Jeff Ramsey, On Defense - 2707

Northampton-East High School head coach Jeff Ramsey recommended his player for a 2010 regional award for his defense.

His player, Trevon Daye, was cited by his coach for his work-ethic to improve that aspect of his game, according to The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald.

"Trayvon really works hard on defense," Ramsey told The News-Herald that March. "He gives you everything you can ask for."

Ramsey spoke as the school's basketball coach. Years earlier, though, it was Ramsey who worked on his defense, and offense as a Northampton-East player himself. One of the sports he played, was a different sport, baseball.

In that other sport, Ramsey played a brief career as a professional, three seasons. He made it to single-A, and apparently to Mexico. But he never made it higher.

Ramsey's professional career began in 1988, taken by the Expos in the 51st round of the June draft, out of Northampton-East High School in North Carolina.

Ramsey is credited with starting his career not in the United States, but in Mexico. His Baseball-Reference page lists him as playing with the Mexico City Tigers, though it gives no stats. His ProCards card and The Baseball Cube do not include any reference to professional time in 1988.

He returned stateside for 1989, playing in the rookie Gulf Coast League. He got into 60 games there, hitting .234. He also hit three home runs and knocked in 24.

For 1990, Ramsey moved to single-A Rockford. In 48 games, though, he hit just .159 and knocked in just three runs. It was the final season of his brief career.

Ramsey went on to be a coach. In 2007, he returned to his old high school, Northampton-East to coach basketball, according to The Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald.

• Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald, Dec. 7, 2012: Looking Back
• Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald, March 27, 2010: All-Roanoke-Chowan Men

1990 CMC-Pro Cards Tally
Players/Coaches Featured:1,404
Made the Majors: 729 - 51.9%
Never Made Majors: 675-48.1%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 319
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 187

Brian Wilkinson, Started For - 2692

Brian Wilkinson started for the West Palm Beach Expos in this May 1991 contest and he came away with the win.

Wilkinson did so by going six innings against the Lakeland Tigers, giving up just two hits in the 7-0 West Palm Beach victory, according to The South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

That win for the high-A Expos came in Wilkinson's fifth season as a pro. He also came in his last season as a pro. Wilkinson played five seasons, never making AA.

Wilkinson's career began in 1987, taken by the Mariners in the fifth round of the draft, out of Cherry Creek High School in Colorado.

With the Mariners, Wilkinson started at short-season Bellingham. over 13 starts, he went 2-8, with a 7.06 ERA. He returned to Bellingham for 1988, getting 12 outings, six starts. This time, he went 0-3, with a 5.75 ERA.

Wilkinson played one more season in the Mariners system, spending 1989 at single-A Wausau. He went 5-4 over 17 outings, 12 starts. His ERA came in at 5.40.

For 1990, Wilkinson moved to the Expos system, taken by Montreal in the Rule 5 draft. He also turned reliever, and had his best season. Over 41 relief outings and one start, Wilkinson posted a 2.77 ERA. He also struck out nearly a batter an inning.

He started 1991 at high-A West Palm Beach, but his stay there was brief, just eight outings. He then moved to the Padres system, playing at single-A Waterloo and high-A High Desert. Between the three teams, Wilkinson got 35 outings, 13 starts, with an ERA of 3.56. It was his final year of pro ball.

Years later, in 2012, Wilkinson was inducted into his high school's hall of fame.

• South Florida Sun-Sentinel, May 5, 1991: St. Lucie's 8th Tops Yanks 2-1

1990 CMC-Pro Cards Tally
Players/Coaches Featured:1,403
Made the Majors: 729 - 52.0%
Never Made Majors: 674-48.0%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 319
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 187

Mark Grater, Pitching Assessment - 397

Originally published April 24, 2011

Sent back down to the minors in May 1993, Mark Grater didn't feel like he had the chance to really show what he had. In six outings for the Tigers, totaling five innings, Grater had given up three earned runs on six hits.

"There's nothing I can do," Grater told his hometown Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after the demotion. "If they're going to judge me on five innings, then they're going to judge me on five innings."

As it turned out, anyone judging Grater's career would only have those five innings from 1993, and three earlier innings from 1991, in which to base an assessment.

Sent back down that May, Grater's major league career was over. His affiliated career would end soon, as well, after eight seasons as a pro. But he has stayed in baseball, going on to serve as a coach and coordinator.

Grater's career began in 1986, taken by the Cardinals in the 23rd round of the draft out of Florida International University. He played that season at rookie Johnson City, the next at single-A Savannah.

Though he still posted an ERA of 3.04 in 50 appearances, the young relief pitcher had hoped for more closing opportunities at Savannah, he told The Beaver County Times.

"It was a frustrating year for me, Grater told The Times. "I wasn't really the stopper like I was the year before. I could never get my fastball to drop It kept hanging."

Grater stayed in single-A through 1989, then made the jump to AAA Louisville in May 1990. He split that year between Louisville and AA Arkansas, posting a 2.99 ERA between them.

Then, in June 1991, Grater got his call up to St. Louis. After his call-up, Grater joined another Pittsburgh-area native John Burkett in the majors.

"I want to establish myself up here when I get the opportunity, like (Burkett) did last year," Grater told the Tri-State Sports and News Service. "I'm not taking anything for granted."

Grater established himself in three outings, all of three innings. While he didn't give up a run, Grater was sent back down. He signed the next year with the Tigers, playing the season at AAA Toledo.

With the Tigers in spring 1993, Grater had a good spring, good enough to earn a call-up in early May. But problems coming in and getting batters out consistently led to his demotion before the month was out.

"I liked him in spring training because he went right after hitters and showed no fear," Tigers manager Sparky Anderson told The Times after sending Grater back down. "He hasn't been the same pitcher since he came back to us. We're putting him in some pretty tough spots and he's not making the big pitch to get out of jams."

His playing career ended with more than 100 saves in the minors. He briefly tried a return in spring 1995, but a weightlifting accident resulted in Grater failing the required physical, according to The Allegheny Times.

Grater has since gone on to be a coach and a coordinator, most recently as the Nationals' pitching rehab coordinator.

But in 1998, with his coaching career underway, Grater told The Beaver County Times, judged the job as everything he had hoped.

"I really love it," Grater told The Times after a year as a coach at short-season New Jersey. "There hasn't been a day that's gone by that I haven't shown up to the ballpark with a smile on my face. I thought coaching would be something I'd enjoy but it's even better than I thought."

• Beaver County Times, Jan. 17, 1988: Burkett, Holman both bound for big-league camps
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tri-State Sports & News Service, June 13, 1991: Grater, Piatt summoned to big leagues
• Beaver County Times, May 23, 1993: Up-and-down season
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 27, 1993: Grater back in minors after stint with Tigers
• Beaver County Times, Feb. 15, 1998: Coach Grater

Buen Rodriguez, Winning Triple - 2705

Buen Rodriguez' Jamestown Expos down by a run in the ninth, Buean Rodriguez stepped to the plate.

The go-ahead run was on base and Rodriguez soon brought that go-ahead run home, with a triple, putting his Expos ahead to stay, 4-3, according to The Associated Press.

Rodriguez hit that game-winning triple in Game 1 of the New York-Penn League championship series, a series in which Jamestown would go on to win.

He also hit that triple in his first year as a pro. He would only get one more season.

Rodriguez' career began that year in 1989, signed by the Expos as an undrafted free agent, out of his native Dominican Republic. Rodriguez is also known by his full name, Buenaventura Rodriguez.

With the Expos, Rodriguez played his first year at short-season Jamestown. He hit .211, over 67 games. He also hit a total of four triples and stole 21 bases.

He moved to single-A Rockford for 1990, but his average didn't improve. Over 95 games, the infielder hit just .212. He also hit just two triples and stole only eight bases. It was his final year as a pro.

• APNewsArchive.com, Sept. 6, 1989: Baseball Today

1990 CMC-Pro Cards Tally
Players/Coaches Featured:1,402
Made the Majors: 729 - 52.0%
Never Made Majors: 673-48.0%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 319
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 187

Juan Bell, More Seasoning - 707

Originally published March 29, 2012

Going into 1989, the Orioles had options in their infield other than Juan Bell. The option the team chose for Bell was more time in the minors.

"Bell is going to be a fine player," Orioles GM Roland Hemond told The Associated Press that March, "but can use a little more seasoning. There's no need to rush him, especially with (Craig) Worthington doing so well."

The Orioles didn't rush Bell. He spent the season at AAA Rochester, hitting .262. He did make the majors in September, but for only eight games.

Bell, though, never became the fine player that Hemond predicted. He ended up playing in seven big league seasons, 329 games, his career batting average ending at .212.

Bell's career began in 1984, signed by the Dodgers out of his native Dominican Republic. Bell is the younger brother of slugger George Bell.

Bell played his first two seasons in the rookie Gulf Coast League, moving to single-A Bakersfield in 1987. He split 1988 between AA San Antonio and AAA Albuquerque. Between the two levels in 1988, Bell hit .290 with 13 home runs.

That December, the Dodgers sent Bell and two others to the Orioles in exchange for Eddie Murray.

"I am a young guy and I feel I work the most I can to be a real good baseball player," Bell told The AP after the trade. "I think I can hit in the big leagues. I just have to keep working hard."

After his season at Rochester, Bell got his eight games in Baltimore. In four at bats, he didn't get a hit. It was almost a repeat in 1990. Another season at Rochester, then two at bats in Baltimore without a hit.

Bell finally got his first big league hit in 1991. He got 36 of them spread out over 209 at bats and 100 games. It amounted to a .172 average.

By August 1992, though, Bell was with the Phillies, sent over in a trade. He was also portrayed in The Philadelphia Inquirer as already trying to salvage a once-promising career.

"I'm a better defensive player now," Bell told The Inquirer. "Now, I pay more attention out there to who's hitting, what pitch is being thrown, who the runner is. I've also been attacking the ball more rather than letting it come to me."

Bell hit .204 in 46 games with Philadelphia. He split 1993 between the Phillies and the Brewers. Between them, he played the most games in a season, 115. But he still hit just .228.

Bell then played 38 games for Montreal in 1994, then 17 for the Red Sox in 1995, ending his big league career. He is credited with continuing to play into 2000, playing in Taiwan in 1997 and in Mexico in 2000.

• Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, Associated Press, Dec. 9, 1988: Orioles' Bell eager to start on budding big-league career
• Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Associated Press, March 21, 1989: Baltimore's big experiment on hold
• Philadelphia Inquirer, Aug. 14, 1992: Bell Getting Chance To Prove His Career Is Not A Washout

Interview Part 2: Quinn Marsh, Utah Kid

A Reds farmhand delivers to the plate for Bakersfield at Sam Lynn Ballpark in 2012. Quinn Marsh's Salinas Spurs played at Sam Lynn in 1990. (G21D Photo)

Part 1: Pro Prospect | Part 2: Utah Kid

Quinn Marsh had no easy task in this July 1987 relief outing for Billings.

Coming on with two outs in the eighth, Marsh faced the bases-loaded, the tying run on second.

But there was also more riding on this outing than a simple mid-summer win in the rookie Pioneer League. Quinn and his Billings Mustangs were trying to break rival Salt Lake's record 29-game winning streak.

Quinn was also trying to deny Salt Lake this win as a Utah-native himself.

"I was absolutely shaking in my boots," Marsh recalled recently to The Greatest 21 Days. "Cobb Field was filled to capacity, with 5,000-plus fans just going crazy. It felt like it was Game 7 of the World Series."

Quinn shut down the Trappers that inning. He also shut them down the next, closing the book on Salt Lake's record streak.

The 1987 Salt Lake City Trappers. Quinn Marsh helped stop the Trappers' 29-game winning streak that July. (Provided)

"A Utah kid stopping the 29-game winning streak of the Salt Lake Trappers, that, to this day, still gives me chills," Marsh said.

Marsh spoke to The Greatest 21 Days by phone recently from his Utah home. He spoke of growing up in Utah, learning the game from his family, then heading to college and seeing scouts watch him for the first time.

He then got drafted and made the adjustment to the pros. Marsh spoke of his successes, and ultimately career-ending injury, as well as his attempts to come back from that injury while rehabbing on loan to the independent Salinas Spurs in the California League and then his realization that the career he never expected to have was over.

After signing with the Reds, Marsh moved to the rookie Gulf Coast League. He also met his coaches, who quickly set to work on his pitching motion.

Those coaches moved his motion downward. They wanted him to be a submarine-style pitcher.

Recreation Park in Visalia, Ca., in 2012. Quinn Marsh's Salinas Spurs played at Recreation Park in 1990. (G21D Photo)

"It was very difficult, but I was willing to give it a try," Marsh said. "They're the coaches. They've been in the positions to develop players and get them into the big leagues."

The move, though, didn't work out. That was evident by his ERA that first year: 9.10 over 18 relief outings.

Back to pitching over the top, Marsh moved to Billings for 1987. He got 19 outings there, getting that one save. His ERA also moved in the right direction, ending at 4.31.

The weather also fit his body better, he recalled. Gone was the heat and humidity of Florida and the Gulf Coast League.

Marsh played his next two seasons at single-A, 1988 at Greensboro and 1989 at Cedar Rapids. And his ERA kept getting better. At Greensboro, it came in at 3.63. At Cedar Rapids, it was a career-best 2.03.

"I just felt that everything was clicking," Marsh said. "I was starting to get more and more confidence. I was maturing as a player."

Cedar Rapids' old Veterans Memorial Stadium. Quinn Marsh played at the Vet in 1989 and 1990. (Cedar Rapids Kernels)

Then came the 1989 Midwest League playoffs. Throwing a slider, something happened, something that wasn't obvious at the time, Marsh recalled. The original thought was tendinitis. He and the Reds didn't learn until the next spring that he'd fractured his elbow.

In between, though, Marsh was invited to Mexico, and later to Australia. By the time he got to Australia and the first season of the Australian Baseball League, everything was hurting, he said. He only got seven innings of work.

If he could get his arm trouble, and after his 1989 campaign, Marsh thought he was moving up. With those troubles, though, AAA, or even AA, were out. For Marsh, it was high-A Salinas, sent there on loan.

It was there that the full extent of his injury was realized. He underwent surgery and didn't pitch an inning for the Spurs. Instead, he stayed with the club and rehabbed.

That Spurs club included former major leaguers Steve Howe and Leon Durham, as well as 10 players from Japan."The language barrier was tough," Marsh said of the Japanese players. "But the game was the same."

"It was absolutely another fun year," Marsh said. "I spent it being a mentor, as well as trying to make my career come back."

He also tried to work through the mental issues that come with being hurt. For Marsh, he had never been hurt before.

Fiscalini Field in San Bernardino, Ca., in 2012. Quinn Marsh's Salinas Spurs played at Fiscalini in 1990. (G21D Photo)

"That was the biggest challenge, fighting that mental part of breaking down," Marsh said, "not being 100 percent. I just continued to tell myself I could get over it, unfortunately, it didn't work out."

Marsh got called back to the Reds and Cedar Rapids at the end of the year, getting two outings there. But they were the last outings of his career. He was released at season's end.

Marsh has since returned to Utah, working in the international freight business, as a vice president with Access Technology Solutions and Logistics. He is also married to his wife Suzy and they have to sons, age 12 and 13.

Marsh also coaches a 13U team called the Mountain West Highlanders.

"It keeps me involved in the game," Marsh said of his work with youth. "I love teaching the game at a very high level. The kids are good. They're so much further advance than I was at that age."

Marsh recalled that, back when he was let go by the Reds, he could have come back with the Indians for 1991. But he was at peace and ready to move on.

"Once I got those release papers, absolutely tears were shed," Marsh said. "But life goes on and I learned so much. I have so many friends and influences today because of choices that I made to play baseball."

Go to Part 1, Quinn Marsh, Pro Prospect

Part 1: Pro Prospect | Part 2: Utah Kid

Interview Part 1: Quinn Marsh, Pro Prospect

Community Field in Burlington, Ia., in 2010. Quinn Marsh pitched at Community in 1989 with the Cedar Rapids Reds. (G21D Photo)

Part 1: Pro Prospect | Part 2: Utah Kid

Quinn Marsh was a good player in high school. He played three sports. But he just wasn't that big.

Upon graduating high school in Bountiful, Utah, Marsh was small, just 5 feet, 8 inches tall and he had a fastball to match, maybe 75 mph.

After walking on at the local junior college, Utah Tech, Marsh started to grow. By the time he was done, he was 6 feet, 4 inches tall, with a fastball in the low 90s.

He was also a pro prospect.

"It all kind of just happened," Marsh recalled to The Greatest 21 Days recently. "No way did I ever imagine that I would be a professional baseball player."

But he was. And he played five seasons as a pro, making his way through the Gulf Coast League, Midwest League and, finally, the California League. He also played in Mexico and in Australia, before an arm injury ultimately ended his career.

Community Field in 2003, before being revamped and largely as it was when Quinn Marsh pitched there with the visiting Cedar Rapids Reds in 1989. (Burlington Bees)

Along the way, Marsh had his own hand in stopping a historic winning streak, one by his hometown Salt Lake Trappers. It was the Utah-native Marsh who was on the mound for rival Billings in July 1987, closing out Salt Lake and stopping the Trappers' record 29-game winning streak. 

Marsh spoke to The Greatest 21 Days by phone recently from his Utah home. He spoke of growing up in Utah, learning the game from his family, then heading to college and seeing scouts watch him for the first time.

He then got drafted and made the adjustment to the pros. Marsh spoke of his successes, and ultimately career-ending injury, as well as his attempts to come back from that injury while rehabbing on loan to the independent Salinas Spurs in the California League and then his realization that the career he never expected to have was over.

Marsh grew up in Bountiful with two older brothers who were both baseball players. Marsh recalled when they played, he'd be the bat boy. Soon, he was putting on a uniform with them.

Sam Lynn Ballpark in Bakersfield, Ca., in 2012. Quinn Marsh's Salinas Spurs played at Sam Lynn in 1990. (G21D Photo)

"I fell in love with the game, and I'm still involved in the game now, and I'm 47," said Marsh, who is a volunteer youth coach on the side.

Soon, also, he found his position, pitcher.

For Marsh, pitching was a natural thing. He just loved the competition of it, he recalled.

"It was me against the batter," Marsh said. "I was involved in every play, every pitch. I just loved it from the get go. I just loved getting guys out."

And he got them out in high school, just not enough for scouts to take notice. At Utah Tech, Marsh worked with head coach Dave Nelson. He also worked with Bob Keyes, of the Mountain West Baseball Academy.

He counted both as mentors. "I owe it to them, they stuck with me, gave me the opportunity to play," Marsh said.

A Stockton Ports hurler prepares to deliver a pitch at Sam Lynn Ballpark in Bakersfield in 2012. Quinn Marsh's Salinas Spurs pitched at Sam Lynn in 1990. (G21D Photo)

With that foundation - and that suddenly more-imposing stature - the scouts came.

When they did come, he wasn't even sure they were looking at him, he recalled.

"I thought it was kind of a joke, at first," Marsh said. "Then the reality started setting in. When I started seeing them in the stands, I thought this dream could be coming true."

"And it definitely was a dream," Marsh added. "I couldn't ask for anything more. It was the highlight of my life."

One of the scouts that had interested in March was with the Expos, Marsh recalled. There was enough interest that Marsh thought that was where he'd go in the draft, to the Expos.

Then, a couple days before the 1986 draft, the Reds had a tryout in Salt Lake City. After that, the Reds were in contention, too. Marsh recalled being told he seemed to have a lot of Cincinnati Reds blood in him.

When draft day came, it was the Reds who came calling in the 23rd round.

"As a 19-year-old kid, it was fantastic," Marsh said of getting drafted.

A revamped Community Field in Burlington in 2010. Quinn Marsh played at Community in 1989 with the Cedar Rapids Reds. (G21D Photo)

For Marsh, there was no hesitation on what he would do, sign or return to school. He signed.

"I just wanted to play," Marsh said. "I wasn't the greatest student out there, I just wanted to continue my baseball career. I'm very happy I made that choice. I wouldn't be who I am today without the great people I met. What I learned playing professional baseball is unbelievable."

Once signed, Marsh was sent to the rookie Gulf Coast League. He recalled the move as a culture shock, going from Utah to a state and organization with people from all over.

He then set to work, not only fitting in, but also pitching.

"I told myself that I needed to work hard, because this is the elite of the elite," Marsh said.

Marsh not only had to adjust to new surroundings, he also had to try to adjust to a new way of pitching.

Once he got settled in, he could help stop the longest winning streak in professional baseball, and do it against his hometown team.

Go to Part 2, Quinn Marsh, Utah Kid

Part 1: Pro Prospect | Part 2: Utah Kid