A Call to Arms: Memorable Guns on the Diamond
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by user Ron Sen, MD
Being on the wrong side of fifty has a few advantages. I've seen forty-five years of the best (and the worst) baseball players in Major League Baseball. The most 'intriguing arm might be Omar Vizquel, who always seemed to throw just hard enough to get the batter at first. Here's a compilation of some of the most memorable arms.
Catcher: as much as I-Rod gets praise behind the plate. Johnny Bench was phenomenal. Remember the picture of him holding 7 baseballs in his hand? Unbelievable.
First base: For lack of a good description here, I have to do with Don Mattingly who could do it all at first base. Career too short for legitimate Hall of Fame considerations. Despite three Silver Sluggers, eight Gold Gloves, and an MVP, his career OPS is .829. Maybe the Steroid Issue has distorted the numbers.
Second base: Chuck Knoblauch, who developed Steve Blass Disease, and even hit Keith Olbermann's mother (?) in the stands with an errant throw. One of his problems was that he started focusing on his mechanics, even to the point that he watched the ball coming out of his hand instead of the target. Others afflicted have included Mackey Sasser and Steve Saxto name a few. Matt Young had the similar problem throwing to first base.
Third Base: Aurelio Rodriguez of the Tigers. What a gun. Also, the only player I know with all five vowels in his name.
Shortstop: Somehow Rick Burleson always comes to mind. Maybe it's because he always looked like he was trying to throw the ball through the first baseman. I'm sure readers will come up with others.
Outfield: Jesse Barfield, just threw seeds. Reggie Smith...legend has hit that he and Yaz had a throwing contest from just in front of the first base dugout. Yaz reached the base of the wall, and Reggie pegged it into the screen. Smith was one of the underrated players of his era. Roberto Clemente did everything with intensity, with 12 consecutive Gold Gloves, and 27 outfield assists in 1961. Can that even be possible? Do runners never learn? Vlad Guerrero, at age 31 has less than half as many assists as Clemente, but a formidable arm in right.
Pitchers: I'll put this in the category of who would I lease have wanted to bat against, strictly from fear. I mean Sandy Koufax didn't have to throw at people to terrify them. Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale would hit you just on principle. Drysdale would issue intentional HBPs to save on pitches and had nine consecutive years with at least ten HBP. The early Nolan Ryan threw frighteningly hard and without much control. Ditto Randy Johnson.
But I would not want to face Sudden Sam McDowell, who threw pills and had little clue where, or Matt Anderson who was about the same. Even a guy like J.R. Richard, with a great fastball and too many walks, didn't hit that many guys.
Comprehensive? Hardly, but maybe this can clean out the cobwebs a bit.
