David, Author at Baseball Roundtable

Walk-Off (or run-off – or swing-off) Endings that Caught Baseball Roundtable’s Eye

February 26, 2021 by David

Here’s another of those Baseball Roundtable blog posts that illustrate how “one thing leads to another” when I start looking into a topi. I recently completed a post on “Pinch-Hit Ultimate Grand Slams” – walk-off Grand Slams when the pinch-hitter’s team needed all four runs to chalk up the victory. (For that post, click here.) That research led me to look further into game-ending “walk-offs” of all kinds. Here are a few that I found particularly unique, interesting or historic.

Truly the All-Time WALK-Off

We hear a lot about walk-off home runs, but the Dodgers – on July 2, 2019 – pulled off the ultimate Walk–off. Los Angeles came into the bottom of the ninth trailing the Diamondbacks 4-3. Arizona brought in closer Greg Holland, who quickly recorded the first two outs. The Dodgers were now down to their last out, not knowing they were destined to mount a two-run, game-winning rally without putting the ball in play.

Dodgers’ LF Chris Taylor next faced Holland and put the Dodgers down to their last strike before drawing a full-count count walk. Then Russell Martin pinch hit for pitcher Yimi Garcia and drew a full-count walk. Next up was CF Alex Verdugo, who walked on five pitches. Then came 1B Matt Beaty, who walked on four pitches – tying the game at three runs apiece. At this point, the Diamondbacks brought T.J. McFarland to the mound, but the results were pretty much the same. RF Cody Bellinger walked on a 3-2 count, forcing in the winning run on a true walk-off walk. The entire two-out, five-walk series took 28 pitches. Game. Set. Match.

A Walk-Off … No, I Mean Run-Off, Victory

On this August 14, 1958, Vic Power became just the eleventh player in MLB history to steal home twice in one game – a feat that has not been accomplished since. Not only that, his second steal of home came in the bottom of the tenth inning, giving Power’s Indians a 10-9 win over Detroit – a true run-off, walk-off.

Here’s how that tenth inning went. 1B Mickey Vernon grounded out (Frank Lary was on the mound). Then, Power (playing third base that day) singled to right (his third hit of the day). Catcher Russ Nixon followed with another single, Power moving to second. LF Minnie Minoso grounded to short, with Power moving on to third, Nixon forced at second and Minoso reaching first on the fielder’s choice. CF Larry Doby was intentionally walked, loading the bases and bringing RF Rocky Colavito (in the midst of a 41-home run, 113 RBI season and with three RBI on the day) to the dish. On the fourth pitch to the Indians’ slugger, Power – who had been scampering up and down the third base line – broke for the plate and ended the game on a “run-off” steal of home. For more on MLB steals of home, click here.

Power, by the way, was not a very likely candidate to swipe home twice in a game. Going into that August 14 tilt, he had exactly one stolen base on the season – and he did not steal another bag that season. In fact, in twelve MLB seasons, Power stole just 45 bases (and was caught 35 times).

Kind of a Brummer – in a Good Way

On August 22, 1982, Cardinals’ catcher Glenn Brummer produced a notable walk-/run-off win. Brummer’s Cardinals were tied with the Giants in the bottom of the 12^th inning, with two-outs and a 2-2 count on LF David Green (facing Gary Lavelle). On Lavelle’s fifth pitch to Green, Brummer broke for home, getting in safety (to win the game) on a head first slide. What makes this one memorable (at least to me) is that Brummer stole only four bases (and was thrown out eight times) in his five-season MLB career.

Holy Moses

A total of 35 MLB games have ended with a steal of home. Wally Moses is the only player to accomplish the feat twice – once against the White Sox and once for them. On August 20, 1940, Moses’ tenth-inning steal of home gave his Philadelphia Athletics a 4-3 win over the White Sox. Then, on July 7, 1943, his fourteenth-inning swipe of home plate gave his White Sox a 3-2 win over the Red Sox.

You’ll Never see that Again

On May 28, 1993, the Cleveland Indians scored a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to tie the Minnesota Twins at 6-6. With Ted Power pitching, Twins’ 2B Chuck Knoblauch opened the bottom of the ninth inning with a single to center. That brought Eric Plunk in from the bullpen and he was greeted by a double to left (on a 1-2 pitch) by 1B Dave McCarty. Knoblauch was held at third. So, with runners on first and third, one out, the game on the line and the Twins’ best hitter (CF Kirby Puckett) coming up, the Indians decided to follow the traditional strategy – intentionally walking the future Hall of Famer to set up the double play. Oops! Plunk’s first intentionally high-and-outside pitch got past catcher Junior Ortiz and Knoblauch scampered home with the winning run-off run. With today’s “wave-em-to-first” intentional walk rule, we’ll never see this ending again.

I’ll Take a Pass on That

On August 15, 1970, with the Mets up on the Braves 2-1 and the Braves batting in the bottom of the ninth with one out and the bases loaded, Tom Seaver whiffed Atlanta catcher Blob Tillman. The ball, however, eluded Mets’ catcher Jerry Grote for a passed ball, allowing the tying run (Tony Gonzalez) to score from third base. Grote doubled down on the miscue with an errant throw to the plate, allowing Rico Carty – who had been at second base – to score the winning tally. So, Atlanta fans got to witness a game-ending, game-winning strikeout.

Walking Off a No-No

On August 23, 2017, only an error by third baseman Logan Forsythe had kept him from tossing nine perfect innings against the Pirates. After nine frames, he had given up no hits and no walks, while striking out ten (including Pittsburgh 2B Josh Harrison twice). Unfortunately, over 9 ½ innings, Hills’ teammates did not put any runs up on the score board. Pirate’s starter Trevor Williams had given up no runs – on seven hits and four walks – over eight frames; reliever Felipe Vazquez had pitched a one-hit scoreless ninth; and Juan Nicasio had pitched a 1-2-3 top of the tenth.

Leading off the bottom of the tenth was Harrison (zero-for-three with two strikeouts in the game). Harrison hit a 2-1 pitch for a walk-off, game-winning home run to left – becoming the first player to end an extra-inning no-hitter with a walk-off long ball. (It was his 16^th round tripper of the season. (Lots of qualifiers there, but – as I’ve said before – in baseball we count everything.) For past post on no-hitters lost late in the game, click here.

Latest Walk Off Win Ever

The longest game ever to end in walk-off fashion took 25 innings, eight hours and six minutes and two days to complete. It started on May 8, 1984, with the Brewers facing the White Sox at Comiskey – and seemed about to end twice before the 25th frame finale.

All in a Day’s Work

The longest game (in innings) took place on May 1, 1920 – as the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves played 26 innings (game called due to darkness) to a 1-1 tie. To show how the game has changed, the 26 frames were completed in just under four hours – and both starting pitchers (Joe Oeschger and Leon Cadore) went the distance.

The Brewers/White Sox game was tied 1-1 going into the ninth. Brewers’ SS Robin Yount opened the inning against Britt Burns with a double to left. After one out, he stole third and scored on a throwing error by catcher Carlton Fisk. Then, Milwaukee 1B Ted Simmons singled, went to second on a Burns’ wild pitch and scored on a single by LF Ben Oglivie – giving the Brew Crew a two-run lead. In the bottom of the inning, White Sox’ LF Tom Paciorek led off against Rollie Fingers and was safe on an error. Fingers retired the next two batters and the Brewers were one out from the win. However, Sox’ 2B Julio Cruz delivered an RBI double and CF Rudy Law followed with an RBI single – tying the game at three apiece. That’s where the score stayed until the end of the seventeenth inning, when it was suspended due to curfew rules.

The game resumed on May 9 and stayed at 3-3 until the top of the 21st, when Oglivie popped a two-out, three-run home run off Ron Reed to give the Brewers a 6-3 edge. Game over? Not so fast! In the bottom of the 21st, Law reached on an error and scored on a single by catcher Carlton Fisk (off Chuck Porter). Marc Hill (now in at 1B) then walked and, after Dave Stegman (now in at DH) fanned, RF Harold Baines walked and Paciorek delivered a two-run single. That ended the scoring and kept the game knotted, now at 6-6.

There was no more scoring until one-out in the bottom of the 25th, when Baines homered off Porter – giving the win to “reliever” Tom Seaver, who pitched the top of the 25th. It was the latest-ever MLB walk-off hit.

A few side notes: Carlton Fisk was behind the plate for the ChiSox for all 25 innings (He went three-for-eleven with a walk). Seven different players occupied the number-three spot in the White Sox batting order – although only five had a plate appearance. Chuck Porter, who took the loss, pitched the final 7 1/3 inning for the Brewers. For more on this contest some of MLB’s longest game, click here.

By The Numbers

In 1959, the Pirates racked up a single-season record 18 walk-off victories – despite finishing in fourth place, just two games over .500. That same campaign, they also won a pair of doubleheaders in which they took both games in walk-off fashion. They are one of five teams to accomplish that feat.

Here’s how they did it.

May 24 – Game One … 2-1 over Reds

The game was scoreless until the top of the ninth, when the Reds tallied once. The Pirates scored twice in the bottom of the inning, winning it on a two-out, walk-off, RBI double by PH Danny Kravitz.

May 24 – Game Two … 5-4 over the Reds

The Pirates scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 4-4. They won it in the tenth on a two-out, walk-off, RBI double by PH Smokey Burgess.

August 30 – Game One … 2-1 over Phillies

The Pirates won this one on a ninth-inning, two-out, RBI single by LF Bob Skinner.

August 30 – Game Two …. 7-6 over the Phillies

The Pirates were down 5-0 in this one at the end of six innings. They scored one in the seventh; two in the eighth; and two (to tie the game) in the ninth. In the top of the tenth, the Phillies tallied once to take the lead, but the Pirate prevailed on a one-out, two-run double by 1B Dick Stuart in the bottom of the inning.

Side note: 1959 saw Pirates’ reliever Roy Face put up his historic 18-1 (.947 winning percentage, 10 save, 2.70 ERA) season. Nine of his wins came in the Pirates’ 18 walk-off victories.

“Power”ful Book Ends

May 7, 1957, Vic Power’s Athletics were playing the Orioles in Kansas City. Power led off the bottom of the first for the A’s – and hit a home run to left off starter Hal Brown – Power’s first long ball of the season. Fast forward to the bottom of the tenth, with the game tied at 2-2. With one out – and Brown still on the mound – Power hit his second home run of the season (again to left field), giving the A’s a walk-off win and also making Power just the second player to hit a game opening and game-ending home run in the same contest – and he did it with his first two homers or the season. (For more on players – before and after Power – to open and close a game with a long ball click here.)

The Walk-Off Home Run Turned Double

One of the best (and most historic) games ever pitched ended in a walk-off win – but not for the team and pitcher you might expect.

On May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix took the mound against the power-laden Milwaukee Braves (who had won the National League pennant the previous two seasons and came into the game again leading the league). Haddix retired the first 36 hitters in order – fanning eight, carrying a perfect game into the bottom of the 13^th (the longest perfect outing ever).

Unfortunately, the Braves’ Lew Burdette, despite giving up 12 hits and fanning only two, had held the Pirates scoreless. (Like Haddix, Burdette had not issued a single free pass.) Milwaukee 2B Felix Mantilla led off the 13th by reaching on error by Pirates’ third baseman Don Hoak. Slugging 3B Eddie Mathews bunted Mantilla over to second, which led to an intentional walk to RF Hank Aaron, bringing up 1B Joe Adcock. Adcock rapped a 1-0 pitch over the right field fence for what appeared to be a three-run walk-off home run. However, the Braves, in celebrating the tension-filled victory, forgot how to run the bases. Adcock passed Aaron between second and third and, after some deliberation, Adcock was called out – ultimately changing his three-run homer to a one-run, walk-off double. So, despite 12 perfect innings, Haddix lost the no-hitter, the shutout and the game itself. But he did etch his name forever into baseball lore; and countless trivia quizzes.

Taking One (or Two) For the Team

On September 15, 2020, the Cubs came up in the bottom of the ninth tied with the Indians at five runs apiece. The Indians brought Oliver Perez in for the save and he retired the first batter – LF Ian Happ – on a fly out to RF. Next 3B Kris Bryant walked on a 3-2 pitch (in an eight-pitch at bat). Then, 1B Anthony Rizzo singled Bryant to third. That brought on Nick Wittgren to face DH Wilson Contreras, who was hit by a 1-1 pitch – loading the bases. On the very next pitch, PH Cameron Maybin was hit by a Wittgren pitch – leading to walk/hit-off 6-5 Cubs win.

Jim Thome holds the MLB career record for walk-off home runs at 13.

Inside-Out(side)

This post started with the research on pinch-hit “Ultimate Grand Slams” – walk-off Grand Slams hit when your team is down three runs. In that research, I came across a couple of non-pinch Ultimate Slams that interested me – one inside the park and one that went out of the field of play.

The first occurred on July 25, 1956. The Pirates entered the bottom of the ninth of a game against the Cubs trailing 8-5. With Turk Lown on the mound for the Cubs, the Pirates loaded the bases on two walks and a single. The Cubs then went to Jim Brosnan to face 21-year-old Roberto Clemente, who hit Brosnan’s first pitch over left fielder Jim King’s head. The line drive struck the fence, rebounding along the outfield warning track. The three base runners scampered home, tying the score. As Clemente approached third base, coach Bobby Bragan was putting up the “stop” sign – which the speeding Clemente ignored – ultimately sliding home with the winning walk-/run-off tally in a 9-8 win. In the process, he became, and still is, the only player with a inside-the-park Ultimate Grand Slam. Clemente, by the way, is reported to have paid a $25 fine for running through the stop sign.,

Now for one that left the field of play. Have to go with the well-known and historic Giants’ 5-4 win over Dodgers in the 1951 pennant-deciding playoff game. In that one, the Giants trailed 4-1 going into the bottom of the ninth. With Don Newcombe on the mound, the Giants started the ninth with a single by SS Al Dark, a single by RF Don Mueller, a foul pop out by LF Monte Irvin and run-scoring double by 1B Whitey Lockman. Ralph Branca came on to pitch and 3B Bobby Thomson hit his second pitch for a three-run, walk-off home run – and, of course, the Giants ticket to the World Series.

What a Way to Win a World Series

Okay, we all know about Bill Mazeroski’s tenth-inning, Game-Seven home run (off Ralph Terry) that gave the Pirates a walk-off 10-9 win and the 1960 World Series title. Why is it here? Because it gave the Pirates the Series’ despite the fact that, over the seven games, they were out hit by the Yankees; .338 to .256; 91 hits to 60; ten home runs to four – and were outscored 55 to 27. In the Series, the Pirates pitching staff put up a 7.11 ERA, to 3.54 for the Yankees. For more detail on this exciting World Series, click here.

Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; Baseball-Almanac.com; MLB.com

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He’ll Do In A Pinch – Baseball Roundtable Goes Deep … into the Pinch-hitting Record Book

February 19, 2021 by David

The Name Game

In 1958, Dave Philley – of the Philadelphia Phillies – ran off a string of eight consecutive pinch hits … still the most consecutive pinch hits in a single MLB season. The streak started on September 9 and stretched through the Phillies’ final game of the season (September 28). In those eight pinch-hitting appearances, Philley collected five singles, two doubles and one home run – driving in nine runs. Ironically, he started three games in right field during the streak – and went just one-for-twelve (a single), with one walk and one RBI. In the 1958 season, Philley hit .409 as a pinch hitter (18-for-44, with five walks, five doubles, one home run and 11 RBI. In non-pinch roles, he went 46-for-163 (.282), with six doubles, four triples, two home runs and 20 RBI.

Philley’s record of eight consecutive pinch hits in a season was tied by the Mets’ 39-year-old Rusty Staub in 1983. In a stretch from June 11 through June 26 that season, Staub went eight-for-eight as a pinch hitter – with two doubles, one home run and seven RBI. As a pinch hitter that season, Staub went 24-for-81, with three home runs, 25 RBI, 10 walks and just six strikeouts. (Staub’s 25 RBI give him a share of the MLB single-season pinch-RBI record – with Joe Cronin (Red Sox, 1943) and Jerry Lynch (Reds, 1981) In non-pinch roles, Staub went 10-for-34 (.294), with no homers and three RBI. In the final three seasons of his 23-season MLB career, Staub was used primarily as a pinch batsman. He appeared in 236 games – 223 as a pinch hitter. Staub, a six-time All Star , collected 2,716 career hits (.279), with 292 home runs and 1,466 RBI. As a pinch hitter, he was 99-for-358 (.277) with eight home runs, 92 RBI and 49 walks.

But, I‘ve digressed – back to Dave Philley. Other pinch-hitting records he also holds are the American League single-season record for pinch-hit at bats (72) and pinch hits (24). Both set with the Orioles in 1961. In his career, Philley hit 300 as a pinch hitter 92-for-307.

A Portent of Things to Come

On June 19, 1963, Tigers’ rookie Gates Brown had his first MLB at bat. It came as a pinch hitter (against the Red Sox’ Bob Heffner), leading off the top of the fourth inning, with the Tigers down 4-1. (Brown was hitting for pitcher Don Mossi). It was a fairly inconsequential at bat (the Tigers lost 9-2), except for the fact that Brown joined the club of players delivering a pinch-hit homer in their first MLB at bat. It also was a portent of things to come, as Brown went on to set (and still holds) the American League record for career pinch-hit at bats (414) pinch hits (107) and pinch-hit home runs (16).

The overall MLB records for career pinch-hit at bats (804) and pinch hits (212) belong to Lenny Harris. In his 18-season MLB career (1988-2005). Harris delivered pinch hits for the Reds, Dodgers, Mets, Giants, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Brewers, Cubs and Marlins.

One “Grand” Opening Salvo

On August 31, 2005, Marlins’ rookie Jeremy Hermida came to bat against Cardinals’ reliever Alberto Reyes with The Fish down 10-0. It would seem a bit of a “no pressure” situation for a first trip to the plate – except that the bases were loaded (no outs). Hermida took a 1-1 fastball over the left field wall – becoming the first (and still only) player to hit a pinch-hit Grand Slam in their first plate appearance. To date, Hermida also is one of only four players to hit a Grand Slam in their first at bat.

Put Me in Coach – I’m Ready to Hit

In 2017, 43-year-old Ichiro Suzuki was winding down a career that saw him record ten seasons of 200+ base hits. At this point, he was with the Marlins and was an offensive weapon coming off the bench. That season Ichiro appeared in 136 games – an MLB single-season record 109 as a pinch hitter. He also logged a single-season record 100 pinch-hit at bats, collecting 27 hits for a .270 average.

Well, That’s Rich

Rich Reese only hit 52 home runs in his 10-season MLB career (1964-73) – and just three of those were Grand Slams – but that performance still got him into the long-ball record books. All three of Reese ‘s Grand Slam home runs were as a pinch hitter. This puts him in a tie with Ben Broussard, Willie McCovey and Ron Northey for the most pinch-hit Grand Slams in a career. Reese’s MLB career stretched from 1964-73 (all but part of the 1973 with the Twins). He hit .253-52-245 in 866 games. His best season was 1869, when he hit .322-16-69 in 132 games.

Seventh-Heaven … or Making those Long Balls Count

In 2000, Dodgers’ utility player Dave Hansen hit .289, with eight home runs and 26 RBI – but still the season was one for the record books. Seven of Hansen’s eight long balls came in a pinch-hitting role, setting a new single-season record for pinch-hit home runs. Three of Hansen’s seven pinch-hit home runs came in the seventh inning, two in the eighth and two in the ninth and six of the seven either tied the game (four) or gave the Dodgers the lead (two). In each case, Hansen was hitting in the nine-hole – six times for the pitcher and once for a pinch-hitter (for the pitcher), who had been announced, but was pulled when the opposing manager made a pitching change.

In 2000, Hansen was in the tenth of his eventual 15 MLB seasons. That campaign, he had a total of 147 plate appearances (in 102 games), with 65 of those PA’s coming as a pinch hitter. He went .273-7-14 in that role, adding ten walks for a .385 on-base percentage. In 82 non-pinch-hitting plate appearances, he hit ,303-1-12, with 16 walks (.439 OBP).

Hansen’s MLB career stretched from 1990 through 2005 (Dodger, Cubs, Padres, Mariners). He appeared in 1,230 games, starting just 341. He retired with a stat line of .260-35-222; .234-15-81 as a pinch hitter. Hansen made appearances defensively at 3B, 1B, LF, SS and 2B.

Well, That Didn’t Last Long

Dave Hansen set a new MLB single-season record of eight pinch-hit home runs during the 2000 season. However, his sole possession of that mark didn’t last long. The very next season, a 24-year-old Pirate rookie 1B/C named Craig Wilson collected a pinch-hit home run for his very first major league hit (May 1 against the Giants). Wilson went on to collect six more pinch-hit round trippers (out of a total of 13 home runs) in his rookie season – tying Hansen’s all-time mark. Wilson finished the 2001 season with a stat line of .310-13-32 in 88 games. He appeared 43 times as a pinch-hitter, going .294 (10-for-34) with 11 RBI and seven walks in that role. Wilson’s pinch-hit homers came in the fifth (one), sixth (two), seventh (one), eighth (two) and ninth (one) innings – four of the long balls gave the Pirates the lead and one was a walk-off homer.

Craig Wilson had a total of ten pinch hits in 2001, seven of them for home runs.

Wilson played seven MLB seasons (2001-2007 … Pirates, Yankees, Braves), hitting .262-99-292. As a pinch hitter, he hit .213-12-25, with 12 walks in 124 plate appearances. After hitting .310 as a rookie (88 games), he never reached .270 again. His best season was 2004, when he hit .264-29-82 in 155 games for Pittsburgh.

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—-Pinch Hitters with Ultimate (or even Ultra Ultimate) Grand Slams—-

Ah, the beauty of the “Ultimate Grand Slam” – a walk-off, game-winning Grand Slam coming when your team is down by three runs. And, for BBRT, there is the “Ultra” Ultimate Grand Slam – a walk-off Grand Slam with your squad down by three runs and down to it last out. Let’s look at those spectacular long balls and the players who hit them. First, those that make the BBRT “Ultra” list … coming with two outs in the final frame. There are three.

Carl Taylor, Cardinals, August 11, 1970

The Cardinals were trailing the Padres 10-6 going into the bottom of the ninth on that August 11 evening. Singles to three of the first four batters cut the margin to three tallies. Two batters later (a fielder’s choice and a walk) – with two out and the bases loaded – Carl Taylor was called upon to pinch hit for Cardinals’ pitcher Harry Parker. His walk-off Grand Slam (off Ron Herbel) to deep left gave the Cardinals an 11-10 win. It was the C/OF’s sixth and final home run of the 1970 season, in which he went .249-6-45. Taylor played six MLB seasons (1968-73), going .266-10-115. After the game, Taylor told reporters it was his first Grand Slam ever “even in Little League.”)

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A Tidy Set of Bookends

Carl Taylor’s “Ultra” Ultimate Grand Slam (for the Cardinals) was his last major league home run (despite playing three more MLB seasons). It came off Padres’ pitcher Ron Herbel. Coincidentally, Taylor also hit his first MLB home run off Herbel on May 25, 1969. At the time, Taylor was with the Pirates and Herbel with the Giants.

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Roger Freed, Cardinals, May 1, 1979

Roger Freed gets credit for the only extra inning Ultimate Grand Slam – and there’s a good chance a lot of the hometown crowd missed the big blow. The Astros and Cardinals were tied 3-3 at the end of nine and the Houston erupted for three runs in the top of the eleventh inning (No doubt, sending some St. Louis fans heading for the exits). The Redbirds, however, put together a single and two walks (interrupted by a pair of strikeouts) to load the bases for pinch hitter Roger Freed (hitting for LF Jerry Murphy). Freed then touched Joe Sambito for a two-out, walk-off game-winning Grand Slam for a 7-6 Cardinals’ victory. It was one of only two home runs Freed would hit that season, when the 1B/OF put up a .258-2-8 stat line. Freed appeared in 34 games that season – 33 as a pinch hitter. (He started one game at 1B – his last in MLB- and went two-for-four with a double and toe RBI.)

Minor League MVP

Roger Freed was selected as the International League Most Valuable Player (.334-24-130 for the Rochester Red Wings) in 1970 and the American Association Most Valuable Player (.309-42-102 for the Denver Bears) in 1976.

Freed played eight MLB seasons (1970-72, 1974, 1976-79), hitting .245-22-109 in 344 games. Despite the .245 career average, he hit for a .398 average (33-for-83 in 49 games) for the Cardinals in 1977. That season, he hit .395 (9-for-23) as a pinch-hitter. Freed was a career .269 hitter in the pinch.

Dave Bote, Cubs, August 12, 2018

On August 12, 2018, the Cubs came into the bottom of the ninth trailing the Washington Nationals 3-0 – having been handcuffed by Max Scherzer (three hits, one walk and 11 whiffs in seven innings) and Koda Glover (one hit in the eighth). The Nationals brought in Ryan Madson to pitch – and then things got a little wild. Madson got 2B Ben Zobrist out on a grounder to first to open the inning, then gave up a single to RF Jason Heyward. He then hit CF Albert Almora on an 0-1 pitch, got LF Kyle Schwarber on a foul pop and hit C Wilson Contreras on a 2-2 pitch to load the bases. The Cubs brought in rookie infielder Dave Bote to pinch hit for pitcher Justin Wilson and, with a 2-2 count (the Cubs down to their last strike), Bote took a mid-90s fastball to deep center for an “Ultra” Ultimate Slam- giving the Cubs a walk-off 4-3 victory. At the time of his Ultimate Grand slam, Bote was hitting .329, with three home runs (including the Slam). He hit just .176, with three home runs the rest of the way – to finish the season at .239-6-33.

Bote, a utility infielder, has played three MLB seasons (2018-20), hitting .240-24-103. As a pinch hitter, however, he has excelled. Through his first three seasons, Bote is .342-2-14, with six walks in 45 games as a pinch hitter (444 on-base percentage).

Now for the Ultimate Grand Slams that came with less than two out.

Sammy Byrd, Reds, May 23, 1936

Sammy Byrd came up in the bottom of the ninth (pinch-hitting for pitcher Don Brennan) against the Pirates’ Cy Blanton with his Reds down 3-0, no outs and the bases loaded – and delivered a walk-off Grand Slam for a 4-3 win. (Byrd was the third pinch hitter used by the Reds that inning.) Byrd would hit only one more home run in his MLB career (1929-36), during which the outfielder put up a .274-38-220 stat line. As a pinch hitter, he went .284-2-24 in 115 games.

Jack Phillips, Pirates, July 8, 1950

Jack Phillips came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth (pinch hitting for pitcher Murry Dickson) against the Cardinals’ Harry Brecheen with his Pirates down 6-3, the bases loaded and one out. He homered to left-center to give the Pirates a 7-6 walk-off win. Phillips played nine MLB seasons (1947-52, 1955-57) – never appearing in more than 70 games in a campaign. Observers did say Phillips had a brush with greatness, indicating his Ultimate Grand Slam tipped off the end of Stan Musial;s outstretched glove as it cleared the left field fence. Phillips, primarily a backup corner infielder, played a total of 343 MLB games, going .283-9-101. In that 1953 season, Phillips played in 69 games, hitting .293-5-34. The home runs and RBI were career highs.

Brooks Conrad, Braves, May 20, 2010

Brooks Conrad’s pinch-hit Ultimate Grand Slam was part quite a remarkable Braves’ comeback. Atlanta entered the bottom of the ninth of its May 20, 2010 game against the Reds trailing by a 9-3 score. With Mike Lincoln on the mound for Cincy, the Braves inning went like this: 1B Troy Glaus-single; LF Eric Hinske – single; SS Yunel Escobar – single (loading the bases); CF Nate McLouth – two-run single. At this point, Nick Masset replaced Lincoln on the mound and quickly walked C David Ross. Martin Prado (2B) then reached on an error, scoring Escobar and leaving the bases loaded and the Braves trailing by three. Enter pitcher Arthur Rhodes, who fanned RF Jason Heyward on a 3-2 pitch. The Reds then brought in Francisco Cordero to face Conrad, who was hitting for pitcher Craig Kimbrel. On a 2-2 offering, Conrad delivered a long fly to left field that bounced off LF Laynce Nix’s glove and into the stands for an Ultimate Slam – topping a seven-run ninth inning rally and giving the Braves a 10-9 walk-off win. (Notably, Conrad would deliver a second pinch-hit Grand Slam in the 2010 season – in the eighth inning of a July 24 game against the Marlins).

Conrad (a utility infielder) played 293 games in six MLB seasons (2008-2012, 2014). He averaged .200 over 460 at bats (164 of them as a pinch hitter), with 19 home runs and 73 RBI. The 2010 season, when he notched those two pinch-hit Grand Slams, was his best in the majors – .250-8-33 (all career highs) in 103 games. Those two 2010 pinch-hit Grand Slam were the only Grand Slams of his career.

Brian Bogusevic, Astros, August 16, 2011

Brian Bogusevic (Do you have his baseball card?) came to the plate against the Cubs’ Carlos Marmol in the bottom of the ninth inning (August 16, 2011), with Bogusevic’s Astros trailing 5-2, with one out and the bases loaded. He was hitting for pitcher Aneury Rodriguez – and he delivered, popping a 2-2 pitch out of the park (left-center) for a 6-5 walk-off Astros’ win. Bogusevic, an outfielder, played in five MLB seasons (2010-13, 2015). He hit .238-19-67 in 321 games. That Ultimate Slam was his only career Grand Slam. He had a solid season in the pinch in 2011, going 10-for-33 (.303) with one home run and five RBI. On the season, he was .287-4-15 in 87 games.

Mound Movement

Brian Bogusevic was the 24th overall pick in the 2005 MLB Draft (Astros) – as a pitcher. He went 14-21, 5.09 in four minor-league seasons before being converted to the outfield. In three years at Tulane University (159 games), he was a two-way standout – going 25-11, 3.65 on the mound and .330-14-129 at the plate.

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It Doesn’t Matter Who You Hit It For – as Long as You Hit It

No one had more pinch-hit home runs in a career than Matt Stairs – with 23. Stairs pinch-hit long balls for the A’s, Brewers, Pirates, Royals, Tigers, Blue Jays, Phillies and Padres. Stairs enjoyed a 19-season MLB career – going .262-265-899 in 1,895 games.

Smokey Just Smokin’ ‘Em

No player racked up more pinch-hit RBI than Forrest “Smokey” Burgess. Over his 18 MLB seasons (1949, 1951-67 … Cubs, Phillies, Reds, Pirates, White Sox). Burgess drove in 146 runs in 589 appearances as a pinch-hitter (.285 average, 16 home runs). An All Star catcher in six seasons,Burgess played 1,691 career games, hitting .295, with 126 home runs and 673 RBI.

Smokey Burgess led National catchers in fielding percentage in three seasons.

Rack ‘Em Up Coach

In 1995, the Rockies’ Johnny Vander Wal came to the plate 85 times as a pinch hitter. He collected 28 hits (seven doubles, one triple and four home runs) and 12 walks (.389 average and .471 on-base percentage). His 28 pinch-hit safeties are the MLB single-season record. Vander Wal played 14 MLB seasons (1991-2004), going 261-97-430. As a pinch hitter, he hit.236-17-95. Of his 3,166 career plate appearances, 624 (19.7 percent) were as a pinch-hitter.

Don’t want anything to Do with That

In 1999, the Mets’ Matt Franco appeared in 122 games – 80 as a pinch hitter. In 25 percent of those pinch plate appearances, he drew a free pass (the MLB single-season record for a pinch batter). This despite a .235 1999 batting average and a .237 average as a pinch hitter that season. Franco played in eight MLB seasons (1995-2000, 2002-03). He hit .267-22-117 in 661 games. In 399 games as a pinch hitter, he hit .238-7-51.

A Better “Eye” Off the Bench?

In 1999, Matt Franco drew 20 free passes in 80 plate appearances as a pinch hitter and just eight walks in 81 plate appearances as at bats in a non-pinch-hitting role.

That’s Clearly Above Average

Baseball-Almanac.com credits the Met’s Ed Kranepool with the highest-ever season pinch-hitting average (among players with at least 30 pinch at bats in the season). In 1974, Kranepool hit .486 (17-for-35) – with three doubles, one triple and one home run – as a pinch hitter. For his career, Kranepool was .277-6-55 (.270 average) with 36 walks in 370 appearances as a pinch hitter. Kranepool played in 18 MLB seasons (1962-79), all with the Mets. He hit .261-118-614 in 1,853 games.

Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; Baseball-Almanac.com; MLB.com.

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Filed Under: BB Fun Facts

Baseball Roundtable “Who’s Your Daddy?” Series … Lefty Grove Edition

February 5, 2021 by David

Tex Vache … Perfect Against Lefty Grove

Boston Red Sox outfielder Ernest Lewis “Tex” Vache faced Hall of Fame southpaw Lefty Grove just four times in his MLB career – but went four-for-four (three singles and a double) – the most hits against Grove of any player to put up a 1.000 batting average against him.

Vache (who served on a U.S. Navy minesweeper in World War I and left the Navy in 1919) did not make his professional (minor-league) debut until age 31 and made his first MLB roster in 1925 (at age 35). Vache played just one MLB season, hitting .313-3-48 in 110 games for the Red Sox. After the season,Vache was traded to the Tigers, who then sent him on to Fort Worth of the Texas League. (Vache eventually played the 1926 season with the Pacific Coast League Mission Bells, hitting .302 in 88 games). He toiled in the minor leagues until 1929, but never appeared in the majors again (most often attributed to his age and fielding issues.)

From Ted Vache’s one-season MLB career, we segue into the Lefty Grove Edition of the Baseball Roundtable’s “Who’s Your Daddy?” series.

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Who’s Your Daddy? What’s it all about?

In this series, BBRT presents lineups of players who performed unexpectedly well against baseball’s top pitchers. (An explanation of the inspiration behind the Who’s Your Daddy? series can be found the end of this post.) As always, I would stress that the pitchers included in the Who’s Your Daddy? series are among the “best in the business.” They are selected not because of the players who performed well against them, but rather because success among hitters when they were on the mound was the exception rather than the rule. We’ve looked at pitchers from a wide range of eras – from Bob Feller to Nolan Ryan to Max Scherzer. We going even farther back in this post – to the players who seemed to be able to deal with the offerings of Hall of Famer Robert Moses “Lefty” Grove.

Before we get started on this edition, focusing on the Hall of Fame southpaw, here are links to the previous editions of this series:

Nolan Ryan, click here.
Sandy Koufax, click here.
Pedro Martinez, click here.
Bob Gibson, click here.
Randy Johnson, click here.
Greg Maddux, click here.
Justin Verlander, click here.
Bob Feller, click here.
Roger Clemens, click here.
Max Scherzer, click here.
Tom Seaver, click here.
Mariano Rivera, click here.
Warren Spahn, click here.

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Photo by rchdj10

Lefty Grove – considered by many to be the best left-handed pitcher of all time – was known for having a white-hot fastball and a red-hot temper.

Grove finished his 17-season (1925-41) MLB career with 300 wins and a .680 winning percentage (141 losses). The six-time All Star (remember, the first All Star Game took place in 1935) led the American League in wins four times, winning percentage five times, earned run average nine times, complete games three times, shutouts three times and strikeouts seven times.

Going deeper, Grove also led the league in WHIP five times, strikeouts per nine innings five times and strikeouts-to-walks ratio seven times. His nine ERA titles are the most all time.

I’ll Take Grove for the Win

Lefty Grove’s .680 winning percentage is the best among pitchers with 300 or more MLB victories.

Grove won 20 or more games in seven seasons and threw 20 or more complete games in nine campaigns. He was 4-2, 1.75 in eight World Series appearances (five starts).

MVP-MVP

Lefty Grove was the 1931 American League MVP, when he went 31-4, 2.06 for the Philadelphia Athletics – winning one of his two pitching Triple Crowns (Wins-ERA-Strikeouts). That season, he ran off a sixteen-decision winning streak (June 8-August 19), during which he started 14 games and relieved in four (two saves), He notched 13 complete games (with a 2.30 ERA in that span). The streak was broken on August 23, when Grove lost a 1-0 complete game to Dick Coffman and the St. Louis Browns. (Coffman pitched a three-hit shutout.) After that tough loss, Grove went on to win his next six decisions – during which he threw five complete games in six starts and notched an even stringier 1.61 ERA.

Grove did not get his first taste of organized ball until he was 19 (town ball), where he quickly earned a reputation for dispatching hitters via the strikeout, He was signed at the age of 20 by the Class D Martinsburg Mountaineers – and went 3-3, 1.68, with 60 strikeouts in 59 innings before the International League (Double-A) Baltimore Orioles came calling. That season, Grove went 12-2, 3.80 at Baltimore, where he stayed until 1924. (From 1920-24, he went 111-39, 2.90 in the minors.) Before the 1925 season, Grove was purchased from the Orioles by the Philadelphia Athletics for $100,600 (just under $1.5 million in today’s dollars) and started his MLB career in 1925. The rest, as they say, is history.

Still, Grove didn’t dominate every hitter who stepped into the batter’s box. There were these batmen:

Note on chart: Baseball-References indicates game logs before 1973 are not complete. In the chart above, game logs (versus Grove) are missing for Charlie Gehringer (four games); Hank Greenberg (two games); Fred Schulte (one game); and Billy Rogell (three games). Throughout this post, I have noted instances of incomplete game logs.

Now, let’s take a look at the Lefty Grove “Who’s Your Daddy?” position-by-position line up.

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Catcher – Rollie Hemsley (.353 average)

In 1938, a season in which Lefty Grove went 14-4 and had the American League’s lowest qualifying earned run average at 3.08, Indians’ catcher Rollie Hemsley faced him in just one game (June 27). At the time, Grove was 11-2 on the season with a 2.98 earned run average. Hemsley, batting in the eight-hole, came into the game hitting .215 on the season and had played in just 20 the team’s first 58 contests. In the course of the game, Hemsley would go four-for-four (a double and three singles), raising his average 46 points. In the eight seasons he faced Grove, Hemsley hit .333 or better in four.

The Right Place at the Right Time

Rollie Hemsley caught Bob Feller’s (April 16, 1940) Opening Day no-hitter – the only Opening Day No-No in MLB history. That, of course, makes Hemsley the only MLB player to catch an Opening Day no-hitter. Hemsley also had two of the Indians’ six hits and drove in the game’s only run with a two-out, fourth-inning triple. Side note: Hemsley did gain some notoriety as Feller’s “personal catcher.”

Hemsley played 19 major league seasons (1928-44 … missing 1945 due to military service). He suited up for the Pirates, Cubs, Reds, Browns, Indians, Yankees and Phillies. (Hemsley played in 100 or more games in just six of those 19 seasons.) He was a five-time All Star, with a final career stat line of .262-31-555. His best season was 1934, when he hit .309, with 31 doubles, seven triples, two home runs, 52 RBI and six steals for the Saint Louis Browns. (The average, triples, RBI and steals were all career highs.)

Honorable Mention: Rick Ferrell, a career .281 hitter, hit .313, with one home run and ten RBI in 29 games versus Grove. Note: Two games (logs) versus Grove are missing from Ferrell’s totals.

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First Base – Hank Greenberg (nine home runs, 33 RBI)

Hank Greenberg’s nine home runs versus Lefty Grove tied him for the most career long balls against the Hall of Fame southpaw. The others with nine dingers against Grove are Yankee stars Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Greenberg, however, faced Grove in 38 fewer games than Gehrig and 13 fewer games than Ruth. Greenberg’s 32 RBI versus Grove also trail only Gehrig (45) and Ruth (33).

As noted earlier, two games (logs) versus Grove are missing from Greenberg’s totals.

Tea (me up) – for Two…

Hank Greenberg is one of only six players with a season of 60 or more doubles. Here they are: Earl Webb (1931 – 67 doubles); George Burns (1926 – 64 doubles); Joe Medwick (1936 – 64 doubles); Hank Greenberg (1934 – 63 doubles); Paul Waner (1932 – 62 doubles); Charlie Gehringer (1936 – 60 doubles).

Greenberg played 13 MLB seasons (1933-47, missing 1942-44 for military service). He played all but his final season with the Tigers … suiting up for the Pirates in 1947. The Hall of Famer was a career .313 hitter (.412 on-base percentage), with 331 home runs, 1,274 RBI and 1,046 runs scored. Greenberg was a two-time AL Most Valuable Player and a four-time All Star. He led the American League in home runs four times (a high of 58 in 1938), RBI four times (topping 100 in seven seasons), doubles twice (topping 40 five times) and runs scored once (with 100+ in six seasons). His best season could be called for either 1937 (.337-40-184) or 1938 (.315-58-147). Take your pick.

All or Nothing

On September 21, 21, 1937, Hank Greenberg had a truly “all or nothing” game against Grove. He came to the plate five times versus the Hall of Fame southpaw and went: strikeout; strikeout; two-run home run; three-run home run; strikeout. (It was one of two multi-home games Greenberg had against Grove.) Grove, by the way, went the distance in a 12-7 Red Sox win over Greenberg’s Tigers – giving up seven runs (four earned).

Honorable Mention: Lou Gehrig hit .306 against Grove over his career. In addition, Gehrig’s nine home runs tied for the most career long balls versus Grove (with Babe Ruth and Hank Greenberg, pretty good company); his 45 RBI against Grove were the highest of any hitter; his twelve doubles third; his 66 hits second; and his 26 walks first. Still, Greenberg gets this spot in the lineup for having done his damage in far fewer games and plate appearances. Consider: Gehrig’s slugging percentage against Grove was .551 to Greenberg’s .632 and his .380 on-base percentage versus Grove trailed Greenberg’s .395). In addition, Greenberg had more walks (18) than strikeouts (14) versus Grove, while Gehrig fanned 47 times (versus 26 walks) versus Lefty.

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Second Base – Aaron Ward (.342 average/.409 on-base percentage.

Aaron Ward reached Lefty Grove for a .342 average and .409 on-base percentage in 17 games – getting off to a good start by collecting a bases-loaded walk and a three-run home run in his two plate appearances in his first game against Grove (May 4, 1925 (Grove’s rookie campaign.) In three seasons facing Grove, Ward (a .268 career hitter) put up averages of .313, .333 and .368.

Note: One game (log) is missing from Ward’s totals versus Grove.

House the Ruth Built

It may have been “The House the Ruth Built,” but the first Yankee to collect a hit in the original Yankee Stadium was second baseman Aaron Ward – a single to lead off the third inning. (The first hit, overall, was off the bat of Red Sox’ first baseman George Burns in the top of the second. Side note: The Yankees, behind Bob Shawkey’s complete game, won 4-1 – and Babe Ruth hit the first home run in the new ballpark, a three-run shot in the bottom of the third inning.

Ward played 12 MLB seasons (1917-1928), the first ten with the Yankees and then one season each with the White Sox and Indians. Known as one the best fielders of his era, Ward played in 1,059 games, hitting .268 with 50 home runs and 446 RBI. In 1923, he led AL second baseman in fielding percentage and assists and was second in both putouts and double plays. He also led the league in assists in 1923 and was in the top-three AL second basemen in fielding percentage four times. His best offensive season was 1922, when he hit .284 with 10 home runs and 81 RBI.

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Third Base – Ken Keltner (.419, three home runs)

Ken Keltner hit .419, with power, in nine games versus Grove. His batting average was the fifth-highest among players with at least 25 at bats versus Grove and his .871 slugging percentage was tops among that group. Keltner had only one hit in his first seven at bats (first two games) versus Grove – and went 12-for-24 in his next seven contests against him.

Keltner played 13 MLB seasons (1937-50, missing 1945 due to military service). He played all but his final season with the Indians. Keltner, a seven-time All Star and one of the slickest fielding third basemen of his time, was a career .276 hitter (1,526 games), with 163 home runs and 852 RBI. His best campaign was 1946, when he went ..297-31-119 (with career highs in home runs and RBI). He twice topped 100 RBI and hit a high of .325 in 1939. Keltner led American League third basemen in double plays five times, assist four times, fielding percentage three times and putouts once.

The Culprit

Joe DiMaggio often referred to Keltner as “The Culprit.” On July 17. The Yankees were playing the Indians in Cleveland and DiMaggio was looking to extend his record-setting hitting streak to 57 games. He went zero-for-three (with a walk) in that game and two of the three outs were the result of exceptional backhand grabs (and throws) on sharp ground balls down the third baseline – Keltner’s territory. (DiMaggio, by the way, famously hit safely in his first sixteen games after the streak was halted.)

Honorable Mention: Ben Chapman suited up against Lefty Grove in 35 games between 1930 and 1940, picking up 33 hits in 100 at bats (.330), with six doubles, one triple, two home runs and 15 RBI.

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Shortstop Lyn Lary (.338 average)

Lyn Lary, a .269 career hitter over 12 MLB seasons, hit .338 in 30 games against Lefty Grove. He also drew ten walks against Grove, for a .414 career on-base percentage.

Lary played 12 MLB seasons (1929-40), taking the field for the Yankees, Indians, Senators, Browns, Dodgers and Cardinals. He played 1,302 games, hitting .269 with 38 home runs, 526 RBI, 805 runs and 162 stolen bases. His best season was for the 1931 Yankees, when he .280, with 10 long balls, 107 RBI and 100 runs scored in 155 games.

One for the Bombers

Lyn Lary drove in 107 runs for the Yankees in 1931 – still the most RBI in a season ever for a Yankee shortstop. (Derek Jeter is second with 102 in 1999.) In his first three season in the major leagues – Yankees … 1929-31 – Lary hit .289-18-185 in 352 games.

Over his career, Lary scored 100 or more runs in three seasons, stole 20+ bases in four seasons (leading the AL with 37 steals in 1936) and hit .280 or higher in five campaigns.

Honorable Mention: Luke Appling (.324-0-14 in 39 games against Grove). Note: Two games (logs) are missing from Appling’s totals versus Grove.

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Outfield – Harry Heilmann (33 hits – 11 for extra bases – and a .440 average)

Harry Heilmann hit .440 against Lefty Grove, second only to Tris Speaker’s .444 among hitters with at least 25 at bats against the Hall of Fame lefty. Heilmann also tied for the fifth-most regular season home runs versus Grove and had the second-highest on-base percentage and second-highest slugging percentage (again among those with at least 25 at bats versus Grove). Heilmann drops to fourth in batting average and on-base percentage if you drop the qualifying at bats to twenty. In the five seasons he faced Grove (1925-20), Heilmann hit under .400 against him only once (.278 in 1928) and hit .500 or better in three seasons.

Note: Three games (logs) are missing from Heilmann’s totals versus Grove.

Heilmann played 17 MLB season (1914, 1916-29 for the Tigers and 1930 and 1932 for the Reds). The Hall of Famer collected 2,660 hits for a .342 average – winning four batting titles along the way (and hitting a high of .403 in 1932.). Heilmann’s final line was .342-183-1,543. He led the AL in hits once (and topped 200 hits in four seasons); led the league in RBI once (with 100+ RBI eight times); topped the AL in doubles once (with 40 or more two-baggers in eight seasons); scored 100+ ruins in four seasons; stole 10+ bases in four; and recorded double digits in triples nine times.

Just Your Oddly AVERAGE Guy

In the seven seasons from 1921-1927, Harry Heilmann hit .380, with 104 home runs, 815 RBI and 727 runs scored. He won the American League batting title in each odd-numbered years during that span.

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Outfield – Babe Ruth (Nine homers, .311 average)

Babe Ruth tied Lou Gehrig and Hank Greenberg for the most home runs against Lefty Grove (nine) and only Gehrig drove in more runs against Grove (45) than Ruth (33) – and Ruth put up this numbers in 25 fewer games and 97 fewer at bats against Grove than Gehrig. While Grove held Ruth below his .342 career average, the Bambino hit a respectable .311 versus Lefty. Ruth had a pair of multiple home run games against Grove.

Ouch:

In 1933, Babe Ruth blasted off to a good start against Lefty Grove, homering in his first two at bats against him. He came to the plate against Grove 15 more times that season and collected just one hit (a single) and one walk, while fanning eight times and getting the ball out of the infield just twice (his lone single and a fly out to RF). To be fair, Ruth did go eight-for-eighteen (.444) against Grove in 1926.

What can’t you say about the Babe? He put up a .342-714-2,214 line, and recorded a record 12 home run crowns (11 seasons of 40 or more long balls); eight times led the league in runs scored (12 season of 100+); five times topped the league in RBI (11 season of 100+); led his league 11 time in walks; and captured one batting crown.

In 1920, Babe Ruth popped 54 home runs for the Yankees – more than any other TEAM in the American League.
Babe Ruth put up a 0.87 World Series earned run average, giving up just three runs in 31 WS innings pitched. His World Series batting average (in 41 games) was .326.
In 1918, Babe Ruth led the American league in home runs (11) and hit an even .300, while also gong 13-7, 2.22 and tossing 18 complete games (19 starts) as a pitcher.
Babe Ruth broke the all -time MLB Home run record in three straight seasons (1919-1920-1921).
Babe Ruth still holds the record for the longest mound outing in a World Series game – going 14 innings in a 2-1 complete-game win (for Boston) in the 1916 World Series.

Comparing Strong Left Arms

Babe Ruth’s pitching skills mirrored those of Lefty Grove. Ruth was 94-46, for a .671 winning percentage, just shy of Grove’s .680. Ruth completed 72.7 percent of his 147 starts, while Grove finished 65.2 percent of his 457 starting assignments. Ruth did put up a 2.28 ERA to Groves’ 3.06 – but Ruth pitched primarily before the live ball ERA. When you look at their earned run averages versus standards of their time, Grove has a bit of an edge. Grove did hold a notable edge in strikeouts averaging 5.2 per nine innings to Ruth’s 3.6 whiffs per nine innings. Note: Ruth was a two-time 20-game winner and topped the American league in ERA, complete games and shutouts once each (in just three seasons of more than 20 starts).

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Outfield – Al Simmons (.436 average).

Al Simmons .436 average against Grove is the fifth-highest among hitters with at least 20 at bats versus Grove (if you set the bar at 25 at bats, he moves up to third.) Among those with at least 20 at bats against Grove, Simmons’ .691 slugging percentage is the fourth-highest and his .466 on-base percentage ranks fifth. In addition, Simmons drove in 14 runs against Grove in just 17 games. Simmons faced Grove in six seasons (1933-38) and hit .357 or better versus Grove in all of those campaigns. In 1936, he went .467 (seven-for-fifteen) versus Grove, with two home runs and six RBI in five contests.

Note: Two games (logs) are missing from Simmons’ totals versus Grove.

Simmons played in 20 MLB seasons (1924-41, 1943-44), playing for the Athletics, White Sox, Senators, Braves, Red Sox and Reds. He complied a .334 career average, hitting .300+ in 13 full seasons and winning a pair of batting titles (.381 in 1930 and .390 in 1931). The three-time All Star led the league in hits twice (collecting 200 or more safeties in six seasons), runs scored once (topping 100 runs in six seasons) and RBI once (topping 100 in 12 seasons). He had four seasons of 40+ doubles, seven season with double-digits in triples and three seasons of 30+ home runs. His best campaign was 1931, when he hit .381, with 36 home runs, 165 RBI and 152 runs scored in 138 games. His career stat line was .334-307-1,828, with 1,507 runs scored.

That’s Right!

Al Simmons’ 253 base hits in 1925 are the most ever for a right-handed hitter and the fifth-most all-time behind lefty swingers Ichiro Suzuki (262 in 2004), George Sisler (257 in 1920), Lefty O’Doul (254 in 1929) and Bill Terry 254 in 1930).

Honorable Mentions: Honorable mentions in the outfield include: Tris Speaker, who hit .444-0-7 in eight games against Grove (and who needed more games or a bit more power to crack this lineup); Joe DiMaggio (.361-2-10 in 22 games versus Grove); and Harry Rice (.324-3-15 in 29 games against Grove. Note: Three games (logs) are missing from Rice’s totals versus Grove.

Joe D Finds His Grove Groove

In 1939, when Lefty Grove went 15-4 with an AL-best 2.54 earned run average, Joe DiMaggio raked him for nine hits in five games (a nifty .692 average), with two doubles, one home run, two walks and just one whiff. That season, the Yankee Clipper led the American League with a .381 average.

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Pitcher – Jimmie DeShong

Righty Jimmy DeShong (47-44, 5.08 in seven MLB seasons) found himself on the mound and at the plate against Lefty Grove just twice in his career. He took the loss in both games – but, the career .198 hitter acquitted himself well at the plate, going three-for-six (all singles). In DeShong’s best season (1936), he went 18-10, 4.63 for the Washington Senators.

A Big Oh-Fer

Pitcher Red Faber set the record for futility against Lefty Grove. Faber faced Grove 16 times and drew one walk, while fanning 12 times (without getting a single hit.) Two other players, Johnny Allen (pitcher) and Dick Bartell (shortstop) also managed to put up a .000 average in 16 plate appearances against Lefty.

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Who’s Your Daddy? The Inspiration.

On September 24, 2004, in the middle of a tight pennant race, the Yankees handed future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez and the Boston Red Sox a tough 6-4 loss. Martinez went 7 1/3 innings giving up nine hits and five earned runs. The game came just five days after (in his previous start) Martinez had lasted just five frames against the Bronx Bombers (eight hits, eight earned runs) in a 16-7 loss.

After that second loss, Martinez candidly commented, “What can I say? I just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy.” Little did he know that his comment – and a Yankee fans’ chant of “Who’s your daddy?” would follow him into future starts in New York (all the way to his final MLB start – against the Yankees for the Phillies – in Game Six of the 2009 World Series.)

The concept of “Who’s your daddy?” became the inspiration for Baseball Roundtable to take a look at the players who “had the number” of some of MLB’s premier pitchers. Again, you can find links to the previous “editions” of “Who’s Your Daddy?” near the top of this post.

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Primary Resource: Baseball Reference.com; MLB.com; Baseball-Almanac.com; New England Historical Society.

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Filed Under: BB Fun Facts

Hall of Fame – BBWAA Compared to Baseball Roundtable Fan Vote

January 27, 2021 by David

Photo by candyschwartz

The official 2021 Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) Hall of Fame balloting results are in – and for the first time since 2013, there were no electees. The top five vote getters were Curt Schilling (71.1%), Barry Bonds (61.8%), Roger Clemens (61.0%), Scott Rolen (52.9%) and Omar Vizquel (49.1%). That differs significantly from the unofficial ballots cast by 114 Baseball Roundtable readers. While, like the BBWAA, the fan voters gave no player the needed 75 percent for election, the leading votegetter list differed significantly. BBRT readers placed Omar Vizquel (66.7%), Todd Helton (55.5%), Billy Wagner (43.8%), Jeff Kent (52.6 %) and Curt Schilling (51.4%) in their top five. Here’s a vote percentage comparison.

Blank Ballots

There was some online discussion over the past few days surrounding the blank ballots turned in by Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who (in a column) cited an aversion to “cheapening the Hall” and consideration of the “character clause” among the reasons for his blank ballot. Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune cited similar reasons (also in a column), indicating he saw no one the ballot in his “legitimacy range as ballotworthy” and that he was also influenced by the PED controversy. (“You have to be a dominant non-juicing stud to get my vote,” Canepa wrote.) I expect those same reasons were behind the three blank ballots received in the BBRT fan voting. Notably, Cook and Canepa were not the only writers submitting a blank ballot. A record 14 blank ballots were submitted – that comes to 3.5 percent of the total, fairly comparable to the BBRT’s fan balloting level of 2.6 percent.

I found a couple of odd occurrences as I compared the BBWAA and BBRT vote counts. In 2020, Omar Vizquel garnered considerably more support from the writers than he did in the BBRT fan ballot (52.6% from the BBWAA/40.0% in the BBRT fan ballot). This year, that turned around, with Vizquel jumping to 66.7 percent in the BBRT ballot, but dropping to 40.5% in the official BBWAA ballot. (Domestic abuse allegations, which Vizquel had denied, may have influenced some BBWAA votes. Those allegations garnered considerable media attention in mid-December, about halfway through the BBRT voting period.)

Then, there is Roger Clemens. Clemens and Barry Bonds, as the chart below shows, have tracked fairly closely in recent BBWAA and BBRT balloting. That remained fairly consistent for the BBWAA this season, but on the BBRT unofficial fan ballot, Clemens dropped from 46.9% to 23.7%. I really can’t figure that one out.

Here are a few additional observations/comparisons:

While the fans were tougher on Schilling, Bonds and Clemens than the writers, they were more generous “down the ballot.” In the BBRT fan ballot, not a single player was shutout and only one player received less than 5 percent – the figure needed to stay on the BBWAA official ballot. (See the “From the Heart Cadre” near the end of this post for a possible explanation.) The BBWAA balloting saw five players shutout and eight players below 5 percent.
The biggest gainer in the BBWAA voting was Scott Rolen, who made a 17.6 percentage point jump – from 35.3% to 52.9%. The biggest gainer on the Baseball Roundtable fan ballot was Omar Vizquel, who made a 26.7 percentage point leap from last year (40.0% to 66.7%). Other big gainers on the BBWAA ballot were: Todd Helton – up 15.7 pct. points (29.2 to 44.9); Billy Wagner – up 14.7 (31.7 to 46.4); Andruw Jones – up 14.5 (19.4 to 33.9); and Gary Sheffield – up 10.1 (30.5 to 40.6). Additional big gainers on the BBRT fan ballot were: Jeff Kent – up 12.6 (40.0 to 52.6); Billy Wagner – up 10.6 (43.8 to 54.4); and Bobby Abreu – up 10.0 (27.7 to 37.7).
Only two holdovers on the BBWAA ballot saw a decline in support – Omar Vizquel and Tim Hudson. Three players saw a decline in support on the BBRT ballot – Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Manny Ramirez.
The first-timer receiving the most support on the BBWAA ballot was Mark Buehrle with 11.0%. On the BBRT fan ballot, that distinction went to Torii Hunter with 31.6%. BBRT has a notable following among the Halsey Hall (MN) Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research which may provide insight into Hunter’s popularity in the BBRT vote. On the BBWAA ballot, Hunter did get the second-most votes among first-timers (9.5%).
A few other notable differences: Roger Clemens ranked third on the BBWAA ballot, 14^th on the BBRT ballot; Bobby Abreu ranked 16^th on the BBWAA ballot, eighth by BBRT voters; Jeff Kent was ranked tenth by the BBWAA voters, fourth on the unofficial BBRT ballot.
In 2022, the following players (their 2021 voting percentages in parenthesis) will be in their final year on the ballot: Roger Clemens (61.0%); Barry Bonds (60.7%); Sammy Sosa (13.9%). Curt Schilling, who would be in his tenth and final year, has asked to be removed from the ballot.

Forty-five BBRT survey respondents answered the question regarding which players not currently in the Hall of Fame (and not on the ballot) should be in the Hall. Jim Kaat led the way with six mentions (13.3%0, followed by Pete Rose with five. Below is the full list.

—-Hall of Fame Voting Cadre—-

I’ll finish up with a review (yes, I’ve posted these before) of Hall of Fame voting cadres I have observed over the years. This, by the way, is not a judgement on voter strategies, but rather just an observation on factors that appear to have had a current or past influence on voting patterns and vote totals.

The Anti-PED Cadre

This group declines to vote for those who appear to be tied into the PED controversy (whether verified or suspected). There continues to be enough of these voters to effectively block a significant number of PED-associated candidates from election. In recent years, this cadre has made its presence felt in both the BBWAA and BBRT balloting. There does seem to be a slowly diminishing effect among BBWAA voters, but the impact on BBRT fan ballot total has been relatively stable.

The Character Cadre

Closely tied to the PED-Cadre, this group looks to the Hall of Fame official voting guidelines that call for consideration not just of performance and contribution to the team, but also “integrity, sportsmanship, and character.” A player’s attitude, political views and lifestyle, do appear to impact a number of voters’ preferences.

The Small Hall Cadre

This cadre has focused on demanding particularly high standards for election to the Hall of Fame – and has voted vote for very few (sometimes even zero) candidates. This, by the way, is not a new approach (despite this year’s record 14 blank ballot). Back in 1988, for example, nine blank ballots were cast in the BBWAA voting. A Los Angeles Times article quoted New York Daily News reporter Phil Pepe (who sent in one of the nine blank ballots) as saying the Hall of Fame was “too crowded,” adding “I think to go in alongside Ruth, DiMaggio, Williams, Aaron, Cy Young, you have to be the cream of the cream. The more you erode the standards, the more the standards will be eroded.” This year (as noted earlier in this post), Ron Cook mirrored those sentiments, saying his blank ballot reflected a belief that “The Hall should be only for the truly greats.” (I should note that, in recent years, the “Small Hall” voting strategy seems to have been on the decline.)

The Unanimously Adverse Cadre

This cadre has been made up of voters who are opposed to (or uniquely demanding) of a unanimous selection to the Hall of Fame. The logic appears to have been “If Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Willie Mays, Cy Young or (insert a legendary player of your choice) was not a unanimous selection, why should player “X” be?” Mariano Rivera’s recent unanimous selection and Derek Jeter’s close call seem to indicate this cadre’s days may be behind us. Still, even when this is only a cadre of one, it is effective.

The Ballot-Hierarchy Cadre

Over the years, members of this cadre have drawn a line between first-ballot and subsequent-ballot votes. The Ballot Hierarchy was a “thing” for a long time. In a 2013 column, ESPN’s Howard Bryant wrote: “I believe in the hierarchy of the ballot, that the first ballot is different than the second or the tenth, that there is a special prestige to a player being voted in the first time he is eligible.” The question for BBRT is, “Do voters just withhold that first-, second- or other-ballot vote, or does it go to another candidate who meets the hierarchy test?”

The Clock Is Ticking Cadre

This approach works to the benefit of players approaching their final year on the ballot. For example, 2020 electee Larry Walker’s final five years on the ballot saw his vote percentages go (in order) – 15.5, 21.9, 34.1, 54.5 and 76.6. His stats didn’t change over that time, but the clock on eligibility was ticking downward.

The Strategist Cadre

Somewhat related to the “Ballot Hierarchy” group – at least in impact – this group reasons that certain players are sure bets to get the required 75 percent and chooses not to add to the sure-thing margin, instead casting that vote for a player they find deserving further down the ballot. This approach may actually improve the chances of additional candidates. A subset of this group is those who note that certain players (in, for example, the 40 percent range), while NOT likely to reach 75 percent in a given year, ARE pretty much assured of adequate support to stay on the ballot. This subset withholds votes from those candidates and votes to protects those they would like to see on the ballot (but who are less “safe”).

The From-the-Heart Cadre

This group (which seemed to show up in the BBRT unofficial fan ballot more than in the BBWAA voting) casts votes for a specific player (or players) further “down the board” either as a “fan” statement or to ensure that player does not fall off the ballot (get less than five percent).

The Ten-Best Cadre

This group simply votes for whom they felt are the ten best players; regardless of the factors influencing any of the cadres already noted. (Well, in some cases it is the eight or nine candidates they feel are deserving.)

So, there’s BBRT’s look at the 2021 HOF election, as well as some observations of current and past voting strategies.

Coming Soon: Who’s Your Daddy? Lefty Grove Edition.

Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; Baseball-Almanac.com; MLB.com; Why I’m Turning in a Blank Ballot, January 23, 2021,Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Bland baseball ballot: No deserving Hall of Fame Candidates this year, January 16, 2012, Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune; Blank Hall of Fame ballot serves as protest ... January 14, 1988; Associated Press; Drawing a blank on a HOF ballot … January 9, 2013; Howard Bryant, ESPN Senior Writer; espn.com; My crowded Hall of Fame ballot, with no regard for the ‘sacred place’ … January 20, 2018; Ken Davidoff; New York Post (nypost.com); Hall of Fame Roundtable: Should voters ‘game” the ballot to get more players in? … January 22, 2018; Matt Snyder; cbssports.com; It’s a Hall voter’s prerogative to change mind … January 25, 2018; Patrick Reusse; StarTribune.

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Sam “Toothpick” Jones …Dangerously, and Effectively, Wild

January 16, 2021 by David

Sam “Toothpick” Jones – the definition of “effectively wild.”

On May 12, 1955, Cubs’ right-hander Sam “Toothpick” Jones came into the top of the ninth of a game against the Pirates having given up no-hits, with four walks and three strikeouts. Despite the four free passes, he had faced only one more than the minimum number of hitters. The Pirates’ number-five hitter, power-hitting first baseman Dale Long, had walked in all three of his plate appearances. In the second inning, Long was tossed out on an attempted steal; in the fifth he was the lead out in a short-to second-to first double play; and, in the eighth, he was doubled off first on a line drive to third. The only other Pittsburgh base runner to that point was catcher Toby Atwell, who led off the third with a walk, but was stranded as Jones induced a pop out, strikeout and ground out. Meanwhile, the Cubs had scored four runs on fifteen hits off the Pirates’ Nellie King and Vern Law.

With a 4-0 lead and the eight, nine and lead-off hitters scheduled to bat, Jones –ironically, you will see – seemed in control. That would not last long. Jones started the inning by walking the number-eight hitter, second baseman Gene Freese. The Pirates sent Preston Ward (hitting .152 at the time) up to hit for pitcher Vern Law and, during the at bat, a Jones’ wild pitch sent Freese to second. The WP didn’t matter much, since Jones went on to walk Ward, bringing up lead-off hitter/center fielder Tom Saffell (zero-for-three on the day and zero-for-fifteen on the season). Jones walked Saffell to load the bases with no outs.

Coming up? The heart of the order. Shortstop Dick Groat (a future batting champion and NL MVP, who would strike out only 26 times in 151 games that season); future Hall of Famer RF Roberto Clemente (who came into the game hitting .304); and left fielder/clean-up hitter Frank Thomas. With the bases loaded and the no-hitter, shutout and even the game in jeopardy, Cubs’ manager Stan Hack made a trip to the mound. Apparently, whatever he said, struck a chord with Jones. After the visit, Jones used just 11 more pitches to strike out Groat (looking), Clemente (swinging) and Thomas (looking) – putting the final touches on his no-hitter.

The final inning of Jones’ no-hitter – three walks and three strikeouts – was pretty indicative of Jones’ pitching style. Jones, would in fact, lead his league in strikeouts and walks in the same season three times – 1955, 56, 58. The year of the no-no was Jones‘ first full MLB season (he had pitched in two games for the Indians in 1951 and 14 games for the Tribe in 1952). In 1955, Jones led the National League in walks (185 in 214 2/3 innings), strikeouts (198), hit batsmen (14) and losses (20 against 14 wins). Let me do the math for you. During the season, Jones walked 6.5 batters and fanned 7.4 per nine innings.

One Thing Leads to Another …

Baseball Roundtable readers know that often, when I am researching one topic, I get drawn into another. In this case, I was working on a post on hitters who had Hall of Famer Warren Spahn’s “number.” (See that post here). One of hitters was Stan Musial, who had the most career base hits off Spahn. In the process, I saw that Sam Jones had been particularly effective against Musial – holding the career .331 hitter to a .122 career average (6-for-49, with 11 strikeouts). That prompted me to look a little deeper into the career of Sam “Toothpick” Jones.

Jones’ early professional experience was garnered with the Negro American League Cleveland Buckeyes – whom he signed with in 1947 after leaving the Army. He also pitched in Panama and the Southern Minnesota League (semipro) before signing with the Indians.

As an Indians’ farmhand, Jones had a pair of solid minor league seasons (17-8, 2.71 for the Class A Wilkes-Barre Indians in 1950 and 16-13, 2.76 for the Triple A San Diego Padres in 1951). He then made his MLB debut with the Indians (in Detroit) on September 22, 1951. During this period, Jones also pitched in the Puerto Rican Winter League – topping that circuit (1951-52 season) in strikeouts (146), while putting up a 13-5, 2.51 record.

A bit of Irony …

Sam Jones was truly Stan Musial’s nemesis, (as noted earlier) holding the Hall of Famer to a .122 career average over 49 at bats. That was Musial’s lowest average against any pitcher he faced at least 15 times. Jones also fanned Musial him in one of very 4.5 at bats – compared to Musial’s career average of one whiff for every 15.8 at bats. In a bit of irony, Jones and Musial were teammates on the Cardinals from 1957-58. (Jones had been part of a nine-player Cubs/Cardinals trade in December of 1956.) At that point, “Stan the Man” was 1-for-14 against Jones.

On May 13, 1958, Musial was on the Redbirds’ bench as they took on the Cubs in Chicago. Musial was not only sitting on the bench, he was sitting on 2,999 career hits and manager Fred Hutchinson wanted to give him the opportunity to collect the landmark safety the next day in St, Louis. Starting on the mound that day was none other than Sam “Toothpick” Jones. In the sixth inning, with the Cardinals trailing 3-1, a runner on second, one out and Jones due to hit, Hutchinson decided to act and put in Musial to pinch hit. Musial doubled, collecting his 3,000^th hit while pinch-hitting for Jones (who would deny Musial plenty of hits over his career.)

Jones spent the early part of 1952 with the Indians (a 7.25 ERA and 37 walks in 36 innings before being sent down to Triple A Indianapolis). He then spent the 1953 and 1954 seasons at Indianapolis (before being traded to the Cubs). While he continued to have control issues, Jones did show significant potential. In 1954, he was 15-8, 3.75 at Triple A, throwing 12 complete games (31 starts) and four shutouts. In 199 innings, he walked 129 and fanned 178.

Warming Up in the Winter

Sam Jones pitched in the 1954-55 Puerto Rican Winter League season, leading the league in wins (14 versus four losses), ERA (1.77) and strikeouts (171). Side note: Tommy Lasorda finished third in the league in strikeouts that season with 86.

Then came Jones’ first full MLB season (1955 Cubs), when, as noted, he led the league in walks and strikeouts – showing swing-and-miss stuff and miss-the-plate command. He followed up with a 9-14, 3.91 season in 1956, again leading the league in walks and strikeouts. Following the 1956 season, the Cubs traded Jones to the Cardinals. For the Redbirds in 1957, Jones pitched trough elbow issues (getting just 27 starts (to go 12-9, 3.60). In 1958, he got his full complement of starts and finished 14-13, 2.88 – and, for the third time in four years, led the league in both strikeouts and walks.

Shortly before the 1959 season opened, the Cardinals traded Jones to the Giants, where he continued to be dangerously – but even more effectively – wild. In 1959, he tied for the league-lead in wins (21 versus 15 losses), recorded the league;s lowest warned run average (2.83), finished second in strikeouts (209) and, true to form, led the league with 109 walks. He followed that up with an 18-14, 3.19 season in 1960.

In 1961, Jones went 8-8, 4.49 – and got only 17 starts in 37 appearances. The decline was enough for the Giants to leave him unprotected in the expansion draft and he was taken by the Colt .45’s, who traded him to Detroit.

Effectively Wild Even as an All Star

In his two All Star appearances, (1955, 1959) Sam Jones’ line was consistent with the term “effectively wild” – 2 2/3 innings pitched, one hit, one run (unearned), four walks, four strike outs, one hit by pitch.

During Spring Training 1962, Jones was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes and subsequently underwent surgery and radiation treatments. Although Jones did go into remission, from 1962-64, he appeared in only 48 more MLB games, going 4-4, 4.12; but still striking out 87 batters in 102 2/3 innings. His last major-league appearance came on October 3, 1964 for the Orioles. He pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, striking out one batter (the Tigers’ Gates Brown). Between 1963 and 1967, Jones also pitched in Triple A, as well as in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. One wonders what Jones’ career would have looked like without that bout with cancer. (Jones died from cancer in 1971 at age 45.)

The Times They Are A’Changin’

With Major League Baseball designating Negro League records from 1920-1948 as major-league records – a couple of Sam Jones “landmarks” may bite the dust. On May 3, 1951, Jones came on in relief for the Indians (versus the Senators). His catcher was Quincy Trouppe – and, together, they formed the first all African-American major league battery. In addition, Jones’ 1955 no-hitter was the first major -eague no-hitter by an African-Americana pitcher. As noted, those records may soon be changing.

Jones pitched in MLB in all or parts of 12 seasons (1951-52, 1955-64), taking the mound for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants and Baltimore Orioles. Jones finished his MLB career with 102 wins, 101 losses and a 3.59 ERA. He led the league in wins once, earned run average once, strikeouts three times, strikeouts pr nine innings pitched four times and walks four times.

Primary Resources: Baseball-reference.com; Baseball-almanac.com; Beisbol101.com, January 24, 2020 Tom Van Heyning,

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Filed Under: BB Fun Facts

Baseball Roundtable … “Who’s Your Daddy?” … Warren Spahn Edition

January 12, 2021 by David

Frank Ernaga – hit for the cycle in his first five at bats versus Warren Spahn

On May 24, 1957, Frank Ernaga – 26-year old outfielder for the Cubs – made his first major-league appearance. In his fifth professional season (in 1956, Ernaga had gone .273-18-97 for the Double A Tulsa Oilers), the rookie was facing future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, coming off his seventh twenty-win season (and on his way to a 21-11, 2.69 year and the World Series in 1957). Ernaga was not overwhelmed.

In his first major-league plate appearance, Ernaga took Spahn deep – a second-inning solo home run to left field. Two innings later, he launched an RBI-triple to left center. Before Ernaga’s next at bat ,Spahn had been lifted for a pinch hitter.

Flash forward to September 20 – the next time Ernaga faced Spahn. The southpaw got a measure of revenge, fanning Ernaga in the second inning. Ernaga faced Spahn again with two out in the fourth – and recorded an RBI single. He came up again with two-out in the sixth and launched an RBI double to center. That was Ernaga’s last 1957 at bat versus Spahn. At this point, he had faced the Braves’ ace lefty five times and recorded a single, double, triple and home run (.800 average) and four RBI. Ernaga, by the way, would get only on more at bat versus Spahn in his career (a foul pop out in 1958). In fact, Ernaga’s major-league career would encompass only two seasons (1957-58), 29 games and 43 at bats (.279-2-7). Spahn, of course, would become the MLB’s winnings left-hander and still be on the mound (at age 44) seven season after Ernaga’s final MLB plate appearance.

Thus, starts Baseball Roundtable’s “Who’s Your Daddy?” … Warren Spahn Edition.

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Who’s Your Daddy? What’s it all about?

That’s right, it’s time for the next edition of Baseball Roundtable’s “Who’s Your Daddy?” series … focusing on some of MLB’s premier pitchers – like Bob Feller, Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan, as well as contemporary hurlers like Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.

Before we get started on this edition – focusing on Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, here are links to the previous editions of this series:

Nolan Ryan, click here.
Sandy Koufax, click here.
Pedro Martinez, click here.
Bob Gibson, click here.
Randy Johnson, click here.
Greg Maddux, click here.
Justin Verlander, click here.
Bob Feller, click here.
Roger Clemens, click here.
Max Scherzer, click here.
Tom Seaver, click here.
Mariano Rivera, click here.

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Now, let’s take a look at Warren Spahn and a lineup of players who fared pretty well against the legendary lefty.

Warren Spahn is the winningest southpaw in MLB history (363-245) and his 363 regular-season MLB victories are sixth-most all-time (had he not lost three prime years to military service, he would be higher on that list). Consider these Hall of Fame credentials. Spahn pitched 21 MLB seasons (1942-65 – missing 1943-45 for military service). He was an All Star in 14 of those seasons and the NL Cy Young Award winner in 1957. Spahn led the NL in victories eight times and won 20 or more games in 13 seasons (going 23-7, 2.60 in 1963 – at the age of 42). He also led the NL in ERA three times, complete games nine times, shutouts four times and innings pitched four times. Despite never fanning 200 batters in a season, Spahn led the NL in strikeouts for four straight seasons (1949-52) – it was a different game back then. Spahn threw a pair no-hitters – one at age 39 and one at age 40. Spahn’s final stat line was 363-245, 3.09, with 382 complete games (5,243 2/3 innings pitched), 63 shutouts, 1,434 walks and 2,583 strikeouts.

So who could handle this Hall of Famer’s stuff?

Note on chart: Baseball-References indicates game logs before 1973 are not complete. In the chart above, game logs (versus Spahn) are missing for Stan Musial (eight games); Del Ennis (six games); and Wes Westrum (two games). Throughout this post, I have noted instances of incomplete game logs.

Here’s the lineup.

Catcher – Bob Scheffing (.455 versus Spahn in 1947)

While the Spahn “Whose Your Daddy?” lineup reads a bit like a Hall of Fame primer (Mays, Musial, Clemente in the outfield, for example), little-known Bob Scheffing gets the start behind the plate. Scheffing first faced Spahn on July 19, 1946 (Spahn’s first-season back in the majors after three years of military service). Spahn was on his way to an 8-5, 2.94 record. The future Hall of Famer had a 4-0 lead with two outs and no one on in the bottom of the eighth, when the Cubs sent Scheffing up to pinch hit. Scheffing singled and scored the Cubs’ only run of the contest.

Scheffing went on to face Spahn a total of 26 times in 12 games over five seasons and hit a solid .360 against him.

Note: Two games (logs) versus Spahn are missing from Scheffing’s totals.

Scheffing played in eight major-league campaigns (like Spahn he missed three seasons due to military service) from 1941 to 1955. He played for the Cubs, Reds and Cardinals. He appeared in a total of 517 games, hitting .263, with 20 home runs and 187 RBI. His best season was 1949, when he got into 102 games for the Cubs, going .300-5-45. His ten career RBI against Spahn are the second-most he garnered against any pitcher (he had 12 RBI versus Joe Hatten); his two home runs against Spahn are the most against any pitcher (he also had two against Hatten); and his nine hits against Spahn are the fourth-most he had against any pitcher.

Honorable Mention: Gus Triandos faced Warren Spahn 14 times in six games and went six-for-thirteen (.462), including a four-for-four game (all singles) on May 24, 1965 (when Triandos was with the Phillies and Spahn was with the Mets). The fact that Triandos’ safeties all came in Spahn’s final two seasons clearly gives Scheffing the edge.

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First Base – Orlando Cepeda (.344, with ten long balls)

Orlando Cepeda managed a .344 average against Spahn, despite striking out in one of every 5.4 plate appearances. His ten regular-season long balls are the fourth-most against Spahn and his .625 slugging percentage is the sixth-best among players with at least 25 at bats versus the lefty.

Off to a Good Start

Between July 17 and August 30, 1962, Cepeda started three games against Spahn and homered in his first at bat in each of them.

Cepeda’s ten regular-season career home runs are the most he hit against any pitcher. He reached that number against both Spahn and Spahn’s teammate Lew Burdette.

Cepeda played 17 MLB seasons (1958-74 … Giants, Cardinals, Braves, A’s, Red Sox, Royals), hitting .297, with 379 home runs and 1,365 RBI. He was an 11-time All Star, the 1958 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1967 NL Most Valuable Player. Cepeda led his league in RBI twice (five times topping 100 RBI in a season) and home runs once (five times hitting 30+ home runs). He also hit.300 or better in ten campaigns). BBRT rates his best season as 1961, when he went .311-46-142; leading the league (and reaching career highs) in home runs and RBI.

Honorable Mention: In 1961, when Warren Spahn went 21-13 with the NL’s lowest qualifying earned run average (3.02), Reds’ 1B Gordy Coleman faced Spahn 17 times and collected 10 hits, three walks, two home runs and five RBI (.714 average, .765 on-base percentage, 1.215 slugging percentage). For his career (31 at bats) versus Spahn, Coleman hit .516-3-7.

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Things Turned Around Pretty Fast

In his rookie season (1959), Willie McCovey faced Warren Spahn ten times and collected four hits and a walk (.444 average), with one home run. Over the remainder of his career, McCovey faced Spahn 59 more times and collected just four more singles and one more walk – finishing with a .136 career average versus Spahn.

Second Base – Red Schoendienst (.313 average)

Warren Spahn was probably happy to have Red Schoendienst as a teammate from 1957 through 1960 (the Giants traded Schoendienst to the Braves on June 15, 1957 for Ray Crone, Danny O’Connell and Bobby Thomson). When he joined the Braves, Schoendienst had a .320 career average against Spahn (with 73 hits in 66 games). He had faced Spahn in one game in 1957 and had gone four-for-five.

Schoendienst faced Spahn only five times after leaving the Braves- and went zero-for-five – dropping his career average against the left-hander to .313. Schoendienst’s 73 career safeties against Spahn are second only to Stan Musial. They are also the most hits Schoendienst had against any pitcher. The redhead twice reached double digits in hits against Spahn in a season (ten hits in 1949 for a .435 average and ten hits in 1954 for a .345 average).

Note: Eight games (logs) versus Spahn are missing from Schoendienst’s totals.

Schoendienst enjoyed a 19-season MLB career (1945-63 … Cardinals, Giants, Braves), during which he hit .289, with 84 home runs, 773 RBI and 1,223 runs scored. The Hall of Famer was a ten-time All Star and hit .300 or better in nine seasons – reaching at least 190 hits four times. His best season was probably 1953, when he went .342-15-79, with 107 runs scored for the Cardinals – all career highs. He led the NL in hits once (200 in 1957), doubles once (43 in 1950) and stolen bases once (26 as a rookie in 1945).

Honorable Mention: Pete Rose hit .531 in ten games (starting all ten at second base) versus Spahn (17-for-32), with two home runs and five RBI. While those stats are impressive, BBRT took into account that all Rose’s at bats were Spahn came after the southpaw’s 42^nd birthday.

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Third Base … Ken Boyer (11 home runs in 51 games)

Cardinals’ third sacker Ken Boyer hit .301 in 51 games versus Spahn – more telling was his 11 career regular-season home runs off the Hall of Famer – the third-most of any batter (trailing only Willie Mays and Stan Musial). Boyer’s 27 RBIs are also the third-most against Spahn (again trailing only Mays and Musial) and his 50 hits are seventh. Boyer faced Spahn in 11 seasons and hit over .350 in four of them.

Note: One game (log) versus Spahn is missing from Boyer’s totals.

It’s in the Genes

Ken Boyer was one of three brothers (joined by Clete and Cloyd) to play in the major leagues.

Boyer played 15 MLB seasons (1955-69 … Cardinals, Mets, White Sox, Dodgers). He was a career .287 hitter, with 282 home runs, 1,141 RBI and 1,104 runs scored. He was a seven-time All Star, five-time Gold Glover and the 1964 National League MVP. Boyer hit 20+ home runs in eight seasons and drove in 100+ runs twice (leading the NL with 119 RBI in 1964). He hit .300+ in five seasons, a high of .329 in 1961). His best season was was 1961, when he hit .329-24-95 and won a Gold Glove (although some might pick his 1964 MVP campaign; .295-24-199).

Honorable Mention: Don Hoak (Pirates) hit .345 (39-for-113) versus Spahn, with eight doubles, five home runs and 17 RBI. While his average topped Boyer, the Cardinal gets the edge due to his power numbers (11 home runs versus five), 27 RBI versus 17. Still, I could have gone with Hoak or Boyer on this one and felt justified. Note: One game (log) versus Spahn is missing from Hoak’s totals.

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NOrNOte

Note: Eight games (logs) from versus Spahn from Musial and one from Ken Boyer are missing from the chart totals;

Shortstop … Pee Wee Reese (two homers, 11 RBI, 23 walks)

Pee Wee Reese’s 38 hits are the 19^th-most against Spahn – and the most by any shortstop. Reese also showed a bit of punch off Spahn, with nine extra base hits. In addition, Reese’s 23 career walks versus Spahn are third among all hitters and give him a solid .391 on-base percentage.

Pee Wee Reese played 16 MLB seasons (1940-58 … all for the Dodgers) and, like Spahn, lost three seasons due to military service. Reese was a ten-time All Star and led the league in runs scored, stolen bases and walks once each. His career line was .269-126-885, with 1,338 runs scored and 232 stolen bases. Reese scored 100+ runs in two seasons, stole 20 or more bases in five and twice drew 100+ walks.

Take Your Base, Out of Respect, Pee Wee

Pee Wee Reese drew an NL-leading 29 intentional walks in 1947 – tied for 27^th highest season total all-time.

Honorable Mention: Maury Wills hit .339, in 19 games versus Spahn. That gaudy number attracted BBRT at first. But digging deeper, I found reasons to relegate Wills to honorable mention. Seven of his 21 hits versus the left-handed mound master came in 11 1965 at bats – when Spahn was 44-years-old and in his final MLB season. Going into that final season, Wills was hitting .275 against Spahn. Also, Wills did not do a lot of damage with his 21 hits. He had only three extra base hits, just one RBI, scored just five runs off those hits and recorded just one stolen base (four tries) while Spahn was on the mound.

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Outfield – Stan Musial (96 hits, 14 home runs, 45 RBI, .318 average)

Stan Musial, the only left-handed hitter in this lineup, played from 1941-1963 (missing one season due to military service), and Spahn played from 1942-1965 (missing three seasons while in the military). As you might expect, these two warriors faced each other a lot of times (353 to be exact). Little wonder Stan the Man is first in hits, second in home runs and first in RBI against Spahn. In 18 seasons versus Spahn, Musial hit .350 or better seven times. In seven games in 1948, he touched up Spahn for 19 hits and four walks in 23 plate appearances (.526 average/.609 on-base percentage). From June 3, 1947 through September 22, 1948, Musial ran off an 11-game hitting streak versus Spahn in which he hit .500 (16-for-32) with a double, triple and four home runs. Still, Spahn “held” Musial to a .318 average over 100 games – 13 points below Musial’s .331 career mark.

Note: Eight games (logs) versus Spahn are missing from Musial’s totals.

Musial played 22 seasons for the Cardinals and was an All Star in 20 of them. He was the National League Most Valuable player in three seasons. And, Stan The Man was a “leader.” He led the NL in batting average seven times, doubles seven times, runs scored five times, hits five times, triples five times and RBI twice. Musial had 200 or more hits in six seasons, 100+ runs ten times, 50 or more doubles three times, twenty triples twice, 30 or more home runs five times and 100+ RBI 10 times. He hit over .300 in 17 full seasons – .330 or better 13 times.

Side Note: Those who follow Baseball Roundtable know how, when I begin to do research “one thing leads to another.” Working on this post, I found that Sam “Toothpick” Jones may have been Stan Musial’s greatest nemesis (holding him to six hits in 49 at bats – a .122 career average). Look for a post on Jones in the near future.

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Outfield – Willie Mays (18 home runs)

No one hit more home runs off Warren Spahn than Willie Mays, who took the Hall of Fame lefty deep 18 times. Next on the list is Stan Musial with 14 dingers, but in 79 more at bats. Mays took Spahn yard once in every 12.4 at bats during his career. Mays also had the second-most RBI versus Spahn (40), second-most walks (25) and third-most hits (68). All this with a solid .305 average against Spahn. In 14 seasons versus Spahn, Mays hit .300+ eight times (.400 or better in five of those campaigns). Mays’ 18 home runs against Spahn are the most he launched off any pitcher. Also among Mays’ top five long ball victims are Vernon Law (14), Don Drysdale (13), Lew Burdette (12)and Bob Buhl (11).

Nice Set of Bookends

As a rookie in 1951, Willie Mays homered in his first career plate appearance versus the Braves’ Warren Spahn (May 28). It was Mays’ fourth MLB game and his first major league hit. Fourteen seasons later (on April 25, 1965), in Spahn’s final season, Mays homered in his final plate appearance versus the lefty (then a New York Met.) In between, Mays took Spahn deep 16 more times, notching the most career regular-season home runs against him.

Willie Mays played 22 MLB seasons (1951-73, missing 1953 due to military service). He final stat line was .302 (3,283 hits) – 660-1,903, with 2,062 runs scored and 338 stolen bases. He was an All Star in 20 seasons, a 12-time Gold Glover, the 1951 NL Rookie of the Year and the League’s Most Valuable Player in 1954 and 1965. Mays led the NL in runs scored twice (scoring 100+ runs in 12 seasons); hits once; triples three times; home runs four times (topping 40 dingers in six times); stolen bases four times: and batting average once (.345 in 1954). While he never led the league in RBI, he did drive in 100 or more runs in ten seasons.

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Outfield – Roberto Clemente (.425 average)

Roberto Clemente hit .425 against Spahn during his career – raking at .400 or better against the lefty in eight of the 11 seasons he faced him. Like Willie Mays, Clemente foreshadowed his success again Spahn, homering in his first plate appearance against him (May 3, 1955). In his last game against Spahn (August 23, 1965), Clemente went three-for-three, with a triple and two RBI.

Note: Note: Six games (logs) versus Spahn are missing from Clemente’s totals.

It’s a Numbers Game

Warren Spahn and Roberto Clemente, who both wore number 21, were both inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973

Clemente played 18 MLB seasons (1955-72), all for the Pirates. He was an All Star in 12 of those campaigns, a Gold Glover 12 times and the 1996 NL Most Valuable Player. Clemente was a four-time batting champion (hitting .300+ in 12 seasons – a high of .357 in 1967). He also led the NL in hits twice (getting 200+ hits in four seasons) and triples once. He scored 100 or more runs in three seasons and drove in 100+ in two. His final line was .317 (3,000 hits)-240-1,305, with 1,416 runs scored.

A Truly “Grand” Slam

On July 25, 1956, Roberto Clemente came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, with the bases load, no outs and his Pirates trailing the Chicago Cubs 8-5. He hit the first pitch from Jim Brosnan off the light standard in left field and, as Cubs’ LF Jim King chased down the ball, all three base runners AND Clemente circled the bases – giving Clemente what remains MLB’s only walk-off, inside-the-park Grand Slam. (Further proof that “In baseball we count everything.)

Honorable Mention: Got to give a shout out here to outfielder Wally Post – a career .266 hitter – who hit .322, with ten home runs and 18 RBI in 49 games against Spahn – despite a slow start. (In his first seven at bats against Spahn, Post was 0-for-7, with four strikeouts.) Post played 15 MLB seasons and went .266-210-699.

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Pitcher … Bob Rush (.417 average)

Bob Rush faced Warren Spahn 12 time in six games and handled himself pretty well – five hits (one double) for a .417 average. This performance comes as a bit of a surprise as Rush was a career .173 hitter. Rush did, however have a solid year at the plate in 1952, when he hit .292 (28-for-96), with five doubles, a triple and 15 RBI. He did not face Spahn that season.

In the six games he faced off against Spahn, Rush went 2-4, with a 5.01 earned run average, while Spahn went 4-2, with a 2.06 ERA. For his career (1948-60), Rush went 125-152, with a 3.65 ERA.

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Who’s Your Daddy? The Inspiration.

On September 24, 2004, in the middle of a tight pennant race, the Yankees handed future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez and the Boston Red Sox a tough 6-4 loss. Martinez went 7 1/3 innings giving up nine hits and five earned runs. The game came just five days after (in his previous start) Martinez had lasted just five frames against the Bronx Bombers (eight hits, eight earned runs) in a 16-7 loss.

After that second loss, Martinez candidly commented, “What can I say? I just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy.” Little did he know that his comment – and a Yankee fans’ chant of “Who’s your daddy?” would follow him into future starts in New York (all the way to his final MLB start – against the Yankees for the Phillies – in Game Six of the 2009 World Series.)

The concept of “Who’s your daddy?” became the inspiration for Baseball Roundtable to take a look at the players who “had the number” of some of MLB’s premier pitchers. Again, you can find links to the previous “editions” of “Who’s Your Daddy?” near the top of this post.

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Primary Resource: Baseball Reference.com

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Giving Johnny Vander Meer His Due

January 2, 2021 by David

Kids are always chasing rainbows, but baseball is a world where you can catch them.

Johnny Vander Meer, Major League Southpaw

Photo by rchdj10

Johnny Vander Meer did indeed catch some baseball rainbows. Most memorably – or, at least, most historically – his tossing of two consecutive no-hitters for the Cincinnati Reds in 1938. That still-unmatched feat is what Vander Meer is most known for. That’s not surprising when you consider his career (13 seasons – 1937-43 & 1946-51 … Reds, Cubs, Indians) 119-121 record and the fact that he walked nearly as many hitters as he fanned. Still, early in his career, the hard-throwing southpaw was compared to another up and coming fireballer – future Hall of Famer Bob Feller. Still, when Baseball Roundtable looked a little deeper, there was a lot more to Vander Meer’s career than those two no-hitters. Here’s just a sampling.

Vander Meer’s two consecutive no-hitters came during a nine-decision winning streak that included eight complete games and three shutouts.

Vander Meer led the National League in total strikeouts and whiffs per nine innings pitched in three consecutive seasons (1941-43).
Vander Meer was the (first-ever) Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year in 1936 and the Sporting News Major League Player of the Year in 1938.

Making it Count

On September 18, 1940, Johnny Vander Meer not only pitched the Reds to a pennant-clinching victory, but also scored the winning run in the contest. Vander Meer started the game and gave up three runs over 12 innings of work (eight hits, five walks, ten strikeouts). Leading off the top of the thirteenth inning, Vander Meer doubled to left, was sacrificed to third and then scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly. Reliever Joe Beggs pitched the bottom of the thirteenth to save Vander Meer’s win.

Vander Meer was a four-time All Star (1938, 1939, 1942, 1943).
Vander Meer shares the record for strikeouts in an All Star game (six) with Carl Hubbell, Larry Jansen and Fergie Jenkins.
Vander Meer pitched in three All Star games (1938, 1942, 1943), walking one and fanning 11 hitters in 8 2/3 innings. He gave up just five hits and one run (unearned) in those three appearances

A Hard Day’s Night

Johnny Vander Meer was the Reds starting pitcher in the longest MLB game ending in a scoreless tie. On September 11, 1946, he started against the Dodgers and pitched 15 shutout innings (seven hits, two walks and 14 strikeouts). (Dodger starter Hal Gregg went ten scoreless frames.) The game went 19 innings and was called (darkness) with both teams still scoreless. Note: On April 15, 1968, the Mets and Astros were both scoreless through 23 innings, with the Astros winning 1-0 in the bottom of the 24^th frame. That is the most innings both teams remained scoreless in an MLB tilt.

Here’s a little more of the Vander Meer story.

Vander Meer made his professional debut with the C-level Dayton Ducks as an 18-year-old in 1933 – going 11-10, 4.28, with 132 strikeouts in 183 innings. After a couple of less than stellar minor league seasons, he opened some eyes as The Sporting News 1936 Minor League Player of the Year – after a 19-6, 2.65 season with the Class-B Durham Bulls. While, he had a powerful “swing and miss” fastball (Vander Meer fanned 295 batters in 214 innings), control was not his forte (he also walked 116).

On July 23, 1936, Johnny Vander Meer, pitching for the Durham Bulls, fanned 20 batters in a game against the Ashville Tourists.

Vander Meer’s 1936 performance earned him an invite to the Reds 1937 Spring Training camp and he went north with the team. However, control issues still plagued him and he was sent down to the Double-A Syracuse Chiefs in July – after posting a 3-4, 4.22 record with 55 walks (40 whiffs) in 64 innings. (He was called back up in September and ended the MLB season at 3-5, 3.84 with 69 walks and 52 strikeouts in 84 1/3 innings.)

Then came the 1938 season, when the 23-year-old seemed to find himself, going 15-10, 3.12 in 32 games (29 starts), fanning 125 batters in 225 1/3 innings (but still walking 103) – and, of course, tossing those consecutive no-hitters (June 11 versus the Bees and June 15 versus the Dodgers). For the season, Vander Meer’s 4.99 strikeouts per nine innings pitched were second in the National League (to Carl Hubbell); his 7.07 hits per nine innings pitched were the league low; and his 3.12 earned run average was tenth-best. There was still work to do on his command, as his 104 walks were fourth-highest in the league. Vander Meer also made his first All Star squad in 1938, started the game, threw three innings of no-run, one-hit ball and got the win. After the season, he was the named the Sporting News Major League Player of the Year.

After that sparkling 1938 season, Vander Meer appeared to be on his way. Those expectations were dashed in 1939, when illness and injury contributed to a 5-9, 4.67 record. He also got off to a slow start in 1940, being sent down to Double-A Indianapolis after four appearances (two starts) in which he pitched just 8 2/3 innings, fanning nine and walking 13, while putting up a 7.27 ERA. He seemed to find himself at Indianapolis, going 6-4, 2.40, which earned him a September call up – during which he went 3-1, 2.97 (31 strikeouts and 28 walks in 39 1/3 innings) and pitched 12 shutout innings to get the win in the Reds’ pennant-clinching game.

Vander Meer powered his way to a 16-13, 2.82 record in 1941; 18-12, 2.43 in 1942; and 15-16, 2.82 in 1943 – leading the NL in strikeouts all three seasons and making the National League All Star team in 1942 and 1943. Still, control remained an issue, as Vander Meer led the league in walks in 1943, allowed the NL’s second-most walks in 1942 and the fourth-most in 1941.

What Could Have Been

Johnny Vander Meer deserved better than his 15-16 record in 1943. His losses included two complete games in which he gave up a single run; two complete games in which he gave up just two runs; and a complete game which he lost 3-2 in the twelfth inning.

Vander Meer then missed the 1944 and 1945 seasons (military service) and, while he came back to pitch six more MLB campaigns (1946-51), he had trouble recapturing that 1941-43 fastball. Over those final six seasons, he went 44-55, 3.93 (as compared to 75-66, 3.11 from 1937 to 1943). Vander Meer’s final career line was 119-121, 3.44, with 1,294 strikeouts and 1,132 walks. He threw 131 complete games (286 starts) and thirty shutouts. He was a four-time All Star and won 15 or more games in five seasons. Overall, he was in the NL’s top ten in ERA four times; wins five times; fewest hits per nine innings six times; total strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings seven times each; complete games five times; and shutouts eight times.

While he made his final MLB appearance on May 7, 1951 (Indians), Vander Meer continued to pitch in the minor leagues through 1955 and managed in the minors from 1953 through 1962.

Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; National Baseball Hall of Fame; MLB.com; Baseball-Almanac.com

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Nineteen runs …. with Nineteen Different Players Touching the Plate

December 27, 2020 by David

Hank and Willie – starting center fielders in this big game.

I have often commented in this blog about how when researching “one things leads to another” – how, while looking into one Baseball Roundtable blog topic, it’s not unusual for me to be distracted an accidentally unearthed hardball tidbit. No surprise, it’s happened again.

While looking into the stats for my all-time favorite players – Braves’ Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews – I came across a game that caught my attention. I found this contest – a June 4, 1958 matchup between the Braves and Giants in San Francisco – intriguing for several reasons:

It was a meaningful contest – the Braves and Giants came into the game tied for first place;
It involved some of MLB’s biggest offensive “names” at the time, like Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Eddie Mathews and Orlando Cepeda;
It ended in an 11-inning, 10-9 Braves’ win;
THE NINETEEN RUNS IN THE GAME WERE SCORED BY NINETEEN DIFFERENT PLAYERS; and
The game-winning RBI went to pinch-hitter and Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s take a look at this matchup. The Braves opened the series in San Francisco with veteran righty Bob Rush (4-2, 2.06) on the mound, while the Giants countered with 19-year-old southpaw Mike McCormick (4-1, 4.21). The youngster outlasted the veteran, as Rush lasted just 1 2/3 innings – giving up four runs on six hits and a walk. After just three innings, the Giants seemed in control, leading by a 7-1 score. (The Braves would go on to use seven pitchers to the Giants four.) McCormick was pulled with two out in the seventh, with the Giants still up 7-2 (a third run would be charged to McCormick before the frame was over). That’s when things got interesting. The Braves added a run in the eight to cut the lead to three and then tied it with a two-out, three-run home run in the ninth by Wes Covington. Milwaukee scored twice in the top of the tenth on a two-out bases-loaded single by Eddie Mathews and the Giants came right back with two tallies in the bottom of the inning on two-out solo home runs by Hank Sauer and Bob Schmidt. That set the stage for Warren Spahn’s eleventh-inning offensive heroics.

Spahn won 363 regular-season games on the mound. He won this one from the batter’s box.

Wes Covington opened the top of the eleventh with a walk off Giants’ reliever Stu Miller, with speedster Billy Bruton being brought in as a pinch runner. Johnny Logan bunted Bruton to second and when Andy Pafko flied out to right, pitcher Ernie Johnson was due up with a runner in scoring position and two out. Braves’ manager Fred Haney, who had already used four pinch-hitters, called upon star southpaw Warren Spahn to hit for Johnson. Spahn drove a run-scoring single to center to plate what proved to be the winning run (the Giants went down in order in the borrow of the inning).

Here are a few notable “stats” from that game.

The nineteen runs scored were scored by nineteen different players.
The two team used five catchers sin the game and each catcher scored a run. (For the Braves: Del Crandall, Del Rice and Carl Sawatski. For the Giants: Valmy Thomas and Bob Schmidt.

The Braves used 23 players; the Giants 19.
In the final (eleventh) inning, both teams used pitchers as pinch hitters. The Braves’ Warren Spahn hit for reliever Ernie Johnson and the Giants’ Johnny Antonelli came to the plate for pitcher Stu Miller. Spahn collected the game-winning RBI, Antonelli fanned to end the contest.

Who Says Pitcher Can’t Hit?

The 37-year-old Warren Spahn came into the Braves/Giants game of June 4, 1958 hitting .361 on the season (13-for-36, with three doubles, one triple and six RBI). He finished the campaign at .333 (36-for-108), with six doubles, one triple, two home runs and 15 RBI – add in his seven walks and he produced a .381 on-base percentage. Over his career, Spahn his .194-35-109. His 35 career home runs are the third-most by a pitcher. Side note Spahn earned 363 regular-season victories and collected 363 regular season hits.

The starting center fielders in the game were a pair of Hall of Famers – Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. Mays led the Giants with four hits (he also had two stolen bases), while Aaron led the Braves with three safeties. Each, of course, scored one run. The other players with more than one hit in the game (all with two) were RF Andy Pafko and 1B Joe Adcock for the Braves and pitcher Mike McCormick for the Giants.
Each team had three home runs. For the Braves: Felix Mantilla (solo); Del Crandall (solo); Wes Covington (three-run). For the Giants, it was Bob Speake, Hank Sauer and Bob Schmidt (all solo).

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From Bloomer Girls to the Big Leagues to Babe Ruth Lite … Smoky Joe Wood

December 19, 2020 by David

Smoky Joe Wood’s baseball career took him from the Bloomer Girls to the Big Leagues to Babe Ruth Lite – and, eventually to Yale University … all for the love of the game.

With plenty of time to for baseball reading these days, it’s easy to come across intriguing stories about those who have taken the field at the major-league level. Smoky Joe Wood’s tale is one of those stories.

The Bloomer Girls

Joe Wood (he wasn’t Smoky yet, his major-league fastball would earn him that moniker) started playing baseball as a 16-year-old (1906) pitching town ball in Kansas. Wood, however, didn’t stay amateur for long. That fall he played his first games as a paid professional – for the barnstorming “Bloomer Girls.” Basically, the Bloomer Girls (there were several Bloomer Girls squads) were teams of female baseball players who traveled the country taking on all-male squads (usually town ball or semi-pro teams). Each team would have two or three young fellows willing to play wearing the bloomer-based uniforms (and often curly wigs). Wood played as “Lucy Totton” for the Kansas Bloomer Girls team.

All Wigged Out

Like Joe Wood, Hall of Famers Rogers Hornsby and Grover Cleveland Alexander also “suited up” for the Bloomer Girls before making their way to the major leagues. Because of the wigs male players often wore, the impersonators were known as “toppers.”

The Big Leagues

Library of Congress photo. George Grantham Bain Collection

Wood’s Bloomer Girls gig didn’t last long. In 1907, he was pitching for the Hutchinson Salt Packers in the Class C Western Association – where he would go 18-11 and fan more than 200 batters. In 1908, it was on to the Kansas City Blues of the Class A American Association. By August 1908, at just 18-years-old, Wood’s contract had been purchased by the Red Sox and he found himself in the major leagues. In his first MLB season, Wood made six appearances, two starts, and went 1-1, 2.38 with 11 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings.

In the spring of 1909, Wood suffered a foot injury (reportedly while roughhousing with his roommate, Tris Speaker), that put him out of action until June (he made his first start on June 21 – a complete-game, two-hit, 4-1 win over the Athletics). Wood went 11-7, 2.18 on the season. He also lost a month of the 1910 season (ankle surgery), when he went 12-13, 1.69. Despite the injury layoff, Wood’s 1.69 ERA in 1910 was the second-lowest on the team and eighth-best in the AL and his 145 strikeouts led all BoSox hurlers and represented the sixth-highest total in the AL (his 6.6 strikeouts per nine innings pitched were second only to Walter Johnson).

Over the 1909 and 1910 seasons, Wood split his duties between starting and relieving (36 starts and 23 relief appearances). In 1911, Woods took his place as a primary member of the Red Sox’ rotation (starting 33 games and relieving in 11). His 23 wins (17 losses) were fourth-best in the league, his 2.02 ERA third-best; his 231 strikeouts second-best; his 7.54 whiffs per nine-innings the AL’s top ratio; and his 25 complete-games, fifth.

Smoky Joe Lights It Up

In the first game of a doubleheader on July 29, 1911, Smoky Joe Wood pitched a gem – a complete-game, 5-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns. In the contest, Wood walked two, hit one batter and fanned a dozen.

In 1912, Wood was even better – putting together one of the most dominant pitching seasons ever. He went 34- 5, 1.91 and won 16 games in a row between July 8 and September 15. During his 16-game streak. Wood made 16 starts and three relief appearances, tossed 14 complete games and recorded six shutouts. Notably, during the streak, Wood also hit .347 (17-for-49), with six doubles, a triple, seven runs scored, five RBI and five walks (a .407 on-base percentage). For the season, he led the league in wins, winning percentage (.872); complete games (35) and shutouts (ten); while fanning 258 batters (second to Walter Johnson) in 344 innings pitched. He topped off his season with three wins in the 1912 World Series, two as a starter and one in relief. Around baseball, one of the great debates was over who was the fastest pitcher alive – Joe Wood or Walter Johnson.

A Harbinger of Things to Come?

Commenting on his work in Game One of the 1912 World Series, Joe Wood said “I threw so hard, I thought my arm would fly right off my body.”

Wood got off to a solid start in 1913. He went into a July 18 game against the Tigers in Detroit sporting an 11-5, 2.37 record in 17 starts (plus four relief appearances), with 13 complete games. Then the injury bug struck again. In the start at Detroit, he slipped and fell on wet infield grass while making a fielding play – breaking his thumb and, apparently, jamming his shoulder. He pitched only one more inning that season – ending at 11-5, 2.29. That tumble – and perhaps the wear and tear already inflicted on his arm (Remember that “I thought arm would fly right off my body comment?) – changed the course of Wood’s career.

In Lawrence Ritter’s book, The Glory of Their Times, Wood described the change. “I’ don’t know whether I tried to pitch too soon after that, or whether I did something to my shoulder at the same time. But whatever it was, I never pitched again without a terrific amount of pain in my right shoulder.”

Wood was back in 1914, but due to an appendicitis attack, did not make his first start until late May. He ended that season at 10-3, with a 2.,62 ERA; but observers said he wasn’t quite the same. Despite pitching in pain, Wood managed a 15-5 record, with a league-best 1.49 earned run average in 1915. Good numbers, but on the negative side he made only 24 appearances (16 starts).

The combination of a pay dispute and a still ailing arm kept Wood off the field in 1916 – and an attempt to comeback with the Cleveland Indians in 1917 ended after just five mound appearances (one start). For many, their major-league career would have been over. The love of the game, however, would not let Wood stay home.

Babe Ruth Lite

Despite his shoulder, Wood soldiered (pun intended) on. And this is where “Babe Ruth Lite” comes in. In 1918, a 23-year-old southpaw pitcher named George Herman Ruth (who, over his first four MLB seasons, had gone 67-34, 2.07 and twice won 20 games) began his transition to the outfield. Before the 1918 season, Ruth had not appeared in any position other than pitcher and pinch-hitter. In 1918, he appeared in 59 games in the outfield, 13 at first base and 20 on the mound (where he went 13-7, 2.01), while leading the AL in home runs (11). The rest, as they say, is history.

In 1918, Smoky Joe Wood – although for different reasons – joined Ruth in transitioning from the mound to the field. That season, Wood started 95 games in the outfield, 19 at second base and three at first base – hitting .296 with five home runs and 66 RBI. He remained in the major leagues as an outfielder through the 1922 season, hitting .298, with 18 home runs and 275 RBI in 460 games. In 1921, in 66 games for the Indians, Wood hit .366-4-60.

Yale University

Wood retired as a player after the 1922 season, but his love for the game continued. In 1923, he was hired to coach the Yale University freshman baseball squad and, the following year, moved on to coach the varsity team – a position he held through 1942.

Baseball Roundtable (unofficial) fans’ Hall of Fame Ballot.

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Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; “The Glory of Their Times,” Lawrence S. Ritter, Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Baseball-Almanac.com; “She’s on first: Women in Baseball,” by Dawn Mitchell, IndyStar, May 13, 2016; “Baseball’s Barnstorming Bloomer Girls: Women and the National Pastime,” Massachusetts Historical Society, June 2018.

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Early Returns for Baseball Roundtable’s (unofficial) Fan 2021 Hall of Fame Balloting

December 13, 2020 by David

Photo by Keith Allison

With 74 votes cast in the Baseball Roundtable (unofficial) fan 2021 Baseball Hall of Fame voting, no candidates are showing the 75 percent level of support necessary to achieve election into the Hall. Leading the way are: Omar Vizquel (with his eleven Gold Gloves and 2.877 hits); Todd Helton (with his .316 career average and 2000 NL batting crown); Jeff Kent (the 2006 NL MVP and all-time home run leader among second basement); Billy Wagner (with his 422 saves – sixth all-time); and Curt Schilling (with 216 career wins and 3,116 strikeouts.) This differs from early publicly released BBWAA ballots – which also see no candidates at 75 percent, but which have Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling leading the way. (Scott Rolen, Omar Vizquel and Todd Helton round out the top half dozen.) Note: Totals as of 9:00 a.m., December 13.

Still Time to Vote in the BBRT Balloting

There is still time to cast your vote in the BBRT unofficial fan 2012 Hall of Fame balloting. Click here to access the ballot and/or here for a post on BBRT’s predictions and preferences (as well as candidate bios). Note: The prediction post also includes a link to the ballot.

The BBRT ballot also asks reader which players (no longer eligible for the ballot) they think are most deserving of a spot in the Hall. Pete Rose currently leads the way with seven mentions. Followed by Dick Allen, Steve Garvey, Jim Kaat and Al Whitaker with three each. Overall, 35 players have mentioned in the responses.

Here are the leading BBRT vote-getters thus far:

Omar Vizquel 66.2%

Todd Helton 58.1

Jeff Kent 56.8

Billy Wagner 56.8

Curt Schilling 52.7

Barry Bonds 46.9

Andy Pettitte 37.8

Andruw Jones 36.5

Bobby Abreu 32.4

Scott Rolen 31.1

Gary Sheffield 31.1

Roger Clemens 27.0

Torii Hunter 25.7

Sammy Sosa 24.3

Mark Buehrle 20.3

Aramis Ramirez 14.9

Manny Ramirez 13.5

Shane Victoria 13.5

Tim Hudson 8.1

LaTroy Hawkins 6.8

Barry Zito 6.8

A.J. Burnett 4.1

Michael Cuddyer 4.1

Nick Swisher 4.1

Dan Haren –

Baseball Roundtable will post the final voting results, with a comparison to the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) final results once balloting is completed and announced.

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