Doubles are no fools. They only get you half way home. So the hype when a two-baseman approaches a milestone can never compare to hitting a home run.
Still, in this era of high-speed, breakneck rotation, double plays — and most other offensive tools — are on the decline. According to Patrick Reusse on Monday’s “Daily Delivery Podcast,” MLB players will hit fewer doubles per game (currently 1.60) than in any full season in more than three decades.
So when a batsman continues to perform at an astonishing level into the first round and safely stops in the second, it’s worth noting.
Which brings us to the current MLB doubles king, Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers. Freeman hit a game-tying RBI double with two outs in the ninth inning in a 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night to fall two strokes short of 500. Doubles milestone.
He has 72 more doubles than the next-highest active player, Paul Goldschmidt of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Doubles has long been Freeman’s specialty. Last season, he was close to breaking the single-season record, but a subsequent slump brought his single-season scoring to 59 points, tying Todd Helton for the most points in a season since 1936. Single-season scoring record.
The record of 67 was set in 1931 by a little-known outfielder named Earl Webb of the Boston Red Sox, who didn’t get his first major league hit until he was 29 years old. Because he preferred toiling in the coal mines of Tennessee to playing baseball.
At age 33, Webber inexplicably hit 67 doubles, nearly half of his 155 career doubles, earning the nickname “Count Doblin.” A left-handed hitter who, like Freeman, excels at hitting to the opposite field, Webb had a stellar season with the Green Monsters.
Freeman’s doubles play has a lot of distance and destinations. Yes, he put a bullet in the shortstop’s head, the same way he practiced for countless hours with his father while growing up in Orange County.
As usual, he’ll turn around and throw the ball into the open space in right-center. He pulled a sharp grounder into the right-field corner and hit a grounder down the left-field line past the diving third baseman.
In some sort of “double or nothing” game, he’ll throw the ball hard to the outfield or hit a grounder through the infield that the outfielders won’t pursue.
The conclusion was the same — Freeman stood on the bag in the middle of the diamond, showing off the latest silly swing he and his teammates did to celebrate the knock.
Freeman, 34, has led the National League in doubles in four of the past six seasons. He has 25 doubles this season, three behind Phillies leader Alec Bohm. He should have over 40 doubles for the sixth time. Had he lasted four more seasons, he would have scored nearly 700 runs, a feat that only four legendary hitters have done: all-time leader Tris Speaks (792), Pete Rose (746), Stan Mullen Seale (725) and Ty Cobb (724).
Most doubles among active players
Name, age, team, doubles
Freddie Freeman, 34, Dodgers, 498
Paul Goldschmidt, 36, Cardinals, 425
Andrew McCutchen, 37, Pirates, 418
Jose Altuve, 34, Astros, 417
Carlos Santana, 38, Twins, 382
J.D. Martinez, 36, Mets, 379
Nolan Arenado, 33, Cardinals, 377
Mookie Betts, 31, Dodgers, 363
Nick Castellanos, 32, Phillies, 355
Bryce Harper, 31, Phillies, 347
