Greatest 21 Days Baseball Profiles

Keith Kaub hit for both power and average in 1988 for Cal State-Fullerton, helping his Titans to the College World Series, according to The Los Angeles Times . His power came in the form of 20 home runs. His average came in at .347. Kaub was clear to The Times on which one he preferred . "I'm not here to hit singles," Kaub told The Times . "I'm looking for a pitch up, a pitch I can drive." Kaub soon turned pro, but he was unable to fully take that power and average with him. Playing in the Expos system, Kaub could only muster a total of 26 home runs and a .222 average over just three professional seasons, the extent of his professional career . Kaub's career began that year in 1988, taken by the Expos in the 28th round of the draft, out of Fullerton. Kaub went to Fullerton out of Golden West College. At Golden West, Kaub helped his team to an April 1985 win with a three-run home run . In an April 1986 game, Kaub went 5 for 6 for Golden West...

North Carolina head coach Mike Roberts knew how much his ace John Thoden meant to his club in 1989. What he meant was 11 wins to no losses, the 11th a regional win in late-May over Nicholls State. "We wouldn't be in this regional if not for the many clutch games he has won for us," Roberts told a regional newspaper service . "He was the right pitcher for us against Nicholls." Thoden went on from North Carolina to have the opportunity to win clutch games in the pros . His pro career, though, lasted only five seasons. He never got the chance to win a clutch game above AA. Thoden's pro career began in 1989, taken by the Expos in the 11th round out of North Carolina . At North Carolina, Thoden put together that stellar 1989 season. He went 12-1 over 19 starts , leading the Tar Heels to a College World Series birth. The previous summer, Thoden pitched in the Cape Cod League, going 9-1 and later making the league Hall of Fame . In the win that se...

Originally published Feb. 10, 2011 By 1984, Morris Madden was already in his sixth professional season. He was also still in single-A. It was enough for him to look at doing something else, Madden told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . It was his wife Sandra who kept him playing, he told the paper . "She told me I wasn't a quitter," Madden told The Post-Gazette . "I had never quit anything, and I wasn't about to start being a quitter." Madden spoke to The Post-Gazette in June 1989, the occasion being Madden was making his first major league start, 10 years after he first entered rookie ball. Madden entered rookie ball with the Dodgers in 1979, selected in the 24th round of the draft out of Spartanburg Methodist College. He played that year at the Pioneer League's Lethbridge Dodgers. He made AA for the first time in 1981, the first of four seasons in which Madden would bounce between single-A and AA. He split 1982 between single-A Lodi and...

Expos minor leaguer Bill Cramer wasn't a home run hitter. That could be seen in his first two professionals seasons, where he hit no home runs. In his third professional season, though, Cramer finally got onto the home run board. On June 20, Cramer hit his first professional home run . For Cramer, though, that's where his career home run total would stay. He finished out that season at high-A West Palm Beach, finishing out his brief career . Cramer's career began in 1989, taken by the Expos in the 27th round of the draft, out of Cal State-Sacramento . With the Expos, Cramer played his first season between the rookie Gulf Coast League and short-season Jamestown. At Jamestown, Cramer got into 31 games , hitting .229. He knocked in 14, scoring 16 runs. Cramer moved to single-A Rockford for 1990. In 66 games, he hit just .158. He also picked up eight doubles and 12 RBI. The catcher also turned first-baseman, getting 36 games at first to 13 behind the plate . For...

Sid Monge came on in the ninth inning of this July 1979 contest for Cleveland and picked up the save . But this safe was actually a save, one with no margin for error: Bases loaded, nobody out, Indians up 2-1. Monge responded by getting a pop-out, line-out and strikeout to end the game . "You have to do what you do best," Monge told The St. Joseph News-Press afterward. "I had to go out and get them with my best stuff. I threw all fastballs. I spotted them in and out." Monge picked up that save in his fifth season in the majors. He also picked it up in the season in which he became an All-Star . Monge went on to play in the majors for a decade, not playing his final game until 1984. From there, he's gone on to a long career as a coach in the minors . Monge's career in baseball began in 1970, taken by the Angels in the 24th round of the draft, out of Brawley Union High School in California. With the Angels, Monge started at rookie Idaho Falls , ...

Originally published Nov. 5, 2010 Steve Searcy went into spring 1993 believing he was going to make the Orioles, he told The Baltimore Sun . He wasn't going down to AAA. "I'm not planning on going anywhere," Searcy told The Sun that February as spring training began. "That's not being cocky. If you come in and say I'm going to be starting at Rochester, you're beaten out of the box. I'm not going to be satisfied starting at Rochester. . . . I just feel you have to have a very positive attitude." Searcy spoke as someone who needed to have a positive attitude, having already seen major league time in each of the previous five sometimes injury-plagued seasons . But he wouldn't see major league time this time or again. Searcy played that year, 16 games at AAA Rochester , the last professional games he played. Searcy's career began in 1985, taken in the third round of the draft by the Tigers from the University of Tenn...

Carlos Carrasco was a home run away from the cycle in his July 1990 game, just the wrong cycle, according to The Modesto Bee . Carrasco was the pitcher and in this game, Modesto hitters took Carrasco for a total of five singles, three doubles and a triple, according to The Bee . Carrasco didn't make it out of the fifth. That outing was one of 25 starts Carrasco had for the high-A Salinas Spurs in 1990, his fourth season as a pro. He ended up going 5-14 on the year. He also ended up never making AA . Carrasco's professional career began in 1986, taken by the Dodgers in the first round of the secondary phase of the June draft. He was selected out of Gavilan College in California. With the Dodgers, Carrasco played his first season with rookie Great Falls . In 13 outings, 12 starts, Carrasco went 4-4, with a 3.36 ERA. He moved to single-A Bakersfield for 1988, getting 17 outings, seven starts. He went 0-4, with a 4.65 ERA. It was his final season in the Dodgers syst...

When James Shevlin took the field for the Salinas Spurs in 1989, he became the second James Shevlin to take the field as a pro. The first James Shevlin, known as Jimmy Shevlin , first took the field as a pro, nearly 60 years earlier, in 1931. Jimmy Shevlin started at single-A Albany and AA Toronto and played for nearly a decade. That Jimmy Shevlin also played parts of three seasons in the majors, one season with Detroit and two with the Reds. For James Shevlin, in 1989, his career was much shorter . The James Shevlin of 1989 also never made AA. (It's unclear if there is any relation between the two Shevlins) James Shevlin's career began in 1989, signed by the independent Salinas Spurs as a free agent out of Massapequa, NY. With the Spurs, Shevlin got into 31 games in 1989. He picked up 23 hits in 87 at bats, for a .264 average. He also picked up two doubles and knocked in six. Shevlin returned to the Spurs for 1990, but his season was even shorter than his fi...

Steven Bast partially realized the dream of many boys growing up, he played professional baseball. For Bast, though, that wasn't his dream. His dream involved something else : Medicine. "I always liked to play the game, but that wasn't ever my dream," Bast told his alma mater's news service at USC.edu in 1996. "I just always kinda used baseball as a stepping stone to get to where I wanted to go." Where he wanted to go was to medical school, to become a doctor. And he achieved that, studying while pitching for the Red Sox in the minors over five seasons . He got his degrees then and later, but he never made the majors. Bast's professional baseball career began in 1986, taken by the Red Sox in the fifth round, out of the University of Southern California . He'd been drafted by the Angels in the third round three years earlier, but he instead chose college then over the pros. With USC, Bast was credited with being instrumental in...

Kenichi Uchiyama 's time as a closer for the independent Salinas Spurs in 1990 didn't go as well as he had likely hoped. Over the California League season, Uchiyama amassed as many saves as any other Spur on the year, six. But he also amassed nearly as many losses as any other Spur, 10. But Uchiyama did pitch well enough to return to Japan and pitch in Nippon Professional Baseball . He ended up getting credit for two seasons there, both with the Yakult Swallows. There, he picked up a single save. Uchiyama's professional career began in 1985, taken by the Yakult Swallows in the third round of the Japanese draft, out of high school in Gunma Prefecture, according to his Japanese Wikipedia entry . After signing with the Swallows, Uchiyama first made the first squad for Yakult in 1990. He also played that year in the United States, with the high-A Salinas Spurs in the California League. Ucyiyama and several other players from Japan, were sent on loan to the Californ...

Scott Jaster seemed to hit well in some situations in 1989 and poorly in others, according to The Newport News Daily Press . It all seemed to depend on which team he played for, and whether he was trying to impress anyone that day, The Daily Press wrote . "It's like this," Jaster told The Daily Press . "When I get in the box and I'm totally concentrating on myself and the pitcher, the bat is light in my hands. When I'm in the box and I'm trying to impress the Mets, the manager and the fans, it's like I'm swinging a 50-ounce bat." Jaster was in his fifth season as a pro that year playing in the Mets system. He went on to play in four more seasons, but he never saw the majors . Jaster's career began in 1985, taken by the Mets in the second round of the January draft, out of Trinidad State Junior College in Colorado. Jaster followed his father into the pros. Jaster's father was Larry Jaster , who played parts of seven s...

Mike Dalton 's ascent through the Red Sox system was called rapid in spring 1987 . Dalton was in single-A Winter Haven in 1985, then jumped directly to AAA Pawtucket in 1986. Helping him along was his motion to the plate, Red Sox farm director Ed Kenney told The Quincy Patriot Ledger in March 1987. "He has a herky-jerky delivery which bothers hitters," Kenney told The Patriot Ledger . "He also has excellent control." But, while Dalton moved up the Red Sox system quickly to AAA , he never made that last step to Boston. He did make it to the majors, though, pitching in four games for the Tigers in 1991. Those four games were the extent of his major league career. Dalton's look at the majors came eight years after the Red Sox selected him in the 15th round of the 1983 draft. He played his first year at short-season Elmira , posting a 2.65 ERA. He spent the next two seasons advancing slowly, staying at single-A Winter Haven both years. His ERA h...

Sean Thompson made the switch from college to the pros in 1988. He also made the switch from outfield to second base, The Los Angeles Times wrote . Thompson made that switch to second base with the Giants at the club's rookie league time in Pocatello. "Second base is where I think his future is," Giants scout George Genovese told The Times of Thompson. "I worked him out there and he shows excellent aptitude. He's a great hustler and his talent and attitude will take him a long way." For Thompson, though, that switch to second base ended up not taking him that far. He played that season and one more, marking the extent of his career . Thompson's career began that year in 1988, taken by the Giants in the 40th round of the draft, out of Los Angeles Valley College. Thompson went to Valley out of Westlake High School . At Westlake, Thompson played on the local American Legion team, earning his team's "Outstanding Sportsman" awa...

Paul Alegre got himself ready to play in high school by playing another sport, karate, The Orlando Sentinel wrote . With that preparation, Alegre became a top hitter at Lyman High School in Florida, hitting .400 over two seasons there, according to The Sentinel . "Karate has made me a much more disciplined hitter," Alegre told The Sentinel . "It also has helped by quickness." Alegre used that quickness to go on to Murray State and to the pros. His pro career, though, was brief, just 17 games played over a single season. Alegre's brief pro career came after a high school career that saw Alegre star for his local school. He hit a home run in a mid-April game , his fifth on the year. Later that month, he had a diving catch, the start of a game-ending double play . With Lyman, Alegre made the All-County team with Lyman in 1985. He also made the Central Florida all-star classic . From Lyman, Alegre moved on to Murray State. He won All-Conference hono...

Originally published May 2, 2010 Working with a group of young pitchers, Jeff Jones dispensed advice on proper technique . The Detroit Tigers bullpen coach, however, wasn't working with young Tigers pitchers. He was working with little leaguers . "We’re working on basic things," Jones told The Gaylord Herald Times in an October 2009 visit. "Getting into an athletic postion. It is something that we have to work on even with our big leaguers." Jones has worked with many young pitchers through his more than 20 years of coaching, though usually the young pitchers are a little older than the Gaylord little leaguers. Jones' coaching career began in 1988 at Bristol, Conn., a year after his playing career ended. The player Jones played a decade of pro ball, taken by the Athletics in the 13th round of the 1977 draft. He made the Oakland bullpen in April 1980. He would return to Oakland for part of each season through 1984, playing there in a tot...

With the College of San Mateo Bulldogs opening up play in the state community college baseball tournament in California, they handed the ball to starter Greg Page , according to The Los Angeles Times . With the offense doing its work by putting up nine runs, Page did his part. He did it by taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning against San Diego Mesa College to pick up the win, The Times wrote . Page went from the College of San Meteo to the pros, eventually playing three seasons there. But he never made it above high-A . Page's professional career began in 1988, signed by the Giants as an undrafted free agent out of San Mateo . At San Mateo, Page is counted on a list of former San Mateo players to make the pros. With the Giants, Page played at rookie Pocatello. There, he got into 19 games, all in relief. In 39 total innings, he gave up 33 earned runs, for an ERA of 7.62. It was his only season in the Giants system . For 1989, Page moved to independent Salinas in th...