Do You Have a Favorite Player....

Stone193 · September 10, 2004 2:40AM

In another thread there was a plea for Bake McBride cards and Helio presented his reason why he liked this player. This got me thinking about players I like that would not get 'star' attention but that are definitely better than average career players. Here’s someone that I think may have flown under the radar screen for 15 seasons and a favorite of mine since he played a lot of his career with the Dodgers. I’m not saying he belongs in the HOF or anything – just a little comparison with his team-mate Steve Garvey.

Garvey Guerrero
BA 294 300
HRs 272 215
OBP 329 370
SLG 446 480
Fld% 994 977

Garvey has way more accolades, awards, etc. but if you were not a Dodger fan and don't know of Pedro's career, would you believe he had these kind of stats and a lifetime 300 hitter to boot.

Anyone else have a player they would like to share that should not be forgotten?
your friend
Mike

dallasactuary · September 10, 2004 5:07AM

He's not really a favorite, but I think he fits the "should not be forgotten" category.

The best five starting pitchers (IMO) in the NL from 1963 through 1966:

1. Sandy Koufax (97-27, 1.86 ERA, 1228 K's, 31 shutouts)
2. Juan Marichal (93-35, 2.31, 916, 23)
3. The Forgotten Man (74-34, 2.70, 939, 18)
4. Bob Gibson (78-45, 2.97, 944, 15)
5. Don Drysdale (73-61, 2.73, 875, 18)

Of course, the time frame was selected to make this guy look good - and I'm not saying he belongs with this group over his whole career - but how many players can you place in company like that, even for only four years, that nobody's ever heard of (nobody under 40 anyway)? The Forgotten Man is Jim Maloney of the Reds; if you shift the time frame a little you can make similar comparisons with his forgotten Pittsburgh counterpart Bob Veale.

Kid4hof03 · September 10, 2004 6:35AM

While I don't have the numbers in front of me, a few guys that I casually collect that are long forgotten are:

Al Oliver
Jose Cruz Sr.
J.R. Richard
Greg Luzinski
Tim Raines Sr.

I have to say that I loved the discussion of Bake McBride on the other thread, I was also a big fan of him and Garry Maddox.

Abe

SDSportsFan · September 10, 2004 11:10AM

The one non-star player (other than San Diego players) that I collect is Terry Forster. He and I went to the same high school (he graduated in 1970 and I in 1980), and I knew his twin brother Larry, who was a teacher at the school. Another player that went to my high school is Jim Tatum, who played for the Brewers, Rockies and Padres.

Steve

DirtyHarry · September 10, 2004 11:50AM

As far as my favorite under appreciated player...it is Ron Guidry, pitcher, New York Yankees. "Louisiana Lightning" was overlooked in the Yankee farm system for a number of years, and did not make it to the majors until 25 years of age (even then, appearing in only 17 games - 16 in relief - in his first 2 seasons). If you hit on websites that provide comparisons, the HOF'er that comes up with the most identical comparison to Guidry is Sandy Koufax. Both of these guys were dominant in their prime....Koufax was just more ungodly in a shorter time span within his career.

Without a plethora of details, here's a few topline comparisons:

Guidry - 14 Years..170 Wins, 91 Losses, .651 Win%
Koufax - 12 Years..165 Wins, 87 Losses, .655 Win%

Guidry - 1 Cy Young, 5 Gold Gloves, 2 AL ERA , 2 AL Wins
Koufax - 3 Cy Young, 5 NL ERA, 3 NL Wins, 1 MVP

He's not Koufax in his 5 years of dominance, but IMO under appreciated none the less. Regards.

magellan · September 10, 2004 11:52AM

Dwight Evans, always a rock defensively for the Red Sox and after struggling early on in his career became a pretty good hitter too. Pedro Guerrero was a feared hitter when in his prime. Did he have a short career? I lost track of him.

Jim Maloney was one of my favorite pitchers when I was a kid and I always liked the '66 card of him.

Stone193 · September 10, 2004 12:17PM

<< <i>As far as my favorite under appreciated player...it is Ron Guidry, pitcher, New York Yankees. "Louisiana Lightning" >>

Harry
Great post and analysis! I'm with you - as a yankee fan in the late 70's, Guidry was a great pitcher who packed a lot of power into a very small frame - kind of like Pedro. Definitely overlooked as a player. And, signed this 3x5 for free! Thanx.

Magellan
Pedro played for 15 seasons; 11 with the Dodgers and then St. Louis I believe

Mike

thejam · September 10, 2004 12:26PM

Ray Sadecki because my first glove was a ray sadecki model; bobby hull because i got his autograph ; vida blue because my dad would not get his autograph (he was holding out) ; and harry hooper because he is mentioned in a boomtown rats song

maxXposure · September 10, 2004 12:57PM

Pedro was a great player!

As a sidenote, he claims to be one of the stupidest players in MLB history.

DirtyHarry · September 10, 2004 1:52PM

Stone - nice pic. I don't have an auto of The Gator, but wish I did. You mention Pedro - he also shows up comparatively vs Guidry and Koufax. You astutely refer to his size (frame). Folks think Koufax was not a big guy, but his playing stats are generally listed at 6' 2" and 210 pounds. I have met him in person, and think that is overstated by a touch, but Guidry was indeed a wisp....listed at 5' 11'' , 162 lbs.
Regards.

nightcrawler · May 22, 2009 3:59PM

Reggie Leach

Another Stone authored..

VitoCo1972 · May 22, 2009 4:25PM

I second the vote for Dwight Evans. He was always my favorite growing up.

On the football side, let me mention Troy Brown. One of my all time favorites and soooo good and underrated. Peter King says that even knowing that he'll never even have a prayer, he'll bring up Troy's name at the Hall of Fame vote just because he was such an excellent player who played both ways for some darn good Patriots team AFTER leading the team in receiving for a couple years. He did have an INT and a TD in the same game in 03 if I recall correctly. Troy was a real pleasure to watch.

Allen · May 22, 2009 4:43PM

Troy Brown played at Marshall where he was a dominate player at a small school. Anyways I have to throw David Justice into the ring as he was my favorite player growing up. The guy was the coolest Brave and he tapped some sweet Halle Berry tail over the years.

Troy Stats from Marshall:
His career kickoff return average (29.69 yards per return) still stands as an NCAA record, as do his four kickoff returns for touchdowns. He scored a touchdown every eight times he touched the football.

rbdjr1 · May 22, 2009 5:18PM

Jim Rice

NickM · May 22, 2009 5:54PM

Manny Mota

Nick

Pete14Rose · May 22, 2009 11:52PM

A favorite of mine - Rusty Staub

Played 23 years
2,716 hits
292 hr's
1466 rbi

itzagoner · May 23, 2009 12:01AM

i love Leon Durham.

please pick up the grounder Leon. PLEASE?!?

lsutigers1973 · May 23, 2009 12:19AM

No secret that Dale Murphy is one of my all time favorites and a childhood idol. How many non-steroid guys won 2 MVP's and aren't in the HOF?

Another one I always liked was Bill Buckner. Of course he is only remembered for one play. Injuries are the only reason he isn't in the HOF. 2715 hits and 8 seasons batting over .300. If he had played SS instead of 1B he would have been a lock.

frankhardy · May 23, 2009 12:29AM

Without a doubt, mine is Vince Coleman. I loved to watch that guy get on base. He terrorized pitchers with his speed. The guy stole over 100 bases each season in his first 3 seasons. That is unheard of these days.

BPorter26 · May 23, 2009 12:39AM

Al Oliver had a pretty damn good career.

Oliver's Life time Stats
18 Seasons
.303 Avg
2742 Hits
219 HR
1326 Rbi's
7-Time All-Star

theklonewarrior · May 23, 2009 1:11AM

Growing up in the 80s and 90s in Chicago, I was always a HUGE fan of Ron Kittle and Robin Ventura.

I loved watching Kitty hit rooftop homers at the old Comiskey Park. Also, never saw a 3rd Baseman as good Robin Ventura. He was Mr. Clutch with his numerous game winning hits, and 18 Grand Slams for a guy who wasn't a real slugger, like the other guys on the All-Time Grand Slam list (Gehrig, Manny, Murray, McCovey). Plus I guess for his beating he took from Nolan Ryan...and the sick ankle injury from slidding into home. How he every played after destroying his ankle is beyond me.

MBMiller25 · May 23, 2009 1:12AM

Paul O'Neill

O'Neill's Life time Stats
17 Seasons
.288 Avg
2105 Hits
281 HR
1269 RBI's
5-Time All-Star
1994 AL Batting Champion w/.359 AVG
6 World Series Appearances with 5 World Series Rings!

lsutigers1973 · May 23, 2009 1:16AM

Matt, I was going to mention Paul Oneil too but thought I would save him for you. Another one that could have been a HOF'er if not for injuries.

lawnmowerman · May 23, 2009 1:29AM

I'll second the vote for Robin Ventura. He was my favorite Mets player. He also auto'd a jersey for me as well, great guy.

Who could forget his grand slam in the 1999 NLCS that turned out to be a single?? I got chills just from watching it again.

link

itzagoner · May 23, 2009 1:37AM

<< <i>Another one I always liked was Bill Buckner. Of course he is only remembered for one play. >>

wow. we are kinderd spirits.

wolfbear · May 23, 2009 2:52AM

Mintacular · May 23, 2009 3:13AM

Andy Van Slyke, Bobby Bonilla, Chico Lind, Doug Drabek, Spanky Lavailliere, Jeff King, Jay Bell, Zane Smith, that side-armed closer guy, oh wait, I think I just named a bunch of the Pirates that couldn't make it to the World Series in 1990-92

Definitely NOT Sid Bream

Tedw9 · May 23, 2009 3:31AM

Third vote here for Dwight Evans. I always thought he was overshadowed by Rice and Lynn and undervalued as an outfielder. He was my childhood hero and I got to meet him a few years back, he is everything I had hoped he would be and then some. Does he belong in the Hall? Probably not, but he did deserve more love from the writers when his name came up. I've actually been debating on starting a graded card collection of his.

scashaggy · May 23, 2009 3:39AM

Not baseball but I have a few lesser football players I collect.

Santana Moss - I collect him because I have followed him since High School. Our schools played each other.

Rohan Davey - Not a very good NFL player but he is my best friend's cousin.

NBA

James Jones - Currently on the Miami Heat we graduated HS together in the same class.

MeteoriteGuy · May 23, 2009 4:23AM

I Don't really have a favorite player. I know some of you might think I would say Steve Young....I just more think he is cool to collect. His stuff is a faction of the cost of say Emmitt or Marino....and PC collecting is cool.

Current favs are football, Adrian Peterson and Tom Brady.

Carew29 · May 23, 2009 5:00AM

uuuhhhmmm...my name here is Carew29....my ebay id is carewfan4life.....Nope, nothing is coming to mind right now...

lsutigers1973 · May 23, 2009 5:05AM

<< <i>Rohan Davey - Not a very good NFL player but he is my best friend's cousin. >>

Another highly touted LSU disappointment. Thanks for the reminder.

fattymacs · May 23, 2009 5:23AM

As a kid, The Big Red Machine players and Lou Whitaker. Currently Joey Votto, Junior, Jay Bruce, and Derek Jeter.

lwehlers · May 23, 2009 5:40AM

george brett and cal ripken jr. was my favorite in my teenage years. then in twentys it was griffey jr. and frank thomas. now it is pujols and wright. my all time are griffey, brett and pujols.

nascar20 · May 23, 2009 5:58AM

many 70's players,grew up watching the cubs,the big red machine,the A's( the owner charlie finley lived in my home town).thats why I collect 72-77 baseball and football ( Walter Payton)