The Bizarro Hall of Fame: Introducing the Class of 1989

As part of an ongoing project, One More Dying Quail will be profiling the 182 current members of the Bizarro Hall of Fame, an organization that currently exists only in my mind. It was created in the wake of Major League Baseball’s infamous Steroid Era as a way of honoring those players whose careers were perfectly mediocre: the only requirement is that a candidate be listed on the official Baseball Hall of Fame ballot and receive zero votes.
Class of 1989
Jim Barr – Barr had a fairly unremarkable career with the San Francisco Giants and California Angels, but owns a fairly remarkable record: on August 23, 1972, he retired the final twenty-one batters he faced; six days later, he set down the first twenty. The forty-one consecutive outs remains a major league record. Another interesting fact: Barr was drafted six times between 1966 and 1970.

Terry Crowley – Many current observers lament the fact that the Hall of Fame’s standards have sunk so low that players such as Scott Brosius are now included on the ballot. They are obviously unaware of Terry Crowley, a man whose main claims to fame were serving as the first designated hitter in Baltimore Orioles history and being a really good pinch-hitter. He has spent the last eight years as the Orioles hitting coach.

Joe Ferguson – Luke Walker was almost a part of baseball history, but Joe Ferguson turned him into a mere footnote. In the second game of a July 18, 1971 doubleheader, the Pirates’ Walker took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The bid ended quickly when the first batter, Ferguson, hit his first major league homerun. Two years later, Ferguson enjoyed his best season, hitting 25 homers and driving in 88 runs.

Woodie Fryman – Am I insane in thinking that Woodie Fryman is Travis Fryman’s father? There seems to be no proof of it anywhere on the Internets. Anyway, Woodie spent most of his career as a journeyman pitcher for six organizations. He made two All-Star appearances as a starter in 1968 and 1976, but enjoyed his greatest success in a relief role with the Montreal Expos from 1979-82. In 1981, Fryman helped Les Expos to the playoffs with seven saves and a 1.88 ERA.

Cesar Geronimo – Geronimo was not a great offensive player (his career-best OPS was .796) but he hit well in the post-season, with .280 and .308 averages in Cincinnati’s back-to-back wins over Boston in 1975 and New York in 1976. His true value in that time, however, was as one of the National League’s best defensive outfielders, with four consecutive Gold Gloves awards in the mid-seventies.

Dave Goltz – If the name doesn’t sound familiar (and it didn’t to me), it’s probably because Goltz toiled for some mediocre Minnesota teams in the 1970s. He still won fourteen or more games every season from 1975-79 (and lost ten or more from 1974-80), including a 20-11 mark in 1977 that earned him a sixth place finish in the voting for the National League Cy Young award.

Jon Matlack – For some reason, I expected Matlack’s numbers to be better; sorry to say, but there might have been some weird confusion with Jerry Koosman. Matlack was a good pitcher, however, winning fifteen games and the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1972. He averaged fifteen wins a year 1972-76, but slumped to 7-15 in 1977 and was shipped off to Texas after the season. His first season resulted in fifteen wins for the second place Rangers, but it was his last good season. Also (and there’s really no reason to mention this, other than it made me laugh), his middle name is Trumpdour.

Rudy May – Aside from leading the American League with a 2.46 ERA in 1980, the highlight of Rudy May’s career has to be the June 1976 trade that sent him from the New York Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles. Sure, it meant he missed out on the Bronx Bombers back-to-back championships in 1977 and 1978, but it’s cool because the deal also included Bizarro Hall of Famers Scott McGregor and Doyle Alexander.

Bake McBride – An interesting little factoid: of the eight players who took home the National League Rookie of the Year award from 1972-1979 (there was a tie in 1976), five were Bizarro Hall of Famers. McBride, a 37th round draft pick by the Cardinals in 1970, was the third in that stretch, hitting .309 and stealing thirty bases for St. Louis in 1974. His most amazing feature, however, was his hair; while not quite up to the high level set by Oscar Gamble, McBride’s mane was a legendary feature in it’s own right.

Bill Robinson – Robinson made his major league debut with the Atlanta Braves at the age of 23 and spent his next two seasons with the Yankees, but a .171 average landed the 26 year old back in the minor leagues for two full seasons. He reemerged with the Phillies in 1972 and hit 25 homeruns the following season. After being traded to Pittsburgh at the start of 1975, Robinson became an offensive threat, hitting twenty-plus homeruns three times.

Richie Zisk – When Bill Veeck bought the Chicago White Sox in 1976, he walked right into the birth of free agency. Knowing he couldn’t compete financially for the best players, he chose instead to go after guys who were questions marks and sign them for reasonable prices. Zisk was one of those players, and he paid off big-time, enjoying the best season of his career (30 homeruns, 101 RBI, .290 batting average and the first of two All-Star appearances) before bolting to Texas for a ten year, $2.3 million deal.

(Coming soon: the Bizarro Hall of Fame Class of 1988.)

(All Hall of Fame voting results were obtained from the official web site of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Statistical information included in postings for the Bizarro Hall of Fame was, unless otherwise noted, originally compiled by Baseball-Reference.com.)