Harper’s Season Was Ruthian, Gehrigesque And More

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Some have suggested that Bryce Harper should be ineligible to win the National League MVP award because the Nationals fell apart because players on losing teams lack “value” inherent to players on winning teams.

Harper, however, was invaluable to the Nationals in 2015. He recorded just the 24th season in baseball history in which a batter had at least 35 doubles, 40 home runs, 110 runs and an OPS of at least 1.100 – a list of names that includes Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Barry Bonds, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Hack Wilson and Albert Pujols.

Rk Player HR 2B R OPS Year Age Tm G PA AB H 3B RBI BB IBB SO HBP BA OBP SLG
1 Babe Ruth 59 44 177 1.359 1921 26 NYY 152 693 540 204 16 168 145 81 4 .378 .512 .846
2 Luis Gonzalez 57 36 128 1.117 2001 33 ARI 162 728 609 198 7 142 100 24 83 14 .325 .429 .688
3 Hack Wilson 56 35 146 1.177 1930 30 CHC 155 709 585 208 6 191 105 84 1 .356 .454 .723
4 Babe Ruth 54 36 158 1.379 1920 25 NYY 142 616 458 172 9 135 150 80 3 .376 .532 .847
5 Todd Helton 49 54 132 1.116 2001 27 COL 159 697 587 197 2 146 98 15 104 5 .336 .432 .685
6 Larry Walker 49 46 143 1.172 1997 30 COL 153 664 568 208 4 130 78 14 90 14 .366 .452 .720
7 Lou Gehrig 49 37 167 1.174 1936 33 NYY 155 719 579 205 7 152 130 46 7 .354 .478 .696
8 Lou Gehrig 49 40 128 1.172 1934 31 NYY 154 690 579 210 6 166 109 31 2 .363 .465 .706
9 Jimmie Foxx 48 37 125 1.153 1933 25 PHA 149 670 573 204 9 163 96 93 1 .356 .449 .703
10 Albert Pujols 47 45 124 1.101 2009 29 STL 160 700 568 186 1 135 115 44 64 9 .327 .443 .658
11 Lou Gehrig 47 52 149 1.240 1927 24 NYY 155 717 584 218 18 173 109 84 3 .373 .474 .765
12 Barry Bonds 46 38 129 1.136 1993 28 SFG 159 674 539 181 4 123 126 43 79 2 .336 .458 .677
13 Babe Ruth 46 39 143 1.252 1924 29 NYY 153 681 529 200 7 124 142 81 4 .378 .513 .739
14 Albert Pujols 43 51 137 1.106 2003 23 STL 157 685 591 212 1 124 79 12 65 10 .359 .439 .667
15 Ted Williams 43 39 150 1.141 1949 30 BOS 155 730 566 194 3 159 162 48 2 .343 .490 .650
16 Bryce Harper 42 38 118 1.109 2015 22 WSN 153 654 521 172 1 99 124 15 131 5 .330 .460 .649
17 Todd Helton 42 59 138 1.162 2000 26 COL 160 697 580 216 2 147 103 22 61 4 .372 .463 .698
18 Rogers Hornsby 42 46 141 1.181 1922 26 STL 154 704 623 250 14 152 65 50 1 .401 .459 .722
19 Carlos Delgado 41 57 115 1.134 2000 28 TOR 162 711 569 196 1 137 123 18 104 15 .344 .470 .664
20 Hank Greenberg 41 50 129 1.103 1940 29 DET 148 670 573 195 8 150 93 75 1 .340 .433 .670
21 Lou Gehrig 41 42 143 1.194 1930 27 NYY 154 703 581 220 17 173 101 63 3 .379 .473 .721
22 Babe Ruth 41 45 151 1.309 1923 28 NYY 152 697 522 205 13 130 170 93 4 .393 .545 .764
23 Hank Greenberg 40 49 137 1.105 1937 26 DET 154 701 594 200 14 184 102 101 3 .337 .436 .668
24 Chuck Klein 40 59 158 1.123 1930 25 PHI 156 721 648 250 8 170 54 50 4 .386 .436 .687
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Also of note: Harper was the youngest to do it at age 22, a year younger than Pujols and two years younger than the Iron Horse.

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