Wednesday, March 9, 2016

My designated fielder idea was first suggested in 1891. Who knew?

I certainly did not.

The Origins of the Designated Hitter
by John Thorn

On December 19, 1891, Sporting Life offered the following:
A POINT OF PLAY.
Messrs. Temple and Spalding; Agree that the Pitcher Should Be Exempt from Batting.

Temple favored the substitution of another man to take the pitcher’s place at the bat when it came his turn to go there. Mr. Spalding advocated a change in the present system and suggested that the pitcher be eliminated entirely from the batting order and that only the other eight men of the opposing clubs be allowed to go to bat. Both gentlemen saw the necessity of some change ...

Every patron of the game is conversant with the utter worthlessness of the average pitcher when he goes up to try and hit the ball.

________________________

Pittsburgh owner William Chase Temple is quoted in ambiguous language as suggesting that prior to the 1892 season the National League considered exempting the pitcher from having to bat but that the rule change was rejected by a vote of 7-5. Too bad.

Designated FIELDER, 8 batters! Now that's entertainment! Sunday, December 27, 2015

As opposed to:

Careers, From 1901 to 2015, Played 50% of games at P, (OPS+ >=75 and At least 500 plate appearances), sorted by greatest Adjusted OPS+

Rk Player OPS+ PA From To Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Tm
1 Doc Crandall 120 1041 1908 1918 20-30 500 887 109 253 35 19 9 123 118 112 4 24 9 0 .285 .372 .398 .770 *1/H46983 STL-NYG-SLM-SLB-BSN
2 Reb Russell 105 1061 1913 1923 24-34 421 976 141 262 48 25 22 172 42 130 15 29 9 3 .268 .309 .436 .745 *19/H7 CHW-PIT
3 Wes Ferrell 100 1345 1927 1941 19-33 548 1176 175 329 57 12 38 208 129 185 0 40 0 2 0 .280 .351 .446 .797 *1H/7 CLE-WSH-BOS-NYY-BRO-BSN
4 George Mullin 100 1685 1902 1915 21-34 615 1531 163 401 70 23 3 137 122 227 7 25 18 0 .262 .319 .344 .663 *1/H98743 DET-WSH-IND-NEW
5 Jesse Tannehill 90 902 1901 1911 26-36 304 821 106 197 26 15 4 74 66 107 4 11 7 .240 .300 .323 .622 *1/978 PIT-NYY-BOS-WSH-CIN
6 Schoolboy Rowe 88 1023 1933 1949 23-39 492 909 114 239 36 9 18 153 86 157 2 25 12 3 2 .263 .328 .382 .710 *1H DET-BRO-PHI
7 Al Orth 88 1166 1901 1909 28-36 413 1105 109 288 34 17 6 101 38 107 7 16 18 .261 .290 .338 .628 *1/789643 PHI-WSH-NYY
8 George Uhle 86 1511 1919 1936 20-37 723 1360 172 393 60 21 9 190 98 112 4 36 0 6 8 .289 .339 .384 .722 *1H CLE-DET-NYG-NYY
9 Claude Hendrix 86 991 1911 1920 22-31 421 922 118 222 39 17 14 97 39 168 4 25 9 1 .241 .275 .366 .640 *1/H79 PIT-CHI-CHC
10 Don Newcombe 85 988 1949 1960 23-34 452 878 94 238 33 3 15 108 87 1 147 3 17 3 17 2 1 .271 .338 .367 .705 *1H BRO-LAD-CIN-CLE
11 Jack Scott 84 736 1916 1929 24-37 408 680 67 187 31 4 5 73 39 76 5 12 1 2 .275 .319 .354 .673 *1/H9 PIT-BSN-NYG-CIN-PHI
12 Jim Tobin 83 885 1937 1945 24-32 396 796 81 183 35 3 17 102 80 162 3 5 22 1 0 .230 .303 .345 .648 *1H/3 PIT-BSN-DET
13 Bob Lemon 82 1326 1941 1958 20-37 615 1183 148 274 54 9 37 147 93 0 241 2 49 3 9 2 1 .232 .288 .386 .674 *1H/859 CLE
14 Carl Mays 82 1196 1915 1929 23-37 502 1085 113 291 32 21 5 111 66 116 4 44 1 1 .268 .313 .350 .663 *1/H BOS-NYY-CIN-NYG
15 Don Larsen 81 652 1953 1967 23-37 480 596 65 144 25 5 14 72 43 0 138 0 11 3 15 0 3 .242 .291 .371 .662 *1/H7 SLB-NYY-KCA-CHW-SFG-HOU-BAL-CHC
16 Red Ruffing 81 2084 1924 1947 19-42 882 1937 207 521 98 13 36 273 97 266 6 43 13 1 1 .269 .306 .389 .695 *1H/79 BOS-NYY-CHW
17 Sloppy Thurston 79 699 1923 1933 24-34 343 648 65 175 38 10 5 79 24 91 3 23 1 1 1 .270 .299 .383 .682 *1/H9 SLB-CHW-WSH-BRO
18 Ray Caldwell 78 1269 1910 1921 22-33 593 1164 138 289 46 8 8 114 78 196 3 24 23 7 .248 .297 .322 .619 *1H/8973 NYY-CLE-BOS
19 Tommy Byrne 77 655 1943 1957 23-37 377 601 73 143 26 8 14 98 38 1 126 3 11 2 11 1 0 .238 .286 .378 .663 *1H NYY-SLB-WSH-CHW
20 Frank Smith 77 879 1904 1915 24-35 369 766 81 156 41 9 2 85 64 217 13 36 3 .204 .276 .289 .565 *1/H7 CHW-CIN-BOS-BAL-BTT
21 Earl Wilson 76 837 1959 1970 24-35 405 740 95 144 12 6 35 111 67 0 271 5 22 4 7 0 0 .195 .265 .369 .634 *1/H DET-BOS-SDP
22 Mickey McDermott 76 682 1948 1961 19-32 443 619 71 156 29 2 9 74 52 2 112 2 8 1 17 1 2 .252 .312 .349 .661 *1H/3 BOS-WSH-NYY-KCA-DET-STL
23 Walter Johnson 76 2525 1907 1927 19-39 936 2324 241 547 94 41 24 255 110 418 13 70 13 4 .235 .274 .342 .616 *1H/8974 WSH
24 Dutch Ruether 76 1071 1917 1927 23-33 488 969 83 250 30 12 7 111 77 129 2 22 3 1 .258 .314 .335 .649 *1H/3 CIN-CHC-BRO-WSH-NYY
25 Fred Hutchinson 75 734 1939 1953 19-33 354 650 71 171 23 3 4 83 66 30 3 15 19 6 1 .263 .334 .326 .660 *1H/3 DET
Rk Player OPS+ PA From To Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Tm
Generated 3/9/2016.

Careers, From 1959 to 2015, Played 50% of games at P, (OPS+ >=50 and At least 500 plate appearances), sorted by greatest Adjusted OPS+

Rk Player OPS+ PA From To Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Pos Tm
1 Earl Wilson 76 837 1959 1970 24-35 405 740 95 144 12 6 35 111 67 0 271 5 22 4 7 0 0 .195 .265 .369 .634 *1/H BOS-DET-SDP
2 Gary Peters 70 875 1959 1972 22-35 450 807 86 179 31 7 19 102 29 3 172 7 25 7 17 0 1 .222 .253 .348 .601 *1/H CHW-BOS
3 Mike Hampton 67 845 1993 2010 20-37 448 725 97 178 22 5 16 79 47 0 195 5 63 5 12 3 4 .246 .294 .356 .650 *1/H SEA-HOU-NYM-COL-ATL-ARI
4 Carlos Zambrano 62 744 2001 2012 20-31 384 693 75 165 26 3 24 71 10 0 240 0 37 4 14 1 0 .238 .248 .388 .636 *1/H CHC-MIA
5 Don Robinson 62 665 1978 1992 21-35 551 631 47 146 23 0 13 69 16 1 168 2 15 1 6 0 1 .231 .252 .330 .582 *1/H7 PIT-SFG-PHI-CAL
6 Rick Rhoden 60 830 1974 1989 21-36 427 761 58 181 38 0 9 75 17 0 114 0 47 5 20 0 1 .238 .253 .323 .576 *1/HD LAD-PIT-NYY-HOU
7 Bob Forsch 53 1041 1974 1989 24-39 509 893 77 190 45 8 12 84 27 0 249 1 115 5 14 3 1 .213 .235 .321 .557 *1/H STL-HOU
8 Catfish Hunter 52 710 1965 1979 19-33 515 658 60 149 16 3 6 51 8 0 160 0 39 5 10 2 0 .226 .234 .287 .521 *1/H3 KCA-OAK-NYY
9 Rick Wise 51 741 1964 1982 18-36 511 668 60 130 21 5 15 66 27 0 240 3 40 3 7 0 0 .195 .228 .308 .537 *1/H PHI-STL-BOS-CLE-SDP
10 Camilo Pascual 51 820 1959 1971 25-37 345 740 57 163 28 2 5 71 39 0 101 2 37 2 24 0 0 .220 .261 .284 .544 *1/H WSH-MIN-CIN-WSA-LAD-CLE
11 Vern Law 51 573 1959 1967 29-37 258 513 56 115 20 3 5 38 14 0 98 2 38 4 14 0 0 .224 .246 .304 .550 *1/H PIT
12 Bob Gibson 50 1489 1959 1975 23-39 597 1328 132 274 44 5 24 144 63 0 415 8 72 18 13 13 10 .206 .243 .301 .545 *1/H STL
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/9/2016.

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