All Things Immaculate Grid-related (MLB, NBA, NFL)

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The next installment of "Holy Hell, I didn't know/don't remember that he played for that franchise!" is the Pittsburgh Pirates. Viewing the yearly rosters of the Pirates was a fascinating exercise in seeing the correlation of a strong farm system leading to success at the MLB level contrasted with the reliance of established veterans past their primes often equated to miserable seasons. And let me tell you, the Pirates farm system was cooking through the '60s and '70s--a few names will pop up in the Top 10 but there are several homegrown products who lead to a model franchise until they weren't.

1. Willie Randolph-A brief cup of coffee in 1975 as a 20 year old before being shuttled over to the Yankees in a package for Doc Medich, where he settled in for thirteen years and five All-Star games through the rest of the '70s and most of the '80s.

2. Tony Armas-His cup of coffee came a year later, in 1976 as a 22 year old for four games, before being included in a deal to Oakland (with Doc Medich!) that brought back Phil Garner who would be the stalwart 2B for the "We Are Family" championship Pirates of 1979.

3. Wilbur Wood-The last on this Top 10 list of those who emerged later in their career as an All-Star. Wood was with the Pirates in 1964-65 before being traded to the White Sox where he was the staff ace through much of the '70s. (730 innings pitched across 1972 and 1973!)

4. Jim Bunning-The future HOF who established that resume with the Tigers and Phillies was towards the tail end of his career when at ages 36 and 37 he was a rotation member in 1968-69.

5. "Sudden" Sam McDowell-One of my favorite baseball nicknames, great arms, and cautionary tales spent his last season with the Pirates in 1975 at the age of 32 when he was released after 14 fairly effective games. By that time (according to his SABR profile) he had become such a raging alcoholic that he was blacklisted by the entirety of MLB. The good news is that he got clean a few years after banishment from MLB and went on to work several years within baseball assisting other players struggling with addiction issues.

6. Amos Otis-A cornerstone of those great Royals teams from the '70s and '80s wound up his career as a Pirate in 1984 at age 37 with a .165 average over 40 games before being released in August.

7. Kirk Gibson-His days of Tiger greatness and World Series legend were in the rearview by the time he made it to the Pirates in 1992 at age 35. He was released in May after 16 games with a .196 average, but he did bounce back to play three more seasons with the Tigers as a fairly effective reserve outfielder.

8. Lonnie Smith-"Skates" matriculated to the Pirates in 1993 after being a savior to the Twins in the '91 World Series :). By this time, he was 37 years old and almost done as a big leaguer; he was traded after 94 games to Baltimore in August, where he had one more season in him.

9. Lance Parrish-Another legendary Tiger of the '80s found himself on the back side of his career in Pittsburgh during the '90s, specifically 1994 where he was a back-up for 40 games.

10. Kenny Lofton-The point guard from Arizona had a great and well-traveled baseball career that included 84 games in 2003 at the age of 36 in Pittsburgh before he was shuttled over to the Cubs and on the cusp of a World Series appearance before Bartman happened. (which is incredibly unfair to Bartman, I know).

Honorable mention: Bo Belinsky, Mudcat Grant, George Hendrick, Steve Kemp, Freddie Patek

Local Team Angle: Houston Jimenez-The Twins answer to Mario Mendoza and inexplicable favorite of mine through the 1983 and 1984 seasons emerged back in MLB three seasons later to play 5 games with the Pirates in the year of the Twins first World Championship.
 

A day late on the Twins Alert for the Grid. An assist from Coolhand on the Mudcat cube to secure Overall Single Digit Rarity.

Dodgers - John Candelaria / 0.5%
Pirates - Mudcat Grant / 1%
All Star - Butch Wynegar / 0.6%

Other category were Browns-Orioles & 2000 hits for which I used:

Jesse Orosco
Lee Lacy
Satchel Paige

Frank Robinson
Lloyd Waner
Gary Gaetti

Lacy was the highest score, 3%.
 

Perfect September down the toilet today with the bleepin' Rockies/CF cube.

I figured HoFer Todd Helton had to be there at least once. Really dumb in hindsight, because after being brought up for cups of coffee in parts of 2 seasons, by the time he cracked the Colorado lineup for good, he was basically an exclusive 1Ber.

No idea why I didn't just go with Ellis Burks. I had a gut feeling Denny Hocking would have worked, which turns out true.
 
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Ope3 said:
Perfect September down the toilet today with the bleepin' Rockies/CF cube.

I figured HoFer Todd Helton had to be there at least once. Really dumb in hindsight, because after being brought up for cups of coffee in parts of 2 seasons, by the time he cracked the Colorado lineup for good, he was basically an exclusive 1Ber.

No idea why I didn't just go with Ellis Burks. I had a gut feeling Denny Hocking would have worked, which turns out true.
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Denny Hocking was my savior for that cube, especially since the other guy I could think of (Juan Pierre) was utilized for the Sox/Rockies cube.

I think my next "Holy Hell. . ." will be dedicated to you and your personal kryponite, the Rockies. Not sure when I'll crank it out, but I'll make it my mission to do so before October starts.
 

coolhandgopher said:
Denny Hocking was my savior for that cube, especially since the other guy I could think of (Juan Pierre) was utilized for the Sox/Rockies cube.

I think my next "Holy Hell. . ." will be dedicated to you and your personal kryponite, the Rockies. Not sure when I'll crank it out, but I'll make it my mission to do so before October starts.
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It's crazy to think, as a kid from playing Strat-O-Matic, pouring over daily box scores in the newspaper and baseball card collecting, I could have rattled off every team's current CFer in a heartbeat.

Today despite a plethora of televised games and the Twins playing every NL team, I think would struggle to name 6 current Center Fielders.
 


After having the Perfect September busted up yesterday I am now riding a 2 Day slump having been foiled by Reds/Rays.

I think I have made this same mistake before. Josh Hamilton while the #1 Draft Pick Overall with Tampa who was signed and in their farm system, never as much made it to the Show with the Rays due to his addiction issues.
 

Ope3 said:
After having the Perfect September busted up yesterday I am now riding a 2 Day slump having been foiled by Reds/Rays.

I think I have made this same mistake before. Josh Hamilton while the #1 Draft Pick Overall with Tampa who was signed and in their farm system, never as much made it to the Show with the Rays due to his addiction issues.
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I struggle with the Rays, Jags and Magic. Expansion into north/central Florida has been no good for me.
 

Ope3 said:
After having the Perfect September busted up yesterday I am now riding a 2 Day slump having been foiled by Reds/Rays.

I think I have made this same mistake before. Josh Hamilton while the #1 Draft Pick Overall with Tampa who was signed and in their farm system, never as much made it to the Show with the Rays due to his addiction issues.
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I'm sliding at the end of this month like the hometown team. Missed on two blocks with the Rays today--Reds and Nationals/Expos.
 




coolhandgopher said:
I'm sliding at the end of this month like the hometown team. Missed on two blocks with the Rays today--Reds and Nationals/Expos.
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Rays-Nat/Expos I had Denard Span. Nellie Cruz would work too.

Rays-Mets I used Doc Gooden in case you want to notate for your Devil Rays expose.
 

Ope3 said:
Rays-Nat/Expos I had Denard Span. Nellie Cruz would work too.

Rays-Mets I used Doc Gooden in case you want to notate for your Devil Rays expose.
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I used Doc too. I actually went back and forth in my mind, talking myself out of it because he was from Tampa, then said screw it and gave it a shot, as I wasn't getting the Reds/Rays box anyway.
 

Ope3 said:
Rays-Nat/Expos I had Denard Span. Nellie Cruz would work too.

Rays-Mets I used Doc Gooden in case you want to notate for your Devil Rays expose.
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For some reason, I was convinced Vince Coleman had a twilight appearance with the Rays which was not accurate. When I turn my attention to the Rays, I have a feeling it's going to be a grand tour of '80s luminaries (including Doc). Like a Stones tour, but with much less zest than Jagger.
 

Alright, I made a promise to have this happen before October and with that month on the doorstep, it's happening today. . ."Holy Hell, I didn't know/don't remember that he played for that franchise!" for the Colorado Rockies. I will note, since the Rockies debuted in 1993, I extended the window of consideration to 2013, to give the franchise a solid 20 years. And I needed it--this will likely be the only franchise (I think) where there's not a HOF'er among the Top 10:

#1. Dale Murphy-If there was one year that I remember about the Rockies, it was 1993, their debut season-Galarraga, Bichette, Castilla putting up softball like scores in the Mile High City. But I don't remember Murphy and that's for good reason--his final season at the age of 37 consisted of 26 games and a .143 average.

#2. Bruce Hurst-Murphy was long gone by the time Hurst was traded over to the Rockies by the Padres in late July of 1993, but his season had a similar arc to Murphy's as he appeared in 3 games for Colorado with a 5.19 ERA. Unlike Murphy, he stuck around for one more ill-advised season with the (go figure) Rangers.

#3. Bret Saberhagen-Sabes was traded from the Mets in late July 1995 as the Rockies were making a playoffs push in season 3, but his stint with the Rockies was brief and injury marked, with a 2-1 record and 6.28 ERA in nine starts down the stretch. He missed the entirety of the 1996 season and most of 1997 due to rotator cuff surgery before having a mini-resurrection with the Red Sox in '98 and '99.

#4. Ron Gant-Kent Hrbek's World Series foil was ten years removed from that infamous event when we joined the Rockies at the age of 36 in 2001. He gave the Rockies decent production in a half-season before being shuttled off to the Athletics for a playoff push.

#5. Greg Vaughn-Ohh, what the powerful Vaughn could have done in Coors Field ten years earlier than 2003, when they signed him before the season at the age of 37. As it was, he played 22 games with the Rockies before being granted free agency in July, but the Rockies were his last MLB outpost.

#6. Jeromy Burnitz-In contrast, Burnitz's career was re-lit by his one season in Colorado in 2004 at the age of 35, when he hit 37 HR's, 110 RBI's and had a OPS+ of 121. He parlayed that rejuvenation into two more years and 10.5 million dollars earned in '05 and '06 with teams other than the Rockies, with production on a much lesser scale.

#7. Jason Giambi-After being release by the Athletics in 2009 on his second go-round with Oakland he stuck with Colorado from 2009 to 2012, ages 38-41, serving mostly as a utility infielder and amazingly not capping his career with the Rockies--I'm pretty sure you'll be seeing him again.

#8. Melvin Mora-The ace utility man for the Orioles through the entirety of the 'Aughts signed with the Rockies in 2010 for one season at age 38 in which he produced a pretty decent season (OPS+ of 98) before ending his career the next season with the even younger expansion era Arizona Diamondbacks--come to think of it, you might see Mora again too.

#9. Jamie Moyer-At age 49, after sitting out the previous season with Tommy John surgery, Moyer was signed by the Rockies and appeared in 10 games with a 5.70 ERA before being released in early June. He was signed and released by the Orioles and Blue Jays before ever appearing in games with them, so the Rockies are the last team of record for the venerable starting pitcher.

#10. Roy Oswalt-I might have been as surprised by seeing Oswalt's name in this twenty year span as any player on the list, but by the time he made it to the Rockies in 2013 at the age of 35, he was a shell of the electric pitcher that came up for the Astros twelve years earlier. During 2013, he signed a minor league contract in May, was brought up in June, and proceeded to pitch 9 games, with a 0-6 record and 8.63 ERA to quietly cap his career.

Honorable Mentions: Todd Zeile, Charles Johnson, Sandy Alomar Jr, Livan Hernandez, Kevin Millwood

Local Team Angle: I have to think this had a lot to do with Bob Gebhard's influence, but the following Minnesota prep/college products all played with the Rockies: Mike Kingery (Atwater), Brian Raabe (New Ulm and the U of M), Michael Restovich (Rochester) and Denny Neagle (U of M).
 



coolhandgopher said:
Alright, I made a promise to have this happen before October and with that month on the doorstep, it's happening today. . ."Holy Hell, I didn't know/don't remember that he played for that franchise!" for the Colorado Rockies. I will note, since the Rockies debuted in 1993, I extended the window of consideration to 2013, to give the franchise a solid 20 years. And I needed it--this will likely be the only franchise (I think) where there's not a HOF'er among the Top 10:

#1. Dale Murphy-If there was one year that I remember about the Rockies, it was 1993, their debut season-Galarraga, Bichette, Castilla putting up softball like scores in the Mile High City. But I don't remember Murphy and that's for good reason--his final season at the age of 37 consisted of 26 games and a .143 average.

#2. Bruce Hurst-Murphy was long gone by the time Hurst was traded over to the Rockies by the Padres in late July of 1993, but his season had a similar arc to Murphy's as he appeared in 3 games for Colorado with a 5.19 ERA. Unlike Murphy, he stuck around for one more ill-advised season with the (go figure) Rangers.

#3. Bret Saberhagen-Sabes was traded from the Mets in late July 1995 as the Rockies were making a playoffs push in season 3, but his stint with the Rockies was brief and injury marked, with a 2-1 record and 6.28 ERA in nine starts down the stretch. He missed the entirety of the 1996 season and most of 1997 due to rotator cuff surgery before having a mini-resurrection with the Red Sox in '98 and '99.

#4. Ron Gant-Kent Hrbek's World Series foil was ten years removed from that infamous event when we joined the Rockies at the age of 36 in 2001. He gave the Rockies decent production in a half-season before being shuttled off to the Athletics for a playoff push.

#5. Greg Vaughn-Ohh, what the powerful Vaughn could have done in Coors Field ten years earlier than 2003, when they signed him before the season at the age of 37. As it was, he played 22 games with the Rockies before being granted free agency in July, but the Rockies were his last MLB outpost.

#6. Jeromy Burnitz-In contrast, Burnitz's career was re-lit by his one season in Colorado in 2004 at the age of 35, when he hit 37 HR's, 110 RBI's and had a OPS+ of 121. He parlayed that rejuvenation into two more years and 10.5 million dollars earned in '05 and '06 with teams other than the Rockies, with production on a much lesser scale.

#7. Jason Giambi-After being release by the Athletics in 2009 on his second go-round with Oakland he stuck with Colorado from 2009 to 2012, ages 38-41, serving mostly as a utility infielder and amazingly not capping his career with the Rockies--I'm pretty sure you'll be seeing him again.

#8. Melvin Mora-The ace utility man for the Orioles through the entirety of the 'Aughts signed with the Rockies in 2010 for one season at age 38 in which he produced a pretty decent season (OPS+ of 98) before ending his career the next season with the even younger expansion era Arizona Diamondbacks--come to think of it, you might see Mora again too.

#9. Jamie Moyer-At age 49, after sitting out the previous season with Tommy John surgery, Moyer was signed by the Rockies and appeared in 10 games with a 5.70 ERA before being released in early June. He was signed and released by the Orioles and Blue Jays before ever appearing in games with them, so the Rockies are the last team of record for the venerable starting pitcher.

#10. Roy Oswalt-I might have been as surprised by seeing Oswalt's name in this twenty year span as any player on the list, but by the time he made it to the Rockies in 2013 at the age of 35, he was a shell of the electric pitcher that came up for the Astros twelve years earlier. During 2013, he signed a minor league contract in May, was brought up in June, and proceeded to pitch 9 games, with a 0-6 record and 8.63 ERA to quietly cap his career.

Honorable Mentions: Todd Zeile, Charles Johnson, Sandy Alomar Jr, Livan Hernandez, Kevin Millwood

Local Team Angle: I have to think this had a lot to do with Bob Gebhard's influence, but the following Minnesota prep/college products all played with the Rockies: Mike Kingery (Atwater), Brian Raabe (New Ulm and the U of M), Michael Restovich (Rochester) and Denny Neagle (U of M).
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Serious question, if I may -

How old are you?
Your player knowledge/research skills are equate and I am humbled by them.
 

Thanks for the kind words NYC. I'm 52 years old. It's a combinaton of:
1) Baseball Reference & SABR Project providing great research tools
2) A life-long love for the minutia of sports and prioritizing that minutia over more important things :)
3) As prog-rock progenitors Styx proclaimed, "Too Much Time on My Hands"

To point #3, I moved overseas sixteen years ago and in my various outposts, it's often been an exercise in frustration (and endless pop-up adds) to watch live sports and even when I could, I've moved past the point in my life that I'm staying awake until 2:00 AM to watch the end of the Vikings game. Instead, I watch highlights, read the boards, but I still have my "sports energy" which gets directed this way. . .and towards movies and music. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be diving down these rabbit holes if I was watching NFL, NBA, MLB and the Gophers on the regular.
 

The dreaded Snakes were on the Grid, pretty much forced to use the most popular answer in the Cards cube (56%) it was time seek out the highest Rarity Score while still going 9 for 9.

I hit all 9 most popular responses to hit a gaudy Rarity Score of 340. I have only tried this about a half dozen times, but I think the best I had done was 7 for 9.

Lowest totals were A's/2000 Ks (22%) and MVP/100 Run Season (7%).
 

Ope3 said:
The dreaded Snakes were on the Grid, pretty much forced to use the most popular answer in the Cards cube (56%) it was time seek out the highest Rarity Score while still going 9 for 9.

I hit all 9 most popular responses to hit a gaudy Rarity Score of 340. I have only tried this about a half dozen times, but I think the best I had done was 7 for 9.

Lowest totals were A's/2000 Ks (22%) and MVP/100 Run Season (7%).
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Impressive-I took a look at that final board and that’s no easy feat to get 9/9.
 

coolhandgopher said:
Impressive-I took a look at that final board and that’s no easy feat to get 9/9.
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Thanks, the A's there were essentially 3 choices in my mind. The MVP/Runs was just an educated guess, at 7% I am guessing there are few others pretty close.
 

Twins Alert on the Grid, opposite of yesterday I was successful in Single Digit Rarity, 8% total.

Phils - Ed Delahanty / 0.5%
HoF - Joe Cronin / 0.8%
1st Rd - Gregg Olson / 0.2%
 

Ope3 said:
Twins Alert on the Grid, opposite of yesterday I was successful in Single Digit Rarity, 8% total.

Phils - Ed Delahanty / 0.5%
HoF - Joe Cronin / 0.8%
1st Rd - Gregg Olson / 0.2%
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I stuck with only Twins and didn’t get nearly the sparkling score you did Ope:
Phils: Jim Eisenreich (3%)
HOF’er: Jim Kaat (4%)
1st Round: Tim Belcher (.2%)

I had a lot of bitterness in my heart towards Belcher as a 10 year old fanatic, not able to comprehend why he wouldn’t sign as the overall #1 pick with the hometown team.
 

My perfect October nearly got clipped today by the dreaded Marlins (w/Reds) square, but I was able to stay alive by practicing (Edgar) Renteria. I think it's time for another "Holy Hell, I didn't know/don't remember that he played for that franchise!" with the Colt .45's/Astros on the docket today. This was a really fun franchise to go through--a great combination of washed up superstars alongside young pups who turned into dawgs at later stops in their career. Let's get on with it:

#1. Nellie Fox-He built his HOF resume with the White Sox throughout the '50s, but in 1964 he was shuttled off to Houston for some spare parts at the age of 36, following his final All-Star appearance the previous year. He started most of the games in '64, but in 1965 he appeared in only 21 games as he was replaced by another future HOF'er in Joe Morgan at second base. Sadly, Fox succumbed to lymphatic cancer only ten years later at the age of 47.

#2. Robin Roberts-As Nellie left the active roster for the 'Stros, Roberts joined the team in 1965 in early August after having been released by the Orioles. For ten starts down the stretch, Roberts rekindled the old magic--he finished the season at 5-2 with a 1.89 ERA and an ERA+ of 177 (which would have been the best season of his HOF career). Age (39) and more significantly, elbow problems caught up with him in 1966 and while he pitched fairly effectively, he was released on July 4 in what would be his final season (but not his final season-I'm sure you'll see Roberts again later).

#3. Eddie Mathews-Our final Hall of Famer in this trio, Mathews made his way to Houston in 1967 via a trade with the Braves on New Year's Eve, 1966. Mathews wasn't what he used to be when batting behind Hammerin' Hank, but he put together a decent enough year to be traded to the Tigers for the stretch run of 1967 and the pennant race.

#4. Nate Colbert-This might seem quite a fall off from the first three on the list, but Colbert was the main thumper in the expansion Padres lineup through the early '70s, earning 3 All Star appearances. Colbert made it to San Diego from Houston via the expansion draft and immediately plugged in as the Friars first baseman for the next six seasons. His time in Houston was brief-39 games total and 60 at-bats over the years of 1966 and 1968 when he was 20 and 22 years old.

#5. John Mayberry-Another slugging first baseman who found success almost immediately after leaving Houston, Mayberry spent three partial seasons with the Astros from 1968 to 1971 before getting traded to the Royals at age 23 and immediately anchoring the lineup for the next six seasons.

#6. Davey Lopes-Garvey, Lopes, Russell, and Cey--that quartet was burnished in my mind when I was a kid as the gold standard of infields in MLB. It's pretty wild to see that Lopes didn't become a regular until age 28 and from that time was the Dodgers second-sacker for nine straight seasons and four All-Star appearances. By the time he made it to Houston, it was 1986 and he was 41 years old, where he finished off his career in 1987.

#7. Buddy Bell-Another slick fielding infielder who (in my head) stood in the way of John Castino earning his deserved Gold Glove at 3B, Bell joined the Astros in 1988 at age 36, acquired from the Reds in June. He finished off the season decently and then headed to that other Texas team in Arlington to cap his playing career in 1989.

#8. Kenny Lofton-I do believe Lofton is the first player to appear twice in this scattershot series, having represented the Pirates towards the twilight of his career. For the Astros, it was the opposite-he appeared in 20 games in 1991 and was traded in the off-season (for Willie Blair and Ed Taubensee) to Cleveland where he immediately settled in as the dangerous lead-off hitter of those absurd lineups through the rest of the '90s. You think the Astros might want to have a do over on that one?

#9. Curt Schilling-Schilling was a piece of the ill-advised trade for the Orioles, where they received Glenn Davis for Steve Finley, Pete Harnisch, and Schilling. Unfortunately for the Astros, they didn't reap the benefits of the big game pitcher who emerged for the Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Red Sox. He pitched one season in Houston, mostly out of the bullpen and then traded to the Phillies for Jason Grimsley--who never pitched for the Astros. Starting to see that a potentially dynastic team (with Bagwell, Biggio, Luis Gonzalez and other pieces) was missed on by the Astros in the early/mid '90s.

#10. Dwight Gooden-Houston has had its fair share of intimidating, flame throwing starting pitchers--Nolan Ryan, J.R. Richard, Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt, Gerrit Cole, and . . .Doc? At age 35, in his final season in 2000, Gooden started one game and gave up 4 runs in 4 innings. His contract was purchased by the Devil Rays and after being waived later in the season, he finished his career back in New York with the Yankees.

Honorable Mentions: Jim Bouton; Don Sutton; Omar Moreno; Bobby Abreau; Tony Pena; Sid Fernandez; and Randy Johnson

Local Team Angle: Two years removed from the World Series title and one year removed from having his ass handed to him by the Dazzle Man on Gladden's front yard, Steve Lombardozzi surfaced with the Astros for 29 games. It seems that year Houston was a way station for bit players from the '87 Champs, as Mark Davidson and Mark Portugal were also on that team.
 

coolhandgopher said:
My perfect October nearly got clipped today by the dreaded Marlins (w/Reds) square, but I was able to stay alive by practicing (Edgar) Renteria.
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I skated because for whatever reason I remembered that Dontrelle Willis ended as a Red. Probably just from Grid experience. Can't say I recall is tenure in Cincy at all.
 

coolhandgopher said:
Thanks for the kind words NYC. I'm 52 years old. It's a combinaton of:
1) Baseball Reference & SABR Project providing great research tools
2) A life-long love for the minutia of sports and prioritizing that minutia over more important things :)
3) As prog-rock progenitors Styx proclaimed, "Too Much Time on My Hands"

To point #3, I moved overseas sixteen years ago and in my various outposts, it's often been an exercise in frustration (and endless pop-up adds) to watch live sports and even when I could, I've moved past the point in my life that I'm staying awake until 2:00 AM to watch the end of the Vikings game. Instead, I watch highlights, read the boards, but I still have my "sports energy" which gets directed this way. . .and towards movies and music. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be diving down these rabbit holes if I was watching NFL, NBA, MLB and the Gophers on the regular.
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Thanks for your thoughtful response/bio, sorry for my delayed reply and bonus grid points for a Styx reference, always thought they were undervalued.

I’m not as sharp as you are @Ope3 regarding players histories, and wish I was, as the Jeff Reboulet/Bombo Rivera’s of the sports world have always fascinated me; they sometimes have the best names as well🤠, in addition to the value they provide as role players/bench guys.

Do you like living abroad? Any challenges with healthcare ? Harder to vote?

I ask, as I’ve contemplated that as a possible track for myself, if I can get my health to a more stable position over the next year or two. Any thoughts you can share would be welcomed/appreciated.
 
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coolhandgopher said:
I stuck with only Twins and didn’t get nearly the sparkling score you did Ope:
Phils: Jim Eisenreich (3%)
HOF’er: Jim Kaat (4%)
1st Round: Tim Belcher (.2%)

I had a lot of bitterness in my heart towards Belcher as a 10 year old fanatic, not able to comprehend why he wouldn’t sign as the overall #1 pick with the hometown team.
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Your Belcher pick was a revelation to me because I thought he #1 pick had to actually play a game for the team that drafted him. They actually only need to make it to the Majors to qualify.

I'm curious about your Rangers picks today. I had to go with Gaylord (9%) in the Padres combo. I get stuck on that one for some reason, can't go beyond him Kevin Brown & Ken Caminiti. Others I used were Frank Tanana/Halos (2%) and Le Grande Orange/.300 season (0.2%).

I thought Staub's stay in Arlington was longer, just the one season (1980), and he hit exactly .300. For the Angels combo, I thought about Dick Mountain after I had already plugged in Tanana.
 
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Ope3 said:
Your Belcher pick was a revelation to me because I thought he #1 pick had to actually play a game for the team that drafted him. They actually only need to make it to the Majors to qualify.

I'm curious about your Rangers picks today. I had to go with Gaylord (9%) in the Padres combo. I get stuck on that one for some reason, can't go beyond him Kevin Brown & Ken Caminiti. Others I used were Frank Tanana/Halos (2%) and Le Grande Orange/.300 season (0.2%).

I thought Staub's stay in Arlington was longer, just the one season (1980), and he hit exactly .300. For the Angels combo, I thought about Dick Mountain after I had already plugged in Tanana.
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I would have had one of my better scores today, if not for the Blue Jays/Padres cube--I went with Dave Winfield, thinking he might have a really low number because the likes of Roberto Alomar, Fred McGriff, Joe Carter were more recent players, but I got stuck at 12%.

For the Rangers/Padres cube, I immediately thought of Dave Roberts, not the catalyst for the Red Sox championship team and Dodgers' manager, but the other middle infielder who came along about 20 years earlier. For some reason, his baseball cards stuck in my head for both squads and upon checking*, I was proved correct.

My other Rangers were Circle Me Bert (a cool 1%) and Rusty Greer, who garnered 2%.

I think I'll turn my attention to the Padres soon for the Holy Hell. . .series. They tend to vex me too, once I get beyond the aformentioned above and then random members of the '84 NL Champs.

* Much like Ford Frick with Roger Maris, I give myself an asterik, as I double checked with Roberts before entering him as my choice--I have a rule that I mostly follow--if I can identify a player who plays for both teams or meets whatever criteria, but I think I can scope out a lower score, I will double check to make sure my hunch is correct. That rule can get bent when the post 1990 teams are on the Grid, however.
 
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On the Baseball Grid if you type in the Search Field "Lefty" a total of 48 names appear for selection.

- This total includes Negro League players that qualify.

- None debuted after 1948, Lefty Bell for the Homestead Grays is the most recent.

- The list does not include Steve "Lefty" Carlton.

- There are 3 Lefty Williams available for selection. It includes the pitcher who picked up 29 Ws for the Black Sox. He also picked up 3 Ls against the Reds in the '19 World Series. Perhaps they could have tried a bit harder make it less obvious. He's the one who pitched 1913 - 1920.

I used him today for 1%. Surprised it was that high.
 
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Alright, time to get back on the horse for the next post of "Holy Hell, I didn't know/don't remember that he played for that franchise!" with the pretty recent (all things considered) Seattle Mariners who debuted the summer of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours with much less acclaim. It would take 14 seasons for the franchise to field a winning team and during those years, they averaged 93 losses per season (excluding the 1981 strike-shortened season). However, to our enduring benefit, they gave us one of the all time worst stadiums in baseball history, uniforms befitting a poorly funded Little League team, and a host of big leaguers at the end of their careers stopping by the last chance saloon called the Kingdome. And away we go. . .

1. Mike Kekich-A totally immemorable big leaguer in all senses except for one--along with his friend Fritz Peterson, Kekich notoriously traded wife and family while with the Yankees in 1973. Things quickly went south in the relationship between Kekich and the ertswhile Mrs. Peterson and subsequently his big league career (more on Peterson and the former Mrs. Kekich in a bit). After getting jettisoned first to Cleveland and then Texas (!), Kekich finished his career in the starting rotation for the expansion year Mariners of 1977.

Peterson's big league career went similarly askew following the wife/family swap, but his love story lasted the rest of his life, which ended when he passed away in 2024 at the age of 81 in his home in (get this) Winona, MN! When I heard this footnote to the story discussed on Pablo Torres Finds Out podcast (worth a listen), my mind reeled. I attended college in Winona and worked for an additional couple of years in the town and spent a lot of time in all corners of the town. Had I ever crossed paths with the couple unwittingly?

2. Gaylord Perry-It's a certainty that Perry will pop up again on this list, as the last years of his career were marked by brief stops in various major league outposts. His time in Seattle was over the 1982 and 83 seasons when at the age of 43 and 44 he had two losing seasons with ERA's well over 4.00. In '83 he was waived in June, which allowed him to have a pivotal role in the great Pine Tar incident as a member of the Royals.

3. Gorman Thomas-I loved the Harvey Wallbanger era of the Milwaukee Brewers, in which Stormin' Gorman was a pivotal member as a thumper in the middle of the lineup. By the time he arrived in Seattle in 1984, his salad days were in the rearview mirror, injuries and age taking their toll. He played only 35 games that year and followed up the next year in 1985 with his last full-time season, hitting over 30 HR's while batting .235. He was with the Mariners at the start of the '86 season, but ultimately was released and finished off his career that season with the Brew Crew.

4. Gary Matthews-"Sarge" was a staple of the '70s and early '80s while playing for the Giants, Phillies, Braves, and Cubs. By the time he was traded to Seattle mid-season in 1987, he was in the twilight--in fact the last middling 45 games of his career were spent there, before retiring at the age of 36.

5. Lance Parrish-We already saw Parrish with the Pirates and he appears here a couple years prior, at age 36 when he backed up Dave Valle in 1992 on a 98 loss squad that was brimming with talent ready to explode, which began the following season when Lou Piniella came to town. Parrish was gone by then, hanging around for three more marginal seasons with other teams.

6. Goose Gossage-Throughout this exercise, I have and will continue to endeavor to stay away from relief pitchers, when I can. However, there are some exceptions and the next two fit the bill. Richard Gossage capped his Hall of Fame career at the age of 42 in the strike shortened 1994 season and he was far removed from the dominating reliever who glowered from the mound in the late '70s/early '80s with the Yankees.

7. Bobby Thigpen-Maybe the most surprising (for me) on this list was Thigpen, who finished his MLB career with the Mariners in the same season as Gossage, 1994. Just four years prior, he had set the record for most saves in the season with 57 as the White Sox closer. Due to injuries and ineffectiveness, the fall from that magical season was precipitous and by 1994 he didn't make it out of the month of April with the Mariners. He was only 30 years old and he boarded a plane to Japan where he was able to extend his career for a couple more seasons before succumbing to injuries and hanging up the cleats.

8. Vince Coleman-The second most prolific base stealer of the '80s was a trade deadline acquisition for the Mariners from the Royals, stepping onto the first playoff squad in Mariners' franchise history (capped by that wonderful sprint from 1st to home by Ken Griffey Jr., just ahead of the tag, that sent the Yankees out of the playoffs-the Mariners were ousted in the next round by Cleveland). Coleman played 40 games down the stretch and provided the last spurt of a memorable career before two nondescript seasons with other franchises to close out his career.

9. Dennis Martinez-I know it's unfair and I believe the event haunted Martinez long after the fact, but I'll never be able to separate him from the act that abbreviated Kirby Puckett's wonderful career when a pitch got away from him and beaned Kirby. Two seasons after the incident, Martinez at age 43 was pretty well cooked as a MLB'er. The ace pitcher for the Orioles, Expos, and Cleveland from the late '70s to the mid '90s started nine games for the Mariners with a 7.71 ERA which got him his exit ticket before the end of May.

10. Rickey Henderson-In 2000, at the age of 41, Henderson came to the Mariners in May after being released by the Mets and was a major contributor to a division winning team who had just lost franchise icon Ken Griffey Jr. the previous off-season in a trade with the Reds. The Man of Steal still could motor, swiping 31 bases that season, the last time he eclipsed 30 steals in a career that lasted three more seasons.

Honorable Mention: Willie Horton; Steve Yeager; Rubin Sierra

Local Team Connection: David McCarty, one in a long line of franchise saviors who never materialized for the Twins, played 8 games for the Mariners in 1998. I was stunned to see that McCarty died this year from a cardiac event on April 19 at the age of 54.
 


Twins Alert on the Grid with Red Sox, Orioles & 200 Hit Season

- El Tiante (3%). RIP
- Disco Danny. (2%)
- Molly (10%). Perhaps the greatest MLB season ever for any 40 yr old. Played 161 games, had 225 hits (career highs).
 

Ope3 said:
Twins Alert on the Grid with Red Sox, Orioles & 200 Hit Season

- El Tiante (3%). RIP
- Disco Danny. (2%)
- Molly (10%). Perhaps the greatest MLB season ever for any 40 yr old. Played 161 games, had 225 hits (career highs).
Click to expand...
113 RBI that season too with just 9 HR.
 

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