Trouble Play

Victor Martinez in the new Jim Rice. No, I don’t mean he’s one of the most feared hitters in baseball, with herculean legs, always carrying people around in his arms and complaining about uniforms not being skin tight. What I mean to say is he hits into waaayyy too many double plays.

In my eyes Rice was always a HOFer, and you probably couldn’t name 10 guys that were better at hitting for power and average, but damn was he wont to hit into double plays. From 1982 to 1985, Rice hit into 131 of them. His total of 29 in 1982 gave him the 6th highest total in a single season since they started keeping track of the stat in 1939 (1933 in the National League). In 1983 he hit in to 31, the 4th highest total ever. The next season, in 1984, he set the all-time mark with 36 GIDP. In ’85, he almost did it again, finishing with 35. The next closest player in major league history stands at 32.

But hey, he was a cleanup hitter and he scorched the ball. And if you look at the career leaders in GIDP (Double Plays Grounded Into) is looks like a Hall of Fame ballot. Yaz, Henry Aaron, Eddie Murray, Ripken- Even the speedy and ephemeral Roberto Clemente is in the top 15 all-time. It’s not a total knock on a player if they hit into lots of double plays.

Unless of course you’re batting .247 and your manager is opting to start Jason Varitek over you a couple times a week. That’s Victor Martinez we’re talking about. The same Victor Martinez who has stimulated 8 double plays in only 77 plate appearances. Last year Victor had 588 at bats, which was a career high for him, and he hit into 17 double plays. This year, even if he only gets, say, 500 at bats, he’s on pace to ground into 52 double plays. Needless to say, that would crush Jim Rice’s record and probably stand up until the Apocalypse, whether it’s 2012 or 2416.

It’s important to remember that hitting into a lot of double plays doesn’t guarantee you a spot in the Hall of Fame. Jason Kendall has always been one of the best at it. So has Garrett Atkins. Hopefully some day soon some reporter some where does call Victor Martinez the new Jim Rice, and hopefully it’s for his power and production, and not for ability to hit into rally killers at an unparalleled rate.