What if Wes Ferrell was a better hitter?

[Fuzzy Bear]

Check out Wes Ferrell's stats:

www.baseball-reference.com/f/ferrewe01.shtml

What if Wes Ferrell has a .330 lifetime BA with 60 HRs, and an OBP of .400?

Would he have won over 200 games?

Would hitting at THAT level put him in the HOF?

Could a pitcher's hitting, in any case, make the difference between being enshrined and being outside the HOF?

[Max Power]

Originally posted by Fuzzy Bear
What if Wes Ferrell has a .330 lifetime BA with 60 HRs, and an OBP of .400?

Then he would have been converted, ala' Ruth.

Same question - what if Chad Curtis could throw a 100 MPH fastball with pin piont control and late breaking movement for 120 pitches? Then he would have been made a pitcher.

What if a cow weighed 3,000 pounds? You would get more steaks out of her.

What if we asked a more reality based question? You'd get more interesting answers.

[JamesI]

Originally posted by Max Power
What if a cow weighed 3,000 pounds? You would get more steaks out of her.


mmm...3000 pound cow steaks :homer:

[Max Power]

Sorry all - if my last post in this thread had a bit of a tone..........

......it's just that, the "what if?" game is sorta pointless and infinite, IMHO.

What if Dave Kingman batted 70 points higher?
What if Pete Gray had two arms?
What if Brien Taylor never had that fight?
What if Hank Aaron was white?
What if Herb Score never got hit in the face?
What if Ted Williams played for the Yankees?
What if a bunch of guys didn't lose stats to the war?
What if Billy Ripken had a career like his brother Cal?
What if Sandy Koufax threw right-handed?
What if Billy Martin had been born-again?
What if the Save stat was never invented?
What if midgets weren't banned from the game?
What if Donnie Moore didn't give up that ALCS HR?
What if Morganna The Kissing Bandit was born a boy?
What if Don Larsen pitched a one-hitter instead of a no-hitter?
What if Buckner caught the ball?
What if Bo Jackson didn't blow out his hip?
What if Rube Waddell only had a brain?

I could do this all night long - - and, no matter how many I come up with, they are all pointless - - - because the "What if?" can never happen - - - since the reality already did.

To quote the guy from 704 Houser Street - - these are fruitless, loopless, arguments.

Just my :2cents:

There's plently enough fact and reality to discuss and debate, IMHO. We don't need to start making stuff up.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by Fuzzy Bear
Could a pitcher's hitting, in any case, make the difference between being enshrined and being outside the HOF?

BTW, this question alone, to me, is a valid one. And, my answer is no - - it should not. Too small a sample size to have any weight.

[sweaver]

Originally posted by Max Power
What if Rube Waddell only had a brain?

Well, then he could while away the hours, conferrin' with the flowers, consultin' with the rain................

And yeah, if Ferrell could hit like that, he'd be in the Hall........as an outfielder.

[JamesI]

Originally posted by Max Power
BTW, this question alone, to me, is a valid one. And, my answer is no - - it should not. Too small a sample size to have any weight.


I'm not sure I agree that a pitcher's hitting is irrelavant. Just like those who argued Jim Kaat's Gold gloves were irrelavant to his hall of fame case. Everything should be considered. A pitcher's ability to hit gives then a better chance to win, makes them a better player. Of course, unless they moonlight in another position, they won't have enough at bats to make much difference, but it makes some.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by JamesI
I'm not sure I agree that a pitcher's hitting is irrelavant. Just like those who argued Jim Kaat's Gold gloves were irrelavant to his hall of fame case. Everything should be considered. A pitcher's ability to hit gives then a better chance to win, makes them a better player. Of course, unless they moonlight in another position, they won't have enough at bats to make much difference, but it makes some.

Since 1900, no pitcher has ever had more than one season in which they had 10+ RCAA. In fact, since 1900, only seven pitchers have ever had a season with 10+ RCAA - - and one of them was Ruth.

Drop it down to 5+ RCAA in a season, and since 1900, it's only been done by 38 pitchers.

There isn't a pitcher in history that was THAT GOOD A HITTER to make a difference, again, IMHO.

[WiredTiger]

I don't think any pitcher's hitting, no matter how good, would be enough to tip the scales in his direction.

[SmedIndy]

If a pitcher was really that good of a hitter, he wouldn't be a pitcher for long. I agree with Max's statement on this.

In ye olden days a few pitchers were decent enough hitters in a high offense era (Uhle for one) and in ye really olden days, of course, pitchers played other positions regularly.

But now, pitchers just concentrate on pitching for the most part. A few souls like Brooks Kieschnick, Darren Dreifort, and Scott Bryant do both in college fairly well - but I think the double duty actually hurts them when going to pro ball.

[nyy26wc]

Originally posted by Max Power
Since 1900, no pitcher has ever had more than one season in which they had 10+ RCAA. In fact, since 1900, only seven pitchers have ever had a season with 10+ RCAA - - and one of them was Ruth.

And since 1900, only 1 pitcher had 500+ PA and a positive career RCAA. And that was only 519 PA, with just 2 RCAA--Doc Crandall.

2nd place on most career PA, in seasons in which he was a pitcher, among players with a positive RCAA was Babe Ruth, at a whoppiong 405 PA.

Ferrell's hitting's in the same category as Mike Hampton's--far more hype than substance.

[Max Power]

I'm really beginning to see the reason behind the DH.
More so than ever before.

[KCBOOMER]

Wes Ferrell would be in the HoF today if the geezer committee could of remembered you spell his name W-E-S not R-I-C-K.

[SmedIndy]

Originally posted by Max Power
I'm really beginning to see the reason behind the DH.
More so than ever before.

It's funny - it was becoming more clear to me why the DH should be stopped. Opposite conclusions from the same conversation.

[LeGrandOrange]

If Wes Ferrell was a better hitter, maybe it'd shut up Lee. ;)

Ferrell still belongs in the hall...his career fizzled out quickly and his ERA is over 4...but in that time that's a really good mark to have. He was a workhorse, and between 1929-1938 was the best right-hander in the AL...maybe the majors.

Because he is such a good hitter, this is why we can even say he's a candidate. He goes the way of the Art Nehfs of the world if he's not the all-time leader for HR's by a non-converted pitcher or if he doesn't have an OPS nearing 800, better than the league average for his career. Lee can shoot him down because his stats have a Yankee bias...Red Ruffing was NOT a better hitter although the RCAP says otherwise. :)

If his hitting feats were more astounding, he's a VC lock.