Let’s Remember a Guy!

[senorsheep]

I haven't. Is it any good? I enjoyed the board game. Maybe because it was based on one season it was much more realistic than the strat on-line game is.

It was actually your comment that got me to check online to see if anybody is still making players cards for the board game (they are - $40 on eBay). That's how I happened across the online version. They have a free demo; maybe I'll give it a spin.

[revo]

Today's Guy

Charlie Kerfeld

Kerfeld burst on the scene in 1985-86, becoming a key bullpen cog and bridge to closer Dave Smith. He finished 4th in the 1986 NL Rookie of the Year race, but quickly unraveled in 1987, finding himself back in the minors after a poor start to the season. He bounced back and forth between the minors and majors for the next couple of years, and was out of baseball by 1991.

He was a big guy, 6'6" and much heavier than the 225 lbs he was listed for. He was also known to be a wisecracker, but many Astro fans will remember his contributions to the 1986 team fondly.

That's today's guy, Charlie Kerfeld!

[B-Fly]

LOL, I definitely don't remember today's guy. I did, however, have glasses that looked just like that in the mid-90s.

[dslaw]

I remember the '86 season with Kerfeld. Thought he would be real good but it turned out to be the only good year of his career. He was young too, something like 24 or 25 that year.
He gave up a run in game 5 of the NLCS to lose the game and then didn't pitch game 6 when the Mets scored in the 9th, 14th & 16th. I guess Astros were saving him for game 7. Oops.

[[echo]]

plantierphil53.JPG

i loved the way he'd swing for the fences...

how the fuck do you post an image???
fml

[Sharky]

Charlie Kerfeld.... wow. A name burned in memory along with Mike Scott, Billy Hatcher, etc from the 1986 team that the Mets faced before moving to the WS to face Boston. That was a fun series.

[Ken]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1076[/ATTACH]

i loved the way he'd swing for the fences...

Talk about launch angle...
He was ahead of his time!

[revo]

Today's Guy

Charlie Lea

If there was a song for Lea, it would have been Bad Company's "Shooting Star." The star-crossed right-hander emerged as a potential ace for the pitching rich Montreal Expos in 1981, bridging the Steve Rogers/Ross Grimsley era of the late 1970s to the Bill Gullickson/Scott Sanderson/Charlie Lea years of the 1980s. And in May 1981, he may never have been better: in the midst of a 28 inning scoreless streak, he threw a no-hitter on May 10 against San Francisco (and just 5 days later, Len Barker tossed the 10th perfecto in MLB history). In that one scintillating month he threw 35 1/3 IP with a 0.25 ER and emerged as a star. But then arm troubles surfaced and he missed most of the next three months.

He stayed healthy enough to become one of the top pitchers in the NL from 1982 to 1984, winning 43 games with a 3.07 ERA and 1.19 WHIP across those years. He even started the 1984 All Star Game for the NL. But the arm troubles returned and sidelined him for a baseball eternity: the entire 1985, 1986 and all but one day of the 1987 season. Minnesota took a chance on him as a free agent in 1988, and he was able to pitch 130 innings, but he was not the same pitcher and he retired at year's end at 31 years old.

He later went on to become the voice of the Memphis Redbirds. The French-born Lea died of a heart attack on November 11, 2011, at the age of just 54.

That's today's guy, Charlie Lea!

[dslaw]

I remembered Lea from his no hitter. Knew he was here and then gone but in the pre-internet days guys playing in Montreal didn't get a lot of press and I didn't realize arm problems did him in.

[[echo]]

Charlie Kerfeld.... wow. A name burned in memory along with Mike Scott, Billy Hatcher, etc from the 1986 team that the Mets faced before moving to the WS to face Boston. That was a fun series.

i worked at Fenway in 86 for that... tore my heart out

[revo]

I'll be busy tomorrow, so here's:

Tomorrow's Guy

Gary Redus

If there was a Rotojunkie in 1978, the place would have gone bonkers over a 15th rd draft pick in the Rookie League who hit .462/.559/.727 with 100 Runs, 17 HRs, 62 RBIs, 42 SBs and 62 BBs -- in just 325 PAs! We would have been telling you to trade Mike Schmidt, Andre Dawson, anyone and everyone for him. Baseball America and RHD surely would have rated him a Top 5 rookie.

And Gary Redus didn't disappoint when he became a major league regular in 1983, hitting .247/.352/.444 with 90 Runs, 17 HRs, 51 RBIs, 39 SBs and 71 BBs as a rookie. Redus, using today's comps, seems like a poor man's Starling Marte -- good for double digit HR power with 30+ SBs, but he was constantly battling injuries and never played more than 130 games in a season. He would have been better in OBP leagues because of his high BB% and relatively low BA.

He was a part of Pittsburgh's mini-dynasty in the late 80s and early 90s, and his career ended with Texas in 1994.

That's tomorrow's guy, Gary Redus!

[[echo]]

no - seriously - how do you post a pic and have it show (like above)??????

[Judge Jude]

i worked at Fenway in 86 for that... tore my heart out

I sat behind home plate for Game 7 of that 1986 World Series. not one single person inside Shea Stadium believed there was any chance the Red Sox would win that game - not even the Red Sox players, and not even after they took a 3-0 lead into the 5th inning. the chants of 'CAL-VIN!' as Schiraldi tried to pitch in relief were so deafening that I couldn't even concentrate on watching the game. and he had to pitch? NFL domed stadiums aren't as loud as that bloodthirsty crowd was. it's the old "you can't kill us - we were already dead!"

[revo]

I sat behind home plate for Game 7 of that 1986 World Series. not one single person inside Shea Stadium believed there was any chance the Red Sox would win that game - not even the Red Sox players, and not even after they took a 3-0 lead into the 5th inning. the chants of 'CAL-VIN!' as Schiraldi tried to pitch in relief were so deafening that I couldn't even concentrate on watching the game. and he had to pitch? NFL domed stadiums aren't as loud as that bloodthirsty crowd was. it's the old "you can't kill us - we were already dead!"

Wait....YOU’RE the Mets Voodoo Lady??

[fuhrdog]

Wait....YOU’RE the Mets Voodoo Lady??

Mandy?