Which set of stats should I believe? Jermaine Dye showed some very good batting skills over the course of his career, averaging nearly 30 HRs/100 RBIs per 162 games. Joe Posnanski pointed out that Dye’s 2006 season would have won him the 1988 National League Triple Crown. Yet he barely averaged one win above replacement over the same period and his wOBA is just in the .350s.
Dye can easily classified as a home run hitter, a point he made often when advertising his services shortly before his retirement in 2011. Home runs are great, and I think I am far from alone in considering the hit to be the pinnacle of offensive performance for any batter. However, nobody hits enough homeruns alone to justify their spot on a roster; they need to bring more to the table. Dye was able to do that for years, but he eventually become increasingly known for just home runs. Harking back to my earlier look at Mark McGwire, it can be illustrative to view Dye’s performance sans home runs. He batted .270 with 325 home runs. If those HRs are removed alongside an equal number of at-bats, his .270 average falls to just .224. Dye was very good, especially at his peak. He could be undervalued at times and remains one of the bigger names involved in the Oakland A’s famed Moneyball era. It’s just the headline numbers were at times nearly the only numbers counting in his favor.
