What the Heck(er)!!!

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Posted By: jay behrens

If Guy Hecker had any sort of longevity, he might have made it into the HOF and certainly belongs in any discussion about greatest player ever. He was both a top nothc hitter and pitcher. Check out these tidbits from his career:

Only pitcher ever to lead the league in hitting when he batted .342 in 1886

Tossed a no-hitter

In 1884 set the record for wins(52), complete games(72) and innings pitched(671), while leading his team in batting and HRs

Pitche 7 game in 15 days, winning 6 and hitting .657 (23/35) during that stretch. The big day in that run was the second game of a double header when he went 6 for 7 with 3 HRs, 2 doubles and 7 runs score (still the record).

First major league pitcher to hit 3 HRs in a game

Became the first 1B to play an entire game without a fielding chance.

Truly a Heck(er) of a player

Jay


My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: BlackSoxFan

Hate to completely burst your bubble but if i recall..

Old Haus Radbourn set record for wins in 1884 with 59, 73 CG, 678.2 IP ...

although he didn't hit nearly as well i'm sure
most ip - will white 680 - 1879
most cg - will white 75 - 1979

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Black Sox Fan

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Posted By: john/z28jd

Technically youre both right since Hecker holds the American Association records in each category,the other records you mentioned are Major League and National League records

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Posted By: jay behrens

Oops, my bad, left out the AA note.

Jay

My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: identify7

There are probably lots of pitchers who also could hit well; certainly Ruth was one, but the guy other than Hecker who comes to mind is Charlie Ferguson who played around the same time as Hecker.

Ferguson had a brief career, he died of typhoid right after his 25th birthday. But in four seasons he won 99 games and hit well. In his last season, he batted .337 with 85 RBIs in 264 ABs for the Quakers.

85 RBIs in 264 at bats are Ruthian proportions for a pitcher who won over 20 games that year. Too bad typhoid was a problem - not really so long ago.

Edited to correct grammar

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Posted By: warshawlaw

and hit .292 last year.

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Posted By: Kevin Cummings

Like Charlie Ferguson, Jack Stivetts was primarily a pitcher who hit so well (lifetime .297 average over 11 seasons) that they played him in field positions when he wasn't on the mound.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/stiveja01.shtml

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Uecker? Torre? And I also think that Don Drysdale used to be used as a pinch hitter on occasion.