Baseball history/ trivia.
- Thread starter harbest
- Start date
I believe you to be correct. I know that Ron Blomberg had the first appearance as a DH in 1973 so I think you are on the money.
If it's not that, my guess even though I know it's wrong is that Campy played all positions during that game. I know he did it but it had to be earlier than that.
I had the same thought, as 1972 was the last year the AL played without the DH. However, that can't be the answer, as the ALCS took place between Detroit and Oakland that year, so there were still AL games to be played.
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Winner. The abominable DH came in in 1973. This was the last regular season game in the American league where a pitcher took a regular spot in the batting order. In the bottom of the 7th inning, pitcher Nolan Ryan fittingly struck out becoming the last pitcher to take a regular at bat in an American league game
no, it's not that. Campy didn't even start the game. He did enter as a pinch runner for Reggie Jackson, and then stole 2nd and 3rd off of Nolan Ryan, and scored of a single by Gonzalo Marquez. He only played that half inning, and was replaced by George Hendrick when the Athletics took the field.
I knew Campy did it and he had to do it in mid to late 60's which is why I knew it was a poor guess. I can remember both Campy and Cesar Tovar doing it. Hard to believe it's been done since then.
if you're going that route, then you have to qualify it as the last regular season game where a AL pitcher came to bat. The ALCS that year between the Athletics and the Tigers went 5 games, and the pitchers did bat in those games. Catfish Hunter got a hit in Game 1, Joe Coleman got a hit in Game 3, and Blue Moon Odom got a hit in Game 5.
Interesting. I am going out on a limb here and say that an AL pitcher HAS had come to bat since intro of DH. There has to be at least one case where a pitcher pinch hit in a marathon game when a team ran out of offensive players.
Not the same, but remember the time Roy Oswalt played LF for the Phillies that one night.
Edit- OK, I did see note of pitcher hitting in ref spot or order.
bwifan
Well-Known Member
Didn't they use different color baseballs at some point and experiment with them supposedly to see them better? Believe the A's owner was the one pushing that...
Along these same lines, here is the greatest MLB trivia question (IMHO).... "Who is last switch hitter to win the AL MVP?" (no cheating by using The Google Machine allowed)...
Pitchers have batted since then but 1972 was the last year baseball in both leagues played under the same rules where pitchers had to bat unless pinch hit for.
Here's a good one. In 1955, the Brooklyn Dodgers had two left-handed pitchers fighting for one spot on the major league roster. They kept the "bonus baby" and sent the other down in the minors into relative obscurity until the mid 70's Who were they?
Your hints definitely helped. I wouldn't have gotten LaSorda without the 70's reference. Cool question.
As an aside, boy, does LaSorda take himself seriously. No sense of humor about himself or baseball.
