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The idea of a One-Hit Wonder being applied to sports is kind of funny because it’s a term which came to life to describe bands/musical acts that had one chart-topping hit and then disappeared forever. I’m talking about bands like the Dexys Midnight Riders with ‘Come On Eileen’, Soft Cell with ‘Tainted Love’, and Los del Río’s ‘Macarena’ (it’s still a banger).
In professional sports, the term ‘one-hit wonder’ refers to an athlete that has a breakout all-star season after previous mediocrity only to return to sub-par performance after that. Russell Goldenberg and Jan Diehm of The Pudding used statistical analysis to determine the biggest single-season one-hit wonders in pro sports over the past 30 years. They ran the numbers for the NBA, PGA, MLB, ATP, and NHL (and the corresponding women’s pro leagues) to see where the statistical outliers were. Here’s what they found:
Dana Barros is the epitome of a one-hit wonder. His breakout 1994-95 season on the Sixers sent him to the All-Star game and earned him the Most Improved Player award. He put up 20 ppg, seven points higher than his next best season. (via)
Throughout his career, Dana Barros averaged as the 153rd ranked player in the NBA. At his peak he made it to #8 with his next closest season at #92.
PGA: Rich Beem
In 2002, Rich Beem won the PGA Championship after beating Tiger Woods by one-stroke. It was the first and only Major Championship win of Rich Beem’s career and he’s the biggest single-season one-hit wonder in the history of the PGA. After that 2002 PGA win, Rich Beem jumped to #7 in the world rankings. The following season he fell to #71 and the year after that he fell to #189. He would never crack the Top-100 rankings again and he averaged 134th over his career.
MLB: Dontrelle Willis
Dontrelle Willis ranked 8th in the MLB in 2005. He won MLB Rookie of the Year in 2003 with a WAR of 3.4 and overall MLB rank of 104. In 2005, he had a WAR of 6.5. The next year it dropped to a WAR of 3 and rank of 127. After that, Dontrelle’s rank dropped to 370 with a WAR of 0.9 and his career was all but over.
NHL: Jiri Hudler
Jiri Hudler’s career peaked in 2015 when he was the #13 ranked player in the NHL. He won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2008 but it would take until 2015 until his breakout season. Throughout his career, his median ranking was #220 and it bottomed out in the 2017/2018 when he couldn’t even land a contract.
The dudes at The Pudding also ranked Tennis, LPGA, and more. And they have some AWESOME graphs which illustrate just how these single-season one-hit wonders look when mapped against the rest of their careers. You should 100% check out their article because it’s one of the cooler articles I’ve come across in months.