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I'm not sure this counts, but Rick Ankiel seems to have turned into a pretty decent hitter. Of course, those who saw him in the playoffs with the Mets years ago wouldn't think much of him when he was a pitcher.
Ironic that Bob Gibson's name has been mentioned here a couple of times. I've read that he used to try to deliberately work up to a hatred of hitters bordering on the psychotic on days he pitched. He was so intent on working up an intimidating attitude for his starts by psyching himself into viewing batters as hated enemies that he even avoided getting near his teammates who were position players on days he started. Ironic that Gibson himself would have been a decent hitter for a pitcher.
Who Were The Best Hitting Pitchers?
Usually the pitcher is the weak spot in the batting order. I'd like to hear about some pitchers who pitched excellent and were consistently good with a bat. The two that come to my mind are Fergie Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs and Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves. Both were very great pitchers. Both were occasionally put in to pinch hit when not pitching.
Who were the other great hitting pitchers?
I can't believe nobody mentioned WES FERRELL!!! He was possibly the best hitting pitcher of all time who wasn't converted into a full-time hitter.
Also, Lefty O'Doul, Don Newcombe and Smoky Joe Wood.
Current guys also include Livan Hernandez, Mike Hampton, and of course, the modern day Babe Ruth: MICAH OWINGS and his .315 career batting average and his .555 career slugging percentage. Owings has been used as a pinch hitter 7 times this year, going 3-7 with 2 doubles, a home run and 3 RBIs. Owings career batting average would place him above Hank Greenberg and just below Lloyd Waner, and his slugging percentage would place him 25th all time, ahead of former career home run king Hank Aaron, Duke Snider, Frank Robinson, Willie Stargell, Mike Schmidt, Ty Cobb, Willie McCovey and Harry Heilmann.
Current guys also include Livan Hernandez, Mike Hampton, and of course, the modern day Babe Ruth: MICAH OWINGS and his .315 career batting average and his .555 career slugging percentage. Owings has been used as a pinch hitter 7 times this year, going 3-7 with 2 doubles, a home run and 3 RBIs. Owings career batting average would place him above Hank Greenberg and just below Lloyd Waner, and his slugging percentage would place him 25th all time, ahead of former career home run king Hank Aaron, Duke Snider, Frank Robinson, Willie Stargell, Mike Schmidt, Ty Cobb, Willie McCovey and Harry Heilmann.
If we are going to place Owings with all of the Hall of Famers, why not Scott Munninghoff, who completed his career with a 1.000BA and a 3.000 Slugging percentage.
If we are going to place Owings with all of the Hall of Famers, why not Scott Munninghoff, who completed his career with a 1.000BA and a 3.000 Slugging percentage.
Yeah, but the difference is that Owings has done it in 150 at bats, Minninghoff had one...
I wasn't saying he's a hall-of-famer, but that his stats are right in line with many HOFers. Say what you will, but not many pitchers have the skills to go 150 at-bats with a .315 batting average and a .555 slugging percentage. Clearly he's good enough as a hitter to be a pinch-hitter and to bring about talk of conversion. If Rick Ankiel was so good as a hitter to be converted to a starting outfielder, how come his numbers are so inferior to Owings' at the same stage in his career?
Through 148 ABs (Ankiel)
0.257 0.308 0.439
Through 146 ABs (Owings)
0.315 0.344 0.555
So he's a better hitter for average, OBP and Slugging.
Now look at Ruth's first ~100 ABs and ~250 ABs (because there aren't game logs) Through 102 ABs (Ruth)
0.304 0.360 0.549 (almost identical to Owings)
Through 238 ABs (Ruth)
0.286 0.339 0.475 (Worse than Owings in all three categories)
So is it really a stretch to compare their hitting? Imagine how good Owings would be if he hit full time. Ankiel saw his hitting improve significantly after he was converted, so how good would Owings be?
A couple more great hitting pitchers:
Johnny Sain, only had 20 strikeouts in 856 career plate appearances that included 28 Doubles, 4 Triples, 3 Homers, 101 RBIs, 24 Walks and 56 Sac Bunts. Through 774 ABs (Sain)
.245 .270 .304
Dontrelle Willis was a really good hitter when he was in the NL...then again, he was also a good pitcher once upon a time. Through 351 ABs (Willis)
.234 .280 .359
Walter Johnson is one of the best players in baseball history, was better than the more famous Cy Young and could also hit. Through 2324 ABs (Johnson)
.235 .274 .342
Red Ruffing was a great hitter who batted over .300 in many seasons. Through 1937 ABs (Ruffing)
.269 .306 .389
Another .300 threat from the same era was George Uhle. Through 1360 ABs (Uhle)
.289 .339 .384
He was known for being a hall-of-fame pitcher and manager, but Bob Lemon was also a heck of a hitter who was originally brought to the majors as a 3rd baseman. Through 1183 ABs (Lemon)
.232 .288 .386
Another guy with the name "Red", Red Lucas was an average pitcher, but one of the best hitting pitchers of all time. He was good enough that he was put into the infield 17 times in his career just for his bat. Through 1439 ABs (Lucas)
.281 .340 .347
Fred Hutchinson probably had the best batting eye of any pitcher, recording 66 walks and only 30 strikeouts in his career. He could have been even better, but he lost about 5 seasons to the War. Through 650 ABs (Hutchinson)
.263 .334 .326
Still, none of them come close to Owings.
Last edited by Pug Life; 06-05-2009 at 02:42 PM..
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