Hall of Scrubs

The June draft is approaching and there is a lot of excitement in Michigan about the top high school player,  Daniel Fields from U-D Jesuit.  There is a good story of how Daniel hit a home run at Comerica Park off of the batting practice pitcher at the age of 12. 

The batting practice pitcher for Daniel Fields was his father, Bruce, who was a bench coach for the Tigers at the time.  At one time, there was a lot of excitement about Bruce Fields in Michigan, too.  He was a top prospect for the Tigers after he hit .368 for their AAA team, Nashville, in 1986.  He even got into the Donruss Rated Rookie card set, but the picture on the card is of Darnell Coles.  It was a big mixup for Donruss.

He was called up at the end of ‘86, but hit “only” .279 in the majors.  It was not enough to make Sparky happy since Bruce did not have much power or speed.

Bruce spent all of 1987 at AAA and was traded in the off-season to the Mariners for Stan Clarke.  He played a little in Seattle in 1988 and hit .269.  He got only 3 at bats in 1989 and hit .333.  He spent most of that year tearing up AAA again with a .351 batting average.

Bruce was a top minor league hitter who just never got a shot at holding down a major league job.  He went right into coaching and managing when he retired and was regarded as a major league manager prospect after leading Toledo for a couple of years.  However, after spending time on Alan Trammell’s coaching staff during some of the worst seasons ever in Detroit, he has not received much attention as a potential candidate for manager positions.  Recently, he has been a minor league hitting instructor.

Hopefully, Daniel Fields will make it to the majors and have a better career than his father did.  It sounds like he has a lot more power than Bruce had.

You can view Bruce Fields stats at www.baseball-reference.com:

Bruce’s stats

It happens every Spring.  Some crusty old manager goes nuts for a marginal prospect who is grinding hard to make a good impression during Spring Training.  It happens to the best of managers.  Recently, we have heard how much Jim Leyland likes Will Rhymes.  Hopefully, better judgement will prevail and Rhymes will start the year at Toledo.  These types of infatuations usually do not end well.  The prospect fizzles out by May and is shipped off to the minors.

 This is what happened to Chris Pittaro in 1985.  Sparky Anderson went nuts for this second baseman who hit an unimpressive .284 with 11 homers in AA.  Even though his team was coming off World Championship year, Sparky decided he needed to make room for Pittaro.  Unfortunately, there was no room at second.  He had the all-star duo of Trammell and Whitaker up the middle.  No worries, he thought.  Let’s just move Lou to third and make Pittaro the new second baseman.  He actually made an announcement that he was doing that.  Luckily, he partially came to his senses and moved Pittaro to third instead.  I think Lou basically refused to move.

The pressure of jumping from AA to the majors and of learning a new position at the same time proved to be too much for Chris Pittaro.  What a surprise!  He struggled both offensively and defensively and he was returned to the minors after 28 games.

Pittaro was so shaken that he hit only .194 in AAA.  The Tigers traded him that off-season to Minnesota in a deal for a backup catcher, Dave Engle.  The primary goal of the trade, I believe, was to keep Pittaro away from Sparky in the spring.  Who knows what would have happened if Pittaro hit .300 again in Spring Training.   He would have been like Purnal Goldy, who fooled the Tigers with great Spring Training stats in both 1962 and 1963 but failed each time they brought him North.  He was just an excellent Spring Training player. 

Chris tried to make it as a utility infielder for Minnesota, but he only got into 25 games in the next two years.  He retired after 1987 and became a scout.  Currently, he is a scouting director in the Oakland organization.

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

Chris’s Stats

Karim Garcia is another former major leaguer making news in the World Baseball Classic.  As the leader of a potent Mexican offense, Karim is hitting .385 with three homers and 5 RBI.  Fans of Garcia are certainly not surprised to hear this.  He has been tearing up the Japanese, Korean and Mexican leagues the last few years.  He is ready to do more damage this year as a member of the Lotte Giants in the Korean League, where he is known as the “Latino Bambino.” After his major league career, he learned a little patience at the plate and has emerged as an offensive force.

It is too bad he could not learn that in the big leagues.  He was given several opportunities to do so, but poor defense, lack of plate discipline, and an awful attitude lead to his early departure from many major league organizations.

Karim started out as a top prospect in the Dodgers organization.  He was picked as Sporting News Minor League Player of the year in 1995 and made his major league debut that year at the age of 19.  He was also ranked higher than Alex Rodriguez as a prospect in AAA Pacific Coast League.  He was certainly on the fast track,  but he failed in 3 brief stints with the Dodgers and was selected by the Diamondbacks in the 1997 expansion draft.

Arizona made him part of a platoon in the outfield and he responded with nine homers.  The power was the only part of his game.  His defense in the outfield made him a liability.  Arizona swindled the Tigers in the off-season by shipping him to Detroit for Luis Gonzales, who went on to lead the Diamondbacks to a World Series championship.  The Diamondbacks took advantage of the Randy Smith’s obsession with power-hitting prospects to pull off the best trade in their short history. 

Karim, a left-handed hitter,  used the short right field porch in Tiger Stadium in 1999 to hit 14 homers in 288 at bats.  But Detroit had enough of his antics after one season.  They dumped him off on the Orioles in 2000.  It was the beginning of his career as a journeyman.  The Orioles released him after he went 0 for 16.  The Indians picked him up in 2001, but released him even though he hit 5 homers in 45 at bats.  The Yankees picked him up and released him.  The Indians picked him up again.  He hit 16 homers in limited duty and had a .584 slugging percentage.  But the Indians couldn’t wait to dump him again and sold him to the Yankees in 2003. 

Karim had a decent year for the Yankees in 2003 and was a member of their ALCS and World Series rosters.  However, he embarassed himself that year by joining Yankees reliever, Jeff Nelson, to beat up a member of the Fenway Park grounds crew in the visitor’s bullpen during the ALCS. 

The Yankees let him leave as a free agent in the off-season.   The Mets picked him up and traded him to Baltimore where he was released a second time. It was the end of his major league career.

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

Karim’s stats

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Gene Kingsale was the typical no-hit, speedy centerfielder who was always so close to becoming a great leadoff hitter when he was a top prospect for the Baltimore Orioles in the late nineties.  If only he could bunt more or hit it on the ground more.  If only he could get more walks.  Sadly, he never could improve those skills in the US.  But the coaches of the Netherlands national team seemed to have unlocked that potential.

This former scrubby centerfielder is making news recently as the leadoff hitter for the Netherlands team that upset the Dominican Republic in the first round of the World Baseball Classic.  He has found success in the Netherlands that he could not find in the majors.  I doubt it will result in a return to the majors. Once a player ends up playing in the Netherlands League, he generally stays in the Netherlands.

Kingsale got several opportunities to prove himself in Baltimore before they waived him in 2001.  He never hit over .250 for the Orioles.  The Mariners claimed him off waivers , but they only gave him 18 at bats before waiving him again.  The Padres claimed him this time and handed him the regular centerfield job in 2002.  He responded by hitting .278 and stealing 9 bases.  The Padres then traded him to the lowly Tigers in 2003 for catcher Mike Rivera (NL Stan Papi Award winner in 2006).  In Detroit, Gene joined the ranks of Gary Pettis and Kimera Bartee by hitting a measly .208 as the regular centerfielder.  They gave up on him after 120 AB’s.  It was his last year in the majors.

In addition to being a star of the Netherlands, Gene’s other claims to fame are that he was the first major leaguer to come from Aruba and he was also knighted by the person in Aruba who does that type of thing (likely a major baseball fan).

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

Gene’s Stats

After a three year stint in Japan, Tony Bernazard signed with the Tigers before the 1991 season in what he hoped would be a grand return to Major League Baseball.  The Tigers’ GM, Bill Lajoie, was on a roll with signing  free agents from Japan after picking up Cecil Fielder the year before, so it seemed like Tony would surely have a career season in Detroit.  At the time, I was a major Tiger fan and produced a weekly newsletter about their off-season.  It was a minor publication.  My parents were the only subscribers.  In my column, I predicted that Tony would surpass his season high home run total of 17 that he had for the Indians in 1987, and he would surpass is season high stolen base total of 23 in 1983 to become the first Tigers second baseman to have a 20-20 season.

I was wrong on both counts.  Bill Lajoie was wrong, too.  Tony was a major flop.  He had 12 at bats, hit .167 and was released in May.  It was his last season in the majors.  I had forgotten about him altogether until I recently went on a trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan.  The hotel I stayed at proudly displayed a photo of Tony that was taken at a Tigers’ Fest in 1991.  I found it rather strange that the hotel owner would find something remarkable enough about meeting Tony to put him up on his wall of fame.  Tony did have a decent major league career.  Just not for Detroit.

Prior to going to Japan, Tony did have one decent year as a starting second baseman for the Indians in 1986.  He hit .301 with 17 homers and 73 RBI.  His other years in the majors were mostly mediocre.  He did have one very bad year in 1984 for the Indians as well.  He hit .221 with an awful slugging percentage of .287.

In 1983, Tony was the starting second baseman on the White Sox, a team that was headed for the division championship, but he was traded in the middle of the season to the lowly Mariners for Julio Cruz, who was a much faster second baseman.  He spent the rest of the year playing for the Mariners before being traded to the Indians in the off-season for Gorman Thomas and Jack Perconte. 

After 3 years in Cleveland and a half-season in Oakland, Tony played for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in Japan.

Tony is currently a Vice President in the New York Mets front office and is often considered a candidate for General Manager positions in the majors.

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

Tony’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

Besides having the perfect name for a slugger, Champ Summers was a very unique baseball player. He was signed to his first pro contract at the age of 25 after starring in a softball league. His mother was a professional bowler and he was a former teen tennis star who once beat Jimmy Conners in a youth tournament.

After signing with Oakland in 1971, Champ spent three years in the minors before making his major league debut in Oakland in 1974. He had only 24 at bats and hit .125. Oakland dumped him off on the Cubs where he played for 2 years until going to the Reds in a trade for the great Dave Schneck. Champ finally got his break once the Reds traded him to the Tigers for another great pitcher - Sheldon Burnside. Yes, it was the seventies and Sheldon did have some killer sideburns.

Champ’s left-handed swing was perfect for Tiger Stadium. He was the regular DH and hit 20 homers in 1979 and 17 homers in 1980 for Detroit. His numbers declined in 1981, so Detroit shipped him to San Francisco for Enos Cabell. He spent two years there before finishing his career with the Padres in 1984.

You can view Champ Summers statistics at www.baseball-reference.com:

Champ’s stats

Enos Cabell enjoyed a long career in which he started for many years at third base for the Astros. Houston fans may dispute his induction into the Hall of Scrubs, but as a Detroit fan, I remember him only as a weak hitting first baseman. He was supposedly a great clubhouse guy who kept everyone in line and he was a good defensive player.

Enos recently appeared in the news because he is being sued by Vince Young for trying to register the “Invincible” trademark. I would never think those two athletes would ever be connected.

Enos played most of his career for Houston. After struggling in 1980 by hitting .272 with only 2 homers, he was traded to San Francisco. After playing part-time for one year with the Giants, he was shipped to Detroit for Champ Summers (the man who beat Jimmy Conners in a youth tennis tournament). For Detroit, he provided some stability at first base. However, after the 1983 season, the Tigers decided to sign Darrell Evans to be the new first baseman and let Enos go back to the Astros.

Enos was traded once again in 1985 to the Dodgers where he finished his career playing with one of his cousins - Ken Landreaux. Enos actually has two cousins who played baseball. Dick Davis is the other one. But Dick and Ken are not cousins. Quite complicated.

You can view Enos Cabell’s statistics at www.baseball-reference.com:

Enos’ Stats

Scrubs beget scrubs.  Such is the case in the Grilli family.  Steve Grilli, former scrubby middle reliever, is the father of Jason Grilli, current scrubby middle reliever.  Steve enjoyed four years in the major leagues.  Three with the Tigers, one for the Blue Jays.  He kept his ERA around 4.50 for most of his career.  But like his son, he probably let in his fair share of inherited runners.

I sometimes try to imagine Tigers fans in the late seventies trying to predict that, some day, the son of the scrubby middle reliever they were currently watching would become an even scrubbier reliever on a future Tigers team. 

Steve did have good pitches and he threw hard, but he struggled with his control.  He ended his career in 1981 after struggling in the minors for the AAA teams in the Blue Jays and Orioles organizations.  He had a 6.26 ERA that year.

 You can view Steve’s major league stats at www.baseball-reference.com:

Steve’s stats

Let the great debate begin. Was John Shelby really a scrub? We say yes, and we say he was one of the best. Some people may claim he was a starting outfielder, a star performer. They point to his year in 1987 when he hit 21 homers and stole 16 bases. Guess what…. everybody hit 20 homers in 1987. Even Larry Sheets managed to do that.

John was a solid player, but he was no star. Other than his 1987 year, he averaged about 390 at bats with 9 homers and 10 steals. Not bad for a skinny kid from Kentucky.

The good news for Shelby fans is that his son, John Shelby, Jr., is a top prospect for the White Sox. He may emerge as the true star in that family.

John Shelby, Sr.’s career began in Baltimore as a platoon outfielder. He was a member of the championship team in 1983. In 1987, he was traded to L.A. where he established himself as a starter. He got a second ring in 1988 when Kirk Gibson led the Dodgers to World Series championship.

John struggled after 1988 and ended up as a reserve for the lowly Tigers in 1990 and 1991. He ended his career in Detroit after hitting .154 - well below the Mendoza line.

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

John’s Stats