Teams With 10+ PH HR In A Season Since 1919
Posted by Steve Lombardi on July 18, 2011
How many teams have 10+ pinch-hit homeruns in a season since 1919?
Here is the list -
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Pretty amazing mark by the O's in 1982 - considering they were playing with a D.H. that year. Earl was pressing some of the right buttons that season on his PH choices.
July 18th, 2011 at 4:08 pm
A '62 Mets sighting...in a list of accomplishment and not ineptitude!
July 18th, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Does this include players who pinch-hit, stayed in the game, and then hit a HR in their second trip ?
July 18th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Oneblankspace - yes, the list includes those players. Craig Counsell in the 6/30/2001 game for the Diamondbacks did just that. He walked in his first plate appearance, stayed in the game, and then 2 innings later he hit his HR.
July 18th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Not surprisingly, only 4 AL teams in the DH era, the '95 Royals being the most recent.
July 18th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
The 1982 Orioles had 11 true PH Home Runs. 2 of the 13 were the type described by Oneblankspace. Still an impressive accomplishment by Weaver's gang.
July 18th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Hal Breeden hit pinch home runs in both ends of a doubleheader for the Expos on 7/13/73. I'm going to check who else has done that.
July 18th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
The biggest surprise is seeing a DH-era AL team in the Top 10. Seeing that it was the Orioles in the year in which Ripken's streak began, I wondered if any were hit by him in any pre-streak games. Or even any games early in the streak in which it was kept alive only by a pinch hitting appearance. But no, none were hit by him.
As someone who was an Orioles fan then, I do recognize the names of some pretty good backup players in the list, including Terry Crowley, who had multiple stints with the team.
But one of these pinch hit homers came in that now-famous second game of the May 29, 1982, doubleheader against the Blue Jays, the last game before Ripken's streak. (He did play in the first game.) Benny Ayala hit a pinch hit grand slam in a game that the O's lost, 11-10. In fact, three of the "real" pinch hit home runs in that year were grand slams (as was one of the ones hit in a later plate appearance).
July 18th, 2011 at 11:25 pm
@6 player-manager Joe Cronin went 18 for 42 as a pinch-hitter in 1943 with 5 homers. On June 17 he hit homers in both games in a double header. Those were his 2nd and 3rd homers in four at-bats. He went on to hit 4 homers in 8 at-bats (9 plate appearnces) between June 15 and July 9.
July 19th, 2011 at 3:00 am
Dave Hansen contributed 7 of the 12 Dodger PH homeruns in 2000, the single-season record for PH homeruns.
For his career, Hansen had 703 PAs (about a season's worth) with 15 HR, 81 RBI, 104 BB, 153 K, and a .234 / .348 / .353 slash.
July 19th, 2011 at 3:02 am
To clarify, Dave Hansen's career numbers @9 are his performance as a pinch-hitter.
July 19th, 2011 at 3:06 am
You're quite right, Charles. Cronin and Breeden are the only two players to hit pinch homers in both ends of a doubleheader. Tony González (Phillies, 7/4/61) and Rick Reichardt (Senators, 5/10/70) nearly accomplished the same feat — both of them homered as a pinch-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader, then homered in their second plate appearance in the nightcap after entering the game as a pinch-hitter.
And I'd like to tip my cap to Jeff Grotewold, who, as a rookie for the Phillies in 1995, hit pinch homers for the Phillies in the top of the seventh inning on July 6, July 7 (second game), and July 8, with a pinch-hit groundout in the first game on July 7. That's three homers in four pinch PAs over three days, accounting for 75% of the home runs Grotewold would hit in his big-league career.
July 19th, 2011 at 6:45 am
Craig Wilson hit 7 PH HR's in 2001 to tie Hansen. Matt Stairs holds the career record of 23.
July 19th, 2011 at 7:05 am
In 1979, Del Unser had HR's in 3 consecutive pinch hit appearnaces. Lee Lacy had 3 HR's in 3 consecutive PH AB's (4 PA with a walk).
July 19th, 2011 at 10:41 am
And yet, people like to talk about how great a pinch-hitter Dave Hansen was. He wasn't that good, he just got a ton of opportunities.
July 19th, 2011 at 11:33 am
@12.
Craig Wilson's 7 PH home runs in 2001 came as a rookie, in only 43 pinch-hit PAs ! His PH slash that year was an eye-popping .294 / .442 / .912 .
Wilson would have only 81 more pinch-hit PAs the rest of his career (6 more seasons). He finished with 12 HR and slugged .565 in only 124 career pinch-hit PAs.
July 19th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
A question:
In Baltimore's 1982 season, there is a walk-off grand-slam appearance by Joe Nolan. When he pinch-hit, he struck out with runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs, and then hit the grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the 10th. However, he somehow manages to have a negative RE24. Can somebody explain that?
July 19th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
In 1979, Del Unser had HR's in 3 consecutive pinch hit appearances.
I'm a huge Del Unser fan. To your comment, Charles, I'll add that Unser appeared in one other game during that period in 1979, as a mid-inning defensive replacement for Greg Luzinski in the bottom of the ninth of a tie game against St. Louis. Luzinski was an awful fielder, of course; but I like to think that that move also reflects well on the versatility of Unser, who was then in his twelfth major-league season.
July 19th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Ryan/16, my guess is that he is not being given any credit under RE24 for the grand slam. 0.4 runs seems to be about the run expectancy for 1st and 2nd, 2 outs, so when he got out in that situation in the 8th, there's the -0.4. Now, when he hit the grand slam in the 10th, he should get RE24 credit for the value of the hit (4 runs), minus the run expectancy of bases loaded, 2 outs (~0.8 runs), plus the run expectancy of the base-out state that he left (bases empty, 0 outs, ~0.1 runs). But because the game ended after the grand slam, he didn't leave a base-out situation. This probably screws up the automated calculation, but I'd think it could be fixed. I wonder if this affects every walkoff hit.
July 19th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Nope. Here's a game where the PH's only PA was the walk-off HR, and he gets RE24 credit for it. So I have no idea what's happening in the Nolan case. I'll send a note to the site and see if they can explain.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN201106300.shtml
July 19th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Here's a youtube clip of Earl Weaver discussing Terry Crowley - be aware, extreme language 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YKxf3OkpJc
July 19th, 2011 at 1:57 pm
So does the lack of team seasons prior to 1953 meeting these criteria a function of lack of home runs or pinch-hitting being a less common strategy in that era?
July 19th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
Both the number of pinch hits and pinch-hit home runs went up in the 1950's versus the 1940's. Part of that was that pitchers were completing fewer games and back-up players were given pinch-hit opportunities.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/pinch-hitting-specialists-a-history/
July 24th, 2011 at 8:07 pm
The '61 Yankees right alongside the '62 Mets!