Total Average, 1995 - 2012

This is a statistic I invented. Here's how you figure Total Average:

(H + BB + RBI + R - outs) divided by (AB + BB)

In other words, every hit is a point, every walk is a point, every run batted in is a point, and every run scored is a point. For every out, you subtract a point. Then you take that total and divide by the number of at-bats plus walks.

The number can work out to higher than 1.000, but it's rare. I've done the figures for all 18 seasons of the team's existence and there have been only 24 individual years of a .900 or better.

It is also possible to have a negative number. If a batter has had more plate appearances than the total of his good contributions, it will work out to a negative percentage. Rather than waste time figuring it exactly, I just list it as a zero. That's easy shorthand for a pretty bad year. As with the .900 or better year, a zero year is not easy to accomplish. There have been only 19 of them throughout the team's history.

The strength of this statistic, versus other stats, is that it takes into account not just simple numbers of hits or walks, but also how valuable those times reaching base were in context. By including the RBI and R numbers in the total, it gives an expression of clutch hitting as well as discounting 'empty' walks and hits that didn't result in any runs being scored (which is, after all, the point of the game.)

After going back and doing this stat for every season in the club's history, I've come to the conclusion that it's the single best snapshot concerning the overall value any player brought to his team, as a batter, that season - better than AVG, OB%, SLG%, OPS, or any other percentage stat. It tells you how much of those four categories (H, BB, RBI, R) you can expect, on average, from any single at-bat by that player.

If I was limited to only one stat to evaluate who to put in the line-up, this is the stat I'd use.

There are other considerations for a manager (pitching, defense) but if you're only looking at producing runs, the top 9 or 10 guys should be your line-up.

Here are the Total Averages for every player with enough AB to qualify in each season.

1995 (Team = .352)

Ron Johnson          .983
Scott Sarro            .761
Jim Sullivan            .520
Eli -                       .509
Eric Cooper           .500
Mike -                   .453
Scott Hathaway     .390
Jimmy Jackson      .264
Jeff Scott               .037
Paul -                       0
Stu Stone                 0

1996 (Team = .290 - lowest team total)

Ron Johnson          .711
Eric Cooper          .543
Jeff Gabriel           .500
Scott Sarro           .463
Jim Sullivan           .349
Dee Gonzalez       .318
Jeff Scott              .214
Jimmy Jackson      .146
Mariano Rodriguez .042
Stu Stone                  0

1997 (Team = .571)

Ron Johnson            .851
Scott Sarro              .851
Eric Cooper            .823
Jeff Gabriel             .797
Lloyd -                   .781
Dee Gonzalez         .757
Anthony Kardoose  .565
Jeff Scott                .561
Jimmy Jackson        .400
Mariano Rodriguez  .299
Steve -                    .292
Jim Sullivan             .259
Stu Stone                .136
Fred Goodman          0

1998 (Team = .423)

Ron Johnson            .829
Jim Sullivan              .729
Matt Stone              .638
Andy Levshemski    .619
Anthony Kardoose  .606
Fred Goodman        .590
Matt Sterling            .561
Eddie Gonzalez        .545
Joe Bucci                .500
Jimmy Jackson        .364
Gary Berman           .333
Jeff Gabriel             .065
Stu Stone                   0

1999 (Team = .374)

Matt Stone              .815
Jeff Gabriel             .714
Jay Martino            .571
Fred Goodman       .560
Gary Berman          .560
Jim Sullivan            .333
Jimmy Jackson       .308
Stu Stone               .217
Ron Johnson          .200
Eddie Gonzalez      .067
Dennis Saunders       0
Dan Nelson              0

2000 (Team = .481)

Matt Stone           1.000
Jay Martino           .956
Ron Johnson         .814
Phil Stavrinos, Sr.  .800
Gary Berman         .462
Phil Stavrinos, Jr.   .459
Jim Sullivan           .402
Fred Goodman      .242
Patrick -               .154
Stu Stone              .129
Jimmy Jackson         0

2001 (Team = .576)

Phil Stavrinos, Jr.   1.103
Jay Atton              1.043
Phil Stavrinos, Sr.   .724
Matt Stone             .694
Fred Goodman      .654
Ron Johnson          .489
Steve Cannavo      .488
Stu Stone              .474
Jack Atton            .389
Kevin -                 .378
Jim Sullivan           .365
Jimmy Jackson      .167
Paul B.                 .050

2002 (Team = .369)

Matt Stone            .911
Phil Stavrinos, Jr.   .809
Jack Atton            .743
Ron Johnson         .707
Matt Widiger        .478
Fred Goodman     .439
Stu Stone             .422
Scott Ryan           .400
Phil Stavrinos, Sr. .250
Pete Maczkiewicz .152

Jim Sullivan          .069
Jimmy Jackson       0
Andy Chen             0

2003 (Team = .442)

Jay Atton              1.176
Jim Sullivan            .913
Ron Johnson          .880
Fred Goodman      .742
Matt Widiger         .543
Matt Stone            .451
Pete Maczkiewicz  .439
Jack Atton             .283
Andy Angelone      .167
Sean Dykens         .107
Stu Stone               .100
Steve Ferradino     .074
Jimmy Jackson         0

2004 (Team = .487)

Matt Stone              .884
Charlie White          .787
Matt Widiger           .731
Jack Atton               .515
Mike Martin            .507
Jim Sullivan              .471
Fred Goodman        .435
Pete Maczkiewicz    .258
Ron Johnson            .196
Stu Stone                   0

2005 (Team = .431)

Charlie White           1.014
Jay Atton                   .933
Matt Stone                .745
Emilio Zirpolo            .688
Ron Johnson             .558
Jack Atton                .508
Jim Sullivan               .397
Fred Goodman         .321
Mike Minchoff          .119
Eric Benoit                .087
Joe Baszkiewicz           0
Stu Stone                     0

2006 (Team = .381)

Jay Atton                 .962
Joe Baszkiewicz       .643
Charlie White           .559
Emilio Zirpolo          .531
Ron Johnson            .500
Fred Goodman        .480
Jim Sullivan              .471
Matt Stone              .412
Eric Benoit              .406
Boucher                  .333
Jack Atton              .273
Andy Angelone       .071
Bailey                        0
Pat Atton                   0
Stu Stone                  0

2007 (Team = .615)

Conrad Paquette       1.204
Jay Atton                    .805
Pat Atton                    .781
Chris Moore               .694
Eric Rubin                  .677
Ron Johnson              .576
Jim Sullivan                .540
Eric Benoit                 .520
Fred Goodman          .515
Joe Baszkiewicz         .435
Mike Minchoff           .414
Ariel Monges             .400
Jack Atton                 .342

2008 (Team = .694 - highest team total)

Jay Atton                1.214
Ron Johnson           1.188
Billy Botting            1.128
Hector Acosta         .980
Eric Rubin               .853
Emilio Zirpolo         .744
Conrad Paquette     .742
Jack Atton              .640
Pat Atton                .628
Joe Baszkiewicz     .523
Ariel Monges         .490
Dave Vargas           .448
Mike Minchoff        .440
Fred Goodman       .415

2009 (Team = .523)

Jay Atton              1.450
Cam Zirpolo           .968
Billy Botting            .792
Dave Vargas           .625
Ron Johnson           .567
Pat Atton               .500
Jack Atton             .466
Jim Sullivan            .435
Fred Goodman      .403
Emilio Zirpolo        .383
Joe Baszkiewicz     .135
Mike Minchoff       .132
Buddy Carchide    .122

2010 (Team = .683)

Charlie Connors     1.833 (team record)
Danny Espinosa     1.098
Rob Rogers            .897
Pat Atton                .881
Fred Goodman       .867
Cam Zirpolo           .730
Jim Sullivan             .660
Tom Resor             .581
Joe Baszkiewicz     .574
Jay Atton               .574
Jack Atton             .517
Emilio Zirpolo        .500
Pat Pickup            .250
Manny Dominguez .146
Ron Johnson         .143

2011 (Team = .574)

Jay Atton            1.023
Fred Goodman     .920
Pat Atton             .898
Bill Davis             .789
Drew Atton         .731
Seth Moskowitz  .667
Eric McDonald   .645
Jim Sullivan         .450
Ron Johnson       .407
Emilio Zirpolo     .341
Jack Atton          .256
Joe Baszkiewicz  .114
Bobby Fallon         0

2012 (Team = .596)

Tom Resor          1.149
Jay Atton            1.028
Joel Kershner       .848
Ron Johnson        .783
Jimmy Botting       .688
Pat Kelly              .640
Steve Burke         .615
Billy Botting         .589
Jim Sullivan          .500
Pat Atton             .442
Joe Baszkiewicz   .429
Robby Costello    .413
Bennett                .312
Fred Goodman     .279
Drew Atton          .203
Jack Atton              0

LIFETIME TOTAL AVERAGES, Current Roster (years played in parentheses)

Jay Atton             .992 (12)
Tom Resor           .991 (4)
Billy Botting          .838 (3)
Jimmy Botting       .688 (1)
Ron Johnson        .680 (18)
Pat Atton             .645 (8)
Fred Goodman    .530 (16)
Pat Kelly             .500 (2)
Jim Sullivan         .446 (18)
Drew Atton         .443 (4)
Robby Costello   .413 (1)
Jack Atton           .409 (12)
Joe Baszkiewicz   .337 (8)
Bennett               .312 (1)