Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Chief Bender was a notoriously poor hitter during his 16 year career. However, on this day, he was placed in the outfield, and responded with the best day of his career with the bat.
Back in the middle of the 1900’s, legendary Philadelphia Athletics owner/manager Connie Mack proposed the idea of the designated hitter. He was fed up with watching his pitchers, particularly Chief Bender, flail away in the batter’s box, and felt that there needed to be a better solution. It turned out that he was 60 years before his time, as the designated hitter came into being, solving the issue of pitchers hitting, at least in the American League.