Errata:  Non-Batting Batters

by
February 23, 2006

My article on Non-Batting Batters was posted on Baseball Think Factory for review and comment. Among the many interesting and informative comments it drew was one from a poster with the handle of Gerry, who gently pointed out that the article was in error in identifying the Giants’ Freddie Maguire in 1923 as the very first non-batting batter. In fact, the non-batting pioneer appeared nine years earlier:

Year Player     Team B Age G by POS PA/G  G PA R H XBH RBI SB CS BB SO   BA OPS+
1914 Sandy Piez NY N R  25      OF5 0.22 37  8 9 3   1   3  4  ?  0  1 .375  199

Well, at least I got the team correct … it was still John McGraw’s New York Giants. McGraw was indeed pushing the envelope with both pinch-hitting specialists and non-batting batters.

What’s especially interesting about this fellow isn’t just his extremely early appearance, but also the extreme manner in which he was deployed: Sandy Piez was used in a mode remarkably close to that of the pure pinch-running specialists of Charlie Finley’s A’s. Mr. Piez was just six decades ahead of his time.

Thanks so much to Gerry for bringing this to my attention!


Steve Treder has been a co-author of every Hardball Times Annual publication since its inception in 2004. His work has also been featured in Nine, The National Pastime, and other publications. He has frequently been a presenter at baseball forums such as the SABR National Convention, the Nine Spring Training Conference, and the Cooperstown Symposium. When Steve grows up, he hopes to play center field for the San Francisco Giants.

Comments are closed.