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Benjamin Edwin "Ben" Paschal (October 13, 1895 – November 10, 1974) was an American baseball outfielder who played eight seasons in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929, mostly for the New York Yankees. After two "cup of coffee" stints with the Cleveland Indians in 1915 and the Boston Red Sox in 1920, Paschal spent most of his career as the fourth outfielder and right-handed pinch hitter of the Yankees' Murderers' Row championship teams of the late 1920s. Paschal is best known for hitting .360 in the 1925 season while standing in for Babe Ruth, who missed the first 40 games with a stomach ailment. During his time in baseball, Paschal was described as a five-tool player, who excelled at running, throwing, fielding, hitting for average and power. However, his playing time with the Yankees was limited because they already had future Baseball Hall of Famers Ruth and Earle Combs, and star Bob Meusel, in the outfield. Paschal was considered one of the best bench players in baseball during his time with the Yankees, and sportswriters wrote how he would have started for most other teams in the American League.〔 He was one of the best pinch hitters in the game during the period, at a time when the term was still relatively new to baseball. ==Early career== The son of farmers, Paschal was born in Enterprise, Alabama and grew up in nearby Sanford. He played collegiate sports at the University of Alabama, before beginning his professional career with Dothan of the Georgia State League, where he played with future Hall of Fame player Bill Terry. Paschal played in 64 games, with a .280 batting average,〔 and his ability attracted the attention of scouts in the area. Signed as a pinch hitter for the Cleveland Indians at age 19, Paschal appeared in nine games, collecting one hit on August 16, which broke up a no-hitter by Bernie Boland with two outs in the ninth inning. The Indians declared Paschal too inexperienced, and he was sent to the Muskegon Reds of the Central League. The league disbanded in the middle of the 1917 season, and Paschal became a free agent. After a two-year break from baseball because of World War I, Paschal moved on to the Charlotte Hornets of the South Atlantic League, where he played from 1920 to 1923.〔〔 He finished third in the league in batting average in 1920.〔 While in the Southern League, he was nicknamed "the man who hits sticks of dynamite".〔 At the conclusion of 1920 season, Paschal was purchased by the Boston Red Sox, with an option to keep him if he met certain playing expectations.〔 He appeared in nine games for the Red Sox; his first game brought three hits against pitcher José Acosta of the Washington Senators, and in total he batted .357 with five runs batted in (RBI), but the Red Sox believed he lacked fielding experience and he returned to Charlotte.〔〔 In August 1921, Paschal was sold to the Rochester Red Wings. However, while sliding in a match on August 20, 1921, he suffered a broken leg which sidelined him for the rest of the season and voided the contract with the Red Wings. He was hitting .317 at the time of the injury. In 1922, Paschal played in 142 games, hitting .326 with 18 home runs and improved these figures in 1923, achieving 200 hits, 22 triples and 26 home runs in 141 games for a batting average of .351, the fourth best in the league. Paschal began the 1924 season with the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association. He scored 136 runs, while batting .341 and stealing 24 bases.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ben Paschal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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