Hall of Scrubs

The Atlanta Braves produced a couple of great outfielders in the late seventies and early eighties by the names of Dale Murphy and Brett Butler. Many scouts believed that they would produce a third great outfielder - Brad Komminsk.

Brad Komminsk was a first round draft pick by the Braves in 1981. Based on his minor league career, many people in Atlanta thought he would be as good as Dale Murphy. After hitting .334 with 24 homers and 103 RBI in AAA, the Braves summoned him to the majors to join Butler and Murphy in the outfield. However, he was unable to hit in the majors the same way he had in the minors and he failed to win a starting job.

Brad was given 300 at bats in both 1984 and 1985 to prove himself, but the best he could do was hit 8 homers with a batting average near the Mendoza line.

The disappointed Braves shipped Brad off to Milwaukee where he was quickly sent to the minors.

In 1989, Brad tore up AAA ball again after signing with Cleveland as a minor league free agent. The rebuilding Indians gave him another shot in the majors where he hit 8 homers in 198 at bats but could not get his average above .250.

Brad spent two more years in the majors with very little success.

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

Brad’s stats

Kevin Hickey was an excellent softball player in 1977. The White Sox were so impressed, that they signed him right out of the softball league at age 21.

He quickly adjusted to the faster pace of baseball and made his way to the majors in 1981 where he was primarily a scrubby left-handed middle reliever for the White Sox. He started his major league career with a respectable 3.65 ERA and 3 saves, and followed up that year with an even better ERA (3.00) and 6 saves in 1982. Just when he thought he had solidified his career as a scrubby reliever, he started to falter.

As part of the Division Championship team in 1983, Hickey failed as a late inning reliever. He had 5 saves, but his ERA ballooned to 5.00. Hickey was released by the White Sox and began a second career as a journeyman minor league reliever.

Despite having constant thoughts of returning to the safer confines of the softball field, Hickey stuck it out in minor league baseball and earned a return to the majors in 1989. He gave the Orioles one good year as a lefty specialist out of the bullpen before stinking it up for his final two years of his career.

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

Kevin’s stats

Bill Fahey was the typical no-hit, great defensive backup catcher in the seventies and early eighties. He was drafted in the first round by the Senators in 1970 and he quickly established himself as a premier backup catcher in 1972 after the Senators moved to Texas.

Like other backup catchers of his day, Bill was considered an excellent “student of the game”, a role model and a future coach. Unfortunately, he was not a very good hitter.

Bill did have one good year for the Padres in 1979 when he hit .287 in 209 at -bats after being acquired from the Texas Rangers in a blockbuster trade for Oscar Gamble.

Bill was eventually purchased by the Tigers in 1981 and ended his career as a backup catcher behind Lance Parrish.

He never became a big league manager, but he did manage to teach his son, Brandon, all about baseball. Brandon is now a second baseman in the Baltimore Orioles system.

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

Bill’s stats

Steve Carter was a 6 foot 4, 200 pound outfielder in the Pirates minor league system. He was an imposing figure at the plate who no doubt made the pitchers a little uneasy on the mound. But he had one minor flaw - no power.

A man his size is expected to produce some major power numbers. Although he was an excellent hitter in the minors, he never managed to hit more than 5 homers in any season.

The Pirates eventually gave him a couple of September call-ups to see if he could hit more homers under the bright lights of a major league ballpark, but he failed in his brief auditions.

Ironically, of the three hits he had in his career, one was a home run.

Major league teams waited patiently for him to develop the power, but it never came. He retired after a long career bouncing around AAA clubs.

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

Steve’s stats

Oh great! Another brother of Hall of Famer, Eddie Murray. Right? … Wrong! Larry is not related to Eddie.

He is often confused with Rich Murray, who was Eddie’s only baseball-playing brother. In fact, when baseball scrub experts across America were asked who was Eddie Murray’s brother, 95% of them answered Larry. Only 3% answered Rich correctly. The other 2% claimed it was Dwayne Murphy.. obviously mistaking the similar last name.

Larry failed to hit above .200 in any of the 6 seasons he played in the majors. His career .177 average did not come close to Rich’s .216 career average. If Larry would have also been Eddie’s brother, it would have been safe to say that Rich was Eddie’s best baseball-playing brother.

Larry was basically a defensive outfield backup throughout his career. He did manage to steal 12 bases for the Oakland A’s in 1977. That is his lone career highlight.

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

Larry’s stats

Rich Murray is one of the rare scrubs who is the brother of a Hall of Famer (Eddie Murray). Unlike most brothers of superstars, Rich actually made it to the majors to enjoy a brief career as a backup first baseman for the Giants. As you may know, there were plenty of brothers who floundered around in the minors without ever getting the chance to prove themselves in the majors. Guys like Bobby Bonds, Jr., Craig Griffey, Troy Fryman, Tim Brookens and Domingo Michel (Pedro Guerrero’s Half-Brother) are all but forgotten because they never made the trip to the majors.

Rich, on the other hand, did get a shot. Unfortunately, he failed to make an impression. After getting an extended chance in 1980, Rich was removed from the 40 man roster and was grabbed by the Indians in the Rule 5 Draft. The Indians sold him to the Expos where he was blocked by Al Oliver at first base. If only he could have played second base, he could have taken out the weak-hitting Doug Flynn.

Rich was released by the Expos and given one last chance by the Giants in 1983. By then, his skills had eroded and he was unable to compete for a job.

Rich and his brother, Eddie, combined to hit over 500 homers and had over 3000 hits in the majors. Of course, Eddie carried the bulk of that load. Rich only had the opportunity to hit 4 homers in his 2 year career.

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

Rich’s stats

Johnny Grubb was a three-time winner of the Stan Papi Award in the 1980’s as the top pinch hitter for the Detroit Tigers dynasty. He is one of the rare scrubs who spent his earlier part of his career as a regular. He even contended for the NL Rookie of the Year Award for the Padres in 1973. He finished 8th in the voting behind Gary Matthews, Steve Rogers, Elias Sosa, Bob Boone, Dan Driessen, Davey Lopes and Ron Cey. Not bad!

After scuffling for the Padres as a regular, Johnny was shipped out to Cleveland in 1976. He shocked the baseball world by slamming 14 homers as a starting outfielder for the Indians, but the rebuilding Indians decided to cash in on Grubb’s value by trading him to the Rangers for prospects.

Grubb transformed himself into a scrub once he joined the Rangers. He became a valuable 5th outfielder and pinch hitter. When the Tigers needed a good left-handed bat off the bench as they began building their dynasty in the 80’s, they chose to send Dave Tobik to the Rangers for Grubb in 1983. Dave Tobik! What a steal for the Tigers.

As a bench warmer for Detroit, Grubb helped the Tigers win the World Series in 1984. He also won his first Stan Papi Award. His dominance as a scrub continued through 1986 when he had perhaps the greatest scrub season of all time, knocking out 13 homers as a part-time player.

After a subpar year in 1987, Johnny tried to latch on with the Atlanta Braves. He did not make the team out of Spring Training and chose to retire.

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

Johnny’s stats

German Jimenez (no relation to Houston) is one of the more obscure scrubs to make it into the Hall of Scrubs. He played in part of only one season in the Majors with the Atlanta Braves.

Known to many as “The Fat Fernando”, German came straight to the majors from the Mexican League. He was quickly inserted into the starting rotation for Ted Turner’s Braves.

In his first start, televised nationally on TBS, German came on like gang busters. But after pitching well to the first batter, he started to struggle. It was all downhill from there.

German was given 9 more starts and 6 additional appearances as a reliever to prove himself. But due to poor defense, poor offense and a 5.01 ERA, German ended up 1-6 for the year.

He returned to Mexico in 1989 to finish out his career.

You can find German’s statistics at www.baseball-reference.com:

German’s stats

Sherman Obando from Panama caused quite a stir in 1992 when he was picked by the Baltimore Orioles from the New York Yankees in the Rule 5 Draft. He was heralded as one of the best power hitters in the minors. Unfortunately, he was not that strong in the field.

The Orioles held onto him in 1993 but he played sparingly. The Orioles projected him to be a future starter, but he never panned out. They unloaded him in 1996 in a trade with Montreal for Tony Tarasco.

Sherman hit 8 homers as a bench warmer in Montreal which helped him win the coveted Stan Papi Award.

Unfortunately, Sherman did not enjoy a long career as a scrub. He was out of the league after a subpar year in 1997.

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

Obando Stats

Carmen Castillo entered the league as a Cleveland Indian in 1982. His original name was Carmelo Castillo. However, when Carmelo Martinez debuted with the Padres, Castillo decided to change his name to Carmen. For some reason, he did not want to be associated with the rotund center fielder from San Diego.

As Carmen, Castillo continued to provide power from the right side for the Indians in the mid-80’s - the dark years in Cleveland. He was strictly a platoon player and pinch hitter throughout his career. He specialized in crushing mistake pitches from lefties throughout the league.

In 1991, Carmen had 12 at bats for the World Champion Minnesota Twins to earn his first World Series ring. He decided to retire after this great accomplishment.

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

Carmen’s Stats