WHY I THINK LARRY DOYLE SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

WHY I THINK LARRY DOYLE SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

By- Damien 

Larry Doyle was probably the NL’s best second baseman in the dead ball era. He slashed .290/.357/.408 for his career, a very solid mark for a second baseman in any era. Doyle set the MLB record for triples by a second baseman in 1911, was the NL MVP in 1912, and won the Batting Title in 1915. Larry Doyle started his career with the New York Giants in 1907, hitting .260 in 69 games and sharing second base duties with an aging Tommy Corcoran. He was the regular in 1908, hitting .308 as the Giants just missed the pennant, and led the league in base hits in 1909. Doyle had another fine season in 1910 but hit his stride in 1911, hitting .310 with 25 triples and 13 home runs en route to a .527 slugging percentage, second highest in the NL. His Giants made the World Series that year, and Doyle hit .304 in a losing cause against the Philadelphia A’s. He led the Giants to another pennant in 1912, hitting .330 as the league’s MVP in the regular season. Doyle batted .242 in the World Series with a home run in Game 7, but the Giants lost again, this time to the Red Sox. In 1913, they became the first NL team in history to lose the World Series three years in a row. At any rate, Doyle always produced, and was the league’s Batting Champion (.320) and hits leader in 1915. Doyle turned in another terrific season in 1916, but was traded to the Cubs near the end of the season. He hit .395 in nine games with them that season but slumped in 1917, hitting only .254 with 61 RBI’s. The Giants got him back and he had a renaissance season in 1919, hitting ten triples and seven homers in only 381 at bats - significant power numbers for the era. Doyle had one last vintage season in 1920, batting .285 in 137 games, but the emergence of a young Frankie Frisch ended his Big League career after that season. Still a top hitter, Doyle played a little in Cuba and some minor league ball, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that he wasn’t going to make it back to the MLB, so he quit after the 1922 season. Larry Doyle was a great hitter, a top slugger, and a dependable second baseman. At the time of his retirement, he was the greatest second baseman in NL history. If there had been a Hall of Fame back when he would have been on the ballot, he’d be in today, and as it is he should be there now. 

LIFETIME STATISTICS 

Games career: 1,766 season high: 151 in 1910 

At Bats career: 6,509 season high: 591 in 1915 

Hits career: 1,887 season high: 189 in 1915 led NL: 172 in 1909, 189 in 1915 

Doubles career: 299 season high: 40 in 1915 led NL: 40 in 1915 

Triples career: 123 season high: 25 in 1911 led NL: 25 in 1911 

Home Runs career: 74 season high: 13 in 1911 

Runs career: 960 season high: 102 in 1911 

Runs Batted In career: 794 season high: 91 in 1912 

Stolen Bases career: 298 season high: 39 in 1910 

Walks career: 625 season high: 71 in 1910 and 1911 

Strikeouts career: 378 season high: 42 in 1909 

Batting Average career: .290 season high: .330 in 1912 led NL: .320 in 1915 

On Base Percentage career: .357 season high: .397 in 1911 

Slugging Percentage career: .408 season high: .527 in 1911 

Total Bases career: 2,654 season high: 277 in 1911 

Sacrifice Hits career: 195 season high: 26 in 1917 

Fielding Percentage career: .949 season high: .967 in 1920 

Double Plays career: 698 season high: 68 in 1912 led NL 2B: 51 in 1909, 66 in 1915 

Putouts career: 3,635 season high: 315 in 1913 led NL 2B: 292 in 1909 

Assists career: 4,655 season high: 396 in 1915 

DID YOU KNOW? 

-nicknamed “Laughing Larry” 

-also finished third in the NL MVP Award voting in 1911 and 17th in 1913 

-led the NL in at bats per strikeout (27.9) in 1912 

-was the first player ever to hit a home run out of the Polo Grounds (1913) 

-hit a game winning home run in the top of the 21st inning on July 17, 1914, beating Babe Adams in the game when he set the record for most innings in a game without a walk 

-drove in the first run of the 1913 World Series 

-hit three home runs each off of Babe Adams and Bill Doak, two each off of Mordecai Brown and Eppa Rixey, and one each off of Cy Young, Burleigh Grimes, and Ed Reulbach 

-stole home plate 17 times in his career 

-among MLB second basemen, ranks 27th in career games, 28th in putouts, and 35th in assists 

-also played 43 games as a pinch hitter and one as a pinch runner