Scott Munninghoff

Scott Andrew Munninghoff

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.
• High School Purcell High School
• Debut April 13, 1980
• Final Game May 4, 1980
• Born December 5, 1958 in Cincinnati, OH USA

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Biographical Information

Scott Munninghoff pitched 4 games in the major leagues for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980. He is, however, more famous as a hitter, for two reasons. First, he is one of the few major leaguers who has a lifetime 1.000 batting average, and second, he is one of the few pitchers who hit a triple in his first major league at-bat. It was over 25 years before another pitcher duplicated the feat.

He was a first round pick by the Phillies in the 1977 amateur draft. He started at age 18 in Auburn in the New York-Penn League in 1977, with a record of 0-5 in 6 appearances. In 1978, he dominated the Western Carolina League at Spartanburg with a record of 17-7 and an ERA of 2.30. The next year, in Reading, he went 14-9, and led the Eastern League in victories in 1979.

In 1980, his 4 games came early in the season. The Phillies went on to win the 1980 World Series. Munninghoff, Eric Cammack and Eduardo Rodriguez are the only pitchers ever to hit triples in their first and only career at-bats. With the Oklahoma City 89ers in the American Association that year, Munninghoff went 4-9 with a 5.90 ERA.

After the 1981 season, the Phillies sent him to the Cleveland Indians as the player to be named later in the Bo Diaz three-team trade, but he never appeared in the majors for the Indians, playing for their Double A team, the Chattanooga Lookouts, and their Triple A team, the Charleston Charlies, during the 1982 season. At age 23, he was finished with professional ball.