Non-HoF Players You Will Still Never Forget

[cheekimonk]

Posting that gif of Chris Sale's meltdown a few weeks ago in the Walkoff Watch got me to thinking: who are players not likely to, or who didn't, make the MLB HoF that you'll never forget for some quirky reason? My list off the top of my head:

Dave Kingman, Cubs - When he came to the plate, the result was a HR or K...nothing else. He swung so hard, though, that his homers were just monstrous.

Eric Show, Padres - First, he gave up Pete Rose's 4,192nd hit and sat on the mound with his arms folded during the delay that honored Rose. Then years later when facing the Cubs, after Andre "The Hawk" Dawson had homered in something like 3 of his last 6 PAs, Show drilled him in the face. The benches cleared twice: initially, and then when Hawk charged Show once the trainers let him get up.

Al "The Mad Hungarian" Hrabosky - As a kid, I vowed to emulate his intimidating routine between pitches when I grew up. I never did, because you gotta be absolutely certain you can back that kind of shit up or you look ridiculous.

David Ortiz, Red Sox - May be headed to the HoF, and I wasn't a real fan of his as a player, but him going beast mode on that bullpen phone in the dugout after getting ejected from a game is what getting ejected is all about. You're headed to the showers anyway, bro...make the most of it before you leave.

Dave Dravecky, Giants - 2nd start in return from cancerous tumor he breaks his arm mid-pitch

Tom Browning, Phillies (?) & Tony Saunders, Rays - Also broke their arms mid-pitch, but you could hear both incidents on TV. Loudly.

Glenn Hubbard, Braves - Excellent second baseman just on grit alone rather than raw skills. Would take a grounder to the face if it meant keeping the ball in the infield, and never made an effort to avoid an incoming baserunner when turning a double play.

Darryl Strawberry, Mets - On this list mostly because of how much I absolutely hated him.

Kirby Puckett, Twins - Ok, he's a Hall of Famer, but might be my most beloved player of all time. Baseball was his life and he relished the game, and it showed every time he put on a uniform...so much so that he infected everyone watching him with his level of love for the game. The press conference after he was forced to retire, after multiple surgeries to restore vision in an eye he woke up in spring training and couldn't see out of, was just heart rending. Still is. You could tell the game was just ripped away from him and he was crushed. In later years we maybe learned why his time on the field was so meaningful to him, but none of that ever changed my view that he just loved the game in a way that every player should.

[agrudez]

Bobby Bonilla, lol.

Most of my real long term memories will be highly slanted towards the '08 Phillies, but...

Joe Blanton - 2 reasons: His playoff HR (as a SP, in case you aren't familiar with him) and his presence on the panel at the 4 aces press conference (w/ Oswalt, Hamels, Halladay and Lee).

Brett Meyers - 2 reasons again: Habitual wife beater and he ended up closing for awhile and then "decided" that he preferred to do that when the team really needed him to be a starter the next season. Made a big stink about it in ST and then came out and sucked from the 'pen the next year. Douchebag.

Matt Stairs - Turned 1 postseason pinch hit HR from the tail end of his career into a post-retirement broadcasting career. The American dream.

Jamie Moyer - He made for alot of really fun drinking games... drink everytime his pitch gets clocked under 70... drink everytime he strikes someone out with a fastball under 85... etc.

[7teen]

Tom Browning was with the Reds.

For me, it's Chris Sabo, Eric Davis, and Jose Rijo. All 3 pivotal pieces of the 1990 Reds World Series teams. You can even throw in Rob Dibble as well.

As for non-Reds players, probably someone like Dale Murphy. Here in VA, most of the people here are Braves fans. It was fun growing up when the Reds were decent and the Braves sucked. He was always the poster boy for those awful Atlanta Braves teams.

[c-mitch]

John Wockenfuss....because his name is John Wockenfuss, and his stance at the plate was ridiculous....almost facing backwards towards the backstop with both feet on the back line of the batters box. As a Tiger fan, he was one of my first "favorite" players, even though he was basically a utility guy who got around 200 ABs a year. It was kind of sad that he missed out on being on the great 1984 Tigers by being traded to the Phillies in March of that year, but the trade brought Detroit Willie Hernandez who would go on to win the Cy Young AND the MVP that year....as a freakin' CLOSER.

[cheekimonk]

Tom Browning was with the Reds.

For me, it's Chris Sabo, Eric Davis, and Jose Rijo. All 3 pivotal pieces of the 1990 Reds World Series teams. You can even throw in Rob Dibble as well.

As for non-Reds players, probably someone like Dale Murphy. Here in VA, most of the people here are Braves fans. It was fun growing up when the Reds were decent and the Braves sucked. He was always the poster boy for those awful Atlanta Braves teams.

Wasn't Dibble the kid with a smoking fastball until his arm was broken in a collision at home plate?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[7teen]

Tom Browning was with the Reds.

For me, it's Chris Sabo, Eric Davis, and Jose Rijo. All 3 pivotal pieces of the 1990 Reds World Series teams. You can even throw in Rob Dibble as well.

As for non-Reds players, probably someone like Dale Murphy. Here in VA, most of the people here are Braves fans. It was fun growing up when the Reds were decent and the Braves sucked. He was always the poster boy for those awful Atlanta Braves teams.

Wasn't Dibble the kid with a smoking fastball until his arm was broken in a collision at home plate?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't recall him breaking his arm at the plate, but it very well could have happened. He did have a blazing fastball, but also a temper. There were two times I recall him getting mad. Once, a player bunted on him and he beaned the runner in the back while running to first. Another time he blew a save and chucked a ball in to the CF stands, hitting an elderly lady.

He was part of the 1990 World Series team that had a trio of relievers (Dibble, Norm Charlton, and Randy Myers) that were dubbed the Nasty Boys. I was 11 when they won it so those guys were my idols growing up watching baseball.

[7teen]

[BBvideo 425,350][/BBvideo]

[Ted]

I remember that play. Haven't seen it since I was a kid. I don't think I really understood how insane it was at the time.

[cheekimonk]

[BBvideo 425,350][/BBvideo]

Damn! Not even remotely subtle.