contact hitter
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baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
, a contact hitter is a hitter who does not
strike out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denot ...
often. Thus, they are usually able to use their bats to make contact with the ball (hence the name ''contact'' hitter) to put it in play, and then run fast to reach base. As a result of their focus on putting the ball in play, they usually have fewer
home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s than
power hitter Power hitter is a term used in baseball for a skilled player that has a higher than average ability in terms of his batting, featuring a combination of dexterity and personal strength that likely leads to a high number of home-runs as well as do ...
s.
Tony Gwynn Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr. (May 9, 1960 – June 16, 2014), nicknamed "Mr. Padre", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played 20 seasons (1982–2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left-handed hit ...
is a leading example of a modern contact hitter. With just 135 career home runs, Gwynn described himself as a contact hitter who could hit to all fields. He rarely struck out (just 434 times, once every 21 at-bats) and his goal was to put the ball in play and move baserunners over. Gwynn's success as a contact hitter landed him in the
National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
.


History

One of the earliest known uses of the phrase "contact hitter" was in a 1966 ''
Bradenton Herald ''The Bradenton Herald'' is a newspaper based in Bradenton, Florida, in the United States. History On September 15, 1922, Volume 1, Number 1 was published as ''The Evening Herald''. It was a merger of two weekly papers: the ''Manatee River Jour ...
'' report about Manatee Junior College players Whitey Whiten and Mark Sprunger.
United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
possibly was the first news agency to record the term in reference to a Major League Baseball player as Royals general manager
Cedric Tallis Cedric Nelson Tallis (July 29, 1914 – May 8, 1991) was an American executive in Major League Baseball who served as the first general manager of the expansion Kansas City Royals and later played an important role in the New York Yankees' dynasty ...
gave recent acquisition
Lou Piniella Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and ...
the title in a quote from a story that appeared in a 1969 edition of ''
The Tampa Tribune ''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area. The newspaper also published a ''St. Pe ...
''. Low-strikeout and high-batting average players have existed throughout the history of baseball, but players first began to achieve stardom as contact hitters in the 1970s.
Rod Carew Rodney Cline Carew (born October 1, 1945) is a Panamanian former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman, second baseman and designated hitter from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins ...
was one of the first contact hitter superstars of this era, claiming the 1977
American League MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' ...
with a .388 batting average for the
Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
. In his 19-year career, Carew never finished a season with a batting average lower than .273 and never posted a strikeout percentage higher than 16.2%. Carew was selected as an All-Star for 18 consecutive seasons, cementing him as a superstar of the game. Other great contact hitters of the 1970s include
Joe Morgan Joe Leonard Morgan (September 19, 1943 – October 11, 2020) was an American professional baseball second baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Colt .45s / Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, ...
and all-time hits leader
Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (born April 14, 1941), also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a membe ...
. Contact hitters continued to be a key facet of the game through the 1980s. This decade saw the rise of
Tony Gwynn Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr. (May 9, 1960 – June 16, 2014), nicknamed "Mr. Padre", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played 20 seasons (1982–2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left-handed hit ...
of the
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
, considered by many to be the greatest contact hitter of baseball's modern era. Gwynn never posted a batting average lower than .289 in his career, never struck out more than 40 times in a season, and never posted a strikeout percentage higher than 8.0%. Gwynn's .394 batting average in 1994 became legendary in the
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
area and was commemorated by
AleSmith Brewing Company AleSmith Brewing Company is an American craft brewery located in San Diego, California. It specializes in handcrafted ales in a variety of styles. As of 2015 it produces about 25,000 barrels of beer a year. History The brewery was founded ...
's San Diego .394 American Pale Ale. The 1980s featured other popular contact hitters such as
Paul Molitor Paul Leo Molitor (born August 22, 1956), nicknamed "Molly" and "the Ignitor", is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and former manager of the Minnesota Twins, who is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. During his 21-year baseball car ...
and
George Brett George Howard Brett (born May 15, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player who played all of his 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman for the Kansas City Royals. Brett's 3,154 career hits are second-mo ...
. In the 1990s, contact hitters began to experience a decline as featured superstars of the game due to the rise in popularity of
power hitter Power hitter is a term used in baseball for a skilled player that has a higher than average ability in terms of his batting, featuring a combination of dexterity and personal strength that likely leads to a high number of home-runs as well as do ...
s and the increased usage of steroids in baseball to achieve record-breaking home run statistics. While sluggers like
Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...
,
Mark McGwire Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardi ...
,
Sammy Sosa Samuel Peralta Sosa (born November 12, 1968) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Cubs. After playing for the Texas Rangers and C ...
, and Ken Griffey Jr. dominated the 1990s and partook in highly-publicized races for home run titles, a few contact hitters like
Wade Boggs Wade Anthony Boggs (born June 15, 1958) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He spent 18 seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily with the Boston Red Sox. He also played for the New York Yankees (1993-1997), and the Tamp ...
continued to contribute to their teams with less media popularity than previous contact hitters. In pursuit of home runs, players became less concerned about striking out. The average team in 1975 struck out 4.98 times per game whereas the average rose to 6.30 by 1995.
Ichiro Suzuki , also known mononymously as , is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played professionally for 28 seasons. He played nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), where he began his ...
of the
Orix Blue Wave The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefect ...
in
Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...
established himself as a legendary contact hitter in Japan in the 1990s. He would not come to Major League Baseball until 2001. When Suzuki signed with the
Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...
in 2001, he made an instant impact as a superstar contact hitter. He won both the
AL Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...
and the AL MVP in his MLB rookie season. Suzuki was defiantly immune to striking out in an era where strikeouts were continually on the rise. He never struck out more than 86 times and never posted a strikeout percentage higher than 17.7%. Accruing 3,000 MLB hits by 2016 and retiring as a player in 2019, Suzuki is considered the most recent contact-hitting superstar to play in Major League Baseball. In 2019, the average MLB team struck out 8.81 times per game, an all-time high in MLB history dating back to 1871. Despite the growing acceptance of strikeouts, the league still has many notable contact hitters, such as
Juan Soto Juan José Soto Pacheco (born October 25, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Washington Nationals. Soto signed with the Nation ...
,
Michael Brantley Michael Charles Brantley Jr. (born May 15, 1987) is an American professional baseball left fielder for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians. The son of former MLB player an ...
,
Yuli Gurriel Yulieski Gourriel Castillo (born June 9, 1984), commonly known as Yuli Gurriel and nicknamed "La Piña", is a Cuban professional baseball first baseman who is a free agent. He previously played for Sancti Spiritus in the Cuban National Serie ...
,
Jeff McNeil Jeff McNeil (born April 8, 1992), nicknamed "Squirrel" or "Flying Squirrel", is an American professional baseball utility player for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). In 2022, he won the MLB Batting Title and the Silver Slugger A ...
, and David Fletcher.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Contact Hitter Batting (baseball) Baseball terminology