Greatest 21 Days Baseball Profiles

The Spartanburg Phillie took off for second, but Gastonia catcher Joe Lewis was having none of it . Lewis gunned the ball to second, cutting down the runner. The Spartanburg manager argued, but the call stood, The Spartanburg Herald-Journal wrote . Lewis cut down that runner in his second season as a pro. He played in just one more . Lewis' career began in 1988, signed by the Rangers as an undrafted free agent out of Louisiana State University. Lewis is credited as being drafted previously , taken in the third round of the 1986 draft out of St. Amant High School in Louisiana. He did not sign. By 1987, he was at LSU. In 31 games, he hit .222. He hit two home runs and had 17 RBI. His Tigers made the College World Series that year. Lewis struck out in a first-round game . On the way to Omaha, he scored the go-ahead run in a regional game. Lewis is only credited as playing that one season with LSU. He hit the field with the Rangers in 1988. He got into 34 games at rook...

Troy Eklund helped his Nevada Griffons to a June 1987 win with a dramatic eighth-inning tie-breaking home run, The Nevada Daily Mail wrote . "When I hit it, I was thinking double," Eklund told The Daily Mail afterward. "I was running and watching, and it started rising. When it started rising, I knew it was gone. It kind of surprised me." Eklund played that summer in Nevada in between his time at the University of Arkansas. He went on from there to a brief career as a pro , and then to a career in broadcasting. Eklund's career in baseball began in 1989, taken by the Rangers in the 25th round out of Arkansas . With the collegiate league Griffons, Eklund hit 17 home runs by the end of July. Earlier that July, Eklund was credited with taking a home run away with a catch. Eklund returned to Arkansas that fall. In 1989, Eklund knocked 12 triples and won All-American honors. Over his career there, Eklund knocked in 180 runs . He also helped his club...

Armando Moreno got called up to the Pirates in 1990. It was understood at the outset, though, that the call would be brief, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote . The reasoning, Pirates GM Larry Doughty told The Post-Gazette , was that the team needed a right-hander on the bench to face lefties from the Phillies. "He's never been in the major leagues," Doughty told The Post-Gazette , "But he's a veteran." As it ended up, Moreno never did play in the major leagues. Called up for that one game that August, Moreno remained on the bench for that game. The Pirates then returned him to the minors. He never got back . The veteran Moreno was in his ninth professional season that year with the Pirates. His career started in 1982, signed by the Expos out of his native Puerto Rico . He played that first season at rookie Calgary, hitting .338, with five home runs . He moved to single-A Gastonia in 1983, continuing that hitting at .327. Moreno's first ...

Jim Clinton was drafted out of college as a middle infielder, The Billings Gazette wrote . What he ended up playing was pretty much anywhere on the field. That ability he learned to change positions as needed, he told The Gazette years later, helped him to seven seasons as a pro. "My defense is what kept me in the game," Clinton told The Gazette in 2001. "My offense and my (left) knee is what kept me out of it." Those also kept him out of the majors. In those seven professional seasons, Clinton briefly made AAA twice. He never made the majors . Clinton's career began in 1989, taken by the Rangers in the 31st round of the draft out of the University of Illinois at Chicago . With the Rangers, Clinton started at rookie Butte. He hit .219 in 60 games. He also played all four infield positions , catcher and outfield. He moved to single-A Gastonia, hitting .202. He also played each position but catcher and pitcher. For 1991, Clinton arrived at high-A...

Originally published April 28, 2011 Tony Scruggs was still swinging the bat in 1998, just like his old teammates Sammy Sosa and Juan Gonzalez , Scruggs told The Sarasota Herald-Tribune . Where they were doing it though was a little different. "Juan and Sammy are doing the same thing I am," Scruggs told The Herald-Tribune that September. "It's just that I'm hitting bombs in a fast-pitch softball league, but the feeling's the same coming off the bat." Scruggs spoke to The Herald-Tribune as both Sosa and Gonzalez, two of Scruggs' fellow outfielders in the minors, were having career years in home runs and RBIs. Scruggs' career year, his only year in the majors, consisted of six at bats and no hits. Scruggs' career began in 1987, taken in the seventh round by the Rangers out of UCLA. He played that first season in the rookie Gulf Coast League and at single-A Charlotte . He hit .337 between them, with nine home runs. He played...

It wasn't only Jeff Cook 's effort that put that ball over the fence in 1998, he also had Amarillo teammate Pat Koerner to thank. "To hit one like that, I have to swing as hard as I can," Cook told The Amarillo Globe-News after that August game. "I have to give P.K. (Koerner) his props. He kissed my bat before I hit it." Home runs were, indeed, difficult to come by for Cook - one game in 1986 the notable exception . Cook was credited with a total of eight , over his nine-season professional career. He also never got above AAA. Cook's professional career began in 1985, selected by the Pirates in the 10th round of the draft. Cook played that season with the Pirates' rookie Gulf Coast League team, hitting .263 and one of his eight career home runs. The next year, at single-A Prince William, Cook's average hit .301. He also stole 43 bases, and hit two home runs. Those two home runs were the notable exception in Cook's home run t...

Mike Burton played in Port Charlotte in 1992, with the Rangers' high-A club. He's now playing in Port Charlotte full time, as head golf pro at Riverwood Country Club, according to GolfFlorida.com . "I used to work here part time and played only three or four times a year," Burton told GolfFlorida in 2003. "Once I started playing regularly, I went from an 18 handicap to a 4. I got some people to help me understand how to transfer what I knew about the baseball swing to golf. Now I love teaching." Burton turned to gold full time after a playing career that lasted seven seasons , but one where he never saw AAA. He also turned to golf after a brief coaching career, spent in the place he last played, independent Sioux Falls. Burton's baseball career began in 1989, taken by the Rangers in the 17th round of the draft out of Fresno State . At Fresno State, Burton hit 16 home runs in 1988. He won All-Big West honors in 1989. He was inducted into th...