Birthdays- 7/22

[chicoruiz]

No Reds today, or at least none that I could find...

Others of note:

Rob Johnson (28)- Career backup catcher with bad teams and an unmemorable name; is he baseball's most obscure player?

Dave Stieb (54)

Cliff Johnson (64)- He looked 64 when he broke in. Born to DH but it took a long time for the Astros to figure that out; they kept figuring that since he was big and strong they could make a catcher out of him. They couldn't. If he'd come up in the American League he might have had quite a career, cause he could mash.

Sparky Lyle (67)- Lots of you have probably read "The Bronx Zoo" and I haven't, so I'll leave the Sparky commentary to someone else.

Jack Glasscock (deceased)- One of the greatest players of the 19th century, with one of the most unfortunate names...

[cumberlandreds]

Dave Steib was a very good pitcher for the Blue Jays. He flirted with quite a few no hitters and finally got one near the end of career,IIRC. A cousin of mine said he played against him in American Legion baseball. He said in a game he played against him he was brought in from the outfield to pitch. They figured he wasn't any good but found in short order he was really good.

I think I read the Bronx Zoo a long time ago bit really don't remember anything about it now. There were a lot books that came out at that time from players that were all about the same. They were probably trying to write the next "Ball Four".

[George Anderson]

"The Bronx Zoo" was a really good book.

How those Yankee teams won with all the drama and controversy is pretty amazing.

Sparky Lyle was pretty hard on Reggie Jackson.

[RichRed]

Cliff Johnson (64)- He looked 64 when he broke in.

http://baseballcarded.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/5304898235_c6f9329a2c_b.jpg

Young Cliff Johnson, age 33-ish.

[chicoruiz]

He looks sad... possibly because of the way his hat fits.

[CySeymour]

Wasn't it Cliff Johnson who got into a locker room fight with Goose Gossage?

[cumberlandreds]

Wasn't it Cliff Johnson who got into a locker room fight with Goose Gossage?

Yes that's right. He busted the Goose's shoulder or arm and was promptly traded. I had forgotten about that.

[Bob Borkowski]

Rob Johnson (28)- Career backup catcher with bad teams and an unmemorable name; is he baseball's most obscure player?


I have to admit he was obscure to me until I checked him out at Baseball Reference. Better to have played in the majors obscurely than never to have played at all, I guess.