Forgotten Baseball Players From Your Youth?
 

I always love hearing and discussing about the players of the past, specifically some of the players that were good for their time, but have since been lost in the sands of baseball time.

I feel Bernie Williams has been very much forgotten as a player. He was such an important part to the Yankees dynasty in the 90s. Played the game hard, was a clutch hitter, and played a solid center field.

Who are the players you feel like, have been forgotten, from your time of watching the sport?

Dick Allen, Luis Tiant, Al Oliver, Dave Parker, Bill Madlock and Steve Garvey. These guys were all big stars when I was growing up, but have largely been forgotten.

Ryne Sandberg

One of the most exciting Twins to watch was Cesar Tovar. One game he played an inning at each position, and when he was pitching, he struck out Reggie Jackson. He had some outstanding years and then just disappeared (although he played into his 40s in Venezuela or somewhere.)

Does it not drive you insane that the new young collectors constantly pronounce his name as "Ryan Sandberg"? I have heard it so many times and it still is nails on a chalkboard.

As for me it seems almost every star from 1980 to 1995 has been forgotten other than about 10 names and it's sad.

People like -
Darrell Evans
Jim Abbott
Dave Concepcion
John Olerud
Bobby Abreu
Willie Randolph
Jack Clark
Lou Whitaker
...and a ton more.

Bob Watson - One the most consistent hitters of the 1970's and a great Human Being off the field.

Also, A single season sensation Joe Charbonneau. AL rookie of the year. In 1980 he brought excitement to a moribund Cleveland Indians franchise with his tape measure home runs. A year later his career was pretty much over due to a back injury. He holds the record for fewest games played by a rookie of the year (201).

I will second Bernie. What an unbelievable player to watch day in and day out. He will never get the credit he deserves.

I feel the same way about Andy Pettitte. I realize he has the PED stain and that will always haunt him, but what a pitcher to get to watch. He was someone Yankee fans felt like they could always count on.

Over 18 seasons he never once had a losing record.

Though I was always a bit of a Yankees hater (Jeter was overrated -- There, I said it...), I always loved watching Bernie Williams and Mariano Rivera. I'm not sure that Mariano Rivera is forgotten by any stretch, and he certainly isn't from my youth. But I think both guys were always in the shadow of Jeter and A-Rod from a coverage standpoint.

I think Ivan Rodriguez also doesn't get the attention that he deserves. Guy was the best catcher in history. There, I said that also. The numbers aren't even close IMHO.

Many guys from the 80's. Alan Trammel is someone else that comes to mind, Dave Steib too.

I was listening to talkin baseball the other day, and quite a few guys from the 80s are no longer talked about. Bobby Bonds, Dan Quisenberry, and Rusty Staub get no respect!

Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek, Elston Howard.

Rusty Staub was the best pinch hitter I remember, got screwed out of being the 25th man on that ‘86 Mets team.

There's at least one kid who appreciates Quiz :D

You say Derek Jeter was overrated; I mean, YOU ACTUALLY WROTE THAT DEREK JETER WAS OVERRATED!?! Well, all I have to say, and I know it's just whistling in the dark, is that I will stand beside you and scream, "JETER WAS OVERRATED; FURTHERMORE, HE WAS WAY------AY OVERPAID!!!!!!!!!"

---- Brian Powell

Haha, yes, well coming from the tri-state area, saying Jeter was overrated is like saying Joe Namath was overrated. Whoops. Did I just say that also?

David Justice is the first name that comes to mind. He's still 3rd all time in postseason RBI's.

Joe Skalski, pride of the south side Chicago, and Cleveland Indian pitcher. Met him as a kid at my cousins wedding, and boy was that the highlight.

How about Mark Grace

George Foster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHQcPc7yeig

Timothy James Salmon and Albert JoJuan Belle.

I wouldn't say they are "forgotten" but I don't think most people remember just how good Will Clark and Eric Davis were. If you told 10year old me in 1990 that neither of them would be in the hall of fame, I would've thought you were kidding.

Clark had the sweetest swing we had ever seen, if you were playing little league in the late 80's he was the guy that you watched and tried to copy his swing. He had something crazy like 20/12 vision and always seemed to know what pitch was coming. I don't remember ever hearing anything bad about him, seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Absolutely one of the best hitters in all of baseball at his peak. Injuries just piled up and he could never make it through a full season though. I just checked his bbref and the second half of his career was actually much better than I thought! He just kind of got overshadowed and forgotten about as baseball went into the steroid era with people putting up ridiculous numbers.

Davis was like a version of Rickey with just a little less speed / baserunning ability but a little more power. He was a genuine "5 tool player" ahead of his time. Definitely was considered one of the best all-around players in baseball in the late 80's but even at his peak he was never healthy for a full year (career high 135 G) and the injuries quickly got to be more severe. But the man had a 27 HR 80 SB season and followed it up next year with 37 HR and 50 SB, just an absurd combination of speed and power. Sadly diagnosed with colon cancer, but not only survived it but came back and played at a very high level after that but again just couldn't stay on the field due to more injuries. Feels like he is hardly remembered these days though.

David Clyde:

'Clydepepper' was the moniker my teammates laid on me as I was a lefty with some promise at the time...of course our league wasn't anywhere close to the majors.


Though I don't know for sure, the movie 'Talent for the Game' seemed to be based on David Clyde's rush to the majors...of course, they had to provide a happier ending.


In 1981, Clyde was 6-0 with a 0.76 ERA pitching for the AA Columbus (GA) Astros.

Columbus is my hometown and I kick myself all the time because I missed seeing him pitch. I was probably working in retail management then, so I didn't get much free time.



I did get to see Floyd Bannister pitch one of his only three games here in 1976. He was in his first year out of Arizona State...and man, was his windup and delivery smooth!

I also got to chat with Joe Sambito one night when he was charting pitches...and got to meet and shake hands with Russell Branyan the year he led the minors in homers with 40- That was 1996, the regular park was being used for Olympic Softball- and the Columbus Indians played on the same field on which I played in College (before flunking out- the first time).

Our last pro team left after the 2006 season...not enough support. Sad!

additional votes for Oliver and Madlock. literally every time i saw them play on TV it was three hits and 2 RBI.

Mark had the most hits in baseball during the 90s and my brothers favorite player.

Ellis Burks and Tino Martinez for me.

Dan Quisenberry. 4 straight top 3 Cy Young placings as a reliever.

Not from my youth I guess but I was always a big fan of Tim Hudson. He's got almost 90 more wins than losses and a 3.49 career ERA in a very hitter friendly era. Only 2 losing seasons in 17 years. Always a high winning percentage guy. But I'm sure I'll be one of the few to remember him.

Tony Conigliaro, what a shooting star player he was.

A couple of other guys who reached heights only be ground into dust by injuries:

Nomar and Grady Sizemore

+1 for Eric the Red and Will The Thrill. Really fun players to watch, and I don't think many people under 30-35 know who they are.

I'm dating myself, but three guys I loved to watch work were Catfish Hunter, Fergie Jenkins and Dave "King Kong" Kingman ...

Just to represent for the West Coast, I would say top 3 great (but largely forgotten) Dodgers from the 80s: (1) Pedro Guerrero; (2) Fernando Valenzuela (arguably as hot as Shohei Ohtani for a couple of seasons); and (3) Orel Hershiser.

How about a couple of guys from the 83 "Go Go" Sox? Ron Kittle and Greg Luzinski! The Bull also had some great years in Philly!

Speak of dating oneself - Hank Sauer (also had the pleasure of meeting him once and talking baseball for over 2 hours) and Dwight Evans.