“A” In Effort, “F” For Some Results
Posted by Steve Lombardi on March 12, 2010
Via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Batting Game Finder, since 1954, the players with 5+ games where they appeared just as a pinch runner and then were caught stealing once they were on base:
| Rk | Player | #Matching | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Alexander | 20 | Ind. Games |
| 2 | Allan Lewis | 15 | Ind. Games |
| 3 | Larry Lintz | 14 | Ind. Games |
| 4 | Herb Washington | 12 | Ind. Games |
| 5 | Miguel Dilone | 12 | Ind. Games |
| 6 | Otis Nixon | 9 | Ind. Games |
| 7 | Juan Samuel | 7 | Ind. Games |
| 8 | Albert Hall | 7 | Ind. Games |
| 9 | Eric Yelding | 6 | Ind. Games |
| 10 | Don Hopkins | 6 | Ind. Games |
| 11 | Glen Barker | 6 | Ind. Games |
| 12 | Willie Wilson | 5 | Ind. Games |
| 13 | Mark McLemore | 5 | Ind. Games |
| 14 | Tom Goodwin | 5 | Ind. Games |
| 15 | Bobby Brown | 5 | Ind. Games |
.
Matt Alexander, Allan Lewis, Larry Lintz, Herb Washington and Miguel Dilone were all members of the Oakland A's at one time. In fact, if we ran this list and limited it to members of the Oakland A's in the 1970's, the leaders would look like this:
| Rk | Player | #Matching | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Herb Washington | 12 | Ind. Games |
| 2 | Matt Alexander | 12 | Ind. Games |
| 3 | Larry Lintz | 8 | Ind. Games |
| 4 | Allan Lewis | 6 | Ind. Games |
| 5 | Don Hopkins | 6 | Ind. Games |
| 6 | Miguel Dilone | 6 | Ind. Games |
| 7 | Darrell Woodard | 3 | Ind. Games |
| 8 | Mike Edwards | 3 | Ind. Games |
| 9 | Steve Staggs | 1 | Ind. Games |
| 10 | Blue Moon Odom | 1 | Ind. Games |
| 11 | George Hendrick | 1 | Ind. Games |
.
March 12th, 2010 at 3:55 am
In his very brief Yankee tenure, Charles Gipson was used strictly to pinch run seven times. He was picked off twice in those times.
March 12th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
This yielded an interesting list of players. I remembered Herb Washington as a pinch-running specialist, but didn't realize that he never had a single PA. I also remember Matt Alexander, mostly from old baseball cards, but didn't realize that he was primarily a pinch runner too. His career totals must be in a class by themselves: he reached base safely 55 times (36 H / 18 W / 1 HB), and had 103 SB and 111 R. Was there ever anyone else with 100+ SB or 100+ R with <100 times reaching base safely?
March 12th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
1975 Topps Herb Washington is one of my favorite baseball cards. It is the only one I have ever seen with the position of Pinch Runner.
March 12th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Steve, I have a question. I notice that the "Positions" line at the top of Larry Lintz's page states "Second Baseman, Pinch Runner and Shortstop." I assume that that entry ranks the total number of Lintz's career appearances at each position, in decreasing order.
My question: If/when fielding stats become searchable, will there also be a way to search the numbers of players' appearances as pinch hitters and pinch runners?
March 12th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
I like how Matt Alexander hit .444 in his final three seasons. He was on fire!
March 12th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Kahuna, maybe I'm misunderstanding your question, but you can search for number of PR/PH appearances already (as was done in this post).
March 12th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Kahuna, maybe I'm misunderstanding your question
I just wish you were, J T. Now I'm more embarrassed than a pinch runner who got picked off while time was out, then got picked off again after play resumed. In front of a sellout crowd. At home. On his own bobblehead night.
March 12th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
When I saw the name Matt Alexander, I thought for a moment he was the guy who pinch ran for Cal Ripken and immediately got picked off first base in this game:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL199605010.shtml
However, that guy turned out to have been Manny Alexander. Plus, he stayed in the game and had three plate appearances in what turned out to be a 15-inning game: a single to lead off the bottom of the 10th with the score tied, going to 2nd on an error on the same play but stranded (by then at 3rd) when the bases were left loaded; a strikeout with runners at 2nd and 3rd (a wild pitch had moved each up a base during the at-bat) for the 2nd out in the bottom of the 11th with the score still tied; and grounding into a double play to end the bottoom of the 13th with the score still tied.
The team destined to win the World Series that year eventually scored 5 runs in the top of the 15th to win. I thought for sure that I'd see an Alexander error in the account of that inning, but it appears to have been an awakened offense facing poor pitching. (4 of the runs came on a grand slam.)
March 12th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
JDV,
The answers to your questions are "no" and "no".
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/hjsUf
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/rDKbY
Nice observation.
March 12th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
Matt Alexander had one of the greatest Strat-O-Matic cards for the 1979 Pirates. It was impossible to get him out, and he could steal at will. He was lethal in batting in front of Stargell and Parker. Omar Moreno couldn't get off the bench competing with that.