Good Hitting Vintage Pitchers

[Yoda]

Obviously, the designated hitter rule change had a major impact on baseball. But, I was wondering who were the best hitting pitchers in the vintage era?
The best I could come up with are:
1. Robin Roberts - Phils
2. Don Newcombe - Dodgers
3. Tom Seaver - Mets
I actually attended a game with my Dad at Ebbets Field where they used Newk as a pinch hitter.

[EddieP]

Ken Brett

[BioCRN]

Wes Ferrell...

[scotgreb]

Many decent-hitting pitchers had outlier great seasons . . .

Walter Johnson hit .433 in 107 PA in 1925

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by BioCRN

Wes Ferrell...

I think Wes Ferrell was the best ever. Was used a pinch hitter regularly and had a career slash line of .281/.351/.446 with 38 Home Runs and over 200 RBIs.
In 1931 his slash line was .318/.373/.621 with 9 Home Runs. Oh, and he won 22 games that year.

Others not mentioned:
Bob Gibson career BA of .206 and 24 Home Runs
Warren Spahn career BA of .194 and 35 Home Runs
Don Larsen career BA of .242 with 14 Home Runs
Dizzy Trout career BA of .213 with 20 Home Runs
Schoolboy Rowe career BA of .263 with 18 Home Runs.

Not sure that Robin Roberts or Tom Seaver should be on the list. Roberts career BA of .167 with 5 HRs, Seaver Career .154 hitter with 12 HRs.

[Touch'EmAll]

In 1965, Don Drysdale hit .300

[darwinbulldog]

Ditto on Ferrell as my pick if we're not counting Ruth. I suspect, on the basis of no actual evidence, that the Hall of Fame voters accidentally elected the wrong Ferrell brother. The alternative of course if that they elected the wrong Ferrell brother on purpose.

[GeoPoto]

John "Needles" Bentley. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1913-1916. 46 wins and 8 saves in 9 MLB seasons. His most productive season was 1924 with the New York Giants as he posted a 16-5 record with a 3.78 ERA in 188 innings pitched. Was a good hitter with a career OBP of .316 in 616 plate appearances. Gave up World Series winning-ground ball single to McNeely in the 1924 "pebble" game.

Between his MLB pitching stints in Washington (1913-1916) and New York (1923-1927), Bentley played on the great Baltimore Oriole teams: In his first two seasons with the Baltimore Orioles of the International League, 1917 and 1919 (he was in the US Army in 1918), with the exception of a lone pitching appearance in his first year, Bentley played exclusively at first base and in the outfield: In 185 games, he posted averages of .333 batting and .510 slugging. Then he really caught fire. From 1920 to 1922, Bentley’s numbers were staggering, as he batted .378 in 439 games, scored 340 runs, drove in 399, and had a slugging average of an astounding .590. In both 1920 (161) and 1921 (120), Bentley led the league in RBIs; in 1921, he won the league Triple Crown, batting .412 (the league’s highest season average in the 20th century), with 24 home runs and 120 RBIs. His 246 hits that season remain the league’s single-season record.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1682710080

[olecow]

35 career homers

[tedzan]

Tommy Byrne



Tommy batted .238 BAvg during his career; however, he had a .378 SLG avg, with 14 home runs (including 2 grand slams) and 98 RBI in 377 games.
He was such a good-hitting pitcher, Stengel would put him in the game as a pinch-hitter (in which he got 80 hits). His W-L pitching record was 85-69.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

I think Wes Ferrell was the best ever. Was used a pinch hitter regularly and had a career slash line of .281/.351/.446 with 38 Home Runs and over 200 RBIs.
In 1931 his slash line was .318/.373/.621 with 9 Home Runs. Oh, and he won 22 games that year.

Others not mentioned:
Bob Gibson career BA of .206 and 24 Home Runs
Warren Spahn career BA of .194 and 35 Home Runs
Don Larsen career BA of .242 with 14 Home Runs
Dizzy Trout career BA of .213 with 20 Home Runs
Schoolboy Rowe career BA of .263 with 18 Home Runs.

Not sure that Robin Roberts or Tom Seaver should be on the list. Roberts career BA of .167 with 5 HRs, Seaver Career .154 hitter with 12 HRs.

I also vote Wes Ferrell if you do not include the Babe

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

I think Wes Ferrell was the best ever. Was used a pinch hitter regularly and had a career slash line of .281/.351/.446 with 38 Home Runs and over 200 RBIs.
In 1931 his slash line was .318/.373/.621 with 9 Home Runs. Oh, and he won 22 games that year.

Others not mentioned:
Bob Gibson career BA of .206 and 24 Home Runs
Warren Spahn career BA of .194 and 35 Home Runs
Don Larsen career BA of .242 with 14 Home Runs
Dizzy Trout career BA of .213 with 20 Home Runs
Schoolboy Rowe career BA of .263 with 18 Home Runs.

Not sure that Robin Roberts or Tom Seaver should be on the list. Roberts career BA of .167 with 5 HRs, Seaver Career .154 hitter with 12 HRs.

Walter Johnson was one of the better/best hitting pitchers. His career-homer total is 24, which I assume would have been much higher if he hadn't played most of his career during the dead-ball era.

[TobaccoKing4]

In my opinion the clear cut answer for the best hitting pitcher in the vintage era would be Bob Caruthers.

In 1886, he hit .334/.448/.527 -.974 OPS..21 doubles, 14 triples, 4 hr in 382 PA.
In 1887, he hit .357/.463/.547 -1.010 OPS 23 doubles, 11 triples, 8 hr in 436 PA.

I don’t know of any pitcher who put up better numbers with that many plate appearances. It’s even more impressive when combined with how dominant of a pitcher he was those seasons too.

[kmac32]

Fergie Jenkins

[irmsjags]

Bob Lemon

1,185 at-bats, 37 homers, 147 RBI, .232 batting average.

[topcat61]

3 pitchers that were great hitters that I can think of were Wes Ferrell (probably the best), Warren Sphan and 1950s Red Sox pitcher Leo Kiely.

[molenick]

I am not doing this to be a jerk, but when someone posts a player I am unaware of, I like to check out his stats.

Ferrell and Spahn of course I know. But I needed to look up Leo Kiely. He was 20 for 139 (.144) with a .392 OPS and one home run lifetime. Personally, I would not put him on the list of great hitting pitchers.