Excerpted from The Bill James Gold Mine 2009 book:
Over the last three years, Raul Ibanez drove in Ichiro Suzuki 100 times - 30 times in 2006, 28 in 2007, and 42 times last year for the Seattle Mariners. No other major-league combination has produced as many RBIs. The Phillies' Ryan Howard driving in Chase Utley finished second with 89.
Now Ibanez will play left field for the Phillies and most likely bat fifth against righthanders and sixth against lefthanders. Utley will bat third and Howard fourth.
Interestingly, Pat Burrell followed Utley in the Phillies' lineup about 20 times last year. Fielders must have gotten out of breath running from one end of the field to the other, because the lefty and righty batters were two of the most extreme hitters in the majors.
Utley hit only 81 balls to left field, the lowest proportion of any qualified major-league hitter (16 percent). Burrell hit only 85 balls to right field; that was 21 percent of all his batted balls, one of the 10 lowest percentages in the majors.