| Rk | Player | BtWins | From | To | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hal Lanier | -25.71 | 1964 | 1971 | .229 | .255 | .277 |
| 2 | Johnnie LeMaster | -16.46 | 1975 | 1985 | .225 | .280 | .293 |
| 3 | Hughie Critz | -14.59 | 1930 | 1935 | .255 | .285 | .330 |
| 4 | Tito Fuentes | -11.49 | 1965 | 1974 | .262 | .304 | .345 |
| 5 | Jose Uribe | -10.43 | 1985 | 1992 | .241 | .299 | .316 |
The basic sense I've gotten, in my research, is that people didn't really appreciate how awful Lanier was. From the start, he was considered to be an excellent prospect. On June 17, 1964, the Lexington Dispatch published an article entitled "Hal Lanier Called Up By Giants"1:
Hal's batting average with Tacoma at this time is .327 and he plays a fine second base. He is considered an outstanding major league prospect.I don't know if the younger Lanier necessarily deserved the praise he received. Before being called up to the majors in 1964, he had compiled a slash line of .327/.327/.449 in AAA; and you didn't read that incorrectly. His OBP was equal to his AVG, because he walked zero times in 254 plate appearances. He was only 21 at the time, but I still don't think a player so lacking in plate discipline and power warrants praise as an "outstanding prospect". Perhaps he was so highly regarded due to an over-emphasis on batting average. And for what it's worth, he was a good defender. His stats certainly did not justify the praise he was receiving as a prospect, though. And the praise sort of continued throughout his rookie season (in which he hit .274/.283/.347 with a wRC+ of 77).
Several days after Lanier's debut, the Milwaukee Journal published an article2 entitled "Union of Pitchers May Never Forgive Lanier or His Son":
[Max] Lanier raised a son, who wins games at the plate instead of on the mound.I needn't elaborate on the irony of that quote, as Lanier's career numbers certainly speak for his offensive incompetence.
But onto another interesting bit from the article --
"I started out as a pitcher in high school," the grinning Lanier said in the locker room. But, dad wanted me to become an infielder because he felt I'd last longer".More irony: the elder Lanier, the pitcher, stuck around to play 14 seasons -- and good ones at that, as his ERA+ was a shiny 126. The younger Lanier, Hal, only stuck around for ten seasons.
One last article I dug through, from the Schenectady Gazette on November 28, 19643. Dick Allen, after winning the 1964 Rookie of the Year Award, said the following:
"I'd have voted for Jim Ray Hart of the Giants, or Rico Carty of the Braves; and that fellow Hal Lanier of the Giants, he's pretty good too."Dick Allen compiled 9.1 rWAR that year; Rico Carty? 5.0; Jim Ray Hart? 4.5; Hal Lanier? 0.3...if anything's an indication that Lanier was overrated in his days -- or at least his rookie season, as I mostly focused on that -- it's this. The fact that Allen even mentioned a player whose numbers were so much worse is somewhat shocking. But in all fairness, Lanier's best year was definitely his rookie season, so maybe people had a reality check as his career progressed. 1964 was the only year in which Lanier's SLG exceeded .300, and the only year in which his batting average was over .240
Still, I get the sense that people didn't really understand how bad he was at hitting.
We know better than that today. Today, we can see that Hal Lanier's career wRC+ is 48. That he hit eight career home runs in 3940 plate appearances. That his walk rate, 3.5%, wasn't even better than that of his father Max Lanier -- who was a pitcher. We can see that Lanier produced -197.4 wRAA over his career, and having played eight seasons with the Giants, is undoubtedly the worst Giants hitter in history. I wonder how Lanier would have fared as a pitcher...he had a better frame for it, probably, as he was a few inches taller than his father (who was described as "pudgy").
Anyway, there you have it. Hal Lanier -- truly awful hitter. Didn't hit for power, didn't have plate discipline, didn't hit for a high average.
He's actually had quite a successful managing career. He won the NL Manager of the Year with the Houston Astros. Where is he nowadays? Managing the Normal Cornbelters of the Frontier League. Interesting stuff.
Cited:
Source 1
Source 2
Source 3
