Numbers on Steroids is a look at baseball players during the 90s to see if anything screams out at you.
Remember Greg Vaughn? No? Well he hit a lot of homers out of nowhere, so we take a peak.
Explaining It Away
Greg Vaughn was an excellent prospect being selected 4th overall in the 1986 draft out of Miami. He was always a swing for the fences type of guy and never really had an average above .272 in a single season. His production severely fell off in 2000 at the age of 34 which can be explained as A) He was getting older and B) He was playing in Tampa for miserable teams.
The Verdict
Greg Vaughn is one of those players that has ok power numbers throughout his 20s and then all of a sudden in his low 30s he morphs into an animal. That throws up significant red flags. Can a player go through his entire 'Prime' and not figure it out until his skills become diminished? It's not like his average or obp or anything about his all around game improved, it was simply his power and his slugging percentage. It's not a guilty verdict but...
Does 50 Home Runs Ever Come Out of Nowhere?
Remember Greg Vaughn? No? Well he hit a lot of homers out of nowhere, so we take a peak.
Averages Say: Mr. Spikes a lot
At Bats Per Home Run Says: Not Very Good for Awhile And Then Very Good
At Bats Per Home Run Says: Not Very Good for Awhile And Then Very Good
Explaining It Away
Greg Vaughn was an excellent prospect being selected 4th overall in the 1986 draft out of Miami. He was always a swing for the fences type of guy and never really had an average above .272 in a single season. His production severely fell off in 2000 at the age of 34 which can be explained as A) He was getting older and B) He was playing in Tampa for miserable teams.
The Verdict
Greg Vaughn is one of those players that has ok power numbers throughout his 20s and then all of a sudden in his low 30s he morphs into an animal. That throws up significant red flags. Can a player go through his entire 'Prime' and not figure it out until his skills become diminished? It's not like his average or obp or anything about his all around game improved, it was simply his power and his slugging percentage. It's not a guilty verdict but...
Does 50 Home Runs Ever Come Out of Nowhere?
Comments
K.Brown-SD
S.Finley-SD,Ari
J.Bell-Ari
L.Gonzalez-Ari
B.Boone-Sea
E.Martinez-Sea
J.Buhner-Sea
J.Edmonds-St.L.
A.Pujols-St.L.
D.Justice-N.Y.
J.Bagwell-Hou.
D.Ortiz-Bos.
J.Lopez-Atl.
A.Jones-Atl.
The entire 2002 Giants (Maybe not ALL, but close).
Heck, the only ones I'm sure didn't were Glavine and Maddux.
Vaugn played 158 games when he hit 50 HR
If we extrapolate his numbers from either '89-'97 or '90-'97 given he only played a meager 38 games in '89 we get:
162 game avg '89-'97: 30 HR
162 game avg '90-'97: 30HR
30 HR per season should classify him as a legit power threat his whole career making the leap to 50 not such a big stretch. Better conditioning aswell as a new coach helping him with his approach at the plate as seen in a 1998 TSn feature shows it's more than possible.
He may well have taken steroids, but to suggest that everytime someone has a career year means their taking something, it's ridiculous. Especially more since I've shown he was a big time power hitter all along.