{"id":6015,"date":"2016-09-13T10:05:32","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T15:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.baseballroundtable.com\/?p=6015"},"modified":"2016-09-13T10:05:32","modified_gmt":"2016-09-13T15:05:32","slug":"another-dose-of-dozier-and-some-historic-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baseballroundtable.com\/another-dose-of-dozier-and-some-historic-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Dose of Dozier – and Some Historic Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Brian

Brian Dozier – bringing 40-HR power to the Twins lineup. Photo by rtclauss<\/a> <\/a><\/small><\/p><\/div>\n

My Twins (BBRT is Minnesota-based) have not given me a lot to write about this year (a 53-91 season record will do that).\u00a0 That is, not until Monday night. In the third inning of the Twins\u2019 September 12, 2016 contest against the Tigers, Minnesota 2B Brian Dozier<\/strong> <\/span>launched a solo home run off Tigers\u2019 starter Daniel Norris to tie the game 1-1 (the Twins eventually lost 4-2).\u00a0 It was Dozier\u2019s 40th<\/sup> home run of the season and made him the first American Leaguer to reach 40 home runs while playing primarily second base (Yankees’ 2B Alfonso Soriano hit 39 HR\u2019s in 2002). BBRT note:\u00a0 38 of Dozier\u2019s homers have come while playing second base, with two coming as DH.<\/em><\/p>\n

The solo shot to left field also made Dozier just the second Twin and third player in franchise history to reach the 40-homer mark. Harmon Killebrew<\/strong><\/span>, who reached 40 or more round trippers in seven seasons was the last Twin to hit 40 (41 in 1970) and holds the franchise record of 49 in a season (1964 and 1969). BBRT note: Killebrew reached 40 while playing primarily at: 3B (1959); 1B (1967); LF (1962-63-64); and splitting time between 1B\/3B (1961-1969)<\/em>. The only other Senator\/Twin to reach 40 was OF\/1B Roy Sievers (42 in 1957). \u00a0Dozier ended Monday’s game trailing AL (and MLB) HR leader Mark Trumbo<\/strong><\/span> (Orioles) by just one in the HR race. (The last Twin to lead the league in HR\u2019s was Killebrew in 1969. The last second baseman to win a HR title was the Cubs\u2019 Ryan Sandberg<\/strong><\/span>, with 40 home runs in 1990. The last 2B to win the AL HR crown \u2013 tie \u2013 was the Angels\u2019 Bobby Grich<\/strong><\/span>, with 22 HR\u2019s in the strike-shortened 1981 season).<\/p>\n

Dozier is now just three homers shy of the most ever hit by a player taking the field primarily at second base \u2013 Davey Johnson<\/strong><\/span> of the Braves in 1973.\u00a0 Looking exclusively at HR\u2019s while in the lineup at 2B<\/em> (remember, Dozier has 38 of those),\u00a0 Davey Johnson (again, 1973) and the Cardinals\u2019 Rogers Hornsby<\/strong><\/span> (1922) share the record at 42.\u00a0 Jeff Kent<\/strong><\/span> (Blue Jays, Mets, Indians, Giants,\u00a0 Astros, Dodgers) holds the record for career home runs hit while playing second base at 351 (out of 377 total home runs, the MLB high for players playing primarily<\/em> at 2B). Kent hit a career-high 37 home runs for the Giants in 2002 \u2013 and had 12 seasons of 20 or more round trippers. Dozier now stands at 115 career (MLB) round trippers. \u00a0Dozier is also closing in on 100 RBI, with 94 for the season.\u00a0 The single-season record for second baseman belongs to Hornsby (152 in 1922).<\/p>\n

Rogers Hornsby\u2019s 1922 season for the Cardinals is the best in MLB history for a second sacker. He \u00a0led the league in batting average (.401); home runs (42); RBI (152); hits (250); runs (141); doubles (46); total bases 450) \u2013 and threw in 14 triples and 17 stolen bases.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dozier\u2019s power is a bit of a surprise.\u00a0 The 29-year-old\u2019s previous MLB high for a season is 28 home runs (2015) and he never reach double figures in a minor league campaign. His HR totals, however, have increased in each of his five major league campaigns – and he has established himself as a legitimate power threat. \u00a0Perhaps more surprising about where Dozier stands now is how he started the 2016 season. \u00a0Dozier hit just .191 with three home runs in April. As of June 5, Dozier\u2019s average stood at .206, with just six home runs and 22 RBI. Since that time (through September 12), Dozier\u2019s line is .316-34-72. \u00a0At the close of Monday’s games, Dozier’s season stat line was .277-40-94.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I tweet baseball @DavidBBRT<\/h3>\n

Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); The Baseball Reliqaury; Baseball Bloggers Alliance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Photo by rtclauss<\/a> <\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My Twins (BBRT is Minnesota-based) have not given me a lot to write about this year (a 53-91 season record will do that).\u00a0 That is, not until Monday night. In the third inning of the Twins\u2019 September 12, 2016 contest against the Tigers, Minnesota 2B Brian Dozier launched a solo home run off Tigers\u2019 starter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n