The Yankee who won two rings by barely playing

Reggie Jackson won two championships as a member of the Yankees. He was named MVP of the 1977 World Series after his three-homer performance in the clinching Game Six win. He was no slouch the following year—when the Yankees won their second-straight—putting up an 1.196 OPS. He spent just five years with the team, but is a no-doubt Yankee legend, thanks in large part to his postseason performance.

Several other players also have two rings with the Yankees, including Johnny Hopp. If you can find the polar opposite of Jackson’s World Series performances, it’s probably Hopp’s. One is roughly a billion times more famous, yet both will go down as two-time champions with the Yankees.

Hopp first broke into the majors with the Cardinals in 1939. He played seven seasons in St. Louis, winning two World Series titles with them and finishing eighth in the 1941 MVP voting.

Before the 1946 season, he was traded to the Boston Braves, with whom Hopp made his first and only All-Star appearance. He spent just two years there, and was sent to the Pirates in a trade before 1948.

In 1949, Hopp’s career took a weird turn. In May of that year, the Pirates traded him to the Dodgers. He played eight games for them, and then the trade was voided and he returned to Pittsburgh. After all that, they kept him for not only the rest of that season, but most of the next one as well.

Late in the 1950 season, the Yankees acquired Hopp from the Pirates. He performed well down the stretch for them, going 9-for-27 in the 19 games he played for them in September. Once the World Series started, however, there wasn’t much playing time for him.

Hopp appeared in Game One as a defensive replacement at first base, playing the last two innings by not coming up to bat. In Game Two, he was used as a pinch-runner in the eighth inning of a tie game. The game went into extra innings and Hopp did end up getting an at-bat. However, it came after Joe DiMaggio had given the Yankees the lead with a home run. He made an out, and the Yankees held onto their lead for a win, making it an inconsequential at-bat.

His last action of the series came in Game Four. The Yankees had a 5-0 lead in the game, and a 3-0 lead in the series, and they were closing in on a championship. He again came in a defensive replacement at first base. He got a chance to bat in the eighth, and grounded out. The Yankees clinched the series an inning later. Hopp went 0-for-2 in the three games he played in the series.

He remained with the Yankees the following season, playing in 46 games an recording just 73 plate appearances. He was again included on their World Series roster, however.

The Yankees and Giants split the first two games before the series went to the Polo Grounds for Game Three.

The Giants jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the fifth inning. They were still down by that amount when Hopp was sent up to hit for the pitcher in the seventh inning. He walked, but was stranded as the Yankees eventually lost 6-2.

The Yankees rallied to win the series, reeling of three straight wins to clinch another World Series title. However, that walk was Hopp’s lone action of the 1951 World Series. In two years, Hopp won two rings by making three whole plate appearances. Considering that the walk doesn’t count, he has as many championships with the Yankees as he does World Series at-bats with them.

Hopp stayed with the Yankees for the 1952 season, but he was released in July. If they hadn’t, he might’ve stayed with the team as they won another World Series, where he would’ve played in like one game again, probably.

All historical box score and stats courtesy of Baseball Reference