Hall of Scrubs

The 2009 baseball season is a week underway and fans are undoubtedly projecting the stats of all players based on the results of the first week.  For example, players who have hit 4 homers in the first week will certainly lead the league in homers by the end of the year.  Optimism is running high, but reality sets in by the end of the month.

 This calls to mind an extreme case of the opening week success story.  In 1994, Tuffy Rhodes won the starting center field job for the Chicago Cubs and amazingly hit 3 home runs on opening day.  He became an instant favorite among Cubs fans and he was subsequently picked up in every single baseball fantasy league.  Unfortuantely, he hit only 5 more home runs the rest of the year and eventually lost his starting job.  After struggling in minimal at bats in 1995, he ended his major league career.  In the US, that is….

The story and legend of Tuffy Rhodes grew outside of the United States.  He launched a Japanese career in which he has become one of the all-time great sluggers.  Still playing today, he has hit 444 homers in Japan and currently ranks 12th all-time.

That is certainly better than the 13 homers he hit during his major league career with the Cubs, Astros and Red Sox.

He did try to return to the major leagues in 2006, but retired after being released by the Reds during Spring Training.

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

Tuffy’s stats

Image courtesy of CheckOutMyCards.com

Major League Spring Training camps are full of Triple-A sluggers who generally have no shot at making the team.  While scrappy mediocre prospects like Pittaro impress the heck out of major league managers, big sluggers from AAA rarely gain attention even though they hit monstrous homers during Spring Training games.  They show up as non-roster invitees and are shipped out when the regulars need to get more playing time.  Sluggers like Randy Ruiz of the Blue Jays and Joe Koshansky of the Rockies (now Rangers) are recent examples.

In 2005, Calvin Pickering bucked this trend.  He came to Spring Training with the lowly Royals and battled their All-Star incumbent at first base, Ken Harvey, for spot on the roster.  Kansas City was not happy with the lack of power from the hefty Ken Harvey and were delighted with the power and patience of the equally hefty Calvin Pickering.  To the surprise of minor league slugger fans everywhere, Calvin Pickering actually won the job with a great Spring season.

Unfortunately, as is the case with most Spring Training surprises, it did not last long.  Calvin was given only 7 games to retain his new job as the starting first baseman. Only 7 games?  It was simply not fair.  He did scuffle in those seven games, hitting only .143.  The Royals promptly demoted him in favor of Ken Harvey.  It was the end of Calvin’s major league career.

Calvin went to Korea in 2006 where he hit a ton of homers.  No surprise.  He returned to the U.S. to play independent league baseball in 2007.  A blogger for the Royals review (www.royalsreview.com) recently spotted him in the Atlantic League and is sharing a photo of Pickering that shows how the 6′5” slugger has grown considerably around the midsection.  He won’t be playing in the field anytime soon with that size.  You can view this picture at the following link provided by the Royals Review:

Gigantic Calvin Pickering playing for the Bridgeport Bluefish in the Atlantic League

Prior to his stint with the Royals, Calvin played in the majors for the Orioles, who drafted him in the 35th round out of the Virgin Islands, the Reds and the Red Sox.  He ended up hitting a total of 14 homers in 95 major league games.  In the minors, he regularly hit over 30 homers per season and was known as the Barry Bonds of AAA (back when that was a respectable comparison).

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

Sergio Valdez was a lanky, long-haired pitcher from the Dominican Republic.  Due to his appearance and crazy antics, he was often compared to Pascual Perez.  He could easily have passed for one of the infamous Perez brothers. If he and Pascual were in the WWE, they would have had a story line in which Sergio found out he was a long lost Perez brother, changed his name to Sergio Perez, and joined forces with Pascual to win the Tag Team Championship.

Sadly, Sergio never had same success as Pascual, Melido or Carlos Perez even though his talent was perhaps better.  Sergio started as a prospect in the Expos system.  He struggled in his major league debut season in 1986, posting a 6.84 ERA in 5 starts.  Montreal eventually traded him the the Braves in a deal for Zane Smith.  It was an excellent trade for the Expos.

Sergio struggled for the Braves in 1989 and 1990 and was placed on waivers.  Cleveland picked him up in 1990 and he had decent half season as a spot starter for the Indians.  He pitched 102 innings and had a 4.75 ERA.  It was his strongest year in the majors.

From 1991 thru 1995, Sergio bounced around, pitching primarily out of the bullpen for the Indians, Expos, Red Sox and Giants.  HIs last year in the majors was 1995 in which he started 11 times for the Giants and had a 4.75 ERA.

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

Sergio’s Stats

Rudy Pemberton is a classic example of how a player labeled as a non-prospect never gets a fair shot in the majors no matter how well they play.

In 1995, Rudy made his major league debut with the lowly Detroit Tigers. The team was in desperate need of a youth movement and Rudy took hold of the leftfield job by hitting .300 in the first month of the season. He was well on his way to establishing himself as a major leaguer, right? Wrong. The Tigers demoted him and he never played for them again. He got only 30 at bats that year and did nothing to merit a demotion.

The Tigers let him get away as a six-year minor league free agent at the end of the year. He signed with the Rangers but was then traded to Boston for Bryan Eversgard. Rudy got a September call-up in 1996 and excited the Red Sox Nation by hitting .512 in 41 at bats. That is still a rare feat in September.

Rudy made the team out of Spring Training in 1997, but he could not keep up his hot streak. His average slipped to .238 and he was demoted. Rudy never returned to the majors.

It was a shame that he did not get a better chance. In 134 career at bats, he hit .336 and had a .515 slugging percentage. He was the best player named Rudy since Rudy Law, who played for the White Sox in the early eighties. But for some reason, a career .300 hitter with a cool name could not stick in the majors.

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

Rudy’s Stats

Oh no! Not another scrubby middle reliever from the Grilli family!  Well, you are only partially right.  Guido was also a scrubby middle reliever.  But he is not related to Jason and Steve.

Guido pitched only one year in the majors for the Kansas City A’s and the Boston Red Sox.  He had a bloated ERA for both teams and finished the year with a 7.08 ERA.

Guido was involved in a mid-season trade as he was sent (banished?) to KC in exchange for Jose Tartabull, father of Jose Tartabull, Jr. and Danny Tartabull.

Even though Guido is not related to the other two Grilli’s, he no doubt inspired Steve to some day become a scrubby pitcher in the majors.  Can we blame Guido for two decades of scrubby Grilli relievers??

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

Guido’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