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Name drop an MLB player who you liked that never "made it"

Goo Punch

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Victor Lazlo

Victor Lazlo 1788

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My guy was Gerald Young in 1987 for the Astros. The year after they went toe to toe with the Mets in the NLCS  

In a half season he hit .321 with 26 stolen bases. Fast centerfielder.  Expected big things going forward. 

His stats - and value - decayed from that 1st season. 

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capnamerca

capnamerca 572

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On 4/20/2019 at 12:57 AM, Goo Punch said:

our district was so stacked back then. for reference, pflugerville was third behind Round Rock and Westwood, and our 2001 team was stacked:

Pitchers: Marcos Ramos- Rice, Ryan "Goose" McKellar- drafted by Baltimore, Dom Ramos- Texas State.

Fielders: Dom Ramos (also a SS)- Texas State; Miles Franklin- Ole Miss (ended his career vs Texas in Oxford!), Phillip Moss- UTEP, Clay Reichenbach- Rice (best him in the Minute Maid Classic *and* Omaha!), Landan Kelso- went to MCC then some D-1 school, I forget- hell, we had two or three more D-1 guys i can't even remember.

Point being, district 14-5A baseball was seriously awesome in the early 2000's. I remember we (PHS) played Cy Woods or wherever Kazmir played and we beat them 1-0 on a Dominic Ramos no-no va Kaz, and again, we were the third best team in the district. CenTex baseball was awesome when I was in HS. 

Also, watching Clevelen take BP in HS was something special. 

Clevlen and Kelly Johnson at WWHS are the two guys hitting in high school that were just on another level. I grew up with Ryan France who was a four-year starter at WW and I think lettered three years at Texas, played for years with Ontiveros and Langerhans ... but Brent and Kelly were better than all of them (and that's not a slight to those guys).

 

Fun fact, we're family friends with the Franklin's (Miles parents). Amazing people. Dad was the mayor of Pflugerville for a time I think? Something like that.

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jkates

jkates 316

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On 4/19/2019 at 1:58 AM, Fudge Nuggets said:

Flashes of brilliance, but never had consistency...  Richard Hidalgo.

The Astros had to choose between Hidalgo and Bobby Abreu on who to protect in the 1997 expansion draft.  We chose poorly.

Richard Hidalgo hit 171 MLB HRs. I think he made it.

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54865

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On 4/20/2019 at 12:57 AM, Goo Punch said:

eour district was so stacked back then. for reference, pflugerville was third behind Round Rock and Westwood, and our 2001 team was stacked:

Pitchers: Marcos Ramos- Rice, Ryan "Goose" McKellar- drafted by Baltimore, Dom Ramos- Texas State.

Dom's my boy!

One year, a friend and I were just lying around the house flipping channels around Christmas time, and MLB Network happened to have the Australian Baseball League All-Star game on.  I insisted that we watch some of it, and there was Dom playing SS.  He also spent a year playing in the Mexican League, then came back, got married, had a kid, and got an MBA.  

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WBT

WBT 20744

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On 4/19/2019 at 1:27 PM, Viper said:

I remember how psyched I was as a kid when his first hit was a monster homerun. I thought that meant he'd for sure be a star. But hey, at least it got us Mike Hampton (who probably has a better BA than Anthony)

Ha, Hampton did have the better career batting average, .246 to .231.  Anthony edged him out in homers (78 to 16) and steals (24 to 3) though.

I think I was watching for at least 2 of Hampton's steals.  He was fast as shit, I think if he tried he could have stolen a lot more.

I had forgotten that Hampton has 7 HRs his first year in Colorado, tied for second all time in a season by a pitcher and the most by a pitcher since 1968.

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WBT

WBT 20744

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On 4/20/2019 at 1:01 AM, Goo Punch said:

SS Blake Kelso went to U of H and was awesome there. He hit a lead off triple off Brandon Workman in the MMC, then stole home in a 1-0 U of H win vs UT. 

Yeah, I was at that game.  If I remember right, the triple and steal were all within the first 5 pitches or so and then there were nine more innings of no scoring.

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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6 minutes ago, WBT said:

Yeah, I was at that game.  If I remember right, the triple and steal were all within the first 5 pitches or so and then there were nine more innings of no scoring.

Kelso and Workman were both Cape Cod All Stars the summer before and they knew each other. Before the game Blake told his older brother Kevin (Texas State SS) "If Workman throws me a first pitch fastball I'm taking him yard." Well Blake had like two career HR so he didn't take him deep, but he did get a lot of it, and you are correct: the triple and steal of home all happened within the first few pitches of the game and then the starters just shut everything down the rest of the way. 

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Gut Wagon

Gut Wagon 8112

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Is it OK to mention a guy who played well for years but was still a disappointment? Then I have to go with Cesar Cedeno. For a year of two coming up, he was considered the heir apparent to Roberto Clemente. Was pretty good for the most part but never quite became everyday great for long stretches. His serious legal issues and health were obvious hindrances to achieving what might have been. 

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Helobious

Helobious 9503

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Bubba Crosby, Jesus Montero, Rob Refsnyder, Mark Montgomery. 

Honorable mention to Luis Flores. Basically a high school Babe Ruth in the early 2000s at Corpus Christi Moody, I remember reading all about him. Only made it up to Triple A (he was a short chubby 5’8). Was also their star QB. Currently coaching in Del Rio I think. I’ll let his stats speak 

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Finished prep career with 49 pitching wins, one of the highest totals in Texas high school history. Senior (2005): Earned a berth on the Texas Sports Writers Association Class 5A All-State First Team... Named the All-South Texas Baseball Team Most Valuable Player... Posted a 10-1 record on the mound and helped lead the Trojans to the Class 5A Region IV finals... Added a 0.65 ERA and 88 strikeouts... Also topped the Trojans with a .440 batting average, 45 runs scored and 46 walks at the plate... Lone loss came against Smithson Valley in a one-game playoff for the regional championship... Snapped a streak of 26 straight decisions without a loss... In football, threw for more than 2,300 yards and 26 touchdowns as quarterback... Named Texas Sports Writers Association Class 5A All-State Honorable Mention. Junior (2004): Helped lead Moody High to the state championship... Named the Class 5A Player of the Year by the Texas Sports Writers Association... Placed on the UIL State Baseball All-Tournament Team after tossing a three-hit shutout in a win over Kingwood during the state semifinals... Finished the season with a perfect 15-0 record, 161 strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA.... Helped lead the Trojans to a 42-1 record... Named to the All-South Texas Football First Team after completing 187-of-320 passes for 2,646 yards and 25 touchdowns... Also rushed for 811 yards and 10 touchdowns on the way to being named All-State Honorable Mention by the Associated Press.

 

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closetojumping

closetojumping 63139

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10 hours ago, Helobious said:

Bubba Crosby, Jesus Montero, Rob Refsnyder, Mark Montgomery. 

Honorable mention to Luis Flores. Basically a high school Babe Ruth in the early 2000s at Corpus Christi Moody, I remember reading all about him. Only made it up to Triple A (he was a short chubby 5’8). Was also their star QB. Currently coaching in Del Rio I think. I’ll let his stats speak 

 

I’m vaguely friends with Bubba Crosby.  Good dude.

Separate note, how has no one mentioned Cameron Drew? Robbie Wine, folks?  No love for my man Jim Pankovitz?

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ConferenceRoom

ConferenceRoom 6149

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Mark Petkovsek

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/petkoma01.shtml 

This guy's mom was my 8th grade science teacher. She was kind of a bitch at first, but she introduced self-paced work to the class in the second semester and I would finish assignments and tests before everyone else and would kill the rest of the class time by playing Deer Hunter and golf on the computer. 

I don't think this fits the thread brief but et voila. 

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Helobious

Helobious 9503

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58 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

I’m vaguely friends with Bubba Crosby.  Good dude.

Separate note, how has no one mentioned Cameron Drew? Robbie Wine, folks?  No love for my man Jim Pankovitz?

He had a big Griffey-esque uppercut swing. Didn’t hit many homers as a Yankee but one of them was a walk-off, I remember that. 
 

Seeing the name Drew reminded me of Drew Stubbs. I guess playing 7 or 8 years and hitting 100 career homers counts as “making it” but he was supposed to be a five-tool superstar and he never really got there. He was my favorite UT player while he was here.

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83Horn

83Horn 1656

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Calvin Schiraldi.  Saw him pitch many games for the 'Horns.  He was dominant during the '83 season, and was actually thought to be the "can't miss" MLB talent on a pitching staff that included Roger Clemens.  The conventional wisdom was that Clemens was just a fireballer, and might have a pretty good 3-4 year career as a short reliever before his elbow/shoulder gave out.

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MaybeACoordinator

MaybeACoordinator 8350

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On 4/22/2019 at 10:24 AM, jkates said:

Richard Hidalgo hit 171 MLB HRs. I think he made it.

I think Hidalgo over-roided. When he had that monster season he was maybe 205 pounds tops, and still really fast. I think he figured if he could hit 45 homers at that size, he would hit 90 at 240, so he spent the offseason loading up, showed up at Spring Training looking and moving like a Mackovic linebacker and it was all downhill from there. 

17 hours ago, Gut Wagon said:

Is it OK to mention a guy who played well for years but was still a disappointment? Then I have to go with Cesar Cedeno. For a year of two coming up, he was considered the heir apparent to Roberto Clemente. Was pretty good for the most part but never quite became everyday great for long stretches. His serious legal issues and health were obvious hindrances to achieving what might have been. 

Clemente? People were talking Willie Mays. You could kind of put Caminiti in this box too.

Dickie Thon was my first choice but that's more in the tragedy column....

I dunno as a kid I never got too excited about any of the Astros homegrown prospects because it just seemed like none of them ever made it. Apparently I formed that opinion really early because I was never overly disappointed when guys like Wine, Drew and Anthony didn't pan out. 

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54865

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19 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

I dunno as a kid I never got too excited about any of the Astros homegrown prospects because it just seemed like none of them ever made it.

I just looked up Eric Anthony and Andujar Cedeno, and they both managed to post negative WAR over their careers.

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MaybeACoordinator

MaybeACoordinator 8350

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27 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

I just looked up Eric Anthony and Andujar Cedeno, and they both managed to post negative WAR over their careers.

Even Biggio and Cam kind of came out of the gates meh....I was glad to see they had come up with some young MLB talent but they were not exactly setting the league on fire early in their careers. But that was a turning point for awhile.  Abreu, Luis Gonzalez, I figure which '90s pitchers were truly homegrown...The farm system had it going for awhile until Unca Dray wrecked the Venezuelan pipeline and everything else that made it top-flight. 

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BillyGoatHill

BillyGoatHill 4332

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On 4/19/2019 at 9:01 PM, Blotto said:

Cant say that I "followed" him prior to the draft, but as a Texas fan and Braves fan, I had a lot of interest in Todd van Poppel. He told everyone that he wanted to play at Texas, so the Braves decided on Chipper instead. Worked out pretty well for Bobby Cox. Dude had some hype, for sure.

https://www.foxsports.com/south/story/chipper-jones-todd-van-poppel-012418

 

On 4/19/2019 at 11:51 PM, Beau Vine said:

He kind of fucked himself by demanding a major league contract, which limited the amount of time he could spend in the minors.  MLB doesn't allow that any more for draftees, and he's a big reason why.  

I saw him pitch several times in Tacoma when I lived in Seattle.  His fastball was straight as an arrow,  and worse, his command sucked, so even AAA hitters weren't having trouble.  But they promoted him anyways, and he predictably got lit up.  

Ha! We spent some of the same days and cold nights in the same ballpark of Cheney Stadium (often overheard on a bright 78 degree sunny day/turning to evening in the ticket line....."Why does everyone have a blanket?") .....Van Poppel was definitely lit up during his time there. Always thought it would have made a difference upon going to UT instead of the big money with a (pretty much) no minor league clause.

While he made it a different way, I always followed the overall #1 pick for MLB of my senior year in high school, Billy Beane. 5 tool player that it didn't just work out for playing wise. He also could have had a big future in college baseball and football, being offered the successor QB role to John Elway at Stanford.

 

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tx 3 putt

tx 3 putt 77928

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On 4/19/2019 at 9:01 PM, Blotto said:

Cant say that I "followed" him prior to the draft, but as a Texas fan and Braves fan, I had a lot of interest in Todd van Poppel. He told everyone that he wanted to play at Texas, so the Braves decided on Chipper instead. Worked out pretty well for Bobby Cox. Dude had some hype, for sure.

https://www.foxsports.com/south/story/chipper-jones-todd-van-poppel-012418

 

1990 UIL State baseball tournament, Todd Van Poppel v Todd Ritchie, both were going to be first round picks. it was a huge crowd

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tx 3 putt

tx 3 putt 77928

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On 3/16/2022 at 11:07 PM, Helobious said:



Honorable mention to Luis Flores. Basically a high school Babe Ruth in the early 2000s at Corpus Christi Moody, I remember reading all about him. Only made it up to Triple A (he was a short chubby 5’8). Was also their star QB. Currently coaching in Del Rio I think. I’ll let his stats speak 

 

 

huge lulz @ dropping a moody player, impressvie. jack mayfield is his brother in law 

https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Showtime-Bad-Hombres-Tecolotes-Laredo-Luis-Flores-15650596.php

 

maybe needs to lay off the tacos and beer too. being 5-9 didnt help him any ....

21904_912033432173484_423280696280649762

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