Change of decades

[Jim VB]

2010 marks the start of a new decade (I know purists will argue the new decade starts in 2011, but I have given up this fight. No one agreed with me in 2000, either.) That means we have potential additions to the list of MLB players who have played in 4 decades.

Since the start of Baseball, only 26 players have played in four (or more) decades. It looks like we will add at least 4 more this year, and, if a few guys get jobs, it could be as many as 6. (I do take Randy Johnson at his word that he has retired, or else it might be 7.)

Let's name those 6 and, as a bonus question, name the one that can be tied to the Net54 board in one step.

[Jim VB]

Sorry. Left this out. The previous 26 were:


MLB Players Who Played in 4 or More Decades

Player Years
Mike Morgan 1978-2002
Rickey Henderson 1979-2003
Jesse Orosco 1979-2003
Tim Raines 1979-2001
Carlton Fisk 1969-93
Rick Dempsey 1969-92
Bill Buckner 1969-90
Jerry Reuss 1969-90
Nolan Ryan 1966-93
Jim Kaat 1959-83
Tim McCarver 1959-80
Willie McCovey 1959-80
Minnie Minoso 1949-80* (5 decades)
Early Wynn 1939-63
Mickey Vernon 1939-60
Ted Williams 1939-60
Bobo Newsom 1929-53
Jack Quinn 1909-33
Eddie Collins 1906-30
Nick Altrock 1898-33* (5 decades)
Jack Ryan 1889-13
Kid Gleason 1888-12
Jack O'Connor 1887-10
Deacon McGuire 1884-12
Dan Brouthers 1879-04
Jim O'Rourke 1876-04

[slidekellyslide]

Jamie Moyer
Ken Griffey Jr


edited to scratch Tim Wakefield

[Jim VB]

Moyer and Griffey are correct. Wakfield is a "no".

[slidekellyslide]

Omar Vizquel

[Jim VB]

Omar is correct.

[slidekellyslide]

Is Marquis Grissom playing this season?

He was born on the same exact day I was...but I'm not sure if he was born before or after me...I was born at 8:12 AM...this info is extremely important to me if Jamie Moyer retires before Grissom.

[cbcbcb]

If John Smoltz unretires and finds a team, which I think he will in July, that could be one.

[slidekellyslide]

Is Curt Schilling officially retired?

[Anthony S.]

Sheffield is one of the "if he gets a job" dudes.

edited add: This list makes me uneasy, in that if Brian Sabean ever got a hold of it, he'd try to sign all six.

[kkkkandp]

Kenny Rogers?

[Tom S.]

Is Tom Gordon is one of the "4"?

[Jim VB]

Gordon is correct as the 4th (I think he still has a job this year.)

And Sheffield and Smoltz are the other two possibles (I see someone taking a chance on Smoltz, but I wouldn't bet on Sheffield.)



OK. On to the bonus question? A connection to Net54, in one step?


Edited to add: I may stand corrected on Gordon. Arizona released him at the end of last season. I haven't been able to find him catching on anywhere as of yet. I guess he moves to the "maybe" list.

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by Anthony S.

Sheffield is one of the "if he gets a job" dudes.

edited add: This list makes me uneasy, in that if Brian Sabean ever got a hold of it, he'd try to sign all six.

Hell, he'd sign all 6 AND track down Randy Johnson, for a clean sweep of 7 if he could.

[Anthony S.]

Originally Posted by Jim VB

OK. On to the bonus question? A connection to Net54, in one step?

Sheff played in El Paso in 1988 with one Rob DeWolf.

[Jim VB]

Bingo!

(I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that when Sheff was at short, helmets were issued to all fans along the first base side of the field.)

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

Is Marquis Grissom playing this season?

He was born on the same exact day I was...but I'm not sure if he was born before or after me...I was born at 8:12 AM...this info is extremely important to me if Jamie Moyer retires before Grissom.

Bad news Dan, Marquis hasn't played since 2005.

[Anthony S.]

Hard to believe that Sheff wore more bling than Rob...

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Jim VB

Bad news Dan, Marquis hasn't played since 2005.

That's how much attention I pay to modern baseball.

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by Anthony S.

Hard to believe that Sheff wore more bling than Rob...

I think he had a contract with more bling in it.


Dan,

Maybe you should collect players born on your birthday?

http://www.baseball-reference.com/fr...month=4&day=17

[Rob D.]

My favorite Sheffield-as-a-teammate-story:

There was a long-standing tradition in El Paso (for all I know they might still be doing it) that when a Diablos player hit a home run, after he crossed the plate, he'd walk along where the stands meet the field with his helmet and fans could come down and place dollar bills in it. Depending on how popular of a player you were, the importance of the homer and how many outs there were when you hit it, you could easily collect $100-$300, which was significant on a Double-A salary. (A guy named Alan Cartwright, who played in El Paso a few years before me, once hit a home run to win a game in the bottom of the ninth on the night when there were Fourth of July fireworks after the game. Because the fans weren't going anywhere, he was able to collect money for nearly an hour and came back to the clubhouse with nearly $1,000.)

Anyway, as cool as this sounds (and it was very cool), the first time you do it you feel like an idiot. It's just so surreal. You almost feel like you're begging. But the fans expect players to do it, because it gives them a chance to show their appreciation in an "up close and personal" way.

Well, the first time Sheffield homered at home, he didn't re-emerge from the dugout to collect his money. I think his exact words were, "F**k it, I ain't going out there." Worse, he sent a batboy out with a helmet. The fans started booing, and both papers in town made a huge deal of it the next day, one running the headline "Sheffield snubs fans."

The next night, upon going to the parking lot after the game, Sheffield found that someone had vandalized his car, which happened to be the latest model Trans Am -- red and gold with just about every option -- that his uncle Dwight Gooden had bought for him. Major crap hit the fan and culminated the next day with Sheffield calling Milwaukee's farm director and demanding they move him to another team.

Sadly, that request wasn't honored.

[barrysloate]

Sheffield really hasn't changed after all these years...Rob, could you tell back then that he was going to be a star?

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Sheffield really hasn't changed after all these years...Rob, could you tell back then that he was going to be a star?

Yes, but to be honest, I also thought Gregg Jefferies was a can't-miss guy.

But Sheffield had so much raw talent age 19, you figured that a tragedy was the only thing that was going to keep him from having a long major-league career. His arm, though wildly inaccurate, was amazingly strong. And his bat was so darn quick, even with that excessive waggle he did, not many fastballs got past him. This has become a cliche in describing hitters, but the ball really did sound different coming off his bat compared with other players.

[barrysloate]

Gregg Jefferies was actually pretty good for a few seasons...but overall his career was a disappointment.

[Anthony S.]

I played against Gregg Jefferies in American Legion back in 1985. He was on the San Mateo team (either that or Burlingame -- my SF suburbs coagulate with age). So was Scott Chiamparino -- that was a good team. I was on the SF team. The first time we played them I was amazed by his bat speed. He hit 2 or 3 absolute seeds. He also booted 2-3 grounders at short, though. I was supposed to pitch against them the following Sunday. My senior prom was the night before, so I showed up for the 10 am bus on Sunday morning having not slept and still in my tux. Coach took one look at me and sent me home. Turned out that Jefferies had signed with the Mets in the interim (I think he was taken around 20th overall in the first round) and left, so I'd never find out just how far he could hit my decidedly weak stuff.

[toppcat]

The most surprising name to me on the 4 decade list is Mike Morgan. Wow, I had no idea he was around that long.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Rob D.

My favorite Sheffield-as-a-teammate-story:

There was a long-standing tradition in El Paso (for all I know they might still be doing it) that when a Diablos player hit a home run, after he crossed the plate, he'd walk along where the stands meet the field with his helmet and fans could come down and place dollar bills in it. Depending on how popular of a player you were, the importance of the homer and how many outs there were when you hit it, you could easily collect $100-$300, which was significant on a Double-A salary. (A guy named Alan Cartwright, who played in El Paso a few years before me, once hit a home run to win a game in the bottom of the ninth on the night when there were Fourth of July fireworks after the game. Because the fans weren't going anywhere, he was able to collect money for nearly an hour and came back to the clubhouse with nearly $1,000.)

Anyway, as cool as this sounds (and it was very cool), the first time you do it you feel like an idiot. It's just so surreal. You almost feel like you're begging. But the fans expect players to do it, because it gives them a chance to show their appreciation in an "up close and personal" way.

Well, the first time Sheffield homered at home, he didn't re-emerge from the dugout to collect his money. I think his exact words were, "F**k it, I ain't going out there." Worse, he sent a batboy out with a helmet. The fans started booing, and both papers in town made a huge deal of it the next day, one running the headline "Sheffield snubs fans."

The next night, upon going to the parking lot after the game, Sheffield found that someone had vandalized his car, which happened to be the latest model Trans Am -- red and gold with just about every option -- that his uncle Dwight Gooden had bought for him. Major crap hit the fan and culminated the next day with Sheffield calling Milwaukee's farm director and demanding they move him to another team.

Sadly, that request wasn't honored.

Great story...They used to "pass the hat" in Lincoln back in the 1950s. The year Dick Stuart hit 66 homers he said he made more money from passing the hat than he did in salary.

Dan

[Robextend]

Rob, who was a bigger star on your Diablos team...Sheffield or Greg Vaughn?

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by Robextend

Rob, who was a bigger star on your Diablos team...Sheffield or Greg Vaughn?

Rob,

That's a question I used to get asked a lot. I think the majority opinion was Sheffield, based simply on raw ability. They both had strong seasons, and without looking it up, my sense is that Vaughn probably had better numbers that year. But Sheffield had more tools. Vaughn, with that long swing he had, benefited greatly from playing in the Texas League's Western Division, which had the best hitter's parks (by far). To his credit, he made the necessary adjustments as he rose up the ladder and ended up having some great seasons in the majors.

As a side note, I always thought Vaughn begrudged all of the publicity that Sheffield received, and honestly, he couldn't be blamed for that.

[Robextend]

That's very interesting; Vaughn and Sheff were close:

Vaughn hit 28HR and batted 301 in 505abs

Sheffield hit 19HR and batted 314 in 296abs

This is around the time I seriously started to follow baseball (I am 28) and I see some familiar names on that roster including Bill Spiers, Doug Henry, George Canale and Randy Veres.

Thanks for responding Rob...

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by Robextend

That's very interesting; Vaughn and Sheff were close:

Vaughn hit 28HR and batted 301 in 505abs

Sheffield hit 19HR and batted 314 in 296abs

This is around the time I seriously started to follow baseball (I am 28) and I see some familiar names on that roster including Bill Spiers, Doug Henry, George Canale and Randy Veres.

Thanks for responding Rob...

Here's a tidbit about George Canale: He and I golfed together a lot (he was a very good golfer). In baseball, he hit left-handed, and he golfed right-handed. I golf left-handed, and one day on the course we were messing around, and he asked to borrow one of my clubs.

He took three swings left-handed and whiffed every time. And looked bad doing it. I was amazed. How could someone who was a really good left-handed hitter, plus a really good golfer, not be able to hit a golf ball left-handed?

George also was the best fielding first baseman I ever saw up close.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Great stories, Rob. Do you think Sheffield just didn't like the "begging" aspect of passing the hat, or was his so-called snub just that? I honestly wouldn't blame anyone for not wanting to take the fans' money.

By the way, I'm glad you got over your Tom Hume phase.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Rob D.

Here's a tidbit about George Canale: He and I golfed together a lot (he was a very good golfer). In baseball, he hit left-handed, and he golfed right-handed. I golf left-handed, and one day on the course we were messing around, and he asked to borrow one of my clubs.

He took three swings left-handed and whiffed every time. And looked bad doing it. I was amazed. How could someone who was a really good left-handed hitter, plus a really good golfer, not be able to hit a golf ball left-handed?

George also was the best fielding first baseman I ever saw up close.

When I entered Kindergarten they had no idea what hand I was because I didn't favor one over the other...they forced me into a righty, but I still do a lot of things left handed that I can't do right handed...and some things I do with both hands just depending on how I feel. I sometimes even switch the mouse on the computer to the left side.

[Jim VB]

One of my best friends is left-handed in everything he does EXCEPT golf. He swings righty.

As a kid growing up, his family couldn't afford to buy him clubs so he always played with borrowed, hand-me-down, or rented clubs. Righty clubs were available. Lefty, not so much.

[slidekellyslide]

I play pool left handed and didn't even realize it until I was playing against a buddy and he said "I didn't know you were left-handed." I can bowl from both sides, but am better from the right side. Never even tried to golf left handed.

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by JBirkholm

Great stories, Rob. Do you think Sheffield just didn't like the "begging" aspect of passing the hat, or was his so-called snub just that? I honestly wouldn't blame anyone for not wanting to take the fans' money.

By the way, I'm glad you got over your Tom Hume phase.

I think he didn't do it because of the "begging" aspect. It's funny, because as players came up through Milwaukee's system, all the hitters couldn't wait until they got to El Paso so they could "pass the hat." But like I said, you really, really felt awkward doing it the first couple of times. It's like nothing you've ever done. So, given how the spotlight always was on Sheffield anyway, I could understand why he chose not to do it the first time the opportunity arose. Don't get me wrong: He never was above snubbing someone, that just wasn't the case this time.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

I always had this picture of the early Sheffield as a brat. The fact that he had his initials inlaid in silver on his front teeth was just too much. You're either a ballplayer or you're Flavor Flav. Had he had that procedure at the time you were in El Paso with him?

[Joe_G.]

Deacon White is a near-miss on that list. If only the National Association would have begun two years previous. White played against the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings and would finish with the 1890 Buffalo Bisons of the Player's League.

[alaskapaul3]

I beleive Moyer becomes only the 5th pitcher to win a ball game in 4 different decades

Ryan
Orosco
Morgan
Quinn

being the others, yes ?