Swinging and missing (over and over)

No batter in the entire Modern Era suffered a worse day at the plate than Tommie Agee on April 15, 1968.

Agee went 0-for-10 for the New York Mets, who lost to the Houston Astros, 1-0, in a 24-inning marathon. Cleanup hitter Swoboda, who was right behind Agee in the Mets’ batting order, also went 0-for-10 that night.

So why is Swoboda’s output considered to be worse? He struck out five times in the game, a touch worse than Agee’s four whiffs.

I rated the single-game performances of all big-league batters since 1961 on this ladder of statistics:

Fewest bases reached. The count of all bases that the batter reached through hits, walks, hit batsmen, and stolen bases, as well as those he attained for his team through sacrifice hits and sacrifice flies. The figure is identical for all 11 batters listed below — zero.
Most outs made. If a batter hit into a double play, he was credited — debited is probably the better word — with the extra out.
Most strikeouts.
Fewest plate appearances.

Everybody discussed below was tied on the first step of the ladder (fewest bases), so I dropped to the second step (most outs) to break the tie. If they were still deadlocked, I went to the next step (most strikeouts), then the final one (fewest plate appearances). Some players were still tied after this four-tiered procedure, as you’ll see below, so they are listed as such.

Today’s rankings, by the way, are the flip side of Tuesday’s list, which celebrated the best single-game hitting outputs. Click here to see it.

Swoboda would have seemed an unlikely candidate to qualify for the era’s list of worst batting performances, especially going into 1968.

He had endured a couple of shaky years after being called up to the big leagues, but his third season, 1967, was indisputably successful. The Mets right fielder hit a solid .281, this at a time when batting averages were depressed throughout the majors.

So Swoboda entered 1968 with high hopes, which were instantly confirmed by a five-for-13 hitting streak in New York’s first four outings. The fifth game, however, was rough enough to shake anybody’s confidence.

Two young fireballers took the mound on April 15 — Tom Seaver for the Mets, Don Wilson for the Astros. Neither team scored before the game reached extra innings, and the zeros kept rolling for more than six hours. Houston finally tallied the game’s lone run on a Mets error in the bottom of the 24th.

Nobody had a good day at the plate, but Swoboda’s was the worst of all, the aforementioned 0-for-10 with five strikeouts. His batting average for the young season was .385 when the day began, .217 when it ended. He would finish 1968 at .242, almost 40 points below 1967.

One fewer strikeout was all that saved Swoboda’s teammate from the dubious honor of sharing first place in these rankings. But Tommie Agee does have another distinction. He qualified twice for the bottom 10 (which actually covers 11 performances), making 10 outs while going 0-for-8 (including a pair of double plays) against the Atlanta Braves on August 5, 1971.

Each entry in the following rundown includes the number of bases the batter reached, the outs and strikeouts he made, his number of plate appearances, an inning-by-inning account of his performance, and a link to the box score on Baseball Reference.

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1. Ron Swoboda

Date: April 15, 1968
Team: Mets (vs. Astros)
Bases reached: 0
Outs made: 10
Strikeouts: 5
Plate appearances: 10
Results: Flyout in second inning, popout in fourth inning, strikeout in sixth inning, strikeout in eighth inning, strikeout in 11th inning, flyout in 13th inning, flyout in 16th inning, strikeout in 18th inning, strikeout in 21st inning, flyout in 23rd inning.
Box score: Click here

2. Tommie Agee

Date: April 15, 1968
Team: Mets (vs. Astros)
Bases reached: 0
Outs made: 10
Strikeouts: 4
Plate appearances: 10
Results: Groundout in first inning, flyout in third inning, strikeout in sixth inning, popout in eighth inning, groundout in 10th inning, groundout in 12th inning, strikeout in 15th inning, strikeout in 18th inning, strikeout in 20th inning, groundout in 23rd inning.
Box score: Click here

3. Tommie Agee

Date: August 5, 1971
Team: Mets (vs. Braves)
Bases reached: 0
Outs made: 10
Strikeouts: 1
Plate appearances: 8
Results: Double play in first inning, lineout in third inning, double play in fifth inning, flyout in seventh inning, flyout in ninth inning, flyout in 12th inning, strikeout in 14th inning, flyout in 16th inning.
Box score: Click here

4. Manny Mota

Date: May 24, 1973
Team: Dodgers (vs. Mets)
Bases reached: 0
Outs made: 10
Strikeouts: 1
Plate appearances: 9
Results: Strikeout in first inning, groundout in third inning, groundout in fifth inning, popout in seventh inning, double play in ninth inning, groundout in 11th inning, groundout in 14th inning, flyout in 16th inning, lineout in 17th inning.
Box score: Click here

5. (tie) J.D. Martinez

Date: June 18, 2019
Team: Red Sox (vs. Twins)
Bases reached: 0
Outs made: 9
Strikeouts: 5
Plate appearances: 8
Results: Double play in first inning, strikeout in fourth inning, flyout in sixth inning, strikeout in ninth inning, strikeout in 11th inning, lineout in 13th inning, strikeout in 15th inning, strikeout in 17th inning.
Box score: Click here

5. (tie) Chris Davis

Date: May 6, 2012
Team: Orioles (vs. Red Sox)
Bases reached: 0
Outs made: 9
Strikeouts: 5
Plate appearances: 8
Results: Strikeout in second inning, strikeout in fourth inning, strikeout in fifth inning, strikeout in eighth inning, strikeout in 10th inning, double play in 13th inning, groundout in 15th inning, groundout in 17th inning.
Box score: Click here

5. (tie) Jim Thome

Date: July 2, 2004
Team: Phillies (vs. Orioles)
Bases reached: 0
Outs made: 9
Strikeouts: 5
Plate appearances: 8
Results: Strikeout in first inning, foulout in second inning, double play in fourth inning, groundout in seventh inning, strikeout in ninth inning, strikeout in 11th inning, strikeout in 13th inning, strikeout in 15th inning.
Box score: Click here

8. Trot Nixon

Date: July 9, 2006
Team: Red Sox (vs. White Sox)
Bases reached: 0
Outs made: 9
Strikeouts: 4
Plate appearances: 9
Results: Groundout in first inning, strikeout in fourth inning, lineout in fifth inning, strikeout in seventh inning, groundout in 10th inning, flyout in 12th inning, strikeout in 13th inning, groundout in 16th inning, strikeout in 19th inning.
Box score: Click here

9. (tie) Paul Lo Duca

Date: July 7, 2007
Team: Mets (vs. Astros)
Bases reached: 0
Outs made: 9
Strikeouts: 3
Plate appearances: 8
Results: Double play in second inning, groundout in fifth inning, groundout in seventh inning, groundout in ninth inning, strikeout in 11th inning, strikeout in 14th inning, groundout in 16th inning, strikeout in 17th inning.
Box score: Click here

9. (tie) Sandy Alomar

Date: July 30, 1998
Team: Indians (vs. Mariners)
Bases reached: 0
Outs made: 9
Strikeouts: 3
Plate appearances: 8
Results: Popout in second inning, groundout in fifth inning, double play in sixth inning, strikeout in eighth inning, strikeout in 10th inning, strikeout in 13th inning, popout in 15th inning, flyout in 17th inning.
Box score: Click here

9. (tie) Mike Davis

Date: May 23, 1983
Team: Athletics (vs. Brewers)
Bases reached: 0
Outs made: 9
Strikeouts: 3
Plate appearances: 8
Results: Flyout in first inning, strikeout in third inning, strikeout in sixth inning, strikeout in eighth inning, double play in ninth inning, flyout in 11th inning, flyout in 13th inning, groundout in 15th inning.
Box score: Click here