Short at First Base
Posted by Raphy on February 26, 2009
In 2008 Ron Belliard played 33 games at first base for the Nationals. Belliard became the first 5 ft 8 (or shorter) player since 1971 and only the sixth since 1901 to play at least 20 games at first in one season.
Cnt Player Year Ht Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+----+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Ron Belliard 2008 5.08 33 WSN NL 96 337 296 37 85 22 0 11 46 37 1 58 3 1 0 6 3 2 .287 .372 .473 .845 354/6 2 Roberto Pena 1971 5.08 34 MIL AL 113 293 274 17 65 9 3 3 28 15 3 37 1 3 0 7 2 1 .237 .279 .325 .604 356/4 3 Paul Smith 1953 5.08 22 PIT NL 118 427 389 41 110 12 7 4 44 24 0 23 3 11 0 8 3 0 .283 .329 .380 .709 *37 4 Heinie Mueller 1924 5.08 24 STL NL 92 320 296 39 78 12 6 2 37 19 0 16 2 3 0 0 8 7 .264 .312 .365 .677 83/97 5 Hack Simmons 1910 5.08 25 DET AL 42 126 110 12 25 3 1 0 9 10 0 0 2 4 0 0 1 0 .227 .303 .273 .576 *3/589 6 Charlie Dexter 1901 5.07 25 CHC NL 116 488 460 46 123 9 5 1 66 16 0 0 7 5 0 0 22 0 .267 .302 .315 .617 3549/827
In fact, in 2008, Belliard was the only player to play at least 20 games at first and admit being less than 6 feet tall. (However, the number of players at 6-0 leads one to believe that there is a lot of liberal rounding involved.) There were however, 21 players who did see some action at 1st despite being under 6 feet.
1 Ron Belliard 5.08 2008 33 WSN NL 96 337 296 37 85 22 0 11 46 37 1 58 3 1 0 6 3 2 .287 .372 .473 .845 354/6 2 Luis Rodriguez 5.09 2008 28 SDP NL 64 225 202 22 58 11 1 0 12 13 0 13 0 7 3 9 1 1 .287 .326 .351 .677 *6/435 3 Howie Clark 5.10 2008 34 MIN AL 4 8 8 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .250 .500 .750 /*345 4 Marco Scutaro 5.10 2008 32 TOR AL 145 592 517 76 138 23 1 7 60 57 0 65 5 6 7 8 7 2 .267 .341 .356 .697 645/37D 5 Javier Valentin 5.10 2008 32 CIN NL 94 144 129 10 33 8 0 4 18 14 0 27 0 0 1 2 0 0 .256 .326 .411 .737 23/5 6 Paul Lo Duca 5.10 2008 36 TOT NL 67 193 173 16 42 9 0 0 15 15 0 11 5 0 0 10 1 0 .243 .321 .295 .616 23/7D 7 Brian Barden 5.11 2008 27 STL NL 9 10 9 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .222 .222 .222 .444 /543 8 Curtis Thigpen 5.11 2008 25 TOR AL 10 21 17 2 3 0 0 1 1 1 0 8 1 2 0 0 0 0 .176 .263 .353 .616 /*23 9 Jason LaRue 5.11 2008 34 STL NL 61 189 164 17 35 8 1 4 21 15 1 20 5 3 2 6 0 0 .213 .296 .348 .644 *2/3 10 Damion Easley 5.11 2008 38 NYM NL 113 347 316 33 85 10 2 6 44 19 0 38 7 2 3 15 0 0 .269 .322 .370 .692 *4/673D5 11 Marlon Anderson 5.11 2008 34 NYM NL 87 151 138 16 29 6 0 1 10 9 0 27 0 2 2 2 2 1 .210 .255 .275 .530 7/34D 12 Pablo Sandoval 5.11 2008 21 SFG NL 41 154 145 24 50 10 1 3 24 4 1 14 1 0 4 6 0 0 .345 .357 .490 .847 352 13 Henry Blanco 5.11 2008 36 CHC NL 58 128 120 15 35 3 0 3 12 6 1 22 0 2 0 4 0 0 .292 .325 .392 .717 *2/3 14 Ramon Vazquez 5.11 2008 31 TEX AL 105 347 300 44 87 18 3 6 40 38 3 66 0 5 4 4 0 1 .290 .365 .430 .795 *564/3 15 Jose Vidro 5.11 2008 33 SEA AL 85 330 308 28 72 11 0 7 45 18 2 36 0 2 2 5 2 1 .234 .274 .338 .612 *D/3 16 Chris Burke 5.11 2008 28 ARI NL 86 199 165 20 32 5 1 2 12 27 8 33 2 2 3 2 5 0 .194 .310 .273 .583 47/3956 17 Oscar Salazar 5.11 2008 30 BAL AL 34 94 81 13 23 3 0 5 15 12 0 13 0 0 1 1 0 1 .284 .372 .506 .878 3/5D6 18 Brad Ausmus 5.11 2008 39 HOU NL 81 250 216 15 47 8 0 3 24 25 3 41 2 6 1 4 0 2 .218 .303 .296 .599 *2/345 19 Yadier Molina 5.11 2008 25 STL NL 124 485 444 37 135 18 0 7 56 32 4 29 1 3 5 21 0 2 .304 .349 .392 .741 *2/3D 20 Brian Myrow 5.11 2008 31 SDP NL 21 24 21 1 3 0 0 1 3 2 0 5 0 0 1 1 0 0 .143 .208 .286 .494 /3 21 Max Ramirez 5.11 2008 23 TEX AL 17 55 46 8 10 1 0 2 9 6 0 15 3 0 0 0 0 0 .217 .345 .370 .715 *2/3D
The last player who was officially listed at under 6 ft., played enough to qualify for a batting title and played at least half his games at first was Ron Coomer in 2000. Here are the qualifiers for the last 20 years.
Cnt Player Year Ht Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions ----+-----------------+----+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+--------- 1 Ron Coomer 2000 5.11 33 MIN AL 140 589 544 64 147 29 1 16 82 36 2 50 4 0 5 25 2 0 .270 .317 .415 .732 *3/D5 2 Gregg Jefferies 1995 5.10 27 PHI NL 114 521 480 69 147 31 2 11 56 35 5 26 0 0 6 15 9 5 .306 .349 .448 .797 *37 3 Orlando Merced 1994 5.11 27 PIT NL 108 431 386 48 105 21 3 9 51 42 5 58 1 0 2 17 4 1 .272 .343 .412 .755 *9*3 4 Gregg Jefferies 1994 5.10 26 STL NL 103 447 397 52 129 27 1 12 55 45 12 26 1 0 4 9 12 5 .325 .391 .489 .880 *3 5 John Kruk 1993 5.10 32 PHI NL 150 651 535 100 169 33 5 14 85 111 10 87 0 0 5 11 6 2 .316 .430 .475 .905 *3 6 Gregg Jefferies 1993 5.10 25 STL NL 142 612 544 89 186 24 3 16 83 62 7 32 2 0 4 15 46 9 .342 .408 .485 .893 *3/4 7 John Kruk 1992 5.10 31 PHI NL 144 607 507 86 164 30 4 10 70 92 8 88 1 0 7 11 3 5 .323 .423 .458 .881 *39/7 8 John Kruk 1991 5.10 30 PHI NL 152 615 538 84 158 27 6 21 92 67 16 100 1 0 9 11 7 0 .294 .367 .483 .850 *378/9 9 Brook Jacoby 1990 5.11 30 CLE AL 155 624 553 77 162 24 4 14 75 63 6 58 2 2 4 20 1 4 .293 .365 .427 .792 *5*3
February 26th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Interesting - 2 of the 5 guys in that last list played a signiicant part of their careers in Philadelphia, yet neither was a Phillies prospect (Jefferies came up through the Mets organization and Kruk came from the Padres). I guess the Phils never read "the book" on acquiring tall first basemen.
The Twins also employed two of those platers - Merced spent part of the 1998 season in Minnesota - so I guess they were sharing the Phillies scouting reports.
It may have already been looked at previously, but I'd be interested in an analysis of short pitchers, particularly starting pitchers. This is a position where a bias for tall players is really prominent. A quick scan of the top 10 career Wins leaders shows only Pud Galvin at 5'8" was under six foot tall. (Kid Nichols and Tim Keefe do not have heights listed.) If we extend that by two -- the top 10 winningest pitchers of KNOWN height -- we also get John Clarkson in at 5'10". Among the top 10 active career wins leaders, only Pedro's 5'11" frame is under six foot, but Bartolo Colon, also at 5'11", (currently 12th) will join him once Mad Dog and Moose are officially "scrubbed" from the active list.
Is anyone interested in doing a PI search for most career wins by pitchers under 6'0", 5'9", 5'6", etc.? What about most career strikeouts by short pitchers? (The theory is that tall pitchers have an advantage in that category.) Finally, how about K/IP among short pitchers?
February 27th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Keep in mind back in the 19th century, heights were a tiny bit shorter (by a few inches) than they are today. So Galvin's 5'8 might have been of decent height.
11 players got 200 wins in the 19th century and their height is known. The average height was about 5'11 and the tallest was Jack Stivetts and Cy Young at 6'2.
From 1990 to 2008, there were 11 pitchers with 200 wins and their height is known. Pedro Martinez at 5'11 is the only guy under 6 feet. The average is about 6'3 and the tallest is Randy Johnson at 6'10.