Greatest 21 Days Baseball Profiles

Bryan House 's manager at single-A Peoria wasn't sure what he had in his second baseman in 1985, according to The Chicago Tribune . As the season wore on, though, House began to show manager Pete Mackanin what he could do , ending the year with 76 RBI and 45 stolen bases . "He's the catalyst for this team," Mackanin told The Tribune that August of House. "Now the only problem I have with Bryan is should I lead him off because he runs so well or do I hit him third or fifth because he drives in runs? So I compromise. I hit him second." While House showed what he could do that year at Peoria, and he eventually showed enough to make AAA Iowa , House never could show enough to make the majors. House's career began in 1984, taken by the Cubs in the ninth round , out of Illinois State. At Illinois State, House made the All-Missouri Valley Conference Team in 1984. He also led his team that year in stolen bases, with 20, in Doubles, with 15, ...

Scott Leius only hit five home runs all year, The Associated Press wrote . His sixth, though, came when it counted - in a tie game, Game 2 of the World Series. In the eighth inning, the game tied at two apiece , Leius came up with the bases empty and facing Tom Glavine. "I was just looking to get on base and he laid it in there," Leius told The AP afterward. "Once I saw it go out, I was just trying to touch all the bases, to make sure that was covered. I've never done anything like this. Well, maybe in whiffle ball." Leius' Twins went on to win that game, and the series. Leius went on to a career in which he played parts of nine seasons in the bigs, his last coming in 1999. Leius' career began in 1986, taken by the Twins in the 13th round of the draft out of Concordia College-Bronxville. He played his first year at rookie Elizabethton, hitting .278 in 61 games . He made single-A Kenosha in 1987, then AA Orlando in 1989. With Orlando, Leiu...

Runners were on second and third, Denny Gonzalez ' Pirates were up by one and Gonzalez hoped to extend that lead - in his major league debut . Gonzalez didn't even get to swing the bat. The Cardinals walked him, intentionally walked him . "I didn't expect that," Gonzalez told The Pittsburgh Press afterward the Pirates win. "But third base coach, Hal Lanier, he knows me from the Dominican." Gonzalez didn't get his first hit until three days later, in a three-hit performance , again against the Cardinals. He went on to play in a total of five big league seasons, 98 total games. He also got intentionally walked just two more times. Gonzalez' career began in 1981, signed by the Pirates out of his native Dominican Republic, the place where Lanier had seen him play previously. He played that first year for the rookie Gulf Coast League Pirates, hitting .346. He moved all the way to AA Buffalo and AAA Portland in 1982, hitting .257 between ...

Stan Clarke picked up the win in relief for Seattle in this May 1987 game. It was a big win for Clarke, not just because his family was there to see it or because it was his first in the bigs in four years, according to The Associated Press . It was a big win because he'd come back from a career-threatening shoulder injury, all the way back to notch that next win . "When I blew my shoulder out (in 1984), I thought I'd never pitch again," Clarke told The AP . "To me, this is the finest, finest win that's ever come in my career." Clarke ultimately got into four more big league seasons after that shoulder injury, playing in six big league seasons overall. For the reliever, though, he only got one more win, totaling three on his career . Clarke's career began in 1981, taken by the Blue Jays in the sixth round of the draft, out of the University of Toledo . Clarke started at rookie Medicine Hat, moving to single-A Florence and AA Knoxville ...

Bill Laskey made it to the majors for the first time in April 1982. He also had about as good of a first start as anyone could hope - a complete game, three-hitter . "I was nervous the whole first inning," Laskey told The Associated Press . "But then I settled down and started getting ahead of the batters. I didn't think people knew me here, but then they started chanting my name by the end of the game." Laskey ended up getting 13 wins for the Giants that year and 13 more the next. He ended up pitching in a total of six big league seasons, his professional career not ending until 1991 . Laskey's professional career began in 1978, taken in the second round of the June secondary draft by the Royals out of Kent State University. Laskey hit AA in his first year with the Royals, then AAA Omaha in 1980. For 1982, he was traded to the Giants in a three-player deal. He also then made his debut with San Francisco. He ended up getting 31 start...

Pete Delkus never did make the majors in five seasons as a pro. But, when it came time to find something else to do, for Delkus, his next choice of vocation was a natural one, he told The Orlando Sentinel in 1993. "As a baseball player, I was always interested in the weather anyway, so I thought I would give it a shot," Delkus told The Sentinel , two months in to his new job. That shot involved Delkus leaning back on his college education from Southern Illinois, where he majored in broadcasting. After an internship in Orlando's WFTV's sports department, The Sentinel wrote Delkus moved to the weather desk. And he's been at one weather desk or another ever since. Since 2005, that desk has been in Dallas , the seventh-largest market in the country. It was out of Southern Illinois University that the Twins signed the baseball player Delkus as an undrafted free agent . Delkus started his pitching career at rookie Elizabethton, and he started off strong ...

Scott Scudder made the Reds in 1989, getting 17 starts. To start 1990, though, he got sent back to AAA Nashville . "I was disappointed when I got sent down," Scudder told The Associated Press after his return May 6, "but I expected to be back." Scudder returned to the Reds with a start where he went into the eighth inning, giving up a single earned run . Scudder went on to pitch in five major league seasons, playing for the Reds and the Indians, getting 96 outings, 64 starts. He also played on a World Series champion. Scudder's career began in 1986, signed by the Reds as the 17th overall pick out of Prairieland High School in Texas. He started at rookie Billings, moving to single-A Cedar Rapids in 1987. He made AA Chattanooga for the first time in 1988, then AAA Nashville in 1989. In 1989, Scudder also made Cincinnati. Scudder debuted with the Reds in June. He picked up his first win June 22, in his fourth outing. He got into the eighth, giving ...

Dave Burba closed out 1991 strong. He went six innings, giving up three hits in a Mariners win. It was Burba's second season with time in the majors and his manager Jim Levebvre saw Burba coming back for more, according to The Associated Press . "He's a big, strong kid," Lefebvre told The AP . "He has a bright future." Burba did have a bright future, a future that saw him pitch in 13 more big league seasons . He also went on to hit double digits in wins in eight total seasons, hitting 16 wins in 2000 for the Indians. Burba's career began in 1987, taken by the Mariners in the second round , out of Ohio State . Burba played his first year between short-season Bellingham and single-A Salinas . He made AA Williamsport in 1989, then AAA Calgary in 1990. In September 1990, Burba made Seattle. In six relief outings for the Mariners that September, Burba got into eight innings , giving up four earned runs. He returned for another 22 outings, two ...

Ty Gainey had a hot spring for the Astros in 1985, so hot, that Astro brass began noticing . Gainey hit .370 on the spring, with 10 extra-base hits, The Houston Chronicle wrote . He did all of it without having hit previously above AA. "I told him that I don't think I've ever seen a player improve so much from one spring to the next," Astros manager Bob Lillis told The Chronicle . "When spring training started, there were a lot of people who weren't on his side. Now everybody is." For Gainey, though, the interest soon waned . A poor spring the next season and a Houston outfield that he couldn't seem to find a home in left him playing largely in AAA. He made it to Houston in 1985 and each of the next two seasons , but his big league career ended up consisting of 57 total big league games. Gainey's playing career, though, continued much longer, taking him to the Indians and Pirates systems and into Mexico, Taiwan and Japan. His last ...

Dorn Taylor had to wait until his sixth professional season to make the majors. Then he had to wait until his fifth start to get his first major league win . But, on May 20, 1987, Taylor went 6.1 innings, giving up three earned runs. His Pirates went on to win 5-3 . "It's about time," Taylor told The Associated Press afterward. "This feels almost as good as it did when I first got called up." Taylor ultimately got into 14 games for Pittsburgh that year, starting eight. While he would back to the majors in two more seasons, he would only get two more wins . Taylor's career began in 1981, signed by the Pirates as an undrafted free agent, out of Pfeiffer College . Taylor started play in 1982 at single-A Greenwood . He went 9-8 in 24 starts, with a 2.30 ERA. He stayed in single-A through 1984, making AA Nashua in 1985. He then got his first look at AAA in 1986, with five starts at Hawaii . Taylor started 1987 back in the minors. But, by the end o...

Jose Escobar thought his wait was finally over in 1990. It wasn't, he just had to wait a little longer. Playing for the AAA Syracuse Chiefs in the Blue Jays organization - in his 12th season as a pro - Escobar hit .270 in 79 games. It was a good enough showing to raise expectations for September, and the first call up of his career, according to The New York Times . September came and went without that call. that call finally came the next April, with a new organization and in his 13th total season . Escobar's long road to the majors began back in 1979, signed by the Blue Jays as an undrafted free agent out of his native Venezuela. He started at short-season Utica, playing there his first two seasons . He hit .265 his first year there and .234 his second. Escobar moved to single-A Kinston and Florence in 1981 then returned to Kinston the next two seasons. He got his first look at AA in 1984, at Knoxville. There, he hit .235, with 45 RBI. To start 1985, the Blu...

Tim Cecil had a goal on the season to reach 15 wins for the single-A Charleston Wheelers, according to his hometown Bend Bulletin . He barely got to half that number, though, mid-season arm troubles limiting his outings for a time. When he did play - the pain never completely went away - Cecil helped his team to the South Atlantic League title, The Bulletin wrote . "I guess everything turned out okay," Cecil told The Bulletin . "I'm happy with the season. We won a championship. That's something I dreamed about." Whether he came back fully from his arm troubles is unclear. As it finally turned out, though, Cecil only played in one more season . Cecil's professional career began in 1989, signed by the Reds as an undrafted free agent . He played his first year in the rookie Gulf Coast League. He went 8-1, with a 1.87 ERA . For 1990, Cecil moved to single-A Charleston. With Charleston, he went 7-5 in 29 outings , 17 starts. He also posted a ...

Bernie Nunez stepped to the plate in the ninth inning, his team down by a run with one on . With one swing, Nunez' Bend Bandits went from being down a run to the Mission Viejo Vigilanties to being up one and winning the game . "I don't even know what [pitch] I hit," Nunez told The Los Angeles Times after that June 1997 contest. "I just went up there wanting to make contact. I wasn't sure if it was out of the park, but when I saw the center fielder give up I knew I had it." Nunez was playing in the independent Western League, a decade after he played his first pro season in the Blue Jays organization. He was also playing independent ball after an affiliated career that only saw him make AA, but never the majors. Nunez' career began in 1997, signing with the Blue Jays out of his native Dominican Republic. Nunez is also known by his full name Bernardino Nunez . He started at short-season St. Catharines, hitting .204 in 66 games. He moved...

Hall of Famer Tony Perez gives five to CMC set member and former Red Sox Rick Lancellotti. Fellow CMC set member and former Yankee Brian Fisher left of Lancellotti. (G21D Photo) Going into this year's Hall of Fame Classic at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, I wasn't sure which team I would root for, Team Wizard or Team Knucksies. That's because I wasn't sure ahead of time who was playing on what team. After getting the rosters straight, though, it was Team Wizard all the way. Team Wizard had, count them, three members of the CMC set on the roster. Knucksies had none. Going into the game, I actually only thought there would be two, the same number as last year. Last year's roster had Reggie Sanders and Rick Lancellotti. One of the two I had already interviewed, and it was a cool interview at that . The other one, Sanders, I would have loved to have interviewed, had I gotten the chance. But that chance didn't come. Todd Haney, left, greets Hall of Fam...

In his ninth season with time in the majors, 34-year-old Gil Heredia started off hot for the Athletics . By mid-May, he was 5-2 and had an ERA of 2.52, a mark that put him fourth in the American League, The Associated Press wrote . "I take great honor in that, but statistics are so overrated," Heredia told The AP as the questions about his early success came. "If I'm successful and consistent and we're winning games, that's what counts. If this were the end of the season, then yeah, obviously, I'd have something to say." By the end of the season, Heredia didn't have the ERA title - his ERA returned to a 4.12 mark - but he did pick up 15 total wins out of 32 starts, a career high. Heredia played for the Athletics that year, his 14th overall season as a pro. He went on to play in just one more . Heredia's career started in 1987, taken by the Giants in the ninth round, out of the University of Arizona. He played his first ye...