Guess That 1994 Baseball Player! #41

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Colin Ward-Henninger

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to a brand new week of 1990s trivia. I hope you enjoyed a nice MLK day, but now it’s back to work. Starting with this.

Position: Third Base     Team: Colorado Rockies

Height: 6′            Weight: 205 lbs.

Bats: right               Throws: right

Will……………….hit the long ball

Can’t……………..shake bad attitude

Expect…………..good clutch hitting

Don’t Expect……Gold Glove Award

Although his home run totals have increased in each of his five big-league summers, ______ has developed a habit of wearing out his welcome. He criticized Colorado fans, saying they made him feel unappreciated, and angered manager Don Baylor with an attitude that often seemed nonchalant. ______ did deliver some clutch homers, however. ______ hammered left-handers, hit well with runners in scoring position, and stole about a dozen bases last year. He makes good contact for a power hitter but is sometimes overaggressive at the plate. ______ has a strong arm and good range at third, where his fielding has improved in recent seasons. He has led or tied for the league lead in assists, chances, and double plays. ______ seemingly found a home in the Bronx last year, but he was grabbed by the Rockies in the expansion draft.

Hmm….a little tricky here. I’ll be impressed if you can come up with this one.

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Guess That 1994 Baseball Player! #40

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Colin Ward-Henninger

Congratulations to those that got yesterday’s answer (and a special thank you to Rass who quickly pointed out that I had accidentally left Pat Listach’s name in the final sentence of the entry, which I quickly remedied). Hopefully there won’t be any further mental lapses as we move along.

Position: Third Base     Team: Cleveland Indians

Height: 6’4″            Weight: 220 lbs.

Bats: left               Throws: right

Will……………….hit line drives

Can’t……………..learn more at Triple-A

Expect…………..good on-base percentage

Don’t Expect……much speed

______ earned his promotion to Cleveland after hitting .332 with 25 home runs and 76 walks at Triple-A Charlotte. He joined the big club in August and made an immediate impact. Showing little of the tentativeness that marked his 1992 campaign, ______ sprayed hard shots all around the AL. Not only will he reach base often (he drew 29 walks for a .385 on-base percentage in 1993), he will also hit for good power. While he doesn’t run well, his other offensive skills can compensate…In the field, ______ needs work. He has a decent arm but little mobility and a mediocre glove at third. With experience, he should at least become an average fielder…There is no reason ______ cannot be an impact offensive player in the major leagues, possibly as soon as this year.

I love predictions like this because they can go either way. The guy can either live up to, or even exceed, expectations, or he can disappoint greatly and be out washing cars in three years. So which one was this?

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Guess That 1994 Baseball Player! #39

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Colin Ward-Henninger

This is a special post for me, since I wore #39 during my storied career with the Yale baseball team. With that in mind, I’ll try to make this one memorable. Well, not really.

Position: Shortstop     Team: Milwaukee Brewers

Height: 5’9″            Weight: 170 lbs.

Bats: right               Throws: right

Will……………….light up lefty pitching

Can’t……………..avoid frequent strikeouts

Expect…………..speed to pay dividends

Don’t Expect……injury wave to continue

The sophomore jinx took particular aim at 1992 AL Rookie of the Year ______. Heading into last season, ______ had expected to maintain the form that made him Milwaukee’s first 50-steal player. Instead, a wave of injuries interceded. Starting in spring training, ______ suffered a cyst in his mouth, various back and knee injuries, a torn hamstring, and a viral infection that led to walking pneumonia. A natural right-hander who switch-hits, ______ loves left-handed pitching but sometimes struggles against righties. He’s an accomplished bunter who can sacrifice or drag for base hits…He has the patience to wait for walks but fans far too frequently for a singles hitter. He hits well in the clutch, however. The converted second baseman has great range and a good arm at short. For the Brewers to climb back to respectability, they need ______ to provide a spark and some speed.

First of all, if you mention his switch-hitting capabilities in the post, you should probably change that whole “bats:right” thing in the header. Second of all, this guy was like a walking infantry unit. A cyst in his mouth? Viral infection? Walking pneumonia!? I’m surprised he even made it back to the field.

CLICK HERE FOR ANSWER (love that his baseball card has a picture of him getting jammed and breaking his bat…wow…)

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Guess That 1994 Baseball Player! #38

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Colin Ward-Henninger

Nice work yesterday with Kevin Stocker. This book was especially critical of him, but since they were 100% right we can’t fault them too much. Hopefully today’s stud had a better career trajectory.

Position: Outfield     Team: Chicago White Sox

Height: 5’11″            Weight: 159 lbs.

Bats: left               Throws: left

Will……………….lead league in triples

Can’t……………..produce home run power

Expect…………..great display of speed

Don’t Expect……terrific throwing arm

While some experts think hitting a triple is the toughest thing a hitter can do, ______ has plenty of practice. He’s led his league in that department three years in a row. The fleet center fielder even hit two in the same game, in a 4-3 White Sox win over Toronto last July 5. ______’s alley power and exceptional speed produces an explosive combination. He might not hit home runs but he more than compensates with a steady flow of doubles, triples, and stolen bases. A contact hitter who walked more often than he fanned last year, ______ fattened his average against right-handed pitchers. He was especially potent with runners in scoring position (batting about .360 in that department last year). ______’s speed gives him a high success ratio as a basestealer and great range in center field, where he’s become a strong Gold Glove candidate despite a weak arm.

I haven’t seen a professional athlete that weighs 159 pounds since I went to the Women’s Table Tennis Championships last fall. Ah, the ’90s, when baseball players were just realizing that weight lifting wouldn’t hinder their performance by tightening up their muscles. Needless to say, they figured it out rather quickly.

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Video: Kelly Leak is a Bad Mother

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Colin Ward-Henninger

I mentioned Bad News Bears in my previous post, so I couldn’t help but do a quick YouTube search to try to get some gems. The obvious choices would be the profanity-laced, racist tirades courtesy of young Tanner Boyle, and those are readily available, but I decided to go with a different type of clip.

Here is the Bears’ lone African-American (and seemingly the only one in the entire town) Ahmad Abdul Rahim, expressing his doubts about bringing the talented-but-troubled Kelly Leak onto the squad. The movie was made in 1976, and never is that fact more apparent than in this clip. Enjoy.

Continue reading →

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