Summer League play: Doug Warwick strokes another base hit as catcher Charlie Alley and umpire Kim Whitney look on.
Larry Wolfe
You know the old adage, “Records are made to be broken.” Well, that didn’t apply to the all-time senior softball records this year. There were some very impressive stats in our 2023-24 season, but none were new record-setters.
Here’s a rundown of this year’s division leaders in various statistical categories and how they compared to the all-time record holders. The stats are totals for our three sessions: Fall 2023, Winter 2024, and Spring 2024. They exclude the “less-formal” Summer League. The Lakes Division leaders are listed first, and the Sun Division leaders are second. The record holder and the sessions in which the record was set follows.
Total Plate Appearances: Frank Rouse 310 and Ron Carmichael 330. Record holder: Tom Erpelding 394 (2017-18)
Singles: Dave Kratz 144 and Rick Oien 137. Record holder: Tom Erpelding 177 (2017-18)
Doubles: Kim Van Nausdle 36 and Dave Platt 42. Record holder: Larry Kaufmann 50 (2015-16)
Triples: Garnet Hammer 16 and Rick Oien 8. Record holder: Bill Stanick 20 (2016-17)
Home Runs: Bill Jacobson 3 and Marty Hobby 46. Record holder: Bobby Farmer 56 (2020-21)
Bases on Balls (Walks): Bill McCoy 24 and Rick Oien 31. Record holder: Randy Neumann 45 (2020-21)
Total Times Reaching Base: Dave Kratz 198 and Brian Denham 210. Record holder: Tom Erpelding 269 (2017-18)
Batting Average: Doug Warwick .711 and George Siegele .826. Record holder: Reyes Gonzales .873 (2016-17)
Slugging Percentage: Doug Warwick .904 and Mike Lebet 1.508. Record holder: Reyes Gonzales 1.634 (2016-17)
Sacrifice Flies: Dennis LePore 9 and Mike Lebet 13. Record holder: Kim Whitney 18 (2020-21)
We can thank Henry Chadwick, a New York City sportswriter and former English cricket player, with starting the practice of keeping player records. He developed the box score in 1858. The first box scores tracked only two batting stats: hits and runs, and three fielding stats: putouts, assists, and errors. We also thank Dennis LePore, our statistician, for compiling this year’s stats.
Per FanGraphs, there are now over 120 statistics and advanced metrics tracked in major league baseball. One would need some kind of advanced degree in statistical analysis to calculate all of them and know what they mean. If you’re interested, there’s a YouTube video entitled Baseball Advanced Statistics Explained that covers the topic. It only explains hitting stats (no fielding or pitching) and takes over 21 minutes to explain them! But there’s only one set of numbers that really matter in a baseball or softball game: which team scored the most runs!
We welcome a new advertiser to the Field of Dreams: LightRenew just opened a new office at 25630 S. Brentwood Drive in Sun Lakes. Check out their website, lightrenew.com, for a full description of their laser therapy pain relief treatments. The Sponsors page on our website www.sunlakessoftball.com has links to all our advertising and team sponsors. Support the companies that support Sun Lakes!
You can also check out our website for other up-to-date information. Note that the “Player Profile” articles are on hiatus for the summer but will return this fall.