Quote:
Originally Posted by Zitofan75
Awesome! How about ...
Roberto Clemente
Frank Robinson
Hank Greenberg
Ken Griffey Sr and Jr
Thurman Munson
Phil Niekro
Gaylord Perry
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Roberto Clemente: Roberto was a prime example of someone blooming later than his first team thought he could. He was drafted by the Cubs in 1951 and came up in 1952, but struggled and was sent back down again in 1953, only to released after that season. The Detroit Tigers quickly signed him up and though he struggled for playing time for four years, even playing four innings at catcher in a game in 1958, Detroit didn't give up on him, and he earned a starting job in 1960 and never gave it up. For the next 14 years, he hit at or around .300 and helped get the Tigers to the playoffs three times. Though he never won a World Series, he was a great player with the Tigers. He retired after the 1974 season with 3,066 hits, a .291 lifetime average and 1,251 runs scored.
Frank Robinson: Frank was a solid player for many years, though his peak was very short. He was drafted in 1952 by the Red Sox and played the 1953 season there before being traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers. He stuck with them through the move to Los Angeles, and was one of the reasons why the Dodgers became so beloved in California. He won back to back MVP awards in 1959 and 1960, hitting 49 and 33 home runs in those years, respectively. After 1961, he would never hit more than 30 homers in a season, though his production was still there. He stuck with the Dodgers through the rest of the 1960s and was traded to the Cardinals during the 1970 season. St. Louis promptly traded him to California that offseason and then the Angels traded him to the White Sox in 1972. He hit his 400th home run and drove in his 1,500th RBI with the White Sox, but they still released him in 1974. He signed a one year deal with the Dodgers for 1975 and retired after that season where he belonged. He had 414 homers and 1,578 RBI for his career.
Hank Greenberg: Just like in real life, Greenberg was a Tiger for the majority of his career. Detroit took him third overall in 1928, and he debuted with the team just a year later. He had 20 home runs and 100 RBI his rookie season, and backed that up with a 27 homer, 115 RBI season in 1930. He was the model of consistancy during the 1930s, averaging just about .300 in batting for the decade and winning the MVP award in 1938 with a 37 home run, 132 RBI season. Ironically enough, he missed most of both the 1942 and 1943 seasons with injuries, but rebounded in 1944 to win his second MVP award. From there, more injuries began to take their toll, though he stuck around in Detroit for another five seasons. After the 1949 season, the Tigers released him and he bounced around between the Cardinals and Cubs in 1950 before retiring. In his later years, his average suffered, which is why he finished with a career .268 mark, to go along with 428 home runs and 1,689 RBI.
Ken Griffey Sr: Griffey Sr may not have had the most remarkable career, but trust me, good baseball is in his genes. The elder Griffey was taken by the San Diego Padres in the second round of the 1968 draft and was called in in 1972. He made his first start in 1973 and established himself as a solid #2 hitter in the San Diego lineup. His power numbers were never great, but his speed was solid in his early career, as he stole 46 bases in 1976 and 48 in 1978. In 1980, he was a huge part of the Padres' championship team, as he hit two home runs and drove in 9 during their playoff run. The Padres showed their gratitude by trading him to Baltimore for Ted Simmons in the offseason. He lasted in Baltimore until 1985, when he was traded to St. Louis. That winter, the Orioles picked him up again in free agency, and he stuck around this time until 1988, providing more of a veteran presence than anything else from about 1986 on. In the last two years of his career, he had stints in Cincinnati, Boston, Texas and California before retiring after the 1990 season. He finished with almost 2,200 hits, 990 RBI and a career .288 average.
Ken Griffey Jr: Like I said, Hall of Fame baseball ability was in Griffey Sr's genes. Younger Griffey was taken 7th overall by his boyhood team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, in 1986. He came onto the scene one year later, smacking 36 home runs and 91 RBI, but lost the Rookie of the Year award to some guy named Ty Van Burkleo. He was bitten by the injury bug in 1988, but bounced back to help the Pirates win the 1989 World Series, which is the last the team has won. Though he was hitting for average, his power numbers would not return until 1991, when he smacked 31 homers and drove in over 100 men for the first time in his career. He followed that up with his first of three MVP awards in 1992, with the other two coming in 1994 and 1998. Though he has battled injuries through his career, they have not slowed him down, and he is still playing following the 2007 season, though it's now with the Colorado Rockies, as Pittsburgh traded him during the 2007 campaign. As of right now, he is fourth all time in home runs, with 679, 10th in RBI with 1,959 and is just 75 hits away from 3,000 for his career. He's probably going to retire after 2008, but he's a lock for the Hall of Fame when he does.
Thurman Munson: Thurman was the very definition of a journeyman player, with stops in nine different cities during his 19 year career. He started with Baltimore, who drafted him in 1967. He spent five decent years there, but was never the offensive player that the Orioles wanted, so they traded him to the Braves after the 1972 season. He provided the Braves with a great catcher and a solid bat for the next three years, before he left via free agency and signed with the Phillies. His offensive numbers declined in Philadelphia, even if his defense didn't and he was traded in a deadline deal in 1978 to the Milwaukee Brewers. Still known for his throwing arm more than his bat, he surprised people by hitting .285 and .291 in two seasons with the Brewers. After the 1979 season, he was shipped to the Red Sox and struggled there before being claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox the same season. He put up solid numbers and provided good defense there for three and a half seasons, then signed with Houston in 1984. He had 180 hits that year, but it wasn't enough to convince the Astros to resign him, and he went north to Montreal in 1985. After a poor year there, he went west to Seattle and finally retired after the 1986 season with a career .279 average and 945 RBI. He never once played in the postseason.
Phil Niekro: Phil started his career with the Milwaukee Braves, who drafted him fourth overall in the 1957 draft. He came up almost seven years later, in 1964, and the Braves thought it would be best to use him out of the bullpen. His first start finally came as a member of the Atlanta Braves in 1968, but he was traded to the Pirates for Eddie Mathews in the middle of the '68 season and didn't adapt well to Pittsburgh, turning a 9-6 start to a 12-14 end of the season record. The Pirates, not happy with their investment, traded him to the Tigers that offseason, and that seems to be what woke him up. He won 19 games his first year in Detroit and never won less than 10 games his entire time as a Tiger. He also threw a no hitter in 1975 against Oakland. He left Detroit as a free agent after the 1975 season and signed with the Cubs. However, Chicago was not nearly as nice as Detroit to Phil, and he went 9-17 his first year there. In 1977 he rebounded nicely, going 17-12 and earning an All Star trip before aburptly retiring after the season. His final career record stands at 153-140, with 19 saves and a 3.41 ERA.
Gaylord Perry: He may not have had the same career he did in real life, but Gaylord Perry was still a very good pitcher in this world. He was drafted by the Dodgers first overall in 1957 and came up two years later. His rookie season is one he would like to forget, as he went 2-9 with a 7.11 ERA. The next three years were spent between the Dodgers and AAA, but when he came up for good in 1963, the results were amazing, as he went 16-8 with a 2.92 ERA. For some reason though, he got put in the bullpen as a closer for 1964 and though he did well, he was not happy there and got put back into the rotation for good the next year. He bounced between outstanding (21-10 in 1969) and plain awful (8-23 in 1967), before the Dodgers finally grew tired of him and traded him to the rival Padres in 1971. With a fire lit underneath him, he led the Padres to their first playoff birth ever, and went 2-0 with an ERA under 2.00 in two wins, one in the NLCS and the other in the World Series. The Padres won the World Series that year and Gaylord found a new home, though he never seemed comfortable. He never again found that ability he had in the 1971 playoffs and lost 20 games for the second time in his career in 1973. After a few more average seasons, he signed as a free agent with Boston in 1976 and went 17-9 before hanging up his glove after the season. His career record is 196-205, with a 3.51 ERA and 2,363 strikeouts.