Worst batters of all time (sort of)

Joe DeMaestri endured a rough decade in the 1950s.

The shortstop kicked around with the Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Browns, and Philadelphia/Kansas City Athletics between 1951 and 1955. He always fielded well enough to be employable, but never hit solidly enough to be dangerous.

DeMaestri, in fact, ranked as the worst hitter in the American League during the 1951-1955 span, based on my Five-Year Test.

He stuck around with the A’s through 1959 before ending his career with the New York Yankees. My 1956-1960 ratings show him — yes, again — as the AL’s worst batter for that half-decade.

Recent Friday installments of this newsletter focused on the top hitters during the Modern Era (1961 to the present). A series of 12 stories moved through the era at five-year intervals, beginning in mid-June and ending in early September.

I capped the presentation last Friday by revealing the five-year hitting champions for the National and American Leagues during their earlier periods — the NL since 1876, the AL since 1901.

So why not an encore, looking at the worst hitters during those same spans?

These rankings, just to remind you, are based on my Five-Year Test, which looks at these six stats:

• Batting average

• Slugging average

• Bases per out (BPO)

• Runs scored per 500 plate appearances

• Runs batted in per 500 plate appearances

• Wins above replacement (WAR) per 500 plate appearances

The rankings for each half-decade included every batter who crossed the minimum threshold of two plate appearances per game. That’s 1,620 appearances in five seasons under the current 162-game slate, fewer for earlier periods when the schedule was shorter.

So why did I pick on Joe DeMaestri at the beginning of this story? He’s the only player to rank more than once as a league’s worst batter over a five-year period.

The lack of repeaters is logical. A bad hitter isn’t likely to stick around very long unless, like DeMaestri, he has other skills that compensate.

One other thing: Keep in mind that the guys listed below really weren’t the absolute worst hitters of their times. They were good enough to stay in the majors for several years, so it would be more accurate — clunky, but accurate — to call them the worst semi-regulars of their periods.

Scroll below to see the lowest-rated batters in both leagues over their entire histories. The number of hitters who qualified for each half-decade’s rankings is shown in parentheses.

Each batter is followed by a breakdown of his statistics for the relevant period: games, hits, home runs, batting average, and bases per out. The first three stats weren’t included in the Five-Year Test, but I show them here as a matter of interest.

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• 1901-1905 (46 batters) — Barry McCormick, G 376, H 304, HR 4, BA .228, BPO .502

• 1906-1910 (56 batters) — Billy Sullivan, G 509, H 293, HR 2, BA .189, BPO .435

• 1911-1915 (46 batters) — Oscar Stanage, G 564, H 434, HR 4, BA .236, BPO .504

• 1916-1920 (53 batters) — Ralph Young, G 660, H 580, HR 3, BA .244, BPO .621

• 1921-1925 (56 batters) — Everett Scott, G 668, H 610, HR 14, BA .257, BPO .520

• 1926-1930 (54 batters) — Oscar Melillo, G 547, H 496, HR 11, BA .256, BPO .587

• 1931-1935 (55 batters) — Jim Levey, G 432, H 366, HR 11, BA .229, BPO .491

• 1936-1940 (58 batters) — Don Heffner, G 456, H 392, HR 6, BA .247, BPO .572

• 1941-1945 (43 batters) — Pete Suder, G 398, H 357, HR 11, BA .241, BPO .468

• 1946-1950 (50 batters) — Sam Dente, G 452, H 416, HR 3, BA .256, BPO .503

• 1951-1955 (52 batters) — Joe DeMaestri, G 517, H 402, HR 22, BA .240, BPO .485

• 1956-1960 (56 batters) — Joe DeMaestri, G 574, H 405, HR 27, BA .235, BPO .506

• 1961-1965 (65 batters) — Ed Brinkman, G 489, H 322, HR 20, BA .208, BPO .472

• 1966-1970 (67 batters) — Larry Brown, G 615, H 456, HR 20, BA .235, BPO .541

• 1971-1975 (78 batters) — Gene Michael, G 531, H 364, HR 10, BA .229, BPO .469

• 1976-1980 (102 batters) — Tom Veryzer, G 610, H 462, HR 6, BA .239, BPO .464

• 1981-1985 (100 batters) — Alfredo Griffin, G 727, H 610, HR 11, BA .245, BPO .504

• 1986-1990 (98 batters) — Billy Ripken, G 452, H 372, HR 9, BA .253, BPO .550

• 1991-1995 (94 batters) — Tony Pena, G 531, H 363, HR 17, BA .234, BPO .517

• 1996-2000 (92 batters) — Brian Hunter, G 443, H 453, HR 12, BA .253, BPO .644

• 2001-2005 (93 batters) — Brandon Inge, G 569, H 444, HR 44, BA .238, BPO .615

• 2006-2010 (101 batters) — Bobby Crosby, G 431, H 346, HR 30, BA .231, BPO .567

• 2011-2015 (91 batters) — Gordon Beckham, G 631, H 482, HR 46, BA .235, BPO .576

• 2016-2020 (87 batters) — Alcides Escobar, G 464, H 428, HR 17, BA .249, BPO .532

• 1876-1880 (46 batters) — Will White, G 193, H 106, HR 0, BA .149, BPO .237

• 1881-1885 (62 batters) — George Weidman, G 267, H 185, HR 2, BA .184, BPO .302

• 1886-1890 (51 batters) — Jim Donnelly, G 356, H 261, HR 1, BA .200, BPO .481

• 1891-1895 (86 batters) — Jiggs Parrott, G 320, H 311, HR 6, BA .234, BPO .510

• 1896-1900 (82 batters) — Tim Donahue, G 396, H 293, HR 0, BA .231, BPO .593

• 1901-1905 (49 batters) — Bill Bergen, G 409, H 267, HR 1, BA .189, BPO .353

• 1906-1910 (50 batters) — Billy Maloney, G 408, H 310, HR 3, BA .217, BPO .553

• 1911-1915 (52 batters) — Mickey Doolin, G 443, H 372, HR 3, BA .238, BPO .545

• 1916-1920 (50 batters) — Johnny Rawlings, G 413, H 340, HR 6, BA .236, BPO .553

• 1921-1925 (56 batters) — Mickey O’Neil, G 453, H 336, HR 4, BA .237, BPO .488

• 1926-1930 (57 batters) — Tommy Thevenow, G 530, H 452, HR 2, BA .249, BPO .509

• 1931-1935 (60 batters) — Rabbit Maranville, G 460, H 394, HR 0, BA .235, BPO .504

• 1936-1940 (55 batters) — Rabbit Warstler, G 557, H 427, HR 4, BA .227, BPO .464

• 1941-1945 (45 batters) — Whitey Wietelmann, G 430, H 341, HR 6, BA .236, BPO .503

• 1946-1950 (53 batters) — Virgil Stallcup, G 434, H 390, HR 14, BA .244, BPO .476

• 1951-1955 (53 batters) — Eddie Miksis, G 525, H 481, HR 25, BA .244, BPO .528

• 1956-1960 (53 batters) — Hal Smith, G 521, H 406, HR 23, BA .259, BPO .537

• 1961-1965 (60 batters) — Bob Lillis, G 614, H 437, HR 2, BA .229, BPO .420

• 1966-1970 (75 batters) — Hal Lanier, G 735, H 532, HR 5, BA .221, BPO .389

• 1971-1975 (79 batters) — Enzo Hernandez, G 590, H 435, HR 1, BA .220, BPO .516

• 1976-1980 (91 batters) — Doug Flynn, G 660, H 498, HR 5, BA .241, BPO .452

• 1981-1985 (81 batters) — Johnnie LeMaster, G 541, H 411, HR 13, BA .226, BPO .514

• 1986-1990 (71 batters) — Andres Thomas, G 562, H 488, HR 42, BA .234, BPO .471

• 1991-1995 (81 batters) — Kirt Manwaring, G 521, H 418, HR 14, BA .253, BPO .562

• 1996-2000 (96 batters) — Rey Ordonez, G 623, H 489, HR 4, BA .243, BPO .486

• 2001-2005 (96 batters) — Mike Matheny, G 628, H 473, HR 36, BA .241, BPO .571

• 2006-2010 (99 batters) — Brian Schneider, G 469, H 354, HR 26, BA .244, BPO .606

• 2011-2015 (86 batters) — Casey McGehee, G 516, H 407, HR 27, BA .245, BPO .559

• 2016-2020 (95 batters) — Orlando Arcia, G 538, H 421, HR 42, BA .244, BPO .587