The Legend of “Dunkiel” Grows

Ozzie. Stan. Gibby. Lou. Albert. Dizzy.

Some of the most prominent figures in the century-old history of the St. Louis Cardinals franchise can be recognized with a single name. And while the names of these legends bring with them tales of greatness, soon there may be another added to the list...but for very different reasons. 

Throughout the month of July, one of the three outfield slots in the Cardinals lineup has produced offensive numbers that are flirting with the wrong end of history. The name occupying that spot is simple, yet speaks volumes:

Dunkiel. 

It is the combination of Tony La Russa pets Chris Duncan and Rick Ankiel, and together they have had one of the worst months of production in recent history. 

Their collective offensive output over the month has been stunningly bad: three hits in 56 at bats, an on-base percentage of .209, a Slugging Percentage of .054, one run, two RBI, and 18 strikeouts. 

Going into Monday’s game, of the 292 hitters in the Majors that have registered 25 plate appearances or more in July, Ankiel ranked 292nd in OPS, with Duncan just two slots above him at 290th.
    
And despite these struggles, on virtually every single night Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa continues to pencil one, or both of them, into the starting lineup...typically batting as high as fifth. In 17 total games for the team in the month of July, 15 of them have seen one of the two in the starting lineup.  

Let’s make it clear that it is not as if these two sluggers are simply having a rough month in an otherwise productive season. This is no coincidence.

For the season, Ankiel’s line looks like this: .213/.275/.356, 5 HR, 22 RBI, 17 BB, 54 K.  Duncan’s isn’t much better: .228/.330/.359, 5 HR, 32 RBI, 41 BB, 67 K. 

For those sabermetrically inclined, Duncan is currently clocking in with a -5.4 wRAA (Runs Above Average) according to Fangraphs, with Ankiel earning a spot in the league’s bottom 10 at -11.4. 

As a comparison, Albert Pujols’ wRAA is 47.8.  

Translation for those not saber-savvy: Albert Pujols could step up to the plate with a 12 inch Subway Club serving as his bat, and I would still be more confident in him getting a hit than I would Dunkiel under normal circumstances. 

In 2006, The Hardball Times made a strong case that Neifi Perez was, in fact, the single worst hitter in baseball history. Needless to say, Perez had some rough stretches at the plate. 

However, in evaluating his entire body of work, we found that at no time during his 12-year career did Perez have a month in which he posted an OPS as bad as Dunkiel’s.  His worst came in June 2002, when he posted a .388. 

Arguably the worst hitter in baseball history has never had a month as bad as July has been for Dunkiel. 

What Cardinals fans are seeing may never be duplicated—a tandem of outfielders sharing time in the starting lineup and producing equally horrific numbers in an all-out battle to see who can take a seat on the bench permanently.

Just when it seemed like they might be starting to make a late run to respectability before the end of the month—with Ankiel going two-for-four last night in Houston—the second half of the tandem, Duncan, grounded into a game-ending double play in his only at bat. 

Who could have seen that coming?

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