Saturday, November 04, 2006 |
Today's Birthdays
Eddie Basinski BRO b. 1922, played 1944-1945
Doug Corbett CAL b. 1952, played 1982-1986, All-Star: 1981. Ah, the life of a Rookie of the Year candidate. Corbett placed third in the 1980 balloting, behind such temporary luminaries as winner OF Joe Charboneau and second-place finisher RHP Dave Stapleton. Charboneau collapsed the following year, hitting only .210, and out of the majors after only his third season. Stapleton survived seven years in the Show, but never again had a season as good as his rookie year. Corbett, hardly an ace, outdid them all, staying in the Show eight years; he gave up a home run to Jim Rice in Game 2 of the 1986 ALCS, a game which finished in a 9-2 rout, but collected a win in extra innings relief in Game 4. His final appearance in that or any other postseason was in Game 6, another blowout against the Halos. Despite his apparent resurgence in the regular season that year, the Angels let him go, and he cratered the next year with the Orioles.
Eric Karros LAN b. 1967, played 1991-2002. Rookie of the Year in 1992, though had Mike Piazza had more at bats, there's no doubt but that he would have earned that award (he did the very next year). A good player who always reminded me of a lesser version of Steve Garvey thanks to his hollow counting stats; only three times in his career did he have OBPs that cleared .350. The Dodgers should have found a way to trade him and hang on to Paul Konerko, though some of that is hindsight. By 1998, when Konerko was entering only his age 22 season, Karros was having the first of his last two good seasons. Eventually traded to the Cubs, where he homered twice in the losing effort of the 2003 NLDS Game 4, but played well generally that postseason. He's lately been in the broadcast booth for ESPN and KCAL.
Earl Mattingly BRO b. 1904, played 1931, d. 1993-09-08
Bill McCarren BRO b. 1895, played 1923, d. 1983-09-11
Dick Selma CAL b. 1943, played 1974, d. 2001-08-29
Newer› ‹Older
 |
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.