comfortable where he is (answered)

[Tavish]

Who is the only non-pitcher Hall of Fame player to only play one position his entire career?

[utterchaos]

Sparky Anderson spent his entire 152 game playing career at 2nd base.

[ukrneal]

But wasn't Sparky inducted as a manager? Not sure if that counts.

My immediate thought was Ozzie Smith. I can;t remember him ever moving, but he played so long, it's very possible he moved over for just one game. Anyway, he's my guess.<br><br><span class=gensmall>Accepted as answer by Tavish on Thu Jul 08, 2004 7:43 am EST.</span>

[Tavish]

*sigh* Teach me to not research something further. For some reason I thought Ozzie played some 2B in San Diego, but I was incorrect. Luis Aparicio is the other player.

[utterchaos]

Who is the only non-pitcher Hall of Fame player to only play one position his entire career?

There's no mention of non-managers in the original question so I think Sparky is a correct answer as well. Upon further research I also found the following:

Walt Alston - 1 game at 1B
Frank Baker - 1548 games at 3B
Roy Campanella - 1183 games at C
Bill Dickey - 1708 games at C
Rick Ferrell - 1806 games at C
Ray Schalk - 1727 games at C

Luis Aparicio - 2581 games at SS
Ozzie Smith - 2511 games at SS

The following guys probably played more than one outfield position but I don't know exactly because it wasn't broken down: Earl Averill (1589 games), Max Carey (2421), Earle Combs (1387), Enos Slaughter (2064), Duke Snider (1918), Casey Stengel (1183), and Zack Wheat (2337)

[ukrneal]

I interpreted the 'HOF player' to mean that only players inducted as a player were being considered. But I can see why there would be confusion on this. If Sparkey fits the asnwer, it should be credited as it was first.

As to other players
Snider: 1590 CF, 293 RF, 78 LF
Slaughter: 21CF, 1541RF, 513LF
Averill: 1476 CF, 31RF, 83LF
Carey: 1646CF, 145RF, 655LF
Combs: 1161CF, 37RF, 211LF
Stengel: 275CF, 901RF, 8LF
Wheat: 2328 LF, 5 - both CF and RF

I assume slight differences are due to playing two positions in one game.

[utterchaos]

I picked up on non-pitcher in the original question but overlooked Hall of Fame PLAYER. Ozzie should remain as the correct answer