Is that a palm tree over there on the right? No? You mean that’s just your hair?
Mike Bruhert was up for only one year, going 4-11, with a 4.78 ERA and 1.534 WHIP. He was, however, 6’6”. Way to be tall, Mike!
Wikipedia tells me that Mike is the “former son-in-law of former New York Mets manager Gil Hodges.” The former Gil Hodges, that is.
It’s hard to believe “Johnny” got into this blog for something other than that name.
John Wockenfuss was a backup / platoon catcher with a pretty decent stick. In particular, he could hit the long ball, clubbing 15 homers in less than 250 at bats one year. He broke 300 at bats once, and 200 at bats twice, in a 12-year career.
He may be most famous, though, for his batting stance. He basically turned his back to the pitcher, putting his feet very closely together and pointing his lead foot back at the umpire. You can check it out right here.
For some reason, “Fuss” made it into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame (though he was born in West Virginia).
Eduardo Rodriguez is a former president of Bolivia, a Venezuelan movie director, a Mexican actor, a Colombian soccer player, a former major league baseball player – and an extremely common name. In fact, there are two pitchers with the same moniker – our guy (who retired in 1979) and another guy who is active right now (heck, he’s only 20) in the Orioles organization.
The guy on the card was up for seven years, all but one of those years with the Brew Crew. He finished with a 42-36 record, a 3.89 ERA, and 32 saves.
The little trophy? That actually wasn't on the real card. The guy at baseballcardbust.com likes to add those to deserving candidates.
Perhaps a stylist could help you get that evened out a little bit, Pat.
Pat Dobson has already been in this blog. There, I complimented Pat on his mouth breather tendencies. I do like the smile, though. A much better look, if you ask me.
In that previous post, I noted that Pat was not a bad pitcher. In addition to the 20-win season I mentioned there, Pat also won 19 once and 16 twice. Unfortunately, he also lost 18 once, leading the AL that year.
Overall, Pat won over 100, though he did finish with a winning percentage just a little on the wrong side of .500. Comparable pitchers include Joaquin Andujar, Ed Whitson, Bill Singer, and – are you ready for this? – none other than Van Lingle Mungo (real name).
Steve Stone is another repeat offender. In fact, this is his second hair-related offence.
In that first post, I mentioned his prowess on the field, but I think most of know Steve as an announcer. Personally, I used to love the interaction between Steve and Harry Caray on WGN, a pair of opposites if there ever was one. I also liked the way he could “tell it like it is,” though that was what was behind his leaving the Cubbies. He and Hawk Harrelson make a pretty good team for the White Sox as well.
I’m thinking this guy’s last name should be Mussy, or Mussedup, or something like that.
Somehow or other, Tony Muser managed to stay in the bigs for nine years as an extremely light-hitting first baseman. I’m talking about seven dingers in almost 1,300 at bats, as well as a .259 career average to boot. Wikipedia’s entry on Tony puts in nicely:
“During his career, Muser played mostly first base, but did not hit for much in the way of average or power at a position that is historically more known for offense than defense.”
The typical baseball lifer, he’s worked as a minor league manager, major league coach, and major league manager. That last bit was with the Royals for parts of six years, for a less than stellar 317-431 record (thought this is the Royals we’re talking about here, folks).
I think you may have heard of this guy before.
George Brett’s Hall of Fame credentials certainly didn’t stop me making fun of him though. I’ve already got him down for looking a little too fresh off the farm.
So, what else is there to say about this guy? Well, I’ll bet you didn’t know that Brett:
- Was the inspiration for Lordes’ song "Royals"
- Regularly shits his pants and tells people all about it (see here)
Sometimes, when the bullpen was really depleted, the Padres liked to go down to the train tracks and see if any of the hobos knew how to throw a baseball.
Vicente Romo has also already been in this blog, where I made fun of his follow-through. I mentioned there that Vicente put in a ton of time in the Mexican League.
Sounds like they have some interestingly named teams south of the border. Some of the teams Romo played for include the Azules de Coatzacoalcos, Olmecas de Tabasco, and Cafeteros (coffee workers?) de Cordoba. Romo had an interesting nickname himself, "Huevo" (“egg”).
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