V-Ratings – Best of the Decades 1930 to 1959

by James Vlietstra

July 28, 2021

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Background: I have sifted through the numbers to determine who the best offensive players have been in Major League history by using runs produced, total bases, walks, hit by pitches, net stolen bases, grounding into double plays, and sacrifices to determine the most productive players per at bat.

I call this new formula The V-Rating.

Way back in high school math class I learned about algebra. The numerator is divided by the denominator. The formula used for determining a player’s V-Rating includes runs produced plus total bases plus net stolen bases plus walks plus hit-by-pitch minus grounded-into-double plays divided by plate appearances minus sacrifices.

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Here are some of the greatest seasons of each decade.

Some of these seasons include Triple Crown winners, 40/40 seasons and other random seasons that are generally considered some of the greatest of all time.

These are how they rank according to V-Rating:

1930s

1. 1930 Jimmy Foxx 1.281

2. 1930 Al Simmons 1.212

3. 1930 Babe Ruth 1.176

4. 1930 Hack Wilson 1.172

5. 1930 Lou Gehrig 1.162

6. 1931 Babe Ruth 1.160

7. 1932 Jimmy Foxx 1.157

8. 1938 Jimmy Foxx 1.143

9. 1931 Lou Gehrig 1.133

10. 1936 Lou Gehrig 1.130

11. 1937 Hank Greenberg 1.127

12. 1934 Lou Gehrig 1.114

13. 1930 Chuck Klein 1.113

14. 1937 Joe DiMaggio 1.104

15. 1932 Babe Ruth 1.104

16. 1933 Jimmy Foxx 1.104

17. 1938 Hank Greenberg 1.086

18. 1939 Joe DiMaggio 1.085

19. 1937 Lou Gehrig 1.081

20. 1938 Lou Gehrig 1.080

21. 1939 Jimmy Foxx 1.070

22. 1930 Babe Herman 1.066

23. 1931 Al Simmons 1.048

24. 1936 Hal Trosky 1.031

25. 1930 Bill Terry 1.013

26. 1937 Joe Medwick .993

27. 1930 Lefty O’Doul .983

28. 1932 Al Simmons .943

1940s

1. 1941 Ted Williams 1.140

2. 1942 Ted Williams 1.070

3. 1946 Ted Williams 1.065

4. 1949 Ted Williams 1.063

5. 1948 Stan Musial 1.039

6. 1941 Joe DiMaggio 1.031

7. 1940 Hank Greenberg 1.023

8. 1947 Ted Williams 1.004

9. 1949 Ralph Kiner .988

10. 1947 Ralph Kiner .964

11. 1948 Joe DiMaggio .951

12. 1948 Lou Boudreau .892

1950s

1. 1956 Mickey Mantle 1.090

2. 1955 Ted Williams 1.075

3. 1957 Mickey Mantle 1.048

4. 1957 Ted Williams 1.038

5. 1955 Willie Mays 1.014

6. 1954 Ted Williams 1.004

7. 1954 Willie Mays .984

8. 1951 Ralph Kiner .976

9. 1953 Al Rosen .952

10. 1959 Henry Aaron. .942

11. 1958 Willie Mays .929

12. 1959 Ernie Banks .905

13. 1950 Ralph Kiner .904