Good/great forgotten players of yesteryear

[navamind]

Bob Allison


.255/.358/.471, 127 OPS+, 256 home runs, 34 WAR over 1541 games. Hit .287/.404/.553 (163 OPS+) in 1964.

 

[obxyankeefan]

Bob Allison


.255/.358/.471, 127 OPS+, 256 home runs, 34 WAR over 1541 games. Hit .287/.404/.553 (163 OPS+) in 1964.

Mice. We do a trivia game at work and when the Twins come up Killebrew, Oliva, and Versalles are mentioned. But Allison is very seldom remembered.

 

[nynasty]

Roy Smalley Jr!

 

[nynasty]

Disco Dan Ford

 

[Pure Steel]

Disco Dan Ford

First homer at refurbished Yankee Stadium April 15, 1976.....Munson was first Yankee two days later.....

 

[nynasty]

First homer at refurbished Yankee Stadium April 15, 1976.....Munson was first Yankee two days later.....

Did you ever go before the refurb? I didn't.

I saw them when they were playing their home games at Shea in '75, but just wasn't quite old enough to make it to the original place.

 

[Pure Steel]

Did you ever go before the refurb? I didn't.

I saw them when they were playing their home games at Shea in '75, but just wasn't quite old enough to make it to the original place.

First time at Yankee Stadium was about 1970, had the pleasure of watching Boog Powell and the Orioles destroy the Yankees....Those Oriole teams were awesome, how times have changed for that franchise.....

 

[obxyankeefan]

Did you ever go before the refurb? I didn't.

I saw them when they were playing their home games at Shea in '75, but just wasn't quite old enough to make it to the original place.

My grandfather went to a game in 1961. Mickey Mantle bobblehead day. I still have that bobblehead. My dad went to a game in 1978. A bunch of New Yorkers threw candy bars on the field that day, my dad brought about a dozen of those Reggie bars home for me. I think we ended up throwing them out because they were so nasty.

I have driven by the stadium, but have never gone to a game in NY yet. I have seen them play a number of times elsewhere, but that is one thing on my bucket list to get to a game there.

 

[DragonfromTO]

I don't know if he's really "forgotten" but I suspect that Buddy Bell is probably quite underrated.

 

[nynasty]

My grandfather went to a game in 1961. Mickey Mantle bobblehead day. I still have that bobblehead. My dad went to a game in 1978. A bunch of New Yorkers threw candy bars on the field that day, my dad brought about a dozen of those Reggie bars home for me. I think we ended up throwing them out because they were so nasty.

I have driven by the stadium, but have never gone to a game in NY yet. I have seen them play a number of times elsewhere, but that is one thing on my bucket list to get to a game there.

The Reggie Bar fiasco is rivetingly told in that classic of American Literature, "The Bronx Zoo", by Albert "Sparky" Lyle.

 

[obxyankeefan]

The Reggie Bar fiasco is rivetingly told in that classic of American Literature, "The Bronx Zoo", by Albert "Sparky" Lyle.

Good book

 

[PolarVortex]

Dwight Evans, Jim Rice's teammate who should be in the HOF instead of Jim Rice. Probably the strongest and most accurate RF arm since Roberto Clemente.

 

[PolarVortex]

Yeah, I'd heard of Bill Freehan of course and knew he is regarded as a top 15 catcher, but I suppose he could be considered forgotten as I bet ~half of this board hasn't heard of him (or half of any population of people who like baseball enough to post about it on a message board). I'm not nitpicking; I honestly don't give a fuck, but I'm not sure that I personally would include him in this thread, because he is regarded as a borderline top 10 player at the catching position. Just me.

Mickey Lolich, however, I had never heard of- that's a great one. Looking at his Wiki page, I honestly have no clue how I've missed him considering how good a pitcher he was. This admission of mine is probably sacrilegious to a Tigers' fan, as he's probably one of their better SP of all time, off the top of my head.

Two guys who were Freehan's teammates and rank 74th and 77th respectively on the all time homerun list: Norm Cash and Rocky Colovito. Colavito hit 358 homeruns over an 11-year span in the heart of the pitcher's era of dominance (50s and 60s). Cash's 139 career OPS+ is higher than HOFers Ken Griffey's, Tony Gwynn's, Orlando Cepeda's, George Brett's, Joe Morgan's, Jackie Robinson's, Wade Boggs'....well, you get the point.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Ralph Garr had a really good 5 year stretch in the early 70's. He's also a hell of a scout, and probably doesn't get as much credit as he should for the Braves run in the 90's.

Ralph Garr Stats | Baseball-Reference.com

 

[Chewbaccer]

Rico Carty had injury issues his entire career, but when he was on the field, he was pretty damn good.

Rico Carty Stats | Baseball-Reference.com

 

[DragonfromTO]

Rico Carty had injury issues his entire career, but when he was on the field, he was pretty damn good.

Rico Carty Stats | Baseball-Reference.com

When the bell rings, The Beeg Boy will hit!

 

[PolarVortex]

Rico Carty had injury issues his entire career, but when he was on the field, he was pretty damn good.

Rico Carty Stats | Baseball-Reference.com

Rico Carty and Tony Oliva: two guys who would be in the HOF if they had had decent knees.

 

[PolarVortex]

Did you ever go before the refurb? I didn't.

I saw them when they were playing their home games at Shea in '75, but just wasn't quite old enough to make it to the original place.

1975: the year they bought Catfish Hunter and became the Fraudkees. Hi Nasty. Zig is looking for you.

 

[Voltaire26]

Rico Carty and Tony Oliva: two guys who would be in the HOF if they had had decent knees.

History rates Tony Olivia too low ... a pretty good fielder too.

 

[MikeMed]

Bob Horner

POwer hitter for the Braves in early 80's






Pete O'Brien

Mariners