Talk:Terry Forster

From BR Bullpen

In my opinion, one of the nicest guys in baseball where is he now?

Hello - I just stumbled across this page doing an ELO-rater matchup and had to look at his hitting stats about 5 times to make sure I wasn't reading them wrong. Can anyone discuss why on earth he wasn't given more chances to hit? I suppose that since he was a reliever who was needed in the pen, he couldn't pinch hit most nights, and I suppose that he may have been considered too portly to be a position player. But still - his hitting stats are unreal, and with some statistical significance... there must have been thought given to letting him hit more. Was there ever talk of him being a DH in the AL? Or couldn't he have tried first base? His pitching career seemed so-so after his first few seasons - seems from the record as though his talent may have been misplaced.

I'm sure it was considered at some point. Given Forster's weight issues, I wonder if people were concerned that he had the range to cover even 1B. - --Mischa 08:51, 8 April 2011 (EDT)

Even if his pitching stats went a bit down after his first few outstanding seasons, he still had one of the best left-handed fastballs in all of baseball. He was a very valuable reliever until the very end (his contract from the Dodgers was huge at the time). The hitting stats were considered a freak, the result of a few at bats before the dh was introduced in the AL and he was still a relatively slim young man. He did play one game in the field, but it was the result of a game that went deep into extra innings, not a deliberate strategy. --Philippe 09:40, 8 April 2011 (EDT)

Comparing his batting line to his pitching line, it appears he may have actually had a handful of pinch hitting appearances early in his career. They could be pinch running, but he never was exactly a small man, so I doubt it. --Jeff 10:27, 8 April 2011 (EDT)