aside from babe ruth, has there been a dominant pitcher AND hitter in mlb modern history?
2007-08-08 17:30:39 · 7 answers · asked by jor-jor 5 in Sports ➔ Baseball
Well, no one compares to Ruth.
Rick Ferrell is generally acclaimed as the best-hitting (and slugging) pitcher not named Ruth.
Walter Johnson was pretty good with the bat; his last major league appearance was as a pinch hitter.
There have been other well-known pitchers who were decent with the stick -- Drysdale, Gibson, Newcombe. (Not nearly being comprehensive here.)
In recent times, only Brooks Kieschnick went both ways, though he was never more than a role player.
But dominant (not even Ruth-dominant, just dominant)? Not really.
2007-08-08 17:39:26 · answer #1 · answered by Chipmaker Authentic 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
how modern are we talking......from everything I've ever heard Sandy Koufax was the most dominant pitcher of any era, unfortunately his career was short lived. Hank Aaron comes to mind as the dominant batter of that generation.....
As for today, Bonds is an amazing player, steroids or not, he would still have to be considered better than any other player of the last 20-30 years in terms of all-around ability. It's hard to pick one pitcher as all-around dominant. Randy Johnson has the power, Maddux brings the finesse, but neither was entirely untouchable. Another good pitcher from an earlier day would be Bob Gibson.
I misunderstood the question and felt the need to edit while leaving my previous comments. A pitcher and hitter rolled into one? I don't believe there has been one since Babe. Todays game calls for a guy who does one or the other extremely well.
2007-08-09 00:40:25 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
None that I can think of, that would be considered dominant in both areas. I think Stan Musial was a pitcher in the minors but the Cardinals switched him to an everyday player. I think he did pitch a few innings in the majors though.
Orel Hershisher was a fair hitter, but not dominant.
2007-08-09 00:34:56 · answer #3 · answered by bencas9900 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Smokey Joe Wood. Pitched for Boston 1908-15 (Won/Loss 117/57, career era 2.03) until he hurt his arm. Played outfield primarily with Cleveland until 1922, career ave. 283. Out of baseball by age 33, set the pattern Babe Ruth followed.
2007-08-12 23:00:56 · answer #4 · answered by xkmartguy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Greg Maddux and Ichiro Suzuki
2007-08-09 00:34:07 · answer #5 · answered by Tommy R 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Dodger fans have told me that Drysdale used to bat 4th in the early 60s.
2007-08-09 01:12:14 · answer #6 · answered by Baccheus 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no sh*t, Ichiro can pitch; that guy is right.
2007-08-09 01:02:57 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋