I want to show you a list of the top 14 shortstop seasons by fWAR since 1947. This might seem a little arbitrary--why top 14 and not top 10? Well, because as of right now, on August 8, Bobby Witt has 8.1 fWAR, which would place him 15th on this list. Since Jackie Robinson integrated the league, these are the only full shortstop seasons that have ever been more valuable than Bobby Witt, Jr., 71.6% of the way through the 2024 season:
If Bobby maintains his pace and plays every game for the rest of the way, he will rack up 11.3 fWAR, good for the single greatest shortstop season of the last 77 years. Now, I don't think it's reasonable to expect him to maintain his current level for another 2 months. It's simply not normal to hit .450 for six weeks, and that will come down to earth a bit. The projections systems say that he should be worth about another 2 fWAR over the last 2 months of the season, which would put him in competition with 2002 A-Rod for third-best ever. This is historic stuff we're witnessing.
I want to talk a bit about those other top shortstop seasons, but first, I want to talk about Bobby, because this is an article about Bobby. I was at the game last night, in which he went 3-for-4 with a double, 2 home runs, 3 runs scored, and 4 RBI--a pretty normal Wednesday for him. Every at-bat he took, you could feel the energy of every single person in the stadium focused directly on him. The fans, the players, the other team, when he's up, everyone shuts up and pays attention. You simply can't afford to miss what he's going to do next. I grew up in the '90s, just a bit too late to see George play, so I've never seen anyone in a Royals uniform who can captivate everyone's attention like he can. He's like Shohei Ohtani in that way. If you can, get out to the stadium and see him in person--he is worth the price of admission.
If Bobby makes it to 10 fWAR this season, he'll be only the fourth shortstop to ever do it. I'd like to look at the other shortstops, to see who Bobby is chasing, and to compare him to the others on this potential Mount Rushmore of shortstop greatness.
In 2002, Alex Rodriguez was in the second year of his megadeal with the Texas Rangers that made him the highest-paid player in league history by far--and cemented his heel turn into one of the league's most despised players. He was booed everywhere he went. I booed him, as a 10-year-old, when the Rangers came to Kansas City. At one point, A-Rod was ejected twice in 12 games, the second time for "Running off field in intimidating manner," which offended Greg Gibson, the home plate umpire. Rodriguez was certainly frustrated, as the team went 72-90 despite a collection of stars that included Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Palmeiro, and Pudge. Maybe some of that frustration fueled him as he smashed 57 home runs and drove in 142 while playing all 162 games, winning his first Gold Glove award, and slashing .300/.392/.623/1.015. A-Rod was spurned for the 2002 MVP award in favor of inferior shortstop Miguel Tejada of the Moneyball Athletics, which is not brought up in the movie.
Bobby Witt Jr. reminds me a lot of Alex Rodriguez. Both were top draft picks and number one prospects who rocketed through the minor leagues and achieved superstardom at young ages--although A-Rod got a head start on Bobby as he was already in his final form as a 20-year-old in 1996, while Bobby is having his MVP breakout season at 24. Those two seasons are very similar statistically, with '96 A-Rod posting a .358/.414/.631/1.045 slash line to Bobby's .349/.394/.606/1.000, although after adjusting for era and ballpark Bobby has him beat in OPS+ and WRC+.
In my opinion, Alex Rodriguez is the greatest shortstop in MLB history, and what made him so great was that he maintained his greatness for a long time. Of the 14 shortstop seasons with more fWAR than Bobby, 4 of them belong to him. I don't know how he was able to maintain this level of play for so long, so please leave a comment if you have any insight into the secret of his longevity.
At his peak powers, Bobby is pretty much as good as A-Rod ever was, and if he continues to play like this over the next decade, we could be talking about them as the two best shortstops of the millennium, so that's pretty exciting.
In 1991, Cal Ripken, Jr. had his second MVP season as he hit .323/.374/.566/.940 and led the league in total bases, while playing exceptional defense, and, of course, playing every single game, as this sits right in the middle of his consecutive games played streak. It was the only season he put up more than a .900 OPS.
Ripken won MVP despite the Orioles being absolutely awful--the team went 67-95 and hadn't made the playoffs since Rikpen's second full season in 1983. In modern times, Baltimore would have probably long since traded him. But he stuck with the team and they got better, eventually making it to the ALCS twice.
I don't know how many games Bobby Witt will play in a row. But it seems like he only gets stronger the more baseball he plays. This man is in unbelievable shape and never seems to be fatigued. Still, he's got a long way to go before he catches up to Ripken at 2,632. He's currently at 139 and has started every game this year, so if he starts every game for the next 15 years, he'll only be half a season away from the record. Every day I pray to the baseball gods for Bobby's health. May he shatter this record and all others.
Before I talk about the last shortstop, who had the most fWAR in a season since integration, I want to mention 1959 Ernie Banks, who is the only shortstop in addition to Rodriguez, Ripken, and Boudreau to achieve 10 bWAR in a season. I used to be a bWAR guy, but since fWAR says Bobby is the best player in the league, I prefer fWAR now. That's what data journalism is, right? Picking a stat that reinforces your point and ignoring the others? For the record, Bobby is on pace for 10.4 bWAR this season, which would tie him with A-Rod's best effort.
Finally, in 1948, Lou Boudreau had one of the greatest baseball seasons of all time. In addition to playing shortstop, winning MVP, hitting .355/.453/.534/.987, scoring 116 runs and driving in 106, Boudreau was also the manager of the team. The first integrated American League team, and they tasked their starting shortstop with managing that locker room. So how did they do? Oh, they won the World Series.
It was a tense pennant race all year for Cleveland, as they found themselves battling the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees down to the wire. Wanting to gain an edge on their opponents, Boudreau, another player, and team owner Bill Veeck came up with a plan to send someone out to the center field bleachers with a pair of binoculars, who would relay the opposing pitcher's signs to Cleveland's hitters. Maybe this helped Boudreau hit .355, although his OPS on the road was .300 points higher than at home. Hmm, maybe sign stealing doesn't correlate with home/road splits.
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Well, there they are, the best shortstop seasons since 1947. If Bobby Witt continues his torrid pace the rest of the season (he won't), he will top them all and go down as the best of all time. But if he plays like something closer to his career norms the rest of the way, he will finish with single-season stats that rank comfortably alongside the absolute best to ever do it. We're so lucky to have a player like this in Kansas City.
