My Funky Valentine: oddities from the playing career of Bobby Valentine

As Bobby Valentine prepares to take the reins of the Boston Red Sox, here's a look back at some of the unusual things from his days as a player.
In his first season in the big leagues, Valentine scored 3 runs without having a plate appearances. Here are all the players since 1901 to have at least 3 runs scored with no PAs:

Rk	Player	Year	R	Age	Tm	G	Pos
1	Jack Morris	1983	3	28	DET	44	*1/D
2	German Barranca	1980	3	23	KCR	7
3	Tim Raines	1979	3	19	MON	6
4	Alberto Lois	1979	6	23	PIT	11
5	Ron Guidry	1977	3	26	NYY	36	*1
6	Rick Waits	1976	4	24	CLE	36	*1/D
7	Herb Washington	1975	4	23	OAK	13	/D
8	Herb Washington	1974	29	22	OAK	92	D
9	Blue Moon Odom	1974	3	29	OAK	43	*1/D
10	Allan Lewis	1973	16	31	OAK	35	D/7
11	Bobby Valentine	1969	3	19	LAD	5
12	Reno Bertoia	1962	3	27	DET	5	/645
13	Art Schult	1953	3	25	NYY	7
14	Eddie Phillips	1953	4	22	STL	9
15	Jack Cassini	1949	3	29	PIT	8

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/29/2011.

We saw of these other seasons recently, including the greatest season ever as well as Herb Washington's notable years.

Lots of players have finished with more walks than strikeouts, but few did it with as low an OBP as Valentine. Among players with more BB than K since 1960 (and at least 1000 AB) here are those with the lowest OBP:

Rk	Player	OBP	AB	BB	SO	From	To	BA	SLG	OPS
1	Enzo Hernandez	.283	2327	189	151	1971	1978	.224	.266	.550
2	Bobby Richardson	.299	4397	217	191	1960	1966	.264	.336	.634
3	Al Newman	.304	2107	236	212	1985	1992	.226	.266	.570
4	Felix Fermin	.305	2767	166	147	1987	1996	.259	.303	.608
5	Jack Brohamer	.306	2500	222	178	1972	1980	.245	.327	.633
6	Horace Clarke	.308	4813	365	362	1965	1974	.256	.313	.621
7	Bob Bailor	.310	2937	187	164	1975	1985	.264	.325	.636
8	Rich Dauer	.310	3829	297	219	1976	1985	.257	.343	.653
9	Luis Aparicio	.310	7953	562	546	1960	1973	.262	.344	.654
10	Don Blasingame	.312	2881	279	272	1960	1966	.244	.305	.617
11	Ken Boswell	.313	2517	240	239	1967	1977	.248	.337	.650
12	Juan Bonilla	.314	1462	116	108	1981	1987	.256	.317	.631
13	Del Crandall	.314	1619	130	122	1960	1966	.259	.366	.680
14	Bob Boone	.315	7245	663	608	1972	1990	.254	.346	.661
15	Bobby Valentine	.315	1698	140	134	1969	1979	.260	.326	.641
16	Mike Hershberger	.316	3572	319	311	1961	1971	.252	.328	.645
17	Mark Lemke	.317	3230	348	341	1988	1998	.246	.324	.641
18	Rob Andrews	.318	1454	148	121	1975	1979	.251	.298	.616
19	Glenn Beckert	.318	5208	260	243	1965	1975	.283	.345	.663
20	Augie Ojeda	.320	1062	119	115	2000	2010	.234	.313	.633
21	Bruce Benedict	.320	2878	328	251	1978	1989	.242	.299	.619

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/29/2011.

In 1972, Valentine played at least 4 games at 2B, SS, 3B, LF, CF, and RF. Since 1901, 34 players have done that, but notice how many have done it recently:

Rk	Player	Year	Age	Tm	G	Pos
1	Emilio Bonifacio	2011	26	FLA	152	65789/4
2	Sean Rodriguez	2010	25	TBR	118	*4/89567D3
3	Bill Hall	2010	30	BOS	120	74/98651
4	Emilio Bonifacio	2010	25	FLA	73	8/67954
5	Jerry Hairston	2009	33	TOT	131	56794/8D
6	Willie Bloomquist	2007	29	SEA	91	6457/839D
7	Chris Woodward	2005	29	NYM	81	37/69584D
8	Chone Figgins	2005	27	LAA	158	5847/9D6
9	Jolbert Cabrera	2003	30	LAD	128	487/6359
10	Donnie Sadler	2002	27	TOT	73	6587/94D
11	Donnie Sadler	2001	26	TOT	93	4657/98D
12	Denny Hocking	2001	31	MIN	112	643D/7598
13	Jolbert Cabrera	2001	28	CLE	141	784596/D
14	Joe McEwing	2000	27	NYM	87	7548/96
15	Denny Hocking	2000	30	MIN	134	4897563/D
16	Clay Bellinger	2000	31	NYY	98	84573/69
17	Bill Spiers	1999	33	HOU	127	*576/9843
18	Denny Hocking	1999	29	MIN	136	64798/53
19	Shane Halter	1997	27	KCR	74	4958/76D
20	Tony Phillips	1991	32	DET	146	5479D6/8
21	Luis Salazar	1988	32	DET	130	765/9843
22	Derrel Thomas	1983	32	LAD	118	8976/45
23	Derrel Thomas	1982	31	LAD	66	485/967
24	Derrel Thomas	1980	29	LAD	117	684/9275
25	Bobby Valentine	1972	22	LAD	119	456/879
26	Woodie Held	1968	36	TOT	73	95/7468
27	Cesar Tovar	1968	27	MIN	157	578649/321
28	Cesar Tovar	1967	26	MIN	164	5847/69
29	Felix Mantilla	1964	29	BOS	133	47/9568
30	Lee Magee	1919	30	TOT	124	48567/9
31	Roy Hartzell	1913	31	NYY	141	*4598/67
32	Jimmy Walsh	1910	24	PHI	88	48/6795
33	Harry Niles	1909	28	BOS	145	*7958/64
34	Freddy Parent	1907	31	BOS	114	678/954

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/29/2011.

Back when Bobby V. did it, it was quite rare. Nowadays, somebody does it just about every year.