TT: Benny Ayala - "Print the playoff tickets"

Benny Ayala was an Earl Weaver kind of guy. A flawed player who had only managed to slash .206/.275/.309/.585 in 109 major league plate appearances between the Mets and St Louis, the Orioles traded for the soon to be 28 year old in the winter of 1979 and what probably looked like minor league depth. A can imagine the comments if there was an Orioles Hangout back then. "Print the playoff tickets" someone would have probably said. Little did they realize they would be right.

Ayala was a right-handed poor defensive outfielder with a little pop. The only thing he really did well was hit left-handers and with a manager like Weaver who was known for keeping 9 and 10 man pitching staffs, there were plenty of places for niche guys like Ayala to do their things.

From his SABR bio, former Orioles pitcher Steve Stone detailed the concept of Earl using an Ayala.

"(The Orioles) were a team that pretty much understood that the spare parts of a baseball team determine whether you win or lose. It's going and getting . . . [a] Benny Ayala. And then it's up to the manager after you get Benny Ayala to realize that . . . when they put soft-tossing lefthanders in the game, Benny was good for two hits. Earl put him in a situation where he could be successful. So Hank Peters went and got him, and Earl used him correctly."

Ayala came to the plate 951 times in his big-league career, and 86 percent of those appearances were against lefties. It's no surprise that 35 of his 38 regular-season homers came off southpaws - as did his crowning blow as a pro, his two-run shot off John Candelaria in Game Three of the 1979 World Series.

In 820 PAs against southpaws in his career, he hit .263/.313/.457/.770 with 35 Hrs, and 39 2Bs. A solid pinch hitter, he collected 40 career pinch hits including 8 home runs in 182 PAs.

Earl Weaver said, "He's so good he knocks himself out of games. I'll start him against a lefthander, and he'll hit a three-run homer off him. Then they'll bring in a righty, and Benny's back on the bench.? According to Lowenstein, Ayala was ?the most profound player on the Orioles. "He will sit there, arms folded, for eight innings. If he's going to hit, I'll ask him what he's looking for. He'll say, 'Something white. Coming through.'

Benny SABR bio can be found here: http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/d7be841b

We included Benny Ayala's rookie card on our facebook page as it might be the only known photo of him without that epic stache during his playing days!

Just goes to show that the O's and weaver knew what they were doing. I get the same feeling from Buck and Dan.

I don't know if a player like Ayala could exist in today's game. It is very, very difficult for any RHB to have a career where he faces LHP 86% of the time. It's much easier for a LHB to have that kind of split versus RHP, simply because there are many more RHP.

That's funny.

I think they do too.

Delmon Young, at least the 2014 version, may be as close to Ayala as the modern game allows.

Take that Tigers

I don't know if a player like Ayala could exist in today's game. It is very, very difficult for any RHB to have a career where he faces LHP 86% of the time. It's much easier for a LHB to have that kind of split versus RHP, simply because there are many more RHP.

I agree. Ayala was helped with the fact that Weaver only use to carry a 9 or 10 man pitching staff, unheard of nowadays. Look at 1980 when Weaver had four starters and five relievers for most of the year. That gave Weaver a lot of room to make those perfect matchups to give guys like Ayala, Dwyer, Lowenstein and Reonicke the best chance to succeed.

"(The Orioles) were a team that pretty much understood that the spare parts of a baseball team determine whether you win or lose. It's going and getting . . . [a] Benny Ayala. And then it's up to the manager after you get Benny Ayala to realize that . . . when they put soft-tossing lefthanders in the game, Benny was good for two hits. Earl put him in a situation where he could be successful. So Hank Peters went and got him, and Earl used him correctly."

I was a big fan of Geronimo Berroa. He still got ABs against RHPs, but he absolutely mashed LHPs and Davey was brilliant at getting him ABs against LHPs in big situations. .337/.441/.495/.936 vs LHPs.

I was talking with an old Pirates fan at one of my favorite sports bar /grills in Miami (Duffy's Tavern on Red Rd.) and he remembered being driven crazy during the '79 Series by Weaver's pinch hitters / platooners and all the bullpen moves the Pirates had to make (or couldn't make) in response. He kept exclaiming, "Who were those guys?! John Lowenstein! Benny Ayala! Terry Crowley! Pat Kelly! I'd never heard of these guys and they kept coming off the bench and killing us!" I gladly covered the next round.

I was talking with an old Pirates fan at one of my favorite sports bar /grills in Miami (Duffy's Tavern on Red Rd.) and he remembered being driven crazy during the '79 Series by Weaver's pinch hitters / platooners and all the bullpen moves the Pirates had to make (or couldn't make) in response. He kept exclaiming, "Who were those guys?! John Lowenstein! Benny Ayala! Terry Crowley! Pat Kelly! I'd never heard of these guys, and they kept coming off the bench and killing us!" I gladly covered the next round.

I remember when Kelly played for the White Sox for most of his career before we acquired him. He was VERY fast, and was a solid overall player that would have started on almost any major league team.

He had 1,147 career hits, 250 career stolen bases, and a career OBP 90 points higher than his career BA (.264 BA, .354 OBP.)

Kelly was a platoon player/role player for the Orioles, but his overall career was more distinguished than the others (Ayala, Crowley, and Lowenstein) on that list.

I remember when Kelly played for the White Sox for most of his career before we acquired him. He was VERY fast, and was a solid overall player that would have started on almost any major league team.

He had 1,147 career hits, 250 career stolen bases, and a career OBP 90 points higher than his career BA (.264 BA, .354 OBP.)

Kelly was a platoon player/role player for the Orioles, but his overall career was more distinguished than the others (Ayala, Crowley, and Lowenstein) on that list.

Kelly: "Earl, it's great to walk with the Lord, it's great to walk with Jesus."

Weaver: "Pat, I'd rather have you walk with the bases loaded."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bal-kellyfeature03-story.html

I was talking with an old Pirates fan at one of my favorite sports bar /grills in Miami (Duffy's Tavern on Red Rd.) and he remembered being driven crazy during the '79 Series by Weaver's pinch hitters / platooners and all the bullpen moves the Pirates had to make (or couldn't make) in response. He kept exclaiming, "Who were those guys?! John Lowenstein! Benny Ayala! Terry Crowley! Pat Kelly! I'd never heard of these guys and they kept coming off the bench and killing us!" I gladly covered the next round.

Nice article. It really shows the evolution team construction and the specialization of pitching roles in today's game. It was a lot easier with 4 man staffs that frequently went 8 or 9 innings. I envision a time in the not too distant future where teams have 6 "starters", each starter going 3 innings, followed by a 2nd "starters", each throwing about 50 pitches, less than two times through a line up. Two days rest and up again.

I don't know if a player like Ayala could exist in today's game. It is very, very difficult for any RHB to have a career where he faces LHP 86% of the time. It's much easier for a LHB to have that kind of split versus RHP, simply because there are many more RHP.

I think there were more of them back then too.

I think there were more of them back then too.

That's not what I meant. I was referring to the point Tony made -- when you are carrying 15 position players and 10 pitchers, you can platoon pretty strictly and pinch hit liberally. When you are carrying 13 position players and 12 pitchers, as is typical today, a strict platoon becomes more difficult and your pinch hitting options are limited.

That's not what I meant. I was referring to the point Tony made -- when you are carrying 15 position players and 10 pitchers, you can platoon pretty strictly and pinch hit liberally. When you are carrying 13 position players and 12 pitchers, as is typical today, a strict platoon becomes more difficult and your pinch hitting options are limited.

hard to get that from what you wrote, but, fair enuf