Aplatoon system inbaseball orAmerican football is a method for substituting players in groups (platoons), to keep complementary players together during playing time.
In baseball, it is usually used to optimize batting performance against pitchers of oppositehandedness. Right-handed batters generally perform better against left-handed pitchers and vice versa. Despite some resistance from players who prefer consistent play time, this strategy has been effectively used by managers likeCasey Stengel of theNew York Yankees to win multipleWorld Series championships.
In American football, the term "two-platoon system" refers to the practice of using different players on offense, defense, andspecial teams. Additionally, "platooning quarterbacks" is a tactic where twoquarterbacks with different skill sets are used alternately to maximize offensive potential and variability. This requires the defensive team to prepare for two types of quarterbacks, but it's less common in higher echelons of football due to the potential for "quarterback controversies".
In baseball, a platoon is a method of sharing playing time, where two players are selected to play a single defensive position. Usually, one platoon player is right-handed and the other is left-handed. Typically the right-handed half of the platoon is played on days when the opposing starting pitcher is left-handed and the left-handed player is played otherwise.[1] The theory behind this is that generally players hit better against their opposite-handed counterparts, and that in some cases the difference is extreme enough to warrant complementing the player with one of opposite handedness.
Right-handed batters have an advantage against left-handed pitchers and left-handed batters benefit from facing right-handed pitchers.[2] This is because a right-handed pitcher'scurveball breaks to the left, from his own point of view, which causes it to cross the plate with its lateral movement away from a right-handed batter but towards a left-handed batter (and vice versa for a left-handed pitcher), and because batters generally find it easier to hit a ball that is over the plate.[1] Furthermore, since most pitchers are right-handed, left-handed batters generally have less experience with left-handed pitchers.[3] A left-handed pitcher may also be brought in to face aswitch-hitter who generally bats left-handed, forcing the batter to shift to his less-effective right-handed stance or to take the disadvantages of batting left-handed against a left-handed pitcher.
Platooning can be viewed negatively. Players prefer to play every day,[3] and managers, includingWalter Alston, feared that sharing playing time could decrease confidence.[4]Mookie Wilson of theNew York Mets requested a trade in 1988 after serving in a platoon for three seasons withLenny Dykstra.[5]
The advantage to alternating hitters based on handedness was known from the early days of baseball.Bob Ferguson, in 1871, became baseball's firstswitch hitter, allowing him to bat left-handed against right-handed pitchers, and right-handed against left-handed pitchers.[6] The first recorded platoon took place in 1887, when theIndianapolis Hoosiers briefly paired the right-handedGid Gardner and left-handedTom Brown incenter field.[7][8] In 1906, theDetroit Tigers alternatedBoss Schmidt,Jack Warner, andFreddie Payne atcatcher for the entire season.[9] Asmanager of theBoston Braves,George Stallings employed platoons during the1914 season, which helped the "Miracle" Braves win the1914 World Series.[10] No Bravesoutfielder reached 400at-bats during the 1914 season.[11] In 1934 and 1935,Detroit Tigers'managerMickey Cochrane routinely platoonedGee Walker, a right-handed batter, to spell center fielderJo-Jo White, a left-handed batter. Cochrane, a left-handed batter, also platooned himself behind the plate withRay Hayworth, a right-handed batter. Also in the 1930s,Bill Terry of theNew York Giants platooned center fieldersHank Leiber andJimmy Ripple.[1] The approach was seldom used in the 1930s,[9] butCasey Stengel, managing the Braves, platoonedthird basemenDebs Garms andJoe Stripp in 1938.[1] Stengel himself had been platooned as a player by managersJohn McGraw andWilbert Robinson.[10][12] Garms won theNational League'sbatting title in 1940 with thePittsburgh Pirates as a part-time player underFrankie Frisch.[1]
Terms for this strategy included "double-batting shift, "switch-around players", and "reversible outfield".Tris Speaker referred to his strategy as the "triple shift", because he employed it at three positions.[13] The term "platoon" was coined in the late 1940s. Stengel, now managing theNew York Yankees, became a well known proponent of the platoon system,[14] and won five consecutiveWorld Series championships from 1949 through 1953 using the strategy. Stengel platoonedBobby Brown,Billy Johnson, andGil McDougald at third base,Joe Collins andMoose Skowron atfirst base, andHank Bauer andGene Woodling inleft field.[1] Harold Rosenthal, writing for theNew York Herald, referred to Stengel's strategy as a "platoon", after theAmerican footballconcept, and it came to be known as "two-platooning".[15][16]
Following Stengel's success, other teams began implementing their own platoons.[17] In the late 1970s through early 1980s,Baltimore Orioles managerEarl Weaver successfully employed a platoon in left field, usingJohn Lowenstein,Benny Ayala, andGary Roenicke, using whichever player was performing the best at the time.[18] Weaver also considered other factors, including the opposing pitcher'svelocity, and his batters' ability in hitting afastball.[10] The Orioles continued to platoon at catcher and all three outfield positions in 1983 underJoe Altobelli, as the Orioles won the1983 World Series,[19] leading other teams to pursue the strategy.[20]
"I'd rather be playing every day, but playing every day in theminor leagues is not nearly as pleasant as platooning in the big leagues."
Platooning decreased in frequency from the late 1980s through the 1990s, as teams expanded theirbullpens to nullify platoon advantages for hitters.[7] However, the use of platoons has increased in recent years. As teams increase their analysis of data, they attempt to put batters and pitchers in situations where they are more likely to succeed. Generally, small market teams, which cannot afford to sign the league's best players to market-value contracts, are most likely to employ platoons. Under managerBob Melvin, the Athletics have employed many platoons,[21] withJosh Reddick calling Melvin the "king of platoons".[22]Joe Maddon began to employ platoons as manager of theTampa Bay Rays.[23][24]
The2013 World Series championBoston Red Sox platoonedJonny Gomes andDaniel Nava in left field.[10] After the 2013 season, left-handedrelief pitchersBoone Logan andJavier López, both consideredleft-handed specialists because of their ability to limit the effectiveness of left-handed batters, signed multimillion-dollar contracts asfree agents.[25]
The term "two-platoon system", in contrast with the "one-platoon system", was once used for the practice, universal today at all levels of football, of using mostly or entirely different players on offense, defense, andspecial teams.
When a football team uses two or morequarterbacks to run their offense, rather than the traditional one, it is known as "platooning quarterbacks". This tactic is less common the higher the echelons of American football, ashigh school teams are more likely to do it thanNational Football League teams, for example.
Quarterbacks may be switched in and out of the game at every play, every drive, every quarter, depending on certain situations. If quarterbacks are switched on a game-to-game basis, it is not platooning, it is known as a "quarterback controversy", or a simple "benching".
Using two different quarterbacks allows an offensive team to use players with different skill sets. One common reason teams platoon quarterbacks is because one player is a good passer and the other a good runner, for exampleStanley Jackson andJoe Germaine of the1997 Ohio State Buckeyes. Defensive teams, therefore, must prepare for two types of quarterback. It also allows offenses teams to run a greater variety of plays.
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