Banjo Hitters Were Often Tough to Double
PLUS: BILL NOWLIN RECALLS A WILD WIN AT FENWAY PARK
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
On Sept. 1, 1964, 20-year-old pitcher Masanori Murakami became the first Japanese-born player to appear in the U.S. majors — after he was loaned to the San Francisco Giants by Nippon Professional Baseball’s Nankai Hawks (now the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) . . .
For the second straight season, Mookie Betts will be the Opening Day shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers . . .
The Cubs and Braves are the leading contenders for free-agent lefty reliever A.J. Minter, who has spent his entire career in Atlanta but will open the 2025 season on he injured list following off-season hip surgery . . .
When Boston traded four prospects to the Chicago White Sox for Garrett Crochet, it was the second time that happened in eight years, with the 2016 Chris Sale swap the initial instance . . .
Charlie Morton, 41, wants to keep pitching after a mediocre 2024 but there’s no way he’ll earn $20 million from the Braves, his last team, or anyone else.
Leading Off
Hard men to double-up: Buford, Butler and Blasingame
By Andrew Sharp
Finding a list of players who grounded into the most double-plays is pretty easy. So is guessing the most likely suspects: slow-footed power-hitters, most of whom batted right-handed. These guys also came up a lot with guys on base.
Hall of Famer Jim Rice holds the single season record for GIDPs with 36. Miguel Tejada holds the National League mark with 32 and the most years leading his league in GIDPs with five. Rice and the famously slow-running catcher Ernie Lombardi each led their league four times. Albert Pujols is by far the all-time leader with 426 GIDPs.
At the other end of the spectrum, however, are a few players who had decent careers but tend to be forgotten today. Leaders in this category often hit leadoff and played when pitchers batted ninth. Most were left-handed batters. They could steal bases, but weren’t noted as speed-burners. Yet because they tended to be contact hitters who put the ball in play, that would have tended to increase their opportunities for GIDPs.
Don Buford was a switch-hitting infielder/outfielder who spent 10 seasons with the White Sox and Orioles through 1972, played in three World Series with Baltimore and was an All-Star in 1971. His WAR as calculated by Baseball Reference was a respectable 36.2, but he had .264 lifetime average and never hit as many as 20 homers.
He did walk more than he struck out. More significantly, he grounded into a double- play just once every 157 times up -- 33 in 5,347 plate appearances. That’s the lowest percentage for players with 5,000 or more times up, or at least since official statistics have been kept — starting in 1933 in the National League and 1939 in the American.
The man who held the mark before Buford was second baseman Don Blasingame, also a one-time all-star who played in a World Series. He was a solid fielder but never much at the plate –- a spray hitter with little power, just a .327 slugging percentage and a .258 batting average.
Yet when he retired, he had hit into the fewest double-plays per times up for anybody with a substantial amount of playing time: just 43 GIDPs in a 12-year career and 5,938 plate appearances: once every 138 times up. Blasingame also walked more than he struck out. In 556 plate appearances with Washington in 1964, he hit into just one double-play.
The man now no. 2 behind Buford is center-fielder Brett Butler, who debuted in 1981 and played through 1997. He, like Buford, made just one All-Star team and played in the World Series, but he was more of a star, leading the league in triples four times and compiling a 49.7 WAR, as per Baseball Reference. He had a .377 on-base percentage over 17 seasons. Butler also walked more than he struck out. Fast afoot, he grounded into just 62 double-plays in 9,545 plate appearances -- once every 154 times at the plate.
Notably, Butler made a comeback from cancer late in his career, but his illness took a toll of his speed and power. An excellent lead-off hitter, bunter and prolific base stealer, his numbers compare favorably with Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn.
Four players, according to Baseball Almanac, have appeared in 150 or more games in a season and never grounded into a double-play. Hall of Famer Craig Biggio leads the list. In 1997, he played in all 162 games with the Astros without short-circuiting a rally.
The others never doubled up were Augie Galen (1935 Cubs in 154 games), Dick McAuliffe (1968 Tigers, 151 games) and Matt Carpenter (2018 Cardinals, 156). That season moved Carpenter ahead of Blasingame. Carpenter, still active as of 2024, has grounded into double-plays just once every 144 plate appearances.
Ashburn hit into the fewest GIDPs in a record six seasons (1951 to 1954, 1958 and 1960) in the N.L. Ichiro Suzuki, headed for the Hall, grounded into the fewest in the A.L. four times between 2001 and 2006.
Among those with significant playing time but far fewer times up, outfielder Roger Repoz of the Angels is an outlier. Although never a full-time player, he was considered a power-hitting, middle-of-the-lineup, guy. Yet in 2,471 plate appearances over nine seasons, he grounded into just 14 double-plays. That’s once every 176.5 times at the plate. From June 1967 to May 1970 –- 347 games and 1,018 plate appearance –- he never hit into one. Both figures are believed to be all-time records, despite his .224 lifetime batting average.
Among others with fewer than 3,000 plate appearances, only middle infielder Kaz Matsui, who mostly hit lead-off, grounded into lower percentage: 14 GIDPs in 2,555 times up –- one every 183 plate appearances.
In a 2017 Medium post, Joe Posnanski determined that the player who had the worst rally-killing season of GIDPs was Hall of Fame catcher Ivan (Pudge) Rodriguez in 2010 with Washington. The calculation was based on Pudge’s propensity to ground into two outs whenever such an opportunity presented itself. Pudge did so once every 3.5 times he came up with a runner (or runners) on base and none or one out –- 25 GIDPs in 88 chances. Ouch.
Andrew C. Sharp is a SABR member and a retired journalist who lives in central New Jersey. He blogs about D.C. baseball at washingtonbaseballhistory.com
Cleaning Up: Wild Win at Fenway Park
Charlie Zink’s First and Last Game For The Boston Red Sox
David Ortiz hits two three-run homers in the first inning but the winning runs come on Kevin Youkilis’ three-run homer in the eighth
August 12, 2008: Boston Red Sox 19, Texas Rangers 17, at Fenway Park, Boston
By Bill Nowlin
One might reasonably think that the Red Sox scoring 10 runs in the first inning pretty much put this game in the win column. That proved not to be the case. In fact, the visiting Texas Rangers took the lead in the sixth inning and extended it in the seventh. By the time the game was over –- some three hours and 58 minutes after it began –- it was a Red Sox win, 19-17. Most of the 38,004 fans at sold-out Fenway Park had witnessed something quite remarkable.
Before the first inning was over, they had seen designated hitter David Ortiz thrown a total of three pitches and bang out not just one three-run homer, but two of them.
The starting pitcher for manager Ron Washington’s Rangers was right-hander Scott Feldman, in his fourth year in the majors. He’d been a reliever with 73 appearances over his first seasons but then became a starter, with a record of 4-5 (4.82) before this game.
Charlie Zink was the starter for Terry Francona’s Red Sox, the reigning world champions. It was the first game he ever pitched in the major leagues. It was also the only game he ever pitched in the majors. Zink, two weeks from turning 29, came into the game with a 13-4 record at Triple-A Pawtucket with a 2.89 ERA.
He got off to a nice start, retiring the Rangers in order in the top of the first.
Boston leadoff batter J.D. Drew walked. Dustin Pedroia singled into center. David Ortiz swung at Feldman’s second pitch and homered over the Pesky Pole and deep into the seats in the right-field corner. After three batters, the Red Sox had a 3-0 lead. Kevin Youkilis struck out. Mike Lowell singled to center. Third baseman Ramón Vázquez mishandled an easy hopper from Jason Bay and all were safe. With Jed Lowrie at the plate, Lowell and Bay pulled off a double steal, not even drawing a throw. Lowrie followed with an opposite-field double halfway up the way up the wall in straightaway left. It was 5-0, Red Sox.
Coco Crisp made the second out with a fly ball to center. Catcher Kevin Cash drew a walk. It was back to the top of the order, and this time Drew singled to right field, driving in Lowrie. Pedroia picked up his second single of the inning, glancing off Feldman’s leg and bouncing toward third base. Swinging at the first pitch, Ortiz homered to straightaway center, just over the 420-foot sign, striking the wall and caroming into the bleacher seats –- his second three-run homer of the first inning. It was 10-0. Feldman struck out Youkilis a second time and the inning was over.
The Red Sox half of the inning had lasted 25 minutes. What might have seemed like a dream to some, being staked to a 10-0 lead in your first major-league start, raised concerns for Charlie Zink, who had meanwhile been biding his time. In a 2024 interview, he recalled thinking, “I don’t know what to do. I might get cold.” He went to the batting cage behind the dugout, “just throwing balls against the net to stay loose.”
Zink threw the first nine pitches of the second inning to DH Milton Bradley, and walked him. Marlon Byrd singled. Zink then got two outs, but Chris Davis singled in the two runners before he got the third out.
Feldman, still in the game, retired the Red Sox with only a double by Lowrie.
Zink gave up a couple of singles but no runs in the top of the third. With one out in the Boston third, Drew singled and Pedroia singled, bringing up Ortiz with the opportunity to hit yet another three-run homer. Instead, Feldman got him to ground out, second to first. A walk followed and the bases were loaded. Ron Washington finally called on the bullpen, and Josh Rupe came on in relief. He walked Lowell on four pitches, forcing in run #11. Jason Bay reached on an infield single to third base, off a diving Vázquez, restoring the 10-run Red Sox lead.
In the top of the fifth, the Rangers got to Zink for a double, wild pitch, two singles, and then three consecutive doubles. Terry Francona called on Javier López, who gave up an RBI single and then got a strikeout. David Aardsma relieved López, and was tagged for a three-run homer into the Green Monster seats in left-center by Ian Kinsler. The score was 12-10, Red Sox, with eight of the runs charged to Zink.
Ortiz led off the fifth with a ground-rule double (it might have gone for a third home run but was ruled a double due to fan interference) and Youkilis followed with a two-run homer right into the seats atop the by the flagpole in straightaway center. Boston led, 14-10, after five.
In the sixth, the Sox relinquished the lead. Aardsma walked Josh Hamilton, then gave up a single to Bradley and an RBI single to Byrd. Manny Delcarmen relieved Aardsma and each of the next three plate appearances resulted in a Rangers run –- on a double, sacrifice fly, and error at first base. Vázquez singled and then Davis hit another sacrifice fly. Texas had scored five runs and taken a 15-14 lead.
They added a run to that in the top of the seventh on Hamilton’s lead-off double and then a one-out single by Byrd.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Red Sox got one back. Pedroia singled off incoming reliever Jamey Wright, who then walked Ortiz. Youkilis hit a ball back to Wright, who flipped to Vázquez at third, the ball glancing off Vázquez’s glove as a run scored on the pitcher’s throwing error.
In the top of the eighth, Hideki Okajima –- in his second inning of relief –- retired the Rangers in order. The Red Sox took the lead in the bottom of the eighth off Frank Francisco. After two flyball outs sandwiched around a base on balls, Pedroia doubled to left –- his fifth hit of the game –- off the wall near the foul line, driving in the tying run. It was 16-16. Ortiz was walked intentionally. Youkilis then fully atoned for his two strikeouts in the first inning and his error in the sixth by hitting a three-run homer off one of the advertising signs over the seats atop the left-field wall –- his second home run of the game, for a total of five RBIs –- to give the team a 19-16 lead.
In the top of the ninth, the Rangers showed they hadn’t yet been defeated. Jonathan Papelbon was asked to close. He struck out Bradley, but then allowed Byrd to reach on an error at third base. With runners on first and third, Byrd took second base due to defensive indifference. Pinch-hitter Brandon Boggs doubled to center and drove in Bradley. Papelbon got outs from the next two Rangers and the game was finally over. The Red Sox had won the slugfest, 19-17. “That was an interesting night,” Francona said afterward. “At some point you’re thinking about going for a field goal.”
At least one Dallas journalist was not particularly kind, writing, “You know how you know when you really, really suck? When you score two touchdowns and a field goal and still find a way to lose. Oh yeah, and you’re a baseball team!”
There had been cheers, then boos, then cheers from the crowd. Youkilis had been pleased in the end, but said “I also felt the emotion of the boos today, too. The roller coaster ride in Boston’s always fun. Luckily we got the cheers at the end.”
Okajima got the win, Papelbon a save. Francisco bore the loss. Zink was returned to Pawtucket to make way for another starter (Paul Byrd). The luckless Zink worked in Triple-A for the remainder of the year and all of 2009. During the 2011 season, he retired, a mere footnote to baseball history in Beantown.
His official record was 0-0.
Sources
The author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and a video of the game on YouTube.com.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS200808120.shtml
https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2008/B08120BOS2008.htm
Thanks to Paul Geisler for supplying Dallas/Fort Worth accounts of the game.
Bill Nowlin of Cambridge, MA has followed his career as a co-founder of Rounder Records by writing, editing, or co-editing more than 100 books on baseball — many of them for SABR, for whom he serves on the Board of Directors. His email is bill@downtheroadrecords.com.
Timeless Trivia: When Rooting for the Yankees Was Like Rooting for US Steel
Yesterday’s acquisition of star Milwaukee closer Devin Williams again suggests the Yankees can acquire almost anyone they can afford . . .
Casey Stengel won 10 pennants in 12 years as manager of the Yankees from 1949-60 because his well-heeled team always managed to find the extra players he needed . . .
The Kansas City Athletics were ridiculed as a farm team for New York because they sent a string of players — including future home run king Roger Maris — to the Bronx . . .
The long list of players on the Kansas City-to-New York shuttle also included Bob Cerv, Norm Siebern, Bud Daley, Hector Lopez, Art Ditmar, Ralph Terry, Bobby Shantz, Clete Boyer, Enos Slaughter, and a myriad of others . . .
During the heyday of the KC-to-Bronx pipeline, critics contended that “rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for US Steel” . . .
The current Yankees might have an easier time in their pursuit of former MVP Cody Bellinger now that the Cubs have acquired Kyle Tucker, another lefty-hitting slugger who plays the outfield.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.