The Unforgettable Forgettables

Earlier this week Derrick Goold made reference to a Rogers Hornsby quote in his article on Albert Pujol’s projected 2011 stats.  The quote talks about staring out the window waiting for the baseball season to arrive.  As I stare out my window at a frozen Charles River, I’m doing exactly what the great Hornsby described.

First I thought about the popular stories of the day: Will Pujols get signed?  Will the team be good enough?  Should Mark McGwire be in the Hall of Fame (more on that at a later date).

Then, as the weather gets colder and the snow moves in, I tried to keep my mind occupied by thinking about seasons past and all the great memories I have.  Its always fun to think back on Ozzie and Willie and the rest of Whitey’s guys.

Then as we get deeper into winter, I’ll start to remember those guys that don’t always get talked about, but have made a mark nonetheless.  You see, every season has what I like to call the Unforgettable Forgettables – the unknown players that leave some form of lasting impact.

For example, who can forget Mike Laga?  The man Sparky Anderson said would “make you forget about every power hitter that ever lived” is unforgettable for a couple of reasons.

Of course, Laga is not remembered for any of his 27 hits with the Cardinals or his 5 home runs.  He went on to hit a forgettable .154 during his 76 games with the Redbirds.  It was one epic foul ball that he hit in September of 1986 that made him a Cardinal immortal.  As the only man to hit a ball out of Busch Stadium II, Laga stands beside the greatest power hitters to have played in the stadium. Ray Lankford may have hit the most homers in there, but Mike Laga was the only man to truly defeat it.  Although there doesn’t seem to be much visual proof of his feat (some say that ball still hasn’t landed), we have accepted it as fact.

Unfortunately for Laga, the other reason he’s remembered is for something oh so visual.  Laga was rewarded for his feat of strength by being featured in what has to be considered one of the worst baseball cards of all time.  In a time before Photoshop, it wasn’t always easy for Topps to keep up with roster changes.  When a player switched teams after Topps had taken their pictures for the season, an airbrush would be employed to alter the images, making it look like the player was wearing his new team’s colors.  I don’t know don’t how hard it is to airbrush a photo, but it was apparently impossible in 1987.  Either that or the airbrush guy was colorblind.

Some players will forever be remembered for the ways they started their Cardinals career.   One such player played only 88 games for the Cardinals, breaking a record held by Kirby Puckett in the process.  That player: Bo Hart.  Bo caught lightning in a bottle and had one of the best career starts a player can have.  A double and a triple in his debut in June 2003 and a record-setting .460 batting average over his first ten games made Bo a household name in St. Louis.

I have been to countless Cardinals games and have seen many great moments live.    Seeing Bo Hart hit a grand slam against the Mets at Shea Stadium in August of 2003 ranks up there as one of the most exciting moments I have seen.  The magic had started to fade a bit, but I was happy to experience some of the Bo Hart mystique.

Unfortunately, the excitement died quickly and Hart was gone almost as quickly as he arrived.

A few years before Hart, there was another player that came, made his mark, and quickly disappeared.  On July 4^th, 2000, Keith McDonald became the 3^rd player in Cardinal’s history to hit a home run in his first at bat.  In his next at bat, two days later, McDonald homered again.  McDonald would be back in the minors and out of baseball soon thereafter.  He finished his short career with just three hits—all home runs.

While some fans may want to forget about their fallen hero Big Mac, we can all look back fondly on our short time with Little Mac.  In 1999, all Joe McEwing did was play every position except pitcher and catcher, hit a surprising .275, and finish 5^th in Rookie of the Year voting.  Fans still wonder how things would have turned out had McEwing not been traded in March of 2000 for a 43-year-old Jesse Orosco (as an aside, the Orosco thing has always amazed me.  He comes to the Cardinals at 43 years old.  He makes only 6 appearances all year.  At that point, the assumption had to be that he was done.  The Cardinals rightfully cut their loses and don’t resign him.  Yet he goes on to make over 150 more appearances over the next three years.  I’m left handed, why didn’t I become a relief pitcher?).  While McEwing had a few good years with the Mets as a utility man, in 1999 he truly was “Super Joe”.

The last two no-hitters thrown by Cardinals pitchers—Bud Smith and Jose Jimenez—are classic Unforgettable Forgettables.  Smith might be as famous for his no-no in 2001 as he is for being part of the trade that brought Scott Rolen to St. Louis.  After that trade, MLB never heard from him again.

Jose Jimenez had quite a two week stretch in 1999 when he threw his no-hitter against Randy Johnson and the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Two starts later he faced the Big Unit again and came away with a two hit shutout.  While he managed to transform himself into a closer for a few years in Colorado, Jimenez had an otherwise lackluster career in St. Louis.  But those two starts against a Hall of Famer are certainly worth remembering.

It’s probably too soon to know how history will remember the 2010 Cardinals.  There aren’t many candidates that jump out as surefire UF’s.  I hope that Jaime Garcia continues his success and builds a truly unforgettable career.  Hopefully David Freese does something of note so he’s not only remembered for the Jim Edmonds trade and a bunch of injuries.

Whatever happens, it’s always fun to think back on these types of players during the cold winter months.