The First Book of Jimmy Rollins

Jimmy Rollins took Tim Hudson deep on the first pitch he saw Wednesday night, connecting for the 40th leadoff home run of his career (right). That puts him fifth all-time, almost halfway to the record held by his boyhood baseball idol Rickey Henderson.

While hitting 40 home runs to start a game is nice, the staff here at BoopStats wishes Rollins had a little better on-base percentage when he steps to the plate to start a game. His .302 OBA is by far the worst among players with 33 or more leadoff homers. And we know Jimmy can reach base more often, because he does so in other situations (he has a career .345 OBA when he is not leading off an inning, for instance; see second chart).

Here are the top 10 players all-time in leadoff home runs and their on-base percentage when leading off the first inning: