Blast From The Past: Wes Westrum 1951

Perhaps the most overlooked hero of the Giants legendary 1951 season was a defense-first catcher with a penchant for suffering broken fingers named Wes Westrum.  Westrum's career got off to a slow start serving as a backup catcher for his first three seasons before a breakout campaign in 1950 in which he batted just .243 but with an OBP of .385 and 23 HR's.  Like his Giants team, he got off to a slow start in 1951 due to another broken finger, but once he got healthy he recorded the highest OPS and fWAR of his career.

One of the best kept secrets in baseball lore is that Billy Beane did not invent Moneyball.  It you look at the walk rates and OBP's of the hitters in the 1951 Giants lineup, you will find numbers that put any of Billy Beane's teams to shame.  It's really hard to put into words the beauty of Wes Westrum's 1951 batting line, so here it is for you to stare in wonder at for yourself:

.219/.400/.418, 12 2B, 20 HR, 21.9 BB%, 19.6 K%, fWAR= 4.1, 474 PA.

Like several of his teammates, Wes Westrum's playing career tapered off after that pennant winning season.  He played a lesser role on the 1954 championship team and retired to coaching before the Giants moved west after the 1957 season.  He later went on to manage the Mets and Giants.  The first time I heard of Wes Westrum was as manager of the Mets in the very first MLB game I listened to an the radio.  Of course, I had no idea of his connection to the Giants.  He had a reputation as patient manager who was willing to let young players with high ceilings make their mistakes for the future good of the teams he managed for.