Let’s Remember a Guy!

[overkill94]

I don't get that Fernando is more famous than several of these guys. For example, I remember Cromartie nearly as well. What a set of OF arms--Dawson, Cromartie and Valentine.

J

I'd never heard of Cromartie and Fernando is the most famous Mexican baseball player of all time so your personal anecdote is pretty inconsequential.

[mjl]

I like it! I guess Toyota G's is a model sold only outside the US. How did this commercial come to your attention?

I would have guessed Deadspin but I couldn't find it there. I found a link from cbssports.com, maybe that was it?

[revo]

Today's Guy

John Cangelosi
Another Brooklyn-born guy, the 5'8" Cangelosi broke out of the gates as a rookie for the White Sox in 1986. He was removed off the 40-man roster over the off-season, went unclaimed in the Rule V draft, and was even loaned to the Mexican League the year before. Coming into spring training as a non-roster invitee, he hit .345 and stole 18 bases, surprisingly beating out Daryl Boston & Rudy Law to win the starting CFer job. As this was 1986, and small athletes were in vogue, Cangelosi became known as the "Spud Webb of Baseball."

When asked if he could recall playing against someone that little in his many years in the majors, White Sox coach Doug Rader thought for a moment and quipped, "Billy Barty?"

He completed his freshman year with a mediocre .235/.349/.299 line, and while he did have more walks (71) than Ks (61), it was his 50 SBs that turned heads -- the most ever for an American League rookie to date. Still, the White Sox took advantage of his increased value and shipped him off to Pittsburgh for swingman Jim Winn in 1987.

Using his smaller size to draw walks, he always had a solid OBP but never hit enough to gain steady playing time again.

He ended up playing parts of 13 seasons in the majors, completing his major league career in 1999.

That's today's guy, John Cangelosi!

[dslaw]

I remember all the steals as a rookie but if you gave me 12 years with a over/under on the career I would have lost of a money.

[revo]

Today's Guy

Geronimo Berroa
You might be scratching your head with Berroa, if you even remembered him, trying to place exactly when he played, who he played for, and if he was ever relevant. Berroa got a very late start to his MLB career, finally attaining full-time status at age 29, had a very good yet very short peak, then totally went over the cliff at a relatively early age.

Berroa may have just preceded most fantasy baseball players relevancy, having debuted in 1989 but bounced around for five seasons and only got a handful of ABs with the Braves, Reds & Marlins. It wasn't until the strike-shortened season of 1994 when the now-journeyman hit .306/.379/.485 for the A's in what was a career high of 340 ABs.

For the next three seasons, the A's were able to get All-Star level production from their waiver wire NRI: Berroa had a performance spike in 1995, hitting 22 HRs with 88 RBIs, before culminating in a huge .290/.344/.532 line with 36 HRs and 106 RBIs in 1996. He had a very good 1997, his age 32 season, hitting .283 with 26 HRs and 90 RBIs, but the A's finally cashed in their winning ticket, sending him to Baltimore for top pitching prospect Jimmy Haynes -- exactly 21 years ago today -- for the O's stretch-run.

But the cliff, they say, can be very steep. In 1998, having signed with the Indians, Berroa's skills seemingly abandoned him at once, as he hit .225/.318/.298 with just 1 HR in 191 ABs, and in June he was traded again, this time to Detroit for Dave Roberts and Tim Worrell. But the magic was gone for Berroa. He signed with the Blue Jays for the 1999 season, but there was nothing left in the tank (.194 in 63 ABs) and he was released in August. The Dodgers took one last chance with him in 2000, but it was over for him. He tried to get things going in 2001 and 2002 in the Mexican and Korean leagues, but it was all over.

Berroa finished with an 11-year MLB career, but it was condensed into a 4-year period of effectiveness.

That's today's guy, Geronimo Berroa!

[hacko]

Today's Guy

Geronimo Berroa
You might be scratching your head with Berroa, if you even remembered him, trying to place exactly when he played, who he played for, and if he was ever relevant. Berroa got a very late start to his MLB career, finally attaining full-time status at age 29, had a very good yet very short peak, then totally went over the cliff at a relatively early age.

Berroa may have just preceded most fantasy baseball players relevancy, having debuted in 1989 but bounced around and only got a handful of ABs with the Braves, Reds & Marlins for five seasons. It wasn't until the strike-shortened season of 1994 when the now-journeyman hit .306/.379/.485 for the A's in what was a career high of 340 ABs.

For the next three seasons, the A's were able to get All-Star level production from their waiver wire NRI: Berroa had a performance spike in 1995, hitting 22 HRs with 88 RBIs, before culminating in a huge .290/.344/.532 line with 36 HRs and 106 RBIs in 1996. He had a very good 1997, his age 32 season, hitting .283 with 26 HRs and 90 RBIs, but the A's finally cashed in their winning ticket, sending him to Baltimore for top pitching prospect Jimmy Haynes -- exactly 21 years ago today -- for the O's stretch-run.

But the cliff, they say, can be very steep. In 1998, having signed with the Indians, Berroa's skills seemingly abandoned him at once, as he hit .225/.318/.298 with just 1 HR in 191 ABs, and in June he was traded again, this time to Detroit for Dave Roberts and Tim Worrell. But the magic was gone for Berroa. He signed with the Blue Jays for the 1999 season, but there was nothing left in the tank (.194 in 63 ABs) and he was released in August. The Dodgers took one last chance with him in 2000, but it was over for him. He tried to get things going in 2001 and 2002 in the Mexican and Korean leagues, but it was all over.

Berroa finished with an 11-year MLB career, but it was condensed into a 4-year period of effectiveness.

That's today's guy, Geronimo Berroa!

I owned him - yes I am old. I owned Mattingly when he was a rookie- ( I am very old)

[pitbull]

I owned him - yes I am old. I owned Mattingly when he was a rookie- ( I am very old)

Your still wet behind the ears. I remember Gates Brown. Scouted in prison, first major league AB he hit a HR (actually remember that listening on the radio), in a doubleheader against the Red Sox had two walk-off winning hits, and who can forget the famous Hot Dog story.

The third reason for Brown’s lasting fame is the Hot Dog Story. According to the legend, Brown found himself, as usual, on the bench for the start of a game on August 7th, 1968. At some point in the contest, Brown got hungry and grabbed a couple of hot dogs. Unfortunately for Brown, manager Mayo Smith summoned him to hit immediately after retrieving his meal, and he stuffed the heavily topped dogs in his shirt to avoid the ire of his skipper. We’ll let Brown tell the rest:

“I always wanted to get a hit every time I went to the plate. But this was one time I didn’t want to get a hit. I’ll be damned if I didn’t smack one in the gap and I had to slide into second—head first, no less. I was safe with a double. But when I stood up, I had mustard and ketchup and smashed hot dogs and buns all over me.

“The fielders took one look at me, turned their backs and damned near busted a gut laughing at me. My teammates in the dugout went crazy.” After fining Brown $100, Smith said, “What the hell were you doing eating on the bench in the first place?” Brown: “I decided to tell him the truth. I said, ‘I was hungry. Besides, where else can you eat a hot dog and have the best seat in the house!'”

[dslaw]

I owned him - yes I am old. I owned Mattingly when he was a rookie- ( I am very old)

I have an autographed card from when he played in Richmond. That card is probably worth $1. Maybe.

[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!

[dslaw]

You forgot to add that Biff called as good a game as any catcher in the NL.

[Hornsby]

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!

Just for me, you've got to do Bob Apodaca next...for some reason, they were always a little melody to me...Bob Apodaca and Biff Pocoroba.

[Judge Jude]

those Braves also had Larvell "Sugar Bear" Blanks, Roric Harrison, Blue Moon Odom, Duane Theiss, Craig Skok, and twins Rickey and Mickey Mahler!

[revo]

Today's Guy, as requested by Hornsby

Bob Apodaca
Another of the great 70s baseball names, Bob Apodaca was a bullpen staple for the NY Mets during the mid-1970s before blowing out his elbow. He missed the entire 1978, 1979 (he did have a 4 IP minor league outing) and 1980 seasons, and gave it one last shot in 1981 in a disastrous 25 IP minor league stint before hanging them up.

Apodaca was typical of the "pitch to contact" 1970s style of pitching, only generating a 4.9 K/9 rate, but he was effective nonetheless, ending his MLB career with a 2.56 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. His best season was 1975, where he had a 1.49 ERA over 85 IP.

After ending his career, he went into coaching and was a longtime pitching coach for the NY Mets, Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies -- where he has since been promoted into the front office as an assistant GM.

That's today's guy, Bob Apodaca!

[Sharky]

Who knew Apodaca was in the COL front office?

I remember Berrios as an Orioles flop.

Love this series!

[Hornsby]

Thanks revo!