PHX/YS9 HOF - Team HOF (Phoenix/Yellow Springs)

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PHX/YS9 HOF - Team HOF (Phoenix/Yellow Springs)

Post by RonCo » Thu Nov 02, 2017 6:55 pm

PHX/YS HOF - the Phoenix-YellowSprings Hall of Fame
Frick League Pennant Winners
2031, 2033, 2040

FL Heartland Champions
2031, 2033, 2035, 2036, 2038, 2039, 2040

JL Mid-West Champions
1974, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1986, 2016, 2018, 2019
HALL OF FAME
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1. John John (aka John F. 'John John' Kennedy, Jr.) [old player page]


John John played his entire career (1984-95) with Phoenix. In 1987 he led the league in OBP (.452). His career OBP is .394, which is 25th all time in the MBBA. In that same year, he hit .341 and had an 8.4 WAR. Both marks are 2nd best for a season in franchise history. He had 1917 career hits; this figure and all his figures seem to be wanting due to his sudden end-of-career in 1995, which was the year of the reboot. He was only 34. He was an all star in 1987, 92 and 93. In 1986 he scored 121 runs, second highest for PHX/YS. In that same year he hit .375 in the postseason for Phoenix; he also played in the postseason in 1993. He retired with a career .303 batting average (2nd for PHX/YS) He is first in franchise history in the following categories: OBP (.394), WAR (56.0), Games (1732), At Bats (6325), Runs (1042), Hits (1917), Singles (1361), Triples (112), SB (307), HBP (185), and I guess his 7336 PA is also first. He is 3rd in TB (2743), 2nd in Doubles (365), 3rd in RBIs (732), and 2nd in Walks (789).

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2. Marcellus Conley [ new player page ].

(See the complete player spotlight, which highlights his career and records.)


Note that his player page incorrectly lists his sophomore year (1974) as with Seattle. In reality, he was traded to Phoenix before the 74 campaign and he went to the All Star Game and the playoffs with the 74 Phoenix Talons. His 21 wins that year is still the single season best for the franchise. (Consult the old franchise records page.)

Conley still holds the single season Wins mark (21) and the single season ERA mark for PHX/YSN pitchers at 2.22, which he did in 1979. The season before that he recorded a 2.28 ERA, which is second all time. The new record book shows the team's IP - Single Season leader as León Magdayao. But Conley's 1974 total of 292 is the actual franchise record. He is also the career leader in ERA (3.06 in 1942 IP) and he is #3 in wins for the franchise with 121. His corrected total of 75 CGs (see old record book) is one shy of David Klopp. He is also 4th in GS (258); 1st in SHO (24), 3rd in IP (1942), and 3rd in KO (1905). These stats are this franchise only, and they count the 1974 season.

He was an all star selection, for Phoenix, in 1974 and 1975 (with five teammates, both years). In addition, Conley pitched in 3 postseasons for PHX (74, 76, 79, missing 80 due to injury).

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3. Vicente Vásquez [ Player Page ]
Inducted: January 2027
See Formal Press Announcement


Vicente Vásquez spent most of eleven seasons (2003-2013) with the club when they were resident in Phoenix. He was a hard-thumping left-handed bat, shown by the fact that the 297 homers he hit as a Talon is good for second in franchise history. His .345 batting average in 2004 stands as the best season in team history.

He played on an array of pretty mediocre teams at his prime or he would have been a more household name. That said, he had a blue-collar approach to the game, showing up every day and steadily finding himself on the league's leader boards (six-time top-10 slugger, 5-time top-10 run creator and OPSer). One of those guys you just penciled in for 35 homers and 110 RBI, then left him alone.

Played until age 36, whereupon he was traded to Louisville and suffered an understandable morale drop that caused him to be out of baseball shortly thereafter.

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4. Joe Belinda [ Player Page ]
Inducted: June 2031
See Formal Press Announcement


Joe Belinda hit home runs. 503 of them to be precise, including 64 in 1996. Two other seasons he hit the 50 mark. His career spanned 13 seasons, 12 of them with the Phoenix Talons before the club moved to Yellow Springs and that other franchise appropriated the Talon name. That 64 homers season was accompanied by 180 RBI. “It was probably the greatest offensive season any hitter has ever had in this team’s uniform,” said one club insider.

At the time of his induction, he holds four of the top five home run season in the club’s history. He is the top HR hitter in the franchise’s history (449), leads in career RBI (1,229), and total bases (6,397). He is second in games played for the club, behind only John F. Kennedy, another team HoF inductee.

Belinda retired from baseball in 1999 at age 37, and has lived the rest of his life quietly in the Pacific Northwest.

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5. Sam Brewington [ Player Page ]
Inducted: May 2032
See Formal Press Announcement


Sam Brewington was the franchise's 5th round pick in 1997, and spend four seasons breaking in. Once he got to the bigs, though, there was no way he was going back. In his ten seasons with the Nine, he bludgeoned 157 homers and played in three All-Star games. The team's pitchers loved him because he could win a game with his bat and save it with his glove and arm.

“A fierce competitor and a smart guy,” one teammate said. He was one of those guys who was always watching everything and looking for the angles. Baseball, chess, tiddlywinks, he could find ways to win them all.

As he enters the Yellow Springs Hall, he sits #3 on the alltime batting average list, #4 OPS. His 36.4 WAR with the team put him #3 on that list, and his 1,201 games with the franchise mean that only seven other guys have worn the uniform more often.
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6. Brett Rose (Manager) [ Manager Page ]
Inducted: May 2034
See Formal Press Announcement


Brett Rose managed the franchise for 23 seasons, compiling a record of 1804-1922 (.484). He was well-liked and highly respected, and to be fair he arrived with the team in some pretty dire straights--the squad's record in his first four seasons was a total of 88 games below .500. His teams won three division titles, and made it to the Landis once, losing there in 2019.

He was known as a straight shooter and a good interview. A solid baseball man, Rose caught on as a bench coach with Jacksonville after leaving the Nine.

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7. David Klopp [ Player Page ]
Inducted: April 2035
See Formal Press Announcement
Induction Day


David Klopp played 16 of his 19 seasons with the Phoenix/Yellow Springs franchise. At his peak he was a hard-throwing right-hander with a devastating five-pitch arsenal that included a change-up said to make hitter's vision go to kaliedoscoping. At the time of his induction, he was the franchise leader in all-time wins (145) and strikeouts (2,528).

He was traded to the Montreal franchise where he proceeded to win a Nebraska award before comning back the the franchise a few seasons later.

Klopp retired after the 2014 season with a career record of 222-192 and an ERA of 4.14, good for 56.5 Career WAR.

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7. Pablo Romero [ Player Page ]
Inducted: April 2036
See Formal Press Announcement


Pablo Romero played eight seasons with the Yellow Springs franchise, his entire time in the BBA, prior to moving to Europe for his last two years in pro baseball. He was the anchor for the bullpen for the last five of those seasons, registering 190 saves--which is, at the time of his induction, the highest total of anyone in franchise history.

He became a fan favorite when he signed with the Phoenix franchise after a furious bidding war, spurning Al Hoot's Hawaii franchise, Long Beach, Louisville, and Washington for the browner pastured of Arizona.

He completed his BBA career with a 40-47 record, posting a 3.19 ERA, and was named to the JL All-Star team in 2009, 2011, and 2012.

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8. Carl Tawk [ Player Page ]
Inducted: July 2037
See Formal Press Announcement


Carl Tawk broke in with the club in 1987 as a precocious 21-year-old, posting a solid enough set of numbers that the fancy calculators said he was worth two and a half wins more than your average replacement guy. Other than an injury-plagued 1993, it would be his lowest production ever with the team. His bat sprouted doubles that his legs turned into triples, and he could steal a base. One of those guy who was exciting to watch every moment he was on the field.

Perhaps his best season came int 1989, where he hit 16 triples, a franchise best at the time, and 12 homers on the way to posting 5.7 WAR.

His time in Phoenix came to an end with a trade to Hackensack. Tawk continued to provide solid service to BBA teams into his 30s before he abruptly retired from California at 34 years old.

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9. Alberto Sanchez [ player page ].
Inducted: April 2038
Formal Press Announcement


At the time of his induction, Alberto Sanchez was #5 on the franchise's all-time victory list with 129 wins v. 99 losses (as well as #5 in games started). His value was sometimes overshadowed by the appearance of teammates Crash LaLoosh, Eduardo Lopez, and Dogface Chavez, but the three combined into one of the league's most dominating trios for a half decade. Despite playing in an era where bullpens ran wild, Despite a string of injuries that hobbled him late in his career, Sanchez was often an inning eater, leading the team in complete games and shutouts.

He was a terror to left-handed hitters, throwing a hard fastball, and disrupting their balance with a change of pace, a cutter, and a fork ball--all thrown as out pitches.

Alberto was a consummate team mate, capable of carrying the load but willing to let the other guys take the spotlight. Always a fan favorite, the Nine brought Sanchez back into the organization as a pitching coach two seasons after he retired.

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10. Lawrence Columbus "Crash" LaLoosh [ player page ].
Inducted: June 2040
Formal Press Announcement


Crash LaLoosh and Dogface Chavez were the legendary "face of the franchise" rotation mates for most of the 2030s. He won three Nebraska Awards during his career and pitched in twenty-two post-season games while with the franchise. His 152 career wins as a member of the Nine is second All-Time, behind only Chavez. He was a workhorse of a pitcher, too--throwing over 215 innings each year after he turned 26. Unfortunately, he signed a big free agent deal with Phoenix at age 32, got hurt, and then was never the same. His Hall of Fame candidacy is still in force at the time of this writing, but its appearing to be a no-go, most likely due to the injury.

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11. José 'Dogface' Chávez [ player page ].
Inducted: April 2043
Formal Press Announcement


Dogface Chávez and Crash LaLoosh were the legendary "face of the franchise" rotation mates for most of the 2030s. He broke into the league in 2024 as a 22-year-old phenom, but often struggled. Two years later the world was asking if he was ever going to become an actual “ace.”

The answer: YES.

At his peak, José Chávez was a dominant pitcher, winning the Nebraska Award in 2029 with a scintillating 2.53 ERA/2.54 FIP performance, then starting 2030 with an equally daunting command of the plate. Unfortunately, that season was cut short at only 14 starts. When he came back, however, he’d lost just a tick. Not enough to keep him from being a top-flight pitcher, but just enough that you could tell. Still he pitched, though, and he itched well, averaging 15 wins a season for the next six, and dropping a 2.25 ERA in 2033 despite a hamstring injury that kept him out another six weeks.

He moved to the pen later in his career, and pitched well before another injury—a tendon in a finger on his throwing hand—brought what was effectively the end of his career. He bounced around in the Middle East for a season or two before returning to retire in Yellow Springs’farm system.

On his Yellow Springs career, José Chávez won 172 games—a franchise record. He struck out 2,598 hitters, also a team record. His 54.5 cumulative WAR is also, a franchise record for pitchers.
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12. Lucas McNeill [ player page ].
Inducted: June 2045
Formal Press Announcement


While people talk about Jose Chavez and Lawrence Columbus LaLoosh as the first salvos in the Yellow Springs franchise’s rise to dominance, most scholars agree it was the controversial mid-season arrival of the then 20-year-old Lucas McNeill that marked the transition of the team from pretender to contender. The team won only 75 games that year—while McNeill was sidelined with an ankle injury at second base. Turn the page to the following year, and the club won fewer than 85 games only one time, and more than 90 games 13 times. As is poetically appropriate, the Nine one nine Heartland titles in his tenure and alongside his high-profile pop-star wife made headlines for the team all around the world.

He retired as the all-time franchise leader in pretty much any stat of counting merit, and was named a Sawyer Silk winner two times, a Zimmer glover three times, and a Puckett Golden bat awardee four times. In 2045, he was inducted into the BBA Hall of Fame on his first ballot.

Not bad for a kid from Tobaccoville, North Carolina, eh?

At the time of his induction to the Yellow Springs Hall of Fame, he was serving as the team’s bench coach. His number (#31) had been retired earlier in the season.

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13. Bo Jordan [ player page ].
Inducted: April 12, 2053
Formal Press Announcement

To kick off the Yellow Spring Nine's 40th/80th Anniversary, the team inducted current owner Bo Jordan to the team's Hall of Fame. Jordan came to the Nine in the formative years of the move to the small, unlikely to hold a Major League Team city. The 2014 team was terrible (56-106) and became a superstar from 2016 to 2019, after which he left for an amazing career in Halifax (now the hated Nashville Bluebirds). During that time, the team made the playoffs 3 of those 4 years but sadly never got a championship.

His accomplishments even in his short stay remain, including second all time in on-base percentage (.383), third in slugging (.561) and and OPS (.944), 7th in home runs (218) and 9th all time in batting average (.286). Jordan became owner in 2049 and is already legendary among fans for declaring at his ceremony that he will "NEVER EVER" move the team.
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Re: PHX/YS HOF - Team HOF (Phoenix/Yellow Springs) 1975-now

Post by RonCo » Thu Nov 02, 2017 6:55 pm

We'll try it this way...can you sticky this one and delete the other? I've just never been able to reliably edit that one. :)
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Re: PHX/YS HOF - Team HOF (Phoenix/Yellow Springs) 1975-now

Post by felipe » Thu Nov 02, 2017 7:42 pm

I was actually the early Phoenix manager...check out the earliest team news...

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Re: PHX/YS HOF - Team HOF (Phoenix/Yellow Springs) 1975-now

Post by RonCo » Fri Nov 03, 2017 2:16 pm

Indeed. Proof that every organization has it's dark side. :)
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Re: PHX/YS HOF - Team HOF (Phoenix/Yellow Springs) 1975-now

Post by Ted » Sat Nov 04, 2017 10:54 am

It'll be nice when I've been around long enough to look at these HOF's and say, "Ah yes, so and so. He was a good one." We're almost there.
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Re: PHX/YS HOF - Team HOF (Phoenix/Yellow Springs) 1975-now

Post by udlb58 » Wed Feb 14, 2018 9:59 am

Ted wrote:It'll be nice when I've been around long enough to look at these HOF's and say, "Ah yes, so and so. He was a good one." We're almost there.
Pretty sure you were around for Doug Glover ;) (and Martin Felix)
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Re: PHX/YS9 HOF - Team HOF (Phoenix/Yellow Springs)

Post by RonCo » Sun Oct 14, 2018 3:27 pm

Bumped for induction of Pablo Romero.
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Re: PHX/YS9 HOF - Team HOF (Phoenix/Yellow Springs)

Post by RonCo » Tue Dec 22, 2020 3:55 pm

Bumped for the inclusion of Lucas McNeill.
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Re: PHX/YS9 HOF - Team HOF (Phoenix/Yellow Springs)

Post by Trebro » Mon Dec 05, 2022 11:43 pm

My first bump on this thread, for adding Bo Jordan as the 13th member of the Hall.
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