Evolution of the Lead-off Hitter
The image of a prototypical lead-off hitter has changed dramatically over the last several years. When I first started watching baseball in the 50’s, most lead of hitters were players with high OBP’s and some speed. Of course, players in the 50’s were evaluated a lot differently than players are today. Pee Wee Reese was actually hit second more than he led off. As a leadoff man, Pee Wee hit…
The image of a prototypical lead-off hitter has changed dramatically over the last several years. When I first started watching baseball in the 50’s, most lead of hitters were players with high OBP’s and some speed. Of course, players in the 50’s were evaluated a lot differently than players are today. Pee Wee Reese was actually hit second more than he led off. As a leadoff man, Pee Wee hit .253 in 539 games. He had 4 homers leading off games. As a two-hole hitter, Pee Wee hit .271. On the 1952 team, Pee Wee was the leadoff hitter and Billy Cox batted 2nd.
Robinson hit 3rd, Campy 4th, then Pafko, Snider, Hodges and Furillo. Of course, that depended on whether the starter was a lefty or not. Snider hit 3rd, 5th or 6th, most of the year. The first year the Dodgers were in Los Angeles, they used numerous players as the leadoff man. Cimoli, Gilliam, all had shots at the first at bat of the game.
After he took over at SS in 1959, Maury Wills was the Dodgers leadoff hitter until he was traded after the 1966 season. Maury won the MVP award in 1962 when he broke Ty Cobbs MLB season stolen base record with 104. A ton of his success was due to having one of the best and most unselfish players hitting behind him, Jim Gilliam.
His type of hitter was at the time thought to be the best kind of leadoff man. LA had another when Brett Butler joined the team. Brett was a master at bunting his way on base and setting the table for the big hitters. Butler batted leadoff in over 1800 games. Butler hit .288 as a leadoff batter. He hit 8 homers. Butler also walked more than he struck out. And he could steal bases. He had 558 in his career. He played seven seasons in Los Angeles and hit .298 over those years.
Eric Young Sr. took over as the leadoff man after Butler Young had been drafted by the Dodgers but was plucked from the team in the expansion draft by the Rockies. The Rockies traded him back to LA in 1997. He played 2 seasons in LA and was then traded to the Cubs. Mark Grudzekanek took over for a couple of years after Young left.
From 1979-84, Rickey Henderson was pretty much a prototype leadoff hitter. He made contact, he had speed, and occasionally he hit the ball over the fence. He hit 24 homers for the Yankees in 1985. The first time he had reached that number. 7 of those were homers leading off games. Over his career, that number would be 81. Still the most ever by a leadoff hitter.
Right now, the idea seems to be to have a power bat leading off. Some teams still have contact bats at the top of the lineup, but two exceptions are the Dodgers and the Phillies. When the Dodgers traded for Mookie Betts in 2020, he automatically became the team’s leadoff hitter. Betts is a .286 hitter batting 1st. He has hit 52 homers leading off games between the Dodgers and his time with Boston. 32 of those have been as a Dodger.
The day after Mookie had his hand broken by a pitch on June 16th, 2024, Shohei Ohtani became the Dodgers primary leadoff batter. In 24, Shohei hit 6 homers to start off games. In his 90 games, he hit 35 of his 54 homers while batting in the one slot. Last year, he hit 12 homers leading off games. 51 of his 55 homers came while batting as the #1. This year Shohei has hit 6 homers leading off games. All 19 of his homers have come while batting first.
Two years ago, the Phillies were using Kyle Schwarber as their leadoff man. He hit 38 homers from that spot. The last two years, Schwarber has been hitting in the 2-hole, which seems to suit him better. He had 56 homers last year, to beat out Ohtani for the HR title by 1. This season, he has 30 bombs already.
Byron Buxton of the Twins is another example of a leadoff hitter with some pop. He has led off in 47 games and has 19 homers in those games. Ohtani looks to be the leadoff hitter for LA for the next several years. Unless the Dodgers find some other source that they feel could be better suited to lead off. That spot in the order has definitely evolved from what it once was.
El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego) 8 – OKC Comets 5
LHSP Charlie Barnes allowed a single to the first batter he faced, but then retired the next three batters. But the second…He got the first out, then the hit brigade. Double, 4 singles, BB, out, 2 singles, and he was done. He left down 6-0 with runners on 1st and 2nd when RHRP Keynan Middleton relieved him. 2 BB and a 7th run, charged to Barnes.
In the 3rd, Middleton got the first two outs and then issued a BB. 2 stolen bases and a double and El Paso had a 8-0 lead after three.
OKC finally woke up in the 6th. With one out, RF Zach Ehrhard drew a BB and scored on CF Alek Thomas’ double (6).
In the 8th inning, SS Noah Miller, C Chuckie Robinson, and Ehrhard each walked to open the inning. Miller was forced out at the plate on a ground ball. LF Ryan Ward walked to bring a run in. 1B James Tibbs III grounded out and Robinson scored. 2B Hyeseong Kim got the only hit of the inning, a 2-run double (4).
RHRP Jerming Rosario (2.0 innings), RHRP Jonathan Hernández (1.0 inning), RHRP Nick Frasso (1.0 inning), RHRP José Rodríguez (2.0 innings) combined to pitch 6.0 scoreless innings, on 1 hit, 4 BB, and 5 K.
Kim had 2 hits including a double (4), while Thomas’ double (6) was the only other hit for OKC.
Tulsa Drillers 4 – Springfield Cardinals 3
RHSP Christian Zazueta continues to pitch well at AA. He went 5.0 innings, allowing 2 runs, 4 hits, 0 BB, 8 K. In his three starts for Tulsa, Christian has pitched 14.0 innings, allowed 3 runs, 9 hits, just 1 BB, and 24 K. For the season, in 62.2 innings, Zazueta has 90 K and 13 BB. That is 6.92 K to BB. Pretty dominant.
Zazueta gave up 2 solo HR in this game.
Down 2-0, CF Kendall George tripled (2) and scored on a Mike Sirota ground out.
LHRP Wyatt Crowell is now the designated piggyback pitcher for Zazueta. This is his 3rd 4.0 inning relief outing as the piggyback for Zazueta. He allowed an unearned run on 1 hit, 1 BB, and 6K.
Tulsa tied it up in the 7th. With one out, 1B Chris Newell walked and C Frank Rodriguez was HBP. Both runners moved up on a ground out, and SS Jose Izarra brought both runners hope with a single.
Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 9th, Rodriguez led off with a single and moved to 2nd when LF Kole Myers walked. Izarra sacrificed bunted both runners up. George then walked it off with his 4th hit of the night.
- Kendall George – 4-4, 1 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI, triple (2)
- Mike Sirota – 0-2, 2 BB, 69 straight games that he has reached base safely
- Jake Gelof – 0-3, 1 BB – His streak has now reached 44 straight games
Great Lakes Loons 4 – Dayton Dragons (Reds) 2
LHSP Zach Root pitched a marvelous 6.0 scoreless innings. He allowed one hit (single), 2 BB, and 11 K. When does he get moved to AA.
GL broke the scoreless tie in the 5th. CF Eduardo Quintero opened with a BB and scored on a double (14) by 2B Logan Wagner. Wagner scored on SS Emil Morales’ double (8). Walks to 3B Chase Harlan and 1B Eduardo Guerrero loaded the bases. Morales scored on a SF from RF Samuel Munoz and a 3-0 lead.
In the 7th, LF Charles Davalan homered (10).
After pitching a scoreless 7th, LHRP returned to the mound in the 8th. He allowed a double and walk when he was lifted with one out by RHRP Davis Chastain. He threw a WP, moving the runners up and then gave up a 2 -run triple. Chastain would get the final 2 outs and pitch a scoreless 9th, although he had 2 runners on base before getting the final out.
- Charles Davalan – 2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI, HR (10)
- Emil Morales – 2-3, 1 BB. 1 run, 1 RBI, double (8)
- Samuel Munoz – 2-3, 1 RBI, SF
- Double – Logan Wagner (14)
Inland Empire 66ers (Seattle) 5 – Ontario Tower Buzzers 2
With 2 outs in the 1st inning, RHSP Brady Smith gave up a double, and scored on a ground ball throwing error. In the 3rd inning, Smith gave up a HR and a 2-0 lead.
In the 4th, 3B Mairo Martinus singled and stole 2nd. After two K, SS Joendry Vargas doubled (19) to score Martinus.
Smith had a good outing. He completed 5.2 innings allowing 2 runs (1 earned). He allowed 3 hits, no BB, and 7 K.
RHRP Luis Carias got the final out in the 6th and finished the game. In the 8th he gave up a solo HR. 2 unearned runs were scored off Carias in the 9th.
Ontario got a final run in the 9th. 1B Easton Shelton led off with a BB. Vargas was HBP. After an out, C Conner O’Neal singled to load the bases. Shelton scored on a groundout, for the final run.
- Mairo Martinus – 2-4, 1 run, triple (8)
- Joendry Vargas – 3-3, 1 RBI, 2 doubles (20)
DSL Cleveland Mendoza 10 – DSL LAD Mega 6 Suspended in the bottom of the 10th
DSL Cleveland Goryl 12 – DSL LAD Bautista – 8
- 2B Aaron Guzman – 3-4, 1 run, 2 RBI
- LF Willy Bergolla – 1-2, 1 BB, 1 run, 4 RBI, HR (1)
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Discussion (110)
Disagree, not disagreeable
2028 LA position players
DH-Ohtani
C-Smith
1bPope
2b-Betts
SS-Emil Morales
3b-Chase Harlan
OF-De Paula; Sirota; Pages; Tucker
Bench: Lindsey, Rushing; Tibbs
Keepers: Quintero; Davalan; George; Hainline:
Other prospects are used to acquire near mlb ready catcher, pitching and more pitching. There are a lot more prospects and if they are kept in the organization, fantastic.
RIP to The Vulture, Phil Regan. 14-1 with a league leading 21 saves in 1966.
PS – I hate soccer. America has its sports – baseball (first of all) then football and basketball (yeah I know that Bball was created by a Canadian). When I was a kid I was exposed to soccer. But it became emphasized beginning in the 1980s as a game for little kids since it didn’t require eye-hand coordination.
Like many things, you can brainwash kids more easily. But this happened about the same time that various government entities attempted to push the metric system on Americans who grew up using the Imperial system. What the rest of the world does (soccer, meters) was preferrable to what Americans were accustomed to.
Adults said no to the metric system, but kids hadn’t already formulated preferences and in another 20 years you had American adults following soccer.
I am happy with the sports that I have loved all my life and don’t need somebody that I should really be watching soccer because it’s the “world’s game”.
10:10 PM ET
Rockies (38-55)
Dodgers (60-33)
SP Gabriel Hughes R
0-0 .00 ERA
SP Roki Sasaki R
3-5 5.40 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
2B Tommy Edman S
1B F. Freeman L
SS Mookie Betts R
3B Max Muncy L
LF T. Hernandez R
RF Kyle Tucker L
CF Alex Call R
C E. Alfonzo S
80° Wind 8 mph Out
Edman batting 2nd,Pages sitting.
Edman is a perfect #2 guy.
I have been ruminating on how good we have it as Dodgers fans. If we go back a mere 7 years, it seemed that the Dodgers might never get it together and that Friedman. Roberts and company were in over their heads.
Here is a link to a 2019 “doomsday post” from “Dodger Therapy” (you guys remember that blog run by “Freudy”?): https://tinyurl.com/3d6urtsy
Those were frustrating times: the Giants had their every-other-year-run (’10, ’12, ’14) while we had nothing since ’88. What a difference 7 years makes. This is such a golden age for the franchise! I sure hope the looming shutdown is somehow averted. Meanwhile, let’s play a clean game tonight and take the series from the Rockies.
Alex Call is a moron!
Staked to a 3-0 lead, Sasaki promptly gives up a pair of homers.
That’s our Roki!
We may have to accept the fact that Sasaki is a bust. I have never seen a 99 fastball get pummeled like his
Walk and a wild pitch to start an inning is a nice recipe for helping the opposition score without getting a hit– sheesh.
Dodgers answer to hitting so poorly last night with RISP is to not put any runners on tonight.
Well Roki showed some stones tonight and finished strong! Our enigma!
Sasaki has just unbelievable arm talent. It’s just a matter of time with him.
Thankfully, the Dodgers have all the time in the world.
Well, the Padres hammered the D-Backs, so LA has a 15-game lead on Arizona and 14 over the Sadres. That game winning single had to feel good to Mookie. Nice job by Vesia and Henriquez getting out of that 8th inning jam. Scott mowed em down in the 9th. Giants lost, now 22 games back and just 1 game ahead of the Rockies. Brewers have 58 wins and 34 losses. LA is 61-33.