OT: The greatest "common" players

[Tim Fritz]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

One more thing. The closest I've ever seen to Coop's complete skill set as a first baseman and at the plate is Don Mattingly. Those two men could do it all.

I loved watching Coop play as a kid growing up in WI. I just read his WIKI page and they had some interesting tidbits about why he didn't play much in his early Red Sox days. It was probably a good thing for the Brewers, because if the Red Sox had played him more they probably never would have traded him.

One of my fondest childhood memories was jumping up and down with my mom in our living room when he drove in the winning runs in game 5 of the '82 ALCS.

And he had a very cool hitting stance.

[Rich Klein]

Just a note on Danny Cater, the Red Sox felt they "HAD" to play him in 1972 as they had just traded Sparky Lyle for him. Well, we know it was a bad trade, but you have to play some people for political reasons at times.

[nolemmings]

Plus Cater was not a bad player. He once finished second in the league in hitting and had hit .300 for the Yanks in 155 games two years prior. The Bosox platoon strategy just didn't work (plus Cater had some injuries)--although he would rebound to over .300 the following year, again playing only part-time. The guy could hit and seldom whiffed.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Tim Fritz

I loved watching Coop play as a kid growing up in WI. I just read his WIKI page and they had some interesting tidbits about why he didn't play much in his early Red Sox days. It was probably a good thing for the Brewers, because if the Red Sox had played him more they probably never would have traded him.

I can't believe I haven't read his Wiki bio before. Pretty interesting, to be sure. You're right, though. If the Red Sox had played him more, we would have never gotten him in Milwaukee. So that was a blessing for us.

Originally Posted by Tim Fritz

One of my fondest childhood memories was jumping up and down with my mom in our living room when he drove in the winning runs in game 5 of the '82 ALCS.

And he had a very cool hitting stance.

You mean this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W-isKje3Rg



I was in 5th or 6th grade at Bethesda elementary school in Waukesha when this happened. Our teacher Mrs. Trovato was married to a man that worked in the Brewers' front office. It was a really exciting time for all of us, more so because we felt like we were part of the team.

And yeah, Coop had a cool stance. He was just smooth. Very cool at the plate. Like Sal Bando said, "he can beat you with a home run, a flare to left, or a bunt." Cecil had those quick wrists. He could just slap the ball anywhere he wanted it. He reminded me of Rod Carew with how he could do that.

And he could hit it out of the park, too. It's funny. His home runs didn't have the jaw dropping hang time that Stormin' Gorman's did. But he just put some sizzle into that ball, didn't he?

[glynparson]

Cut and Paste your selections:
I am a pretty lenient Hall Guy but I feel all of these fall just short, if I did not list here it is probably because i feel they are hall worthy, or i just forgot them lol. I would not cry if just about anyone from my list made it to be honest.

New York Yankees - David cone
Baltimore Orioles - boog Powell
Boston Red Sox - bill Buckner
Detroit Tigers - lance Parrish
Cleveland Indians - Rocky Colavito
Milwaukee Brewers/Seattle Pilots - Cecil cooper
Toronto Blue Jays - Dave stieb

Kansas City Royals - Brett Saberhagen
Texas Rangers / Washington Senators - Washington: frank Howard Texas: Toby Harrah
Chicago White Sox - dick Allen
Minnesota Twins - kent hrbek
California Angels - Fred Lynn
Seattle Mariners - Alvin Davis
Kansas City A's / Oakland A's - gene tenace

Philadelphia Phillies - bob Boone
Pittsburgh Pirates - al Oliver
St. Louis Cardinals - Keith Hernandez
Chicago Cubs - Mark Grace
Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals - Rusty staub
New York Mets - Darryl Strawberry

Los Angeles Dodgers / Brooklyin Dodgers - Brooklyn:Carl furillo LA: Orel Hershiser
Cincinnati Reds - George foster
Houston Astros - jr Richard
San Francisco Giants/New York Giants - NY: bobby Thompson SF: Will Clark
San Diego Padres - Benito Santiago
Atlanta Braves / Milwaukee Braves -Atlanta : Dale Murphy Milwaukee: Del Crandall

Florida/Miami Marlins: Al Leiter
Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Joel Madden

[Jayworld]

Can't do the whole list (for lack of knowledge about some of the teams), but definitely these:

Cleveland Indians - Len Barker
Texas Rangers - Jim Sundberg
San Diego Padres - Gene Richards