Hank Aaron's amazing combination of durability and hitting excellence

Aaron did not seem to miss many games for a good part of his career. And he never seemed to have a poor season until very late in his career. 

He played 140+ games every year from 1955-1970 with at least a 140 OPS+ in each of those years. 16 straight years. And he just missed a 17th in 1971, playing in 139 games with a 194 OPS+ (a 140 OPS+ would occur if hitter was 20% above the league average in both SLG and OBP or 10% better in one and 30% better in the other or lots of other combinations and it is adjusted for park effects as well).

Aaron was in the top 10 in the NL in OPS+ every year from 1955-70 and in the top 5 12 of those years.

So I have compared how Aaron does on stats like this to other hitters. All data is from Stathead and Baseball Reference, except where otherwise noted.

Most seasons with at least a 140 OPS+ & 140+ games.

Henry Aaron	16
Willie Mays	14
Barry Bonds	13
Stan Musial	13
Mike Schmidt	12
Mickey Mantle	12
Lou Gehrig	12
Albert Pujols	11
Tris Speaker	11
Miguel Cabrera	10
Frank Robinson	10
Mel Ott	10

Mays missed 2 seasons by being in the military. So maybe he might have had 16. But even if he did, Aaron would still be tied for first place.

Before 1961 in the AL and 1962 in the NL, teams usually played 154 games, which is about 5% less than 162 (Aaron's career began in 1954 in the NL). So what if we kept the 140 or higher OPS+ and used 133 games played? (which is 5% less than 140)

Most seasons with at least a 140 OPS+ & 133+ games thru 1961.  

Stan Musial	15
Mel Ott	12
Lou Gehrig	12
Babe Ruth	12
Tris Speaker	12
Rogers Hornsby	11
Ted Williams	10
Jimmie Foxx	10
Ty Cobb	10
Sam Crawford	10
Honus Wagner	10

 

No one equals Aaron's 16.

 

Now Musial missed 1 year (1945) due to WW II. So he might have had 16. But Aaron would still be tied for first place. And Musial had an OPS+ in 1943-44 of  177-174 facing inferior pitching. If WWII does not happen, maybe he does not reach 160 in those years.

 

In any event, no one else equals Aaron from the 154 season regime. And at most we could add 2 years to some WWI era guys like Ruth, Cobb and Speaker. Because of World War I, teams only played at most 126 games in 1918 and 140 in 1919. They would not equal Aaron in any of those cases, either.

Aaron's 16 straight seasons with 140+ games played is tied for first place. This list is from The Lee Sinins Complete Baseball Encyclopedia

Hank Aaron	16
Brooks Robinson	16
Pete Rose	16
Johnny Damon	16
Ichiro Suzuki	16
Willie Mays	15
Bobby Abreu	14
Lou Gehrig	13
Billy Williams	13
Sam Crawford	12
Sam Rice	12
Richie Ashburn	12
Nellie Fox	12
Lou Brock	12
Cal Ripken	12
Albert Pujols	12

If Ripken had been able to play a full season in both 1994 & 1995, he might have had a streak of 17 since he reached 140+ from 1996-98 (1994 & 1995 were strike shortened seasons). There might also be someone who got hurt this way by the 1981 strike, when teams played about 108 games.

What if we lower the consecutive season game total to 133? Here is the list from Sinins again.

Sam Crawford	14
Paul Waner	13
Lou Gehrig	13
Doc Cramer	13
Stan Musial	13
Sam Rice	12
Bob Elliott	12
Del Ennis	12
Richie Ashburn	12
Pee Wee Reese	11
Gil Hodges	11
Minnie Minoso	11
Nellie Fox	11

Because of World War I, teams only played at most 126 games in 1918 and 140 in 1919. That made it harder to keep a streak alive. I checked a couple of guys, Cobb and Speaker, to see if they might have had 16 straight years of 140+ games otherwise. But, no, they wouldn't.

I also looked at some other combinations. What about 150+ games played and at least a 150 OPS+? Aaron is tied for first place.

Henry Aaron	11
Willie Mays	11
Lou Gehrig	11
Stan Musial	9
Miguel Cabrera	8
Albert Pujols	8
Mike Schmidt	8
Mel Ott	8
Barry Bonds	7

What about 140+ games played and at least a 150 OPS+? Aaron is first here, although Bonds is hurt by the strike in 1994-5. Teams played about 115 games in 1994 and 144 in 1995. Bonds had an OPS+ of 183 in 1994. But he played 144 games in 1995. So the most we could add would be 1 season to Bonds. Then Aaron would still be tied for first place.

Henry Aaron	13
Barry Bonds	12
Willie Mays	12
Stan Musial	12
Lou Gehrig	12
Mickey Mantle	11
Tris Speaker	11
Albert Pujols	10
Mel Ott	10

What about 150+ games played and at least a 140 OPS+? Aaron is first again.

 

Henry Aaron	14
Willie Mays	13
Lou Gehrig	11
Mike Schmidt	10
Stan Musial	10
Miguel Cabrera	9
Albert Pujols	8
Mel Ott	8
Manny Ramírez	7
Barry Bonds	7
Eddie Collins	7

 

Finally, what about 130+ games played and at least a 130 OPS+? Aaron is tied for first place.

 

Henry Aaron	17
Stan Musial	17
Frank Robinson	16
Willie Mays	16
Barry Bonds	15
Reggie Jackson	14
Mel Ott	14
Tris Speaker	14
Sam Crawford	14
Lou Gehrig	13
Babe Ruth	13
Honus Wagner	13

 

So I did 5 combinations of games and OPS+. Aaron is in first place by himself in 3 cases and tied for first in the other 2. And no one player was tied with him more than once. The Hammer really stands out.