WHY I THINK GUY HECKER SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

 WHY I THINK GUY HECKER SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

By- Damien 

Guy Hecker was easily the most unique baseball player of all time. He packed so many extraordinary and odd feats into his career that he is a first-ballot Hall of Famer to me. He was also a dominant pitcher of his time with an iron arm. Hecker’s lifetime record was 175-146 and he had a 2.93 career ERA. He had a short career, lasting only nine seasons in the major leagues, but he earned an awful lot of wins for so short of a career. Guy Hecker started his career with the American Association Louisville Eclipse in 1882, going 6-6 with a 1.30 ERA and making his MLB debut at the age of 26. He allowed the fewest hits per nine innings (6.5), home runs per nine innings (0.0) and walks per nine innings (0.4) of any American Association pitcher. Hecker went 28-23 with 164 strikeouts as a sophomore and tossed 51 complete games. He also tossed three shutouts in an era where whitewashes were extremely rare. In 1884, Hecker won the pitching Triple Crown and set American Association records for wins (52), innings pitched (670 ⅔), and complete games (72). Hecker also led in strikeouts, ERA, games, starts, batters faced, and WHIP and additionally tossed no fewer than six shutouts (in 1884, pitchers tossed underhand from a box 50 feet from the plate in an era when when foul balls weren’t counted as strikes, it took four strikes to get a batter out, and six to walk him).  Hecker went 30-23 with a 2.18 ERA with 209 strikeouts in 1885 and 26-23 with a 2.87 ERA in 1886. After an 18-12 season Hecker slipped to 8-17, 5-13, and 2-9 before retiring, finishing out his career with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys of the NL. Guy Hecker was one of the game’s best pitchers, a unique specimen, and a guy who should have been in Cooperstown long ago. 

LIFETIME STATISTICS

Games Pitched career: 336 season high: 75 in 1884 led AA: 75 in 1884

Starts career: 322 season high: 73 in 1884 led AA: 73 in 1884 

Complete Games career: 312 season high: 72 in 1884 led AA: 72 in 1884

Shutouts career: 15 season high: 6 in 1884

Games Finished career: 13 season high: 3 in 1889

Wins career: 175 season high: 52 in 1884 led AA: 52 in 1884

Losses career: 146 season high: 23 in 1883, 1885 and 1886

Winning Percentage career: .545 season high: .722 in 1884

ERA career: 2.93 season low: 1.30 in 1882 led AA: 1.80 in 1884

WHIP career: 1.168 season low: 0.769 in 1882 led AA: 0.769 in 1882, 0.868 in 1884

Innings Pitched career: 2,924 season high: 670 ⅔ in 1884 led AA: 670 ⅔ in 1884

Strikeouts career: 1,110 season high: 385 in 1884 led AA: 385 in 1884

Strikeouts Per Nine Innings career: 3.4 season high: 5.2 in 1884

Walks career: 492 season high: 118 in 1886

Strikeouts Per Walk career: 2.26 season high: 6.88 in 1884 led AA: 6.60 in 1882

Saves career: 1 season high: 1 in 1887 

At Bats career: 2,876 season high: 370 in 1887 

Hits career: 812 season high: 118 in 1887 

Doubles career: 117 season high: 21 in 1887 

Triples career: 47 season high: 9 in 1890 

Home Runs career: 19 season high: 4 in 1884, 1886, and 1887 

Runs career: 504 season high: 89 in 1887 

Runs Batted In career: 278 season high: 50 in 1887 

Stolen Bases career: 123 season high: 48 in 1887 (stolen bases weren’t counted in the AA until 1886) 

Walks career: 133 season high: 32 in 1886 

Strikeouts career: 98 season high: 38 in 1887 (strikeouts weren’t counted in the AA until 1887) 

Batting Average career: .282 season high: .341 in 1886 led AA: .341 in 1886 

On Base Percentage career: .324 season high: .402 in 1886 

Slugging Percentage career: .376 season high: .446 in 1886 

Total Bases career: 1,080 season high: 163 in 1887 

Sacrifice Hits career: N/A 

Fielding Percentage career: .952 season high: .969 in 1889 led AA P: 1.000 in 1882

Double Plays career: 196 season high: 46 in 1889 led AA 1B: 43 in 1882

Putouts career: 3,309 season high: 689 in 1882 led AA P: 40 in 1883, 50 in 1884

Assists career: 744 season high: 145 in 1884 led AA 1B: 22 in 1882 led AA P: 145 in 1884

DID YOU KNOW? 

-tossed a 3-1 no-hitter against the Pittsburg Alleghenys on September 19, 1882 

-was the only pitcher ever to win a batting title

-hit three home runs in one game on August 15, 1886, becoming the only American Association player and the first of only two pitchers ever to do so, and set an all-time one-game record by scoring seven runs

-on October 9, 1887, he became the first to play an entire game at first base without handling even a single chance

-hit an inside the park home run in his first at bat

-played in the outfield as well as first base and pitcher 

-his 52 wins in 1884 remain the third most of all time

-his 1.30 ERA in 1882 is the 18th lowest of all time 

-also led the AA in the fewest walks per nine innings in 1887 (1.6), and his 0.4327 mark in 1882 is the eighth lowest of all time 

-his 6.875 strikeout to walk ratio in 1884 is the 38th highest of all time, and his 6.6 mark in 1882 is the 46th highest 

-his 670 2/3 innings pitched in 1884 are the third most of all time

-faced 2,649 batters in 1884, which is the fifth highest total of all time