6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Larry Barnes ANA,LAN b. 1974, played 2001, 2003. What a mess of memories he brings back. Barnes was an Angel free agent signing in 1995 after having been taken in and passed on consecutive drafts in the 69th round by the Marlins and the 51st round by the Braves. Yet somehow, he made the Angels' minor league player of the year in 1996 as a 22-year-old at Cedar Rapids; his development stalled in subsequent years as he repeated every successive level, eventually getting a cup of coffee at Anaheim for 16 games and 40 at bats.

He hit .100.

The Angels eventually sold him to the Dodgers in a horribly offense-challenged 2003, where he failed to convince anyone he should be a major leaguer. He's out of baseball now, but to me he serves as a reminder of the dangers and failures of player development.

Paul Chervinko BRO b. 1910, played 1937-1938, d. 1976-06-03

Chuck Crim CAL b. 1961, played 1992-1993

Don Drysdale LAN,BRO b. 1936, played 1956-1969, All-Star: 1959, 1961-1965, 1967-1968, Hall of Fame: 1984 (BBWAA), d. 1993-07-03. Double D, a teammate of Sandy Koufax and a man not afraid to throw inside; his 154 career hit batters set a modern record. A remarkable hitter whom Walter Alston sometimes used as a pinch-hitter, he is still tied for first place in franchise history with Don Newcombe for the most single-season home runs hit by a pitcher (seven, a record he achieved in 1958 and 1965), and also owns the other top two years; he has the career record with 28. In addition, he is second in franchise history for almost every career counting stat for pitchers (all behind Don Sutton), including wins (209), losses (166), games (518), games started (465), strikeouts (2,486), innings pitched (3,432.1), and shutouts (49). In addition, he is fifth in complete games (167), third in hits allowed (3,084), fourth in walks allowed (855), and fifth in career ERA (2.95). In 1965, he hit .300 and so had the top average of any starting player on the club. He died in 1993 of a heart attack in Montreal, before a game he was set to broadcast. Coincidentally, he passed one week after Roy Campanella, the man who caught his first game in the majors.

Hod Ford BRO b. 1897, played 1925, d. 1977-01-29

Johnny James LAA b. 1933, played 1961

Hong-Chih Kuo LAN b. 1981, played 2005. The Dodgers are trying to turn him into a usable starter at Vegas, so far without success. His command continues to be a problem.

Dallas McPherson ANA,LAA b. 1980, played 2004-2005. Hurry back, Dallas.

Pee Wee Reese BRO,LAN b. 1918, played 1940-1942, 1946-1958, All-Star: 1942, 1946-1954, Hall of Fame: 1984 (Veterans), d. 1999-08-14. A two-fer! Two! Two Hall of Famers for the price of one! Pee Wee Reese appeared in seven World Series, six of them with Brooklyn, and was a ten-time All-Star; he played on only one Los Angeles Dodger team. Durable, affable ("What a decent human being", Jackie Robinson said of the Kentucky-born Reese, though he was alleged to have signed on to the player's protest against Robinson, a charge he later denied), Reese is in the top ten in franchise career records for games (3rd with 2,166), at-bats (2nd, 8,058), runs scored (1st, 1,388), hits (2nd, 2,170), doubles (4th, 330), triples (7th, 80), RBIs (7th, 885), total bases (5th, 3,038), extra-base hits (8th, 536), stolen bases (7th, 232), and walks (1st, 1,210). The Dodgers got him thanks to a fortuitous break: when Tom Yawkey fired Red Sox farm director Billy Evans, Reese got summarily traded to Brooklyn. Aw, who cares, he's only a prospect. Right?