Pinch-hitting: baseball's toughest job: little recognition is given to players who are successful at coming off the bench and providing needed offense in a substitute role

Baseball Digest, Nov, 2004 by George Vass

THE TOUGHEST JOB IN BASEBALL? That's not an easy designation to make in a game replete with difficult tasks in the field, at bat, on the mound, and in the ever-hot seat that keeps managers squirming with apprehension, frustration and despair.

Chances are most fans might choose the task of the closer, the strong-arm pitcher deputed to slam the door against the threat of the enemy snatching victory from the jaws of imminent defeat.

The way the game is played now, the closet's role has become iconic, taking on the prestige once reserved for great hitters, fancy fielders and superb starting pitchers. Not only do today's relievers of last resort attract far more adulation than they did formerly, but they can cart both cash and credit all the way to Cooperstown, as Dennis Eckersley did last summer.

In contrast, consider the "professional" pinch-hitter who toils in relative obscurity, drawing a flicker of attention only when he contributes a hit to start or keep a rally going, and a trifle more if he ties or wins a game with his bat. He's often almost an afterthought to a roster, especially in the American League where the designated hitter rule has diminished the need for his services.

Nonetheless, a strong case could be made for the view that the toughest job in baseball is to come off the bench "cold" at a critical moment in a game, often against the foe's best reliever, and deliver the goods. What's more, to be able to do so season after season, fashioning a lengthy career chiefly out of the ability to pinch-hit successfully rather than to regularly play a position in the field.

That's the hallmark of the "professional" pinch-hitter, a rare breed throughout the game's history, one whose chief and often sole role is to bat in emergencies unlike the more versatile regulars or utility players who are pressed, into such service sporadically.

At least four active players, Lenny Harris, John Vander Wal, Dave Hansen and Mark Sweeney qualify for the appellation of "professional" as pinch-hitting specialists. They've enjoyed extended major league careers mainly because of their ability to respond in clutch situations when summoned from the bench to swing a bat.

Harris, Vander Wal and Hansen seldom capture headlines, but they undoubtedly rank among the great pinch-hitters of all time, a group that includes Manny Mota, Smoky Burgess, Greg Gross, Jose Morales, Jerry Lynch, Red Lucas, Rusty Staub, Elmer Valo and Rusty Staub.

They've made the most of what former big league slugger and manager Hank Bauer, who led the Baltimore Orioles to a World Series title in 1966, contended was the most demanding duty that could be asked of a player.

"I personally regard pinch-batting as one of the outstanding weapons in the game, and the strategy connected with its use as one of the most vital elements of baseball," said Bauer, the onetime New York Yankees outfield star, a few years ago. "Often pinch-batting rises to the top as a factor for success.

"If it isn't the toughest job in baseball, it's close. In such a spot a man comes off the bench cold and steps into a dramatic situation where the outcome of the game--maybe even the pennant race--depends on his coming through. All eyes are on him and it goes without saying that the opposing pitcher is calling on his top stuff and bearing down with all his might ..."

Vander Wal, 38, who was in his 14th big league season while with the Cincinnati Reds this year, echoed Bauer's assessment of the difficulty of his job.

"I feel it (pinch-hitting) is by far the hardest thing to do," said Vander Wal, who set the major league record for most pinch-hits in a season with 28 in 1995 when with the Colorado Rockies. "If you're out there every day getting four at-bats, you can groove your swing and get your timing down. If you're getting, at most, only four to five at-bats, it makes it very tough to keep a swing."

(Taking Vander Wal's statement about "keep a swing'" further, it emphasizes a major difference between pinch-hitters and designated hitters, the latter having the advantage of several turns at bat in a game rather than just one.)

Vander Wal obviously managed to keep his swing in 1995 when he set the record for most pinch-hits in a season. Not only did he go 28-for-72 in 92 games--just two short of Staub's major league record of 94 games as a pinch-hitter--for an average of .389, but 12 hits were for extra bases (seven doubles, one triple, four home runs) and he drew 12 walks. He drove in 17 runs to round out a spectacular season for any pinch-hitter.

Despite the problem of timing, Vander Wal has steadily climbed the all-time list of batters with most career pinch-hits, passing such previous standouts as Morales, Lynch and Lucas. Through August 28, 2004 he had 129, third among active players, only eight behind Hansen but far fewer than Harris, the all-time leader with 192. Hansen has the additional honor of holding the record for most pinch-home runs in a season with seven, which he hit in 2000.