Monday, April 6, 2015
The Bizarro Hall of Fame: Introducing the Class of 2014
Every year, I write a small post celebrating the players who
appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot but did not receive any votes. With
this year’s six inductees, the Bizarro Hall of Fame now boasts 222
members.
The Bizarro Hall of Fame: Introducing the Class of 2013
I hadn't devoted a ton of attention to this year's Bizarro Hall of
Fame possibilities because, honestly, I lost track of time and didn't
realize that the announcement was today. In years past I've held off on
this post rather than rushing to get it up, but I was so excited by the
sheer number of players involved this year that I just had to write it
as soon as possible.
The eleven players "inducted" this year equals the
fifth-highest total in Bizarro Hall of Fame history, which dates back to
1978, and the most since 1992. The top five is now 1980 (29), 1979
(16), 1983 (15), 1988 (14), 1989 (11), 1991 (11), and 2013.
Jeff Cirillo – On June 29, 2004, Randy Johnson
struck out Cirillo to become the fourth pitcher to record 4,000 career
punchouts (in case you’re wondering, the pitch sequence went
slider-slider-slider-fastball-slider-slider, according to the AP).
Cirillo, a third baseman for the Padres at the time, was also the
subject of Johnson’s 3,998th strikeout.
Royce Clayton –
I never quite got past the image of Clayton as a young Giant – he came
of age at the age of 23 as the shortstop for the San Fran squad that won
103 games but lost the division to Atlanta on the season’s final day –
so much so that I completely forgot he ended his career with eight games
in a Red Sox uniform in 2007 (to be fair, the logs suggest that his
performance in these games was, in fact, forgettable). In seventeen
seasons, he played for eleven different major league teams.
Jeff Conine –
An original member of the Florida Marlins, Conine had a solid five year
run in Miami, averaging just about 20 homeruns and 84 RBI a year from
1993-97. He was traded to Kansas City after winning the World Series
with the Marlins in 1997, but eventually returned in August 2003 and
became the only player to see action for the team in both of its Fall
Classic appearances.
Roberto Hernandez –
Every year, it seems like there are a couple closers who don’t get any
love in the Hall of Fame voting. Hernandez and his 326 career saves
(currently 13th on the all-time list) are at the top of that list this
time around. Six times he nailed down more than 30 games in a season,
with a career high of 43 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999.
In 1997, Hernandez was one of three White Sox pitchers traded to San Francisco for a package of six prospects (including Keith Foulke and Bob Howry),
a move that was derided at the time because the Pale Hose were viewed
as giving up on the season despite being within easy striking distance
of first place Cleveland at the time (they eventually finished six games
behind the Indians).
Also, he gets a third paragraph because I have to mention that he
went to high school in New Hampton, New Hampshire, for two years. We
don’t have a ton of big-time athletes emerging from these here parts.
Have to make note of it when it happens. (Thank you, Baseball-Reference,
for the tip.)
Ryan Klesko –
A fearsome slugger from 1995-2005, Klesko also stole 20+ bases in both
2000 and 2001, the only times he ever swiped more than six in a season.
Unfortunately, he was a power hitter who played in the worst possible
era to be a power hitter (it feels like anyone who hit 30 homeruns in
the late 1990s and early 2000s is a suspicious figure, even though that
mindset is patently unfair) and came onto the ballot at the worst
possible time.
If nothing else, Klesko came away from his sixteen year career
with a World Series ring, which he earned in 1995 by hitting .313 with
three homeruns against the Indians. Oh, and he also made approximately
$60 million as a player.
Jose Mesa –
Immediately behind Roberto Hernandez on the all-time saves list is the
one and only Joe Table, with 321. Four times he saved 40+ games in a
season (for three different teams), including 1995, when he led the
league with 46, had a 1.13 ERA, and finished second in the Cy Young
voting (a distant second to Randy Johnson) and fourth in the MVP
voting while helping the Indians to the franchise’s first World Series
appearance since 1948.
He also trails Hernandez in the All-Important “Teams Played For” category, with a career total of eight (to Hernandez’s ten).
Reggie Sanders – I very rarely root for a player to become a Bizarro Hall of Famer (though I was devastated when Mike Morgan
didn’t even make the ballot; a sham, that was), but I wanted Reggie
Sanders to be here for no other reason than the fact that just looking
at his career arc gives me such joy. He’s like a guy who gets out of an
unhappy marriage and just decides to play the field: eight years in
Cincinnati followed by one year engagements in San Diego, Atlanta,
Arizona, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh. I still remember how happy I was
when he stayed in St. Louis for a second season – “Aww, Reggie finally
found someone who can make him happy. Good for him. I hope those crazy
kids make it.”
Mike Stanton –
There’s another guy named Brian Moynahan out there, a British
journalist who has written a bunch of books about European history. I’m
sure he’s a nice guy and I respect his productivity, but I still kinda
hate him for having the same name as me.
What I’m trying to say is, I know how Mike Stanton must’ve felt
the past couple years and think it was a quality move on the part of Giancarlo Stanton to change his name. Good on you, Giancarlo.
Also, to add to the “Underappreciated Relievers” theme we’ve got
going here – while Stanton only had 84 career saves in 19 seasons, he
did appear in 1,178 games. That’s the second-highest total for a pitcher
in major league history, behind only Jesse Orosco. (Jose Mesa is tied for eleventh. Roberto Hernandez is 13th.) Of the top 15, five are Hall of Famers or likely to be (Dennis Eckersley, Hoyt Wilhelm, Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, and Goose Gossage) and five are Bizarro Hall of Famers (Stanton, Mesa, Hernandez, Dan Plesac, and Mike Jackson).
Todd Walker –
I liked Walker when he played for the Red Sox in 2003. It always seemed
like he spent more than a year in Boston. I think it’s because
somewhere along the way, my mind sort of turned him and Mark Bellhorn
into basically the same person. It’s not really something I can
explain. I’m not even sure they were all that similar as players.
Rondell White –
Even though he didn’t play all that much in 1994, White is one of those
guys who, to me, represents the “what might have been” disappointment
of the mid-1990s Montreal Expos. He was never a superstar, but always a
nice player who would have been a key component in what should have been
a decent stretch of competitiveness for Montreal.
Woody Williams –
Williams was the Game One starter for the Cardinals in the 2004 World
Series. He got rocked for seven runs in 2 1/3 innings, a fact that
practically makes him an honorary member of Red Sox Nation in my book. I
watched that game with my wife’s family – Yankees fans – in New York
and let me tell you, it was nice to have seven runs on the board in the
first three innings to help ease the tension.
The 2014 Bizarro Hall of Fame Preview
The 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot was released
this week, prompting former Bus Leaguer Michael Lortz to shoot me a link and
suggest a few possible new members of the Bizarro Hall of Fame, whose membership
includes anyone listed on the real Hall of Fame ballot who does not receive any
votes.
The Bizarro Hall of Fame: Introducing the Class of 2011
Every January, One More Dying Quail
pays homage to those players who enjoyed successful major league
careers, were rewarded for their service with a spot on the Hall of Fame
ballot five years after retirement, and faded away into history without
earning a single vote. With this year’s class, 199 players have been
enshrined.
Carlos Baerga
– On December 6, 1989, the San Diego Padres traded 21-year-old Baerga
to the Cleveland Indians. The other youngster joining the Tribe,
23-year-old catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., had an exceptional season in 1990,
starting behind the plate for the American League in the All-Star Game
and winning the Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove awards. (Fun fact:
the player on the other side of the trade, Joe Carter, was dealt by the
Padres just a year later, along with Sandy’s brother, Roberto.)
Baerga
made Baseball America’s Top 100 list before the 1990 season but took a
bit longer than Alomar to mature, appearing in 108 games in 1990 (93
OPS+, 1.0 WAR) and 158 in 1991 (105 OPS+, 2.5 WAR) before breaking out
in 1992 (.312 BA, 20 HR, 105 RBI, 205 hits, 127 OPS+) and 1993 (.321 BA,
21 HR, 114 RBI, 200 hits, 124 OPS+) as one of Cleveland’s exciting
young stars. Those were the highest heights he would reach: his numbers
declined over the next two seasons, and he was traded to the Mets in
1996 for Jeff Kent.
Baerga spent two full seasons in New York
after the trade. He signed with the Padres in 1999, was purchased by
the Indians, granted free agency, and fell off the face of the earth for
two seasons. Okay, not quite: he spent 2001 with Long Island, in the
Atlantic League, hitting .315 with nine homeruns in 203 at-bats. He
proved there that he wasn’t done just yet; the Red Sox signed him as a
backup infielder and designated hitter, a role he also filled in 2003
and 2004 with Arizona and 2005 with Washington.
Lenny Harris
- On June 1, 1998, with his Reds trailing 16-3, Harris was called upon
to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning against the San Francisco
Giants. He struck out Brent Mayne looking (“on a nasty backdoor
slider,” according to Jeff Horrigan of the Cincinnati Post) and got Stan
Javier and Bill Mueller to fly out to center and left, respectively.
Way to put out the fire, Leonard.
That game was indicative of
Harris’s entire playing career. He retired in 2005 after 18 seasons
during which he played 1,900 games at eight different positions
(everywhere except catcher) for eight different teams (Cincinnati, Los
Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Chicago
Cubs, and Brewers). He was also a pinch-hitter of some renown. In
other words, he was the kind of guy who stuck because he did whatever
the team asked him to do.
Bobby Higginson
– Poor Higginson was a pretty decent player – he had a 124 OPS+ from
1996-2001, including 145 in 1996 – who played for a terrible
organization in Detroit. Eight times in his eleven seasons, the Tigers
lost ninety games. Three times they lost a hundred, including 119 in
2003. Fun times in the Motor City. His last season was 2005, so of
course, the Tigers reached the World Series in 2006. I don’t think that
qualifies for the Ewing Theory, but at least it gives him something in
common with DonMattingly.
Charles Johnson
– I grew up an hour from Portland, Maine, and can still remember being
in eighth grade and listening to my friend Ryan Green rave about the
catcher he had seen playing for the Sea Dogs (then an affiliate of the
Marlins). That player was Johnson, a two-time first round draft pick
(10th overall by Montreal in 1989 and 28th overall by Florida in 1992)
turned Top 20 prospect who turned in a stellar season in 1994: 28
homeruns and 80 RBI while gunning down 47% of would-be base stealers.
He also stopped in for a major league visit in early May, hitting .455
in four games, including a homerun in his second at-bat (off Curt
Schilling).
Johnson eventually achieved success in the major
leagues as well, making two All-Star games, winning four Gold Gloves,
and hitting .304 with 31 homeruns with 91 RBI for Baltimore and the
Chicago White Sox in 2000.
Raul Mondesi
– Mondesi was a very, very good young player who won the Rookie of the
Year award and two Gold Gloves in his first five years with the Dodgers,
but he ran into problems later in his career (after spending his first
seven seasons with Los Angeles, he played for six different teams in his
last six years). Even into that latter half, he was a very talented
power hitter, with nine straight twenty-homer seasons, including three
in a row with thirty from 1997-99. Two of those were also 30-30
seasons, and he just missed another by three homeruns in 2001.
Kirk Rueter
– Rueter burst onto the scene with the Team That Should’ve Been, the
Montreal Expos, in 1993, starting his career 8-0 with a 2.73 ERA in
fourteen starts. He played 3 ½ seasons for Les Expos before being dealt
to San Francisco for Mark Leiter at the 1996 trade deadline. He ended
up playing for the Giants for nine full seasons, winning 105 games and
holding down a key spot in the starting rotation for the 2002 team that
nearly won the World Series. He started Game Four opposite John Lackey,
allowing three runs on nine hits in six innings (he left with the game
tied, 3-3) and was called upon in relief in Game Seven; with the Giants
trailing, 4-1, entering the fourth inning, Rueter came in and held the
Angels to one hit and one walk over four scoreless frames (Anaheim still
won when Lackey handed that three run lead over to Brendan Donnelly,
Francisco Rodriguez, and Troy Percival).
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
The Bizarro Hall of Fame: Introducing the Class of 2005
In the coming weeks, 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 2005
Mark Langston
– Voters in 2005 obviously forgot the pitcher that Langston was early
in his career, when he struck out 200+ batters in five out of his first
six seasons for the Seattle Mariners before being traded to Montreal for
Randy Johnson. He also won 179 games in sixteen major league seasons
(including seven seasons with fifteen or more wins), was an All-Star
four times and took home seven Gold Gloves.
Otis Nixon
– the player my mother still affectionately refers to as “The Druggie”
probably deserves his Bizarro fate after the way he ended the 1992 World
Series: with the tying run on third in the bottom of the eleventh
inning of Game Six,
he threw up the baseball equivalent of a white flag, rolling a casual
little bunt that pitcher Mike Timlin fielded easily for the final out.
Sure, Nixon was one of the fastest humans alive, and it might have
seemed like a good idea at the time, but it wasn’t.
The Bizarro Hall of Fame: Introducing the Class of 2004
In the coming weeks, 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 2004
Danny Darwin
– Here’s something I did not know Danny Darwin: his brother, Jeff, was a
relief pitcher for the Mariners and White Sox for three seasons in the
mid-1990s. Somehow, my wife and Baseball Reference
knew this, but I somehow missed it. The elder Darwin (Danny is nearly
fourteen years older than Jeff) had a lifetime record of 171-182 in 21
major league seasons, but had a perfectly respectable 3.84 ERA
(including a National League-leading 2.21 mark in 1990). His best season
was with the Red Sox in 1993, when he countered Roger Clemens’ worst
season to that point with fifteen wins and a 3.26 ERA.
Bob Tewksbury
– I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for Tewksbury since looking at his
baseball card as a child and learning he was originally from New
Hampshire. He is still active in the area,
working as a television analyst for the Red Sox and doing charitable
work with the Boys & Girls Clubs of New Hampshire. As a player, he
enjoyed his best success in his early thirties, winning 33 games for the
Cardinals and finishing third to Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in the
1992 Cy Young Award voting.
Coming soon: the Bizarro Hall of Fame Class of 2003.
