Tom Brennan - AMAZING HITTING PITCHERS
Some
friends of mine and I were talking about relievers that got away, like former Mets Jeff
Reardon, Jason Isringhausen, and Rick Aguilera, and I noted that Aguilera could hit, too – in fact, .203,
3 HR, 11 RBI in 139 career at bats, with only one career at bat after leaving
the Mets.
Red Ruffing - .269/.306/.389 in 2084
PAs, with 98 doubles, 13 triples, 36 HRs, and 273 RBIs. In 1930, he hit .364,
one of 8 seasons he hit over .300!
Wes Ferrell – 1,176 ABs, .280/.351/.446
with 38 HRs and 208 RBIs from 1927-1941.
He had 30 RBIs in 116 at bats in 1931 and 32 in 150 at bats in 1935. It
had to have helped him finish his career at 193-128.
Don Newcombe - 988 PA, .271/.338/.367,
with 33 doubles, 15 HR, and 108 RBIs. He
also missed his age 26 and 27 years to the military.
Big Earl Wilson – 740 at bats, 35 homers, an
amazing 111 RBIs, and .195.
Gary Peters - .222, 31 doubles, 7
triples, 19 HRs and 102 RBIs in 807 ABs.
Bob Gibson – 1328 at bats, 44
doubles, 5 triples, 24 HRs, 144 RBIs, .206.
Don Drysdale - .186/.228/.295, with 26 doubles, 7 triples, 29 HRs, and 113 RBIs in
1,169 ABs. In 1965, he had 7 HRs and a slash of .300/.331/.508.
Ken Brett – 347 career at bats, 18 doubles, 10 HRs,
44 RBIs, and .262.
Mike Hampton - career .246/.294/.356,
with 16 HRs.
Micah Owings - .283/.310/.502 line in
219 PAs. He couldn't pitch well enough to stick very long. Why he did not try
his hand as a position player is unclear to me.
Dontrelle Willis - Career
.244/.287/.378 in 447 PAs, with just 69 Ks!
Last season in the bigs was at age 29, so I’m surprised he did not try
to come back as a hitter.
Victor Zambrano – 26 doubles, 24 HRs, 71
RBIs in 693 ABs, .238 BA.
Wow, what a list!
Question: Will Noah
Syndergaard and Jake deGrom hit well enough over their careers to join this
memorable list?
15 comments:
I have followed the draft for over 15 years and I can tell you that EVERY high school and college weekend starter plays another position during the rest of the week.
They all start off as decent hitters and seem to diminish their skills as they bat less times over their career.
Shame.
Waste of some really good bats.
True, Mack.
You don't see pitchers who can hit, for the most part, any more. Some of those old timers clearly could have had really successful big league position player careers rather than pitching careers, not just Babe Ruth.
Don Newcomb's 1955 season was really special.
20-5 (3.20) 17 CG
and
.359/.395/'632 (1.027) with 7 HR and 23 RBI in 117 AB.
Present one night when he lined one over the RF fence (only 318 ft out but 40 ft up & gone in an eyelash), then later, at about the same spot albeit lower, hit one THROUGH the fence mesh for a GRD.
One of my all time favorites.
Hobie, nice memory of the Nuke.
As much as it pains me to say it given the horror show he was in a Mets uniform...how about Rick Ankiel?
Rick was one who was surely successful for a while, but fanned like crazy. Again, without looking into why, I am surprised the superior contact hitter Dontrelle Willis did not try it.
Wonder how these guys would have ranked in the 2018 draft as HITTERS?
Ned Garver. Hit .305 in 1951, the same year he was probably the best pitcher in the AL, winning 20 games a team that only won 52. Batted as high as third in the order and had a better OPS than all the other regular hitters.
Big Nooook was truly amazing. He once pitched a complete Game 1 of a DH, then went 7+ in Game 2.
And he missed 2 prime years in the military, but still had a great career.
Chuck, that Garver is a new name to me! Good stuff.
Where is Rick Rhodes and Robinson on this list?
Rhoden
Rhoden? Nice. Definitely belongs on the list...38 doubles, 9 homers, 75 RBI, .238. JUST 114 Ks in 830 plate appearances.
TexasGus, Don Robinson was also a nasty hitter - more K prone than Rhoden, but nasty nonetheless.
Don't forget old double D Don Drysdale he could hit: both opposing batters and opposing pitchers.
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