Gaige Garcia

[Richb-3]

It used to be routine for heavier FB players to also wrestle once their primary season was done. I can remember Charlie Getty and Dave Joyner wrestling against us, as well as the Suhey brothers. I also remember Gary Kurdelmeier allowing Greg Stevens and John Bowlsby to play football for Iowa, both tore up knees, and That Was That.

Could be a combination of several factors -- longer seasons, increased NCAA scrutiny of how athletes' scholarship are apportioned, greater fear of injury as athletes get stronger and faster. And so it just fell out of fashion. Major league baseball long ago decided that there could never be another Babe Ruth, a pitcher and hitter at the same time. Now Shohei Ohtani's making them think twice about that; until he gets hurt again, at least.

When the AL adopted DH, I thought Catfish Hunter was their logical DU. Like a .290 hitter I think.

[TMH]

Gary Peters of the White Sox came to mind for me. Turns out Hunter hit .229 and Peters .223

Like JDA said, it's the offseason.

[jdalu75]

There have been many pitchers who probably were good enough hitters that could have been position players -- part of the problem is the very limited amount of batting practice time pitchers are allotted (only in the NL, now). Don Newcombe and Don Drysdale come to mind. Drysdale batted as high as seventh in some of his starts. Both were terrific athletes and could play in the field.

The last true pitcher/position player I know of (before Ohtani) was Willie Smith in the 1960s. He hit .301 for the Angels in 1964. He also pitched some for Detroit in 1963, the Angels in '64, and Cleveland and Cincinnati in 1968. I remember hearing that one team planned on using him in the rotation, playing in the field in-between starts, much like Ruth did in his final couple of Red Sox seasons. I suspect the double duty was too much on Smith's arm; or else he really wasn't quite good enough to pitch in the majors.

[mookie]

Why is Drysdale in the HOF?

[TMH]

Why is Drysdale in the HOF?

Probably for the same reason as Jim Bunning, who had a smaller winning % and a higher ERA with just a few more wins.
If you wait long enough, eventually you slip in.

BTW, Drysdale hit about .187

[jdalu75]

He's in the Hall the same reason everyone else there is -- he got enough votes.

[legger]

**** Since it is the 'SLOW SEASON", one of my All Time Favorite Baseball players was Tony Oliva of the Minnesota Twins. A tremendous hitter. Playing in baseball's "second deadball era",[2] he was one of the game's best hitters and an All-Star during his first eight seasons. Oliva was the 1964 American League Rookie of the Year, an AL batting champion during three seasons, an AL hit leader five seasons, and a Gold Glove winner one season. Even with these stats he never made the HOF. A Real Shame. Like they say; Close only counts in Horseshoes and Nuclear Weapons.

[mookie]

Me too, he was great. Also loved watching Rod Carew. Here's one for you...In 1941 Joe Dimaggio struck out 13 times in 541 at bats while hitting .357. Giancarlo Stanton strikes out 13 times almost every weekend.

[Oracle]

Me too, he was great. Also loved watching Rod Carew. Here's one for you...In 1941 Joe Dimaggio struck out 13 times in 541 at bats while hitting .357. Giancarlo Stanton strikes out 13 times almost every weekend.

>>>>>>> Remind me next time you criticize DRD for harkening back to Lehigh wrestling lore. 1941? Really?

[mookie]

Headed to Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire in a few hours. Will stop off in Vermont to kick your ass.