Hall of Scrubs

After Fernandomania hit Major League Baseball in 1981, several teams started looking to Mexico for pitching. The White Sox thought they had quite the find in 1982 when they purchased 25 year old Salome Barojas from the Mexico City Reds on April 1st. They immediately placed Salome in their bullpen and he responded nicely by recording 21 saves.

Salome Barojas made the cover of Baseball Digest magazine as he became a top reliever in the American League. He followed his debut season with another stellar year in 1983, helping the White Sox win the American League West. His ERA in 1983 was 2.47 and he had 12 saves.

In 1984, the White Sox became tired of Salome’s wildness and traded him to the Mariners for Jerry Don Gleaton and Gene Nelson. Seattle made Salome a starter and he did ok. He won 6 games and had a 3.97 ERA. Certainly, he was good enough to stick with a major league team as a 4th or 5th starter.

The bottom fell out in 1985, however. He went 0-5 with a 5.98 ERA. Seattle released him in the off-season and he returned to the Mexico City Reds.

The Phillies purchased him from Mexico City in July 1988 but he pitched sparingly and ended the year with a 8.31 ERA.

You can view Salome’s stats at www.baseball-reference.com:

Salome’s Stats

Many Phillies fans may dispute Jeff Stone’s status as a scrub. Of course, those Phillies fans who do still think of Jeff as a future superstar are stuck in a 1984 time warp.

Jeff Stone was an outfielder for the Phillies from 1983 thru 1987. In 1984, he came out of nowhere to hit .362 in 185 at bats. His strat-o-matic card from that year is a classic.

Unfortunately, Jeff could not continue at that pace. He hit .265 in ‘85, .277 in ‘86 and .256 in ‘87. The Phillies managed to trade him along with the future Mike Schmidt - Mr. Rick Schu, to the Orioles, who no doubt thought they were going to resurrect both Stone’s career and Schu’s careers. Unfortunately, Stone stunk. He was released by the Orioles at the end of the season.

He stunk for the Rangers the next year and then came back strong in 1990, hitting .500 for the Red Sox. Of course, he only had 2 at bats that year.

Stone will always be remembered in Philly as a future superstar. Many fans will always think about what could have been if he could have maintained an average in the .350 - .375 range.

You can view Jeff’s stats at www.baseball-reference.com:

Jeff’s stats

As many of you know, Cale Iorg was recently drafted and signed by the Detroit Tigers in the 6th Round this year. Cale comes from a tremendous baseball family. His brother, Eli, plays in the minors and his father, Garth, and uncle, Dane, played in the majors.

Dane, the older brother, started his career with the Phillies, but was quickly traded to the Cardinals in a deal for Bake McBride. Dane made a name for himself as an excellent utility player in St. Lous. His scrubby play helped the Cardinals win the World Series in 1982.

Dane was sold to the Royals in ‘84. His numbers dipped in the American League. He went from a consistent .280-.300 hitter to a low .255. After scuffling for the Royals, he signed as a free agent with San Diego and finished out his career in 1986.

Dane was purely a contact hitter. He had no power or speed.

You can view Dane’s stats at www.baseball-reference.com:

Dane’s stats