Tweet
I saw recently on Baseball Tonight that the 35th anniversary of the DH came last week... Ron Blomberg, of the New York Yankees, changed the American League forever by hitting without a position on April 6, 1973.
History.com - April 6, 1973
Blomberg's first plate appearance? Appropriately, a full-count walk issued by Luis Tiant.
Only two players were talked about at length on TV.
a) Harold Baines, who played 1644 games at DH (61%), had perhaps the greatest DH career of all time. He was a consumate professional hitter -- never the biggest star, he batted .289 for his career and produced 20+ HR seasons eleven times and 90+ RBI seasons eight times through the 80s and 90s.
b) Frank Thomas, widely considered a future Hall of Famer, has now played 1249 games at DH (56%). "The Big Hurt" is on the downside of his career but still contributing -- but from 1991 to 1995, he was the best hitter in all of major league baseball. The prime years of the Steroid Era left him a bit behind... but his career numbers still speak for themselves.
Who were some of the other great hitters who DHed a lot? I'd like to know more about them... especially before my time (70s-early 80s).
History.com - April 6, 1973
Blomberg's first plate appearance? Appropriately, a full-count walk issued by Luis Tiant.
Only two players were talked about at length on TV.
a) Harold Baines, who played 1644 games at DH (61%), had perhaps the greatest DH career of all time. He was a consumate professional hitter -- never the biggest star, he batted .289 for his career and produced 20+ HR seasons eleven times and 90+ RBI seasons eight times through the 80s and 90s.
b) Frank Thomas, widely considered a future Hall of Famer, has now played 1249 games at DH (56%). "The Big Hurt" is on the downside of his career but still contributing -- but from 1991 to 1995, he was the best hitter in all of major league baseball. The prime years of the Steroid Era left him a bit behind... but his career numbers still speak for themselves.
Who were some of the other great hitters who DHed a lot? I'd like to know more about them... especially before my time (70s-early 80s).
Comment