Let’s Remember a Guy!

[Judge Jude]

"I remember that the O's trade a pitcher name Peter Blohm to get him. He was never heard from again, but his son, Tyler Blohm, stands to be either the #1 or #2 starter for the U of MD next year. I've seen him pitch several times."
any relation to Heywood J Blohm, the former St. Louis Browns SS?

[dslaw]

I saw Milligan when I had season tix for the Tidewater Tides. He had a pretty good year there and was a nice guy. With the Mets loaded we were looking forward to having him back for a 2nd year but he got traded. Most of the good Mets minor leaguers were traded in the late 80s as the Mets kept trying to get back to the Series again.

[madducks]

I remember being excited when the Pirates traded for Milligan. Here was a 26 year old player who was coming off of an MVP type year at AAA (29, 103, .326). But it never carried over to the big leagues. The Pirates didn't give him much of a chance before trading him again.

[revo]

Today's Guy:

Doug Strange
Strange had a pretty non-descript career as a 2B/3B. I just love his name. He played from 1989 until 1998 for six MLB clubs, and his best season came in 1997 for the Expos, when he hit .257 with 12 HRs and 47 RBIs.

He was never a top prospect -- he was taken in the 7th round of the 1985 Draft. He never had a really good minor league season - his best ML season was 1987, when he hit .296 with 14 HRs and 75 RBIs. He was traded once, in 1990 for some guy named Lou Frazier. He kind of constantly had his contract expire and teams just said, “eh, we’re good.”

He never even had the obvious nicknames: Doctor Strange or Doug Strange Love or Dougie Strange Brew.

It's all so very strange.


That's Today's Guy, Doug Strange!

[onejayhawk]

It's on the (Don) Money.

Actually, Don was too good a player for this thread. Strange was one of those career minor leaguers that finally got some time in the show. Except for a cup of coffee, He was 28 his rookie season.

I always like to look at baseball-reference comparisons. Strange's are a collection of WTFiT and a different one every year.

29. Lou Collier (979.0)
30. Dave Campbell (975.7)
31. Fred Marsh (968.3)
32. Rene Gonzales (968.5)
33. Scott Leius (968.2)
34. Casey Candaele (952.6)

J

[revo]

Casey Candaele's mom was one of the best players in the All American Girls Baseball League.

And Scott Leius did get to play on the '91 Twins. He was from Mamaroneck, and I recall my cousin knowing him in HS.

[revo]

Today's Guy

Biff Pocoroba
I love that name. Yes, it's his real name. And the Braves of the late 1970s had many of these great names: Rowland Office, Mike Lum, Pepe Frias, Pat Rockett, Buzz Capra, Bill Nahorodny.

One of the ways baseball has drastically changed since the 1970s and 1980s is that back then, pitchers were far less specialized and would routinely complete their games, and relievers would go multiple innings at a clip. Staffs were usually capped at 10 pitchers, and these guys were abused like warhorses -- the 1980 Braves used a grand total of ELEVEN pitchers all season long -- so many teams were able to carry pinch-hitting specialists that hung around on the back of the roster for many years, and Pocoroba was one of them.

He played 10 years with the Braves from 1975-1984, but never got more than 321 ABs in a season. He was a backup catcher for his first few years before settling into the comfy position of "occasional, throughly mediocre pinch hitter" and in the off chance he got on base, would then be replaced by the next most comfy position, the occasional pinch runner. Ahh, the life of a baseball player in 1980.

If Pocoroba had a good quality, it was his strike zone efficiency, as he walked far more than he struck out (182 BBs to just 109 Ks in his career).

From 1981 to 1983, Pocoroba had 362 ABs.....and only 20 Runs.

It seems like such a waste to have these types on your roster, but welcome to baseball of the late 70s/early 80s!

That's today's guy, Biff Pocoroba!

RIP Biff. Damn.

[heyelander]

RIP Biff...

This was one of the all time best threads on RJ

[revo]

RIP Biff...

This was one of the all time best threads on RJ

I was just reading through it and may have to re-start it, at least until baseball gets back (if it does).

[Don Quixote]

As a Reds fan I loved Redus when he came up. Centerpiece for the new Big Red Machine!! Until reality hit and he became a guy good enough to play in the majors but nothing special. The Reds did get John Denny for him in a trade. Denny was once included in a trade for Bobby Bonds who is the father of Barry Bonds who has the most HRs in MLB history*. So Redus must have been really good.

"Manager" Pete Rose didn't like Redus for some reason, and must have been thrilled to see him go for one of Pete's old Philly pals. The Reds picked up several of Pete's friends, and not one really worked out.

[Don Quixote]

Today's Guy

Eric Soderholm
He's another in a long line of players from the 1970s and 1980s who looked more like your high school chemistry teacher than a professional baseball player. Soderholm had a solid, if unspectacular, 9-year career from 1971 until 1980, with the Twins, White Sox, Rangers and Yankees.

He was the Twins starting third baseman from '71 until '75, then missed the entire 1976 campaign with a knee injury. Following that missed year, he signed as a free agent with the White Sox and had the best season of his career, hitting .280/.350/.500 with 25 HRs and 67 RBIs. He followed that up with a solid 20 HR, 67 RBI season. The White Sox traded him to the Rangers midway through the 1979 season, who then shipped him to the Yankees for the 1980 season, his last.

Today he owns the "Soder World Health & Wellness Center" a successful yoga/therapy/hippie facility in the Chicago area.

That's today's guy, Eric Soderholm!

A lot of us looked like that back then. Before I started wearing contact lenses, I sometimes had glasses like those.

[Don Quixote]

Today's Guy

Biff Pocoroba
I love that name. Yes, it's his real name. And the Braves of the late 1970s had many of these great names: Rowland Office, Mike Lum, Pepe Frias, Pat Rockett, Buzz Capra, Bill Nahorodny.

Long-time Reds analyst Joe Nuxhall spent years trying to pronounce Biff's name correctly--and never did. Of course, Joe was usually sauced by the time Biff came up to pinch-hit late in the game, and it was hysterical when he'd fumble the name so badly.

Joe was one reason I loved to listen to doubleheaders. He'd be so gone by the end of the nightcap.

[chancellor]

Long-time Reds analyst Joe Nuxhall spent years trying to pronounce Biff's name correctly--and never did. Of course, Joe was usually sauced by the time Biff came up to pinch-hit late in the game, and it was hysterical when he'd fumble the name so badly.

Joe was one reason I loved to listen to doubleheaders. He'd be so gone by the end of the nightcap.

One of my friends who was raised in Chicago but has lived in Cinci for a while used to joke that it took Harry Caray AND Jimmy Piersall together to outdrink Nuxhall.

[Judge Jude]

for those too young to remember, Biff's last name as pronounced

"Poco" - the band or the Spanish word for "little" so that was easy

"ro" - like Preacher "Roe" or "row" boat

"ba" - like in "bu bye" or "buh"

I can think of thousands of baseball names more difficult to pronounce - the three drunk announcers' names could even qualify

POCO-roe-ba

[Don Quixote]

for those too young to remember, Biff's last name as pronounced

"Poco" - the band or the Spanish word for "little" so that was easy

"ro" - like Preacher "Roe" or "row" boat

"ba" - like in "bu bye" or "buh"

I can think of thousands of baseball names more difficult to pronounce - the three drunk announcers' names could even qualify

POCO-roe-ba

That's what made it so hysterical when Nuxhall would mangle Biff's last name. It wasn't that tough--but then again, maybe he didn't take six years of Spanish like I did. I don't think Joe took six years of anything.