I read an article about J.D Drew being forced to retired because he can't get a job. It got me thinking about players that were "HOF bound" that just didn't deliver. And I'm not including players with drug or major injury history.
Drew had a solid career don't get me wrong. I'm just wondering who surprised you by failing?
The two biggest from the past decade that I can remember are Sean Burroughs and Ben Grieve.
This is the time. The real Reds organization is back.
Was Burroughs struggles related to drugs, or was that after?
Ben McDonald was a big one.
Dwight Gooden. Josh Hamilton. Eric Davis. Mark Prior. Kerry Wood.
These guys had, without a doubt, Hall of Fame caliber talent and even threw together HOF caliber seasons. But none of them will wind up in the Hall (I guess there is an outside shot for Hamilton, but it will be tough to rack up the counting stats) for various different reasons. Guys like Burroughs, Greive and McDonald were just super prospects who never worked out (or were perceived to be) to the extent they were expected to. I count guys with injuries and drug issues, because fair or not, they happened and led to disappointment.
Reds-related:
Kal Daniels
Greatest swing in baseball. Sure, injuries hurt. But the work ethic-- or lack thereof-- hurt worse.
Non-Reds related:
Jim Ray Hart
Really good 3B early in his career. As in HOF-bound numbers. Never realized his potential, though. No injuries that I know of.
Kal Daniels is the name that instantly popped into my head.Originally Posted by Scrap Irony
Dude had a crazy stick.
Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand
Kirk Gibson....was compared to Mantle alot early on.
Greg Jefferies....the New York media hyped him early.
"Boys, I'm one of those umpires that misses 'em every once in a while so if it's close, you'd better hit it." Cal Hubbard
Grieve is a great call. It almost looked like he was disinterested after a while.
I know you're not saying Drew had a disappointing career but a lot of people think that. I think he was vastly underrated as a pro because he wasn't an RBI guy and a lot of his OBP came from walks.
Saw him in the 95 college world series (live) and thought he'd be a hall-of-famer. If he had kept up his 9-year pace in the NL (900+ OPS) during his five years in Fenway, then he'd deserve it. Nonetheless, he was valuable.
It's hard to believe he only made one all-star team. I mean, Carl Crawford has made four and Crawford's best years are about equivalent to some of Drew's worst.
Last edited by cincinnati chili; 03-21-2012 at 12:15 AM.
Stick to your guns.
Steve Kemp, Jason Thompson, Chris Brown, Willie Greene, the list is immense
Frank Pastore is the first pitcher that comes to mind, the Dodgers had a mess of them, Brock, Marshall are two that leap out
Rich Harden. When he came up to the bigs, most of the quotes about him included comments like, "With that easy, effortless pitching motion, he's going to be a workhorse."
"I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful
Oh yes, those 2 put up monster numbers in Albuquerque. It seems like the hitting numbers from players that played there in that era were always over inflated.
Add Bobby Murcer, Ben McDonald and Clint Hurdle to the list.
"Boys, I'm one of those umpires that misses 'em every once in a while so if it's close, you'd better hit it." Cal Hubbard
Van Poppel. Jeffries was a great call. Wily Mo. Bam Bam Meulens.
Seeing Jefferies name reminded me of another 1st round pick of the Mets that never made it big. Shawn Abner. Mets traded him to the Padres and he never lived up to his 1st pick status. I saw him play in Rookie ball in Kingsport Ten. One game he hit a HR to tie the game in the 8th. Then one in the 10th to win it. Looked like a great one but never panned out.
Bernie Carbo was another. Drugs got him.
Dave Revering was a stud in the minors that never did much in the majors.
Reds Fan Since 1971
"King Kong" Keller - from 1939-1947, .289/.413/.531, 157 OPS+ in just over 4000 plate appearances. Hurt his back in 1947 and that was that (only about 600 pa total in his last 5 seasons).
Big Klu - 171 hr, 140K(!) from 53-56, hurt his back and then only hit 34 more home runs over the last 5 years of his career.
Jeff Francoeur was billed as the next great player. I remember Keith Olberman slobbering all over him on ESPN radio. Gotta learn the strike zone.
Hugs, smiling, and interactive Twitter accounts, don't mean winning baseball. Until this community understands that we are cursed to relive the madness.
Paul Householder. I think that kid's wing at Cooperstown was set up before he ever made it to Cincinnati.
Last edited by klw; 03-21-2012 at 10:18 AM.
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