Perfect Slugging Percentage
The maximum numerically possible slugging percentage is 4.000. A few dozen players throughout history (107 as of August 2010) have momentarily had a 4.0 career average by homering in their first major league at-bat. Four players have hit a grand slam on their first major-league at-bat: Bill Duggleby in 1898, Jeremy Hermida of the Florida Marlins, Kevin Kouzmanoff, then playing for the Cleveland Indians, off Edinson Volquez of the Texas Rangers on September 2, 2006, and Daniel Nava, then playing for the Boston Red Sox, off Joe Blanton of the Philadelphia Phillies on June 12, 2010. They thus briefly achieved the best possible career offensive percentage in every category, including some esoteric categories such as "runs batted in per received pitch" (4.000).
No player has ever retired with a 4.000 slugging percentage, but four players tripled in their only at-bat, and share the ML record of a career slugging percentage of 3.000. The players (and the seasons in which they had their only at-bat) were: Eric Cammack (2000 Mets); Scott Munninghoff (1980 Phillies); Eduardo Rodriguez (1973 Brewers); and Charlie Lindstrom (1958 White Sox).
Seattle Mariners pitcher Félix Hernández hit a grand slam in his only at-bat in 2008. His slugging percentage for the year was 4.000.
Houston Astros pitcher Gustavo Chacín hit a solo homer in his only at-bat in 2010. It was his first plate appearance in nearly 5 years and his first career hit.
Read more about this topic: Slugging Percentage
Famous quotes containing the words perfect and/or percentage:
“The perfect God in his revelations of himself has never got to the length of one such proposition as you, his prophets, state.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There is a potential 4-6 percentage point net gain for the President [George Bush] by replacing Dan Quayle on the ticket with someone of neutral stature.”
—Mary Matalin, U.S. Republican political advisor, author, and James Carville b. 1946, U.S. Democratic political advisor, author. All’s Fair: Love, War, and Running for President, p. 205, Random House (1994)