The Thome

Earlier this season I made note of the fact that Jim Thome had become the all-time three true outcomes (TTO) king, as he amassed the highest combined career total of home runs, walks, and strikeouts (which are the three true outcomes, the three results of any plate appearance that require no one but the pitch and hitter). It's fun to look at career totals, but I like counting individual games too, so I'm going to look at instances in which a player collected all the TTO in a single game. Because Thome is the king of the TTO and has a spot on my Mount Rushmore of baseball heroes, I'm naming this feat the "Thome."

As with many of my statistical scavenger hunts, this one owes a tip of the hat to Baseball-Reference and its Play Index, my annual subscription to which is probably the most rewarding money I spend all year.

All stats listed below are current through 2012.

Here are the all-time leaders in Thomes (games with at least one HR, BB, and K):

Rank	Player	Thomes
1	Jim Thome	154
2	Mark McGwire	133
3	Babe Ruth	125*
3	Barry Bonds	125
5	Harmon Killebrew	111
6	Adam Dunn	110
7	Manny Ramirez	105
8	Alex Rodriguez	98
9	Sammy Sosa	97
10	Frank Thomas	94
11	Ken Griffey	92
12	Mickey Mantle	87
13	Mike Schmidt	85
14	Frank Robinson	84
15	Willie Stargell	82
16	Fred McGriff	81
16	Eddie Mathews	81
16	Reggie Jackson	81
16	Jeff Bagwell	81
20	Jim Edmonds	80

These stats go back to 1916. For the most part, I think it's safe to consider the above list an all-time ranking, because none of the players listed above hit fewer than Edmonds' 393 home runs, whereas the career home run leader through 1915 was Roger Conner, with 138 of them. The only minor issue with any of it is Ruth's career total. Ruth hit 4 home runs before 1916. The 710 home runs he hit from 1916 on led to those 125 Thomes, so there's chance he's being cheated out of Thome. Maybe we consider him the "winner" of the tie at #3.

Here are the active (played in 2012) Thome leaders:

Rank	Player	Thomes
1	Jim Thome	154
2	Adam Dunn	110
3	Alex Rodriguez	98
4	Bobby Abreu	72
5	Carlos Pena	70
6	Chipper Jones	69
7	Ryan Howard	68
8	David Ortiz	62
t9	Lance Berkman	59
t9	Carlos Beltran	59

Adam Dunn is obviously charging up both of these lists and if he keeps doing what he's been doing for another another four or five years, he has a good shot at passing Jim Thome for the most Thomes (that doesn't mean he'll get it named after him though).

Here's a look at the single-season Thome leaders:

Rank	Player	Year	Thomes
1	Mark McGwire	1999	21
2	Mark McGwire	1998	20
3	Adam Dunn	2004	17
4	Babe Ruth	1921	16
4	Barry Bonds	2001	16
4	Adam Dunn	2012	16
7	Mark McGwire	1997	15
7	Carlos Pena	2007	15
7	Carlos Pena	2008	15
7	Ryan Howard	2008	15
11	Harmon Killebrew	1964	14
11	Harmon Killebrew	1969	14
11	Mark McGwire	1996	14
11	Jim Edmonds	2000	14
11	Sammy Sosa	2001	14
11	Jim Thome	2002	14
11	Manny Ramirez	2003	14
11	Ryan Howard	2007	14

Dunn looked to have a shot at breaking this record, but he slowed down his pace and missed some games. McGwire's mark is safe.

Finally, there is the double-Thome. Seven times in history a player has had at least TWO home runs, TWO walks, and TWO strikeouts:

Player	Date
Ted Williams	June 6, 1949
George Foster	October 1, 1978
Manny Ramirez	July 29, 2000
Bret Boone	May 2, 2002
Bernie Williams	May 17, 2002
Alex Rodriguez	June 22, 2004
Richie Sexson	September 22, 2006

That's some good Thome-ing!