Thursday, April 19, 2007

Jackie Robinson...cleanup hitter?

From the you-learn-something-new-every-day department, the Hardball Times reports on some new Retrosheet data on Jackie Robinson, by batting-order position:

Position  AB   R   H  2B 3B HR RBI HP  BB  SO SF   BA  OBA   SA
First 80 15 25 6 1 1 14 0 10 7 0 .313 .389 .450
Second 999 205 288 55 12 22 110 18 120 66 0 .288 .375 .433
Third 645 130 207 32 4 20 90 12 110 41 0 .321 .429 .476
Fourth 2483 496 818 157 32 79 439 35 382 139 2 .329 .426 .514
Fifth 112 18 31 5 0 1 12 2 18 9 0 .277 .386 .348
Sixth 290 47 84 12 5 7 45 3 58 12 5 .290 .407 .438
Seventh 191 26 48 3 0 6 17 2 34 10 1 .251 .368 .361
Eighth 49 7 12 1 0 1 5 0 6 2 1 .245 .321 .327
Ninth 28 3 5 2 0 0 2 0 4 4 0 .179 .281 .250
I always assumed Robinson was a top-of-the-order hitter - either leadoff or #2 - given his speed. I never would have guessed that he was primarily a cleanup hitter.

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