Despite a short career due to a mishap in judgment of the Dodger manger that lead to a rash decision, Arky Vaughan was no doubt one of the best hitting shortstops ever. He appeared on 9 straight all-star teams from the mid-1930’s to the early 1940’s. He was a good built young ball player standing at 5 foot 10, 175 pounds when he entered the league at 20 years old in 1932; he hit .318 in 129 games that season. Even though Arky was clearly a legendary hitter in his short career, he did not receive many votes for the Hall, so when it came to the Veteran’s Committee in 1985, the voters decided to honor Vaughan’s 9 terrific seasons in his prime. The gifted hitting Hall of Fame shortstop was also a good college educated man, and is famously known for taking Pee Wee Reese’s spot at shortstop for one season in 1943.
For a few years here and there Arky was occasionally in the MVP race, as he put together 9 seasons in a row from 1932-1941 when he averaged to hit .325 in 145 games with 96 runs and 177 hits. Arky was a true contact hitter, and focus was on getting on base then scoring, so he rarely ever drove in many runs or had more than 10 homers. However, he still managed to produce a career slugging percentage of .453, which was helped significantly by collecting over 100 triples in his major league campaign. Despite him being a stellar man at the plate, a shortstop’s main role is to be a leader with the glove.
Vaughan wasn’t necessarily special on defense, but he was productive enough to be considered a top starting shortstop. Arky may have led shortstops in errors committed 3 times and had a range factor below league average, but he had a great arm with good instincts. 3 seasons of his at short, consisted of leading all shortstops in assists and putouts, while also being top 4 in fielding percentage. All in all, Vaughan was a great shortstop, with the glove and bat.
It was a good thing that he became a baseball star for some time in Pittsburgh because when he arrived to Brooklyn after being traded, he got wrapped up in a dispute over the Dodgers manager, which essentially ended his career. And just 2 years after his retirement, he died in a drowning from falling off a boat in a frozen river. He was forgotten for decades by history, but after the emergence of Bill James’ Sabermetrics in the 80’s, Arky Vaughan was again brought to life, as he is credited with miraculous advanced stats. Arky was one of the most underrated players in baseball history with a career WAR (how many wins a player was worth a season) of 5 (well above league average). The former legendary Pirate hitter, contributed to his team(s) like a Hall of Famer would.
