1994 Rookie of the Year Countdown – Hector Carrasco

This is the sixth edition of our Tuesday look at the countdown to the Rookies of the Year in 1994.  This post will probably be initially depressing, but eventually, it may end up somewhat motivational.  It will kind of be like Rocky, without any sort of success.  Imagine if instead of beating Apollo Creed, Rocky went about from sketchy gym to sketchy gym, boxing in places like Shreveport, Duluth, and Edmonton for 20 years.  Today’s unsuccessful Rocky is former pitcher Hector Carrasco.

Carrasco was signed as an amateur free agent out of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic by the New York Mets in 1988.   Later that year, he was assigned to the GCL Mets, where he would pitch in 14 games with an 0-2 record and a 4.17 ERA to go along with 21 strikeouts vs. 13 walks.  He’d have another two years of rookie ball in Kingsport where he would combine for a 1-6 record with a 5.55 ERA and 60 strikeouts vs. 35 walks.

Facing a sink or swim situation, Carrasco was promoted to A- ball Pittsfield the next year, where he would produce more yawns.  He had an 0-1 record with a 5.40 ERA to go with 20 strikeouts vs. 21 walks and a save.  By now, the Mets figured out what they had – nothing.  He was released by the Mets in January, 1992, and signed with the Houston Astros shortly after that.

For the 1992 season, the Astros assigned Carrasco to A ball Asheville, where he would be unawful.  He would go 5-5 with a 2.99 ERA to go with 67 strikeouts vs. 47 walks and 8 saves.  Still, this was not enough for him to stick with the ‘Stros, as he would be traded with Brian Griffiths to the Marlins for Tom Edens.

1993 would see the Marlins transform Carrasco into a starter at A ball Kane County.  He repaid them with a 6-12 record and a 4.11 ERA to go along with 127 strikeouts vs. 76 walks.  So far, he had toiled in the minors for six years, and had not advanced past A ball.  On September 10^th, the Marlins sent to the Cincinnati Reds as a player to be named later to complete a trade made earlier in the year with Gary Scott for Chris Hammond.

I guess when you change scenery enough, one of them might work.  This is what happened in 1994 with Carrasco.  Despite never making it about A ball, he broke Spring Training with Reds.

He would make his major league debut in the Reds’ second game of the season on April 4^th, earning a win after giving up a hit and two walks in the top of the 10^th inning, and Kevin Mitchell hitting a walk off solo shot off of the Cardinals’ Rob Murphy for a 5-4 victory.  He would also get another win in his next appearance three days later, after allowing only a walk in the top of the 10^th inning, and Barry Larkin driving in Jeff Branson to defeat David West and the Phillies 5-4.

The formula for Carrasco’s success was clear – bring him into games in the 10^th inning when games were tied at four.  That was not the case in his next appearance; as he earned his first career save despite allowing a solo home run to the Phillies’ Pete Incaviglia in a Reds 2-1 victory.  But his next appearance was a 10^th inning victory, with the score tied at four, in Montreal.  This time, he held the Expos scoreless in the bottom of the 10^th before the Reds exploded for five runs in the top of the 11^th.  So confident that the lead would hold, Carrasco would be left in to bat and then finish the game.  On April 11^th, Carrasco’s record would stand at 3-0, with a 1.80 ERA.  He would add a loss and another save in April, finishing the month with a 0.93 ERA and nine strikeouts vs. three walks.

Carrasco had four appearances in May before a trip to the DL would sideline him.  In those appearances, he had a couple of saves and didn’t give up a run in 5 1/3 innings with four strikeouts vs. four walks.  The Reds didn’t seem to have a designated closer in 1994, as up to Carrasco’s last appearance, both he and Jeff Brantley were tied for the team lead in saves.

Carrasco would rejoin the Reds on June 1^st, and that day, he would get a blown save and loss by giving up three runs without retiring a batter in the eighth inning in a 10-9 loss to the Expos.  Overall for the month of June, he was 1-3 with a 4.91 ERA, a blown save and two holds, and seven strikeouts vs. six walks.

July would be kinder to Carrasco.  He would earn a couple of saves, including a three inning version on July 4^th vs. the Florida Marlins.  Overall, he was 1-2 with a 0.87 ERA, with the two saves and a hold, and 16 strikeouts vs. 13 walks.

In the waning days of the season, across five August appearances, he had one blown save with five strikeouts and four walks.  Brantley would lead the team with 15 saves; Carrasco was second with six.  The Reds would finish with a 66-48 record, which was good for first place in the NL Central, and nothing else.

Over the 1994 season, Carrasco went 5-6 with a 2.24 ERA and six saves, two blown saves, and three holds, to go along with 41 strikeouts vs. 30 walks.  His ERA would not be that low in a season for another 11 years.  His eighth place finish in the NL Rookie of the Year voting was the only time he was voted for any honor.  In 1995, despite only pitching 87 1/3 innings, he was second in the NL in wild pitches with 15.  He was also 10^th in the NL in appearances with 64.

His 3 ½ years with the Reds would be the longest stint he would have with any of the seven major league teams for which he played.  He was traded in July of 1997 with Scott Service to the Kansas City Royals for Jon Nunnally and Chris Stynes.  A 1-6 record and 5.45 ERA later, he would be selected by the newly formed Arizona Diamondbacks as the 49^th pick in the expansion draft.

Carrasco would never pitch for the D-backs, as he would be claimed off of waivers by the Minnesota Twins in early April 1998.  He would spend 2 ½ years in the Twin Cities before being traded to the Boston Red Sox in September 2000 for Lew Ford.  Through seven games with the Sox, he had a 13.50 ERA.  With Boston officially eliminated on the last day of the season, they gave Carrasco his first career start.  He only went two innings, with other Red Sox legends Steve Ontiveros (who hadn’t pitched since 1995), Jesus Pena, Sang-Hoon Lee, and Rich Croushore also throwing that day (although just for the hell of it, Tim Wakefield was allowed to come in and blow a save that day as well).  He was granted free agency at the end of the season.

The Blue Jays would become his ninth team in January of 2001, but they released him before the start of the season at the end of March.  The Twins swooped in to sign the known quantity a couple of days later.  After successfully filling the bullpen that year, he was released, and signed by team number 10, the Texas Rangers, before the 2002 season.  That lasted until the end of April when he was released.  Carrasco would not pitch in the majors at all in 2002.

Never one to know when to quit, Carrasco signed with the Orioles for the 2003 season.  After having one of his average seasons, the Orioles ended the relationship, granting him free agency.  In 2004, for the second time in three years, Carrasco would not pitch in the majors (although he did pitch in Japan for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes).

In February 2005, Carrasco would be signed by team number 12, the Washington Nationals.  This would be hands down his best season of his career, as he went  5-4 with a 2.04 ERA with two saves, three blow saves, nine holds, and 75 strikeouts vs. 38 walks.  He would parlay that into a two year, $5.6 million contract starting in the 2006 season with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Halfway through the 2007 season, the Angels released him.  He was resigned by the Nationals, who granted him free agency at the end of the season.  In 2008, he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in January, who then released him in March.  The Chicago Cubs signed him in May, but granted him free agency at the end of the season.  His last major league appearance came with the Angels on June 30^th, 2007 in a 6-3 loss to the Orioles.

But just because no major league team wanted him didn’t discourage him.  In 2009, at the age of 39, he played for three different independent league teams.  2010 saw him play for two more independent league teams, as well has his Mexican League debut.  In 2011, it was the same – two independent league teams and the Mexican League.  Finally, in 2012, at the age of 42, he would play for two more Mexican League teams before finally calling it quits.

In summary, let’s count the teams that Carrasco played for, or was at least a part of, in his career, in the order in which he appeared:

GCL Mets (rookie Mets), Kingsport Mets (rookie Mets), Pittsfield Mets (A- Mets), Asheville Tourists (A Astros), Kane County Cougars (A Marlins), Cincinnati Reds, Indianapolis Indians (AAA Reds), Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Minnesota Twins, Ft. Myers Miracle (A+ Twins), Salt Lake Buzz (AAA Twins), Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, Ottawa Lynx (AAA Orioles), Baltimore Orioles, Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes (Japan), New Orleans Zephyrs (AAA Nationals), Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Columbus Clippers (AAA Nationals), Pittsburgh Pirates, Iowa Cubs (AAA Cubs), Bridgeport Bluefish (Independent), Long Island Ducks (Independent), Newark Bears (Independent), Shreveport-Bossier Captains (Independent), Diablos Rojos del Mexico (Mexican), Petroleros de Minatitlan (Mexican), and Pericos de Puelba (Mexican).  That’s 31 teams by my count.

Even though he never won an official award, should the MLB ever present a Sisyphus award, I would behighly disappointed if it didn’t have Carrasco’s face.

Don Mattingly's Hurt - Bring in the next Babe Ruth

I never was much of a Yankees fan growing up, but I was a Don Mattingly fan.  I was from Indiana, and he was from Indiana (southern Indiana no less), so you really didn’t need much more of a connection.

Mattingly was drafted in the 19^th round (493^rd overall) of the 1979 draft by the Yankees.  Other 19^th round draftees had baseball names like Teixeira (not Mark), Howe (not Arte), Rice (not Jim), Orosco (not Jesse), Dunn (not Adam), Rodriguez (not Alex/Ivan), etc.  But none of these baseball names ever made the majors.  He was actually drafted two spots ahead of Tom Henke, who was the first pick of the 20^th round by the Seattle Mariners.

In 1984, in his first full season in the majors, Mattingly led the American League with a .343 batting average, 207 hits and 44 doubles.  He was an All Star and finished fifth in the MVP race.  The following season, he would win the MVP award, leading the league with 48 doubles and 145 RBIs, and again making the All Star team.  He would also win his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.

Remember cool 80's baseball posters?
This is one of them.

In 1986 and 1987, he would finish in the top 10 in the MVP race, make the All Star team, and wing Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.  In 1987, he set a major league record with SIX grand slams, a feat that has since been matched by Travis Hafner in 2006.

1988 and 1989 saw more of the same from Mattingly.  He didn’t have any votes for the MVP race in 1988, but he was still an All Star and won a Gold Glove.  He finished 15^th in the MVP race in 1989, and again was an All Star and Gold Glove winner.

We all know the Gold Glove award is kind of a sham, but don’t let the fact that Mattingly was an offensive force mask your appreciation for his defense.  He earned those awards.  From his debut in 1982 through the end of the 1989 season, he made 44 errors in 8630 chances.  That’s good for a fielding percent of .995 friends.

But time catches up with every man, and it caught Mattingly earlier than most.  For most of the 1990 season, Mattingly battled back problems.  In early June, Mattingly was still hitting .283, but from June 4^th through July 24^th, he would only hit .201.  Surrendering to his back, he would go on the DL through the middle of September.  When he came back, he hit safely in 12 of 16 games through the end of the season with a .333 average.

With Mattingly on the shelf, someone had to play first base.  The 1990 Yankees were not a good team, finishing 65-97 on the year.  The only player with over 100 at bats that hit over .300 was 36 year old backup catcher Rick Cerone.  As a team, they only hit .241.  So the bar for Mattingly’s replacement was set pretty low.

Enter the next Babe Ruth – Kevin Maas.  Through the end of June of 1990, Maas had hit .284 with 13 home runs at AAA Columbus, giving him a total of 58 through 1505 minor league at bats.  Divided out, this was a home run every 53.75 at bats.  As unbelievable as it may sound, Babe Ruth’s minor league stats aren’t exactly complete, but what does appear is that what records there are, he only hit one home run in 121 at bats.  Given those facts, we know that Maas was clearly about to hit well over 1000 home runs.

Maas would make his debut on June 29^th, 1990, going 1-3 with a strikeout as the designated hitter in a 1-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox.  The next day, also at DH, he would go 1-3 again with a walk and he would pick up his first career RBI.  But he still had no home runs.  As a matter of fact, he would play another two games before finally hitting a home run in career game number five, off of the Royals’ Brett Saberhagen.  For those of you keeping track at home, this was now an average of one home run for every 15 at bats.  Not Ruthian.

Three games later, he would connect for home run number two off of the Twins’ Kevin Tapani.  It was a three run shot early on in the Yankees 5-4, 12 inning victory.  The home run ratio was now one to every 12 at bats.

Bear with me here, this will probably be boring for a few minutes, but it will get better.  Hopefully it will anyway.

Let’s skip the next two homerless games, and go to July 14^th, where Maas would go 3-5 with two home runs and five RBIs in the Yankees 8-7 loss to the White Sox.  Maas would tag the Sox’ Adam Peterson for a two run home run in the second inning, and again for a solo shot off of Peterson in the fourth inning.  Just for good measure, he’d add a two run, game tying single in the eighth.  Unfortunately, Lee Guetterman couldn’t hold the lead, surrendering a go ahead solo home run from Ron Karkovice in the top of the tenth.  The Yankees would get a leadoff double off of the Sox Donn Pall before retiring the next two, issuing an intentional walk to Mattingly.  They survived Bobby Thigpen entering the game and immediately hitting Jesse Barfield with a pitch before Thigpen struck out Bob Geren to earn his 29^th save of the season on his way to 57 saves.  Back to Maas.  That now gave him an average of one per 7.5 at bats.  Now we’re cookin’!

The next five games saw a mini slump from Maas as he only hit .200 with no home runs.  The next three games saw him connect for three home runs off of the Texas Rangers’ Kevin Brown, Bobby Witt, and Nolan Ryan.  Unfortunately, these were the only hits he had in 13 at bats, with six strikeouts.  The Yankees lost all three games, but that’s not what this is about.  Maas’ home run average was now one for every eight at bats.

Fast forward through the next homerless (and hitless) games, and Maas would connect for another home run off of the Detroit Tigers’ Dan Petry.  His home run ratio was now one to every 8.63 at bats.

Two days later, he would connect for two more home runs off of the Tigers’ Walt Terrell and Paul Gibson.  Both were solo shots, and the Yankees lost 6-5 to the Tigers in 14 innings, a game that would see Angels and Tigers legend Frank Tanana get his only career save in 638 games pitched.

I had 2.4 career WAR!

Maas’ two home runs gave him 10 through his first 77 career at bats.  This was the fastest that anyone had ever hit 10 home runs, besting the previous record of 79 at bats set in 1966 by the Red Sox’ George Scott.  Maas was not finished.  He would also set records for fewest at bats to reach 13 home runs (110; Sam Horn did it in 123), 15 home runs (133; Wally Berger did it in 135) and tied for the major league record for most home runs in his first 100 at bats (12, tied with Dave Hostetler).

All in all, in 1990 in 254 at bats, Maas would hit .252 with nine doubles, 21 home runs, 41 RBIs, and 42 runs to go along with 43 walks and 76 strikeouts.  Being a left handed hitter in Yankee stadium, you probably would imagine that would have helped him quite a bit.  It did, but not so much in power as it did in batting average.  In 43 games at home, spanning 135 at bats, he hit .281 with 12 home runs.  In 36 games on the road, spanning 119 at bats, he hit .218 with nine home runs.

One aspect of his game we overlooked was his defense.  That’s because in 57 games at first base, he made nine errors.  Project that out over a full season, and you’re sitting around 25.  That’s over halfway to Mattingly’s total in the previous eight seasons.  He actually finished tied for third in the AL for errors as a first baseman, despite only playing a third of a season there.

Maas’ 21 home runs in 1990 set a Yankee record for a left handed rookie, which still stands to this day.  Maas would finish second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 1990 behind unanimous winner Sandy Alomar Jr.

After his age 25 season, Babe Ruth had 103 home runs, 54 of which had came in his age 25 season.  Maas clearly had some catching up to do, but there was clearly nothing to be worried about, right?  Uh, sure.

Maas was the Opening Day DH for the Yankees in Detroit in 1991.  Being the next Babe Ruth, he hit a two run home that day.  Unfortunately, he’d only have one more in April.  He hit four in the first 10 days in May, and three more later in the month.  He only had four the entire month of June, and only one in July.  He only added four more in August, and three in September.  If he hadn’t hit two home runs on the last day of the season, he would have had the same number of home runs as the year before in nearly twice the at bats.  For the ’91 campaign, he finished hitting .220 with 23 home runs and 63 RBIs paired with 83 walks and 128 strikeouts.  The pressure of playing in New York may have got to him, as only eight of his 23 home runs were at home.

1992 saw reduced playing time for Maas, only hitting .248 with 11 home runs in 286 at bats over 98 games.  In 1993, shuffling back and forth between AAA Columbus and New York, he only hit .205 with nine home runs in 151 at bats over 59 games.

Before the 1994 season, he was released by the Yankees, and signed by the San Diego Padres.  In 4 games and 15 at bats for AA Wichita, he hit .533 with three home runs.  He was quickly advanced to AAA Las Vegas, where he came back to reality, hitting only .244 with 4 home runs in 90 at bats.  The Padres released him at the end of May, and he was signed by the Reds shortly after.  He put up decent numbers at AAA Indianapolis, hitting .290 with 19 home runs, but the Reds released him after the season.

1995 saw Maas sign with the Minnesota Twins.  He was released at the end of June after hitting .193 with four doubles and a home run in 57 at bats for the big club.  The home run he hit off of the Royals’ Mark Gubicza on May 2^nd would be the last of his career.  He was signed by the Yankees after being released by the Twins, and was assigned once again to AAA Columbus.  He spent the 1996 and 1997 seasons in the minors for the Brewers, Reds and Astros, but he would hang it up after that.


The real Babe Ruth had just hit 60 home runs in his age 32 season, and sat at 416 home runs for his career.  The next Babe Ruth finished his career at age 32 with 65 home runs.  Let's forget all of this ugliness, and salute Kevin Maas, Patron Saint of Unhatched Chickens.

1994 Rookie of the Year Countdown - Jim Edmonds

This is the fifth edition of our Tuesday look at the countdown to the Rookies of the Year in 1994.  Today’s post will be especially fun for me as I examine former Angels and Cardinals (and Padres, and Cubs, and Brewers, and Reds) outfielder Jim Edmonds!

Jim Edmonds was drafted in the seventh round in 1988 by the California Angels out of Diamond Bar High School in Diamond Bar, CA.  The Brahmas have only produced one other major leaguer – pitcher Mike Burns.  Judging by Burns’ stats, I would have probably preferred Edmonds come in to pitch.

After the draft, Edmonds was assigned to A- ball Bend, where he was somewhat overmatched.  In that short season, he hit .221 with four doubles and 13 RBIs with 20 walks vs. 44 strikeouts.  In a sign of things to come, in 35 games, he only made one error in center field.

1989 would see him promoted to A ball Quad Cities, where he would show signs of improvement.  He was seemingly affected by injury that year, as he only played in 31 games, but across that season, he hit .261 with four doubles, one home run, four RBIs and seven walks vs. 34 strikeouts.

Playing closer to home in 1990 at A+ ball Palm Springs, Edmonds would raise his average all the way up to .293.  He would pair this with 18 doubles, six triples, three home runs, 56 RBIs, and 27 walks vs. 75 strikeouts.  In what was probably his worst defensive season of his career, he committed 10 errors, but he did have nine outfield assists.

1991 would be another apparent injury-shortened season, where Edmonds only played in 60 games, again at Palm Springs.  He hit .294 with 15 doubles, a triple, two home runs, 27 RBIs and 40 walks vs. 57 strikeouts.  Palm Springs possibly hired a new groundskeeper for the 1991 season, as Edmonds went from 10 errors the previous year to ZERO in 1991.  And here’s a fun fact, maybe you really WOULD want Edmonds to pitch, since he did throw two innings in 1991, allowing one hit, three walks, and striking out two.

In 1992, at the age of 22, Edmonds was promoted to AA Midland to start the season.  He would raise his average all the way to .313, with 15 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 32 RBIs and 41 walks vs. 83 strikeouts.  Halfway through the season, he was promoted to AAA Edmonton (the year before Monty Fariss) and he didn’t miss a beat, hitting .299 with 15 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 36 RBIs and 14 walks vs. 55 strikeouts.  He only made six errors across the two stops.

In 1993, he would start the season out in new AAA Angels affiliate Vancouver.  Still three years younger than league average, he would hit .315 with 28 doubles, four triples, nine home runs, 74 RBIs and 41 walks vs. 81 strikeouts.  Again, providing elite defense, he only made three errors in 95 games.  Edmonds time in the minors, with exception of a handful of rehab assignments, had now come to a close.

Edmonds would make his major league debut on September 9^th, 1993 in an Angels 6-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers.  Edmonds, starting in left field, would be the only Angel without a hit that day, going 0-4 with two strikeouts.  He would, however, get his first major league outfield assist, throwing out Tony Phillips at third base to end the first inning.  He would get his first hit in a ninth inning pinch hit at bat the following day in Toronto.  Edmonds would hold his own in his first taste of the big leagues, hitting .246 with four doubles, a triple, four RBIs and two walks vs. 16 strikeouts.

Edmonds would come firing out of the gate in 1994.  He only started four games in April, but he made the most of his playing time, hitting .444 with seven runs, four RBIs and four walks vs. five strikeouts.  Just trying to get the rookie in the lineup, he played left field, center field, and first base.

May would see increased playing time from Edmonds.  In 24 games, with 16 starts, he hit .313 with three doubles, a home run, seven runs, 11 RBIs, and eight walks vs. 15 strikeouts.  By this time, he mainly was playing first base, but he also played some games in left field.  His first career home run was off of Rick Helling, as the Angels would get six runs in the top of the first in a 13-1 win over the Texas Rangers on May 11^th.

June saw Edmonds promoted into primarily a starter, as he started 22 of the 24 games he played that month.  He would hit .277 with four doubles, three home runs, 10 runs, 12 RBIs, and six walks vs. 21 strikeouts.  He would also steal his first three bases of his career.  He was now mainly playing left field, with only a handful of appearances in right field, center field, and at first base.

By the time July came around, teams were starting to develop a book on Edmonds, as his numbers dipped a bit.  He would only hit .231 with four doubles, one triple, one home run, nine runs, nine RBIs, and 10 walks vs. 24 strikeouts.  He would split his time between left field and right field, with one appearance each in center field and at first base.

In the waning days of the 1994 season, in eight August games, Edmonds would hit .200 with two doubles, two runs, one RBI, and two walks vs. seven strikeouts.  He would also steal a base, finishing the season with four, with only two caught stealing.  He finished the season in left field.

Overall that year, on his way to the eighth place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting, Edmonds hit .273 with 13 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 35 runs and 37 RBIs, with 30 walks vs. 72 strikeouts.  Across 94 games, he only made three errors.

The next four years would see Edmonds hit at least 25 home runs each year.  He was an All Star in 1995 and won Gold Glove awards in 1997 and 1998.  After an injury shortened 1999, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Kent Bottenfield and Adam Kennedy.  Bottenfield wouldn’t even last the entire 2000 season in Anaheim, being traded to the Phillies in mid-season.  Edmonds would go on to be an All Star, win a Gold Glove, and finish fourth in the MVP voting, leading the Cardinals to the playoffs.

His years in St. Louis saw two World Series appearances with one victory.  He would hit .285 with 241 home runs.  He only committed 29 errors in his 1105 games as a Cardinal.  After the 2007 season, Edmonds was traded to the San Diego Padres for David Freese.  That worked out pretty well for the Cardinals.  Over his last few years, a diminished Edmonds would add on another 31 home runs as a part time player for the Padres, Cubs, Brewers and Reds. 

For his career, Edmonds hit .284 with 1949 hits, 393 home runs, and 1199 RBIs.  In 1924 career games, he only made 58 errors, good for a .989 fielding percent.  He was a four time all star, finished in the MVP voting six times, a winner of eight Gold Glove awards (including six in a row), and he won a Silver Slugger award in 1995.  Edmonds will be eligible for the Hall of Fame this coming year.  It will be quite interesting to see what kind of support he will get.

Next week, we will examine former (too many teams to list) reliever Hector Carrasco.

Never Heard of Him - Monty Fariss

Today’s blog focus stems from a recent visit to Slugger Field, where I was able to tour the inner workings of the facility.  I got to see the player lounge, locker room, batting cages, all of the typical stuff.  They also have several pictures, team stats, etc.  Then, for some reason, they have the entire 1989 Topps baseball card set, in several uncut sheets, on the walls of one large room.  I’m guessing because they could probably purchase them for just the cost of the cardboard they’re printed on.  Honestly, the frames cost more than the card sheets.

Valuable or not, being that this set was from when I was 10 years old, I instantly thought this was cool.  I spent a good amount of time examining the sheets.  I snapped a picture of a group of six cards that was probably one of the greatest and/or saddest things ever.  Going clockwise, the players are George Brett, Roberto Alomar, Ron Gant, #1 Draft Pick Jim Abbott, #1 Draft Pick Robin Ventura, and #1 Draft Pick…Monty Fariss.

George Brett is a Hall of Famer with 3154 hits, 317 home runs and a career batting average of .305.  He’s the only player to win a batting title in three different decades – 1976, 1980, and 1990.

Robert Alomar is also a Hall of Famer.  He finished with 2724 hits, 210 home runs, 474 stolen bases and a career batting average of .300.  His career fielding percent was .984.

Fariss never graced the
cover of Sports Illustrated.

Ron Gant is not a Hall of Famer.  As a matter of fact, he didn’t receive a single vote when he was first eligible in 2009.  While not a Hall of Famer, he was a very effective player in his prime.  He hit 20 or more home runs seven times, and stole more than 20 bases five times.  His career numbers are 321 home runs and 243 stolen bases.

Everything you need to know about Jim Abbott you can read in my earlier blog post, but in case you haven’t gotten to it yet, Abbott won 87 games in his 10 year career, striking out 880 across 1674 innings.  He did this despite being born with one hand.

Robin Ventura was also a very effective player across his 16 year career.  He was a two time all star and a six time Gold Glove winner.  He hit 20 or more home runs nine times, finishing with a career total of 294.  Despite only batting .267 in his career, his on base percentage was nearly 10% higher at .362.  He also threw one inning of shutout ball in his last season with the Dodgers in a 13-0 loss to the Angels.

And now we get to the main event – Monty Fariss.  Fariss was drafted out of Oklahoma State University as the sixth overall pick in the 1988 draft by the Texas Rangers.  The shortstop was assigned to rookie-ball Butte of the Pioneer League where he would turn heads by hitting .396 and four home runs while walking 20 times vs. only seven strikeouts across 77 plate appearances.  He was quickly promoted to AA Tulsa where he came back to earth, only hitting .224 with three home runs and 22 walks vs. 39 strikeouts.

1989 saw Fariss return to Tulsa, and he had some better results.  His average increased to .272, but his slugging percentage actually fell about 20 points.  He only had five home runs, and had 64 walks vs. 112 strikeouts.  That would be pretty good for a shortstop still more than two years younger than the league average, until you look at his .928 fielding percentage.

He would return to Tulsa yet again for the start of the 1990 season.  This time, he brought his average all the way up to .299 while hitting seven home runs.  That earned him a promotion to AAA Oklahoma City where he would hit .302 the rest of the season with four home runs.  Across both stops, he had 70 walks vs. 108 strikeouts.

He started the 1991 campaign back in Oklahoma City.  His average fell back to .271, but he increased his power, hitting nine triples and 13 home runs.  His walks jumped all the way to 91, but his strikeouts increased to 143.

Boy, you're going to lead the
league in HIT BY FISTS!

The Rangers decided it was time to call up the 23 year old Fariss.  He would make his major league debut on September 6^th in an 11-6 loss to the White Sox.  Fariss would hit leadoff as the DH and go 0-2 with two strikeouts.  This looks like a fun game.  It featured Bo Jackson hit a double off of Nolan Ryan, a Ryan HBP of Robin Ventura (this was before their “incident”), and Julio Franco falling a double short of the cycle.  It was the exact opposite of a pitcher’s duel, with the pitchers combining for 17 hits and 20 walks.  Fariss would finish his first taste of the bigs hitting .258 with a double, a home run, six RBIs, and seven walks vs. 11 strikeouts while playing left field and second base.

1992 would find Fariss in left field on Opening Day.  He was 0-2 with a walk and a strikeout before being pulled in the top of the eighth inning for pinch hitter Kevin Reimer.  The Rangers would erupt for NINE runs in the top of the eighth to put them up 12-8.  The Mariners scored two runs in the bottom of the frame, but that was as close as they would get as Jeff Russell would come in to shut the door for the save.  A score of 12-10 doesn’t sound like your typical game started by Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson, but this was more of a reflection of the early 90’s bullpens of the Rangers and Mariners, as they were responsible for 16 of those 22 runs allowed (and the Rangers defense was also responsible for a couple).

Fariss would only appear in 16 games in April and May before being sent back down to Oklahoma City.  Through mid-July, Fariss would hit .299 in the minors before being called back up.  Unfortunately, that success would not carry over to the majors, as for the season, he finished hitting .217 with seven doubles, a triple, three home runs, 21 RBIs and 17 walks vs. 51 strikeouts playing left field, center field, right field, and second base.

Fariss on his way to the
ballpark in June, 1993

After the 1992 season, Fariss was left unprotected against the expansion draft and was drafted by the Florida Marlins.  After hitting just .172 with two doubles, one triple and two RBIs with five walks vs. 13 strikeouts, he was sent to AAA Edmonton.  Since his last major league game was on June 1^st, and the one week Alberta summer was still a couple of months away in Edmonton, he only hit .256 finishing out the season in the minors.

1994 would see Fariss back in Edmonton.  This time, better equipped for the extreme conditions, over the course of the season he hit .285 with 32 doubles, four triples, 20 home runs and 60 RBIs with 55 strikeouts vs. 99 walks.

He signed with the Cubs for the 1995 season.  After just 10 games and a .182 batting average, that was the end of the line for Fariss.  He packed his bags for warmer weather, heading to play for Monterrey in the Mexican League.

All of this is probably more than you knew, or even cared to know, about Monty Fariss.  For his career, he was a .217 hitter with four home runs and 29 walks vs. 75 strikeouts.  But he never made one single error in his career!  He was perfect in 133 chances.  Despite being drafted as a shortstop out of college, he never made a single appearance there in his career.

Don't Fariss me, bro!

Hey!  Texas Rangers!  You drafted a shortstop and screwed around with him, playing him at five different other positions and he ultimately failed as a major leaguer.  Sound familiar?  Learn from your mistakes from 20 years ago!

1994 Rookie of the Year Countdown - Bobby Jones

This is the fourth edition of our Tuesday look at the countdown to the Rookies of the Year in 1994.  Today we examine former Mets and Padres right hander Bobby Jones.

Robert Joseph Jones was drafted in the first round (36^th overall) in the 1991 draft out of Cal State Fresno.  The Bulldogs have produced an astounding 48 major league players, including Kevin Appier, Terry Pendleton, Jeff Weaver, Doug Fister and Matt Garza.  This was after attending Fresno High School, which happened to have produced Hall of Famers Frank Chance and Tom Seaver.  After his signing, he was assigned to single A Columbia where he quickly turned heads by going 3-1 with a 1.85 ERA and 35 strikeouts vs. just three walks.

In 1992, he was promoted to AA Binghamton, where he would go 12-4 with a 1.88 ERA and 143 strikeouts vs. 43 walks.  He threw four complete games, all shutouts.  Promoted again in 1993, he went 12-10 with a 3.63 ERA at AAA Norfolk.  He had 126 strikeouts vs. 32 walks.  He also hit 11 batters and had 11 wild pitches that year.  Despite than those minor hiccups, the Mets decided it was time to bring him up.

Jones made is major league debut on August 13^th, 1993 in a 9-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.  At this point in the season, the Mets were 39-76, 34 ½ games back of those same Phillies.  Throwing Jones right into the fire, he would start that day, and over six innings, he would give up seven hits, one walk and five runs (only one earned) while striking out three.  Backed by second baseman Tim Bogar’s monster day at the plate – two home runs and two doubles with four RBIs – Jones would get the win.  Although I’m not going to examine every game of the season, I declare this was the high point for the Mets that year.

Things would not be as smooth for Jones the rest of the season, as he went 2-4 with a 3.65 ERA in nine starts.  The Mets were not very good at much that season, including defense.  Jones gave up 35 runs, with only 25 of them earned.  His last start of the season was his best, throwing 10 shutout innings vs. the Cardinals as the Mets won 1-0 in 17 innings when Jeff Kent doubled in Eddie Murray.

In 1994, the Mets were not quite as bad, but their numbers were certainly not good.  They only had one player bat over .300 – Rico Brogna, in 138 plate appearances, hit .351.  Jones and recent blog topic Bret Saberhagen were the only two pitchers to win more than 10 games, and they and Pete Smith were the only pitchers that would start more than 10 games.

Jones would start the third game of the season for the Mets in Chicago vs. the Cubs.  I think we all remember what happened a couple of days earlier (Tuffy Rhodes) but after that series, the Mets were 3-0 due to Jones’ seven innings pitched where he allowed just one run and two walks with three strikeouts.  In his next start, also against the Cubs five days later, he wouldn’t fare as well as he allowed six runs in just 2 1/3 innings.  He would finish the month with a 3-1 record and 19 strikeouts vs. 16 walks (including seven on April 27^th).

His first start of May would see Jones only go 2 2/3 innings pitched where he would allow nine runs, none of which were earned.  From what I can tell, this is a major league record.  Other teams have scored that many unearned runs, but they were never allowed by one pitcher.  The third inning was the culprit that day.  Jeff Reed grounded out to short.  Giants starter Mark Portugal singled to center field.  Darren Lewis bunted out to Jones.  Then, Jose Vizcaino booted John Patterson’s grounder to short.  Matt Williams would homer in the next at bat, Barry Bonds would single, steal a base, score, etc.  The inning even featured another error that prolonged it even further.  The Giants would win 10-3.  The rest of May was better for Jones, as he ended the month 3-3 with a 3.10 ERA and 20 strikeouts vs. 13 walks.

June was another month of ups and downs for Jones.  In his first two starts, he had a loss and a no decision, giving up 8 earned runs in 14 1/3 innings.  In his third start, he threw eight shutout innings, allowing four hits and no walks in a 1-0 victory over the Phillies.  Then, in his last two starts of the month, the Mets defense was once again unkind, as he lost both starts, allowing 12 runs – only seven earned – in 9 2/3 innings.  He would finish the month 1-3 with a 4.22 ERA and 14 strikeouts vs. eight walks.

July would see Jones get back on track.  He had two no decisions where he gave up nine runs in 14 innings, but in his four wins that month, he gave up six runs in 26 2/3 innings.  For the month, he was 4-0 with a 2.88 ERA and 20 strikeouts vs. 14 walks.  He also only allowed one home run in 40 2/3 innings that month.

He would get a couple of more starts in August as the season wrapped up, going 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA and seven strikeouts vs. five walks.  In what would foreshadow a classic Bobby Jones start, his last start of the season saw him get the win, as he danced around 10 hits and a walk across 7 1/3 innings.

Jones finished the year with a record of 12-7, an ERA of 3.15, one complete game and shutout, 80 strikeouts and 56 walks in 160 innings pitched.  That was good for a 2.4 WAR, which isn’t too bad for a rookie starting pitcher.  His ERA ranked eighth in the NL that year, but it was still over twice as high as leader Greg Maddux’s 1.56.  That season, he only gave up 10 home runs.  Other than his cup of coffee in 1993, that was the only season where he gave up fewer than 20 home runs, other than his injury-shortened 1999 season where he only pitched in 12 games.

Jones would pitch in New York through the 2000 season.  He was an All Star in 1997 when he went 15-9.  Other than his eighth place Rookie of the Year finish in 1994, that was the only time he was ever voted for any sort of award.  The only thing Jones would ever lead the league in was in 2001, the first year of his two year stint in San Diego.  He would lead the league with 19 losses, and also tied for the league in home runs allowed, somehow serving up 37.  It takes a special talent to give up that many homers in San Diego.  A special kind of talent like Jones, and his Padres’ teammate Kevin Jarvis, who also gave up 37.  The was also one other guy that gave up 37 home runs that year – a guy named Curt Schilling.  Things worked out ok for him, though.  Well, sort of.

THAT SHIRT.

For his career, Jones would finish 89-83 with a 4.36 ERA and 887 strikeouts vs. 412 walks across 1518 2/3 innings pitched.  He wasn’t part of the Mets mid-90’s future known as Generation K – Bill Pulsipher, Jason Isringhausen, and Paul Wilson – but combined with these three, the Mets future looked bright.  It was, culminating with their appearance in the 2000 World Series.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t with any contribution from Generation K.  Jones would go 11-6 for the Mets that year.  Pulsipher would start two games, losing both of them and giving up nine runs in 6 2/3 innings.

No relation.

Also, just for laughs, the Mets also had another pitcher named Bobby Jones that year.  On July 3^rd, Bobby Jones started.  Bobby Jones also started on July 4^th.  Well played, Mets.  I can appreciate the humor in that.

Happy Birthday Bret Saberhagen!

Today, Brett Saberhagen turns 50 years old.  Let’s take a look back at highlights of his career, and then an examination of a couple of his better seasons – 1989 and 1994.

Saberhagen was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 19^th round (480^th overall) of the 1982 draft out of Grover Cleveland High School in Reseda, CA.  Fellow 19^th rounders from that year combined for -0.1 WAR in a total of 21 major league games.  I hope that scout got a nice bonus.

Saberhagen was assigned to single A Ft. Myers to start his professional career, then, after going 10-5, he was promoted to AA Jacksonville.  In the minors in 1983, as a 19 year old, he would combine for a 16-7 record with a 2.91 ERA, 130 strikeouts vs. just 48 walks, and five complete games (two shutouts) in 187 innings.  A 19 YEAR OLD THREW 187 INNINGS.  Not sure what his workload was in high school, but I’m guessing this was quite a jump.  Perhaps this would be why he would deal with arm troubles the second half of his career?

Anyway, the Royals thought he had proved enough in that one minor league season, so he would start the 1984 season with the big club.  He made his major league debut on April 4^th of that year in relief of Paul Splittorff vs. the New York Yankees.  Splittorff didn’t have it going that day, and lasted just 3 1/3 innings and giving up four runs.  Saberhagen came in and proceeded to throw 4 2/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing only three hits while striking out and walking none.  He kept them in the game, but the Royals still lost 4-3.  Splittorff would get the loss, and opposing Yankees pitcher Phil Niekro would pick up the 269^th victory of his career.

Other highlights of his rookie season include his first career start and win vs. the Tigers on April 19^th, his only career save vs. the Blue Jays on July 23^rd, and his first career shutout on September 24^th, a 3 hit effort vs. the Angels.  He would finish his rookie campaign with a 10-11 record in what could be described as a “sixth starter” role.

The following season was a magical one for way-too-young-to-be-throwing-that-many-innings pitchers.  Saberhagen, at the age of 21, combined with Dwight Gooden, at the age of 20, to go 44-10 on the season in 235 1/3 and 276 2/3 innings respectively.  Each Cy Young award winner carried their team towards the playoffs, with the Royals making it, but the Mets falling just short.

Saberhagen’s 1985 saw him go 20-6 with a 2.87 ERA.  He had 158 strikeouts vs. just 38 walks.  He threw 10 complete games, but only had one shutout against the Brewers on May 17^th.  He definitely finished strong that year, going 13-2 after July 1^st.

The next three seasons saw decent numbers for Saberhagen.  He went 39-38 with a 3.71 ERA.  He would average 225 innings pitched over those seasons.

Then, in 1989, Saberhagen would go 23-6 on his way to his second Cy Young award.  Throwing 12 complete games, with four shutouts, on his way to 262 1/3 innings pitched, he would strike out 193 and only walk 43.  Just like 1985, he started slow.  He had his third-to-last relief appearance of his career on April 16^th, a day after he gave up five runs to the Blue Jays in 2/3 of an inning.  Combined with three runs that day, he gave up eight total in three innings pitched.  He was now 1-1 with a 5.00 ERA.  Then, after July 1^st, he went 17-2 to finish the season.

He would spend two more years in Kansas City, going 19-18 and only averaging 166 innings those two years.  On December 11^th, 1991, he was traded with Bill Pecota to the New York Mets for Gregg Jefferies, Kevin McReynolds and Keith Miller.

The first two years as a Met saw Saberhagen struggle to stay on the mound.  He went 10-12 and only averaged 118 innings pitched.  He was still a control artist though, striking out 174 and only walking 44.   In 1993, Saberhagen would have a K/BB ratio of 5.47, which was a career high.  Actually, had he pitched enough innings to qualify, it would have led the majors.  And it wouldn’t even have been close.  Bob Tewksbury led the majors with a ratio of 4.85, followed by Jimmy Key (4.02), Greg Maddux (3.79), Jose Rijo (3.66) and John Burkett (3.62).

No one had a ratio as high as Saberhagen’s since Dennis Eckersley in 1985 with a 6.16 ratio, and you’d have to go all the way back to 1971 before that, when Fergie Jenkins had a ratio of 7.11.  While he could have sat back and admired what he had accomplished, instead he decided that he would just go out and DOUBLE that the following season.

DO NOT Google
Candy Cummings with
children in the room.

In the modern era, only two pitchers have had a K/BB ratio of more than 10 – 2010 Cliff Lee at 10.28 and 1994 Saberhagen at 11.00.  I could go on and on about some of the numbers from the early days of the league, as some of these numbers look a bit incomplete.  Cy Young led the league in K/BB ratio in 1893 at 0.99.  He walked more batters than he struck out, AND STILL LED THE LEAGUE.  Then, there was unfortunately named Hall of Famer Candy Cummings who, in 1875 in 416 innings struck out 82 batters.  And walked four.  FOUR.  That is a 20.50 ratio.  I find that a bit hard to believe.

Back to Saberhagen.  His 1994 season, the first year he had been healthy since the 1991 season, was unfortunately ended early because of the strike.  Short season numbers are always skewed a bit, and more than likely, this was no exception.  But remember, Saberhagen was always a slow starter, and although he didn’t start as slow as usual, still, at the end of April, he did have a 3-1 record, but he had 23 strikeouts vs. five walks.  That’s pretty good, but not historic.

In May, he would strike out 27 batters and only walk ONE.  June was even better with 40 strikeouts and only THREE walks.  He would add one more strikeout in July to clock in at 41 vs. 3.  He’d finish up August with 12 strikeouts and one walk.

Those 1994 Mets weren’t a particularly good team, so he lost a lot of low scoring games.  Otherwise, he very well may have made a run at 20 wins that season.  In his four losses that year, he gave up four, three, five and three runs.  In his six no decisions, he gave up three, two, six, one, ZERO and two.  The zero run effort was over 10 innings in the night cap of a double header vs. the Padres on July 15^th, a game that the Mets would eventually lose 2-1 in 14 innings when Tony Gwynn and Phil Plantier went back to back off of Mike Maddux.

Despite setting the all time record for K/BB ratio, and that excellent 14-4 record, Saberhagen would finish third in the Cy Young award voting behind Greg Maddux and Ken Hill.  Maddux was filthy that year.  He threw 202 innings, went 16-6, struck out 156 and only walked 31, and only gave up four home runs.  His ERA was 1.56 and WHIP was 0.896.  And Ken Hill had 16 wins.  That was two more than Saberhagen, so, you know.

This blog is full of
unfortunate names.

Saberhagen would only have another half a season in New York, as he would be traded to the Rockies on July 31^st, 1995 with a player to be named later (David Swanson) for Arnold Gooch and Juan Acevedo.  He wouldn’t play at all in 1996, and he signed with the Red Sox in the offseason that year.

He spent some time in the minors in 1997, eventually making it back in late August, throwing 26 innings over six starts.  He would win the Comeback Player of the Year award in 1998, when he went 15-8 for the Sox.  He missed most of May and parts of June in 1999, but still finished with a 10-6 record.  More injuries would keep him out of the majors in 2000, and in 2001, he would pitch his final game on August 7^th.

Saberhagen would finish his career with a 167-117 record, a 3.34 ERA, 1715 strikeouts and 471 walks.  He had the two Cy Young awards, along with the third place finish, was a three time All Star, a Gold Glove winner, and finished in the MVP voting three times.  He finished with a career WAR of 59.1, which ranks 61^st all time among pitchers.  His career K/BB ratio of 3.64 is good for 12^th all time.  He was a WorldSeries MVP in 1985 when, at the age of 21, he threw two complete game victories vs. the Cardinals.

If Saberhagen had been subjected to some of the pitch/inning limits we have nowadays, he very well may have prolonged his career.  Unfortunately, he was caught in that window of time vs. the old guard with guys like Niekro and Nolan Ryan, and modern pitching philosophy.  Hopefully no one gives him a copy of Tom House’s Fit to Pitch for his birthday.