MLB's Post-Strike One Year Wonder Team
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by user DNL
Every once in a while, a player emerges in MLB -- putting up a great statistical season, wowing the ladies, and winning the hearts of some fantasy baseball owner.
And then he stinks up the joint for the rest of his career.
I took a look at the post-strike era, and put together a team (no pitchers... another day?) of the best worst players.
Catcher: Charles Johnson, 2000
Coming out of the University of Miami, Johnson was supposed to be a great one.
For a year, he was. 31 homers, 91 RBI. His .304/.379./582 line bested scattershot career highs of .259/.351/.455.
First Base: Chris Shelton, 2005 (and April, 2006)
In 2005, Shelton clubbed 18 homers and put up a .299/.360/.510 -- for a 131 OPS+.
In April 2006 (oh, and a few days in March), it appeared as Shelton was continuing his tear. Ten homers and a .326/.404/.783 line.
By the end of the year, he was so bad that he was back in the minors. Now he's competing for a bench role, and is expected to return to AAA this week.
Second Base: Brian Roberts, 2005
At 29, he has a prayer of escaping this list, but it doesn't look hopeful. In the five seasons other than this one, Roberts failed to break the 100 OPS+ barrier; never had an OBP over .347, and managed to scratch a mere .410 in his best year. In 2005? .387 OBP, .515 SLG, and a OPS+ of 145. The good news for Roberts is that he did once lead the AL in doubles -- in 2004; the bad news is, he also lead the league in outs that year.
Shortstop: Mike Bordick, 2000 (as an Oriole)
Mike Bordick didn't even wait for the next year to come back to earth. A good-fielding shortstop with reasonable power, Bordick put on a show for the first four months of the season, clubbing sixteen homers in 100 games. That, by the way, was 3 more than he had hit in any full season. His .350 OBP wasn't great, but his 113 OPS+ would have been a career high -- had he not put up a pathetic 78 OPS+ in 56 games as a Met.
Third Base: Fernando Tatis, 1999
His .298/.404/.553 line were career highs in all three -- by at least 20 points in each. He crushed 34 homers, more than third of his 8-year career total. His 107 RBI were a career best by 41(!). Oh, and he managed to swipe 21 bases, slightly half than his career total of 43.
Right Field: Richard Hidalgo, 2000
Hidalgo actually had a few decent years, but in comparison to his 2000 season, you have to wonder what happened. 44 homers and 122 RBI was good for 4th and 7th, respectively, in the NL. He'd never crack the top 10 in either again. Tack on 42 doubles and he was good for second in the NL with 89 extra base hits, tied with Sammy Sosa and 14 back of Coors-beneficiary Todd Helton. He put up career highs in stolen bases, batting average, OBP, and SLG.
Center Field: Brady Anderson, 1996
50 homers. In 14 other season, he never cracked 25.
A .297 batting average -- also a career high.
And a .637 SLG. His second best year? .477? That's a 150 point gain.
Admittedly, Anderson had a few other good year -- two with OPS+ of 125 or more -- but nothing came close to his 1996 season.
Left Field: Bernard Gilkey, 1996
Dumped by the Cardinals to the ne'er-do-well Mets, Gilkey managed to have a solid year in 1996. 30 homers constitutes 12 more than his best other season and accounts for over a quarter of his career output. He was top 10 in the NL in batting average (.317, 8th place), SLG, OPS, RBI, and yes, doubles. His 77 extra base hits put him seventh in the league.
For his career, Gilkey only cracked the top 10 on a seasonal leaderboard four other times: twice more in doubles, once in HBP, and once in sacrifice flies.
Glaring Omissions?
I'm sure I left out a number of (obvious!) people. Edit this page to add to the list -- and include reasons for your inclusion.
- Warren Morris. Giving hope to the hopeless, and taking it away.
