A Tribute to Tommy Holmes

I was always amazed by Tommy Holmes' ability to put the ball into play. Let's consider what he did in 1945, when he hit .352, led the National League with a .577 slugging percentage, and struck out a grand total of nine times. Given that he hit 28 home runs and piled up 47 doubles, that strikeout total is ridiculous. Nine times. We see some of the game's offensive superstars strike out that many times in a week--or perhaps in a particularly bad four-game series.

Actually, I had never heard of Holmes until 1978, when his National League record 37-game hitting streak was eclipsed by another fair country hitter named Pete Rose. That's when I learned about Holmes' magical ability to make contact. Frankly, that was a lot more impressive than either Holmes' 37-game streak or Rose's eventual 44-game streak. Hitting streaks are one thing, but practically never striking out against major league pitching, well that's quite another.

The left-handed hitting Holmes died on Monday at the age of 91, bringing to a tangible end a remarkable legacy of contact hitting. Though he never again duplicated his 1945 power numbers, he still avoided strikeouts like the plague throughout his career. Over the course of 11 seasons, Holmes struck out 122 times in over 5,000 plate appearances. In other words, he struck out roughly ten times a season for more than a decade.

Given today's emphasis on swinging for the fences, along with a general reluctance to use a shortened, two-strike swing, I think it's highly unlikely we'll ever see anyone come close to matching Holmes in the art of putting bat to ball. The game simply isn't played that way anymore. Players today take little pride in avoiding the strikeout--certainly not the way that Holmes did.

It's kind of sad that no one today can do what Holmes once delighted in doing. Yes, I know that power is part of a good offensive philosophy--and strikeouts come with hitting home runs. Still, it would be pretty nice to see someone wave the wand the way that Holmes did in the 1940s.