Denny Doyle

Who is Denny Doyle?

Robert Dennis "Denny" Doyle is a former Major League Baseball second baseman who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, California Angels and Boston Red Sox. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was considered a good-fielding second baseman but a weak hitter, finishing with a career batting average of .250 and 16 home runs. Doyle enjoyed his best season in 1975, when after being traded from the Angels to the Red Sox in June, he batted .310 in 89 games for the Red Sox, including a league-best 22 game hit streak. He was the starting second baseman for the Red Sox in the 1975 American League Championship Series and World Series.

Doyle has the distinction of having the only hit in three one-hitters in his career, getting the only hit, a lead-off single in the first inning, against Nolan Ryan of the New York Mets on April 18, 1970, and hitting a two-run home run in a game versus the Cincinnati Reds pitched by Gary Nolan on May 24, 1971. Then, on July 18, 1972, against the San Diego Padres, Doyle broke up Steve Arlin's bid for a no-hitter by singling with two out in the ninth inning. Padres manager Don Zimmer pulled in his third baseman to guard against the possible bunt.