Greatest 21 Days Baseball Profiles

Ruben Gonzalez did well his first two seasons in the Mariners' organization, at short-season and single-A, hitting over .300 both years . His third year, though, he stayed at single-A, at San Bernardino. The problem was, The Los Angeles Times wrote , that Gonzalez was a first baseman. The Mariners had three first basemen ahead of him, including Seattle's Alvin Davis and their AA first baseman Tino Martinez. "I really can't worry about what other people are doing," Gonzalez told The Times of the log jam. "I just have to go out and do the best I can. I'm enjoying myself. This is what I've always wanted to do." Gonzalez did do the best he could. He went out and won the California League Triple Crown . But, after an early injury in 1990 , Gonzalez couldn't keep a 1990 promotion to AA. His career ended the next year, after five professional seasons, never making AAA, much less the majors. Gonzalez' career began in 1987, taken by th...

The Jackson Mets broke an unwritten baseball rule and Kevin Belcher took it upon himself to instruct them. Up 10-1 on Belcher's Tulsa Drillers, Jackson runner Terry McDaniel stole second, The Orlando Sentinel wrote . Belcher, serving as designated hitter, responded by yelling at McDaniel. Belcher was ejected. Seven others would also be tossed after the ensuing bench-clearing brawl. "That stolen base got my players upset," Tulsa Manager Tommy Thompson told The Sentinel after that June 1990 game. "We don't try to show up professionals. They had a big lead at the time." Belcher took that passion from AA Tulsa in June 1990, all the way to majors by September . The 16 games he got into that year, though, were the only 16 games he would see in the majors. Belcher's career began in 1987, taken by the Rangers in the sixth round of the draft out of Navarro College . Belcher played that first year in the rookie Gulf Coast League, hitting .209 in 58 ...

Standing there at third base with veteran major leaguer John Shelby , Albuquerque Dukes manager and third base coach Kevin Kennedy went over Shelby's troubles at the plate, the troubles that sent Shelby back to the minors, The Los Angeles Times wrote in 1989. Kennedy went over Shelby's troubles, and his own troubles years earlier as Kennedy was a player himself in the minors . "Sometimes it gets so mental, sometimes you look out there and see 18 fielders," Kennedy told The Times . "I told John, 'You just don't lose that much ability that quickly. I told him to relax and have fun and it would come back." The Times told of Kennedy's interaction with Shelby after first noting that Kennedy was then "highly regarded within the organization for his communication skills." Kennedy went on to use those communication skills in the major leagues, as manager of the Rangers and Red Sox . He also used those communications skills later i...

The Associated Press put the feat into perspective. Lou Gehrig had 23 grand slams in his career . As of July 5, 1977, Mike Tyson had one. "Never hit one before, not even in Little League," Tyson told The AP after that game. The home run was one of 25 Tyson would hit in the major leagues through 1980, according to the back of his 1981 Fleer card. Tyson had just completed his ninth major league season in 1980, his first with the Cubs. His last season was that year in 1980, with 50 final games with Chicago. The second baseman ended with a career batting average of .241, fairly giving Tyson the prefix of "light-hitting." It was the opposite of the man who went on to steal Tyson's name a few years later. Tyson, the baseball player, was included in the latest Cooperstown Cards pack, a pack of 1981 Fleer. I've previously picked up packs of 1981 Fleer at the same store, and, while the cards came out nine years before the CMC set, I still found CMC set members . T...

(This post is on Mike A. Walker, who played for the Mariners. For Mike C. Walker, who played for the Indians, Cubs and Tigers, click here: Mike Walker, Two Dreams ) Going into 1989 , the Pirates and manager Jim Leyland were impressed with Mike Walker , The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote . He'd gone from single-A Salem to AAA Buffalo in 1988 and appeared poised to make the final jump to Pittsburgh soon. "I wouldn't be afraid to give him the ball 30 times next season," Leyland told The Post-Gazette in December 1988. Walker, however, would only ever get the ball from Leyland in spring training. The Pirates traded him that April to the Mariners. While Walker would make the majors, getting the ball for all of five outings with the Mariners in 1992 the year after shoulder surgery, he would pitch for Leyland again, in spring 1995, as a Pirates replacement player. Walker's professional career began in 1986, taken by the Pirates in the second round of the dr...

John Farrell did on Aug. 26, 1987 what no pitcher - or pitching staff - had done in two months. He held Paul Molitor hitless, breaking the future Hall of Famer's 39-game hitting streak with a masterful 9-inning, 3-hit performance against the Brewers. It was Farrell's second major league start . ''Things have happened real fast to me and it just hasn't sunk in for sure,'' Farrell told The Associated Press after the game. "I was just fortunate to be presented with that situation. Everything just worked out. It could have been coincidence. I was just in the right spot at the right time." It was a feat that was noted on the back of Farrell's 1989 Upper Deck card. The card came in the corresponding pack picked up on my recent trip to Cooperstown. Farrell went on to play in a total of eight major league seasons, his last in 1996. He's now back in the majors, as the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. Incidentially, one of those pitchers who...

Johnny Ard went through a rough patch in summer 1990 with AA Orlando, but Ard's manager Ron Gardenhire knew what the problem was, according to The Orlando Sentinel . And Ard fixed it, at least for one night. Against Chattanooga in late July, Ard gave up five hits and one walk, after a stretch where he gave up 16 walks in three starts, The Sentinel wrote . "He was getting lazy in his delivery and dropping his arm down," Gardenhire told The Sentinel . "For Johnny to be successful, he has to stay on top, and tonight he did just that." Ard, a top pick for the Twins, went on to be traded for a top reliever. But there was another problem with Ard's pitching that couldn't be as easily fixed as his throwing motion. Arm pain and surgeries limited his career to six affiliated seasons, Baseball Weekly wrote , before one last comeback attempt in the Prairie League in 1996. Ard's career began in 1988, taken by the Twins in the first round of the draf...

Scott Garrelts made it to a spot seven other pitchers had made it to that year. The other seven finished, Garrelts could not . With two outs in the ninth inning, Garrelts had a no hitter going against the eventual world champion Reds on July 29, 1990. But a Paul O'Neill single broke it up with one out to go . "I'm not as disappointed as you think," Garrelts told The Associated Press after securing the 4-0 win and a Giants series sweep. "I just wanted to throw strikes and win the game. The no-hitter was secondary to getting the sweep." Garrelts likely got that far with the "rip-snorting fastball" referenced on the back of his 1988 Score card. Garrelts' card was included in a 25-card grab bag I picked up on a recent weekend in Cooperstown. The grab bag consisted of all 1988 Score, even one of the Great Moments In Baseball. This "Great Moment" was Oct. 1, 1967, as the Red Sox moved to win a close American League race. The grab bag perh...

The two both hailed from Puerto Rico and they both became friends . But Ruben Escalera , an Athletics scout, recommended the Athletics help Juan Gonzalez , "Igor," extend his career not because they were friends, but not because they were friends, he told El Nuevo Dia in March 2006. "'Igor' is 'ready' and in good health," Escalera told the paper, according to a rough Google translation . "He is a fighter and looked excellent. The evaluation showed 'Igor' hit, fielded and ran the bases without any problems even though we were on artificial turf. He had no discomfort or back or legs and his arm was strong as ever. It looked the same skill that has had in his whole career." Gonzalez ended up with the Red Sox, signing a minor league deal with them that spring. Oakland ended up having no interest . Despite Escalera's feelings on his readiness, Gonzalez couldn't make it back, ending his career that year in independe...

A pitcher at UCLA, Mike Magnante took to the basketball court in late 1985 and promptly tore up his knee . It was something he was angry at himself for doing, and it put his baseball goals aside until, that is, he could recover, he told The Los Angeles Times in 1988. "During my recovery I wasn't banking my whole life on baseball," Magnante told The Times . "I had no thoughts at all about playing professional baseball. I just didn't think I was good enough. I wasn't good enough. I was just so angry at myself for getting hurt that I felt I had to make it back." Magnante made it back, and he became good enough, good enough to be taken by the Royals in the 11th round of the 1988 draft. He also became good enough to pitch in a dozen major league seasons, recording a career ERA of 4.08. It wouldn't end until late July 2002, and then on a pure numbers decision from Oakland's numbers man and general manager Billy Beane, a scene chronicled ...

Mark Meleski 's Lakeland Tigers had lost the 1999 home opener, 9-7, but they showed some promise . The L-Tigers scored one in the eighth and three more in the ninth to close the gap, but it wasn't enough to win, The Lakeland Ledger wrote . "All I know is that I'm 0-for-3 in season openers as the Lakeland manager," Meleski told The Ledger after the game. "I was really pleased, however, with the way we swung the bats so well against one of their top prospects and battled back at the end." He lost his first home opener in 1997, but went on to take his team to within a half game of the playoffs, with Meleski winning league Manager of the Year honors . Meleski's teams, though, couldn't battle back his other two seasons there. Meleski's season openers in Lakeland were part of a career as a player, coach and manager that saw many season openers . Those season openers, though all came in the minors, with Meleski never playing or coaching in ...

Having just been traded to the Brewers earlier that month, Bob Sebra 's stint in Milwaukee had not gone well . Sebra gave up 10 earned runs in 11 innings. Paying for it, though, was Tracy Jones . "I drilled him; I hit him on purpose," Sebra told The Associated Press after starting a bench-clearing brawl that June 30. "Things haven't been going right for me or the team lately. It was time for someone to take a lump. I wasn't trying to hit him in the head but I was trying to drill him." For his honesty, and hitting a batter on purpose, Sebra was suspended five games. He was also sent back to the minors, to serve his suspension upon his return . He played professionally through 1993, including a stint in independent ball in 1998 , but Sebra never served that suspension. Sebra's career began in 1983, taken by the Rangers in the fifth round out of the University of Nebraska. Sebra made AA Tulsa his second year, going 10-5 and earning a promotion...