MLB History: Ten Greatest One Hit Wonders in Baseball

Every so often, there is a player who puts up an incredible season, but never duplicates those numbers again in their MLB career. Let us take a look at some of the biggest fluke seasons in the history of the game.

Today happens to be Davey Johnson‘s 74th birthday. While he is likely remembered for his time as a manager, he also put together one of the more surprising seasons in MLB history. In 1973, despite never hitting more than 18 home runs in a season, and hitting just five the previous year, Johnson belted 43 homers. That would be the only year he hit more than 18 long balls, and Johnson finished his career with 136 home runs in total.

Seeing Johnson on the list of baseball birthdays today led to the question of which players had just that one stellar season out of nowhere, and never were able to replicate their success again. Just like musicians along the lines of Rockwell and Chumbawamba had that one song become a success, these players were amongst the one hit wonders of baseball.

In some cases, these incredible seasons came during the player’s rookie campaign. Others were veteran players, and even stars, before they had that one year that defied explanation. Yet, injuries, a regression to the mean, or in some suspected cases, PEDs, led to those years never happening again.

And so, in honor of Davey Johnson, let us take a look at a few players who became one hit wonders in the Majors.