Infield: Shortstop Dick Howser (1961-68) wasn’t a great hitter, but he drew a lot of walks, rarely struck out, had some speed and was a good bunter. As a rookie for the Kansas City A’s in 1961, he batted .280, stole 37 bases and scored 108 runs, finishing second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. He wasn’t really a .280 hitter, or a very good offensive player at all, but he did make certain contributions. Third baseman Dave Hollins (1990-2002) was never a star but was generally quite good. He batted .260, but with a good number of walks and the power to hit 15-20 home runs. He scored 100 runs in three different seasons. First baseman Dick Hoblitzell (1908-18), who also qualifies for this team under his nickname “Doc,” was a fine contact hitter who batted .278 for his career with a good number of doubles and triples. He won two World Series titles with the Red Sox. Second baseman Donnie Hill was a completely forgettable ballplayer. He batted .257 – not good but not terrible – and he had no power, no speed and didn’t draw many walks. He could play second, third or shortstop, and he was OK at each without actually being good.
Outfield: Dummy Hoy (1888-1902) was the best among a handful of deaf players from the late 19th century, back when the nickname was considered to be a sign of acceptance and not a "politically incorrect" insult. Hoy was a 5-foot-6 outfielder who generally batted around .290, drew a good number of walks, and stole almost 600 bases in his career. Some historians have written that umpire began using hand signals because Hoy could not hear “safe” and “out” calls, though that theory is a matter of some dispute. He lived to age 99, one of the longest life spans of any major-league baseball player. Dave Henderson (1981-94) was a big guy with an infectious, gap-toothed smile. He hit 197 career home runs, and his hitting in the 1986 World Series took the Red Sox to the precipice of the championship – if Bill Buckner, Bob Stanley, Rich Gedman and the fates hadn’t conspired to throttle the Red Sox in Game 6, Henderson would be remembered as a World Series hero. He also was a key player on some fine Oakland teams, and in 36 postseason games he batted .298 and slugged .570 (seven home runs, 24 runs and 20 RBI in 121 at-bats). Darryl Hamilton (1988-2001) was a good role player who spent his best seasons with the Brewers. He was a .291 career hitter who had a good command of the strike zone and good speed. He was a sure-handed outfielder who could cover some ground. Among Hoy, Henderson and Hamilton, any of the three could play a capable center field. For now, the alignment will have Hamilton in center, Henderson in right and Hoy in left.
Catcher: Dixie Howell (1947-56), real name Homer Elliott Howell to differentiate him from the relief pitcher of the same era, never hit much and was largely a backup or platoon player, mostly for the Reds.
Rotation: Dan Haren (2003- ) is a durable righty who has pushed past 100 victories and is still in the middle of his prime, with a good career ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of almost 4-1. Dustin Hermanson (1995-2006) won 73 games in a career divided evenly between the rotation and the pen. He was in general a good pitcher, won 14 games a couple of times, and he liked to grow his goatee into the shape of a star on his chin. Lefty Dutch Henry (1921-30) was a nondescript .500 pitcher until 1930, when he went 2-17 with the seventh-place White Sox and torpedoed his career won-lost record. He was out of the majors after that season, though he did win 23 games in the minors the following year. Lefty Don Hood (1973-83) leaned more toward the relief end of the swingman role. He never started 20 games in a season and never pitched enough to qualify for an ERA title. In general, he was an average pitcher, and we’ll be pushing his limits to see how much work we can get out of him in this rotation. Dick Hughes (1966-68) pitched well in a brief callup with the Cardinals in 1966, and the following year he was one of the keys to the Cardinals winning the 1967 pennant. With Bob Gibson sidelined with a broken leg, Hughes went 16-6 with a 2.67 ERA – finishing second to Tom Seaver for Rookie of the Year and even garnering some MVP votes. He developed arm trouble and was finished after the 1968 season at age 30. In his career, he won just 20 games, but he pitched in two World Series for the Cardinals.
Bullpen: Closer Dick Hall (1952-71) won 93 games and saved 68, spending his best years with the Orioles. In fact, he was 65-40 with a 2.89 ERA and 58 saves with the Orioles, and he was 28-35 with 10 saves and a 3.99 ERA for three other teams. Darren Holmes (1990-2003) pitched for eight teams, winning 35 games and saving 59. Lefty Dave Hamilton (1972-80) was a member of three championship teams in Oakland. He’ll draw some starts on this team to alleviate the thin rotation. Dave Heaverlo (1975-81) had one of the great names ever for a pitcher. He was so excited to make the San Francisco roster as a rookie in 1975 that he celebrated by shaving his head. He had a very symmetrical career – 26 wins, 26 losses, 26 saves – and was a fine pitcher until arm problems stopped him at age 30. Doug Henry (1991-2001) had 82 saves for five teams, but he had more seasons over 4.00 in ERA than under, so we’re not really looking at him to move up the closer-by-committee ladder. Dick Hyde (1955-61), no relation to Dr. Jekyll, was a bespectacled sidearmer who had a great year for the Senators in 1958 – 10-3 with 18 saves and a 1.75 ERA in 103 innings of relief. Take away that season, and he really wasn’t very good. Dixie Howell (1940-58), real name Millard Howell to differentiate him from the catcher, won 175 games in the minors and 19 in the majors. Other than three games for the Indians in 1940 and six for the Reds in 1949, he did not establish himself in the majors until 1955, when he was 35 years old. Once he got there he pitched reasonably well, with an ERA better than the league average despite walking more batters than he struck out. In 1957 he had five hits – a double, a triple and three home runs, setting a record that still stands for the most hits in a season without a single. His 18 career hits included five home runs, giving him a career batting average of .243 but a slugging average of .500.
Bench: Dave Hansen (1990-2005) will get some starts at both first and third on this team. He was a solid role player for the Dodgers for many years. Outfielder Don Hurst (1928-34) played in Philadelphia and took advantage of the Baker Bowl ato hit 115 career home runs (almost two-thirds of them hit at home). He drove in 125 runs in 1929 and led the NL with 143 RBI in 1932. Dick Higham (1871-80) was a fine outfielder in the early days of professional baseball, who could also player catcher and even some infield. He was a .300 hitter who led his league twice in doubles and once in runs scored. Throughout his career he was followed by rumors of gambling and fixed games, and those accusations grew more serious during his later career as an umpire. Though he never admitted to any wrongdoing, he is the only umpire in the history of major-league baseball to be banished for the appearance of impropriety. Don Heffner (1934-44) was a light-hitting middle infielder. Backup catcher Dapper Dan Howley (1913) was a weak hitter in a long minor-league career (.228 average) and in a short major-league career (.125). If Higham can handle the backup catching duties, Howley could get dropped in favor of Danny Heep or Don Hahn or Don Hoak, who all had substantive major-league carers.
Manager: Dick Howser, who took the Yankees to 103 wins in 1980 and the Royals to the World Series championship in 1985, will be player-manager. He was a very nice, low-key man who was loved and respected by his players. He died of a brain tumor less than two years after the 1985 championship.
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