Infield: First baseman Bob Horner (1978-88) was a very good hitter when he was healthy and in-shape. Trouble is, he was rarely healthy, in large part because he didn’t stay in shape. The Atlanta Braves took Horner out of Arizona State with the first pick in the 1978 draft and dropped him right into the major-league lineup at third base. He won the NL Rookie of the Year, putting up 23 home runs and 63 RBI over the second half of that season. The following year he batted .314 with 33 home runs and 98 RBI despite missing 40 games. He always hit, but he could never stay in the lineup. He was a terrible fielder, eventually moved to first base where his sluggishness and indifference would do less damage. He finished his career with 218 home runs and a slugging percentage just below .500. It will be interesting to watch Horner try to handle throws across the infield from third baseman Butch Hobson (1975-82), an erratic slugger who had 30 home runs and 112 RBI for the Red Sox in 1977. Hobson had played football for Bear Bryant at Alabama, and he sustained all sorts of damage to his throwing elbow. He was a tough, scrappy third baseman, but you never knew where his throws were going (he would occasionally reposition the bone chips in his elbow as he stood on the infield), resulting in an .899 fielding percentage in 1978. He struck out a lot and didn’t walk enough and his throwing arm was a disaster, but he hit the long ball and gave a good effort. While the infield defense will be a circus sideshow at the corners, it will be slick up the middle with Hall of Fame second baseman Billy Herman (1931-47) and Gold Glove shortstop Bud Harrelson (1965-80). Herman, a tremendous contact hitter known as one of the best hit-and-run men of all time, starred for the Cubs and the Brooklyn Dodgers, putting up a career average of .304. He played for three pennant winners in Chicago and one in Brooklyn but never won a World Series title. Harrelson was a terrible hitter, even in the minors, but his glove was good and the Mets in the 1960s were bad, so he was in the majors at age 21 and a starter by 23. He played in two all-star games and anchored the defense for the 1969 Miracle Mets. Perhaps the most unforgettable moment in his career came during the 1973 NLCS. Harrelson had made disparaging comments about the Big Red Machine’s hitting in the first few games, prompting Pete Rose to slide hard into him on a double play pivot. Harrelson called Rose some unprintable names, and Rose grabbed the diminutive shortstop, threw him on the ground and pounced on him, setting off a large-scale brawl.
Outfield: Center fielder Sliding Billy Hamilton (1888-1901) was one of the great stars of 19th-century baseball, though his brilliance wasn’t truly recognized until many decades had passed. Hamilton had a career batting average of .344, and he drew 100-plus walks per season, giving him a .455 career on-base percentage (fourth-best all time). He also stole 914 bases, a record that stood for more than 70 years and is still the third-base total of all time. As a result, he scored 1,697 runs in 1,594 career games, a rate that no other player in history has come even remotely close to. His 198 runs scored in 1894 remains the single-season record, and no other player has even managed to score 180. Left fielder Babe Herman (1926-45) was a legendary player in his own way. He was a very fine hitter – with a .324 career average and good power – but a notoriously bad defensive player with a reputation for playing fly balls off his head and shoulders. He became one of the indelible symbols of the hapless Brooklyn Dodgers, most famously on a play during his rookie year in which he drove a ball into the right field corner with the bases loaded, only to slide into third base and find two other teammates already standing on the bag. Batting third in this lineup, behind Billies Hamilton and Herman, he should drive in a ton of runs. Right fielder Bobby Higginson (1995-2005) spent his career in Detroit and was a fine player during his prime. He hustled, took extra bases and became a fan favorite in Detroit during the desultory years following the Trammel-Whitaker Era. Higginson never played on a winning team, and an elbow injury ended his career at age 34, so he missed out on the 2006 pennant.
Catcher: Brian Harper (1979-95) wasn’t a very good defensive catcher, and he languished on the benches of five different teams before the Twins got him in 1988 and decided to play him every day. From 1989-93, he was Minnesota’s regular catcher and batted .307 with a good number of doubles and almost zero strikeouts. He finished with a career average of .295.
Rotation: Burt “Happy” Hooton (1971-85), who threw a pitch he called the “knuckle-curve,” was a durable starter and a key part of the outstanding Dodgers rotations of the 1970s. He won 151 games in his career, including a no-hitter for the Cubs in 1972. His great pitching during the 1981 postseason was one of the keys to the Dodgers’ championship that year. Bill Hands (1965-75) was a teammate with Hooton on the Cubs in the early 1970s. Hands won 20 games for the great 1969 Cubs team that staggered down the stretch and lost the pennant to the Miracle Mets. He won 111 games in his career. Lefty Bruce Hurst (1980-94) was a dependable starter for the Red Sox in the 1980s and a key member of the team that came so close to winning the World Series in 1986. He later went to San Diego and had some good seasons, finishing with a career record of 145-113. Wild Bill Hallahan (1925-38) led the NL in walks three times and wild pitches three times. He also led in strikeouts twice and wins once, on his way to 102 career victories. As a member of the Cardinals’ famous Gas House Gang, he won four pennants and three World Series titles, with an ERA of 1.36 in 39 2/3 postseason innings. He was the starting pitcher for the NL in the first all-star game. Yale graduate Wild Bill Hutchinson (1884-97) was a workhorse who won 121 games for the Chicago Cubs in 1890-92, leading the NL all three seasons. He worked 1,786 innings in those three seasons, but when the pitching distance was moved back to its current 60 feet, 6 inches in 1893, his effectiveness dropped sharply. He finished his career with 182 victories despite the fact that he pitched just two games before his 29th birthday, giving the B.H. team a rotation comprised of five 100-game winners.
Bullpen: Closer Bryan Harvey (1987-95) was a teriffic pitcher before elbow injuries ended his career in his early 30s. For the Angels in 1991 he saved 46 games and posted a 1.60 ERA. The elbow problems arose the following year and the Angels, thinking him damaged and possibly done, left him unprotected in the expansion draft. The Marlins snapped him up, and Harvey responded with 45 saves and a 1.70 ERA in the team’s inaugural 1993 season. After that, the injuries set in for good and he was finished, but his career stats (177 saves, 2.49 ERA, 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings) remain outstanding. Bob Howry (1998- ) saved 28 games for the 1999 White Sox but has largely pitched in a set-up role other than that season. He has compiled 66 career saves by picking up a few per year. Lefty Bill Henry (1952-69) had a long career spread over six teams, and he continued to pitch effectively until he was almost 40. Henry was reported to have died in 2003, but it later came out that the man who died was an impostor who had been claiming to be former major-league pitcher Bill Henry for at least 20 years. The real Bill Henry is still alive at age 83. Lefty swingman Butch Henry (1992-99) had some good years during his journeyman career. Bump Hadley (1926-41) – an Ivy Leaguer whose real name was Irving Darius Hadley – had a long career split between the rotation and the bullpen. He won 161 games and will push for a spot in the crowded rotation. Hadley is primarily known for ending the career of Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane with a near-fatal beaning in 1937. Bert Humphries (1910-15) had a career ERA of 2.79 during the deadball era. Billy Hoeft (1952-66) was a hard-throwing lefty swingman who made it to the majors at age 19 and won 20 games for Detroit in 1956. He won 97 games in his career and, like Hadley, will be angling for starts on this team.
Bench: Backup catcher Bubbles Hargrave (1913-30) had a career average of .310 and won a batting title by hitting .353 in 1926, though he only came to the plate 365 times that year. (The rules at that time said a player needed to appear in 100 games to qualify for the batting title, so the Reds sent him up as a pinch-hitter a few times to push him over the minimum and ensure the batting title, which led to changes in the qualification rules.) The nickname “Bubbles” apparently originated because of a childhood stutter, and he is said to have hated it. Butch Huskey (1993-2000) was a hot power-hitting prospect who was never quite as good as he was supposed to be, though he was certainly a useful player – a decent power hitter who could handle either corner infield or coner outfield positions. He’ll be the first option when Bob Horner is out of the lineup. Outfield Brad Hawpe (2004- ) is a slugger who had some good seasons in Colorado (116 RBI in 2007). He is still in his early 30s and has a good batting eye, so he has a reasonable chance to still be a good hitter now that he has left the high altitudes. If he has a few more good years, could make a push for a starting outfield job. Infielder Buck Herzog (1908-20) played second, third and shortstop in more or less equal amounts, and he was a decent hitter and a fine baserunner. Outstanding utility infielder here, and could push Harrelson for the starting shortstop job. Bill Hall (2002- ) has played all over the infield and outfield, and he has 122 home runs at mid-career. This is an outstanding bench – five very solid hitters, including three (Huskey, Herzog and Hall) who are versatile enough to cover several positions.
Manager: Hall of Famer Bucky Harris won 2,158 games in his career (7th on the all-time list), with three pennants and two World Series titles. More than half of his wins came with the Senators. He won his first championship in Washington, as a 27-year-old player-manager in 1924. His second came with the 1947 Yankees.
Outfield: Center fielder Sliding Billy Hamilton (1888-1901) was one of the great stars of 19th-century baseball, though his brilliance wasn’t truly recognized until many decades had passed. Hamilton had a career batting average of .344, and he drew 100-plus walks per season, giving him a .455 career on-base percentage (fourth-best all time). He also stole 914 bases, a record that stood for more than 70 years and is still the third-base total of all time. As a result, he scored 1,697 runs in 1,594 career games, a rate that no other player in history has come even remotely close to. His 198 runs scored in 1894 remains the single-season record, and no other player has even managed to score 180. Left fielder Babe Herman (1926-45) was a legendary player in his own way. He was a very fine hitter – with a .324 career average and good power – but a notoriously bad defensive player with a reputation for playing fly balls off his head and shoulders. He became one of the indelible symbols of the hapless Brooklyn Dodgers, most famously on a play during his rookie year in which he drove a ball into the right field corner with the bases loaded, only to slide into third base and find two other teammates already standing on the bag. Batting third in this lineup, behind Billies Hamilton and Herman, he should drive in a ton of runs. Right fielder Bobby Higginson (1995-2005) spent his career in Detroit and was a fine player during his prime. He hustled, took extra bases and became a fan favorite in Detroit during the desultory years following the Trammel-Whitaker Era. Higginson never played on a winning team, and an elbow injury ended his career at age 34, so he missed out on the 2006 pennant.
Catcher: Brian Harper (1979-95) wasn’t a very good defensive catcher, and he languished on the benches of five different teams before the Twins got him in 1988 and decided to play him every day. From 1989-93, he was Minnesota’s regular catcher and batted .307 with a good number of doubles and almost zero strikeouts. He finished with a career average of .295.
Rotation: Burt “Happy” Hooton (1971-85), who threw a pitch he called the “knuckle-curve,” was a durable starter and a key part of the outstanding Dodgers rotations of the 1970s. He won 151 games in his career, including a no-hitter for the Cubs in 1972. His great pitching during the 1981 postseason was one of the keys to the Dodgers’ championship that year. Bill Hands (1965-75) was a teammate with Hooton on the Cubs in the early 1970s. Hands won 20 games for the great 1969 Cubs team that staggered down the stretch and lost the pennant to the Miracle Mets. He won 111 games in his career. Lefty Bruce Hurst (1980-94) was a dependable starter for the Red Sox in the 1980s and a key member of the team that came so close to winning the World Series in 1986. He later went to San Diego and had some good seasons, finishing with a career record of 145-113. Wild Bill Hallahan (1925-38) led the NL in walks three times and wild pitches three times. He also led in strikeouts twice and wins once, on his way to 102 career victories. As a member of the Cardinals’ famous Gas House Gang, he won four pennants and three World Series titles, with an ERA of 1.36 in 39 2/3 postseason innings. He was the starting pitcher for the NL in the first all-star game. Yale graduate Wild Bill Hutchinson (1884-97) was a workhorse who won 121 games for the Chicago Cubs in 1890-92, leading the NL all three seasons. He worked 1,786 innings in those three seasons, but when the pitching distance was moved back to its current 60 feet, 6 inches in 1893, his effectiveness dropped sharply. He finished his career with 182 victories despite the fact that he pitched just two games before his 29th birthday, giving the B.H. team a rotation comprised of five 100-game winners.
Bullpen: Closer Bryan Harvey (1987-95) was a teriffic pitcher before elbow injuries ended his career in his early 30s. For the Angels in 1991 he saved 46 games and posted a 1.60 ERA. The elbow problems arose the following year and the Angels, thinking him damaged and possibly done, left him unprotected in the expansion draft. The Marlins snapped him up, and Harvey responded with 45 saves and a 1.70 ERA in the team’s inaugural 1993 season. After that, the injuries set in for good and he was finished, but his career stats (177 saves, 2.49 ERA, 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings) remain outstanding. Bob Howry (1998- ) saved 28 games for the 1999 White Sox but has largely pitched in a set-up role other than that season. He has compiled 66 career saves by picking up a few per year. Lefty Bill Henry (1952-69) had a long career spread over six teams, and he continued to pitch effectively until he was almost 40. Henry was reported to have died in 2003, but it later came out that the man who died was an impostor who had been claiming to be former major-league pitcher Bill Henry for at least 20 years. The real Bill Henry is still alive at age 83. Lefty swingman Butch Henry (1992-99) had some good years during his journeyman career. Bump Hadley (1926-41) – an Ivy Leaguer whose real name was Irving Darius Hadley – had a long career split between the rotation and the bullpen. He won 161 games and will push for a spot in the crowded rotation. Hadley is primarily known for ending the career of Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane with a near-fatal beaning in 1937. Bert Humphries (1910-15) had a career ERA of 2.79 during the deadball era. Billy Hoeft (1952-66) was a hard-throwing lefty swingman who made it to the majors at age 19 and won 20 games for Detroit in 1956. He won 97 games in his career and, like Hadley, will be angling for starts on this team.
Bench: Backup catcher Bubbles Hargrave (1913-30) had a career average of .310 and won a batting title by hitting .353 in 1926, though he only came to the plate 365 times that year. (The rules at that time said a player needed to appear in 100 games to qualify for the batting title, so the Reds sent him up as a pinch-hitter a few times to push him over the minimum and ensure the batting title, which led to changes in the qualification rules.) The nickname “Bubbles” apparently originated because of a childhood stutter, and he is said to have hated it. Butch Huskey (1993-2000) was a hot power-hitting prospect who was never quite as good as he was supposed to be, though he was certainly a useful player – a decent power hitter who could handle either corner infield or coner outfield positions. He’ll be the first option when Bob Horner is out of the lineup. Outfield Brad Hawpe (2004- ) is a slugger who had some good seasons in Colorado (116 RBI in 2007). He is still in his early 30s and has a good batting eye, so he has a reasonable chance to still be a good hitter now that he has left the high altitudes. If he has a few more good years, could make a push for a starting outfield job. Infielder Buck Herzog (1908-20) played second, third and shortstop in more or less equal amounts, and he was a decent hitter and a fine baserunner. Outstanding utility infielder here, and could push Harrelson for the starting shortstop job. Bill Hall (2002- ) has played all over the infield and outfield, and he has 122 home runs at mid-career. This is an outstanding bench – five very solid hitters, including three (Huskey, Herzog and Hall) who are versatile enough to cover several positions.
Manager: Hall of Famer Bucky Harris won 2,158 games in his career (7th on the all-time list), with three pennants and two World Series titles. More than half of his wins came with the Senators. He won his first championship in Washington, as a 27-year-old player-manager in 1924. His second came with the 1947 Yankees.
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