RESULTS: The Least Designated Hitter Designated Hitter Of All Time

Mar 8, 2011, 10:15 PM UTC

A few hours ago, I asked you to help me determine who is the least designated hitter designated hitter of all time. Or, in other words, the least DH baseball player ever to make a plate appearance as a DH.

Needless to say, y'all came through yet again, any my original suggestion of David Eckstein was surpassed by plenty of others. Here are the answers you submitted:

Jose Vidro (suggested by @PunkOnDeck, ebo, and @NathanHBishop). Mariners fans had no trouble with this question. In 2008, Vidro spent most of his 85 games as a DH and posted an OPS+ of 64. To be fair, he was kind of, sort of, moderately DH-ey, as he had pieced together a 20-homer season at some point in his career. So, while I don't think he was the least DH DH ever, 2008 Vidro may well have been the worst DH ever to play a significant number of games in a season.

Elliot Johnson (suggested by @r_j_anderson). Holy Hell. I'm still combing through the submissions, but I'm halfway tempted to declare this dude the outright winner. Right off the bat (baseball term!), can we agree upon the idea that designated hitters very rarely come up through the system as designated hitters? That even the players that come to be known exclusive as designated hitters spend a couple of years playing first base or something first?

Johnson played seven career games in the majors. Even though he wasn't really a slugger in the minors, he started one of those games as a DH. For the 2008 Rays! Like, the AL champion Rays!

And listen, I feel bad for getting name-ist about this, but Elliot. Elliot the designated hitter. Elliot the power hitter. He was only the second major leaguer named Elliot in baseball history. @r_j_anderson should get a trophy or something for this find.

Rick Rhoden (suggested by @jjethree and 3k). He was a very good hitter for a pitcher, but he was still a pitcher, which is certainly a pretty non-DH thing to be.

Craig Grebeck (suggested by @Latimagic). Just last week, Chris Mottram and I were discussing RBI Baseball 4; specifically, how there were three types of hitters: the giant power hitter, the squatty fast guy, and the nondescript noodle-armed dude. He asked me who the prototypical nondescript noodle-armed dude was. I did not hesitate. "Craig Grebeck." He has found his way into my life for the second time in as many weeks, so I cannot go without mentioning him.

You know what, I was right. It’s Elliot Johnson. He is the correct answer, I think. Still, though, it’s certainly worth going back and poring over some of the other excellent submissions. As always, thank you very much for your assistance in this endeavor. Let’s do this again Thursday.

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