Brief Bio About the Worst MLB Player Ever, and Info About May Issue of InD'tale

     Obviously, when you're considering which player was the worst ever in Major League Baseball, there's more than a little subjectivity here.  But, after I explain some of the parameters of this conclusion I think that most readers will probably agree.  First off, anyone who plays in a Major League game, even only 1, is by definition a fantastic baseball player, one of the very best at that time.  Plus, many players were terrible major league players, but because of this their careers were very brief.  But the man I'll discuss had a decently long career--11 years, from 1901-11, with the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Superbas (who later became the Dodgers) of the National League.  Anyway, catcher Bill Bergen was by all accounts a better than average defensive player.  Even now, over a century later, he's 8th all time in guys caught stealing (1,034), and 9th all time in assists as a catcher (1,444).  (It's true that player during his time attempted to steal far more often than in any other era--but this is still respectable.)  Using modern stats, Bergen's lifetime defensive WAR was 14.6, which is very good for an 11 year career.  

     So why, you might be asking, am I then labeling him as the worst player ever, since he was admittedly a stout defender?  Because his hitting was utterly, shamefully awful.  In 947 games, 3234 plate appearances, and 3028 at bats, he accumulated 516 hits, 45 doubles, 21 triples, 2 home runs, 193 rbi, 138 runs, and 88 walks.  Or, put another way, his lifetime batting average was .170, his lifetime on base percentage was .194, and his slugging was .201.  Only a handful of players have had lifetime batting averages of below .200 with over 1000 at bats (with Ray Oyler being next closest at .175), but no one else is below .200 after having over 2500 at bats.  And yes, this was known as the "Dead Ball Era," since baseballs didn't travel very far, they were used continuously until they basically fell apart, and pitchers could legally apply substances like saliva to the ball, but still--no one approached Bergen's ineptitude at the plate.  Using more advanced stats, such as WAR are even more unkind to Bergen.  There are two main organizations that determine WAR (Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference), but both have him as the worst (-16.2, and -6.9, respectively).  (If you're curious, some other contenders include Doug Flynn (-8.3 and -6.9), Dan Meyer (-5.5, -6.4), Tuck Stainback (-5.0, -5.9), and Andres Thomas (-4.6, -5.7).)  As for OPS adjusted (100 is average), Bergen's lifetime total was 21.  21!  Even the other worst hitters are at least in the 40's or 50's, such as Dal Maxvill (58), Hal Lanier (50), Ray Oyler (48), Rafael Belliard (46), and even the infamous Mario Mendoza (41).  All in all then, the defense rests.

     Sadly, Bill Bergen's personal life had a terrible tragedy, too.  His older brother Marty preceded him to the Majors, playing catcher with the Boston Beaneaters (later the Braves) from 1896-99.  Unfortunately, Marty was clearly suffering from a severe mental illness, which went almost completely untreated in those days.  Always prone to depression, anger, and paranoia, it got progressively worse after Marty's son died from dyptheria in 1899.  On January 18, 1900, Marty killed his wife, son, and daughter with an axe, and then committed suicide by cutting his own throat with a razor.  Sorry, I guess this got depressing, but I thought it added some further context to Bill Bergen's odd career.

     Switching to my writing, this month sees another one of my articles, about writer rejections from publishers, in the May issue of InD'tale.  Other article contributors include S.L Carpenter, Tamara Cribley, Maria V. Snyder, and Ignatius Fernandez.  Plus there are two interviews of writers--one with Amy Daws, and another with rising star Marc Sanderson.  So, as usual, I'm grateful to the staff of InD'tale, including Publisher/Editor-in-Chief TJ Mackay, and Executive Editor Katy Nielsen.  And don't forget about InD'tale's usual round of book reviews.  The magazine's address is unchanged, or:

                                    http://www.indtale.com

     Stop on by--it's even free!  The cover is below: