15 Responses to “Old Pinch Runners”

1. Brian Says:
   February 21st, 2011 at 10:33 am

   I notice Franco's got an SB there, too!

2. john Says:
   February 21st, 2011 at 11:06 am

   What I want to know is who they pinch ran for!

3. Dvd Avins Says:
   February 21st, 2011 at 11:23 am

   Ron Karkovice was not fast.

4. Dr. Doom Says:
   February 21st, 2011 at 11:36 am

   Too bad that second table didn't include SB info... I would love to have that for all those guys, too!

5. Kahuna Tuna Says:
   February 21st, 2011 at 12:12 pm

   Too bad that second table didn't include SB info...

   You can get that for each player by clicking on his "Ind. Games" link. I only did that for the players with more than two appearances. Results: Henderson 2 SB, 0 CS; Rice 0 SB, 1 CS; Cooney 0 SB, 0 CS.

6. Kahuna Tuna Says:
   February 21st, 2011 at 12:22 pm

   Pitcher Sad Sam Jones, 43 years and 8 days young — for whom was he running on August 3, 1935? For 38-year-old Jimmy Dykes, who had just walked as a late-inning pinch-hitter and thus (presumably) was not worn out from a long afternoon of strenuous exertion. I'd guess Dykes wasn't ready to joke about that for at least a year or two.

7. Tmckelv Says:
   February 21st, 2011 at 12:48 pm

   For 9 inning games - I really only count the guys who came in late with - because if the PR got in there and then replaced the player in the field and got a couple of ABs then the strategy was probably more than just getting speed into the game late (or maybe because an injury).

8. Andrew G2 Says:
   February 21st, 2011 at 1:06 pm

   The real story is in the gamelogs...of the players that the old pinch runners replaced.

   Franco and Fisk (both times) replaced injured players. On 7/29/06, Franco replaced Carlos Delgado in the 3rd inning after Delgado had been hit by a pitch. On 5/5/93, Fisk replaced Karkovice after the latter was hit by a pitch. In both of those instances, the injured player returned to the lineup the next day, so it was likely a precautionary measure by the manager.

   On 6/19/93, Fisk replaced Karkovice after the latter was injured reaching first on a called 3rd strike. Officer Karkovice didn't play again until 7/6...the dropped third strike is always an odd play...I wonder how he got hurt? Fisk would only play three more games, setting the record for games caught three nights later on 6/22, after which, he was promptly released.

   So, for Franco's appearance as PR and both times that Fisk pinch ran, the decision was dictated by the bigger strategic picture rather than simply the pinch runner's foot speed. In each case, the manager clearly chose to insert the positional backup following an injury instead of choosing a PR for that runner's speed.

   I expected Austin's PR appearance to be a joke, that the old coach pinch-ran on the last day of the season just for snits and giggles. In The Glory of Their Times, Austin describes hitting a triple while batting as a joke late in the last game of the season. This was a common practice at the time because nobody enforced roster rules at the very tail end of the season - just look at, say, Nick Altrock's stats.

   Anyway, I was surprised to find that Austin was actually inserted into a very
   meaningful situation. He pinch ran in the 9th inning of a 3-2 Browns loss to the Red Sox. Austin pinch ran for Pat Collins, a catcher, after Collins had pinch-hit and drawn a walk. From the boxscore, it seems that the next batter, Jack Tobin, got a hit to cut the deficit to one and then Jack Quinn (appropriately enough) retired Ken Williams to end the game. But Austin was inserted into a meaningful situation, albeit in a late-season game between two also-rans, making him the oldest guy substituted into the game for his speed.

9. Artie Z Says:
   February 21st, 2011 at 1:18 pm

   Details on some of them:

   Franco ran for Delgado after Delgado was HBP.

   Fisk ran for Karkovice twice (as mentioned above) - once after Karkovice was HBP and another time after Karkovice reached first on a swinging strikeout/wild pitch (it was Karkovice's first PA - maybe he injured himself somehow?)

   Austin ran for Pat Collins after Collins walked. Not really sure why (no play-by-play) but Austin was the manager at the time and it would be his only appearance of the season.

   Vizquel ran for Pierzynski on 5/19/2010 and then for Konerko on 8/6/2010. Both appearances came in the 9th inning.

   Slaughter pinch ran for Mantle in the 4th inning on July 4th, 1959. Mantle had singled in the 4th. Perhaps he injured himself, but Mantle did play the full second game of the doubleheader that day.

   Appling ran for Carrasquel on 5/30/1950 after Carrasquel was HBP in the 9th inning.

   Davalillo ran for Garvey in the 3rd inning on 9/29/1979. Garvey reached on an E6 - maybe somehow he wound up getting caught up with the first baseman and had to leave the game?

   I wonder if some of these players were ejected from the game - probably not the players who were HBP, but maybe Mantle and Garvey.

10. Chris Says:
    February 21st, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    I'm amazed that Carlton Fisk was a pinch-runner at that age.

11. Paul Drye Says:
    February 21st, 2011 at 6:08 pm

    The #3 guy all-time on the second list, Johnny Cooney, had a weird damn career. Came up to the majors as an outfielder at 20, never managed to get off the bench and was sent down to the minors at 29.

    He converts to starting pitcher and is actually not that bad: 2.49 ERA with Toledo in 1931, and 3.52 with Indianapolis in 1932. Then it gets weird.

    He seems to have hurt his arm in early 1933: 5.40 ERA over 20 IP. In compensation he suddenly figures out how to hit at age 32 and wins a full-time outfielder's position in the American Association but no-one cares because of his age -- until he hits .371 when he's 35.

    He gets another shot and makes it as a regular, but plays under average in OPS+ as a full-timer from age 35-38. During this time he's traded along with three other no-names for Leo Durocher, released during the same off-season, then at 39 -- back with the Boston Braves, the team he bench-rode with in his twenties -- he takes his bat up another notch and rings in a 109 OPS+, even comes in 11th place in the MVP voting. He follows this with a 115 OPS+ at 40 -- then that off-season it's Pearl Harbor and his teammates all get called up (one presumes). He's too old for conscription and sticks around.

    But unfortunately age is too much for him even with the weakened competition of 1942 and he reverts to his bench role. Still, it's enough to keep him in the majors and he spends some time with the Dodgers before finishing up the back part of '44 with the Yankees, who release him in August.

    Still not getting the message he heads back to the minors and plays for Toronto and Kansas City, and even hits .343 for the latter in 1945. I presume that with the end of the war he realized he wasn't going to get another chance during that winter and so hung them up.

    Until the Boston Braves call him back to manage for the 1949 season, in which he goes 75-79. He has no prior minor league managing experience, and never manages another major league team after that year either.

12. Gerry Says:
    February 21st, 2011 at 6:43 pm

    I think you've got Cooney's early career wrong. He came to the majors as a pitcher. From age 20 to 29 he had more games on the mound than at any other position almost every year. In his most productive season, 1925, he started 29 games, pitched 245 innings, ERA+ was 115. But he also hit .320 that year, which may be why he started to do more hitting and less pitching.

13. Paul Drye Says:
    February 21st, 2011 at 7:04 pm

    @Gerry: Ah, you're right -- I was fooled by his relatively high number of games played each season in his batting line and didn't look at his ML pitching. On the other hand, that just switches the weirdness. While he was primarily a pitcher he seems to have started about the same number of games in the field as either an outfielder or first baseman as he did pitcher (for example 23 to 31 in 1925, 21 to 34 in 1924, and 19 to 23 in 1923 -- heh, that last one must have taken some planning!)

    He was a bench player who could also pitch a little in 1928 and '29, then to the minors for essentially the rest of the story I outlined above.

14. kds Says:
    February 22nd, 2011 at 12:24 am

    Kahuna #6, I don't know if Jimmy Dykes joked about it; but I am sure that he did not complain to (or about) the manager. Jimmy Dykes was the manager!

15. Will Short Says:
    February 22nd, 2011 at 10:19 pm

    What's odd about Cooney--only 2 career homers.