Still first-rate
Pat found himself, once again, among the American League leaders in most offensive categories. His days of leading the league in many of them might be done, particularly because of the emergence of his teammate, Mr. Ruth...but Pat is still very much a force to be reckoned with.
Here are his rankings among the AL's Top Ten:
BA: 4th
OBP: 3rd (behind Cobb and Ruth)
SLG: 2nd (behind Ruth)
OPS: 3rd (behind Ruth and Cobb)
Runs Created: 3rd, with 159.1 (behind Ruth and Cobb)
RC/27 outs: 3rd, with 10.87 (behind Ruth and Cobb)
Plate Appearances: 8th
Hits: 5th
Triples: 2nd (behind Larry Doyle of the White Sox)
Home Runs: T-8th
RBI: T-4th
Runs Scored: 2nd (behind Cobb)
Stolen Bases: 1st; new AL record
Bases on Balls: 2nd (behind Ruth)
Extra Base Hits: 3rd (behind Ruth, Bill Cunningham of the Senators, and Speaker)
Total Bases: 2nd, with 319 (behind Ruth)
It's easy to make a case that Pat was the third most valuable batter in the American League, behind a man who hit .347-34-157 and another who batted .425 with a .509 OBP and scored 157 runs. That ain't shabby.
John: I could see Pat responding to the arrival of the lively ball by swinging for the fences a bit more. I can't see him going too far in that direction, though. With Ruth hitting behind him, Pat will be likely to go to the plate with the idea of getting on base as often as possible. I wouldn't be surprised to see him hit 15-20 homers, though. His rating for Home Runs is at 54, so there's some pop in his bat.
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