Good/great forgotten players of yesteryear

[catman]

Jim Perry was pretty good. He, unfortunately, played 2nd fiddle to his brother Gaylord. He also didn't throw spitters the way Gaylord was said to.

 

[navamind]

Bip Roberts. Played six different positions, logged over 500 innings at 4 positions (2B, LF, 3B, CF), had a career 100 OPS+ and stole 264 bases.

 

[obxyankeefan]

Bip Roberts. Played six different positions, logged over 500 innings at 4 positions (2B, LF, 3B, CF), had a career 100 OPS+ and stole 264 bases.

Didn't he kill himself with cocaine?


How good do the older Boston fans think Harry Agganis would have been?

 

[thedddd]

Didn't he kill himself with cocaine?


How good do the older Boston fans think Harry Agganis would have been?

Bip is still alive and I think does the A's pre-game.

 

[obxyankeefan]

Bip is still alive and I think does the A's pre-game.

I just looked it up I was thinking of Alan Wiggins.

 

[thedddd]

I just looked it up I was thinking of Alan Wiggins.

Ah yeah Alan Wiggins. If I remember correctly other players hated him because of how smart he was.

 

[wazzu31]

Barry Bonds and Pete Rose. Two guys who will never get the respect they deserve.

 

[navamind]

Barry's the GOAT.

Manny Ramirez



The fact that it came off K-Rod makes it 100000x better.

 

[Montalban]

I wanted to have a thread of players that were good or even great, but kind of have been forgotten due to the time passage. I am not necessarily talking about "underrated" players who aren't appreciated enough or in the HOF or something. I am asking more so for players who were good but not well known. When you think of underrated players, you might think of Bobby Grich or Mike Mussina. The fact that many people regard the two as underrated might indicate that they are still well known despite the perception that they aren't valued high enough.

I am also not asking for great players either. For example, one might say that Lou Gehrig isn't talked about a lot today and therefore is "forgotten," but that's not the application of the word that I am using.

Players who belong in this thread are more so good or very good or maybe even great, but aren't well known to casual or even invested fans.

You can write a little about the player. I'll go first.

Larry Doyle was a second baseman who played for the Giants and Cubs from 1907-1920. He was the NL MVP in 1912 and NL MVP in 1915. He had a career slash line of .290/.357/.408, good for a 126 wRC+. He was the roommate of Christy Mathewson for a number of years in the bigs, and was the team captain and top everyday star on three consecutive pennant winners (1911–13) with the New York Giants.

Rico Carty

 

[navamind]

Brian Downing. Played catcher, outfield and DH, career .267/.370/.425 (122 OPS+) hitter. Good player for a long time, he was very productive even in his final season (.278/.407/.428 in 391 PA at age 41). That '79 Angels lineup was loaded, too bad they had little pitching

 

[Montalban]

Matty Alou. One of a myriad of players whose ticket to success was getting traded from the Giants. Hits .250 for the Giants but immediately has 4 straight seasons of batting over .330 with a batting title in his first year in Pittsburgh.

 

[Montalban]

Barry Bonds and Pete Rose. Two guys who will never get the respect they deserve.

Neither Bonds nor Rose deserve anything but our derision. One was a lying sack of shit cheater and one was a degenerate gambler and first class asshole.

 

[catman]

Barry Bonds and Pete Rose. Two guys who will never get the respect they deserve.

Had Bonds retired in 2000, he'd have been enshrined in Cooperstown in 2005.
Pete Rose is a good guy. We met at the 2011 induction ceremony and he told my wife to take another picture of us because he didn't like his expression on the first one.

 

[wood20ks]

Bill Madlock.....won two batting titles with the Cubs....loved him as a Cub and saddened the day he left......

 

[Montalban]

Had Bonds retired in 2000, he'd have been enshrined in Cooperstown in 2005.
Pete Rose is a good guy. We met at the 2011 induction ceremony and he told my wife to take another picture of us because he didn't like his expression on the first one.

Fair enough. I can't stand either of them

 

[Sir Robin Of Camelot]

One of the best I've ever seen. A stroke in the later part of the '80 season ended his career way too soon.

 

[Cedrique]

Ron Reed is underrated. Good starter for the Braves and great long reliever for the Phillies in the 70's. They weren't as strict with bringing in the "closer" the way they are now so he ended up with over 100 saves as well. A lot of them were in games where he came in in the 6th or 7th and finished it out, which you never see today.

 

[Cedrique]

I'm bringing back this old thread to go with the Trivia one until the season starts. Hopefully there is no work stoppage.

I don't remember if this guy has been used before but here goes:

Played mostly in the 1970's. Great pure hitter over .300 lifetime average, not a ton of walks .339 obp. Played the first half of his career in the NL, then had a couple stints with AL teams. Had 3 seasons where he finished top 25 in MVP voting.

 

[Pure Steel]

I'm bringing back this old thread to go with the Trivia one until the season starts. Hopefully there is no work stoppage.

I don't remember if this guy has been used before but here goes:

Played mostly in the 1970's. Great pure hitter over .300 lifetime average, not a ton of walks .339 obp. Played the first half of his career in the NL, then had a couple stints with AL teams. Had 3 seasons where he finished top 25 in MVP voting.

Bill Madlock fits that description, don't think he played for a few teams in the AL though......

 

[Cedrique]

Bill Madlock fits that description, don't think he played for a few teams in the AL though......

That's a great educated guess. I almost did Bill Madlock. This guy was similar, kind of a poor man's Bill Madlock. Didn't have quite as many plate appearances though. His best season he won the batting title and led the league in triples.