This is our old blog. It hasn't been active since 2011. Please see the link above for our current blog or click the logo above to see all of the great data and content on this site.
«
»

Back(stop), Corners & Out

Posted by Steve Lombardi on January 29, 2010

A wacky list from Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Batting Season Finder. It's all players, since 1901, to qualify for a batting title in a season where they played at least one game at each of the following positions: Catcher, First Base, Third Base, and the Outfield. Here they are, ranked by OPS+ :

Rk Player OPS+ Year 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 Pos
1 Johnny Bench 166 1972 24 CIN NL 147 652 538 87 145 22 2 40 125 100 23 84 2 0 12 18 6 6 .270 .379 .541 .920 *29/35
2 Roger Bresnahan 162 1903 24 NYG NL 113 486 406 87 142 30 8 4 55 61 0 0 7 12 0 0 34 0 .350 .443 .493 .936 *832/759
3 Fred Snodgrass 154 1910 22 NYG NL 123 493 396 69 127 22 8 2 44 71 0 52 13 13 0 0 33 0 .321 .440 .432 .871 *879/325
4 Harry Rice 152 1925 23 SLB AL 103 420 354 87 127 25 8 11 47 54 0 15 5 7 0 0 8 7 .359 .450 .568 1.018 *9/837425
5 Johnny Bench 141 1970 22 CIN NL 158 671 605 97 177 35 4 45 148 54 9 102 0 1 11 12 5 2 .293 .345 .587 .932 *273/985
6 Rico Carty 136 1966 26 ATL NL 151 588 521 73 170 25 2 15 76 60 7 74 0 0 7 15 4 6 .326 .391 .468 .859 *72/395
7 Johnny Bench 133 1977 29 CIN NL 142 560 494 67 136 34 2 31 109 58 8 95 1 0 7 10 2 4 .275 .348 .540 .889 *2/7395
8 Roger Bresnahan 129 1907 28 NYG NL 110 401 328 57 83 9 7 4 38 61 0 0 6 6 0 0 15 0 .253 .380 .360 .740 *2/385
9 Thurman Munson 126 1975 28 NYY AL 157 661 597 83 190 24 3 12 102 45 8 52 6 3 10 23 3 2 .318 .366 .429 .795 *2D/3795
10 Keith Moreland 119 1985 31 CHC NL 161 667 587 74 180 30 3 14 106 68 7 58 1 2 9 14 12 3 .307 .374 .440 .814 *935/2
11 Johnny Bench 119 1973 25 CIN NL 152 651 557 83 141 17 3 25 104 83 14 83 0 1 10 22 4 1 .253 .345 .429 .774 *29/35
12 Carlton Fisk 118 1980 32 BOS AL 131 530 478 73 138 25 3 18 62 36 6 62 13 0 3 12 11 5 .289 .353 .467 .819 *2/D735
13 Ted Simmons 117 1976 26 STL NL 150 625 546 60 159 35 3 5 75 73 19 35 0 0 6 9 0 7 .291 .371 .394 .765 *23/75
14 Gary Carter 115 1986 32 NYM NL 132 573 490 81 125 14 2 24 105 62 9 63 6 0 15 21 1 0 .255 .337 .439 .776 *2/3795
15 Roger Bresnahan 113 1902 23 TOT ML 116 464 413 46 115 17 9 5 56 37 0 0 4 10 0 0 18 0 .278 .344 .400 .743 2598/63
16 Carlton Fisk 109 1981 33 CHW AL 96 394 338 44 89 12 0 7 45 38 3 37 12 1 5 9 3 2 .263 .354 .361 .715 *2/375
17 Johnny Bench 107 1971 23 CIN NL 149 613 562 80 134 19 2 27 61 49 7 83 0 0 2 20 2 1 .238 .299 .423 .722 *237/95
18 Cesar Tovar 106 1968 27 MIN AL 157 673 613 89 167 31 6 6 47 34 0 41 17 5 4 2 35 13 .272 .326 .372 .698 578649/321
19 Keith Moreland 103 1984 30 CHC NL 140 539 495 59 138 17 3 16 80 34 5 71 3 2 5 16 1 4 .279 .326 .422 .748 *93/527
20 Jose Oquendo 102 1988 24 STL NL 148 518 451 36 125 10 1 7 46 52 7 40 0 12 3 8 4 6 .277 .350 .350 .700 4563/98721
21 Bert Campaneris 102 1965 23 KCA AL 144 634 578 67 156 23 12 6 42 41 0 71 9 3 3 5 51 19 .270 .326 .382 .709 *67/8392415
22 Peaches Graham 102 1910 33 BSN NL 110 335 291 31 82 13 2 0 21 33 0 15 2 9 0 0 5 0 .282 .359 .340 .699 *2/539
23 Todd Zeile 101 1990 24 STL NL 144 570 495 62 121 25 3 15 57 67 3 77 2 0 6 11 2 4 .244 .333 .398 .731 *253/7
24 Bob Wood 100 1901 35 CLE AL 98 368 346 45 101 23 3 1 49 12 0 0 6 4 0 0 6 0 .292 .327 .384 .711 *2/596374
25 Gil Hodges 98 1958 34 LAD NL 141 532 475 68 123 15 1 22 64 52 3 87 0 2 3 15 8 2 .259 .330 .434 .764 *35/972
26 Sport McAllister 98 1901 26 DET AL 90 336 306 45 92 9 4 3 57 15 0 0 5 10 0 0 17 0 .301 .344 .386 .729 235/976
27 Sam Mertes 96 1902 29 CHW AL 129 544 497 60 140 23 7 1 79 37 0 0 2 8 0 0 46 0 .282 .334 .362 .696 *7/9623415
28 Randy Moore 94 1932 26 BSN NL 107 372 351 41 103 21 2 3 43 15 0 11 0 6 0 0 1 0 .293 .322 .390 .713 953/2
29 Jimmy Walsh 93 1911 25 PHI NL 94 324 289 29 78 20 3 1 31 21 0 30 2 12 0 0 5 0 .270 .324 .370 .694 974/652831
30 Steve Lyons 92 1988 28 CHW AL 146 526 472 59 127 28 3 5 45 32 1 59 1 15 6 6 1 2 .269 .313 .373 .686 *5/89423
31 B.J. Surhoff 91 1993 28 MIL AL 148 599 552 66 151 38 3 7 79 36 5 47 2 4 5 9 12 9 .274 .318 .391 .709 *597/32D
32 Keith Moreland 90 1986 32 CHC NL 156 652 586 72 159 30 0 12 79 53 10 48 0 2 11 15 3 6 .271 .326 .384 .710 *9523
33 Dick Billings 88 1972 29 TEX AL 133 508 469 41 119 15 1 5 58 29 5 77 2 2 6 13 1 5 .254 .296 .322 .618 *27/593
34 Red Dooin 88 1904 25 PHI NL 108 367 355 41 86 11 4 6 36 8 0 0 1 3 0 0 15 0 .242 .261 .346 .607 *2/3875
35 Art Hoelskoetter 87 1907 24 STL NL 119 434 397 21 98 6 3 2 28 27 0 0 2 8 0 0 5 0 .247 .298 .292 .590 *43/28915
36 John Stearns 85 1979 27 NYM NL 155 602 538 58 131 29 2 9 66 52 5 57 4 3 5 21 15 15 .243 .312 .355 .667 *235/7
37 Charlie Dexter 82 1901 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
38 Jack Rothrock 81 1928 23 BOS AL 117 384 344 52 92 9 4 3 22 33 0 40 1 6 0 0 12 6 .267 .333 .343 .676 795368/421
39 Pedro Feliz 80 2007 32 SFG NL 150 590 557 61 141 28 2 20 72 29 2 70 1 0 3 15 2 2 .253 .290 .418 .708 *5/3792
40 B.J. Surhoff 80 1992 27 MIL AL 139 543 480 63 121 19 1 4 62 46 8 41 2 5 10 9 14 8 .252 .314 .321 .635 *23/D7598
41 Bernie Friberg 76 1925 25 TOT NL 135 519 456 53 121 17 4 6 38 53 0 57 2 8 0 0 1 2 .265 .344 .360 .704 *457/3621
42 B.J. Surhoff 71 1988 23 MIL AL 139 541 493 47 121 21 0 5 38 31 9 49 3 11 3 12 21 6 .245 .292 .318 .611 *25/367
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/29/2010.

.

I expected to see Johnny Bench and Thurman Munson on this list - as I recall those seasons where they caught and played these other positions. And, once seeing the list, it made sense that guys like Cesar Tovar, Bert Campaneris, and Jose Oquendo were there since they pulled the "play all 9 positions in a game" stunt. Jimmy Walsh also played all nine positions - in a season. Jack Rothrock too. I learned that, about those two, today via this list.

In any event, it's interesting to see some other names on this list - like Fred Snodgrass, Rico Carty and Gil Hodges. Never would have thought of them, at first blush. And, also, there's just some "fun" names on the list - like Peaches Graham, Sport McAllister and Art Hoelskoetter.

Anyone on the list "catch" the "corner" of your eye as being "out" there too?

Related posts:

    Edinson Volquez allows back-to-back homers to start the game for the second time this season
    Mariano Rivera’s back-to-back blown saves
    Scoring 14 runs in back-to-back games
    Back to Back Triples to Start a Game
    Back to Back Starts 25 Pitches or Less

This entry was posted on Friday, January 29th, 2010 at 4:16 pm and is filed under Season Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

3 Responses to “Back(stop), Corners & Out”

  1. Danny Wind Says:
    January 30th, 2010 at 11:58 am

    Actually, though Oquendo played all nine positions in 1988, he played them in different games like Walsh and Rothrock did, rather than in the same game. (His pitching appearance came in a nineteen-inning game where he pitched four innings and took the loss.) It's even more impressive that way, since his team actually needed him to play all those positions, rather than doing it as a stunt.

  2. Matt Says:
    January 30th, 2010 at 12:00 pm

    Pudge "caught" the "corner" of my eye - twice!
    Scott Sheldon and Shane Halter also played all nine positions in one game, both in 2000, but didn't qualify for the batting title.
    I was expecting to see Jim Leyritz.

  3. eorns Says:
    January 31st, 2010 at 11:35 pm

    How about Catcher and Shortstop? Four guys have played 20 games at each in a season. Dave Roberts, in 1980, is the only player to do it since 1945. That year he caught in 22 games and played shortstop in 33 (in addition to 10 games in the outfield and 45 at the other infield positions)!

«
»