Copyright 1997 Adam Barnhart. All Rights Reserved. Fair use of this document.

Through some sort of miracle I don't fully understand, the Players' Association and Major League Baseball's administration came to an agreement, on, of all things, Tony Phillips' immediate future. Forcing the Anaheim Angels to reinstate Phillips led to an interesting box score in this morning's newspaper. Back in the lineup, collecting plate appearance 500 for the year (and a $100,000 incentive that goes with it) last night, he formed a 1-2 punch with the greatest leadoff hitter baseball has ever seen.

Rickey Henderson is 38 now, up in there in years for a leadoff hitter, but even hitting in the .230/.240 range, as he did last year, he's an effective player, hitting with some power, drawing an obscene humber of walks, and still an efficient and distracting baserunner. He brings a .423 OBP into the lineup, right in that Ty Cobb/John McGraw range that he's sported most of his career. At this point in his career, he doesn't quite hit for average as he once did, but he's probably the most patient hitter in the game, making him nearly as effective an offensive force now as he was at his peak.

Tony Phillips probably isn't the second most patient hitter in the game, but he's awfully close, part of a class of hitters (including Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, Mark McGwire, and Henderson) that will walk in 15 to 20 percent of plate appearances. In lieu of Henderson (and perhaps Kenny Lofton), Phillips is probably the best leadoff hitter in the game, bringing a .395 OBP and his aggressive, hustling style of play to the position. The combination of the two of them, frankly, ought to scare the hell out of any pitcher.

Phillips and Henderson are both midseason acquisitions, though. The Angels began the season with a good leadoff hitter. Though his 6'2", 210 pound frame doesn't sound like it belongs to a leadoff hitter, Darin Erstad was effective in the role early in the year, hitting .300 and developing enough plate discipline to bump his OBP into the .360/.370 range (it's at .364 now). As a young player with mid-range power (30 doubles, 4 triples, 12 HR's) that may mature into something even more imposing, he's still an effective top-of-the-order hitter. With Erstad hitting third, the Angels look like they'll have a ridiculous number of men on base in front of Tim Salmon, returned to his rightful position as cleanup hitter. Salmon tends to finish strong, making the lineup only more intimidating still.

The trick for Terry Collins will be writing out the lineup cards. Even calling Phillips and Erstad infielders, the Angels have Henderson, Salmon, Jim Edmonds (just off the DL), and Garret Anderson as regular outfielders (with Orlando Palmeiro as a semi-regular and defensive replacement). Phillips has been DHing a great deal this year, with Dave Hollins and Jack Howell sharing third, and Luis Alicea and Craig Grebeck splitting time at second. Phillips can play a credible second or third, Grebeck can pick up at short or the hot corner, and Howell can also handle left field. Alicea and Hollins are pretty much stuck in position, though Collins has been erring, in my opinion, by DHing Phillips and playing Hollins at third, rather than vice versa. Essentially, no one on the current roster, aside from Chris Turner (called up to pick up the slack from the Leyritz trade and Todd Greene's injury) and possibly Palmeiro lacks offensively, giving Collins a great deal of latitude in figuring out who goes where on a daily basis. If he can pull off an effective Casey Stengel impersonation, giving everyone enough time to stay sharp without getting tired while keeping the defense stable, he has the players to get a ton of runners of base and the players to get them home. Of course, Casey Stengel won 1,905 games and 7 World Series in his career...which puts him just a wee bit in front of Collins to date.