Monday, May 08, 2006 |
Today's Birthdays
Lloyd Allen CAL b. 1950, played 1969-1973. A lesson in the relative merits of leaning on minor league stats in evaluating prospects: Allen once threw a seven-inning no-hitter for San Jose in 1968, but was 1-12 in his career as a starter. Mostly used as a reliever for the bad Angels teams of the early 70's, he spent his last couple seasons with Texas and the Chisox before retiring at the age of 25.
Dan Brouthers BRO b. 1858, played 1892-1893, d. 1932-08-02
Mike Cuellar CAL b. 1937, played 1977. Reputations Made Elsewhere, We Just Retire 'Em: Cuellar started his career by pitching for Cuban Fulgencio Batista's Army team, and then was allowed to sign with the IL's Havana Sugar Kings in 1955. He failed to stick with any one major league team, and was ultimately released by the Reds. After pitching in the Mexican leagues, he got handed off team-to-team until he somehow earned a promotion to St. Louis in 1964. After another game of hot potato, he finally latched on in Baltimore, where he won the 1969 Cy Young award (tied with Denny McLain) with the powerhouse late-60's, early-70's Orioles. Going 23-11 as a 32-year-old in 1969, he had four callups to the All Star Game between 1967 and 1974. He epitomized the soft-tossing lefty: Yankees manager Billy Martin once said of him, "His fastball couldn't black my eye, but he owns my hitters' minds."
His career was almost over by the time the Angels signed him, a signing that came principally as a favor owed to him by Harry Dalton, formerly GM of the Orioles. Cuellar almost immediately got spiked in spring training, an injury that required seven stitches to repair; then, the Dodgers blasted him in the Freeway Series, deciding his fate in the bullpen. He appeared as a reliever once; he immediately loaded the bases without making a single out, and all three runs scored thanks to Dick Drago, who replaced him. After this misadventure, he somehow talked his way into a May 3, 1977 start in which he lasted only three and a third innings, giving up six runs, all earned, and two homers as part of a seven-run fourth inning which sent ten Yankees to the plate. One of these was future Angel Reggie Jackson, but the most galling of all had to be .222-hitting Bucky Dent, who hit a grand slam off him. It was Cuellar's last game in the majors, though he would try to catch on in various Latin American leagues.
Todd Greene CAL,ANA b. 1971, played 1996-1999. Greene recently appeared in UTK as the victim of a collision with Prince Fielder. Objects smaller than the planet Jupiter have almost no chance against this kind of force, and I wish Mr. Greene, currently playing as a reserve catcher with the Giants, a speedy recovery.
The hype surrounding Todd Greene as the Rookie who would heal the Angel franchise makes the talk about Mathis Kendrick Wood Morales McPherson Kotchman look miniscule.
: 5/08/2006 08:48:00 PMA first round draft pick out of high school, Allen had xlnt stuff and was highly coveted by many teams when he was with the Angels. His only shortcoming was throwing strikes consistently.
The lesson isn't so much about the "relative merits of leaning on minor league stats in evaluating prospects" as it is in rushing kids with great arms.
: 5/08/2006 08:50:00 PM
Not exactly. It actually was 1964 when Cuellar was with the Cards. Cuellar was with the Houston Astros from 1965 to 1968.
I managed the 1967 St. Louis Cardinals for over a hundred games in Strat-O-Matic mostly before I got my drivers license. I immediately knew that Cuellar was not a member of that team.
: 5/08/2006 10:38:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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