Infield: Lenny Harris (1988-2005) made his name as a versatile utility player and extended his career as a professional pinch-hitter. On this team, he starts at second base, because that’s where he’s needed. In the majors, he played 485 games as third, but he also had more than 100 appearances at second base, left and right field, plus a few dozen apiece at first and shortstop. He even pitched a scoreless inning once, but that wasn’t really a part of his skill set. He also holds all sorts of pinch-hitting records, including pinch-hits in a career (212). To be honest, he was more valuable as a pinch-hitter and supersub than as a starter – he wasn’t anything special as a hitter, or as a fielder, or as a baserunner. But he left his mark. Third baseman Lee “Jeep” Handley (1936-47) led the National League in steals in 1939. True, he only stole 17 bases, but hey, leading the league is leading the league, right? He played for a decade and batted .269. Jackie Robinson once noted that Handley was the first opposing player to wish him well. Shortstop Luis Hernandez (2007- ) isn’t a bad fielder, but he ain’t no hitter no how. His presence in the starting lineup tells you how short this team is in quality infielders. First baseman Lefty Herring (1899-1904) never did anything to make you think he was a professional baseball player.
Outfield: Center fielder Larry Hisle (1968-82) was a terrific hitter. He led the AL in RBI in 1977 and finished third in the MVP voting in 1978. A shoulder injury in his early 30s cut his career short. Hisle played a lot of center field for the Phillies, Twins and Brewers but was better suited to a corner outfield spot. Left fielder Larry Herndon (1974-88) was lovingly known as “Penitentiary Face” because, well, he had the sort of face that looked like it belonged on a wanted poster. He was a pretty fair player, a .274 hitter who could hit 20 homers in a good year. He was a starter on the Tigers’ great championship team of 1984, and he batted .333 in the World Series that year. Right fielder Larry Harlow (1975-81) struggled to bat .250. He had no power or speed and he wasn’t any great shakes in the field. And as always, when you’ve got three Larrys in the outfield, anything goes.
Catcher: Larry Haney (1966-78) was a really terrible hitter but a decent enough catcher to have a long career as a backup. In 1969 card, Topps accidentally flipped his photo so that he appeared to be left-handed, which caught everyone’s eye. Drawing further attention to this detail was the fact that he was wearing a ridiculously oversized mitt, and the fact that they used the same photo on the 1969 card (with the Pilots) as they used the year before (with the Orioles), with the only difference being that the ’69 image was backward.
Rotation: Livan Hernandez (1996- ) is a Cuban defector who has been a very average, but extraordinarily durable, pitcher bouncing around the majors for more than a decade. In 1997 he was on the Marlins team that won the World Series. He started Games 1 and 5, didn’t pitch very well either time out, but got enough run support to win both games. So he had a 5.27 ERA, 25 baserunners and just 7 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings, watched Games 6 and 7 from a cozy seat on the bench – and he was named the World Series MVP, apparently because people thought it was really nice that his mother was able to make it over from Cuba to watch. LaMarr Hoyt (1979-86) won a ridiculous Cy Young Award in 1983, when he had a 3.66 ERA but got a ton of run support and won 24 games. Hoyt was a pretty ordinary pitcher with very good control, and he might have put up some good career numbers as a middle-of-the-rotation guy if drug addiction hadn’t brought him crashing down in his early 30s. His career was wrecked, but he managed to clean himself up and still works in the White Sox organization. Luke “Hot Potato” Hamlin (1933-44) won 213 games in the minors and 73 in the majors (including 20 for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1939). Hamlin was a solid control pitcher, didn’t overpower anyone, and was generally below the league average in ERA. Lum Harris (1941-47) pitched for the moribund Philadelphia A’s during World War II, going 35-63. This could not have been a pleasant experience. Luke Hudson (2002-07) pitched for the Reds and the Royals, but never well enough to get in the rotation and stick.
Bullpen: Closer LaTroy Hawkins (1995- ) has never been dull. He has 87 saves to this point in his career, and while he’s in a setup role these days, he could still hit 100 for his career. Some years he’s quite good. Other years, no so much. In 1999, as a starter for the Twins, he posted a 6.66 ERA and led the league in earned runs allowed, but Minnesota was so desperate for innings that he never missed a start. Two years later, he saved 28 games for the Twins while posting a 5.96 ERA. But he’s had very good years, too. On the whole, it has balanced out to a very ordinary career ERA, a little better than league average. Luther Hackman (1999-2003) was a not-very-successful reliever who tested positive for steroids, drew a 50-game suspension and fled to Taiwan where he pitched very well for a few years. Larry Hardy (1974-76) got his butt kicked for 126 innings in San Diego and Houston, but he somehow managed a 9-4 record and five saves. Lloyd Hittle (1949-50), no relation to Floyd Little, was a forgettable lefty reliever for the Senators. Leroy Herrmann (1932-35) won 163 games in the minors, including 84 between 1931-34 in the Pacific Coast League, but he didn’t do much in the majors. Luke Hochevar (2007- ) was the top pick in the 2006 draft, taken by the Royals out of University of Tennessee. He has yet to do anything worthwhile in the majors, and his spot in this bullpen (we’re not even considering him for the rotation yet) is based more on potential than actual delivery. As to that potential, if he's going to do something, he ought to get started soon. Leland Hancock (1995-96) was a lefty with the Pirates who wasn’t completely terrible.
Bench: Larry Howard (1970-73) was not one of the Three Stooges. He was a backup catcher for the Astros. Leo Hernandez (1982-86) was a weak-hitting infielder who played for the 1983 championship Orioles. Les Hennessy (1913) was not the newsman on “WKRP in Cincinnati.” He was an infielder who got a few at-bats for the Tigers. Luther Harvel (1928) was an outfielder who batted .300 in a long minor-league career and batted .221 in a short major-league one. Lou Hardie (1884-91) was born during the Civil War and played for various teams in the early years of the National League. He played a little bit of everything, and he didn’t hit much.
Manager: Lum Harris managed the Orioles, Astros and Braves. He was manager of the Braves team that lost to the Miracle Mets in the 1969 NLCS. And it is worth noting that in Atlanta one of his players was Mike Lum. In the history of the majors, there have been two players with the first name Lum and one guy with the last name Lum, and for a couple of years in Atlanta, two of them hung out together. Go figure.
Special note: Livan Hernandez is listed at 6-foot-2, 245 pounds. LaMarr Hoyt was listed at 6-3, 195 pounds, but by the end of his career he had packed on a good 30-40 pounds and was looking pretty hefty. During the seventh-inning stretch, the two of them will entertain fans with a race around the bases. They will start at home plate, take off in opposite directions, and fans will wait to see if they collide head-on as they round second base.
Outfield: Center fielder Larry Hisle (1968-82) was a terrific hitter. He led the AL in RBI in 1977 and finished third in the MVP voting in 1978. A shoulder injury in his early 30s cut his career short. Hisle played a lot of center field for the Phillies, Twins and Brewers but was better suited to a corner outfield spot. Left fielder Larry Herndon (1974-88) was lovingly known as “Penitentiary Face” because, well, he had the sort of face that looked like it belonged on a wanted poster. He was a pretty fair player, a .274 hitter who could hit 20 homers in a good year. He was a starter on the Tigers’ great championship team of 1984, and he batted .333 in the World Series that year. Right fielder Larry Harlow (1975-81) struggled to bat .250. He had no power or speed and he wasn’t any great shakes in the field. And as always, when you’ve got three Larrys in the outfield, anything goes.
Catcher: Larry Haney (1966-78) was a really terrible hitter but a decent enough catcher to have a long career as a backup. In 1969 card, Topps accidentally flipped his photo so that he appeared to be left-handed, which caught everyone’s eye. Drawing further attention to this detail was the fact that he was wearing a ridiculously oversized mitt, and the fact that they used the same photo on the 1969 card (with the Pilots) as they used the year before (with the Orioles), with the only difference being that the ’69 image was backward.
Rotation: Livan Hernandez (1996- ) is a Cuban defector who has been a very average, but extraordinarily durable, pitcher bouncing around the majors for more than a decade. In 1997 he was on the Marlins team that won the World Series. He started Games 1 and 5, didn’t pitch very well either time out, but got enough run support to win both games. So he had a 5.27 ERA, 25 baserunners and just 7 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings, watched Games 6 and 7 from a cozy seat on the bench – and he was named the World Series MVP, apparently because people thought it was really nice that his mother was able to make it over from Cuba to watch. LaMarr Hoyt (1979-86) won a ridiculous Cy Young Award in 1983, when he had a 3.66 ERA but got a ton of run support and won 24 games. Hoyt was a pretty ordinary pitcher with very good control, and he might have put up some good career numbers as a middle-of-the-rotation guy if drug addiction hadn’t brought him crashing down in his early 30s. His career was wrecked, but he managed to clean himself up and still works in the White Sox organization. Luke “Hot Potato” Hamlin (1933-44) won 213 games in the minors and 73 in the majors (including 20 for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1939). Hamlin was a solid control pitcher, didn’t overpower anyone, and was generally below the league average in ERA. Lum Harris (1941-47) pitched for the moribund Philadelphia A’s during World War II, going 35-63. This could not have been a pleasant experience. Luke Hudson (2002-07) pitched for the Reds and the Royals, but never well enough to get in the rotation and stick.
Bullpen: Closer LaTroy Hawkins (1995- ) has never been dull. He has 87 saves to this point in his career, and while he’s in a setup role these days, he could still hit 100 for his career. Some years he’s quite good. Other years, no so much. In 1999, as a starter for the Twins, he posted a 6.66 ERA and led the league in earned runs allowed, but Minnesota was so desperate for innings that he never missed a start. Two years later, he saved 28 games for the Twins while posting a 5.96 ERA. But he’s had very good years, too. On the whole, it has balanced out to a very ordinary career ERA, a little better than league average. Luther Hackman (1999-2003) was a not-very-successful reliever who tested positive for steroids, drew a 50-game suspension and fled to Taiwan where he pitched very well for a few years. Larry Hardy (1974-76) got his butt kicked for 126 innings in San Diego and Houston, but he somehow managed a 9-4 record and five saves. Lloyd Hittle (1949-50), no relation to Floyd Little, was a forgettable lefty reliever for the Senators. Leroy Herrmann (1932-35) won 163 games in the minors, including 84 between 1931-34 in the Pacific Coast League, but he didn’t do much in the majors. Luke Hochevar (2007- ) was the top pick in the 2006 draft, taken by the Royals out of University of Tennessee. He has yet to do anything worthwhile in the majors, and his spot in this bullpen (we’re not even considering him for the rotation yet) is based more on potential than actual delivery. As to that potential, if he's going to do something, he ought to get started soon. Leland Hancock (1995-96) was a lefty with the Pirates who wasn’t completely terrible.
Bench: Larry Howard (1970-73) was not one of the Three Stooges. He was a backup catcher for the Astros. Leo Hernandez (1982-86) was a weak-hitting infielder who played for the 1983 championship Orioles. Les Hennessy (1913) was not the newsman on “WKRP in Cincinnati.” He was an infielder who got a few at-bats for the Tigers. Luther Harvel (1928) was an outfielder who batted .300 in a long minor-league career and batted .221 in a short major-league one. Lou Hardie (1884-91) was born during the Civil War and played for various teams in the early years of the National League. He played a little bit of everything, and he didn’t hit much.
Manager: Lum Harris managed the Orioles, Astros and Braves. He was manager of the Braves team that lost to the Miracle Mets in the 1969 NLCS. And it is worth noting that in Atlanta one of his players was Mike Lum. In the history of the majors, there have been two players with the first name Lum and one guy with the last name Lum, and for a couple of years in Atlanta, two of them hung out together. Go figure.
Special note: Livan Hernandez is listed at 6-foot-2, 245 pounds. LaMarr Hoyt was listed at 6-3, 195 pounds, but by the end of his career he had packed on a good 30-40 pounds and was looking pretty hefty. During the seventh-inning stretch, the two of them will entertain fans with a race around the bases. They will start at home plate, take off in opposite directions, and fans will wait to see if they collide head-on as they round second base.
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