2021-22 Home Run King Bob Wicks (photo courtesy of Sweet Swing Photos)
Larry Wolfe
For the first time in several years, there were no new individual batting records set during the 2021-22 softball season, at least that we know of. We track only “traditional” or “standard” statistics, not the new, advanced metrics. Maybe somebody set a record for one of those metrics, but we’ll never know! Look up the definitions for BABIP, OPS+, WRAA, WPA, and WAR, and you’ll have a headache trying to decipher what they mean and how to calculate them.
Here’s a rundown of the “stats for dummies.” The numbers are for the regular seasons only and exclude tournaments. Leaders are listed separately for the Lakes and Sun divisions with the Lakes’ leaders shown first.
At Bats: Wayne Newman (305) and Randy Neumann (375), both below Tom Erpelding’s 2017-18 record of 394
Times on Base: Tim Loeffler (211) and Randy Neumann (262), just short of Erpelding’s 2017-18 record of 269
Walks: Tim Loeffler (35) and Randy Neumann (39), six below Randy’s own 2020-21 record of 45
Singles: Wayne Newman (161) and Dave Martin (172), again, just short of Erpelding’s 2017-18 mark of 177
Doubles: Tim Loeffler (39) and Mike Lebet (42), both far below Larry Kaufmann’s 2015-16 record 50
Triples: Joe Commisto and John Robinson (both with 8) and Kelly Anderson and Dave Martin (both with 5), far below Bill Stanick’s 2016-17 record of 20
Home Runs: Brian Brockman (29) and Bob Wicks (44), both well below Bobby Farmer’s record of 56 set just last year
Sacrifice Flies: Doug Warwick (7) and Randy Neumann (13), well below Kim Whitney’s 18, also set last year
Batting Average: Tom Lorgan (.766) and Marty Hobby (.823). The all-time record of .873 was set by Reyes Gonzales in 2016-17.
Slugging Percentage (a stat measuring average and power-hitting): Brian Brockman (1.082) and Marty Hobby (1.498). Reyes Gonzales holds that record, too, slugging 1.634 in 2019-20.
There you have it—no new records, but lots of stats that we dummies can understand!
Thanks again to our chief statistician Jim Entwistle and to all the scorekeepers who recorded the results of every at-bat. There would be no stats without them.