In 1961, Orioles outfielder Dave Philley appeared in 99 games, but in only 25 of those contests did he actually put on his glove and take the field. In the other 74, he pinch hit. Coming off the bench that year, the switch hitter had a league-record 24 hits in 72 official at-bats, for an average of .333.
Philley was no stranger to pinch-hitting. He already held the big-league record for consecutive pinch-hits with eight, set with his namesake team, the Phillies, in 1958. Philley was one of those hitters who never needed much in the way of prep time. He didn?t strike out often, and while he was never considered a slugger, he always managed to make contact. He was 41 in 1961, and at that advanced baseball age, he likely didn?t want to have to run down any fly balls. In fact, if you add in those games where he actually played left or right field for the Orioles, his season average was just .250.
Baseball was full of guys like Dave Philley back in those days: Jerry Lynch, Elmer Valo, Dusty Rhodes, Ron Northey, Smokey Burgess, Johnny Mize. It?s a pretty long list, inasmuch as pretty much every team had a pinch-hitting specialist, pre-1973. The advent of the designated-hitter rule in the American League that season erased the everyday need for a pinch-hitting specialist in the AL ? your pitcher was traditionally your worst hitter, and he wasn?t playing offense anymore. Still, there were guys who were potent off the bench in the mid-1970s, including Orioles hitting coach Terry Crowley, who had 108 pinch-hits for his career, 11th on the all-time list.
Even though there?s no longer a pressing need to devote a roster spot to a pinch hitter in the AL, the advent of interleague play sometimes makes one necessary.
Here?s where the Orioles have really stubbed their toe in recent years. Between 2002 and 2006, Oriole pinch hitters hit a combined .146, with last year?s club hitting a new low: 5 for 57, all singles, and only two walks, for an average of .088, and an on-base percentage of .131. A total of 16 players pinch hit for the Orioles last year, so everyone contributed. Ramon Hernandez and the now-departed Luis Matos each went 0 for 8.
I don?t see a potential Dave Philley on this year?s roster. Perhaps a healthy Chris Gomez will make a difference, or the daily odd man out in the Huff-Payton-Millar-Gibbons rotation. Whatever, it?s patently clear that .088 is not going to cut it in 2007.
Most pitchers hit better than that.
Phil Wood has covered sports in the Washington-Baltimore market for more than 30 years. You can reach him at [email protected].
