Fun With Lineups

Posted by Raphy on November 16, 2009

According to my original plan, yesterday's post was supposed to be all about unique lineups that have occurred since 1954. However, that plan was quickly discarded when I became fascinated by the story of the youngest lineup. Today, I try again. Let's take a look.

33 or Older

Since 1954 a team's starting lineup has only featured players ages 33 or older on two occasions. Both were by the 1998 Baltimore Orioles with the same lineup twice in the same week.

Rk	Tm	Opp	Date	#Matching
1	BAL	OAK	1998-07-23	9
2	BAL	OAK	1998-07-21	9

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/15/2009.

While both these games featured 9 hitters who were 33 or older, the second game was started by a "kid" pitcher, 32 year old Scott Erickson. The first game, however, is the true winner. 36 year old Doug Drabek got the call in that one, completing a true senior moment. Here is the Orioles' starting lineup for that game:

Rk	Player	Age	Date	Tm	Opp	Rslt	PA	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	SO	HBP	SH	GDP	BOP ▴	Pos. Summary
1	Brady Anderson	34.184	1998-07-21	BAL	OAK	W 7-1	4	3	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	CF
2	Jeff Reboulet	34.082	1998-07-21	BAL	OAK	W 7-1	4	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	0	2	2B
3	Eric Davis	36.053	1998-07-21	BAL	OAK	W 7-1	4	4	2	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	DH
4	Rafael Palmeiro	33.300	1998-07-21	BAL	OAK	W 7-1	4	4	1	2	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	4	1B
5	Joe Carter	38.136	1998-07-21	BAL	OAK	W 7-1	4	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	5	RF
6	B.J. Surhoff	33.351	1998-07-21	BAL	OAK	W 7-1	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	LF
7	Cal Ripken	37.331	1998-07-21	BAL	OAK	W 7-1	4	4	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	3B
8	Lenny Webster	33.161	1998-07-21	BAL	OAK	W 7-1	4	4	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	8	C
9	Mike Bordick	33.000	1998-07-21	BAL	OAK	W 7-1	4	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	9	SS

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/15/2009.

Switch Hitting

Since 1954 no team has had 9 switch hitters in its starting lineup. The most was 7 done by the NY Mets 5 times in 1993.

Rk	Tm	Opp	Date	#Matching
1	NYM	CHC	1993-05-31	7
2	NYM	CHC	1993-06-02	7
3	NYM	PHI	1993-06-10	7
4	NYM	CIN	1993-04-16	7
5	NYM	SDP	1993-04-25	7

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/15/2009.

The Mets' lineups consisted of lefty Joe Orsulak, the pitcher, and seven of the Mets switch hitters who included Chico Walker, Vince Coleman, Tony Fernandez, Eddie Murray, Bobby Bonilla, Howard Johnson, Jeff McKnight and Todd Hundley.
In the May 31st, April 16th and April 25th games the Mets' pitcher was a lefty and the opposing pitcher a right-hander giving the entire Mets' starting lineup a platoon advantage.

Left Handers

Since 1954 no team has a left handed batter start at every position. However, on 8 occasions a left hand batter has started in 8 of the lineup slots.

Rk	Tm	Opp	Date	#Matching
1	SDP	HOU	1982-09-06	8
2	SDP	SFG	1982-09-16	8
3	NYY	DET	1979-09-08	8
4	NYY	DET	1979-09-15 (1)	8
5	MIL	ARI	2004-09-28	8
6	CHW	MIL	1988-06-16	8
7	CHW	SEA	1988-04-10	8
8	CHW	MIL	1988-06-11	8

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/15/2009.

Right Handed Batters

There have been many lineups that have featured 9 right-handed batters. However, there have been only five occasions since 1954 in which both starting line-ups have been full of players who only batted right-handed:

Rk	Tm	Opp	Date	#Matching
1	KCR	CHW	1971-06-21	18
2	CAL	DET	1974-08-28	18
3	DET	BAL	1973-09-26	18
4	STL	HOU	1998-09-12	18
5	HOU	STL	1998-09-23	18

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/15/2009.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under Game Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “Fun With Lineups”

Andy Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
fascinating stuff...that Orioles lineup is a pretty tough one for a trivia question.

« Letting the Kids Play

Both teams score more runs than hits »