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.
«
»

Insert #1 & #2 Joke Here

Posted by Steve Lombardi on March 22, 2010

This list via Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Batting Game Finder is...

Most Games in a career...
From 1920 to 2009,
Batting #1 in the Line-up, where
Played: Catcher and Requiring PA>=4

Rk Player #Matching PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GDP
1 Jason Kendall 442 Ind. Games 2077 1823 535 87 5 6 132 185 140 .293 .372 .357 .729 4 13 7 52 41
2 Butch Wynegar 48 Ind. Games 223 192 57 11 1 3 19 26 13 .297 .377 .411 .789 3 2 0 0 3
3 Rollie Hemsley 42 Ind. Games 195 174 48 10 1 0 7 14 10 .276 .330 .345 .675 7 0 0
4 Paul Lo Duca 33 Ind. Games 154 141 53 8 0 11 27 9 7 .376 .416 .667 1.082 0 2 0 2 3
5 Craig Biggio 32 Ind. Games 159 132 33 5 1 4 18 23 15 .250 .358 .394 .752 0 3 3 1 0
6 Kurt Suzuki 25 Ind. Games 121 113 23 1 0 2 10 8 20 .204 .256 .265 .522 0 0 0 0 3
7 Ivan Rodriguez 21 Ind. Games 104 101 28 12 0 1 7 3 21 .277 .298 .426 .724 0 0 0 0 2
8 Charlie Moore 21 Ind. Games 104 95 26 4 0 0 8 6 8 .274 .314 .316 .630 2 1 0 0 3
9 Frankie Pytlak 20 Ind. Games 93 84 20 0 1 0 3 8 1 .238 .304 .262 .566 1 0 0
10 Russell Martin 20 Ind. Games 97 77 16 4 0 0 10 19 7 .208 .361 .260 .621 0 1 1 0 1
11 Johnny Oates 17 Ind. Games 79 75 18 2 0 2 10 4 9 .240 .278 .347 .625 0 0 0 0 4
12 Brad Ausmus 15 Ind. Games 69 57 12 1 0 0 4 10 12 .211 .333 .228 .561 0 1 0 1 3
13 Tim McCarver 13 Ind. Games 58 54 17 2 0 0 5 4 4 .315 .362 .352 .714 0 0 0 0 0
14 Mickey Cochrane 12 Ind. Games 58 52 22 2 2 0 7 6 2 .423 .483 .538 1.021 0 0 0
15 Ron Brand 12 Ind. Games 57 53 11 2 0 0 2 2 4 .208 .236 .245 .482 2 0 1 0 1
16 Brian Downing 7 Ind. Games 33 28 8 0 0 0 0 5 5 .286 .394 .286 .680 0 0 0 0 0
17 John Roseboro 6 Ind. Games 25 23 4 2 0 0 0 2 5 .174 .240 .261 .501 0 0 0 0 0
18 Cookie Rojas 3 Ind. Games 14 11 4 0 0 1 3 3 1 .364 .500 .636 1.136 0 0 0 0 0
19 Bruce Kimm 3 Ind. Games 13 13 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .154 .154 .154 .308 0 0 0 0 0
20 Scott Hemond 3 Ind. Games 14 10 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 .000 .231 .000 .231 1 0 0 0 1
21 Curt Blefary 3 Ind. Games 16 14 3 1 0 0 0 2 1 .214 .313 .286 .598 0 0 1 0 0
22 Bob Stinson 2 Ind. Games 9 7 2 0 0 1 2 2 0 .286 .444 .714 1.159 0 0 0 0 0
23 Floyd Rayford 2 Ind. Games 9 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 .000 .000 .000 1 0 0 0 0
24 Clint Courtney 2 Ind. Games 9 8 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .125 .222 .125 .347 0 0 0 0 0
25 Ivey Wingo 1 Ind. Games 5 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400 .400 .400 .800 0 0 0
26 Cesar Tovar 1 Ind. Games 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .333 .500 .333 .833 0 0 0 0 0
27 Mike Squires 1 Ind. Games 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .250 .000 .250 0 0 0 0 0
28 Don Slaught 1 Ind. Games 5 5 2 1 0 0 3 0 0 .400 .400 .600 1.000 0 0 0 0 0
29 Tom Satriano 1 Ind. Games 4 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .250 .250 .500 0 0 0 0 0
30 Neifi Perez 1 Ind. Games 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
31 Ed Ott 1 Ind. Games 4 4 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 .250 .250 .250 .500 0 0 0 0 0
32 Russ Nixon 1 Ind. Games 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0 0 0
33 Phil Nevin 1 Ind. Games 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
34 Gerald Laird 1 Ind. Games 4 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .250 .500 .750 0 0 0 0 0
35 Ed Kirkpatrick 1 Ind. Games 5 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .250 .400 .250 .650 0 0 0 0 0
36 Brandon Inge 1 Ind. Games 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
37 Choo Choo Coleman 1 Ind. Games 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 .200 .200 .400 0 0 0 0 0
38 Bert Campaneris 1 Ind. Games 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .250 .000 .250 0 0 0 0 0
39 Michael Barrett 1 Ind. Games 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/22/2010.

.

Something tells me that this is a "record" that Jason Kendall will probably hold for a long time. Also, note that some guys - like Cesar Tovar and Bert Campaneris - made this list because they "played" catcher for one inning (or less) in a game where they had 4+ PA.

And, for the record, Mike Squires, normally a 1B, is the only lefty-thrower to make this list. Now, there's a trivia answer for you...

No related posts.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 4:43 pm and is filed under Game Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

10 Responses to “Insert #1 & #2 Joke Here”

  1. Thomas Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 5:00 pm

    I love that has played almost 10 times as many games as anyone on this list but still doesn't lead in HRs...

  2. Zachary Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 7:13 pm

    Choo Choo Coleman is a great name.

    I've always liked Kendall. Over his first eleven years in the league, he was a .300 hitter, and he's a very unique catcher - probably the best speedy one for a long time. Sure, he's been pretty lousy for a while now, but he's had a good career.

  3. DoubleDiamond Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 7:15 pm

    Mike Squires also played some 3B in his career.

  4. Jeff J. Says:
    March 23rd, 2010 at 9:13 am

    You're-in even more trouble if your #2 hitter is crappy

  5. tmckelv Says:
    March 23rd, 2010 at 10:02 am

    I have to see the 12(!!!) lineups in which Johnny Oates batted lead-off.

  6. tmckelv Says:
    March 23rd, 2010 at 10:26 am

    Actually it was 17(!!!) games for Oates. All of them came in 1973 for the Braves (the year Hank Aaron, Darrell Evans and Davey Johnson all had > 40 HR).

    Manager Eddie Mathews sporadically used Johnny Oates as the lead-off hitter until early June when he inserted him as the "full-time" #1 hitter (for 9 of 10 games). This was possibly because Ralph Garr was in a slump (batting in the low .240's at the time)? The problem is that Oates was batting .230 with no steals. But Oates rewarded his manager with a 2 for 5 effort that included his only SB of the year (also got caught trying to steal - he was running at will that day). Here is the Braves lineup for that game:
    Johnny Oates C
    Ralph Garr RF
    Darrell Evans 3B
    Hank Aaron LF
    Mike Lum 1B
    Dusty Baker CF
    Davey Johnson 2B
    Marty Perez SS
    Ron Reed P

    Not really a lot of other great options at lead-off (if you don't want to use Garr, of course). Also of note: I guess Matthews liked to break up the righties but using Mike Lum in the 5 hole.

  7. Andy Says:
    March 23rd, 2010 at 11:21 am

    Jeff J...laugh!!!

  8. JDV Says:
    March 23rd, 2010 at 12:24 pm

    I'm curious about how that list might change with PA>=3.

  9. Thomas Says:
    March 23rd, 2010 at 4:18 pm

    Take a look at the Nefi Perez game.. (http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ANA/ANA199806070.shtml)

    It appears to me that he was moved to catcher with 1 out in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game. The first batter was intentionally walked to make the bases loaded... on the next batter he had a passed ball and lost the game 5-4. Also of note in that game, Larry Walker played 3B and 2B for the only time in his career.

    What in the heck is the story behind that game?!

  10. JDV Says:
    March 23rd, 2010 at 5:04 pm

    In the Neifi Perez game, it looks like C Jeff Reed was injured when he tagged out Hollins who had tried to score on the Edmonds double. That forced the Rockies to make several defensive adjustments including Perez to C and Walker to 2B. After Salmon walked, they played musical chairs again, apparently adjusting fielders toward or away from the likely action based on whether the hitter was LH or RH. Next came the game-ending WP, so it may not have been Perez' mistake...or still might have been. Sounds like great drama...baseball at its best.

«
»