Craig Grebeck
Shawn Boskie
Jim Leyritz
Bill Sampen
BEST PHOTO
Of the photos on the front, the ones for Leyrtiz and Sampen are by far the most interesting, with a nice 3B-fielding pose for the former and an excellent shot capturing the stadium from head to toe in the background for the latter. Is that Stade Olympique?
BEST STAT
Craig Grebeck hit only 19 career homers, but 5 of those came off Kenny Rogers and David Wells. Grebeck hit increidbly well off Rogers in particular, with 9 hits and 9 RBI in 29 at-bats. And, for what it's worth to you, I was at this game when he homered in the 7th inning.
BEST IN 1990
With the exception of Grebeck, none of these guys had a bad season in 1990. Sampen and Boskie both pitched 90-some innings with Sampen having the edge, coming in with a 2.99 ERA.
BEST ANAGRAMS
Shawn Boskie = Banishes wok = Swab honkies
Jim Leyrtiz, Yankees = Jerky senility maze
Bill Sampen = Nimple pals (or, OK, penal limbs)
BEST CAREER
None of these guys was a star although everyone except Boskie had at least one great year. Boskie was decent some years but managed to lead the league in HR allowed in 1996 despite pitching only 189 innings. Wow.
The best career here belongs to Jim Leyritz, although he's helped by playing mainly for really good Yankees teams. In the regular season, Leyritz was pedestrian, finishing with a 106 career OPS+. But in the post-season, the guy was cash money. He batted only .213 but he had--get this-- 8 HR and 20 RBI in 72 career post-season plate appearances. Think about those numbers for a minute.
Of course, the story gets a lot worse for Leyritz will his very serious issues over the last couple of years. I believe he is still awaiting trial on vehicular manslaughter charges.
Sampen because he's in an Expos uniform.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Hawk Harrelson used to call Grebeck "Little Hurt". I remember getting his 1993 Topps card and seeing him listed as 5'7". It was a thrill to know at age eleven that I was already taller than at least one major leaguer.
ReplyDeleteBoskie was the opposing pitcher in Cal Ripken's 2,131st consecutive game. He was also the loser, giving up three solo HRs in five innings (including a fourth-inning shot by Ripken...goosebump moment). Naturally, the O's were suitably impressed by Boskie's outing and signed him a year later. They got what they deserved: a 6.43 ERA in 28 games.
Man alive, Kevin...you are full of one bitter Orioles memory after the next.
ReplyDeleteI remember the Ripken homer in that game...I was living in Baltimore at the time and watching on the cable network that carries their games...what's that network called again?
Speaking of Boskie's time in Baltimore... I've never caught a foul ball or home run or anything but I have gotten two balls thrown by ballplayers. David Wells threw a ball into the crowd that I caught and the other was... Shawn Boskie. My personalized Oriole jersey with the #32 also happened to be his number, I called out to him during BP and pointed out the number and he chucked me a ball. That's the reason I remember the name Shawn Boskie, it certainly wasn't his pitching.
ReplyDeleteVoted for Boskie, the front of the card has a Ricky Vaughn quality about it.
ReplyDeleteBoth Sampen photos are taken in Three Rivers Stadium. Note the road uniforms.
ReplyDelete