But yes, for just using Games, Groom is indeed the all time leader at 786. Flanagan only comes in at #5 on that list, and there are some cool near-misses there as well.

# last first G GS W L PA AB
1 Groom Buddy 786 15 31 32 0 0
3 Stanley Bob 637 85 115 97 0 0
2 Fetters Mike 620 6 31 41 0 0
4 Martinez Tippy 546 2 55 42 0 0
5 Flanagan Mike 526 404 167 143 0 0

Near-misses:
Roberto Hernandez (1010 G, 2 PA)
Jose Mesa (1006 G, 4 PA, 2 AB)
Tom Gordon (853 G, 203 GS, 2 PA)
Bob Wickman (835 G, 2 PA)
Eddie Guardado (796 G, 1 PA)
Mariano Rivera (787 G, 1 PA)

All the stats are as of 2007 season-end, courtesy Lahman DB.

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/4dkT
Buddy Groom is the all-time leader with 786 games, and 0 PAs.

Relievers usually pitched longer stints in those days, so it’s probable that any with a substantial career had at least several AB. For instance, look at how many AB Hoyt Wilhelm had, even in the seasons when he was strictly a reliever. (Maybe his managers were all waiting for the return of that 1st AB homerun swing…)

“and speaking of morris i’m confused by his page. how did he have 7 dh appearances? also, am i reading correctly the batting section.. where in 1983 he made 7 appearances as a pinch runner.. or something other then batter?”

Those DH appearance are when he pinch ran for the DH. He did it quite a bit apparently. Creative use of the roster…what a concept.

and speaking of morris i’m confused by his page. how did he have 7 dh appearances? also, am i reading correctly the batting section.. where in 1983 he made 7 appearances as a pinch runner.. or something other then batter?

it’s kinda a shame when you think about it… did morris’ one ab have any effect at all? hahah

# Last First GS W L PA AB
1 Flanagan Mike 404 167 143 0 0
2 Gubicza Mark 329 132 136 0 0
3 Guidry Ron 323 170 91 0 0
4 Boddicker Mike 309 134 116 0 0
5 McGregor Scott 309 138 108 0 0
6 Leonard Dennis 302 144 106 0 0
7 Witt Mike 299 117 116 0 0
8 Dotson Richard 295 111 113 0 0
9 McDowell Jack 275 127 87 0 0
10 Haas Moose 252 100 83 0 0
11 Bosio Chris 246 94 93 0 0
12 McCaskill Kirk 242 106 108 0 0
13 Wegman Bill 216 81 90 0 0
14 Abbott Glenn 206 62 83 0 0
15 Higuera Teddy 205 94 64 0 0
16 Smithson Mike 204 76 86 0 0
17 Perez Melido 201 78 85 0 0
18 Beattie Jim 182 52 87 0 0
19 Figueroa Ed 179 80 67 0 0
20 Burns Britt 161 70 60 0 0

Brad Radke isn’t next! He has a ton of plate appearances!

The other near misses:
Jack Morris (527 GS, 1 AB)
Mike Moore (440 GS, 1 AB)
Dave Stieb (412 GS, 2 AB)
Jimmy Key (389 GS, 3 PA, 2 AB)
Tom Gordon (203 GS, 2 AB)
Ben McDonald (198 GS, 1 AB)
Rick Waits (190 GS, 1 AB)
Bill Travers (168 GS, 1 PA, 0 AB)
Matt Young (163 GS, 3 AB)
Curt Young (162 GS, 1 AB)

this list, limiting to just AL starts, is helpful too:

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/mk5x