Farewell to the Pitcher as a Regular Batsman.

According to those who support the supposed evolution of the game related to the each time more specialized philosophy for each aspect of baseball, the step the Comissionner’s Office took on this condensed season of 2020 for applying the designated hitter at the National League represents the fact they have been waiting for so long to level de “competitiveness” between the two major leagues. In my very personal opinion I don’t see any evolution in most of the changes the Comissionner’s Office has been doing during the last forty eight years, because most of them trend to make baseball more predictable, boring and empty. For example the designated hitter besides leaving the pitcher without batting and the game without a huge part of its strategy, promotes the one-sided players’ settlement in the game, they don’t need to even work their defensive abilities because they are designated hitters. The experimental use of the designated hitter in the National League means that the game formally would be different in all its versions. The first image how big is the damage this rule inflicts to the game is the picture of all those games where the pitchers were not only instrumental from the mound but with their bats. The last of those episodes showed Noah Syndergaard smacking a dinger in a game against the Cincinnati Reds on May 2nd, 2019 when the Reds visited the New York Mets at Citi Field. Syndergaard won that game 1-0, a very rare fact on current days because of the pitches count that limits the presence of the starter pitcher in the game. That accolade allowed Syndergaard to join a very special group of hurlers: the ones who threw a shutout and won 1-0, the only run a home run hit by the pitcher. Harry McCormick, Tom Hughes, Gene Packard, Red Ruffing, Spud Chandler, Early Wynn, Jim Bunning, Juan Pizarro, Bob Welch.

The reflection to be made on how the pitcher’s batting determines the dynamics, the kinetics that had defined baseball’s soul as a very competitive sports no matter its slowness comes again and again. This is something that has rebounded in my mind since that afternoon of 1973 when Ron Blomberg became the first designated hitter in baseball history. For me it felt as if an important bone had broken in baseball’s skeleton. When the pitcher besides climbing the mound and throwing the ball to the catcher’s mitt, knows he has also the responsibility of being in the ninth, eighth or fourth slot in the line up, he is kind of more focused, more connected, more identified with baseball’s objective and essence. Because by having to face directly his rival, his counterpart, the other gladiator, he can look at what he’s confronting from a very intimate angle which allows him to observe and reflect in a more precise way, with the tools that watching the opposing pitcher in close up gives him, with the gut that looking the rival straightforward at his eyes stimulates in him, with the perception of some details a pitcher can only detect from the batting box. The pitcher can even develop some kind of intuition to decipher the rival catcher’s signs, movements and even his breathe while being crouched behind the plate, that only can be done by going there to the batting box as an integrant of his team’s line up. He can only know how hard his rival can throw the ball by experiencing being hit or almost hit by him. He can only know about the invisible details of his rival’s strategy by appreciating the exact moment of the release point, the way how he takes de ball out from the glove, the way he performs the wind up, and the way he opens his arms when a pop up is hit over the mound. The pitcher learns how to deal with his rival’s pitching stuff while waiting for the right delivery to hit, or leaving the pitches go away to get a walk. So this exercise, this mission, this observation allows him to fill in very important pages in the book of his handling a ballgame from the mound, with all the data he collects each time he goes to take an at-bat.

One of the more graphical examples on how a pitcher can be determinant for his team not only from the mound but from the batting box happened on September 12th, 1969 at Forbes Field, the New York Mets visited the Pittsburgh Pirates. That day those teams were going to play a double-header, in the middle of the pennant race. In the first one Jerry Koosman started the game for the Mets and led his team to a 1-0 victory over a team that featured Willie Stargell as third batter and Roberto Clemente as the cleanup hitter in the line up. But Koosman’s performance went beyond his work from the mound; in the top of the fifth inning, he plated in Bobby Pfiel with a single to right field for the only run in the game. In the second game Don Cardwell was almost as dominant as Koosman. He pitched for eight innings where he only allowed four hits in a game that the Mets also won 1-0. And again, it was the pitcher who drove in the only run, when Cardwell singled to left field in the second inning to score Bud Harrelson. One of the games I most treasure in my remembrances is the one where my childhood and lifetime hero Isaías Látigo Chávez climbed the mound to face the Valencia Industriales and Steve Hargan during the 1965-66 season of the Venezuelan winter league. That January 5th, 1966. The Valencia team took the lead in the top of the second frame when Lee May hit a home run to center field against El Látigo. In the fourth inning, Tommie Agee singled and stole second base after two outs. Tom McCraw walked. Luis Camaleón García hit a grounder to second base that Gus Gil couldn’t handle, so García arrived safe to first base and Agee scored the run to tie the game. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Jim Napier hit a single to center field. Domingo Carrasquel slashed a dangerous line drive to right field and Luis Rodriguez made a fantastic catch. Napier arrived to second base on a wild pitch by Hargan. Isaías Chávez hit a single to center field to plate in Napier with the run for the definite score of the game. Magallanes 2 – Valencia 1.El Látigo pitched for nine innings, faced 32 batters, allowed seven hits, seven strikeouts, he didn’t walk anybody.

Many pitchers keep a kind of notebook where they write down all their reflections, observations and ideas about each batter. When the pitcher had to go to the batting box to face his opponent, there was a section in that notebook where they used to register any detail on the pitching routine of their rivals. For sure this ability to analyze any aspect of the game from the batting box as from the mound, gave the pitcher a more precise focus on what was going on in the game, so it was more difficult to catch the pitcher distracted, not knowing what to do in a specific situation. Knowing the rival pitcher from the batting box gave the pitcher a sense, a certainty of pertinence with the game, a kind of strategic map where he could decipher the most appropriated thing to do at any inning, at any circumstance, at any unexpected moment, because through the movements, the strategy of the rival pitcher, he could read the inner side of baseball, the one that real followers of the game look at, it deals with looking what could happen next, to be one or steps ahead. That is what you saw, for example, when the pitcher went behind third base o behind home plate to make the assist on throws coming from the outfield. Of course that has some relation with observing the rival pitcher from the batting box or from the mound, in those moments the pitcher learns how to dissect the tiny details of baseball, many of which could be the difference between win or loss. In mid 1980s, Fernando Valenzuela and Dwight Gooden faced in some pitching duels that even went to extra inning scoreless. Both pitchers were respectable batsmen so they looked so focused, so engaged, so serious while facing each other as when the faced the cleanup hitter. On September 6th, 1985. Valenzuela faced Gooden at Dodger Stadium. Fernie hurled 11 innings, accepted six hits, 3 walks and left when the game still was tied 0-0. Doc pitched for nine innings, allowed five hits, struck out 10, didn’t concede any walk. Valenzuela retired the side on three groundballs to complete the eleventh inning his final one in the game. Gooden allowed singles to Mike Scioscia and Greg Brock in the eighth inning. But Steve Sax hit a grounder to the mound and Gooden threw the ball to make the force-out at third base. Valenzuela showed the bunt, but then pulled back and grounded to short stop for another force play. Mariano Duncan was the last out. Gooden slashed a single in the third inning, after Valenzuela had retired Santana, it was the third hit Valenzuela had surrendered. Then in the fifth inning, Gooden got the next hit of the Mets, after Valenzuela retired the first to batters. That day Valenzuela went 0 for three as a batter against Gooden. An example on how respectable Valenzuela was a as a batsman happened on July 6th, 1984 at Dodger Stadium versus the St. Louis Cardinals and Dave LaPoint. Valenzuela pitched for eight innings and left the game tied 2-2. He allowed two earned runs, six hits, three walks, struck out four and face 31 batters. In the bottom of the sixth inning Valenzuela homered to give his team the lead 1-0. In the bottom of the eighth, after he retired Green on a grounder to second base, Valenzuela walked Chris Speier, and Darrell Porter homered to give the Cardinals the edge 2-1. The Dodgers tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Anderson pinch hit for Valenzuela and was struck out by LaPoint who was relieve by Bruce Sutter after Steve Sax hit a single. Sax stole second and arrive to third base on an error by catcher Porter. Finally Sax scored the tying run on Bill Russell’s sacrifice bunt to first base. The game remained tied until the bottom of the twelfth inning when Mel Allen walked Mike Scioscia and threw two wild pitches in the row, which allowed him to arrive to third base. The Cards manager ordered intentional walks for Franklin Stubbs and Bob Bailor. Mike Vail pinch hit for the reliever Roy Howell. Lahti replaced Allen on the mound. Vail singled an the Dodgers won 3-2.

No matter that Valenzuela had left the game without a decision, despite the failures he had in the eighth inning, Valenzuela still was instrumental beyond his work on the mound, because the homer he smacked in the sixth inning, ended being the run that meant the difference to win the game. During his whole career Valenzuela got respected by his hitting abilities almost as much as for his pitching ones. Each time I miss that emotion, thrill, suspense of those games where the pitchers had their own slot in the line up, it’s inevitable to think in Orlando Peña, Lew Burdette, Earl Wilson, Gary Peters, Bob Gibson or Rick Wise. Peña, Cuban pitcher who played in MLB, was a regular reinforcement player in the Venezuelan winter league during the 1960s’ decade. He got into a pitching duel against Luis Tiant in game 7 (February 5th, 1964) of the final series of the 1963-64 season, between his team Leones del Caracas and Industriales del Valencia. The Industriales went ahead in the top of the second inning through a homer of their center fielder Carl Boles. Caracas tied the game when in the bottom of the fifth inning Peña smacked a homer to left field, no matter some explanations of some experts who say the pitcher hurled the wrong delivery to his rival, in fact any pitcher can make an error on the kind of delivery he makes against any batter. In the bottom of the tenth inning Dámaso Blanco led off with a double, Vic Davalillo got an intentional walk, Dave Roberts walked to load the bases and Hilario Valdespino hit a single to left field to plate in Blanco. Caracs 2 – Valencia 1. The same Orlando Peña, this time pitching for the Navegantes del Magallanes started the fifth game of the semifinal playoff series before the Tigres de Aragua and Roberto Muñoz at José Pérez Colmenares Stadium in Maracay on January 25th, 1970. In the top of the second inning, Gregory Sims hit a single and Ray Fosse got on base because the Tigres left fielder, Jim Williams, dropped a fly ball, so there were runner on second and first base. Jesus Aristimuño was retired for the second out but the runner advanced because of batting-running play on a 3-2 count. Manager Roger Craig ordered intentional walk to Dámaso Blanco but Peña hit a single to left field to plate in Sims and Fosse. Peña ended winning the game 5-4 helped by reliever Gregorio Machado in the ninth inning. On August 18th, 1960; Lew Burdette of the Milwaukee Braves faced Gene Conley and the Philadelphia Phillies at County Stadium. Burdette not only hurled a no hitter to beat the Phillies 1-0 (the only batter to reach base was Tony Gonzalez, who was hit by a pitch with one out in the fifth inning) but led off the bottom of the eight inning with a double and scored the only run of the game on another double by Billy Brutton.

When Earl Wilson batted a homer in the bottom of the third inning before Bo Belinsky at Fenway Park on June, 26th, 1962; maybe he didn’t what was going to happen that night. That was really the only run he would need to beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-0. That night he would finish hurling a no hitter (he struck out five and walked four while solving the difficulties he confronted trough the game). The other run of the Boston Red Sox came in the bottom of the fourth inning after an error of first baseman Lee Thomas and singles by Pete Runnells and Carroll Hardy. Wilson became the first Red Sox right hander to pitch a no-hitter at Fenway Park since 1917, and the second pitcher who hit a homer during his no-hitter (Jim Tobin of the Boston Braves, had done it in 1944). Each time he had the chance, Gary Peters showed why the Chicago White Sox manager used him in the eighth, seventh o even the sixth slot of his line up. That was what Peters did on May 14th, 1967 in the second of a doubleheader against the Los Angeles Angels, when he hurled a one-hitter to win 3-1 while striking out 10 batters, and also plated in two runs with a single. Gibson besides his pitching virtues was always feared for his hitting abilities. He could hit for power and also execute the tiny details from the batting box. On September 27th, 1968 he beat Larry Dierker and the Houston Astros 1-0 at Busch Stadium. He only allowed six hits, eleven struck outs, no walks. The only run came in the fifth inning: Julián Javier walked, Dal Maxvill struck out, Gibson sacrificed with a bunt to advance Javier to second base. Lou Brock hit a single to third base, Javier advanced. Curt Flood hit a single to center field to plate in Javier.

Alfonso L. Tusa C. 23 enero 2025.