Were Aramis Ramirez's 50 Doubles Overrated?

We spent a lot of time this season discussing Aramis Ramirez's pursuit of the Brewers' single-season doubles record. His pace slowed a little down the stretch and he finished with 50, becoming just the second Brewer ever to reach that mark.

With that said, back in September Nicole mentioned something that struck a chord with me:

A ballplayer of average speed has like 35 doubles and 18 triples, right? #strollsintosecond #ramirez

— Nicole Haase (@NicoleHaase) September 30, 2012

18 triples seems like a bit much to ask for, but it does seem intuitive that a player who reaches 50 doubles probably has both of the following things going for him:

• He hits the ball with enough authority that it consistently gets to the wall when hit down the lines or into the gaps.
• He's slow or otherwise motivated to stop early often enough to prevent him from turning some of his doubles into triples.

Those things are both true of Ramirez, who certainly has demonstrated remarkable power but limited speed (although he did steal nine bases this year).

With that said, Ramirez's 53 combined doubles and triples still put him among pretty elite company in Brewer franchise history. He's one of just three players in franchise history to reach that mark:

Player	Season	2B	3B	Combined
Robin Yount	1980	49	10	59
Robin Yount	1982	46	12	58
Lyle Overbay	2004	53	1	54
Aramis Ramirez	2012	50	3	53

Furthermore, Ramirez and Ryan Braun had just the sixth and seventh seasons in franchise history with 80 extra base hits:

Player	Season	2B	3B	HR	XBH
Prince Fielder	2007	35	2	50	87
Robin Yount	1982	46	12	29	87
Prince Fielder	2009	35	3	46	84
Ryan Braun	2008	39	7	37	83
Robin Yount	1980	49	10	23	82
Aramis Ramirez	2012	50	3	27	80
Ryan Braun	2012	36	3	41	80

So, to sum up: Ramirez's doubles milestone was likely at least partially caused by his lack of speed, but that shouldn't take away from a truly great offensive season.