Baseball’s Two-Way Greats

The first book to explore the entire history of two-way baseball players from the 19th century up to the modern era, this comprehensive work demonstrates that Shohei Ohtani and Babe Ruth are not the only players to excel at both pitching and batting. In-depth profiles examine how Ohtani and Ruth compare to 19th century star John Montgomery Ward and Negro League standouts Bullet Rogan, Martín Dihigo, Leon Day and Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe as two-way players. This historical overview outlines the path each player took to reach greatness as a pitcher and a batter, and helps answer the fundamental question: who is baseball’s greatest two-way player?
Sixty additional Negro League players are covered for their two-way feats, plus an examination of top two-way players from the 19th century, Deadball Era, and Live-Ball Era—more than 130 players overall are featured. Also included is an overview of 25 top-hitting pitchers and a closer look at all the statistics that define a two-way player.

A member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Chris Jensen regularly contributes baseball articles to Seamheads.com and has been published in Elysian Fields Quarterly and the Yankees 2011 Annual Yearbook.

Chris Jensen
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 279
Bibliographic Info: 30 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2025
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9622-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5495-9
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1

Introduction 3

1. The Uniqueness of ­Two-Way Players: A Closer Look at the Stats 9

2. John Montgomery Ward: Baseball’s First ­Two-Way Star 18

3. 19th Century: An Evolving Game Forces Players to Adapt 30

George Bradley 31; Charlie Buffinton 33; Jimmy “Nixey” Callahan 34; Bob Caruthers 35; Dave Foutz 38; Kid Gleason 39; Guy Hecker 40; Win Mercer 42; Tony Mullane 44; Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn 46; Jack Stivetts 48; Adonis Terry 49; Jim Whitney 52; Additional Players of Note 53

4. Deadball Era 1900–1919: ­Two-Way Play Slows Down 56

Ray Caldwell 58; Doc Crandall 61; Harry Howell 63; Johnny Lush 65; Al Orth 65; Reb Russell 67; Jesse Tannehill 69; Doc White 70; Smoky Joe Wood 73; Additional Players of Note 76

5. Babe Ruth: Baseball’s ­Larger-Than-Life Legend 80

6. Bullet Rogan: The Negro Leagues’ Greatest Triple Threat 98

7. Martín Dihigo: Black Baseball’s Versatile and Underrated Star 111

8. The Negro Leagues: Teams Filled with ­Two-Way Players 120

Bernardo Baró 122; James “Cool Papa” Bell 122; William Bell 125; Ramón Bragaña 126; George “Chippy” Britt 127; Barney “Brinquitos” Brown 128; Ray Brown 128; Harry Buckner 130; Bill Byrd 130; Tatica Campos 131; Walter “Rev” Cannady 132; Oscar Charleston 133; Phil Cockrell 134; Homer “Goose” Curry 134; Johnny Davis 135; Walter “Steel Arm” Davis 135; John Donaldson 136; Charles Earle 137; Isidro Fabré 138; Luther Farrell 138; Wilmer “Red” Fields 139; Andrew “Rube” Foster 140; Manuel “Cocaína” Garcia 141; Bill Gatewood 142; Willie “Three Finger” Gisentaner 142; Carl “Butch” Glass 143; Bob “Schoolboy” Griffith 143; Lewis Hampton 143; Dave Hoskins 144; Jesse “Mountain” Hubbard 144; Wade Johnston 145; Harry Kenyon 145; Holsey “Script” Lee 146; Bill Lindsay 146; Verdell “Lefty” Mathis 147; Dan McClellan 148; Terris McDuffie 149; Henry McHenry 149; Hurley McNair 150; José Méndez 150; Eddie Miller 152; George Mitchell 152; José Muñoz 153; Luis Padrón 153; Tom Parker 154; Roy “Red” Parnell 155; Roy Partlow 155; Eustaquio Pedroso 156; Alonzo Perry 157; Willie Powell 157; Connie Rector 157; Ed Rile 158; Lázaro Salazar 159; Hilton Smith 159; Theolic Smith 161; Joe Strong 161; Ben Taylor 162; Cristóbal Torriente 163; Smokey Joe Williams 164; Nip Winters 165

 9. Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe: Baseball’s Greatest Catcher-Pitcher Combo 167

10. Leon Day: More Than Just an Ace Pitcher 178

11. Live Ball Era 1920–Present: ­Two-Way Play That Bucked the System 186

Clarence Mitchell 187; Jack Bentley 189; Rube Bressler 191; George Sisler 193; Lefty O’Doul 195; Johnny Cooney 196; Bob Smith 197; Red Lucas 198; Ben Chapman 199; Bobby Reis 200; Bucky Walters 201; Lovill “Chubby” Dean 203; René Monteagudo 203; Max Macon 204; Johnny Lindell 204; Erv Dusak 206; Clint Hartung 206; Hal Jeffcoat 207; Dick Hall 208; Willie Smith 209; Mel Queen 210; Ron Mahay 211; Brooks Kieschnick 211; Rick Ankiel 212; Michael Lorenzen 214; Matt Bush 215

12. Shohei Ohtani: On the Path to Baseball Immortality 217

13. Pitchers at the Plate: Profiling the ­Best-Hitting Pitchers 234

Chapter Notes 249

Bibliography 263

Index 265

“The debate over baseball’s greatest two-way player is explored extensively in an open discussion about some lesser known legends like Bullet Rogan, Martin Dihigo and Double Duty Radcliffe. Discover the versatility and utility of these dual threats.”— Larry Lester, author, historian and founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum