First Round Over-Achievers

I was perusing baseball draft picks of the past when I came across a note about John Elway. Elway was selected by the Royals in the 18th round of the 1979 draft and even played a season for Oneonta of the Yankees organization. So what other notable NFLers have been drafted by MLB teams? And more interestingly, which of them actually played minor league ball?

- Tom Brady (18th round) was drafted ahead of Aaron Miles (19th round) in the 1995 amateur baseball draft. The Expos selected Brady out of high school, but he opted instead to play football at Michigan.
- But Ricky Williams beat them both by being selected by the Phillies in the 8th round. He even played four years of low-level pro-ball, but of course he turned out to be a little bit better at football.
- Bronco wide receiver Javon Walker was drafted by the Marlins in the 12th round of the 1997 draft (way ahead of David Eckstein in the 19th round) , but had difficulty putting the bat on the ball in the three years he spent in the Marlins' organization.
- Dan Marino was drafted out of high school by the Royals in the 4th round of the 1979 draft (the same draft as Elway) but played college football at Pittsburgh instead.
- Archie Manning was drafted four times between 1967 and 1971 but never signed.
- Here's some interesting trivia: Bronco defensive back John Lynch threw the very first pitch for the Marlins' organization in 1992. He would play two seasons in the minors before focusing on football full time.

Although several athletes have played in both the NFL and Major Leagues, very few have been successful at both. I can only think of Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders.


And for whatever it's worth, Tom Glavine was drafted in the 4th round by the L.A. Kings in the 1984 NHL draft, and longtime Angels/White Sox pitcher Kirk McCaskill was drafted in the 4th round by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1981 NHL draft.

Best New Rookie of the Year Artist

Sometimes I think the Rookie of the Year award is like the Grammy's Best New Artist award; occasionally the recipients will have successful careers, but most of the time they fade into obscurity. So for comparing and contrasting purposes here's a list of rookie winners and how they parallel each other.


2004's BNA winner, Evanescence, is currently struggling to retain fan loyalty and critics' approval.
2004's AL ROY, Bobby Crosby, is currently struggling with getting on base and strikeouts.

1998's BNA winner, Paula Cole, has just released a new album after eight years of studio inactivity.
1998's NL ROY, Kerry Wood, recently returned to the Cubs' bullpen after a full season of Major League inactivity.

1996's BNA winner, Hootie & the Blowfish, still periodically releases albums despite nobody really paying any attention.
1996's NL ROY, Todd Hollandsworth, still periodically makes big league appearances (though he's yet to be seen this season) despite nobody really paying any attention.

1992, Marc "Walking in Memphis" Cohn, one-hit wonder.
1992, Pat "NL ROY" Listach, one-season wonder.

1988, Jody Watley
1988, Walt Weiss (in the AL) and Chris Sabo (in the NL)
It was a slow year for everybody.

1984's BNA winner, Culture Club, was wildly successful, but drug use (including well-publicized heroin addictions by frontman Boy George) tore the band apart and hindered the members' musical ability.
1984's NL ROY winner, Doc Gooden, was wildly successful, but drug use (including well-publicized cocaine addictions by the Doc) hindered his pitching ability.

1981's BNA winner, Christopher Cross, had a hit song ("Ride Like the Wind") about going to Mexico.
1981's NL ROY winner, Fernando Valenzuela, was born in Mexico.

1975's BNA winner, Marvin Hamlisch, became the first person to win three Academy Awards in one night.
1975's AL ROY winner, Fred Lynn, became the first person to win the Rookie of the Year award and the Most Valuable Player award in the same season.

In 1967, despite the six nominees, there was no Best New Artist winner. This had never happened in the category before or since.
In 1967 the ROY recipients were Tom Seaver and Rod Carew, both Hall of Famers. This was the last time the two ROY awards went to eventual HOFs.

The 1966 BNA winner was Tom Jones.
The two 1966 ROY winners were Tommy Helms and Tommie Agee.
It was a great year for Toms.


On the other hand, sometimes there's absolutely no relationship whatsoever between the two awards.

1993, Arrested Development... what ever happened to them?
1993, Derek Jeter... 'nuff said.

The career of 1990 BNA winner Milli Vanilli crashed and burned in a fiery scandelous explosion.
The career of 1990 AL ROY winner Sandy Alomar just keeps on going and going.

On putting sharpies to good use

Shelley Duncan states the obvious.
Naturally I heard thousands of Fenway fans shouting "Yankees Suck" during last night's game, but somehow it's a no-no to write "Red Sox Suck" for a ten-year-old at the same game. Whatever.
But I find myself liking the Duncan brothers more and more. They're like the Yortuk and Georg Festrunk of baseball.

wooo.

Cardinals beat the Pirates 16 - 4.
Can this count as a double victory?
No use splurging all that offense for one measily win.

The Art of Ducking

Again, I take requests. Even morbid ones.

"Juan Encarcion (sp?) getting nailed in the eye. Who are some past baseball players who suffered from running their eye into a ball and how many were career ending injuries?"

Juan Encarnacion, while standing in the on-deck circle, was struck in the eye by a foul ball last Friday. The injury will end his season and potentially his career. This incident comes just a little over a month after a minor league coach was struck and killed by a foul ball. Helmets protect your head, but they don't protect your face.

In 1995 Kirby Puckett was struck in the face by a Dennis Martinez pitch. The blow broke his jaw and ended his season (the incident occurred in late September, and he only missed the final three games of the regular season). Some speculate that this injury led to the glaucoma that soon ended his career, but this hasn't been proven.

Twenty-two year-old Boston sensation Tony Conigliaro, who had led the league in home runs in only his second season and still holds the record for most home runs by a teenager, was hit in the cheekbone by Jack Hamilton in 1967. Tony C returned to baseball in 1969 and hit 20 home runs, then followed that up with a 36 home run season in 1970. But his eyesight grew worse and he soon had to retire from baseball. Due to being such a prolific hitter at so young an age, people often wonder how good he could have been had he not been struck in the face by a baseball.

Herb Score was an outstanding young pitcher for Cleveland who led the league in strikeouts his first two seasons. In his fifth start of the 1957 season he was struck in the face by a ball hit by Gil McDougald. Score had several broken bones in his face and missed the remainder of the season, but his eyesight was unaffected. Unfortunately after his 1958 return he adjusted his pitching motion, consequently making him a less effective pitcher. He only pitched one complete season afterwards and retired at the age of 29.

Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman became the only Major Leaguer to have ever died as a result of a bean ball. Chapman was batting .303 when he was struck by a Carl Mays pitch on August 16, 1920. The Indians went on to win their first World Series that season and wore black arm bands in Chapman's memory. Though Carl Mays was an excellent pitcher, his reputation was forever tarnished by the incident (apparently he was also a bit of a jerk, which didn't help matters). Chapman's replacement at short, rookie Joe Sewell, went on to have a Hall of Fame career.

Don Zimmer has been hit in the head by pitches at least twice; once in the minors in 1953 in an incident that nearly killed him, and once again in 1956. The 1953 beaning left him unconscious for two weeks and he had to have screws put into his head. The 1956 beaning broke his cheekbone and ended his season.

In a famous incident Joe Medwick was beaned by Bob Bowman in 1940. Both had been teammates just six day before, and it's been disputed whether or not Bowman hit Medwick on purpose. Regardless, Medwick was knocked unconscious and missed a couple games with a concussion, though he was able to continue his Hall of Fame career.

There are a ton of other incidents. Boston pitcher Bryce Florie's was an ugly one in 2000, as was Dodger pitcher Kaz Ishii's in 2002. Although Ishii had to be taken off the field on a stretcher, he would come back to pitch for several more seasons. In fact he still pitches in Japan. Florie would only pitch in seven more big league games in 2001.

Billy Wagner has been hit by a comebacker, as has Andy Pettitte. Mike Piazza's taken one to the head, as has Sammy Sosa. Each were able to continue their careers with little ill effects. Baseball is a game of inches, but sometimes it's a millimeter's difference between a sore noggin and a career-ending injury.