There are only two pitchers in major league history that had a higher career batting average than career earned run average. (I am assuming this means pitchers that had at least a minimal number of at-bats) One was Babe Ruth, of course. Now name the other. Answer will be posted tomorrow.
Walter Johnson.
David Concepcion
Lenny Harris.
“And when finally they sense that some position cannot be sustained, they do not re-examine their ideas. Instead, they simply change the subject.” Jamie Galbraith
There's at least three pitchers if Ruth's going to be included. Walter Johnson is one, as woy pointed out already. Smoky Joe Wood (2.03 career ERA and .283 career batting average) is a third to do it.
Wood was a fantastic pitcher for a few seasons with the Boston Red Sox during the 1910s, and had a phenomenal year in 1912 by going 34-5 with a 1.91 ERA (180 ERA+) in 344 innings. The following season, Wood stepped on his own thumb and broke it while trying to field a groundball on wet grass.
After that injury, he had a tremendous amount of pain in his right shoulder trying to pitch, and the injury forced him out of the game in 1916. In 1918 with the majors short on players due to WWI, Wood made the Cleveland Indians as an outfielder, and over the next five seasons Wood held on as a converted outfielder. In over 2,000 career plate appearances, he retired with a lifetime 110 OPS+.
Not too shabby for a guy originally brought in as a superstar pitcher.
The Lost Decade Average Season: 74-88
2014-22 Average Season: 71-91
Monte Ward, a 19th century player, crushes it with a 2.10 career ERA and .275 lifetime batting average. Ed Walsh (1.82 career ERA and .192 career batting average) and Christy Mathewson (2.13 career ERA and .215 career batting average) also accomplished the feat. Three Finger Brown matched it: 2.06 career ERA and .206 lifetime batting average.
I suspect there's maybe a few other Dead Ball Era pitchers along with Walsh, Mathewson, and Brown that were able to do it as well.
The Lost Decade Average Season: 74-88
2014-22 Average Season: 71-91
Mea Culpa. I worded the question incorrectly. The question should read.....only one other pitcher has accomplished this SINCE Babe Ruth.
The answer is that 'Fat Tub of Goo' Terry Forster. For his career he had an ERA of 3.23 and a batting average of .397. Nice.
Nice...other than the one inning wonder Davey Concepcion the closest I could come to was Mike Stanton.Originally Posted by texasdave
78 at bats, 86 PA's I was looking at 500 as a minimum, oh well
Code:AVERAGE AVG AB 1 Terry Forster .397 78 2 Renie Martin .301 83 3 Bud Teachout .262 84 4 Joe Dawson .260 77 5 Ed Donnelly .241 83 6 Jack Hallett .238 80 7 Bobby Hogue .233 73 8 Brad Hennessey .228 79 9 Brandon Backe .227 75 10 Emil Kush .220 82
I got that off the Baseball Info Solution Stat of the Week. So i didn't know what criteria they set. Forster appeared in 620 games in his career and only got 86 PA. That is about 1 PA every 7.5 games. A .397 BA for someone who might go weeks between at-bats is incredible IMO. Relief pitchers probably don't get alot of batting practice either.
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