Over the past few years, Major League Baseball has become much more of an all-or-nothing game, as rates for the “three true outcomes” – home runs, walks, and strikeouts – have all been going up. Back in the early 1990s, the Detroit Tigers had a player that exemplified that approach before it became more of the norm.
Rob Deer signed with the Tigers as a free agent prior to the 1991 season. Before that, he’d spent two years with the San Francisco Giants and five years with the Milwaukee Brewers. In five years in Milwaukee between 1986 and 1990, Deer hit at least 23 home runs every year but never drove in more than 86, had more than 124 total hits, or batted higher than .