Finding the most average hitter of all-time 

Just for FYI as a Worcester local, it is pronounced 'Wuss-ter' haha

No lie, if you told me "you're gonna be an average hitter and win 4 gold gloves in the MLB." I'd ask which family member you wanted me to sacrifice.

One thing nobody can take from the dead ball era. Best names in baseball history. Mordecai "three finger" Brown, Pud Galvin, Buttercup (as you mentioned). The nicknames were on point.

Orlando Hudson was one of those guys you want on your team. Not because he’ll lead the team in every category…but because he was a consistent, everyday player who you could count on to get the job done, day in and day out. I enjoyed the video, Good work!

I wonder how a team would do if they replaced all 9 hitters with Orlando Hudson. Over the course of a season, i am curious if being consistently average up and down the lineup will have better results than the typical great hitters at the top and struggling hitters at the bottom.

Of all the hitters to ever play baseball, he was certainly one of them.

That is honestly very impressive. He showed up, every time. Never really had an off day. You would know what to expect with him and trust him to be able to deliver. If that's not a great player, I don't know what is. Consistency is cash in professional sports.

i could always count on Orlando Hudson being a steady player in a not so great era for the twins. Loved the guy even if it was only for a season.

very interesting! hoping to see that Buttercup Dickenson video

Being league average (as you sort of pointed out) is still absolutely amazing. I have 3 cousins that played college ball (at various levels) and I highly doubt any of them would hit above .100… and they’re all (or were) really good at baseball. I sucked.

Another average trait of Hudson’s was his career arc. A gradual increase in his offensive numbers until a clear peak in his age 29-30 seasons, followed by a level decline to the end.

This might be my favorite baseball stat video of all time, thanks. Great work and keep it up.

Somebody needs to go on The Show and make an entire team of just Orlando Hudson and whoever are the most average pitchers are. Play a whole season with them!

This video is my introduction to your channel and you drop Arizona Diamondbacks legend The O Dog Orlando Hudson on me. You sir, just earned a sub

I love this video. Thanks for being creative with a topic that is just plain average. Keep up the fun videos.

Great video. It's easy to talk about the best, worst, or weirdest players in history. But it's good to take some time to remember the guys in the middle. The meat and potatoes, clock in and clock out players are the real glue that holds the game together.

A solid number 7 hitter in any batting lineup

Orlando was always a guy I'd have been okay with my team picking up. Solid bat but stellar glove. When the Ms had Jose Lopez at 2B, Orlando looked like a serious upgrade. Great video!

This is some high-quality RU-vid sports content. Well done!

there was Ozzie Smith which was quite average as a batter. He mostly stayed in the league as long as he did because he was such an amazing fielder. He is still one of the best defensive WAR averages of all time.

Nice vid, just subscribed! Keep up the work

This is excellent. I sincerely loved this video. So good. O man.

Random fun fact: My uncle was his accountant, I had his hat hanging above my childhood bed. O Dog as they called him

I knew I'd seen a video on the most consistently average hitter of all time - likely got buried in my saved videos - or so I thought. Until I reached the end and saw it already had a "like" from me. So, it was you! You mentioned being a Cardinals fan: that's my team. Recognized the names Willie McGee, Bernard Gilkey, Gary Gaetti, Brian Jordan. Ah, but Orlando Hudson won't be forgotten! You have designated him as the most consistently average hitter in Major League history. Some may talk of mediocrity, but Mr. Hudson played at the highest level for over a decade - qualifying for Hall of Fame consideration. And he was better than 99% of we dreamers who wish we could have competed at that level. Thanks for reminding me of this now-treasured piece of trivia. I'm going to do something with it.

You have to be a hell of a ball player to be league average in MLB for 10 years. Also, to be a league average hitter at 2B is impressive. It would have made him one of the better second baseman at the plate. I bet he has a bunch of offensive WAR. Edit: he does. He's got 21.3 career oWAR and 30.9 total WAR in an 11 year career. That's very good; a long career at that pace might get you into Cooperstown if you have some playoff highlights _(the average HoF 2B has a little over 60 career WAR, but there are plenty in there with less)._ Sadly, and perhaps fittingly, his career was of a more...average length.

I don't know why but my first thought was Orlando Hudson before you even announced it. Wild!

The hitter of all time 🔥🔥🔥

Someone did this for current players a couple years ago, it was Marcus Semian, he then went on to finish top 5 in MVP

What a perfect niche video. Subscribed.

GREAT content my man! You'll hit 1k and monetize soon. Took me a year, I'm sure you'll make it very soon. Well done.

Duuuuude great content!!!!

Devon White was the first name I thought of. I remember him just always being ok offensively. Defense was another matter, he was a tremendous outfielder. Another few I thought of were more role players like Luis Sojo, but that may be me remembering him just how he was as a Yankee, he may have been worse with other teams, or better. Another I just randomly thought of was Luis Polonia. Perhaps because I had just thought of Luis Sojo.

Eric Karros is first came to my mind, .268 avg, .779 0PS.

The Hockey News did an item about that once, looking for the most average NHL players in the league at that time, one forward, one defenceman, and one goaltender. I forget the forward and defencemen, both of whom said they were glad to be good enough to stay in the league for a long time. The goaltender, Brian Hayward, was not happy at all (which is why I remember his name). I'd be curious to know how Hudson feels, if he takes it as a compliment or an insult.

I thought for sure it was gonna be JT Snow. Then I saw his 2004 146 OPS+

This rules and so does Hudson. Great work.

Torii Hunter. He was obviously one of the best defensive OF of all time(if not the best) but he was also a shockingly consistently pretty good hitter. Death, taxes, and Torii Hunter was gonna hit .270-.280 every year.

Mike yaz comes to mind when thinking of average

Kenny lofton deserves HoF status

you mentioning buttercup dickerson right after buttercup dickerson hit a double against me in ootp was just the most wild timing

This video is so good and so underrated

Great video!

Brandon Belt comes to mind for current players

Glad to know you're a Cardinals fan!!

Now we have to see a video of Buttercup Dickerson. You opened up a can of worms on that

Hudson was a 2 time All-Star and 4 time Gold Glover, so I’m saying you need to look again. Rick Miller was more your guy, only “blemish” is a single Gold Glove award.

Awesome video.

I’m an AL fan from Cleveland. Never even knew Hudson existed. It’s crazy, even with inter league I don’t follow NL baseball.

Loved this!

Coaches and GMs love consistency like this. Half as good as this.

Fun video. You said he was the most "consistently average" hitter of all time. It would be interesting to see an analysis of the most consistent hitters; the hitters that pretty much performed exactly as you would expect, time and again. No big ups or downs. And then who was the best of that bunch.

Baseball reference is now showing this guy after just typing “orl”, for an average hitter he still got paid a bit above 30million dollars

275 leauge average is higher than the steroid era. 250 is a little closer

As a casual baseball fan who listens to occasional Dodgers games on the radio and watches some video highlights, I find it curious that I recall all of these player's names except Buttercup Dickerson & Buddy Myer, the only two old-timey players mentioned.

Wow. I forgot that O-Hud was a Twin!

David Murphy is who I think of being a solid average player

"How would you describe Orlando Hudson as a hitter?" "Yeah."

My mind went to JP Crawford immediately lol

I am getting a camp hope vid from the ad playing.

Good shit man

This is the most average video I've seen on YT. lol I really enjoyed it.

Hudson was a deadly fielder and baserunner though, so even though he was the epitome of an average hitter, that was totally okay, because he made up for it in spades when he was on base and when he was fielding.

Great video

FYI worcester is weirdly pronounced "wuster"

great video I sub

I thought of guys like Mark Grudzielanek as a cardinals fan. I would be intruiged to hear the answer to this for pitchers.

I think Mitch Moreland is good nominee too. Career 102 ops+. 12 years, ~1000 career hits. One all star.

I have a topic for you. Great video first off. Second, I've been hoping to find a video on the worst player with the longest career. Not a guy who has 50 at bats and fizzles out but the guy who played 15 or so seasons(somehow) and got consistent playing time (somehow)

Jose Cruz (1970-1988) was a little above average, but nobody remembers him. He hit to make contact. Could steal. Smart runner, scored runs. Had a little pop in his bat. Rarely grounded into double plays. Good eyes: walked a fair amount and didn't strike out a lot. Had a bit of clutch and drove in runs. Hustled on defense.

An Orlando Hudson Blue Jays jersey was the first Jersey I ever bought! Still have it.

Somewhat related: I recently, mere days before this video dropped, accidentally stumbled upon the most average PITCHER perhaps ever. Jeff Fassero.

Buttercup...lol Love it.

My Man Christopher Morel

Even insinuating Kenny Lofton, a borderline hall of famer, was "average" caused my blood pressure to go up a few ticks as soon as I saw him on there lol Only 6 of his 17 seasons were below 100 OPS+, and those were his rookie season and several of his past-prime seasons. Dude was 15th all time in terms of stolen bases, and he was a great defender at a premium defensive position in centerfield to boot meaning he gets a bit more leeway as a hitter. He was borderline- a great many things, average was not one of them. Speaking of defense, I agree Orlando Hudson definitely justified his decade long career with it, hell the only black ink on his baseball reference page is in defensive WAR in 2004. Which *wasn't* one of his 4 gold glove seasons. Not the kind of guy you would ever expect to see in Cooperstown, but the kind of guy any championship-caliber team would absolutely not complain about having as their 6 or 7 hitter or even as a decent OBP leadoff guy some days to also have fielding the 4 spot. And if he had won a championship I'm sure fans of that team would still bring his name up fondly in conversation. Like you said, being a league average hitter consistently isn't a bad thing, you're better than half the league comprised of the lions share of the greatest players of the sport on earth. It's something worth celebrating in and of itself.

It's amazing that McGee and Lofton's career ops+ is average. They were great players so I guess their non-prime years brought that stat down.

I saw the title and immediately thought of Chris Sabo and Mookie Wilson, for what it's worth.

Cool. I liked that.

For a video honoring the Most Average Hitter of All-Time, you should have mixed in some video clips of him hitting into routine groundouts and popups along with the hits he got!

I'll give you one better: Terrence Long. Played for 7.5 years with 5 teams from 99 to 06. Dude played for an average amount of teams in an average amount of years

Orlando Hudson: Bottom Text

O-Dawg was one of my favorite players.

I have an Orlando Hudson pennant on my bedroom wall because it’s my last name on my favorite team lol

Great video you should make a video on brandon phillips idc you can make it about good fielders and just talk about phillips ive asked the big guys they never see it ptobably at least youll look so i figure ill ask

Were any of the other players on your results list that you didn't mention pretty close to Hudson?

Derek Bell

Nicely done! During Orlando's "average" career....he made over $30 million. Not bad, but is that average too? LOL

I just immediately thought Jon Jay.

Even if he were a perfectly average defensive second baseman, his league average hitting would be very valuable (around 20 offensive WAR for his career). And his consistent averageness was enough to earn him $5 million a year.

Milton Bradley comes to mind when I think of Average career players

Idk man, a .273 lifetime BA seems slightly above average to me 🤷 but maybe that's just because now in the three true outcome era the average batting average is probably lower than it was in Hudson's day

O-Dog was a helluva 2B I wish he played longer

I'd take a Gold Glove second baseman who is consistently average at the plate. That's a valuable player.

.273 is a GREAT batting average nowadays!

This is my kind of video 👍

You faked me out. You started the video with an extened cut of JP Crawford(Mariners) and I thought that was where you going to go. Another guy with a good glove and a completely average bat.

Move over Mendoza have you crossed the Hudson?

I was really hoping this was gonna be like Nick Punto

The impressive thing about being the most average hitter is that you'd still be better than half the players who ever made it to the majors.

This title screams Nick Markakis all over it

1:54 and absolutely should be in the Hall