Orioles Biggest One Hit Wonder of all time...

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, HarlowFan said:

Do you mean Troy Patton?

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Tom_Patton

But he didn't get a hit.

[Moose Milligan]

I think @PaulFolk nailed it.  I forgot that Steve Stone was pretty average and then out of the majors quickly thereafter.

[BRobinsonfan]

2 hours ago, InsideCoroner said:

What about Rich Coggins in '73? He hit .319 with an .831 OPS, worth nearly 4 WAR, had a disappointing sophomore season for the Birds (0.2 WAR),  bounced around three teams and was out of baseball by '77.  

You beat me to it.  Rich looked like the real deal in 1973.  

[Legend_Of_Joey]

1 hour ago, HarlowFan said:

Do you mean Troy Patton?

No.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Tom_Patton

[now]

Honorable mention after Steve Stone might be Pat Dobson (the O's fourth 20-game winner of 1971). And how about Roric Harrison? 134 ERA+ in '72, but well below average thereafter. Which also brings us to Earl Williams whom Harrison (and Davey Johnson) were traded for. I thought this bane of Earl Weaver's existence might make the Braves' list at least, but his decline was more gradual. Davey would take some cake, though, with his wholly implausible 43 HR in 1973 for ATL, distinctly Bradyesque.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

I think @PaulFolk nailed it.  I forgot that Steve Stone was pretty average and then out of the majors quickly thereafter.

I think Stone said overthrowing his curve or changeup his Cy Young year killed his arm. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

2 hours ago, weams said:

Threw the curveball even when it hurt. 

Didn’t see this, but yeah Stone blew out his arm in 1980 getting 25 wins. 

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

Wow, I had no idea that is how it worked.

Fascinating.

BTW he led the league in CS% in back to back seasons (76-77 {19% above league average}). 

Dempsey's career CS% numbers took a hit due to the longevity of his career.  I've never looked into it, but I imagine most catchers get less effective at throwing out runners when they get into their 30's and Dempsey played into his 40's.

I agree with this.    Of course, Pudge played a similar length of time.    But Bench only really played C through his age 30 season.   Through age 31, Dempsey was at 49% (309 SB, 298 CS); after that, only 31% (461 SB, 209 CS).    But you also have to consider that Bench was bearing a very heavy workload — 1627 games started at C through age 30, compared to 665 for Dempsey through age 31 and 1343 total.    

[wildbillhiccup]

5 hours ago, beervendor said:

Not sure if Brady Anderson meets the criteria, but his peak year was craaaaazy.

You'll probably take some heat for this answer, but I agree. Brady had other productive seasons, but 50 HRs from a player who never hit more than 24 in any other season seems like the very definition of one hit wonder to me. 

[DrungoHazewood]

2 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Didn’t see this, but yeah Stone blew out his arm in 1980 getting 25 wins. 

I'm sure he did, but I can't call him a one-hit wonder when he had previous seasons of 15, 12, 12, and 11 wins.  Coming into '80 he had thrown almost 1500 MLB innings to a 4.06 ERA.  Sheets, Coggins, Ballard, Pearce... they fit the definition far better.

If Stone is a one-hit wonder, then so is Nick Markakis for '08. Jim Gentile for '61.  Chris Hoiles for '93.  They were all regulars in the majors for quite a while, but had a peak year well above any others.

[DocJJ]

Love this topic.   So many to choose from.

I'd vote for Larry Sheets who tricked people into thinking he could hit by clubbing 31 HR one season.  May have been a juiced ball that year, as a lot of guys had huge years.   But then he completely vanished.

Jeff Ballard was a nice 1 year sensation.

Ryan Kohlmeier tricked people into thinking he could be a closer by pitching to a 2.39 ERA with 13 saves one season.   (His 15 walks with 17 strikeouts in 26 innings pitched should have convinced people otherwise.)

 

Jim Johnson was a "two hit wonder" earning back-to-back 50 save seasons before dissipating...

Chito Martinez hit 13 hr and an .800 OPS one season.   

[InsideCoroner]

5 hours ago, BRobinsonfan said:

You beat me to it.  Rich looked like the real deal in 1973.  

I never saw him play, I just knew his basic numbers from the ‘74 and ‘75 Topps cards I used to study as a kid. I assume they “put a book together” on how to pitch him after one year... or did he get hurt? 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

I'm sure he did, but I can't call him a one-hit wonder when he had previous seasons of 15, 12, 12, and 11 wins.  Coming into '80 he had thrown almost 1500 MLB innings to a 4.06 ERA.  Sheets, Coggins, Ballard, Pearce... they fit the definition far better.

If Stone is a one-hit wonder, then so is Nick Markakis for '08. Jim Gentile for '61.  Chris Hoiles for '93.  They were all regulars in the majors for quite a while, but had a peak year well above any others.

I was only referencing Stone's 1980 season and would agree that he wasn't a one hit wonder. I have trouble putting Pearce and Sheets into that category too as they had other years where they were effective players.

Sheets was an effective platoon bat in 1985-86 (114 OPS+ in 725 PA) before his standout 1987 season. Pearce was a valuable role player in 2016 and 2018 seasons and if he could stay healthy his career changes shape. 

[Bahama O's Fan]

I know they won't fall into this, but as a teenager I thought Chito Martinez and Leo Gomez were going to be great

[LA2]

Y'all forgotten Jim Hardin! 18-13, 2.51 ERA at age 24 for the '68 O's, his second ML season. Never won more than 6 after that.

And 1964 RoY Wally Bunker: 19-5, 2.69 ERA.

Both were plagued by sore arms after these superb first full seasons.