from Art Shamsky's wikipedia bio:

"In 1969 Shamsky hit .300, with a .375 on base percentage, as half of a right field platoon with Ron Swoboda for the World Champion Mets. Shamsky was the regular starter against right-handed pitchers, with Swoboda starting against lefties"




Gil Hodges thought an OF platoon was a good idea. Guess Hodges knew what he was doing!!



Backman & Teufel -- 2B

Mookie & Lenny -- CF
(4 yrs)





Can 2013 OF platoon be productive??

Anyone who has to accept a platoon positon is not good enough by definition....

Two crappy players dont equal a good one

Of course platoons can work! Just look at last year for proof. We had platoons at every outfield position and won nearly 75 games!

not good

example Hairston , Baxter= Disaster

Sure. In addition to Shamsky/Swoboda, the '69 Mets fielded Kranepool/Clendenon, Boswell/Weis, and Garrett/Charles. You can't argue with success.

If you get the RIGHT 2 players a platoon can be as good as 1 above avg player!!

See AdrianMonk's post:

" In addition to Shamsky/Swoboda, the '69 Mets fielded Kranepool/Clendenon, Boswell/Weis, and Garrett/Charles. You can't argue with success"





Gil Hodges knew how to win. Platoons were a BIG part of that!!!

Examples of 1969 World Series Champion NY Mets successful platoons:

Shamsky/Swoboda
Kranepool/Clendenon
Boswell/Weis
Garrett/Charles


Like AdrianMonk said: "You can't argue with success."

Yup.

Thanks for the other Gil Hodges platoons. Forgot about those. And they were soooo important to their success!!!

Gil Hodges knew how to win. Platoons were a BIG part of that!!! >>>>

the great pitching was BIGGER.

It depends on the situation and the players. The players need to accept the platoon concept. And the players shouldn't really be too good to waste in a platoon. Obviously with these three situations, the players bought into to platoon. And as far as I know, you never heard of any disatisfaction from them. I will say, I think Davey's idea to play Mookie in left field while Lenny played centerfield was the best solution of all (it's inaccurate for you to say the platoon went on for four years). I always hated losing Mookie's bat.

For me, it's not platooning per se that can be the problem. It's the question, do we want this player to be getting the amount of ABs they'll get as half of a platoon? Hairston is fine, but Baxter? I dunno.

Great pitching WAS the main thing. Yes. But Hodges got the most offensive production possible out of that roster using platoons. The man knew how to win!!

If ya squish em and dredge em in some flour then fry em, yeah.

Anyone who has to accept a platoon positon is not good enough by definition....

Two crappy players dont equal a good one

--------------------

So every part time player in MLB history is "crappy?" A guy who mashes right handed hitting & can't hit lefties, or vice versa has no role on a team?

You sir, are not an intelligent baseball fan.

Didn't Mookie & Lenny platoon for the better part of '87 - '89? And would've platooned more in '86 if A) Foster had been any good & Mets didn't release him (when Mookie took over for him) & B) Mookie wouldn't have gotten hurt?

But maybe I'm not remembering it accurately.

If I was making the decision I'd let Hairston have starting job in ST. If he hit RHP & LHP close to the same I'd let him have every day OF spot. If not I'd platoon him w/ Baxter who hits RHP very well.

Hodges proved platoons can be very effective. Davey proved it too w/ 2B platoon of Teufel/ Backman. And Lenny/ Mookie -- when they did.

Shamsky/SwobodaKranepool/ClendenonBoswell/WeisGarrett/Charles

They were an exception.

"Shamsky/SwobodaKranepool/ClendenonBoswell/WeisGarrett/Charles

They were an exception"




FOUR "exceptions"???

Along with Backman/ Teufel & Lenny/ Mookie???

So SIX "exceptions"???

very rarely

Platoons work when you have Seaver, Koosman, Gentry and Ryan in the rotation.
But yes those were platoons that worked.
Any and everything works when you have that type of pitching.

Okay, okay, I do like busting the OP balls...you got me

I now platoons are necessary sometimes, and can be part of a winning formula.

But I do also think we should plan for better.

Platoons are a break glass in case of emergency plan.

That was not really a platoon as much as giving Mookie some playing time:
1986 - Dykstra 98 games, Mookie 53
1987 - LD 100' MW 62
1988 - LD 98, MW 62
1989 - LD 127, MW 29