Greatest 21 Days Baseball Profiles

The Pirates new third baseman John Wehner dove one way, throwing across the diamond to get the out. Later, another Wehner dive started a Pirates double play, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote . It was enough for Wehner, only recently called up to the majors that year in 1991, to impress Pirates manager Jim Leyland. "It's only his second game," Leyland told The Post-Gazette , "and I don't want to go overboard, but he sure played great tonight ... He'll put his nose in the dirt." Wehner played well enough to go on to see time in a total of 11 major league seasons . In that time, Wehner took that defensive play to every position on the field except pitcher, earning the title of utility player. The Pittsburgh native has since gone on to add the position of broadcaster to his resume, serving in that capacity for his hometown Pirates since 2005. Wehner's career began in 1988, taken by the Pirates in the seventh round of the draft, out of Indi...

Scott Pose made his major league debut four years earlier, serving as the very first batter of the Florida Marlins franchise - and providing the debut game-saver. But, after appearing in 14 more games with the Marlins that year, he didn't get back to the majors for another four seasons, getting back with the Yankees in 1997. He also made the most of his return, knocking in two crucial runs in his first start back . "I've been waiting a long time for this," Pose told The New York Times after that May 1997 win. "There are times when I didn't think I'd get there. I persevered. I knew it would come." That year in 1997 also marked his ninth as a pro, along with his second with time in the majors . Pose went on to play in five more seasons, two more with time in the majors. Pose's career began in 1989, taken by the Reds in the 34th round of the draft, out of the University of Arkansas. He started at rookie-league Billings in 1989, hitti...

Tony Blasucci early in his career, with the Pirates organization. (Tony Blasucci Photo) Part 1: Pumped Up | Part 2: First Thing | Part 3: Hard Work June 2014: I had the opportunity to speak with Tony Blasucci in January 2012 and tell his story here. A friend of Tony's informed me that Tony passed away May 28, 2014, from injuries suffered in a boating accident. Tony's obituary: Anthony "Tony" Blasucci . January 2012 interview: Tony Blasucci disagreed with the Pirates assessment. After four mostly unproductive seasons as a starter, the Pirates released Blasucci in spring 1987. That landed Blasucci on the doorstep of the White Sox camp, the left-hander looking for a tryout and a chance to prove that Pittsburgh assessment wrong. "They brought me into the batting cage, I'll never forget it," Blasucci recalled recently, "I was very, very pumped up. My adrenaline was flowing. I threw the ball very well. I threw the ball hard." ...

Two years earlier, Jeff Wetherby was in the majors. Now, in September 1991, Wetherby wasn't sure if he could continue . The former major leaguer was playing then at AA Jacksonville with the Mariners. That was after losing playing time at AAA with the Orioles and essentially quitting the game, The Los Angeles Times wrote . "The whole thing has pretty much been a brutal year for me," Wetherby told The Times . "It's been up and down the last two years, the biggest roller-coaster ride I have ever been on." Wetherby would come back in 1992, but he still wouldn't return to the majors. His 52 games played - 48 at-bats - with the Braves in 1989 proved to be the extent of his big league career. Wetherby's career began in 1985, taken by the Braves in the 21st round of the draft, out of the University of Southern California. He spent his first season between  the rookie Gulf Coast League and single-A Durham. He then split his second season betwe...

Oklahoma's Bucky Buckles did poorly in his first College World Series outing, The McCook Daily Gazette wrote . His second outing, though, was enough for the win. He went the final three innings, giving up just one single in the Sooners win, The Daily Gazette wrote . "The other night, things just weren't going good," Buckles told The Daily Gazette . "But tonight, I felt comfortable all the time." Buckles was taken that same month in the seventh round of the draft by the Rangers. But, in a career that spanned eight seasons, he would never make the majors. I mention Buckles here because, before yesterday, I had never heard of him. But I go from that, to picking up two cards of his on the same day. I showed one of them Saturday, his 1995 Topps Prospects card I got in a pack I picked up at my local card shop. The other Buckles card I got was in a large stash of 94-95 Fleer Excel minor league cards. The stash, which the cool shop guy let me have for next to nothi...

Todd Crosby didn't have many options out of high school, but he did have options . The Padres chose him in the fourth round of the 1983 draft. The University of Hawaii wanted him on a scholarship. Crosby chose Hawaii . "I want to play pro baseball," Crosby told The Los Angeles Times two years later, "but I felt Hawaii was the best opportunity for me at that point. It was the only real college opportunity I felt I had. I don't regret a single thing." Crosby got his second opportunity to play pro ball in 1986, taken by the Phillies in the fifth round of the draft . Crosby, though, never got the opportunity to play ball in the majors. Crosby went to Hawaii out of El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, Ca. It was at El Camino that Crosby caught the eye of the Padres, with his "excellent defensive skills, single-A Spokane GM George Gross told The Spokane Spokesman-Review . Crosby, though, didn't play for the Padres, or Spokane, ins...

Scott Gentile told The Hartford Courant in 1992 that his invitation to the U.S. Olympic baseball trials that year was honor. He'd made the cut to 40, from an original group of 90 . Coming from Western Connecticut State, he also ended up being the only player from a Division III school to make that next group vying for an Olympic spot. "It's uncommon for a Division III guy, especially one from New England where the season is so short, to be regarded so highly," Olympic team pitching coach Brad Kelley told The Courant . "Forget all those Division I, III labels. Scott is not a common pitcher. He's one of those special ones, who has a chance to go all the way to Barcelona." Three years later, as a member of the Expos system, Gentile was honored as the single-A prospect on a 1995 Topps Prospects card. Neither honor, though, went further. Gentile never made the Olympics . He also never made the majors. Gentile's 1995 Prospects card came in a pack of ...

After three seasons as a Tiger, Scott Livingstone was on his way to San Diego in May 1994. The move not only put Livingstone in new surroundings, but it also gave him the prospect of more playing time . "I'm ecstatic," Livingstone told The Associated Press . "I think I'm going to get the chance to show myself. I've often wondered what would happen if I got 600 at-bats." Livingstone had gotten some good time in the majors to that point. In one season, 1992, he'd gotten 354 at bats, hitting .282. But Livingstone wouldn't approach that number, much less 600, again. Livingstone ended up playing in eight major league seasons , getting just over 1,500 at bats total. Livingstone's career began in 1988, taken by the Tigers in the second round of the draft, out of Texas A&M. At Texas A&M the previous year, Livingstone played for Team USA in the Pan American Games . With the Tigers, Livingstone started at single-A Lakeland. He m...

George Bonilla still appears in the UC Santa Barbara record book . His 10 wins for the team in 1985 still rank tied for fourth best in school history. His 89 strikeouts rank tied for seventh. His 18 starts and 8 complete games both rank second . In April, Bonilla threw a complete-game, four-hitter . For his career, which lasted just two seasons at Santa Barbara after coming out of junior college, Bonilla's 18 wins is still tied for 10th . Bonilla took that career with Santa Barbara to the Giants, signing as a 14th round draft pick that year in 1985. Bonilla, though, couldn't take it to the majors. In a professional career that spanned six seasons, he made it to AAA, but no higher. Before heading to Santa Barbara, Bonilla pitched at Saddleback College. Over two seasons there, Bonilla pitched well enough to make the school's athletic Hall of Fame . Bonilla spent his first year as a pro with the Giants at short-season Everett, going 4-6, with a 4.12 ERA. In an A...

Between raking the infield and cleaning the toilets, the player listened . In turn, Roy Silver , of The Winning Inning Baseball Academy in Clearwater, Fla., talked to the player about the possibilities, if only the player - Josh Hamilton - stayed clean, Silver recalled to The Associated Press in 2011. "Him being an All-Star and doing the things that he has done physically are not the things that I'm most impressed with," Silver told The AP . "What I'm most impressed with is his growth as a man." It was Silver, a former player and coach in the Cardinals system, who reached out to Hamilton, as Hamilton made his early attempts to stay clean, and attempt his comeback from drug and alcohol addiction, according to The Sarasota Herald-Tribune . From there, at Silver's baseball academy, Hamilton's slow progress back began. Silver's own progress toward that point began as a player himself, signed by the Cardinals as an undrafted free agent ...

Tommy Greene had a rough first inning in that April 1992 game. But he bore down and, by the time he was done, gave up just two hits over seven innings, picking up the win . Phillies manager Jim Fregosi later told The Philadelphia Inquirer it was a matter of the young right-hander going at hitters. "Tommy's still a thrower," Fregosi told The Inquirer . "His best stuff is his hard fastball and slider. That's what he has to get hitters out with. "But sometimes younger players want to be pitchers too soon," Frigosi added to the paper . "They throw to spots. He had to pitch through that." Green was in his fourth season with time in the majors that year. The thrower, though, had already achieved the year before what most pitchers only dream of: a major league no-hitter. Greene's career began in 1985, taken by the Braves in the first round of the draft, out of Whiteville High School in North Carolina. He started at rookie Pulaski...

The Yankees were within striking distance of the division lead in late-August 1993 and they turned to their young left hander Sterling Hitchock to keep it that way . Hitchcock responded by throwing seven scoreless and picking up the win, his first in the majors . "It's a lot of fun to look around, see the guys excited, and know the importance of what's going on here," Hitchcock told The Associated Press . "A win is a win, but a win in the middle of a pennant race - it's a great way to get your first one." Hitchcock would go on to get 73 other major league wins in a career that spanned 13 seasons. He would also get some of the biggest wins in San Diego's limited playoff history. Hitchcock's career began in 1989, taken by the Yankees in the ninth round of the draft out of Seffner High School in Florida. He played that first season in the rookie Gulf Coast League, going 9-1, with a 1.64 ERA . He moved to single-A Greensboro for 1990. He...

The bases loaded in the ninth of this spring game in 1990, the Dodgers called on reliever Greg Mayberry . Up to bat was the Mets' Mike Marshall, who'd singled and tripled earlier. Mayberry got him to fly deep, but out, for a 5-4 Dodgers win . "It shows you what the game is all about," Marshall told The Associated Press later. "I get up there with a chance to win it and even though I hit it hard, I ended the game." Mayberry was going into his seventh season as a pro in 1990, a career that hadn't yet made the majors. Coming out of that spring training, Mayberry returned to the minors . It was his last season, his career ending without making the majors. Mayberry's career began in 1984, taken by the Dodgers in the first round of the January draft out of Ferrum College. He played that first year largely at rookie league Great Falls, going 7-5, with a 3.18 ERA in 14 starts. Mayberry moved to single-A Vero Beach for 1985, going 11-4 . He al...