Good/great forgotten players of yesteryear

[VikingFan2k2]

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.

I was thinking that might be John Kruk, but he was an 80s and 90s player.

 

[VikingFan2k2]

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.

Hold on, are you talking about Al Oliver? Because I think he's borderline HOF and has better numbers overall than Bill Madlock does.

 

[Cedrique]

Hold on, are you talking about Al Oliver? Because I think he's borderline HOF and has better numbers overall than Bill Madlock does.

No, but that is a good guess. This guy was an outfielder. His career WAR is only about 15 but that is partly because he was not a good fielder. Just a pure hitter like Vlad Guerrero Sr. but obviously not as good. Only 75 career homers.

 

[Cedrique]

I was thinking that might be John Kruk, but he was an 80s and 90s player.

Good guess. I think Kruk was a .300 hitter. But not him

 

[Cedrique]

After 8 years in the NL he went to the White Sox and hit exactly .300 for two consecutive seasons.

 

[California Creme Puffs]

I think Magic Johnson had one too. On the wrapper it said "Positively good"
I bet Pete Rose had one at one time.
I like the Steve Carlton bar. The taste speaks for itself.
Wade Boggs was going to have a candy bar but he chickened out at the last minute.
Cookie Rojas had a great idea for a candy bar that ended up being stolen by Twix.

Roy Halladay wanted to advertise the Doc Bar by flying one of those planes across the beach with a banner trailing behind, but the idea just kinda fell flat.

 

[California Creme Puffs]

Most of the Gaylord Perry bars were immediately recalled after the FDA found a foreign substance in them

Can you imagine naming your son "Gaylord"????? Like seriously, what the fuck did his dad think was going to happen when "Gaylord" got to grade school?

 

[Janus]

After 8 years in the NL he went to the White Sox and hit exactly .300 for two consecutive seasons.

Richie Allen

 

[California Creme Puffs]

Richie Allen

Dick Allen was way too good for the type of player that's been described. Also, he played for the Reds and the Phillies after the White Sox if I recall correctly

 

[Pure Steel]

After 8 years in the NL he went to the White Sox and hit exactly .300 for two consecutive seasons.

I know who he is now......Just needed the AL team.......

 

[California Creme Puffs]

I didn't want to eat the Brian Flores bar, but I'd already ate all those white chocolate Hersheys so I felt obligated. Next thing I know I'm being named in a lawsuit....

 

[VikingFan2k2]

I didn't want to eat the Brian Flores bar, but I'd already ate all those white chocolate Hersheys so I felt obligated. Next thing I know I'm being named in a lawsuit....

Wrong thread. Flores never played baseball.

 

[Cedrique]

Richie Allen

Another good guess. But incorrect.

 

[Cedrique]

Dick Allen was way too good for the type of player that's been described. Also, he played for the Reds and the Phillies after the White Sox if I recall correctly

True. The player I'm thinking of was a very good hitter but did not have a career of the same caliber as Dick Allen. But he did begin his career in the NL West (Western Georgia), then went to the White Sox, then like all players seem to do, he ended his career with the Angels.

 

[navamind]

Jorge Orta?

edit: crap, he was on the White Sox first.

 

[Cedrique]

I don't know if this helps, but the player I'm looking for went to Grambling University.

 

[obxyankeefan]

Ralph Garr

 

[Cedrique]

Ralph Garr

Bingo! His best season was 1974 when he led the league in hitting with a .353 average. He also had an .886 OPS and a slugging pct of .503 with only 11 home runs, which is hard to do. He hit 17 triples that year.

 

[navamind]

Those 70's Braves teams had some poor timing. Monster years at the plate from Aaron/Evans/Johnson and led the NL in scoring in 1973, but were let down by crappy pitching and went 76-85-1. Those players regress and they finish only 8th in the NL in scoring, but went from 12th in the NL in ERA in 1973 to 2nd. Improved to 88-74, but still finished 3rd in the West.

 

[navamind]

And keeping up with the topic, I'll throw in Ron Fairly. Career .266/.360/.408 hitter (117 OPS+), played a long time (21 seasons and 8437 PA) though he was more of a platoon player (.278/.374/.428 in 6634 PA vs righties, .221/.309/.333 in 1786 PA vs lefties)