| Ben Paschal | |
|---|---|
 Paschal before a game during the1925 New York Yankees season | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born:(1895-10-13)October 13, 1895 Enterprise, Alabama, U.S. | |
| Died: November 10, 1974(1974-11-10) (aged 79) Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| August 16, 1915, for the Cleveland Indians | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 6, 1929, for the New York Yankees | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .309 |
| Home runs | 24 |
| Runs batted in | 136 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Benjamin Edwin Paschal (October 13, 1895 – November 10, 1974) was an American baseballoutfielder who played eight seasons inMajor League Baseball from 1915 to 1929, mostly for theNew York Yankees. After two "cup of coffee" stints with theCleveland Indians in 1915 and theBoston Red Sox in 1920, Paschal spent most of his career as the fourth outfielder and right-handedpinch hitter of the Yankees'Murderers' Row championship teams of the late 1920s. Paschal is best known forhitting .360 in the1925 season while standing in forBabe Ruth, who missed the first 40 games with a stomach ailment.
During his time in baseball, Paschal was described as afive-tool player who excelled at running, throwing, fielding, hitting for average, and power.[1] However, his playing time with the Yankees was limited because they already had futureBaseball Hall of Famers Ruth andEarle Combs, and starBob Meusel, in the outfield. Paschal was considered one of the best bench players in baseball during his time with the Yankees, and sportswriters wrote how he would havestarted for most other teams in theAmerican League.[1] He was one of the best pinch hitters in the game during the period, at a time when the term was still relatively new to baseball.[2][3]
The son of farmers, Paschal was born inEnterprise, Alabama, and grew up in nearbySanford.
He played collegiate sports at theUniversity of Alabama,[4] before beginning his professional career with Dothan of theGeorgia State League, where he played with futureHall of Fame playerBill Terry.[5][6] Paschal played in 64 games, with a .280 batting average,[6] and his ability attracted the attention ofscouts in the area.
Signed as apinch hitter for theCleveland Indians at age 19, Paschal appeared in nine games, collecting onehit on August 16, which broke up ano-hitter byBernie Boland with twoouts in the ninthinning.[7][8] The Indians declared Paschal too inexperienced, and he was sent to theMuskegon Reds of theCentral League. The league disbanded in the middle of the 1917 season, and Paschal became afree agent.[9]
After a two-year break from baseball because ofWorld War I, Paschal moved on to theCharlotte Hornets of theSouth Atlantic League, where he played from 1920 to 1923.[5][9] He finished third in the league in batting average in 1920.[9] While in the Southern League, he was nicknamed "the man who hits sticks of dynamite".[4]
At the conclusion of the 1920 season, Paschal's contract was purchased by the Boston Red Sox, with an option to keep him if he met certain playing expectations.[9] He appeared in nine games for the Red Sox; his first game brought three hits against pitcherJosé Acosta of theWashington Senators, and in total he batted .357 with fiveruns batted in (RBI), but the Red Sox believed he lacked fielding experience and he returned toCharlotte.[7][9] In August 1921, Paschal was sold to theRochester Red Wings. However, whilesliding in a game on August 20, 1921, he suffered a broken leg which sidelined him for the rest of the season and voided the contract with the Red Wings.[10] He was hitting .317 at the time of the injury.[11] In 1922, Paschal played in 142 games, hitting .326 with 18 home runs and improved these figures in 1923, achieving 200 hits, 22triples, and 26 home runs in 141 games for a batting average of .351, the fourth best in the league.[12] Paschal began the 1924 season with theAtlanta Crackers of theSouthern Association. He scored 136runs, while batting .341 andstealing 24 bases.[5]
The New York Yankees bought Paschal from the Crackers near the end of the1924 season and he played in four games. His only three hits, as well as three RBI, came in a defeat by theDetroit Tigers on September 19.[13]
Duringspring training, Paschal narrowly escaped serious injury while traveling on a bus. The vehicle rolled backwards down a hill and Paschal, along with several other teammates, jumped off before it hit a tree at high speed.[14] The media expected Paschal to beBabe Ruth's understudy prior to the1925 season,[15] but Ruth collapsed at anAsheville, North Carolina train station just before the regular season's start. Emergency surgery for a "intestinal abscess" left him hospitalized for six weeks.[16] Originally, Paschal was only to be used against left-handed pitchers, but Yankees managerMiller Huggins named him as Ruth's temporary replacement in the outfield.[17] In the first game of the year, Paschal hit a home run in a 5–1 win against thedefending World Series-champion Washington Senators.[18] After another game-winning home run against the Senators two weeks later, the New York press noted that he was "making fans forget about Babe Ruth".[19] Paschal's weakness against right-handed pitchers prompted the Yankees to acquire veteran outfielderBobby Veach,[20] but his declining skills allowed Paschal to retain his position on the team. He hit another game-winning home run against the Cleveland Indians on May 23.[21] At the time, Paschal was fifth in the league in batting average at .403, behindSammy Hale,Ty Cobb,Tris Speaker, and teammateEarle Combs.[22] His six home runs in May set a Yankee rookie record for a month, later equaled byJoe Gordon, then topped byShane Spencer's nine in September 1998.[23]
Ruth returned to the lineup on June 1, relegating Paschal to the bench. In July, an injury to Combs allowed Paschal to start several games incenter field.[24] He then started the majority of August and all of September whenBob Meusel moved tothird base to cover for an injuredJoe Dugan.[25][26] He hit two home runs during a September 8 game against the Red Sox,[27] but his season ended when he was hit on the leg with a pitch on September 12 against thePhiladelphia Athletics.[28] In 89 games, Paschal's batting average for the season was .360, 70 points higher than Ruth, with 12 home runs and 56 RBI.[16]
Paschal was set to enter the1926 season as the fourth outfielder, for which he was sent a new contract. After threatening to hold out for more money,[29] the Yankees sent him a new contract which he signed on February 17 for an estimated $7,000 (124,000 today).[29] He began the season as apinch hitter, but injuries quickly took their toll on the Yankees.[30] Paschal started most of July and August, replacing an injured Meusel, who broke a bone in his right foot.[31] Paschal hit aninside-the-park home run in a victory against the Indians on July 9.[32] With the Yankees in a closepennant race in mid-August, Paschal hit a home run in a loss to the Detroit Tigers.[33] Further successes came with a vital pinch-hitdouble in a win against the Athletics on September 6 and a home run on September 8.[34][35] The Yankees clinched the pennant on September 15, and Paschal scored the game-winning single.[36] The Yankees faced theSt. Louis Cardinals in the1926 World Series, and Paschal, pinch hitting for Joe Dugan,singled inLou Gehrig tying the contest at 2–2 in the ninth inning of Game 5.[37]Tony Lazzeri hit asacrifice fly in the tenth to win the game for the Yankees, but they lost the next two games and the Series.[37] He had played in 96 games, hitting 7 home runs with 32 runs batted in.[7]
Before the1927 season, Paschal returned his playing contract unsigned because of a salary dispute.[38] By that time, the Yankees were forming the nucleus of what became theMurderers' Row teams of the late 1920s. He signed for an estimated $8,000 ($145,000 today), a 13% raise.[37] In the season-opening win against the Athletics, right field starter Babe Ruth struck out twice andpopped out, forcing Huggins to replace him with Paschal in the sixth inning.[39] As the last man ever to pinch-hit for Ruth, Paschal singled.[40] In one of his few starts of the 1927 season, Paschal was a single short ofhitting for the cycle, and almost had three home runs.[41] Replacing the injured Bob Meusel, Paschal hit two home runs, a triple that was yards shy of a home run, and a double which bounced off the right field stands during an 11–2 rout of the Indians.[42] Paschal did not play in the Yankees'1927 World Series victory over thePittsburgh Pirates. Overall, he played in 50 games, primarily as a pinch hitter.[7] After the season, Paschal was discussed as a trade for Boston Red SoxpitcherRed Ruffing, but discussions fell apart (Ruffing was later acquired in a proposed trade during the 1930 season).[43][44]
Paschal was used heavily as a pinch hitter during the1928 season. Huggins credited Paschal's timely pinch hitting as part of the Yankees' success that season.[45] One of the few highlights of his season was his RBI pinch-hit double in the 10th inning that helped the Yankees beat theChicago White Sox on August 4.[46] Paschal played in 65 games that season, having a .316 batting average.[7] He shared center field duties withCedric Durst for an injured Earle Combs during the Yankees' win over the Cardinals in the1928 World Series.[47] He started the first and last games of the series on aplatoon situation; Paschal faced left-handed pitchers and Durst faced right-handed pitchers.[48]
Before the1929 season, Paschal and Durst were mentioned in several trade rumors,[49] and Paschal was rarely used, appearing in only 42 games as a sixth outfielder in the season.[7] A rarestart came on June 1 against the White Sox, when he scored a run.[50] On July 2, Paschal hit a pinch-hit home run forHerb Pennock in the seventh inning of a game against the Red Sox to give the Yankees a 3–2 win.[51] He played in 42 games in his final season in the majors, posting a .208batting average in 81 at-bats.[7]
During his time with the Yankees, Paschal was considered a quiet player with a colorless personality.[5] His appearances were limited by the presence of futureHall of Famers Ruth and Combs, and star Bob Meusel in the outfield. He was part of a group includingLou Gehrig andMark Koenig which preferred watching a film to carousing after a game; they were dubbed the team's "movie crowd".[52]
After the 1929 season, Paschal was, along withWilcy Moore andJohnny Grabowski, part of a trade for catcherBubbles Hargrave to theSt. Paul Saints of theAmerican Association (AA).[53] In one 1930 game against theToledo Mud Hens, Paschal had four hits and four RBI in a 23–4 win that broke the AA record for most runs scored in a game.[54] In 144 games, Paschal finished the 1930 season with 204 hits, 10 home runs, and a .350 batting average.[11] The following season, Paschal played 121 games to hit .336,[11] while his average in 1932 was .325 in 147 games.[11] During one game in the 1932 season, Paschal had three doubles and three singles, tying the AA record for most hits in a game.[55] His skills declined during the 1933 season; in 130 games he hit just .272 with seven home runs.[11] He left St. Paul and signed as afree agent with theKnoxville Smokies on December 30, 1933.[56] TheSt. Petersburg Evening Independent reported a few months later that Paschal was "struggling to keep his job" in the minors.[57] He was released by Knoxville and signed with the Scranton Miners of theNew York–Penn League.[58] After a few games with the Miners, Paschal returned home to North Carolina, where he accepted a managerial job for asemi-professional baseball team inCatawba County.[58]
Paschal was married and had a child, Ben Jr.[9]
He died in Charlotte, North Carolina at the age of 79, and is interred atSharon Memorial Park.[59]
