Greatest 21 Days Baseball Profiles

Rodney McCray finally got his first at bat of the year for the Mets in May 1992 after 16 pinch-runner appearances and he made his at bat count . In the top of the ninth, with the bases loaded, McCray knocked a single and knocked in the game-winning run . "I've been working every day with the hitting instructor and thinking positive, knowing I would get a chance to hit," McCray told The Associated Press afterward. "As soon as I got to first base, I said, 'that's my first National League hit, I want that ball.'" A year earlier at AAA, McCray the fielder wanted another ball. He didn't get that ball, but in the process of chasing it to the wall - and through it - he gained baseball immortality in a play that would come to overshadow everything else he did in his decade-long career. McCray's road to that immortality, and the majors, began in 1984, taken by the Padres in the ninth round of the January draft, out of West Los Angeles Co...

Originally posted June 3, 2010, edited May 2013 In spring training 1992 for the White Sox, Derek Lee knew he wasn't going to make the team. But he wanted to make the best impression he could. He wanted them to remember him later . "I know who's going to go up north," Lee told The Chicago Tribune , referring to the team's AAA club in Vancouver. "The White Sox in '92 are going to be a good team. They're going to win. I want to be a part of that, one way or another." Lee wouldn't make the team that year, but he would make the majors briefly the next, after a change in organizations. Lee was taken by the White Sox in the 42nd round of the 1988 draft, out of the University of South Florida. Lee started with the White Sox at short-season Utica, hitting .341 over 76 games. He also stole 54 bases . For 1989, The Tribune pegged him as a sleeper in the White Sox system, calling him a speedy leadoff hitter. That year, at single-A S...

Sarasota White Sox catcher Kurt Brown was well aware of the hitting streak he was on, he told The Sarasota Herald-Tribune in mid-July 1989. Brown had just hit safely in his 20th-consecutive game, a personal best. With the success, though, Brown told The Herald-Tribune he knew he had to just keep going. "I just have to keep working," Brown told The Herald-Tribune after extending his streak to 20, "because it's easy to slack off when things are going good. I have to keep my concentration." Brown was in his fifth season as a pro that year, having been taken by the White Sox in the first round , fifth overall, in the 1985 draft, directly out of high school. He would ultimately play in seven professional seasons , making it to AAA in 1991. But he would never make the majors. He could also never shake the comparisons to the other top picks in that 1985 draft, including the player taken one selection after him, Barry Bonds . The White Sox selected Brown...

Single-A Daytona Beach didn't play well to start 1987 and Daytona owner Blake Cullen looked to returning prospect Will Magallanes to get the offense going, according to The Orlando Sentinel . "We've lost 26 1-run games," Cullen told The Sentinel that July after Magallanes had a hot start. "You just know a player like that could have turned a bunch of those around." Magallanes was in his third professional season that year with the White Sox, coming back from an injury to his ankle suffered that spring. Magallanes ultimately would play in six seasons in the White Sox organization, never seeing Chicago. His stint with the club would also end in an ugly incident where Magallanes intentionally caused an injury to a teammate, using a bat to do so. Magallanes' career began in 1985, signed by the White Sox as an undrafted free agent out of his native Venezuela. Magallanes has also been called Willie Magallanes and the more formal William Magalla...

Features on each member of the 1990 Hagerstown Suns, AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Players are as included in that year's team set. Interviews (2) 1 - Pat Austin, Learned Much Pat Austin was quick coming out of college. As a pro, he learned stealing bases wasn't just speed. 2 - Steve Culkar, Focused On Steve Culkar didn't watch the scouts, but a college scout was watching him. The 1990 Hagerstown Suns (36) 1  -  Pat Austin  worked to improve defense; Saw six pro seasons 2  -  Dave Bettendorf  won college award, saw four seasons, made AA 3  -  Mike Borgatti  took it one pitch at time over 5 pro seasons 4  -  Tom Brown  recruited Ben McDonald, later coached in minors 5  -  Don Buford  stole bases in 4 seasons, then became surgeon 6  -  Stacey Burdick  got outs enough to turn pro, saw six seasons 7  -  Mike Cavers  saw four pro seasons, made AA with Orioles ...

Rick Lundblade played his first season as a pro. Then he quit and went home, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer . But, after working building houses for a couple months, the former Phillies farmhand and native of Eureka, Ca., gave his old team a call. He wanted to return, The Inquirer wrote . "When you're used to playing ball every day all summer, it's tough to give up something like that," Lundblade told The Inquirer in spring 1987. "At the time I quit, I didn't really think about the consequences. But after two months of having the entire town of Eureka come up and tell you how you screwed up . . . it begins to dawn on you that this is a rare opportunity." Lundblade spoke that spring as he prepared to go into his third professional season , in his first major league camp. But, while he did return, and his career ultimately spanned six seasons, Lundblade never did make the majors. Lundblade's professional career began in 1985, ta...

Pat Austin could hit. He could also run. But his defense, that was a liability, at least according to some, the Reading Eagle wrote in 1991. It was a label he was trying to shake, with his fourth organization in three years. But it wasn't a label for his then manager , Don McCormack. "He might not have the greatest arm in the world, but you don't need one at second base," McCormack told The Eagle . "He makes up for his lack of arm strength with quickness, and he's got good range." Austin joined Reading for 1991 having played in the Orioles, Cardinals and Tigers systems in recent years . Also read the Pat Austin interview from March 2013:   Pat Austin, Learned Much He was originally drafted by the Tigers in the fifth round of the 1986 draft . Sent to rookie league Bristol , Austin proceeded to swipe 48 bases, then an Appalachian League record . Austin stole another 45 bases at single-A Lakeland in 1987. Austin made AA Glens Falls in 1988, hi...

Originally published May 3, 2011 In a 1994 feature on a representative class of high schoolers, Money Magazine recorded Vic Hithe 's high school hopes, posted on a bulletin board at his class reunion. Those hopes were high, he'd be "playing pro baseball in Dodger stadium," the magazine wrote . The reality though, was different. Ten years after graduation, Hithe was a supervisor at a California catering company. Still, though Hithe had a baseball career, a seven-year career . He never made it to Dodger Stadium, or anywhere else in the majors, but he did make it as high as AAA. Hithe's professional career began in 1985, signed by the Astros as an undrafted free agent . He played that first season in the rookie Gulf Coast League. He hit .229 with no home runs. He played much of his second season, a shortened season, at single-A Asheville . He played all of his third season there. Between the two, Hithe hit over .300. He hit 11 home runs and stole 31 bases...

Mike Borgatti came into that August 1989 game with two on and one out. He also had a two run lead, according to The Frederick News-Post . By the time Borgatti was done, his Frederick Keys won by that two-run margin, Borgatti inducing a pop-up and getting a strikeout, according to The News-Post . "It's what I have been doing since I came here," Borgatti told The News-Post after his seventh save on the year. "You just go in there and take one pitch at a time." Borgatti was in his fourth season of doing that, working as both a starter and a reliever. He would play in just one more. He would also never make the majors . Borgatti's professional career began in 1986, signed by the Orioles as an undrafted free agent, out of Tulane University . With Tulane, Borgatti started 16 games in 1986, still tied for the second-most starts in a season in school history. The previous year, Borgatti completed eight games, still tied for 8th place. With the Orio...

By August 1995, Jose Mesa had racked up 37 saves for the Cleveland Indians and he had yet to blow one . It was just Mesa's first season as a closer, second as a reliever , after previously making the majors as a starter. "When you're just coming in for one inning, you're coming in and giving it everything you've got," Mesa told The Associated Press after his 37th-straight save conversion. "This is the first time I've done it, and so far I've had success. I like it right now. I don't know how long it's going to last." For Mesa, it lasted another dozen seasons, picking up more than 20 saves in seven of those . Of all those save opportunities Mesa had over his long career , is one on baseball's biggest stage - Game 7 of the World Series - that is perhaps most remembered. And that save opportunity is one that he couldn't convert. Mesa's professional career began back in 1981, signed by the Blue Jays as an undraf...

The Baltimore Orioles took Ben McDonald first overall in 1989 and an Orioles minor league coach Tom Brown had a special interest in the selection, according to The Associated Press . That's because Brown had coached McDonald before, McDonald's freshman year at Louisiana State University. It was Brown who even recruited McDonald to go to LSU in the first place, The AP wrote . "He'll play for me here when he signs," Brown told The Alexandria Daily Town Talk about a month after McDonald's selection. "I just hope his values haven't changed. When I recruited him, he wanted to play ball." McDonald eventually did play ball, doing so in the majors for nine seasons. And Brown has gone on to continue to coach in the minors, helping others get to the majors for more than two decades, continuing into 2013 as pitching coach at AA Pensacola . Among those other players was one Johnny Cueto , who later credited Brown with turning him into a major le...

Promoted to AAA Rochester in mid-May 1991, Scott Meadows took off, The Baltimore Sun wrote . He'd been told not to get comfortable, the call-up was only temporary, Orioles GM Doug Melvin told The Sun . But a .357 average helped make his case to stay. "I was upset I didn't come here right out of spring training," Meadows told The Sun . "I know I can play at this level." While Meadows knew, and proved, he could play at the AAA level , he never got the chance to prove he could play at the major league level. In a professional career that spanned seven seasons, Meadow never got called up to the majors. Meadows' professional career began in July 1988, signed by the Orioles as an undrafted free agent out of Ohio State. With the Buckeyes in his hometown, Meadows won All-Big Ten honors in 1986 and claimed the school's season hits record in 1988, notching his 72nd by May 14, The Associated Press wrote . Meadows played that first season, ei...

Years after his playing days ended, The Cleveland Plain Dealer asked Dave Miller what kind of pitcher he was. "I was a sinker/slider guy," Miller told The Plain Dealer in 2012. "Jason Bere [Indians special assistant], when we go golfing, looks at my legs and says, 'You were a sinker guy.' I made it to Class AAA and had some shoulder injuries that derailed me, but I wanted to stay in the game." Miller spoke to The Plain Dealer having stayed in the game by then for two decades as both a coach and coordinator. He also spoke to The Plain-Dealer having reached the spot he never could get to as a player, the majors, as 2012 bullpen coach for the Indians. Miller's career in the game began 1986, taken by the Orioles in the first round of the January secondary draft out of Camden County College in New Jersey. With the Orioles, Miller started at rookie Bluefield , going 6-4, with a 3.28 ERA over 13 starts. He returned to Bluefield for 1987, going...