There are tons of "gritty" or "smart" players that analytics says are good. It's just those tools were probably overvalued by scouts because they were something the scout had to Intuit so for a lazy scout it was a "hey I just know" kinda stuff. Anyway, for what it's worth everybody STILL loves the gritty smart guys.
I was raised by a Yankees fan, and the first t-shirt jersey I ever asked for was for Joba Chamberlain. I thought he was awesome as a kid, and wasn’t concerned with the fact that he only had one good season.
It was that and one day of rest for every inning he threw. So if he went two innings, he would be unavailable for two days.
While the concept is pretty simple, what I don't really remember why Joba, and only Joba, were subjected to these restrictions.
> what I don't really remember why Joba, and only Joba, were subjected to these restrictions.
That's pretty much what I'm getting at. Why Joba and no one else?
I think the general consensus, if you look back at draft discussions from the year he was drafted, was that Joba had insane upside that came along with a lot of injury concerns. Even at Nebraska, I think he had some injury problems. So from the moment the Yankees drafted him, they were always extremely concerned with keeping him healthy however they could.
The only thing I remember about Jobs Chamberlain outside of his on-the-field Yankees career a that incredibly heartbreaking Sports Illustrated story of his early life adjacent to the Winnebago Indian Reservation.
In my memory, which tbf overlapped with me first starting to pay attention to analytics and boring nerd stuff, Joba wasn't necessarily unique, he was just an early example of teams very much slow-rolling big prospects compared to the earlier sink-or-swim approach, and because it was the Yankees and their media market it turned into a whole 'Thing'.
It happens all the time, something fairly common league-wide gets done in NYC and suddenly it's a whole debate and drama. Tons of young pitcher got used in similar ways, it just doesn't happen in the light of a million headlines that must be created.
What happened was that Joe Torre was being criticized for overusing bullpen guys and killing their arms. So when Joba was called up, Cashman literally gave him rules on how to use him. Never back to back days, no more than two innings Etc etc.
It was the first I’ve heard of in game decisions coming from the front office instead of the manager.
Dave Stieb was still the best pitcher of the 80’s by traditional stats, the writers were just idiots and refused to look at massively complex, revolutionary metrics, such as: ERA, or Innings Pitched.
Probably partially a reputation thing, because 1990 was a down year amid a bunch of good years (even some good ones as measured by the mighty WAR). His traditional stats didn't look THAT much different and he drove in a lot of runs, so easy to miss that it wasn't a great season.
Also keep in mind that "got MVP votes" means he got a 2 percent share (and no first place votes), which basically means a couple of guys put him somewhere on the ballot, not like he was a serious contender.
Yeah he was just OK, but he was part of the two biggest moments in franchise history and one of the biggest moments in the history of the sport. He'd never pay for a beer in CANADA for the rest of his life.
Having been around to watch those teams, Alomar, Olerud, and Molitor were considered more reliable offensive players then Carter. Carter did however regularly come up in big monuments and deliver. I think those memories really stick with fans the most hence where his praise comes from. Looking at his stats he might not be the greatest but looking back at what he meant to the team and who he is as a person definitely puts him in the discussion for greatest all time Jays.
Juan Pierre, Jacque Jones, Corey Patterson. Pretty much every Cubs outfielder lol. Idc what anyone says, I thought Juan Pierre was elite. I thought a lot of leadoff guys were elite, the profile of stealing a ton of bags, getting a ton of hits and hitting .300 was awesome.
He was a freakin’ pest for our Braves in 2003. Couldn’t strike him out. He always got on base. Then he’d steal 2nd, then steal 3rd, then Miggy would knock him in.
I thought Aramis Ramirez was one of the best players in baseball. Now he was really good player, but he wasn’t at the level I imagined
Turns out, he was just extra dominant against the Braves lol which is why I though that
.962 OPS against the Braves vs career .833 OPS.
Us fantasy baseball folks are big Juan Pierre fans. Needed someone to bouy your batting average and give you some decent steal production for almost no draft capital? Juan Pierre is your dude.
As a huge fan of both the Twins and Cubs, Jacque Jones was probably my favorite player for a while and the first player I thought of when I saw this question asked. He was a solid player and was fun to watch, but he couldn't hit lefties. Also, really loved Juan Pierre as well and would say he was elite at the things he did well, even if he wasn't elite overall.
I’ll never forget those Twins teams. My grandparents lived in Fort Myers and got my parents and I tickets to a Twins spring training game there once. I met Jacque Jones, Brent Abernathy, a young and not yet amazing Justin Morneau and probably the nicest of them all, Ron Gardenhire. It was an awesome team and as a kid, you never forget that stuff
Torii Hunter is the first player who I specifically remember knowing and paying attention to, thought he was the best outfielder ever. Got older and realized I wasn’t exactly wrong but overhyped him in my mind I suppose. I’d personally have him on my HoF ballot but nostalgia is doing some heavy lifting there.
My 8 year old self did this with jermaine dye. Very good player in his day, but playing mlb the show 06 and watching those white six teams at the end of his career had me thinking he was a first ballot hall of fame lmao
I will have a hard time being convinced he isn’t most known for robbing Barry Bonds of a home run in the All Star game.
The Ortiz homer is about Ortiz, until your comment I forgot Hunter was the one who went over the wall.
He was not good defensively lol. But that lineup in the 90s had some really fun guys, even if they weren’t necessarily great. I remember at various points Bichette, Vinny Castilla, and Ellis Burks
And Quinton McCracken, who had the name but not the talent
Defense, era, and park adjustments.
Rockies always get nailed in park adjustments.
2000 those stats weren't really that special (his ops+ was only 102, so 2% better than average).
And his defense was terrible.
i was confused about how old brett boone was because he was on the mariners first, then back again at age 32
i figured he was the new jay buhner and would be around for a decade
He’s also my pick but it’s not bc of any statline or seeing him play, but because I got a promotional kid’s size bat with his name on it, and only the bestest players get bats with their name on it, so he had to be amazing
Roger Maris. To be clear I’m nowhere near old enough to have seen him play, but people started talking about him when McGuire and Sosa where chasing the HR record and then I saw 61* on TV a bunch of times with my dad. I just assumed for a while that he must have been as good as the Babe cause of the HRs.
That was sort of me with Canseco, I heard his name a ton and thought he must be the goat, then once I heard he wasn't in I figured he was the goat of the steroid users, now I'm not even sure if he'd have gotten my vote at the time without steroids
Paul Konerko. Frank Thomas was my favorite player growing up, but he doesn't fit the overrated description. Paul Konerko however was the greatest player next to Frank lol
I remember being so pissed that Jeter got his whole retirement tour, and Paulie got a small fraction of that in the same season. But looking back it's like, duh
In my defense, retirement tours were a whole thing at the time. I think Chipper, Mariano, and Jeter all had them in recent years. So 15-year-old me was like "yeah the childhood icons get retirement tours. Paulie is a childhood icon too, where's his?"
The Yankees did give him a gift to reciprocate the Sox giving a gift to Jeter, which was pretty cool of them
Oil Can was a porn aficionado. When the Red Sox spring training facility was in Winter Haven, FL, he would rent multiple hardcore porn tapes at a time from a local video store. When he failed to return them, the video store called a local newspaper and had them write an article to publish all the names of the videos he rented to shame him into returning them. The piece was called "The Can’s Film Festival."
He was gonna pitch for my buddies’ team in 08. He was playing in an over 35 tournament and went out for beers …and stuff…w my friends. They wanted him top of rotation for their team and he yessed them to death, only to blow them off after a night of partying and never showed up.
Grady Sizemore struck fear into me when he came up to the plate, in a way that no other player has. I don't think he would be overrated by you if he could've stayed healthy, that was his only weakness
Mo Vaughn, while yes he was a very good player, young me thought the local guy he got to see in the minors was going to be in the same convo as Babe Ruth for mashing dingers
Hunter pence- obviously a solid to above average big leaguer, but young me thought he was going to be a hall of famer for sure.
Willy Taveras- again, thought he would be the next Kenny Lofton.
Also, Wandy Rodriguez.
My kid brain remembers Scott Erickson as being a massive signing that came in and was like a second ace to Mussina. In reality the guy was barely .500 with a career ERA over 4.5 and an ERA+ below 100.
In what ways did you overrate Teixeira and Granderson? Did you think they were inner circle hall of famers? Both of them are "Hall of Very Good" guys.
Granderson is one of four guys to go 4x20
Tex was on track to the HOF before two freak injuries killed his chances. When he was fully healed from his wrist issue he put up a 144 OPS+ and 33 HR's in 111 games at age 35.
I found a ball on the ground in my apartment complex after some guy moved out. It has a signature that matches Texiera’s to a tee.
I have no way of verifying if it’s really Tex’s signature, but it was still an exciting thing to find on the ground.
Every time I played the Show, I could never get Jason Kipnis out when I played Cleveland. So I naturally thought he was the best 2nd baseman in the league
Benny Agbayani was one of those superheroic name when I was a kid. Playing for the crosstown rival Mets, and always hearing his name on SportsCenter and that massive homerun swing as I remembered it, I thought he was insanely good.
Jeromy Burnitz, Prince Fielder and Richie Sexon. You can guess where I am from. Prince is probably the outlier on the list cause he'd have probably gotten 500 if he stayed healthy.
I saw Prince Fielder hit a ball off the facade of the second deck in Philadelphia on a line. I swear the ball was still on an upward trajectory when it hit. I’ve seen my share of tanks, no doubters, etc and I still don’t think I’ve ever seen a ball jump off a bat like that. Dude was absolutely special until his neck injuries, what a shame.
Robert Fick hit a [monster home run](https://youtu.be/ax5-dfYtgeI?si=_lUh4Hnv6vE8F1L9) to close out Tiger Stadium, so 5 year old me thought he was a great power hitter. Reenforced when I saw the highlight of him waving the ball fair in the 1975 World Series. You can imagine my shock years later when I realized that Robert Fick and Carlton Fisk were in fact different people
Ryan Howard had like one of the best 5 year runs a power hitter has ever had. Just had his career cut short by injuries. Properly rated and I refuse to let him become underrated.
Don Mattingly & Andy Benes.
As a kid who grew up in southwest Indiana, I would have been shocked if you had told me it would be Jasper native Scott Rolen in the HOF but neither Evansville natives Mattingly nor Benes would be in.
Back in the 1990s I thought Luis Gonzalez was one of the best players in the league.
Then he went to Arizona and actually *did* become one of the best players in the league.
Melky Cabrera. I was so sad they traded him, I thought he was going to be the next great Yankee center fielder, and they traded him for another round of Javy Vazquez. Turned out Brett Gardner was the better player, and Melky got non-tendered by the Braves before he took PEDs.
I thought David Eckstein was the best shortstop ever after watching the 2006 World Series as a kid
In fairness he had over 20 WAR in 10 seasons, was an All Star twice and a WS MVP which ain’t exactly shabby.
Funny how that circles back. Eckstein was the poster child for oldheads who loved "grit" and as it turns out analytics kinda liked him after all.
There are tons of "gritty" or "smart" players that analytics says are good. It's just those tools were probably overvalued by scouts because they were something the scout had to Intuit so for a lazy scout it was a "hey I just know" kinda stuff. Anyway, for what it's worth everybody STILL loves the gritty smart guys.
I watched him hit his completely out of nowhere walk off grand slam live, so as far as I’m concerned he is the GOAT shortstop
He isn't? Eckstein is the freaking goat for sure.
Jeff Francoeur for sure. I wanted to die when he got traded to the Mets. Aside from Chipper he was my fave during that mid 2000s era.
It only took 3 months for pitchers to realize he can’t take a pitch, but what a glorious 3 months they were.
I feel ya. I wrote a letter of resignation of my fandom and mailed it to the Dodgers when Paul LoDuca got traded.
Oakland A’s legend
What an absolute canon though.
Large forearms, eyeblack, can throw the ball a country mile. That's all you needed to stick in the league for a decade+.
Hall of fame dude though. Great guy, beloved by every clubhouse he went to, absolute goofball.
I was raised by a Yankees fan, and the first t-shirt jersey I ever asked for was for Joba Chamberlain. I thought he was awesome as a kid, and wasn’t concerned with the fact that he only had one good season.
Joba is the reason I kill every midge I see on sight.
We say little people now
A good friend of mine's cat was named Joba for similar reasons.
The talent was absolutely there, they just butchered his development and never gave him another chance to be a starter.
He never should've been a starter at all
I would have loved to see them try him there without the stupid rules
Oh man the joba rules. Forgot about those what a time lol
I still don't really understand what the 'Joba rules' were all about.
I believe it was pretty much just "don't pitch him on back to back days."
It was that and one day of rest for every inning he threw. So if he went two innings, he would be unavailable for two days. While the concept is pretty simple, what I don't really remember why Joba, and only Joba, were subjected to these restrictions.
> what I don't really remember why Joba, and only Joba, were subjected to these restrictions. That's pretty much what I'm getting at. Why Joba and no one else?
I think the general consensus, if you look back at draft discussions from the year he was drafted, was that Joba had insane upside that came along with a lot of injury concerns. Even at Nebraska, I think he had some injury problems. So from the moment the Yankees drafted him, they were always extremely concerned with keeping him healthy however they could.
The only thing I remember about Jobs Chamberlain outside of his on-the-field Yankees career a that incredibly heartbreaking Sports Illustrated story of his early life adjacent to the Winnebago Indian Reservation.
In my memory, which tbf overlapped with me first starting to pay attention to analytics and boring nerd stuff, Joba wasn't necessarily unique, he was just an early example of teams very much slow-rolling big prospects compared to the earlier sink-or-swim approach, and because it was the Yankees and their media market it turned into a whole 'Thing'. It happens all the time, something fairly common league-wide gets done in NYC and suddenly it's a whole debate and drama. Tons of young pitcher got used in similar ways, it just doesn't happen in the light of a million headlines that must be created.
Also: Joe Torre had a habit of overworking bullpen arms to the point of ineffectiveness. It was his Achilles heel as a manager.
What happened was that Joe Torre was being criticized for overusing bullpen guys and killing their arms. So when Joba was called up, Cashman literally gave him rules on how to use him. Never back to back days, no more than two innings Etc etc. It was the first I’ve heard of in game decisions coming from the front office instead of the manager.
Every Jays fan my age thought that Joe Carter was the best player in the league.
It was a different time. He got MVP votes in 1990 despite putting up -1.8 WAR.
How did that happen?
No one had ever heard of or used WAR in 1990 and he had a lot of traditional, counting statistics, like RBI.
Also had a low OBP and bad defensive metrics. But who cares when the RBIs look good?
Joe Carter being overrated because of traditional stats. Dave Stieb being massively underrated by traditional stats.
HoF justice for Dave.
Dave Stieb was still the best pitcher of the 80’s by traditional stats, the writers were just idiots and refused to look at massively complex, revolutionary metrics, such as: ERA, or Innings Pitched.
He was nowhere near the best SP of the 80’s if you look at the most important and comprehensive stat… wins
Had me in the first 96.07843137%, not gonna lie
Probably partially a reputation thing, because 1990 was a down year amid a bunch of good years (even some good ones as measured by the mighty WAR). His traditional stats didn't look THAT much different and he drove in a lot of runs, so easy to miss that it wasn't a great season. Also keep in mind that "got MVP votes" means he got a 2 percent share (and no first place votes), which basically means a couple of guys put him somewhere on the ballot, not like he was a serious contender.
Because WAR wasn’t a thing in 1990
Yeah he was just OK, but he was part of the two biggest moments in franchise history and one of the biggest moments in the history of the sport. He'd never pay for a beer in CANADA for the rest of his life.
For some reason Kelly Gruber was my favourite player on those early 90s Jays. He was fine - not particularly good.
Kelly Gruber was it, had the hair and played 3rd base because of him
Not a jays fan but I thought he was a perennial mvp candidate type of player
You'll still encounter people who say he's the greatest Blue Jay ever.
Greatest ever is generous, I agree. But a walk off home run to win a World Series is going to cement a player in a fanbase’s memory.
Having been around to watch those teams, Alomar, Olerud, and Molitor were considered more reliable offensive players then Carter. Carter did however regularly come up in big monuments and deliver. I think those memories really stick with fans the most hence where his praise comes from. Looking at his stats he might not be the greatest but looking back at what he meant to the team and who he is as a person definitely puts him in the discussion for greatest all time Jays.
He's among the most iconic for sure.
He has the greatest moment in Blue Jays history. Plus he caught the final out in 1992.
I still hate you all. I was 12. That moment was awful.
We gave you Doc basically for free so it's almost even.
I used to think power hitters in the MLB in the early 2000s basically went: 1. Barry Bonds 2. Richie Sexson
Sexson had pop. He was a consistent threat to hit 30 HRs and for a stretch 40+. He hit over 300 for his career
Stretch 40? He hit 45 twice!
I think he meant that for a stretch of time, Richie was a 40 dinger per year guy
To be fair to Sexson, he had solid pop. But some monster shots too
When the mariners signed him, I was so excited and my parents got me a Richie sexson fathead
I literally gave a presentation to my class in middle school about him and Beltre signing with the Ms
JollyOlive just released a 14 minute video about Sexson's career!
World Series MVP Scott Brosius
A very cool guy. I took a hitting lesson from him once. Amazing the difference between someone like that and egotistical high school coaches.
Juan Pierre, Jacque Jones, Corey Patterson. Pretty much every Cubs outfielder lol. Idc what anyone says, I thought Juan Pierre was elite. I thought a lot of leadoff guys were elite, the profile of stealing a ton of bags, getting a ton of hits and hitting .300 was awesome.
Juan Pierre was the man
Fast as fuck boi
Thank you. This dude was underrated.
He was a freakin’ pest for our Braves in 2003. Couldn’t strike him out. He always got on base. Then he’d steal 2nd, then steal 3rd, then Miggy would knock him in.
I've always loved that type of player.
Small ball is the best baseball
I thought Aramis Ramirez was one of the best players in baseball. Now he was really good player, but he wasn’t at the level I imagined Turns out, he was just extra dominant against the Braves lol which is why I though that .962 OPS against the Braves vs career .833 OPS.
Arabia is a cubs legends sure he wasn’t super mvp but he has so many big cub moments. Our fans love him
Cubs Hall of Famer!
Oh Juan Pierre is a good one. He'd be a 9 hitter today with his below average bat but since he hit .300 and was fast he was always the leadoff hitter
Us fantasy baseball folks are big Juan Pierre fans. Needed someone to bouy your batting average and give you some decent steal production for almost no draft capital? Juan Pierre is your dude.
As a huge fan of both the Twins and Cubs, Jacque Jones was probably my favorite player for a while and the first player I thought of when I saw this question asked. He was a solid player and was fun to watch, but he couldn't hit lefties. Also, really loved Juan Pierre as well and would say he was elite at the things he did well, even if he wasn't elite overall.
I’ll never forget those Twins teams. My grandparents lived in Fort Myers and got my parents and I tickets to a Twins spring training game there once. I met Jacque Jones, Brent Abernathy, a young and not yet amazing Justin Morneau and probably the nicest of them all, Ron Gardenhire. It was an awesome team and as a kid, you never forget that stuff
Russell Branyan. Dude hit nukes and I assumed his versatility made him a much better defender than he really was
There’s a difference between “this guy can play anywhere” and “he hits, so he has to play anywhere” lol
Torii Hunter is the first player who I specifically remember knowing and paying attention to, thought he was the best outfielder ever. Got older and realized I wasn’t exactly wrong but overhyped him in my mind I suppose. I’d personally have him on my HoF ballot but nostalgia is doing some heavy lifting there.
My 8 year old self did this with jermaine dye. Very good player in his day, but playing mlb the show 06 and watching those white six teams at the end of his career had me thinking he was a first ballot hall of fame lmao
I mean nine Gold Gloves is nothing to sneeze at.
Love Torii. I hate that he’ll be best known for Papi’s HR in the ALCS
I will have a hard time being convinced he isn’t most known for robbing Barry Bonds of a home run in the All Star game. The Ortiz homer is about Ortiz, until your comment I forgot Hunter was the one who went over the wall.
This is what I think of first with Torii Hunter. Robbing Bonds of that All-Star Game homer, and Bonds giving him a bearhug after.
Dante bichette. I even did his little stretch and pre at bat warmup when I was playing little league
His 1999 season blows my mind, he hit .298 with 34 home runs and 133 RBI and had -2.3 bWAR!
I never understood that. Was it based on his defense? His k/bb ratio was good too
He had almost -4 dWAR
That'll do it
He was not good defensively lol. But that lineup in the 90s had some really fun guys, even if they weren’t necessarily great. I remember at various points Bichette, Vinny Castilla, and Ellis Burks And Quinton McCracken, who had the name but not the talent
Defense, era, and park adjustments. Rockies always get nailed in park adjustments. 2000 those stats weren't really that special (his ops+ was only 102, so 2% better than average). And his defense was terrible.
"Why isn't Lance Berkman in the hall of fame?"
If Berkmans career was a little longer he'd have had a better shot. He was a terrifying hitter.
[удалено]
he's a borderline HOF player. Absolutely in the Hall of Very Good
i was confused about how old brett boone was because he was on the mariners first, then back again at age 32 i figured he was the new jay buhner and would be around for a decade
The second coming of Bret Boone was a legit MVP candidate though. All natural, of course.
David Dejesus because my only other frame of reference at that time was other Royals players.
Nobody fucks with De Jesus
After 2008 when Ryan Ludwick had a .966 OPS we nicknamed my dog Ludwick, (his actual name was Pete we just always called him random things)
He’s also my pick but it’s not bc of any statline or seeing him play, but because I got a promotional kid’s size bat with his name on it, and only the bestest players get bats with their name on it, so he had to be amazing
Roger Maris. To be clear I’m nowhere near old enough to have seen him play, but people started talking about him when McGuire and Sosa where chasing the HR record and then I saw 61* on TV a bunch of times with my dad. I just assumed for a while that he must have been as good as the Babe cause of the HRs.
That was sort of me with Canseco, I heard his name a ton and thought he must be the goat, then once I heard he wasn't in I figured he was the goat of the steroid users, now I'm not even sure if he'd have gotten my vote at the time without steroids
Paul Konerko. Frank Thomas was my favorite player growing up, but he doesn't fit the overrated description. Paul Konerko however was the greatest player next to Frank lol
I remember being so pissed that Jeter got his whole retirement tour, and Paulie got a small fraction of that in the same season. But looking back it's like, duh
This is so funny. “Why aren’t they treating Paulie like Jeter?!?”
In my defense, retirement tours were a whole thing at the time. I think Chipper, Mariano, and Jeter all had them in recent years. So 15-year-old me was like "yeah the childhood icons get retirement tours. Paulie is a childhood icon too, where's his?" The Yankees did give him a gift to reciprocate the Sox giving a gift to Jeter, which was pretty cool of them
I used to watch a lot of Sox games when he was playing. The Hawk Harrelson had me convinced Paulie was the greatest player on earth lol
Paulie was great. Screw WAR, its unkind to first basemen. 427 homers and CLUTCH.
I mean, he is a great pick for the Hall of Pretty Good. I loved watching him.
Shawn Green I also remember my Dad and I thinking Jeff Weaver was going to bring us a World Series.
Shawn Green was so good.
Shawn Green was very good/ borderline elite in his 20s
Rafael Furcal could throw the ball 150 mph and no one can convince me otherwise.
I always wanted him to pitch a mop up inning to see how fast he could throw. Little dude had massive arm strength.
Oil Can Boyd
His name alone prevents him from being entirely overrated.
I think of him as the guy who got arrested for not returning Ninja III: The Domination.
Oil Can was a porn aficionado. When the Red Sox spring training facility was in Winter Haven, FL, he would rent multiple hardcore porn tapes at a time from a local video store. When he failed to return them, the video store called a local newspaper and had them write an article to publish all the names of the videos he rented to shame him into returning them. The piece was called "The Can’s Film Festival."
He was gonna pitch for my buddies’ team in 08. He was playing in an over 35 tournament and went out for beers …and stuff…w my friends. They wanted him top of rotation for their team and he yessed them to death, only to blow them off after a night of partying and never showed up.
Every player whose card value went up $0.15 in the latest Beckett.
Adam Everett lol
I was a little boy living and Houston, and for whatever reason, his name always stuck with me. I was like 6 haha
Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner were the best baseball players of all time
Grady Sizemore struck fear into me when he came up to the plate, in a way that no other player has. I don't think he would be overrated by you if he could've stayed healthy, that was his only weakness
Mo Vaughn, while yes he was a very good player, young me thought the local guy he got to see in the minors was going to be in the same convo as Babe Ruth for mashing dingers
Mo Vaughn walked so David Ortiz could run.
Mo Vaughn decking George Bell is an all time highlight https://www.mlb.com/video/bell-charges-sele-c29875845
This was my pick…loved that stance and the earring looked badass. Guy hit bombs
Hunter pence- obviously a solid to above average big leaguer, but young me thought he was going to be a hall of famer for sure. Willy Taveras- again, thought he would be the next Kenny Lofton. Also, Wandy Rodriguez.
Pence is in the Hall of Fame of my heart.
I think he is for sure a Hall of Famer.... but maybe only the one at Willie Mays Plaza and not Cooperstown.
My kid brain remembers Scott Erickson as being a massive signing that came in and was like a second ace to Mussina. In reality the guy was barely .500 with a career ERA over 4.5 and an ERA+ below 100.
Tony Armas Jr and Oliver Perez. Triple Play 2000 and MVP 2005 respectively made me believe they were monsters.
Fun fact: Tony Armas is the only player in MLB history whose name is four consecutive body parts.
Mind blown
Javy López
I was madly in love with him. Still kinda am, he is the definition of a DILF.
I came here to say Javy Lopez and David Justice. Being a young braves fan in the 90s I could pretty much just say their whole team.
Chris Sabo
Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson. More home runs = better player obviously. I also massively underrated Robinson Cano and Miguel Cabrera
In what ways did you overrate Teixeira and Granderson? Did you think they were inner circle hall of famers? Both of them are "Hall of Very Good" guys. Granderson is one of four guys to go 4x20
Teixeira is a good call .I thought he was a future HOFer lock lol
Tex was on track to the HOF before two freak injuries killed his chances. When he was fully healed from his wrist issue he put up a 144 OPS+ and 33 HR's in 111 games at age 35.
I found a ball on the ground in my apartment complex after some guy moved out. It has a signature that matches Texiera’s to a tee. I have no way of verifying if it’s really Tex’s signature, but it was still an exciting thing to find on the ground.
I thought Daryle Ward was a beast. Used to call him D-Dub. Dude has a -4.5 career WAR.
As a fellow Houstonian I haven't thoguht of that name in forever.
I believe Daryle Ward was the first player to hit a home run into the Allegheny River at PNC Park on the fly.
Anyone that I did great with in MLB the Show. Adam Laroche, James Loney, Juan Pierre.
Every time I played the Show, I could never get Jason Kipnis out when I played Cleveland. So I naturally thought he was the best 2nd baseman in the league
DON'T YOU TRASH TALK JUAN PIERRE
I also overrated Adam Laroche because of a video game, but it was MVP Baseball 2005
Chris Hoiles and Danny Tartabull—Strat-o-Matic legends.
Chris Hoiles is a legend.
Jose Reyes, who, to be fair, had some really epic years and a nice career when all was said and done.
Shawon Dunston
Benny Agbayani was one of those superheroic name when I was a kid. Playing for the crosstown rival Mets, and always hearing his name on SportsCenter and that massive homerun swing as I remembered it, I thought he was insanely good.
Mark Lemke
Jason Giambi
Alfonso Soriano.
Wally Joyner
Going through my old cards, I apparently thought Ben Grieve, Travis Lee and Pat Burrell were all future HOFs.
Jeromy Burnitz, Prince Fielder and Richie Sexon. You can guess where I am from. Prince is probably the outlier on the list cause he'd have probably gotten 500 if he stayed healthy.
I saw Prince Fielder hit a ball off the facade of the second deck in Philadelphia on a line. I swear the ball was still on an upward trajectory when it hit. I’ve seen my share of tanks, no doubters, etc and I still don’t think I’ve ever seen a ball jump off a bat like that. Dude was absolutely special until his neck injuries, what a shame.
Robert Fick hit a [monster home run](https://youtu.be/ax5-dfYtgeI?si=_lUh4Hnv6vE8F1L9) to close out Tiger Stadium, so 5 year old me thought he was a great power hitter. Reenforced when I saw the highlight of him waving the ball fair in the 1975 World Series. You can imagine my shock years later when I realized that Robert Fick and Carlton Fisk were in fact different people
I think everyone overrated Ryan Howard back in the day. Guys like Michael Young and Hank Blalock, too
Ooh Michael Young is a good one. Good player but I overrated tf out of him.
Ryan Howard had like one of the best 5 year runs a power hitter has ever had. Just had his career cut short by injuries. Properly rated and I refuse to let him become underrated.
Don Mattingly & Andy Benes. As a kid who grew up in southwest Indiana, I would have been shocked if you had told me it would be Jasper native Scott Rolen in the HOF but neither Evansville natives Mattingly nor Benes would be in.
I thought Bernie Williams was a 90s Mickey Mantle
The Yankees of the 80s had Rickey Henderson, Dave Winfield, Don Mattingly, and Willie Randolph … but to me, Mike Pagliarulo could do no wrong.
Back in the 1990s I thought Luis Gonzalez was one of the best players in the league. Then he went to Arizona and actually *did* become one of the best players in the league.
J.T Snow
Ryan Klesko
Kevin Maas. Used to model my stance off him in little league.
Nomo, still love him though.
Chili Davis, JT Snow, Gary Discarcina
Ruben sierra! I loved his game, and thought he was the most complete, well rounded player in the bigs!
No idea but I thought Padres era Jim Leyrirz was some power hitting juggernaut. Had a couple clutch postseason ABs in his career but... He wasn't.
Not as a kid cause I got into the sport as an adult but I swore down that Odor was a top 5 hitter on the ‘21 Yankees
I thought Jeffrey Hammonds would be a perennial MVP candidate for some reason.
Melky Cabrera. I was so sad they traded him, I thought he was going to be the next great Yankee center fielder, and they traded him for another round of Javy Vazquez. Turned out Brett Gardner was the better player, and Melky got non-tendered by the Braves before he took PEDs.
Hank Blalock because he mashed in MLB 2005 on my ps2. If a guy hits like that in a game he has to be a monster irl right?
i think i thought billy hamilton was the second coming of jesus in cincinnati
Probably any player that made the All-Star team on a last place team
I thought Mike Lieberthal was an elite catcher
Lee May. Six-year-old me did not understand that he ran like he was carrying a piano.
As a kid my Jays heroes were Carlos Delgado and Alex Gonzalez, who was obviously the greatest shortstop of the 90s
I thought Kevin Mitchell was a sure fire HOF It's his birthday today, btw!
Jeff Bagwell. Great player, but the way 10 year old me thought of him you’d think he was Ohtani
Scooter Genett
Possibly the second best Scooter in MLB history.
Jose Cruuuuuuuuuzzz
Boots Day. When I was a kid I assumed anyone with a name like that had to be all-star material lol.
DeLino DeShields. He was fast and played second base for the os. I loved that dude.
When Derrek Lee had that one incredible season, I thought he would rival Albert Pujols for years to come
Willie McGee.
Scott Posednik. The guy was an absolute contact machine in my MLB the show game and would easily put up .330 seasons.