The most interesting race was National League third base where Ken Reitz and Mike Schmidt finished in a dead heat. Each player captured 148 votes. The 1970s’ best fielding team also had three players from the 1960s’ best fielding team – pitchers Jim Kaat and Bob Gibson and the smooth fielding Brooks Robinson.

SABR members were invited to vote on defensive stars who had played at least six seasons of the 1970-79 period, including five in one league. Three outfielders were to be selected with no reference to a specific position.

Not surprisingly, the teams with the best records had the greatest number of all star fielders. Baltimore, with the American League’s best record for the seventies, placed four players – Grich, Robinson, Belanger, and Blair. The Reds, who won more games than any other National League team between 1970 and 1979, placed three players – Morgan, Geronimo, and Bench. The Phillies placed Schmidt, Bowa, and Maddox from their current team and Jim Kaat who spent three plus years in Philadelphia.

Here are the results of the SABR survey by league and by position.

American League

National League

This survey of the best fielders of the 1970s continues a survey made by the Society in late 1972 when the best fielders for each position were selected for each decade since 1900. That selection, made by a much smaller group, still holds up pretty well. Little additional research has been conducted in the interim regarding the defensive skills of players of the early decades of this century.

There are, of course, drawbacks in selecting standouts from a specific 10-year period. Players with moderately short careers may split their time in two different decades. This is what happened, for example, with Billy Cox, a premier infielder who broke in with the Dodgers in the 1940s as a shortstop. He later switched to third base but his NL career just barely stretched to 1954. With that one exception, the really outstanding defensive players are included in the following tabulation of the leading fielders by position for each decade since 1900.

HISTORICAL SURVEY OF BEST FIELDERS BY POSITION

Aaron and Mays were matched because they both were born in Alabama. Of course, other great players were born there, including Heinie Manush, Satchel Paige, Billy Williams, and Early Wynn, but as expected, it was a two-way race. Aaron rode the crest of his home run popularity to a victory of 39 votes to 30 for Mays.

It was another two-way race in California where Ted Williams beat out Joltin’ Joe by 38 to 34. It was even closer in Pennsylvania where Honus Wagner edged Stan Musial 31-1/2 to 29-1/2, with Christy Mathewson coming in third.

The survey was conducted in the Spring of 1974, so performance for that season had no bearing on the vote. The Society is assessing the contribution that baseball has made in this Country and the review is keyed to the coming centennial observance of the National League and the 75^th anniversary of the American League in the Nation’s bicentennial year of 1976. Last year the Society voted on the greatest foreign-born players, with Juan Marichal of the Dominican Republic winning over Luis Aparicio of Venezuela in a very close vote.

Major league baseball players have been born in all 50 states, including one in Alaska. But in several states the representation was so small that an automatic selection was made of Roger Mans in North Dakota, Dave McNally in Montana, etc. However, ballots were issued covering 44 states.

The ballot included names of the top players in each of those states, including Maryland where Babe Ruth was born, and Georgia, birthplace of Ty Cobb. As it happened, Jimmy Foxx, Lefty Grove, and Al Kaline got a vote or two in Maryland, and Jackie Robinson and Bill Terry kept Cobb from sweeping the bases in Georgia. Only in Kansas did Walter Johnson get all 77 votes cast for that state, and he didn’t have very much competition.

On the other hand, members voted for 11 different players in Illinois and in Indiana. In each case a player not then in the Hall of Fame — Robin Roberts in Illinois, and Chuck Klein in Indiana — was selected over five players already enshrined at Cooperstown. There may be a message there.

Did the voters favor modern players over the old-timers? Not necessarily. Roger Connor, 19th Century slugger, won in Connecticut. In Ohio Cy Young and George Sisler snowed under Pete Rose; and Rogers Hornsby and Tris Speaker didn’t leave many votes for Frank Robinson and Ernie Banks in Texas.

Here are the full voting results:

SURVEY OF BEST BASEBALL PLAYERS BY STATES

ALABAMA — Henry Aaron 39; Willie Mays 30; Satchel Paige 4; Heinie Manush 2; Joe Sewell 1; Billy Williams 1; Early Wynn 1.

ARIZONA — Hank Leiber 42; Solly Hemus 19; Alex Kellner 12.

ARKANSAS — Brooks Robinson 38-1/2; Arky Vaughan 15; Dizzy Dean 13-1/2; Lou Brock 6; George Kell 2; Lon Warneke 1.

CALIFORNIA-   Ted Williams 38; Joe DiMaggio 34; Harry Heilmann 3; Bobby Bonds 1; Joe Cronin 1;   Tom Seaver 1/2; Duke Snider 1/2.

COLORADO —   Johnny Lindell 47; Roy Hartzell 13; Tom L. Hughes 8; Gene Packard 3.

CONNECTICUT Roger Connor 46; Jim O’Rourke 14; Jimmy Piersall 12; Tom Corcoran 4.

DELAWARE —   Vic Willis 40; Hans Lobert 25; Chris Short 7; Sadie McMahon 2.

1. C. — Maury Wills 56; Paul Hines 10-1/2; Doc White 8; Lu Blue 2-1/2.

FLORIDA —   Al Lopez 38-1/2; Bill White 16-1/2; Steve Canton 16; Boog Powell 5; Dave Johnson 1.

GEORGIA — Ty Cobb 75; Jackie Robinson 2; Bill Terry 1.

HAWAII — Mike Lum 64; Matt Wilcox 2; Prince Oana 1.

IDAHO —   Harmon Killebrew 72; Vernon Law 4; Larry Jackson 1.

ILLINOIS — Robin Roberts 25-1/2: Lou Boudreau 12; Joe McGinnity 9-1/2; Jim Bottomley 8-1/2; Red

  Ruffing 8; Fred Lindstrom 4; Ray Schalk 2-1/2; Phil Cavarretta 2; Larry Doyle 2; Red   Schoendienst 2; Ted Kluszewskji1.

INDIANA — Chuck Klein 16-1/2; Sam Rice 13-1/2; Sam Thompson 13-1/2; Mordecai Brown 7-1/2; Edd Roush 7; Amos Rusie 5-1/2; Max Carey 4-1/2; Gil Hodges 3; Babe Adams 2; Billy Herman 2; Fred Fitzsimmons 1.

IOWA —   Bob Feller 40-1/2; Cap Anson 33; Dazzy Vance 1-1/2; Fred Clarke 1; Red Faber 1.

KANSAS — Walter Johnson 77.

KENTUCKY — Earle Combs 26-1/2; Pee Wee Reese 16-1/2; Jim Bunning 13-1/2; Pete Browning 12; Bobby Veach 3-1/2; Carl Mays 3; Gus Weyhing 2.

LOUISIANA–   Melvin Ott 44-1/2; Bill Dickey 25-1/2; Ted Lyons 7.

MAINE — George Gore 37; Fred Parent 18; Bill Carrigan 15.

MARYLAND —   Babe Ruth 71-1/2; Jimmy Foxx 3; Al Kaline 2; Lefty Grove 1-1/2.

MASSACHUSETTS Pie Traynor 34-1/2; Mickey Cochrane 26-1/2; John Clarkson 7-1/2; Tim Keefe 3; Joe Kelley 1-1/2; Jack Chesbro 1; Wilbert Robinson 1; Jimmy Ryan 1; Wilbur Wood 1.

MICHIGAN —   Charlie Gehringer 62; Kiki Cuyler 5; Ed Cicotte 4; Hal Newhouser 3; Jack Fournier 1; Ed Reulbach 1.

MINNESOTA–   Chief Bender 68; Joe Bush 5; Gene DeMontreville 1; Jerry Koosman 1; Wes Westruin 1.

MISSISSIPPI Buddy Myer 28; Guy Bush 21; Claude Passeau 7; George Scott 7; Hugh Critz 4; Gee   Walker 4.

MISSOURI —   Carl Hubbell 29; Yogi Berra 20-1/2; Zack Wheat 13; Jim Galvin 4-1/2; Casey Stengel 4;   Jake Beckley 2; Clark Griffith 1; Charlie Grimm 1; Elston Howard 1; George Van Haltren 1.

MONTANA — Dave McNally (no contest)

NEBRASKA —   Grover Alexander 61-1/2; Sam Crawford 8; Bob Gibson 6-1/2; Richie Ashburn 1.

NEVADA —   Jim Nash (no contest)

NEW JERSEY-   Joe Medwick 28; Goose Goslin 27; Billy Hamilton 13; Don Newcombe 3; Johnny Vander Meer 2; George Case 1; Kid Gleason 1; Mike Tiernan 1.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Red Rolfe 58; Arlie Latham 15; George Tyler 1; Stan Williams 1.

NEW MEXICO- Ralph Kiner 62; Vern Stephens 15.

NEW YORK —   Lou Gehrig 56-1/2; Eddie Collins 6; Warren Spahn 5; Sandy Koufax 4-1/2; Dan Brouthers 2; Hank Greenberg 1-1/2; Waite Hoyt 1; Charles Radbourn 1; Frank Frisch 1/2.

NORTH —- Luke Appling 53; Hoyt Wilhelm 10-1/2; Enos Slaughter 7; Wes Ferrell 2-1/2;

CAROLINA —   Gaylord Perry 2; Jim Hunter 1.

NORTH DAKOTA   Roger Mans (no contest)

OHIO — Cy Young 39-1/2; George Sisler 29; Pete Rose 4; Ed Delahanty 3-1/2; Buck Ewing 1.

OKLAHOMA — Mickey Mantle 52; Paul Waner 21-1/2; Johnny Bench 2; Willie Stargell 1; Lloyd Waner 1/2.

OREGON  —   Ken Williams 41; Mickey Lolich 23; Johnny Pesky 8; Larry Jansen 2.

PENNSYLVANIA   Honus Wagner 31-1/2; Stan Musial 29-1/2; Christy Mathewson 10; Hack Wilson 3; Richie Allen 1; Roy Campanella 1; Eddie Plank 1.

RHODE ISLAND Nap Lajoie 65-1/2; Gabby Hartnett 9-1/2; Hugh Duffy 2.

SOUTH —-   Joe Jackson 67; Larry Doby 3; Bobo Newsom 3; Van Mungo 2; Marty Marion 1-1/2; CAROLINA —   Al Rosen 1/2.

SOUTH DAKOTA James Scott (no contest)

TENNESSEE–   Vada Pinson 17-1/2; Tommy Bridges 16; Bobby Caruthers 14; Ben Chapman 11-1/2; Clyde Milan 7; Red Lucas 4; Jim Gilliam 2; Tim McCarver 1; Claude Osteen 1.

TEXAS — Rogers Hornsby 43; Tris Speaker 24-1/2; Frank Robinson 4; Ernie Banks 3-1/2; Eddie   Mathews 2.

UTAH —   Duke Sims 37; Fred Sanford 19; Gordon Rhodes 10; Ed Heusser 5.

VERMONT —   Larry Gardner 37; Birdie Tebbetts 34; Ray Collins 2; Ernie Johnson 2.

VIRGINIA — Eppa Rixey 53; Deacon Phillippe 10-1/2; Willie Horton 5; Granny Hamner 3; George McQuinn 3; Steve Brodie 1-1/2.

WASHINGTON-   Earl Averill 56-1/2; Ron Santo 17-1/2; Earl Torgeson 1; Rube Walberg 1.

WEST —-   Jess Burkett 40; Bill Mazeroski 18; Lew Bundette 15; Arlie Cooper 3; Andy Seminick 1.

VIRGINIA —

WISCONSIN–   Al Simmons 48-1/2; Kid Nichols 12-1/2; Burleigh Grimes 8-1/2; Addie Joss 4-1/2; Ken   Keltner 1; Andy Pafko 1.

WYOMING —   Dick Ellsworth (no contest)

SURVEY OF BEST ALL-STAR TEAM BY STATE

In the second part of the survey, Society members were asked to pick the state that could put forth the best all-star team over the last century. New York edged out Pennsylvania and California, while Ohio trailed in fourth place. Texas finished fifth and would have received more votes except that its battery was weak. If Nolan Ryan has a few more good seasons, that would help remedy that situation. Here are the state all-star teams.

*Points are based on 6 for a first place vote; 5 for 2^nd; 4 for 3^rd, etc. Other states receiving 10 or fewer points include Alabama, Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Georgia, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. Some voters substituted players, such as Jake Daubert for Mickey Vernon; Tom Seaver for Lefty Gomez, etc.

Lou Gehrig is unquestionably the highest ranking player using either yardstick. He did not miss a game for 13 years (1926-38) and played 2130 consecutive games. Two other players with long streaks did not rank in the percent table. Joe Sewell missed only two games from 1921 to 1929, but missed 45 in 1930, finishing at 96.9 percent. Everett Scott played eight years (1917-24) without missing a contest, but over ten years he dropped to 94.1 percent. Billy Williams, the only other player with at least 1000 consecutive games, is continuing his fine record and ranks second on the percent listing.

Three other players with long streaks who rank in the percent tables are Stan Musial (895), Nelson Fox (798), and Richie Ashburn (730). But Eddie Yost and Gus Suhr, with streaks of more than 800 games, are not included. Neither is Charlie Gehringer who had two streaks of more than 500 games in one ten-year period, but in between missed 53 games in 1931. On the other hand, Willie Mays, who never played all his games in any one season, is high up on the percent list.

A good distribution of players from all periods is indicated. It should be noted that some 19th century players benefited from the fact that fewer games were scheduled in approximately the same number of days in those years.

The Chicago National League team of the 1880’s had the most consistent lineup in history. Cap Anson at first, Nate Pfeffer at second, and Ed Williamson at third and short are all among the top percent players. Tom Burns, who switched with Williamson, played 94.9 percent from 1881 to 1890. King Kelly, who played right field and sometimes caught, played 96.1 percent from 1878 to 1887, with 1880 to 1886 for Chicago. George Gore, the centerfielder, Abner Dalrymple, the leftfielder, and Frank Flint, the catcher, also had fine records. Five pennants were won during those years.

A more modern Cub combination, Ron Santo and Billy Williams, had the best record of any two players with, one club over the same period, averaging 98.8 percent for 1961 to 1970. In 1618 games, Williams missed 14 end Santo 23, a tremendous record of consistency over a long schedule.

Extending the period to 15 years finds only six players over 95 percent. They are Cap Anson (1878-92), Roger Connor (1880-94), Melvin Ott (1929-43). Nelson Fox (1950-64), Willie Nays (1954-68), and Henry Aaron (1955-69). Two others had exceptionally busy schedules over 15 years, but had their records disrupted by military service — Eddie Collins in World War I and Stan Musial in World War II.

Those 20 players who had the highest percentage of games played over a ten-year-period (through 1971) are listed below:

Iron man of the majors since Billy Williams ended his string of 1117 games on September 2, 1970, is Sandy Alomar of the Angels. His streak now stands at 458 games.

This article originally appeared in the 1972 “Baseball Research Journal.”

Nearly every Tigers fan knows the answer to this question — each of those uniform numbers has been retired, in honor of Charlie Gehringer (2), Hank Greenberg (5), Al Kaline (6), Hal Newhouser (16), and Willie Horton (23).

Each of these five former Tigers greats was a top performer on the baseball diamond. Indeed, four of them have been enshrined at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Appropriately, the official retirements of these five uniform numbers provided that no other Tiger play­ers would ever wear them again. However, quite a few players have, in fact, worn those numbers — between the date the honored player last played for the Tigers and the actual date that the uniform number was officially retired. In addition, four of these honored Tigers also wore numbers other than their retired numbers.

Here are the fascinating histories of the retired uniform numbers of the Detroit Tigers.

Number 2

The first year that the Detroit Tigers used uniform numbers was 1931 with the season-opening game on April 14, at Sportman’s Park in St. Louis. Charlie Gehringer had been with Detroit since he made his major league debut on September 22, 1924. He became the regular second baseman in 1926. In 1931, he wore uniform number 3 (while Gee Walker, a rookie outfielder, wore #2).

That Gehringer wore number 3 was consistent with his slot in the batting order — at least at the beginning of the campaign. However, he missed much action during May, June, and July, and when he returned to the lineup, Charlie was stationed in the number 2 hole, which he kept for the remain­der of the season. [It is noted that for virtually the entire 1931 campaign, Dale Alexander and Marty McManus, wearing numbers 4 and 5, respectively, were Detroit’s number four and five hitters. Also, the opening day lineup featured Frank Doljack (#6), Billy Akers (#7), and Wally Schang (#8) batting in those slots, respectively.]

For the 1932 season, during spring training, manager Bucky Harris scheduled Charlie to bat second. So, appropriately, Gehringer wore uni­form #2 (while Gee switched to #27). Gehringer kept number 2 for the rest of his career, playing his last game on September 27, 1942. Gehringer was primar­ily a coach for the Tigers during the 1942 campaign with only 45 at-bats in 45 games, mostly as a pinch­ hitter before entering the armed forces for World War II service.

Following his stint in the military, the 43-year­ old Gehringer retired from the diamond. Gehringer, having twice turned down offers to be Detroit’s field manager, later served as a vice president for the Tigers (1951-1959 ). On the strength of his signifi­cant diamond accomplishments (including a career batting average of .320 with 2,839 hits, six All-Star games, and the American League’s MVP Award in 1937), “The Mechanical Man” was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1949.

However, it was not until 1983 that the Tigers retired his number 2 uniform. So, as it turned out, from 1943 through 1982, a total of 19 players wore uniform #2 for the Tigers. They are listed in Table 1.

The Tiger who wore #2 the longest during the 1943-1982 period was Jake Wood-seven years from 1961 through) 1967. In the field, Wood played primarily at second base; he was Detroit’s regular keystoner in 1961, when he led the AL in triples (14). Next in line, in terms of most seasons wearing uniform #2, was catcher Frank House (four years, 1954-1957).

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the play­ers who wore uniform number 2 before it was retired is that three different players each wore #2 in both the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Shortstop Johnny Lipon (who had worn #2 since 1949) was traded (on June 3, 1952) to the Red Sox in a multi-player deal; infielder Fred Hatfield came to Detroit from Boston and took uniform number 2. Then, a couple of months later, Hatfield and catcher Joe Ginsberg (who had uniform number 1) switched uniform numbers. So, in 1952, Lipon, Hatfield, and Ginsberg all wore #2. Similarly, in 1953, Ginsberg, Al Aber (a pitcher), and Reno Bertoia (an infielder) all wore #2.

Number 5

Hank Greenberg made his major league debut (in a pinch-hitting assignment) with the Tigers on September 14, 1930 — i.e., with no number on his uniform. That was his only big league appearance until 1933, when he became Detroit’s regular first baseman. In his first full season, Hank wore uniform number 7. (Two other players wore uniform#5 — Billy Rhiel at the beginning of the campaign — his final Tigers game being on July 9, 1933 — and Johnny Pasek (who made his major league debut on July 28, 1933.)

In 1934, Greenberg took #5 and wore it exclusively every season through the 1941 campaign (during the middle of which he joined the armed forces). During his three-year absence from the Tigers because of military service, uniform number 5 was worn by four players — Rip Radcliff (in 1942 and 1943), Don Heffner and Jake Mooty (1944), and Billy Pierce (1945, until June 21, when Hank returned to the Tigers to begin his belated spring training). In his final season with Detroit (1946), Greenberg again wore #5.

After his contract was sold to the Pittsburgh Pirates in January 1947, Hank played but one more season in the Big Show. For Detroit, at the beginning of the 1947 campaign, George Vico “wore” uniform number 5 — although he didn’t participate in any of the six games played by the Tigers before he was sent down to the minors on April 24. In other words, he was a “phantom” Tiger in 1947. No other player wore uniform number 5 for the Bengals in 1947.

Vico did, however, play with the Tigers in 1948 and 1949, wearing #5 in each season. Interestingly, on April 20, 1948, in his first major league at-bat, he connected for a home run — on the very first pitch he saw! Certainly an impressive beginning for the player who inherited Hank Greenberg’s uniform number.

And, as it turned out, a total of 14 Tigers would go on to wear uniform number 5 during the 1947-1982 period; they’re listed in Table 2.

The player who wore Greenberg’s #5 the longest during the 1947-1982 period was outfielder Jim Northrup (eight years, 1967-1974). Next, in terms of having uniform number 5 the longest, was backup shortstop Mark Wagner — five years (1976-1980).

A particularly interesting story about the Table 2 players involves outfielder Bill Tuttle. He had worn uniform number 5 beginning with the 1955 cam­paign. However, in mid-July 1956, while mired in a batting slump, he changed uniform numbers with the hope of changing his luck — he took uniform #13.

As can be gleaned from Tables 1 and 2, Frank House wore both uniform number 2 (1954-1957) and uniform number 5 (1961).

Getting back to Greenberg, during his career with the Tigers, Hank smacked 306 home runs, topping the junior circuit four times (36 in 1935, 58 in 1938, 41 in 1940, and 44 in 1946) while carving out a .319 batting average. He was an All-Star in five seasons and earned the AL MVP Award twice. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955. His #5 uniform was retired by the Tigers in 1983 — in the same July 12 ceremony that Gehringer’s #2 uniform was retired.

Number 6

Al Kaline joined the Tigers in 1953, shortly after graduating from high school. He made his major league debut on June 25, wearing uniform number 25. (Eddie Kazak had #25 during spring training and was slated to be with the Tigers when they headed north to begin the regular season. But because of a broken finger, he was signed over to Buffalo-the Tigers AAA farm club; he ended up never making it back to the bigs.)

During spring training in 1954, Kaline again wore uniform No. 25. But before the regular season began, Pat Mullin (who had worn #6 since 1947) announced his retirement. Al then switched to number 6, which he wore until he retired after the 1974 season. Since then only one Tigers player has ever worn uniform number 6 again — and then for just one game. Who was he? (Answer below.)

On August 17, 1980, the Detroit Tigers retired Al’s number 6. Two weeks before that (on August 3), Kaline was enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in recognition of his numerous diamond accomplishments — including 3,007 hits, 18 All-Star game selections, 10 Gold Glove Awards, and two Sporting News American League Player-of-the-Year Awards (1955 and 1963). After his playing career, Al was a color commentator for 26 years (1976-2001) for the Tigers television broadcasts.

Number 16

Hal Newhouser made his major league debut with the Tigers on September 29, 1939, wearing uniform number 16. Number 16 was available because George Gill (who had worn #16 since 1937) had been traded to the St. Louis Browns on May 13, 1939. It is also noted that, according to a number of 1939 Detroit Tigers scorecards covering the period from June 4 through September 10, a person with the surname Jackym (perhaps former minor league pitcher Joe Jachym?) wore uni­form number 16 (perhaps while serving as a batting practice pitcher?). We have not yet been able to find out anything about “Jackym.” Prince Hal continued to wear #16 for the rest of his career with the Tigers, through late July 1953, when he was released. Newhouser then completed his ML career hurling for the Cleveland Indians in 1954 and 1955.

Following Hal’s departure for Cleveland, several players wore #16 during the 1954- 1996 period; see Table 3. The player who wore uniform number 16 the longest during this period was third baseman Tom Brookens — 10 years (1979-1988). Other players with five or more seasons of wearing No. 16 were infielder Reno Bertoia (1954-1958), pitcher Phil Regan (1960-1965), and hurler Earl Wilson (1966-1970). Note that Bertoia also wore Gehringer’s #2 in 1953 (Table 1). The last player to wear Prince Hal’s #16 before it was retired was pitcherDavid Wells (1993-1995).

Prince Hal was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1992-many people felt it was long overdue — he had back-to-back AL MVP Awards in 1944 and 1945, 207 lifetime victories (including four 20-win seasons), and two ERA titles. Five years later, on July 27, 1997, the Tigers retired #16 in honor of Hal Newhouser.

Number 23

Willie Horton was a baseball star at Detroit’s Northwestern High School. He joined the Tigers in 1963, making his ML debut with them on September 10; he wore uniform #48. [Relief pitcher Bob Anderson had uni­form number 23 in 1963, his only season with the Tigers.] In 1964, Willie took No. 23 and wore it for the rest of his playing career with the Tigers, which came to a close on April 12, 1977, when he was traded to the Texas Rangers.

From 1978 through 1980, Willie played for Cleveland, Oakland, Toronto, and Seattle, after which he retired. Since January 2002, Horton has been a special assis­tant (along with former teammate Al Kaline) to Tigers president Mike Illitch.

In the all-time Detroit Tigers rankings in slug­ging percentage (for players with at least 5,000 plate appearances) Willie Horton’s .472 places eighth and his 262 homers stand fourth; he was an All-Star four times (1965, 1968, 1970, and 1973). In recognition of his contributions to the Tigers as a player — and to the city of Detroit as an outstanding citizen — Willie was honored on July 15, 2001, by having a statue in his likeness placed at Comerica Park (joining the statues for Ty Cobb, Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg, Al Kaline, and Hal Newhouser) and by having his uniform #23 retired.

However, between 1978 and 2000, seven players wore uniform number 23 for the Tigers; see Table 4.

One player in particular stands out — Kirk Gibson. Kirk wore uniform #23 from 1979 through 1987 (nine years). Then, after playing with the Dodgers, Royals, and Pirates during the 1988-1992 seasons, he rejoined the Tigers in 1993 and reclaimed uniform #23. (Mark Leiter, who had worn #23 since 1991, took #13 for the 1993 season.) Gibson wore#23 through the 1995 season, after which he retired as a player.

Of course, Gibson later returned to the Tigers, serving as coach for manager Alan Trammell. Because “his” number 23 had been retired in honor of Willie Horton, Kirk chose #22 for his uniform number when he joined the coaching staff in 2003.

Another interesting aspect about Horton’s uni­form number came about in 1966 after the Tigers manager Charlie Dressen died during the season. In the August 27, 1966, issue of The Sporting News, the following was reported: “Heart-Broken Horton Asks To Wear Dressen’s No. 7. When Dressen died, Willie Horton sobbed openly. ‘I want to wear that man’s number,’ Horton announced, ‘and do things on the field for him.’ This would be a switch from uniform No. 23 to the 7 left behind by Dressen. ‘You’ll have to earn his number,’ a friend told Horton. ‘If you finish strong at the plate, maybe they’ ll give it to you next year.'”

However, that switch in uniform numbers did not come to pass, as reported in the January 14, 1967, edition of The Sporting News: “Horton Changes His Mind, He’ll Stick With Old 23. Willie Horton has changed his mind and he’ll again be wearing No. 23 on his uniform next season. ‘Some day I want to wear that man’s number,’ declared Horton following the death of manager Charlie Dressen. For a while it seemed likely that Horton would switch to Dressen’s No. 7 in 1967. Willie thought it over a while and decided to stay with No. 23.”

Those are the stories of the five uniform numbers retired by the Tigers — and the great players for whom they were retired. Of course, on April 15, 1997, the Tigers — along with every other major league team­ retired #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. However, because Jose Lima had been wearing that number prior to April 15, 1997, he was allowed to continue wearing it. Thus, in 2002, Lima was the last Tigers player to wear #42. The Tigers player who had #42 for the most seasons was Buddy Groom (four years, from 1992 to 1995).

While those uniform numbers will not be worn by any future Tigers players, each of these retired num­bers was, in fact, subsequently worn after they were retired. For one game only — on September 27, 1999 — to commemorate the final major league game at histor­ic Tiger Stadium and to honor Gehringer, Greenberg, Kaline, Newhouser, and Horton, the following Tigers wore uniforms with the retired numbers — Damion Easley (2); Tony Clark (5); Karim Garcia (6); C. J. Nitkowski (16); and Juan Encarnacion (23). In addi­ tion, to honor Ty Cobb, Gabe Kapler wore a uniform with no number; see also the ”Ahead of Their Times” section below.

Procedure for Ascertaining the Tigers Uniform Numbers and the Reliability of the Uniform Numbers Reported

“Herm’s Detroit Tigers Uniform Numbers Project” commenced on January 21, 2001. The objective is to ascertain the uniform number(s) of each Tigers player for each season since 1931, when the Tigers first used numbers on their uniforms. While I was aware that a book on uniform numbers (Baseball by the Numbers by Mark Stang and Linda Harkness) for all major league teams had been published in 1996, I was cautioned that it contained numerous errors­ both of omission and commission. So, I decided to do my research completely independently and not use the information in the book.

Also, I was forewarned that uniform numbers reported in yearbooks and media guides were fre­quently unreliable — since the numbers they report are spring training numbers, and because players often switched their spring training numbers for other, more desirable numbers when they made it to The Show. So, I decided to rely exclusively on “official” scorecards and programs as my sources of documen­tation for the uniform numbers. (Of course, I appreciate that there can be, and are, errors in the “official” score books. However, I reasoned that such errors would be relatively rare and would likely be corrected in subsequently printed programs, the printings being done numerous times, for virtually every series, during the course of a season. Also, while my strong preference is for Detroit Tigers scorecards, I would also utilize out-of-town scorecards — until I could obtain a Tigers score book, if possible.

During these past five-plus years I’ve been very active in acquiring the relevant programs needed to document the Tigers uniform numbers. I have also benefited enormously from the graciousness of many people who have kindly provided to me photocopies of their scorecards.

At this point, I have proof-positive documentation of the uniform numbers for all but four Tigers play­ers out of the 2,818 player-seasons in the 1931-2005 period. I have incontrovertible documentation of the uniform numbers for all of the Tigers managers (87 manager seasons) and all of the Tigers coaches (310 coach seasons). The four Tigers players for whom I do not yet have irrefutable documentation of their uniform numbers are Frank Doljack (1932), Luke Hamlin (1933), Roxy Lawson (1933), and Bill Faul (1964).

With respect to the reliability of the Detroit Tigers uniform numbers ascertained in this project, they are 100% correct according to official scorecards. Moreover, in those relatively few instances where a player’s scorecard number(s) seemed unusual or doubtful, I obtained additional information from relevant newspaper articles and action photographs to put the uniform number(s) on terra firma. In addition, whenever possible, I also contacted the players. Thus, the Tigers uniform numbers presented in this article are completely accurate.

Ahead of Their Times

Three Tigers players had long and glorious careers with Detroit, but played before 1931 when the club began using uniform numbers. Had these players­ — each a Hall of Famer — worn uniforms with numbers, it seems likely that their uniform numbers would have ultimately been retired: Sam Crawford (1903-1917), Ty Cobb (1905-1926), and Harry Heilmann (1914- 1929). Indeed, because Ty Cobb — often referred to as “The Greatest Tiger of All” — did not have a uniform number to retire, Detroit’s upper management long took the position that no Tigers uniform number should be retired. That position changed in 1980, when Al Kaline became the first Tigers player to be honored by having his uniform number retired. (It is noted that, since Cobb’s diamond greatness could not be recognized by retiring his uniform number, the Tigers chose to place a “Cobb Memorial Plaque” near the office entrance to Tiger Stadium on Trumbull Avenue. On July 17, 1963, Detroit Tigers president John E. Fetzer unveiled the plaque, which included the inscription “Greatest Tiger of All, A Genius in Spikes.”

The Detroit Tigers have recognized players whose uniform numbers have been retired by presenting their names on the brick wall in left-center field at Comerica Park. Ty Cobb is included in this display — from left to right are Horton, Cobb, Gehringer, Greenberg, Newhouser, and Kaline. Moreover, above each player’s name is his retired uniform number­ #23, blank, #2, #5, #16, and #6.

Placed on Comerica Park’s brick wall in right­ center field are two rows of names of other famous Tigers. The top row has Heilmann, (Hughie) Jennings (manager), (Mickey) Cochrane, and (Ernie) Harwell (broadcaster); at the extreme right is #42 for Jackie Robinson. The second row has (Heinie) Manush, Crawford, and (George) Kell. There are no numbers displayed with any of these players (each a Hall of Farner). Of these Tigers, only Cochrane and Kell were with the team during the uniform number era (i.e., since 1931) — Cochrane wore #3 and Kell wore #21, #15, #21 (again), and #7.

While Cochrane has not had his uniform number retired, in autumn 1962 the city of Detroit changed the name of the street adjacent to the west side of Tiger Stadium from National Avenue to Cochrane Avenue in memory of Black Mike (who had passed away a few months earlier). A similar honor was extended to Al Kaline a few years later: Cherry Street, the thorough­ fare adjacent to the north side of Tiger Stadium, was renamed Al Kaline Drive at the Al Kaline Day festivi­ ties on August 2, 1970.

Bonus #3

In addition to the five numbers officially retired by the Tigers, the uniform numbers worn by four Tigers seem to have been “unofficially” retired­ no one has worn these numbers since they retired.

In 1977, Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell (both September call-ups) wore uniform numbers 43 and 42, respectively. Trammell wore “his” number 3 when he came back to manage the Tigers during the 2003- 2005 period. Finally, Sparky Anderson began his managerial tenure with the Tigers (in 1979) wearing uniform number 7. However, he switched to number 11 after only a few games.

HERM KRABBENHOFT is the author of Leadoff Batters of Major League Baseball-Complete Statistics, 1900-2005 (McFarland, 2006), and has been a loyal Tigers fan since the day he was born in Detroit on July 15, 1945. Zeb Eaton (#17) hit a pinch grand slam homer that day.

Dedication

This article is dedicated to Walt Streuli, who wore numbers 19, 40, and 25 as a catcher for the Tigers (1954-1956).

Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges the following people who provided photocopies of their score books/programs/score sheets-Ray Billbrough, Tom Broecker, Ed Budnick, Bob Crabill, Tom DeLisle, Dan Dickson, Steven DiNobile, Bill Dunstone, Patrick Gallagher, Doug Goodman, Liz Goodrich, JonGreenberg (Milwaukee Brewers), David Holtzman (Kansas City Royals), Maxwell Kates, Doug Kath, Ted Kowalski, Jim Lannen, Jack Looney, Alan May, Kevin McGraw, Jeff Messens, Jerry Nechal, Art Neff, Jeff Ortiz, Larry Pilut, Rich Robinson, Eric Rosekrans, Dennis Sell, Kent Sheets, Dave Smith (Retrosheet), Mark Stang, Tom Sticha, Mike Swanson (Arizona Diamondbacks), Keith Thompson, Ronald Wilczak, Alan Willey, and JimWohlenhaus.

The author also heartily thanks the following people who have been very helpful in the project: Gary Gillette, Bob McConnell, Mark Pattison, Dave Raglin, Rick Schabowski, and Mario Ziino.

Ironically, the longest scoreless game in major league history was played in one of the better hitting parks-Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, on September 11, 1946-a 19-inning tie between the Dodgers and the Reds. Johnny Vander Meer, who had pitched the second of his two successive no-hitters in 1938 at Ebbets Field, hurled the first 15 innings for Cincinnati, fanning 14. The Reds almost broke the tie in the top half of the 19th inning. With one out and Dam Clay on second base, Bert Haas lined a single to right but Dixie Walker nailed Clay at the plate.

The longest scoreless game in the American League took place at Detroit on July 16, 1909. The Tigers and Senators battled 18 innings before darkness set in. Ed Summers went all the way for Detroit, giving up only seven hits. Dolly Gray and Bob Groom divided the pitching chores for Washington, giving up only six hits between them. Gray was in superb form in his starting effort. He gave up only one hit in eight innings, a single to Matty McIntyre, the first batter to face him in the game. He had to leave the game after straining his side in the ninth inning after pitching three balls to McIntyre, the first batter of the frame. Groom took over and gave up only five hits in his 10 innings. He got out of a bases full, none out situation in the 1 5th inning. With the bags loaded, he had to face Donie Bush, Sam Crawford and Ty Cobb. But he was equal to the occasion. Bush popped out to third baseman Bob Kelly. Crawford topped the ball toward first base. Wade Killifer, a pinch-runner for Oscar Stanage, dug for home. Groom pounced on the ball and threw home to Gabby Street. The play was very close; in fact, Street seemed to think the throw was too late and started for the bench. The Washington infielders also began to come in while the Detroit runners moved toward the clubhouse. But umpire John Kerin had called the runner out and called all the players back. Cobb ended the suspense by striking out. Gray and Groom were particularly rough on the two top Detroit hitters-Cobb and Crawford-who each went 0 for 7.

Another 18-inning scoreless tie took place at Shea Stadium on Saturday, October 2, 1965, in the second game of a twi-night double-header between the Mets and Phillies. The game had to be halted on account of a 12:50 a.m. curfew. Chris Short, Phil southpaw, fanned 18 in his 1 5 innings of work. It was a frustrating night for the Mets. They were blanked 6-0 by Jim Bunning in the first game.

Ernie Koob, St. Louis Browns’ southpaw, pitched all the way in a 1 7-inning scoreless game with the Red Sox at Fenway Park, Boston, on July 14, 1916. Carl Mays pitched the first 15 innings for the Red Sox and Hub Leonard the last two. Poor base-running by Koob kept him from winning the game in the 15th inning. Koob, recipient of a base on balls, advanced to second base with two out in the 15th inning. Ward Miller singled to left field and Koob came home but he was called out for failing to touch third base.

Jack Coombs of the Athletics and Ed Walsh of the White Sox had a spectacular 16-inning scoreless duel at Chicago on August 4, 1910. Coombs gave up only three hits and fanned 18, while Walsh allowed six singles and struck out 10. Coombs had nine consecutive hitless innings in the game. Pat Dougherty doubled in the second inning and that was the only hit off Coombs until the 12th chapter when rookie Paul Meloan and Dougherty chipped in with singles. Coombs wound up his work in whirlwind fashion, fanning Charley Mullen, Billy Sullivan and Walsh in a row in the 16th frame.

*Assisted by Al Kermisch

Although it went only 14 innings, the scoreless tie between the Indians and Tigers at Cleveland on August 11, 1942, deserves special mention. It was the first game of a twi-nighter, but in those early years of night baseball the rules did not allow day games to be finished under lights. So the game was called on account of darkness at the end of 14 innings, but a few minutes later the lights were turned on and Dizzy Trout and Mel Harder came out to warm up for the second game. But that peculiarity deprived the fans of seeing a conclusion to an extraordinary pitching duel between Al Milnar and Tommy Bridges. Milnar was magnificent. He gave up only two hits and held the Tigers hitless until two out in the ninth inning when Roger Cramer singled to right. The other hit came with one out in the 13th inning, a single to left field by Rudy York.

Walter Johnson turned in a scintillating performance in a 12-inning scoreless battle with Jack Quinn of the Yankees at the Polo Grounds, New York, on May 11, 1919. It was the first legalized Sunday game for the Yankees in New York. It was a raw day and only 3,000 fans braved the elements. But they were rewarded with a first-class hurling duel.

The gloomy day was made to order for Johnson’s fast ball. He was almost invincible and at one time retired 28 batters in a row. Roger Peckinpaugh, the second man to bat in the first inning, singled and not another Yankee reached first base until Frank Baker walked with two down in the tenth inning. Derrill Pratt got the other Yankee hit to open the 11th inning.

George Halas, the fabled owner of the football Chicago Bears, then a rookie outfielder for the Yankees, played the entire game. He was 0 for 5 against Johnson, fanning twice. The game was called a few minutes before 6 o’clock under the assumption that the game had to be called because of the new Sunday law. But after the game the veteran umpire Bill Dinneen admitted that he made a mistake in calling the game. He had acted on the advice of President Jake Ruppert of the Yankees that the Sunday law required the game to end at 6 o’clock.

The information, however, proved to be erroneous. The Sunday law stipulated that games had to be played after 2 o’clock with no provision as to what time they should end.

SCORELESS TIES OF 10 OR MORE INNINGS, 1901-75

National League 

#First game; +second game

American League

#First game; +second game

    There were two participants in the 1976 campaign who called attention to pinch hitting records and thereby stimulated this research. One was Jose Morales of Montreal, who set new season records for appearances (82), at bats (78), and hits (25). The other was little noticed Tommy Davis, the “have bat, will travel” veteran of 10 major league clubs. Usually thought of as a designated hitter, Davis went 8 for 21 as a pinch hitter in 1976 and has quietly built up a lifetime pinch hit average of .3 20, the all-time high. More about that later.

    First, a discussion of Morales and season marks. How good was the Montreal mauler in 1976? Well, his 25 hits in 78 at bats gave him a .320 percentage. For a heavy duty performer, this is a solid average.  However, it does not compare with several other performers of the past. For those players with at least 40 at bats, Frenchy Bordagaray batted .465 on 20 hits in 43 at bats in 1938, and Jose Pagan hit .450 on 19 hits in 42 at bats in 1969.

    What kind of hits did Morales have in 1976? He had only 8 extra base hits. His 5 doubles were no threat to the 8 collected by Vic Davalillo of the Cardinals in 1970, or the 7 by Dave Philley of the Orioles in 1961. Those were the years when Davalillo and Philley each collected 24 pinch hits, the record Morales broke with 25. None of those 25 hits went for three bases. While pinch triples are indeed rare, Ham Hyatt had 3 for Pittsburgh in 1909, and Davalillo had 3 in 1970.

    Morales had three timely home runs in 1976, but Johnny Frederick of the Dodgers had six in 1932, and several other players hit five in one season. Consequently Jose hit for 39 total bases, still a little shy of the 41 by Davalillo in 1970 and the 40 by Jerry Lynch in 1961.

    The Expo pinch hitter fared better as a run producer. He knocked in 24, only one off the record of 25 by Lynch in 1961 and Joe Cronin in 1934. The Red Sox Manager was particularly productive considering that he went to bat only 42 times. Of course, he had those two 3-run pinch homers, one in each game of a twinbill on June 17. Smoky Burgess batted in 24 runs for the White Sox in 1965, for the American League high.

    Morales had only 4 walks in 1976 compared to the record of 18 established by Elmer Valo for the Yankees and Senators in 1960.  Before leaving the season pinch hit records it would be appropriate to mention two outstanding performances. One is Dave Philley’s feat of collecting 8 consecutive pinch hits from September 9 to 28 in 1958 with the Phils. He added another in his first time up as a substitute hitter in 1959. The other notable feat was by the aforementioned Johnny Frederick in 1932. He collected 9 hits in 29 at bats, which is not that great a batting average (.310); however, 8 of his 9 hits went for extra bases, including 6 homers and 2 doubles. This gave him 29 total bases in 29 at bats for an even 1.000 slugging mark.

    Here are some of the top season marks by pinch hitters, with the asterisk indicating the record holder in a particular category.

    Moving now to career marks for pinch hitters, we find that Smoky Burgess, because of his long service as a substitute batter, is the leader in most departments. He appeared in the most games, 585, had the most at bats, an even 500, by far the most hits, 144, by far the most doubles, 27, and by far the most runs batted in, 142. In fact, he is the only pinch hitter with more than 100 RBIs. He had 16 pinch homers, but Jerry Lynch was tops there with 18. In his 18 years as a substitute batter, the amply proportioned catcher never hit a pinch triple. Ham Hyatt and Gates Brown each hit five.

    Burgess also scored very few runs, because once he got on base he was frequently pulled for a pinch runner. Of course, he was feared as a batter and he received 71 walks, but he is not the leader in that category. Elmer Valo, who had the season high of 18 bases on balls, got on base 91 times with free passes. Ironically, he got on base 90 times with hits, which is a very unusual career ratio.

    What was Smoky’s pinch batting average? Considering the great number of times he batted in the clutch, it was very good at .288.  This is shown by a listing of the ten players most frequently used as pinch hitters.

    Most of those averages seem pretty low for a player to continue to be called on in the clutch. One argument might be that if a batter hit especially well as a pinch hitter, a regular place would be found for him in the lineup. Then in the case of some one like Valo, he was inserted as much to get on base as to drive in a run. And Lynch, Brown, and Burgess could break up a game with a home run. Why are the most frequently used pinch hitters left hand batters for the most part?  Simply because they are two steps closer to first base. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are better batters.

    Lowering the plate appearances to around 150, we find a different set of subs hitting for average. More of these hit from the right side.  Tommy Davis, well traveled former NL batting champ, has the highest batting average (.320) in this expanded group, and Jose Morales, at the height of his career as a substitute batsman, ranks high on the list.

    Burgess still ranks among the all-time leaders in spite of his 500 at bats, but the pinch hitter who deserves the plaudits is Tommy Davis, who compiled his .320 mark in a period when batting marks were generally low. And he produced quietly and efficiently as he went from club to club and league to league.

    In the course of review of pinch hitting, enough information was obtained to correct one of the legends. Most of the stories on this subject state that John McGraw popularized pinch hitting by his use of Moose McCormick as a substitute batter. McCormick did not make any impression as a pinch hitter until 1912 when he collected 11 hits in 30 trips for the Giants. The real pioneer in pinch hitting was Dode Criss of the Browns. In 1908 he had 12 hits in 41 trips, which was almost double the use of any pinch hitter before. He also led the next three years.

    In 1909, Ham Hyatt made a big splash with the Pirates, getting three triples. In 1913 he had three pinch homers. Remember, that was the dead ball era. In 1913 Hyatt had 15 pinch hits, but the Phils had a batter named Doc Miller who went 20 for 56. That was the record for pinch hits which stood for almost 20 years. In 1917 Bill Rumler of the Browns got 16 hits in 71 trips. That was the most at bats for a pinch batter until Sam Leslie had 22 hits in 72 appearances for the Giants in 1932.

    Many of the pinch hit leaders were not well known players. Only occasionally will you see the name of a big star on the way up or down like Mel Ott, Bill Terry, Chuck Klein, Paul Waner, Sam Crawford, Eddie Collins, and Joe Cronin. Instead there will be players like Jack Bentley, John McCarthy, Herschel Bennett, Chubby Dean, Ron Northey, and Joe Schultz Jr. and Joe Schultz Sr., the unheralded but evenly productive father-son combination. Sometimes pitchers show up as pinch hit leaders. The obvious one was Red Lucas, who for many years held the record for most pinch hits. But there also was Al Orth, Lynn Nelson, George Uhle, Schoolboy Rowe, Red Ruffing, et. al.

    One final qualifier on research in this area. Pinch hitting records are very difficult to authenticate. In the early days substitute batters sometime didn’t even get into the box score. Occasionally pinch hitters stayed in the game after doing their initial stickwork. It was not always clear whether the one hit the batter collected was as a pinch hitter or as a leftfielder. Then there is the matter of a pinch hitter coming up twice in a big inning and possibly getting a hit his second time. Vic Davalillo did this during the 1970 season, but the second hit he made was taken away from him because “he was batting for himself.” This ruling has now been accepted by both leagues, so all those second at bats and hits are no longer considered pinch appearances and hits.  They should be deleted retroactively. What a mess! Gates Brown had one of these situations in 1963 when he hit a three-run double in a second PH appearance in one inning. So scratch 1 AB, 1 double, and 3 RBI from his record. Also, the Records Committee has ruled that when one designated hitter bats for another (usually when opposite throwing pitchers are switched), his first at bat in that capacity is as a pinch hitter. Those cases are not so easy to identify.

    The late Ford Sawyer of the Boston Globe did a lot of pioneering working on pinch hitting. Ernie Lanigan did some early work in this area. So did John Tattersall, but it took second place to home runs. The people working on the Macmillan Encyclopedia in 1969 made a tremendous effort. But discrepancies abound among individual efforts, the encyclopedias and the guides. This research effort has not been able to resolve all those problems, but in spite of the discrepancies, we thought a listing of the yearly leaders would be worthwhile and would give some recognition to the long neglected substitute batter. For the pinch average since 1920 we have tried to use a minimum of 20 at bats. However if one batter was 8 for 17 and another 8 for 21, we would be flexible and logical enough to list the batter with the best average.

The listings for each major league follow on the next pages.

NATIONAL LEAGUE PINCH HIT LEADERS, 1900-76

AMERICAN LEAGUE PINCH HIT LEADERS, 1901-76

This article will supply further information on the top hitting streaks, and will include a listing of the top hitting streaks in the NL and AL for each year since the pitching distance was set at the present 601/2 feet in 1893.

Both DiMaggio and Rose attracted attention as they passed first one record and then another in their pursuits. DiMaggio’s first target was his own high of 23 consecutive games, set one year earlier in 1940. He then aimed for the all-time Yankee record of 29, shared by Roger Peckinpaugh in 1919 and Earle Combs in 1931 (Babe Ruth’s high was 26 in1921). DiMaggio then passed the modern National League high up to that time of 33 games by Rogers Hornsby of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1922, followed by Ty Cobb’s 40 in 1911 and George Sisler’s AL record of 41 games for St. Louis Browns in 1922. After DiMaggio surpassed Keeler’s record, attention continued to be on DiMaggio to see how high a streak he would achieve. He had achieved a 61-game streak in the Pacific Coast League in 1933 when he was only 18 years old.

With Pete Rose, attention similarly focused on him as he ascended each step of the ladder, with the added feature that Rose was a switch hitter, gaining his hits from both the lefthand and righthand sides of the plate. Rose’s first target was his own previous high of 25 (set in 1967), then the Cincinnati modern one-season high of 27 achieved by Edd Roush in 1920 and 1924 and by Vada Pinson in 1965, then the modern high for switch hitters of 28 by Red Schoendienst of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954, followed by the all-time Cincinnati one-season high of 30 by Elmer E. Smith in 1898, and the switch hitter’s high of 33 set by George Davis of the New York Giants in 1893.

When Rose passed Tommy Holmes’ modern-day National League high of 37 (with Boston Braves in the war year of 1945), Holmes went on the field at Shea Stadium in front of a large crowd to congratulate the Cincinnati Star. Holmes is currently employed as the Mets’ Director of Community Relations. Newspapers carried daily charts as Rose ascended the ladder till he stopped at 44, the same as Keeler. Technically, Keeler hit in 45 consecutive league games, since he got a hit in the last NL game of 1896 and the first 44 NL games of 1897, but hitting streak records are normally figured on the basis of single-season accomplishment.

Many unique facts emerge in the study of hitting streaks. Chuck Klein of the Philadelphia Phillies had two streaks of exactly 26 games each in 1930 to be the leader that year. He hit safely in 135 of his team’s 156 games in 1930. Willie Keeler, besides his 44-game streak in 1897 had a separate streak later in the season of 2 or more hits in 11 consecutive games, a record he shares with Paul Waner of the 1927 Pittsburgh Pirates. Tris Speaker of the 1912 Boston Red Sox had a 30-game streak in 1912 (overlooked at the time) and 2 others in the same year of exactly 20 games, making him the only player known to have as many as 3 hitting streaks of 20 or more games in the same season.

In 1942, the year after Joe DiMaggio’s feat, Joe Gordon of the Yankees had a 29-game streak to tie Combs and Peckinpaugh for the 2nd highest Yankee streak. Five games after Gordon’s streak began, Buddy Hassett of the Yankees began a streak of exactly 20 games. The 2 streaks ran concurrently for the Yankees in 20 consecutive games. Another ironic element is that, in the more than 35 years since then, the Yankees have had only one subsequent streak reaching 20 games-a streak of exactly 20 by Mickey Rivers in 1976! Many Yankee streaks in that period reach the 15-19 level, but the number “20” became a jinx.

The only other known instance of two teammates with streaks of 20 or more consecutive games running concurrently was the situation on the Pittsburgh Pirates of 1927. Outfielders Paul Waner and Clyde Barnhart each had 23-game streaks, with Barnhart’s beginning 2 games after Waner’s and running concurrently for 21 games. Joe Gordon led the league with his 29-game streak in 1942, but Rivers, P. Waner, and Barnhart failed to lead in those particular years. Two great outfielders who were contemporaries, Edd Roush of Cincinnati NL and Sam Rice of Washington AL, each led their respective leagues in longest hitting streaks for both 1920 and 1924. Roush and Rice finished 1-2 in the Writers’ Hall of Fame Election in 1960 though neither was named on enough ballots to be elected; they made the Hall of Fame via the Veteran’s Committee in consecutive years-1962 for Roush and 1963 for Rice.

It might be noted that two of the top streakers-DiMaggio, who is tops, and Bill Dahlen of Chicago NL who had a 42-game streak in 1894 – each followed up with another hitting streak after being stopped on the main streak. DiMaggio, after his streak was stopped on the night of July 17, 1941, launched another streak of 16 games to reach 72 out of 73. Bill Dahlen, stopped on August 7, 1894, then had a 28-game streak to reach 70 out of 71. It is not widely known that DiMaggio developed an ulcer condition of his stomach from the pressures of the streak, which later resulted in a medical discharge from the Army. This condition also was the prime reason that DiMaggio did not accept any offers to manage a baseball team in later years. DiMaggio, incidentally, hit 1 5 homers during his big streak, whereas Rose and Keeler did not have any and Bill Dahlen only 4!

DiMaggio’s brother Dominic, who played for the Boston Red Sox, matched Joe’s achievement by leading the league twice in having the longest hitting streak. Joe D. has 23 in 1940 besides his record 56 in 1941, and Dom had 34 in 1949 and 27 in 1951. There were two other instances of brothers leading the league at one time or another in longest hitting streaks.  Harry Walker of the Cardinals led with 29 in 1943, and his brother Dixie Walker tied for the lead with 16 in 1946 while playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Ed Delahanty of the Phillies led the NL with 31 in 1899, and his brother Jim Delahanty led with 18 for Detroit AL in 1910. Ironically, Paul Waner (despite his 23-game streak in 1927) did not lead the league, whereas his brother Lloyd Waner, a Pittsburgh teammate, led the NL with 22-game streaks in both 1932 and 1938.

The top rookie streak compiled is 27 by Jimmy Williams of Pittsburgh NL in 1899; he also had a 26-game streak the same year. Guy Curtwright of the Chicago White Sox had a 26-game streak in 1943 for the best since 1900, with four rookies in the National League all having 23-game streaks: Joe Rapp of the 1921 Phillies, Richie Ashburn of the 1948 Phillies, Alvin Dark of 1948 Boston Braves, and Mike Vail of the 1975 NY Mets. Willie McCovey, who came up to the S. F. Giants in 1959 (July 30), had a 22- game streak and hit safely in 43 of the 52 games in which he participated. At the other extreme was Ty Cobb, who had 21-game hitting streaks in the 22nd and 23rd years of his 24-year career to be a leader or co-leader each of those seasons. Cobb also led with a 25-game streak in his second season (1st full year) in 1906.

  Besides Speaker (who had three streaks of 20 or more games in 1912),  Dahlen, Klein, and Jimmy Williams, who were all mentioned earlier, there are many other players who had two streaks of 20 or more games in the same season. In fact, DiMaggio and Rose gave an indication of what was to come by turning the trick in seasons prior to the big streaks. Joe D. compiled streaks of 22 and 21 games during 1937, and Pete Rose had two streaks of 20 in 1977. Three players in the 1970’s compiled two streaks of 20 or more games in the same season. In addition to Rose, they were Al Oliver of Pittsburgh NL, who had streaks of 23 and 21 games in 1974, and Steve Garvey of the L. A. Dodgers, who started the 1978 season with a 21- game streak on opening day and had a 20-game streak stopped when he went hitless on the final day of the season.

  Keeler hit safely in his first 44 games for the 1897 Orioles, George Sisler began the 1925 American League season with a 34-game streak for the St. Louis Browns, and Ron LeFlore of the Detroit Tigers excited American League fans with one or more hits in the first 30 games in which he batted in 1976. Ironically, each of them had a holdover “streak” of only one game from the previous season-with Keeler’s total of 45 being the top 2-year streak. Two other notable two-year streaks were compiled by Charlie Grimm for Pittsburgh and Vada Pinson of Cincinnati. Pinson’s streak encompassed the last 27 games of 1965 and the first 4 games of 1966 for 31 games. Grimm hit safely in his last 5 games of 1922 and his first 25 games of 1923 for a 30-game streak. Bill Dahlen of the Chicago NL team notched his 42-game streak in 1894 and during the same year Billy Hamilton of Philadelphia had a 36-game streak, making Hamilton the only player with a streak of 30 or more not to be a season leader in his league. In 1922, Sisler’s 41-game streak for the Browns and Hornsby’s 33-game streak for the Cardinals both excited St. Louis fans in the same year, and set modern records in each league. Gabby Hartnett’s 24-game streak for the Chicago Cubs in 1937 seems to be the longest streak by a catcher, with Ray Fosse having 23 games in a row in the AL for the 1970 Cleveland Indians.

George Brett of the K. C. Royals had three hits in each of six consecutive games in 1976, and Milt Stock of the Brooklyn NL team (known that year as the Robins in honor of their manager Wilbert Robinson) had four consecutive games of four hits each in 1925. Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburg Pirates had five hits in each of two consecutive games (one of them  a 16-inning game) in 1970, and Cal McVey, who played for Chicago in the first season of 1876, had two consecutive six-hit games that year.  Another early player, Paul Hines of Providence NL, linked a six-hit game and a five-hit game consecutively in 1879. The top World Series streak was 17 games by Hank Bauer of the N.Y. Yankees (7-1956, 7-1957, 3-1958). Roberto Clemente of the Pirates made a hit in all 14 World Series games he played, 7 in 1960 and 7 in 1971.

Hitting streaks are not terminated when a player misses a game or does not come to bat. If none of a player’s trips to the plate in a game result in an official at-bat (such as walks, sacrifice bunts, hit-by-pinch, or defensive interference), the streak is not affected. The singular exception is that a sacrifice fly, a case where the batter is attempting to hit the ball, would end the streak. Ron Santo of the Cubs in 1966, between the first and second games of his 28-game streak, had a game where he had 4 walks and 1 hit-by-pitch with no officials at-bats! Foul balls were not counted as strikes until 1901 in the NL and 1903 in the AL, except for foul bunts and foul tips.

So here is the list of yearly hitting streak leaders since 1893, based on the best data presently available. We have tried to iron out discrepancies and incomplete data for many years, mostly before 1920. Ty Cobb appears as a league leader five times, Sam Crawford four times, and Tris Speaker, Chuck Klein, and Willie Keeler three times each. The leaders range from Joe DiMaggio’s 56 in 1941 to Everett Scott’s 14 for the Red Sox in 1914.

LONGEST CONSECUTIVE GAME HITTING STREAKS EACH SEASON (1893-1978)

Note:  (S) denotes that the streak started the season.

  (F) denotes that the streak finished the season.

The batter’s run average, or B.R.A., is a new statistic that we devised independently of one another and now propose as a solution to this problem. A player’s B.R.A. is found by multiplying his on-base average (his run-scoring ability) by his slugging percentage (his run-driving-in ability). The formula is:

B.R.A. = on-base average X slugging percentage where:

and:

Where complete batting records are available, base-running skill should be rewarded also, by adding a ½ “time-reached base” for each caught stealing. Thus another formula is:

The two formulas are completely interchangeable, except that with the base running included, a Lou Brock will have a somewhat higher B.R.A. than the typical player.

Analysis, using dozens of seasons of records and a computer model of baseball play, convinces us that the B.R.A. explains run scoring better than any other indicator that can be derived from year-end statistics. As an example, let us compare Peter Rose, the NL Most Valuable Player in 1973, with runnerup Willie Stargell, whom some felt was more deserving of the award.

For Rose (using the B.R.A. formula which includes base-running):

B.R.A. = .174

For Stargell:

B.R.A. = .255

Stargell was almost half again as dangerous a hitter as rose. In fact, Willie led the majors for players with more than 502 plate appearances (Aaron’s .260 B.R.A. was achieved with only 465 plate appearances), whereas Rose barely made the top 15 and also trailed two of his teammates, Tony Perez and Joe Morgan.

Runs-Contributed and Additional-Wins Statistics

The runs scored by a team depend completely on the B.R.A.’s and plate appearances of its individual batters.

The average runs that a batter contributes per time facing pitcher (RC/BFP) is determined by his B.R.A., according to the following formula:

RC/BFP = B.R.A. – 0.7 x (B.R.A.)²

A batter’s “runs-contributed” can then be found by multiplying his RC/BFP rate by his plate appearances. As can be seen in the first of the tables at the end of this paper, the runs actually scored by a team agree closely with the sum of the runs-contributed totals of its individual batters (within 5%, more than 80% of the time.)

Obviously a team which scores more runs will win more games. A team of perfectly average players would score runs at an average rate, give up runs at the same average rate, and thus play .500 ball. Good hitters produce additional victories by contributing runs at a higher than average rate. In general, nine or ten additional runs scored at some time during a season are needed to convert a loss into a victory, or to produce an “additional win.”

Returning to our example, we can calculate the “additional wins” resulting from the batting of Rose and Stargell. First, the runs-contributed by each. Rose’s RC/BFP rate was .174 – .7x (.174) squared, or .153, and Stargell’s .209. Thus Rose contributed 115 runs (.153 x 751 BFP) and Stargell 127.

If Rose and Stargell had been average hitters, they would have contributed runs at the average or league rate. The National League B.R.A. was .121 in 1973 (on-base average of .323 and slugging percentage of .376 and so the RC/BFP rate for an average player was .111. As average hitters, Rose would have contributed 83 runs (.111 x 751) and Stargell 67 runs. In fact Rose contributed 32 runs above average (115 minus 83) but Stargell contributed 59 runs more than average.

This analysis slightly undervalues the value of both hitters by leaving out a secondary effect of their high on-base averages. Every time a batter avoids making an out by reaching base he allows another batter on his team to come to bat before the game is over. Opportunities are created for run scoring at some different point in the game. How many fans remember some apparently meaningless fifth inning walk in a game won by a dramatic two-out ninth inning home run? But with an out instead of the walk, the game would have ended before its hero could have batted. The better-than-average on-base frequency of Rose and Stargell gave their teammates enough extra at bats to score 8 and 7 extra runs, respectively.

Pete Rose’s superior batting in 1973 led to approximately three additional-wins (+31/9.5), but Stargell’s was worth six additional-wins.

A simple, although approximate, formula for computing additional-wins directly from a player’s B.R.A. is:

By this formula Rose would have +2.9 and Stargell +6.5 additional-wins. Of course, additional-wins also result from pitching and fielding which is better or worse than average.

To show the variety of uses for these new batting statistics, we now use them to answer possible questions about a team performance and about a rules change.

Q. Can the White Sox hope to challenge the Athletics in 1974 if no injuries occur to key players such as Allen and Henderson? A. Not likely. At their healthiest, Allen and Henderson would have contributed five more wins, lifting Chicago’s 1973 record only to 82-80. Santo will help, but the white Sox will need substantial defensive improvement or unusual luck to close the remaining ten-game gap.

Q. How much of the improvement in batting last year in the American League resulted directly from the designated hitter rule? A. About a third. There were 1500 more runs in 1973 than in 1972, after correction for the unplayed games in 1972. In 1972 pitchers contributed 174 runs in their 4787 plate appearances, often being pinch hit for. Last year designated hitters contributed 971 runs in their 8271 appearances, or 562 in the appearances where pitchers would have batted. A further 118 runs result from the improved on-base average of designated hitters compared with pitchers, for a total improvement in run-scoring of 506 runs as a direct result of the new rule.

Two tables appear on the following pages. The first gives B.R.A. and runs-contributed records for players in 1973, including all those with more than 180 plate appearances. The second gives the all-time top hitters at each position. Because the level of hitting has fluctuated over the years for reasons that are not well understood, we have chosen to rate hitters by their B.R.A. relative to the league B.R.A. By this method a 1.00 indicates an average hitter and a 2.00 a hitter twice as good as average. The ratings shown in this table are the average of a player’s ten best seasonal relative B.R.A.’s.

1973 AMERICAN LEAGUE B.R.A. and RUNS-CONTRIBUTED

Note: The over-all records of players who appeared with more than one club are summarized with that club where his contribution seemed most publicized. Runs contributed by “others” reflect this factor and have also been adjusted slightly (-8 AL, -5 NL) to take account of the sacrifice fly rule and the higher-than-average league fielding percentages.

Summary: For those players with enough at bats to qualify for the batting title, Willie Stargell had the highest B.R.A. in 1973 with a 2.55 mark. Re was followed by Darrell Evens with a 2.27 average. Evans had the most runs-contributed with 138, followed by Stargell and Bobby Bonds with 127. Reggie Jackson led the American League with a 2.08 B.R.A. end had 111 runs-contributed.

1974 AMERICAN LEAGUE B.R.A. and RUNS-CONTRIBUTED