .500.
1987-- Bill Weinberg beats Rich Rowlands by 4 points, .452 to .448
1992-- Dan Schneider beats Kurt Hettler by 4 points, .486 to .482
1996-- Joe Gerber beats Phil Kotik by 8 points, .484 to .476
2003-- Ian Lebowitz beats Chris Hall by 7 points, .500 to .493

Here are the widest margins of victory:

1983-- Bill Weinberg (.605) by 114 points over Jose Balento
2007-- Phil Ciccone (.558) by 85 points over Dave Sommers
2005-- Chris Hall (.580) by 80 points over Carl Weinberg
2000-- Larry Savell (.623) by 78 points over Ian Lebowitz
2008-- Carl Weinberg (.541) by 75 points over Ian Parfrey

Players who won multiple titles:

Phil Kotik, 3-- 1994, 1995, 1999
Bill Weinberg, 2-- 1983, 1987
John Decker, 2-- 1985 (tie), 1986
Dan Schneider, 2-- 1992, 1997
Joe Gerber, 2-- 1996, 1998
Ian Lebowitz, 2-- 2001, 2003
Carl Weinberg, 2-- 2002, 2008
Chris Hall, 2-- 2004, 2005
Phil Ciccone, 2-- 2006, 2007
Ian Parfrey, 2-- 2010, 2011

Players who were runners-up multiple times:

Larry Savell, 4-- 1989, 1990, 1991, 1999 (won in 2000)
Phil Kotik, 4-- 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002 (won in 1994, 1995, 1999)
Dan Schneider, 2-- 1993, 1994 (won in 1992, 1997)
Carl Weinberg, 2-- 2005, 2006 (won in 2002, 2008)

One time runners-up:

Jose Balento, 1983
John Decker, 1984
Austen Ruse, 1985
Bill Weinberg, 1986
Rich Rowlands, 1987
Mark Allen, 1988
Kurt Hettler, 1992
John Grieco, 1995
Ian Lebowitz, 2000
Bob Holzwasser, 2001
Chris Hall, 2003
Gil Schmerler, 2004
Dave Sommers, 2007
Ian Parfrey, 2008
Derek Martinez, 2009
Freddie Melendez, 2010
Eric Schulman, 2011

From the Roger Connor files:

Did you ever wonder who SFL's past lifetime batting average leaders were? Here's a rundown.

1983-84: Bill Weinberg
1985-87: John Decker
1988-89: Bill Weinberg
1990: Jose Balento
1991: Bobby Naranjo
1992: Jose Balento (now #16)
1993: Bobby Naranjo (now #17)
1994: Larry Savell (now #6)
1995: Phil Kotik
1996-97: Dan Schneider
1998-2000: Phil Kotik (now #4)
2001-05: Dan Schneider (now #3)
2006-09: Chris Hall (now #2)
2010: Ian Lebowitz

I set the current requirement at 1,000 plate appearances, however up until 1993 qualifying limit rises incrementally each season, which is why John Decker and Bill Weinberg drop off the list. I might re-think that later, we'll see.

The Records Dep't: How We Got Here

Provided the weather and the pitchers cooperate, I fully expect several more single-season hitting records to join Phil Kotik's 25-HR mark by the wayside in 2010. First-- the possible record breakers: Ian, Alex, Zach, Freddy, Derek, and perhaps Bill McLaughlin, off to a 19-for-33 start in 2010. Second-- the records being threatened: Hits, runs, RBI, doubles. Lastly, how we got here.

Single season hits. Joe Gerber had 139 in 1995. Larry Savell held the record for only one year, when he had 132 hits in 1994. He superseded Phil Kotik, who had 116 hits in 1992. Phil was SFLOI's first 100-hit man, and he took the hit record from Jorge Loarte, who had 84 in 1990. Before that, the record belonged to Gary Alvarez (1989), Bobby Naranjo (1988), John Decker (1986), and the commish, Havelock Hewes (1985). Ian Parfrey (now referring to himself in the 3rd person) came closest to breaking Gerber's mark with 134 hits last season.

Runs scored. Joe Gerber scored 103 runs in 1995. Phil Kotik scored 95 times in 1992, Bobby Naranjo 74 times in 1991, breaking his own records set in 1990 and 1988. Earlier record holders were John Decker (1986) and Havelock (1985). Bill Vernick's 99-run campaign in 1998 was the best attempt since Gerber's record.

RBI. Larry Savell drove in 92 in 1994. This broke Kurt Hettler's 1992 record of 84 RBI, which broke Jeff Miller's 1991 record (59 RBI), which broke Jose Balento's 1990 record (56 RBI). Earlier record holders were Gary Alvarez (1989), Jose Balento (1988), Bill Weinberg (1987 and 1986), and Joe Picciano (1985). Jose Balento almost took back the record when he drove in 88 runs in 1999.

Doubles. Phil Kotik had 34 in 1992. The only other 30-double season was Joe Gerber in 1995. The doubles record had belonged to John Decker (25 in 1986), breaking his own record from 1984. Doubles totals were very high in the early years of SFLOI. Was this due to a ground rule and a short fence?

And-- as a bonus feature, I present the SFLOI record that fell, and the one that's almost unbreakable. Derek Martinez hit 26 home runs in 2009, breaking Kotik's record of 25 (1995), which broke Kurt Hettler's record of 23 (1992), Jeff Miller's 11 (1991), and Jose Balento's 9 (1988). Prior to that, the record belonged to Joe Signore, who crushed 7 home runs in 22 at bats in 1987. Dave Metzger had 6 in 1986, and Joe Picciano hit 3 in 1985. Derek, by the way, broke Kotik's record on the last day of the season, with a line drive down the RF line at Hastings #2, and then he ran the bases backwards.

Lastly, in 2000, Larry Savell had 66 hits in 106 at-bats, for an average of .623. SFLOI played a significantly shorter season, so he was eligible for the batting title. In 1998, Joe Gerber had been 90-for-146 (.616), which broke Bill Weinberg's .605 mark, set in 1983. In 2006, Phil Ciccone was 64-for-106 (.604), and this has been the strongest challenge to Savell's record. Notice that all of these seasons are small samples. None of the .600 hitters batted 150 times. The highest batting average ever in 200+ at-bats is .565, by Carl Weinberg. I don't expect anyone will ever break Larry's record. Even Alex Rivera.