Batting second and playing second base

[Benjamin Grimm]

Somebody earlier today speculated about which Mets managers were most prone to starting the second baseman in the second slot of the lineup.

The answer is... Roy McMillan at 100 per cent!

Here are the full results:

[table:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx][/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]2/2B[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Total[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Pct.[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]McMillan[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]53[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]53[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]1.000[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Frazier[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]170[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]207[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.821[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Berra[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]491[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]600[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.818[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Parker[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]7[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]11[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.636[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Johnson[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]599[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]1032[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.580[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Cubbage[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]4[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]7[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.571[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Manuel[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]207[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]417[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.496[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Collins[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]13[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]30[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.433[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Randolph[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]228[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]565[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.403[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Valentine[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]376[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]1027[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.366[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Stengel[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]186[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]582[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.320[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Bamberger[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]60[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]208[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.288[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Howe[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]93[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]323[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.288[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Hodges[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]188[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]657[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.286[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Green[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]128[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]512[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.250[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Torborg[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]48[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]200[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.240[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Westrum[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]91[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]380[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.239[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Harrelson[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]51[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]274[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.186[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Torre[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]111[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]709[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.157[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][tr:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]Howard[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]8[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]116[/td:2os8ldkx][td:2os8ldkx]0.069[/td:2os8ldkx][/tr:2os8ldkx][/table:2os8ldkx]

BAMBERGER
Giles 2
Backman 22
Bailor 36

BERRA
Barnes 2
Garrett 2
Puig 2
Martinez 12
Boswell 71
Millan 402

COLLINS
Turner 2
Murphy 11
Miller 4

FRAZIER
Foster 1
Heidemann 1
Garrett 8
Randle 8
Phillips 10
Millan 142

GREEN
Vizcaino 82
Alfonzo 27
Saunders 15
Vina 2
Bogar 1
Rivera 1

HARRELSON
Herr 33
Miller 9
Jefferies 8
Gardner 1

HODGES
Boswell 115
Linz 30
Garrett 15
Foli 12
Pfeil 9
Martinez 3
Weis 3
Collins 1

HOWARD
Brooks 6
Bailor 2

HOWE
Garcia 25
Alomar 18
Keppinger 18
McEwing 10
Bell 7
Gutierrez 6
Reyes 4
Matsui 3
Sanchez 1
Scutaro 1

JOHNSON
Backman 328
Teufel 148
Chapman 64
Jefferies 29
Miller 22
Gardenhire 4
Bowa 2
Almon 1
Knight 1

MANUEL
Castillo 150
Cora 31
Reyes 14
Hernandez 8
Easley 2
Tatis 1
Turner 1

MCMILLAN
Millan 53
PARKER
Boswell 4
Heise 3

RANDOLPH
Castillo 91
Cairo 49
Matsui 47
Gotay 14
Valentin 11
Easley 8
Woodward 6
Hernandez 2

STENGEL
Hunt 129
Kanehl 34
Neal 12
Hiller 3
Mantilla 3
Burright 1
Chacon 1
Drake 1
Klaus 1
Samuel 1

TORBORG
Randolph 38
Pecota 4
Walker 2
Donnels 1
Kent 1
McKnight 1
Noboa 1

TORRE
Millan 39
Valentine 26
Backman 14
Flynn 11
Chapman 10
Foster 4
Almon 2
Bailor 2
Youngblood 2
Trevi�o 1

VALENTINE
Alfonzo 269
Alomar 45
Relaford 25
Baerga 15
Lopez 9
Hardtke 8
Alexander 2
McEwing 2
Wigginton 1

WESTRUM
Hunt 52
Hiller 19
Heise 7
Bressoud 4
Johnson 3
Linz 3
Collins 2
Buchek 1

[RealityChuck]

When you manage Felix Millan -- the Aristotelean Ideal of a #2 hitter* -- of course you bat him second.

*He struck out 83 times as a Met -- in 2600 plate appearances.

[metsmarathon]

i'm interested in how often a player's position matches his spot in the batting order. pitchers batting leadoff, catchers second, etc etc.

[Guest sharpie]

I would guess that first basemen batting third and third basemen batting fifth would swamp the field.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Probably one and two, followed by leftfielders batting seventh.

[Frayed Knot]

metsmarathon wrote: i'm interested in how often a player's position matches his spot in the batting order. pitchers batting leadoff, catchers second, etc etc.

... and then check to see if it matches their uniform number!!
Wright batting 5th playing 3rd would work and I'm sure it's happened. Probably not too many others though.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Frayed Knot wrote: i'm interested in how often a player's position matches his spot in the batting order. pitchers batting leadoff, catchers second, etc etc. ... and then check to see if it matches their uniform number!! Wright batting 5th playing 3rd would work and I'm sure it's happened. Probably not too many others though.

I did a strict uni-number to lineup-slot analysis once. Here were the leaders following th e2007 season:

1. Mookie Wilson 681 games
2. Phil Linz 34 games
3. Richie Hebner 11 games
4. Rusty Staub 250 games
5. David Wright 245 games
6. Mike Marshall 37 games
7. Hubie Brooks 115 games
8. Chris Cannizzaro 58 games

Wright's added plenty to his total since then, Nick Evans may have gained on Marshall, and Justin Turner could definitely overtake Linz this year.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Probably nobody is going to bat 42nd as much as Ron Hodges did, though.