RIP. Gates Brown

Blarf! Yeah, Jose Morales.

 

Rusty Staub.

 

Well, at times, tho he was a starter a lot more than the others. Maybe at the end with the Mets.

 

Kranepool also borrowed Chico's soap and never gave it back.

 

Definitely at the end with the Mets. I remember an NBC Game of the Week where Joe Garagiola called him the National League's only DH.

 

I think they kept Kranepool around so he could pinch-hit for Escuela every game.

 

Yeah, I would agree with that. At the end, though, he was the prototypical pinch hitting specialist. Even though the National League still has pitchers bat, I wonder if the age of the great pinch hitters ended with the beginning of the DH. There still have been some great pinch hitters, but it's not nearly as appreciated.

 

Ahh, typical Baby Boomer nostalgia.

Of the top 10 pinch-hitters in MLB history, seven of them spent their entire careers in the DH era. And an eighth, Manny Mota, spent 9 of his 20 seasons in the DH era.

Five of the 10 (HALF!) started their careers after 1988, including the all-time pinch-hit leader, Lenny Harris.

I wouldn't agree at all that the pinch-hitter has been less celebrated or valued (although I would agree that 12-man pitching staffs are shortening the bench in recent years.)

 

One of the differences brought on by 12-man pitching staffs is no one would carry a PH specialist like Burgess or Staub, who required a pinch runner as well.

 

Less celebrated, definitely. You think people will remember Dave Hansen and John Van Der Wal the way Manny Mota and Smoky Burgess are? Not a prayer. Unless Dave Hansen pinch-hits for Rheal Cormier in Airplane IX

 

If you grew up watching baseball in the 60's and someone asked you to name
3 pinch hitters you would likely say Gates Brown, Smokey Burgess, and Manny Mota.

I just can't remember any others that distinctive and that effective in such a limited roll.

When Giambi hit the walk off last week I actually went to Baseball Reference to see how
old Burgess was when he retired. He was 40 but looked a lot older to a young kid at
the time.

 

I always think of Mike Lum as a PH guy, too. See where he had 102 PHs.