De Wayne Buice (1987 - 1989)
De Wayne paid his dues in the minors. He spent 10 years there for three different organizations before finally get a shot in the majors in 1987. In the year of the “Rabbit Ball”, this career minor leaguer shocked everyone by becoming a closer for the Angels. He struck out 109 batters with a nasty forkball and managed to save 17 games. Buice was the story of the year as his years of determination in the minors finally paid off.
Unfortunately, Buice was a one year wonder. His ERA jumperd to 5.88 the next year and he was shipped off to Toronto where he had an equally atrocious season with a 5.82 ERA in his last year in the majors.
Buice had a short career, but he managed to become a millionaire. He made his money getting the Upper Deck card company in touch with the MLBPA to sign a card deal in 1989. De Wayne turned out to be a very shrewd business man as he made 17 million dollars as a part owner of the company.
You can view De Waynes’ stats as www.baseball-reference.com
