Team Triples in the American Association

Team Triples-hitting Frequency: 1902-1962

(supplemental to the Spring 2019 edition of the American Association Almanac)

Please note: this article describes the use of the ABT, of "at-bats per triple," a measure of the average number of triples for determining the frequency of triples hitting. As an example, if a team or player had an ABT of 35.0, there was one triple per 35 at-bats.

In last spring’s Almanac considerable attention was given to the leading triples-producing teams of the American Association. At the time, the most fitting statistical platform for comparing the teams was the average number of triples per game.  In this issue the use of the average number of at-bats per triple, or ABT, will provide the basis for reviewing a portion of that content while familiarizing readers with this measurement device.

The purpose of the ABT is to provide a pragmatic structure within which the production of triples can be measured, compared and interpreted. The ABT allows the context of an individual game to set the stage for determining how likely it might be for a particular player to hit a triple. One might call to mind the fan attending a game who notes that Player A has not hit a triple in several weeks, that he is way overdue; with the knowledge of the player’s average, the fan can speculate with some degree of confidence on the next possible occurrence of an event.

Here, the use of the ABT allows us to do the same thing in retrospect, for example, to put ourselves in the position of the fan during a past contest in which a player, perhaps one known as a triples hitter, comes to bat; with slide rule in hand, the fan might use the ABT to consider how likely that player would have been to hit a three-bagger and subsequently how he compared with his teammates in this regard. The same logic applies to teams, as the figures below will attest. The ABT is a qualitative efficiency rating, whereas production values alone are strictly a quantitative measurement device; as a point of clarification, the lower the ABT, the greater the triples proficiency. 

1902 to 1919

The Louisville Colonels carried the triples crown eight seasons, including the war-shortened 1918 season, with team totals ranging from 136 (1902) to 54 (1918). During this time, the ABT for league leaders ranged from 37.0 (Louisville, 1902) to 80.2 (Columbus, 1909). Values were clustered in ranks 6-13, with a range of 50.6 to 59.1. Louisville’s single-season ABT occupied the league’s top four slots (ranging from 37.0 to 47.9 (1915), and seven of the top ten, with a ninth-ranked average of 55.3. The Indianapolis Indians made two appearances in the top ten with marks of 50.6 (1914) and 53.8 (1917). St. Paul was tenth at 55.6 (1912). Only Louisville had any single-season ABTs under 50 during this period. Six of the top ten in ABT had 100 or more triples. No other team but the 1902 Louisville Colonels posted an ABT below 40, putting George Tebeau’s “Night Riders,” managed by Bill “Derby Day” Clymer, on hallowed ground for its accomplishment during the 1902 season. 

1920 to 1939 

The next 20-year period contrasted considerably with the league’s first two decades. After a period of sluggish performance as a triples-hitting team, the Kansas City Blues erupted to claim nine triples crowns, with totals ranging from 127 (1925; 1927) to 91 (1939). League leaders posted an ABT range of 44.8 (1921 Indianapolis) to 64.1 (1937 Kansas City). The Indianapolis Indians garnered the two top ABT spots, posting 44.8 (1921) and 45.1 (1922) producing 128 triples in each year. In 1928 the Indians possessed their third top-ten slot of the period with their 55.3 ABT (103 triples). Kansas City nailed down three top-ten slots as well, ranking third and fourth with marks of 45.3 (1927) and 45.8 (1925) as the Blues belted 127 triples in both seasons. With an ABT of 53.5 (1931), they took their third top-ten spot of the period. In addition to Indianapolis, the Milwaukee Brewers also led the league in three seasons (1923, 1926 and 1930), while posting two top-ten ABTs, 48.7 (1923) with 121 triples, and 54.3 in 1930 with 103. Significant clustering was found in ranks 1-4 (44.8 to 45.8) and 8-14 (54.3 to 56.0). Values were clustered in ranks 3-7 (63.8 to 66.3) and 13-17 (74.4 to 76.1). 

1940 to 1962

Louisville was back on the scene during the third period of triples leadership in the Association. With production among the leaderboard entries ranging from 58-87, the Colonels absconded with the triples crown in 1944 (85), 1945 (61) 1946 (58) and finally in 1954 with 87 three-baggers, the club’s highest mark since their 94 in 1934. The Colonels claimed the top two spots in ABT rankings with postings of  57.8 (1954) and 59.3 (1944). Indianapolis registered its superiority with six triples crowns: 1942 (62); 1943 (72); 1948 (81); 1949 (73); 1956 (68), and 1957 (68; tied with St. Paul). During this period the Indians posted top-ten ABT averages in four of those years, ranging from a fifth-ranked 64.7 to a ninth-ranked 70.2. Kansas City claimed the third and fourth slots with nearly identical marks: 63.9 in 1947 and 63.8 in 1952. Denver picked up the tenth rank with an ABT of 70.9 in 1962, the only instance of a top ten ABT value over 70.0 in Association history (1902-1962). 

   All-Time Top 10 ABT Team Leaders 

                                                  Year    Team         Triples    ABT    Rank
                                              

                                                  1902    Louisville        136      37.0      1
                                                  1913    Louisville        131      43.0      2
                                                  1921    Indianapolis    128      44.8      3
                                                  1922    Indianapolis    128      45.1      4
                                                  1927    Kansas City    127      45.3      5
                                                  1925    Kansas City    127      45.8      6
                                                  1918*  Louisville         54      47.4      7
                                                  1915    Louisville       106      47.9      8
                                                  1924    Toledo            121      48.3      9
                                                  1923    Milwaukee     121      48.7    10 

                                                  *abbreviated season due to World War I

Consider this: The pairings of the top ten team ABTs seems quite a powerful coincidence. What is not coincidental is that each entry, with the exception of the 1918 season, produced well over 100 triples and is among the all-time team leaders in triples production. This brings about a point to be made about the efficacy of the ABT as a measurement device. In this case it reflects the most productive teams, but had quantitative production alone been used to measure triples-hitting efficiency, the 1918 Louisville team would have been left off the list and the record would have been incomplete.
    

The table also shows a preponderance of triples-hitting efficiency among live-ball era teams, but not to the exclusion of deadball era teams. In fact, of the 30 top-ranked teams, 12 belonged to the deadball era. Park factor is a significant contributor to triples efficiency, as discussed in last spring’s Almanac, prompting the question of field symmetry to arise in this context. Would a “less symmetrical” outfield wall contribute to a plethora of three-baggers? Or would the factor of distance play a more important part? Deadball era teams were known for expansive outfields, but any link to a specific park factor and triples efficiency has not been shown.

There is no question the 1902 Louisville Colonels, which can rightly be considered the greatest triples hitting team in American Association history, had the talent to take the triples crown in the league’s inaugural year. In light of the information above, the degree of their superiority is marked. Clearly the talent was there, but were other factors at work which contributed to Louisville’s elevated level of success as a triples-hitting machine that year? 

Colonel outfielder John Flournoy presents a special case in that his 20 triples led the team that led the league in three-baggers. Flournoy’s previous high was 10 playing for the Mansfield (OH) Haymakers as a 21-year-old in 1898, arguably a career year for him with 233 total bases plus a sixth-ranked 41 stolen bases in the Interstate League (B). However, his prowess as a triples hitter ended abruptly; in 1903 he was “collared,” hitting zero three-baggers in 348 at-bats as he split time between Toledo and St. Paul. 

There was indeed something unique about Eclipse Park, the home of the Colonels, that made it so conducive to triples hitting, and the players knew how to exploit that factor. An interesting comparison for future research would be to identify to what extent visiting teams were able to do the same thing the Colonels did that year. This would go a long way toward uncovering the mystery of just what made the team such a strong triples-hitting machine in 1902.

Copies of the Spring 2019 issue of the American Association Almanac are available for purchase. For details, contact me, Rex Hamann, at pureout@msn.com