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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Ruben Gonzalez, Enjoyed Himself - 797

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, was 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 the Mariners out of Pepperdine. He played that first year at short-season Bellingham, hitting .304 with seven home runs.

At single-A Wausau, Gonzalez hit even better, .314, with nine home runs.

It was in the California League that Gonzalez had his career year. He hit .308, with 27 home runs and 101 RBIs to win the Triple Crown. It was the first Triple Crown in the California League in 26 years, when Jose Vidal achieved the feat with Reno.

Moved up to AA Williamsport for 1990, though Gonzalez' stay was short. In seven games, Gonzalez got just four hits in 21 at bats. His stay, though, was cut short swinging the bat. He broke his wrist, The Times wrote.

When he returned, he returned to San Bernardino. In 44 games there, he heated up again, hitting .336 with five home runs and 26 RBIs. He hit one of his home runs July 29.

But Gonzalez could replicate that success in AA. In 1991, playing for AA Jacksonville, Gonzalez hit just .237 in 94 games, ending his career.
1990 CMC TallyCards Featured: 503/880 - 57.2%
Players/Coaches Featured:
514Made the Majors: 341 - 66%
Never Made the Majors:
173-34%
-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors:
141
10+ Seasons in the Minors:
116

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Kevin Belcher played seven pro seasons, saw 16 majors games

Kevin Belcher 1990 Tulsa Drillers card

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 games.

For 1988, Belcher moved to single-A Gastonia, hitting .245 and eight home runs. He returned to Gastonia in 1989, this time hitting .296 with 14 home runs. He hit one of those home runs in an April 27 game. He hit a three-run shot May 26. He also made the All-Star team.

It was in 1990 that Belcher made AA Tulsa. He hit .293 with 11 home runs. He also got a September call-up to Texas.

Belcher got into 16 games, with 15 official at bats. He got two hits. He also scored four runs, scoring one Sept. 10 as a pinch runner.

Belcher returned to the minors for 1991, splitting time between Tulsa and AAA Oklahoma City. After another year at Tulsa in 1992, Belcher arrived with the White Sox system for 1993.

Belcher played that year, his final year, at AA Birmingham. He hit .222, with 13 home runs. He hit one of his home runs Aug. 22 in a Birmingham loss.
Kevin Belcher 1990 Tulsa Drillers card
1990 CMC Tally 
Cards Featured: 502/880 - 57.1%
Players/Coaches Featured:
513 
Made the Majors: 341 - 67%-X
Never Made the Majors:
172-33%

5+ Seasons in the Majors:
141
10+ Seasons in the Minors:
116

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Kevin Kennedy, Communication Skills - 667

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 in the communications industry, working as a commentator at ESPN, Fox Sports and for the Rays.

Kennedy's career in baseball began in 1976 as a player, taken by the Orioles in the sixth round of the draft. He made AA Charlotte that year and AAA Rochester in 1977. But, in a career that saw playing time in eight seasons, Kennedy never made the majors as a player.

His managerial career began in 1984, helming the rookie league Great Falls Dodgers, staying there for three seasons. By 1988, Kennedy was managing AA San Antonio. That July, his team went 26 innings for a 1-0 win. In 1989, Kennedy took over AAA Albuquerque, staying there through 1991.

It was in 1992 that Kennedy got his first look at the majors, as a coach with the Expos. From there, he jumped to the Rangers, as manager for 1993.

In his first year with the Rangers, Kennedy went 86-76, for a second place finish. The Rangers hired Kennedy knowing that none of Kennedy's minor league teams ended with a losing record or finished lower than second place, The Times noted.

"We knew he was a high-caliber guy," Rangers GM Tom Grieve told The Times. "People in baseball, the ones who follow the inner-workings of the game, knew all about Kevin Kennedy."

His 1994 season, though, wasn't as good. While he managed to come in first in the strike-shortened year, it was in the underwhelming AL West. The first-place Rangers were 10 games under .500.

The Rangers even worked for that, playing until the final game before the strike's start to take first. "I'll treat tomorrow like it's all or nothing," Kennedy told The Associated Press before the final game. "Everybody will be in the bullpen."

Despite having the best record in the division, Kennedy was fired. Part of his departure was blamed on the clubhouse. Some players believed Kennedy was too honest and hard on them, according to wire reports.

"I am pretty honest, and sometimes people don't want to hear honesty," Kennedy told reporters after he was fired. "The weak will not be winners. When it's crunch time, they won't be there."

A week later, Kennedy was a Red Sox, hired as Boston's manager. In his first year, Kennedy's team went through a stretch in June where they lost five of six. Kennedy tried to stay cool in the face of troubles, The Hartford Courant wrote.

He didn't have to get mad, Kennedy told The Courant. His players got mad at themselves. "I find that's the best way," Kennedy told The Courant, "let them embarrass themselves until they come out of it. We've been embarrassing at times, but I'm right there with them.''

Kennedy and the Red Sox were rewarded with a division title. In 1996, Kennedy's Red Sox got off to a slow start, ending in third. It wasn't enough for him to keep his job. The honest manager had also grown to be a player-friendly manager, something Red Sox brass didn't like, The AP wrote. He was also by some "considered egotistical and difficult," The Courant wrote.

By April 1997, Kennedy was in his new career as a different communicator, on television. Kennedy was a commentator for ESPN. "I'm enjoying my new job,'' Kennedy told The Courant. "I truly am having a lot of fun. It's a blast."

Kennedy has since gone on to work as a commentator for Fox Sports and for the Rays, along with SiriusXM. He worked for the Rays in 2009 and 2010. He currently co-hosts Power Alley, a four-hour baseball show on SiriusXM.

"My job as an analyst is to tell the viewers how and why, give them options," Kennedy told MLB.com after being hired by the Rays. "Present options and about what people are thinking when things happen in the game. ... But I'm certainly not there to second-guess. I know how tough it is as a player or a manager."
1990 CMC TallyCards Featured: 501/880 - 56.9%
Players/Coaches Featured:
512Made the Majors: 340 - 66%-X
Never Made the Majors:
172-34%

5+ Seasons in the Majors:
141
10+ Seasons in the Minors:
116

Cooperstown Cards: New Experiences

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. This pack, though, contained none.

There was a Hall of Famer from this pack purchased in Cooperstown. Don Sutton the Dodger was there. Through 1980, Sutton had 230 career wins, all with Los Angeles.

Fleer included all his big league stats on the back, and was even kind enough to include his minor league stats. Before making the dodgers, Sutton played for Santa Barbara and Albuquerque in 1965 and played two games for Spokane in 1968.

Elsewhere in the pack there was future manager Don Baylor, 19-season major leaguer Scott Sanderson and the father of Barry, Bobby Bonds. And Bill Russell, the baseball player.

There was also Tigers pitcher Bruce Robbins, whose major league career was over by the time his 1981 Fleer card came out. Robbins first made the majors in 1979, at the age of 19.

By spring of 1981, though, the 21-year-old Robbins didn't know he had pitched his final big league game.

After being called up as a starter in 1980, Robbins went to the bullpen. It was a callup that even Sparky Anderson told The Lakeland Ledger the next February was a mistake.

"It was a new experience for me," Robins told The Ledger, "and I just wasn't prepared to be a relief pitcher. It's a totally different thing mentally, and I just wasn't ready for it."

Robbins ended the year with a 6.62 ERA, according to his Fleer card. What would be his career ERA ended at 5.33. Robbins played in the minors through 1983, but didn't get back to the majors.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Mike Walker, Got the Ball - 430

(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 draft out of the University of Houston.

He pitched that first season at short-season Watertown, going 4-10 with a 4.53 ERA. Walker got a look at AA Harrisburg in 1987, the same year he nearly threw a no-hitter at single-A Salem.

In 1988, Walker went 6-12 over three levels, but had a 3.19 ERA. After his comments on Walker that offseason, though, Leyland sent Walker back to AAA out of spring training 1989.

"I told him he'd be better going to Buffalo and making 12 or 15 starts," Leyland told The Post-Gazette. "Then if we need somebody, we'll see."

By the end of April, the Pirates shipped Walker to the Mariners in a five-player deal, a deal he later cited as a turning point in his career, one he told The Associated Press that got him lost in the Seattle system.

He went to AAA Calgary, staying there for 1990. He then lost all of 1991 to shoulder surgery, making what one card company called a "remarkable comeback" to return to Calgary for the start of 1992. Called up in June to Seattle, Walker got three starts and two relief appearances. In 14.2 innings, he gave up 12 earned runs.

In his major league debut June 16, Walker went six innings and gave up four earned runs. Seattle, though, came back for the win, Walker getting the no-decision.

"It was good," Walker told The AP. "I enjoyed it. I didn't get the L."

Walker split the minor league portion of 1992 between Calgary and AA Jacksonville. Then it was back to Calgary for 1993. In 1994, he pitched for the Giants and the Rangers, both at AAA, but didn't get a call-up.

Then came spring 1995 and the opportunity to keep playing, an opportunity that came in the form of replacement ball. Coming into camp, Walker wasn't sure what he'd do.

Walker thought his career was over, getting a job with a gas company, he told The Post-Gazette as he decided whether to be a replacement player.

"But then Pittsburgh called, and I figured I'd give it one more shot," Walker told The Post-Gazette. "It beats working for a living, I'll tell you that."

Ultimately, Walker returned to the Pirates, and Leyland, as a replacement player.

"I really had to think it over," Walker told The AP in March. "But I came to the conclusion that it was the only choice I had if I wanted to continue my career. It was either that or get a real job and I can make a better living for my wife and two kids playing baseball."

Walker's career, though, ended with the strike, unable to continue playing into 1995.
1990 CMC TallyCards Featured: 500/880 - 56.8%
Players/Coaches Featured:
511Made the Majors: 339 - 66%-X
Never Made the Majors:
172-34%

5+ Seasons in the Majors:
141
10+ Seasons in the Minors:
116

Cooperstown Cards: Streak Broken

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 couldn't hold Molitor hitless, was Don Gordon. Gordon gave up Molitor's hit in the 39th and final game of the streak. Gordon was also a member of the CMC set, featured here in May 2010.

Speaking of CMC set members, there were three in the pack, Steve Rosenberg, Tom Prince and Kevin Blankenship. I've featured all three. Since there is limited information on the back of the Upper Deck cards, just great photos, I think I'll just exerpt from their original G21D features.

Rosenberg was drafted by the Yankees out of the University of Florida, then traded to the White Sox in November 1987, according to Upper Deck.

Rosenberg's March 2011 feature:
The talk was that Steve Rosenberg might make the Padres rotation in May 1991 and Rosenberg was excited about it, according to The Los Angeles Times. He knew he could do it, he'd done it before.

"But to be honest about it," Rosenberg told The Times, "I've got a little mixed emotions becuase I've bee doing a good job in the bullpen.

"Besides," he added to The Times, "I remember what happened in Chicago." (continue reading)

Prince was an Eastern League All-Star catcher in 1987 with Harrisburg. He also led the league in many catching categories, Upper Deck wrote.

Prince's April 2010 feature:
The runner barreled into Pirates catcher Tom Prince in June 1995, sending Prince to the disabled list, according to an account in the Los Angeles Times.

The collision had the veteran backup catcher unfazed.

"It was a clean hit," Prince told The Times after being released from the hospital, where he was taken, adding later. "He didn't go for my head or anything like that. He was just playing hard. The head's fine, I've just got a lot of bleeding in my thigh area." continue reading)

Blankenship was originally signed by the Braves in 1984 out of the University of Arizona, Upper Deck wrote. He was traded to the Cubs in 1988.

Blankenship's June 2010 feature:
The Cubs were fighting for the National League East, but rookie reliever Kevin Blankenship apparently couldn't get that excited. He also couldn't get to the ballpark on time.

With the Cubs heading down the stretch run of 1989, Blankenship overslept for a game. Then he was late for a physical. He also had just overstayed his welcome: There were apparently plenty of other marginal relievers who could at least show up on time.

"I overlooked it," Cubs manager Don Zimmer told The Chicago Tribune of Blankenship's first infraction. The club had to wake him in his hotel room at 11 that morning. "I'm thinking to myself, 'How the hell could somebody oversleep a day game and show up at a quarter to 12?'" (continue reading)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Johnny Ard played 7 pro seasons, but injuries limited career

Johnny Ard 1990 Orlando SunRays card

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 draft, 20th overall, out of Manatee Junior College.

Ard split that first year between rookie-league Elizabethton and single-A Kenosha, going 7-1, with a 1.69 ERA between them. The performance had Gardenhire predicting Ard might make it to Orlando in 1989.

Ard spent that year, thought at single-A Visalia, racking up a 13-7 record and a 3.29 ERA. He made Orlando in 1990.

Ard started off slow with Orlando, getting hit for four runs in four innings in a April 10 game.
Pitching coach Gordon Heimueller told The Sentinel Ard "was not finishing off the hitters." Still, Orlando came back for the win.

By April 15, though, Ard pitched better, giving up three hits in seven innings for an Orlando win.
In an April 25 game, Ard went another seven innings, giving up six hits, one a two-run home run in a 15-2 win.

"Johnny Ard threw the ball very well," Gardenhire told The Sentinel after that game. "Even that two-run homer was OK. With a nine-run lead, you want to see them (pitchers) going at the batters."

Ard didn't get his first loss until May 11. He finished the year 12-9, with a 3.79 ERA. It was good enough for the Giants to take notice, sending former Cy Young winner Steve Bedrosian to the Twins in return for Ard and a player to be named.

"We're excited to get a prospect with the potential of Ard," Giants President Al Rosen told The Sentinel. "We like the kid's makeup on the field, as well as his character."

With the Giants system, Ard played 1991 between AA Shreveport and AAA Phoenix, going 12-8 between them with a 3.99 ERA. In 1992, he went 5-8, with a 4.46 ERA for Phoenix. He only got into three games in 1993, for AA Shreveport, ending his affiliated career.

The problem was injuries, Ard told Baseball Weekly in 1996, suffering tendinitis and undergoing surgeries. Ard believed it was something else. "I knew it wasn't tendinitis, though,'' Ard told Baseball Weekly. "That gets better with time, and this didn't."

Ard took one more shot at playing in 1996. He spoke to Baseball Weekly as a pitcher for independent Aberdeen of the Prairie League. He went 9-4, with a 3.38 ERA, ending his playing career short of the majors.

Ard passed away in 2018 at the age of 50.

Updated 2023
Johnny Ard 1990 Orlando SunRays card

1990 CMC Tally 
Cards Featured: 499/880 - 56.7%
Players/Coaches Featured:
510 
Made the Majors: 338 - 66%
Never Made the Majors:
172-34%

5+ Seasons in the Majors:
141
10+ Seasons in the Minors:
116

Cooperstown Cards: Near No-Hitter

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 perhaps not surprisingly included no Hall of Famers. But it did include three CMC set members, Jay Aldrich, Andy McGaffigan and Vincente Palacios.

The only one of the three I've featured is Aldrich, whom I covered in June 2010. Aldrich's Score card includes more information, including that he is a "big fastballer" who got his first victory Aug. 6, 1987.

Aldrich also played his college ball at Montclair State, earning all-state honors as a New Jersey schoolboy, Score wrote.

McGaffigan had a more extensive major and minor league history, so his Score write-up was more limited. He was a "valuable part" of the Expos bullpen in 1987.

But he also worked as a starter, getting his first career shutout May 6, 1986, Score wrote.

Score felt good about Palacios' future, including him as a rookie prospect. They also photographed him at Wrigley Field, the same as McGaffigan. For Palacios, the photo location is fitting, it was against the Cubs that he got his first big league win

Palacios made Pittsburgh for six outings in 1987. He was considered the best Mexican pitching prospect sicne Teddy Higuera. He also had an 88-mph forkball and a "crackling" fastball, Score wrote.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Ruben Escalera played decade, became scout, minors manager

Ruben Escalera 1990 Denver Zephyrs cardThe 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 independent ball.

Escalera worked with the Athletics as a scout and as a rookie league manager, part of a lengthy post-playing career. As a player, Escalera went eight seasons, making it to AAA, but never making the majors.

Escalera's playing career began in 1985, signed by the Brewers out of Puerto Rico. He played that year at short-season Helena, hitting .349 in 60 games.

He moved on to single-A Beloit for 1986, hitting .271 and also hitting his first professional home run.

At single-A Stockton in 1987, Escalera's average dropped to .227. That increased to .257 upon his return in 1988. He also stole 21 bases, the most he would steal in a season in his career.

He made AA for the first time in 1989, with 31 games at El Paso. He hit .271. For 1990, he made AAA for the first time, but for just 12 games with Denver. He went 5 for 33.

Escalera spent the balance of 1990 back at El Paso, returning there for one final campaign in the Brewers system in 1991. Despite hitting .316 that year, Escalera moved on to the Reds for 1992.

He split the season between AA Chattanooga and AAA Nashville, hitting .246 between them. It was his last season in affiliated ball.

Escalera ended at Chattanooga, helping the Lookouts win a playoff series, knocking in two in the deciding game.

By 2001, Escalera was with the Athletics, helming their Arizona Rookie League team. When not managing in Arizona, Escalera spent time as an Oakland scout.

In 2002, Escalera spoke to Baseball America about the league's top prospects, the top one being the Cubs' Felix Pie.

"He doesn't have much power now," Escalera told Baseball America, "but it should come down the road."
1990 CMC Tally
Cards Featured: 499/880 - 56.7%
Players/Coaches Featured:
510
Made the Majors: 338 - 66%
Never Made the Majors:
172-34%

5+ Seasons in the Majors:
141
10+ Seasons in the Minors:
116

Friday, June 24, 2011

Mike Magnante saw injury, 12 ML seasons, then turned teacher

Mike Magnante 1990 Omaha Royals card

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 in the book Moneyball. The decision would leave Magnante days short of collecting a full pension.

Magnante's professional career began that year in 1988, playing with three different single-A teams. He moved to AA Memphis in 1989 and AAA Omaha in 1990.

It was in April 1991 that Magnante made his major league debut, a three-game stint where he gave up three earned runs in 4.1 innings. It was also a change from his usual role to that point of starter. A second stint, though, he did better, finishing with a 2.45 ERA in 38 outings.

"The second time up, I was much more prepared mentally. I was more confident in what I could do," Magnante told The New York Times in early July. "I know how to get ready quicker now. I have a better idea of what I want to do, and I've talked to the catchers about what I want to do."

Magnante returned in 1992 for another 44 outings, 12 of them starts. He went 4-9 with a 4.94 ERA. He moved to the starting rotation in May. But, by June, was in danger of moving back to the bullpen. A seven-inning, one-run effort June 3 helped stave off that move.

Magnante got six more starts in 1993, but after that was primarily used in relief. Magnante stayed with the Royals through 1996, getting at least 28 outings each season, except 1993.

For 1997, Magnante signed with the Astros, spending two seasons there, posting a 2.27 ERA his first season and a 4.88 mark his second.

He joined the Angels for 1999, the team he'd followed as a kid. He also did well, going 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA. The wins, though, were not necessarily something the relief pitcher wanted, Magnante told The Times in May.

"If you're getting wins, then something bad is happening somewhere along the way," Magnante told The Times. "Either you've come in and given up the lead or we were behind when you got in there."

Magnante joined Oakland in 2000, pitching his final three seasons there. In 2001, Magnante had a 2.77 ERA in 65 outings. In 2002, though, his ERA ballooned to 5.97 in 32 outings. By late July, the numbers no longer added up and Beane released him.

Magnante's release is outlined in the book Moneyball, in the chapter The Trading Desk.

"He thought of himself the way the market thought of him, as an asset to be bought and sold," Michael Lewis wrote in the book of Magnante after his release. "He'd long ago forgotten whatever it was he was meant to feel."

Magnante has since changed careers. The man whose career was done in by numbers is now teaching them. Magnante has served as a math teacher at Agoura High in California.

"I don't know who's doing who a favor,'' Magnante told The Los Angeles Daily News in May 2005. "Me teaching them, or them letting me have this great experience. It's so great to be able to give back and do something you love. I always wanted to teach. I'm lucky, I'm doing what I want."
Mike Magnante 1990 Omaha Royals card

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Featured: 499/880 - 56.7%
Players/Coaches Featured:
510
Made the Majors: 338 - 66%
Never Made the Majors:
172-34%

5+ Seasons in the Majors:
141
10+ Seasons in the Minors:
116

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Mark Meleski, Season Openers - 259

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 the majors.

His coaching days came after a six-season career as a player in the Red Sox organization. Coming out of the University of Virginia, Meleski played his first year in 1981 at short-season Elmira. The infielder hit just .191.

Moving to single-A Winston-Salem for 1982, Meleski hit worse, .185. In 58 games in 1984 at single-A Winter Haven, Meleski found his groove. He hit .333, by far his best average on a season.

In 1983, Meleski briefly played with Roger Clemens, as Clemens made his way to the majors. Years later, he recalled to Sports Illustrated that during Clemens' starts, players chalked a K up in the dugout for Clemens strikeouts.

"That's something fans do, not players," Meleski told SI, "but he made fans out of us all."

That earned him a trip to AA New Britain for 1985. He played in just 42 games that year, hitting .230. In 1986, he got a full season in, but it was his last. He hit just .204.

His playing days over, Meleski continued in the Red Sox system, but as a hitting coach. He coached at AAA Pawtucket for six seasons before getting the manager post at single-A Lynchburg in 1993.

Meleski's first managerial stint lasted two seasons. After a stop as hitting coach in Jacksonville, Meleski returned to the manager's office in 1997 at Lakeland.

Among the players he watched over that first season at Lakeland was Gabe Kapler, whom Meleski believed could have a good career.

"If Gabe learns to hit the ball to all fields instead of pulling it so much,," Meleski told The Ledger of Kapler, "he'll go a long way because he already has a lot of natural talent and a great work ethic."

Meleski went on to coach at Toledo and Richmond, then manage again at Charleston, W.V., in 2003. More recently, Meleski has given baseball lessons in Richmond.
1990 CMC Tally
Cards Featured: 499/880 - 56.7%
Players/Coaches Featured:
510
Made the Majors: 338 - 66%
Never Made the Majors:
172-34%

5+ Seasons in the Majors:
141
10+ Seasons in the Minors:
116

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Bob Sebra, On Purpose - 136

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 to AAA Oklahoma City.

In his third year, Sebra debuted in the majors. In four starts and seven appearances in 1985, Sebra went 0-2, with a 7.52 ERA. That November, the Rangers traded Sebra and another player to the Expos for Pete Incaviglia.

With the Expos in 1986, Sebra started 13 games, going 5-5 with a 3.55 ERA. On Sept. 30, Sebra got his fifth win, a two-hit shutout of the Mets.

"If Bob can keep it together for spring training, he might be the guy we're looking for," Expos manager Buck Rodgers told UPI after the shutout. "This is exactly what we are looking for on this team, someone to come in and take a job."

Sebra did take a job that next spring, a starting job. Sebra started 27 games for Montreal in 1987, getting into a total of 36 contests. But a 4.42 ERA got him a record of only 6-15.

On July 1, though, Sebra was stellar. And he picked up a loss. He struck out 14 while giving up three hits. He lost 1-0 on a ninth-inning home run.

"That was the best pitched game I've ever seen anybody lose," Rodgers told The AP after the game. "I don't know how you can pitch better than that."

Going into 1988, Sebra was no lock to return to the Expos staff. Sebra told The Palm Beach Post he wasn't worried about anybody but himself. If he pitched well, he'd be in the majors. Pitching coach Larry Bearnarth told The Post Sebra needed to show consistency.

Sebra pitched well that year, but in AAA. He even made the AAA All-Star game, something he wasn't particularly thrilled about.

"It's an honor to be on the team, for one thing," Sebra made clear to The AP. "On the other hand, in my situation, I don't feel like I should have been here long enough to make the team."

He didn't return to the majors until September, by then traded to the Phillies. He got three starts, allowing 10 runs in 11.1 innings, going 1-2.

Sebra's frustrations mounted. In spring 1989, after learning he would be sent to AAA, he threatened to retire, The Philadelphia Daily News wrote. He went to AAA, though. He returned to Philadelphia long enough for five starts, before being shipped to the Reds in July.

Sebra moved to the Brewers in June 1990, getting his final big league playing time, the end coming sooner with that pitch to Jones.

Sebra is now living in Florida, with a son Ryan, named for Nolan Ryan, that has designs on following in his father into pro ball. He was a high school senior in December 2010, according to The Daytona Beach News Journal, with college teams taking a look.
1990 CMC TallyCards Featured: 499/880 - 56.7%
Players/Coaches Featured:
510Made the Majors: 338 - 66%
Never Made the Majors:
172-34%

5+ Seasons in the Majors:
141
10+ Seasons in the Minors:
116