Where Have You Gone, Dante Bichette?
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by user Coreyisarealboy
Let me first state that I am a big fan of the columns here on ArmchairGM, and the new series Christof has been writing about the Phillies' climb (fall?) to 10,000 losses is great. So as you can imagine, the new Word of the Day column made me dance with sheer glee. So I began thinking, what sort of "free-for-all" column could I create?
Then, I started thinking about the old days of the Milwaukee Brewers, the days when I first started going to games and was fortunate enough to see Randy Johnson nail Matt Mieske in the head. And then, like Johnson's pitch to Mieske's temple, it struck me. What if we had a universal column where an AGM user picked a player from a team that was once memorable for whatever reason, be it that one really good year (like Brady Anderson), the fact that they were really unlucky as a player (like Mieske), or that they captivated us with their brilliant play in college but never made it in the pros (like Tommie Frazier).
However, as it turns out, there is more information on the World Wide Web on monkeys that aid the disabled than there is on Matt Mieske, who, incidently, wasn't done being drilled in the head, as he was punched in the face during batting practice by rookie catcher Mitch Meluskey while with the Astros. But that's as far as the trail on Mieske led.
So, who else could I use? How about another former forgotten Brewer -- and, admittedly, from John Jaha and Dave Nilsson to Bill Spiers and Kevin Seitzer, there have been many -- the illustrious Dante Bichette. Yes. That's perfect. Commence the memorial, as we look back on the career of Dante Bichette.
(The best part of these is you may be able to copy and paste, verbatim, the remainder of this article into his player page and call it a profile.)
The most surprising thing, I found, was that Bichette managed to play 14 seasons in the Majors. He was drafted in the 17th Round of the 1984 Amateur Draft by the California Angels. He finally got the call to the bigs in 1988, upon which he hit .261 in 21 games.
In 1989, he saw time in 48 games, but hit just .210 with three home runs and 15 RBIs. After another mediocre season with California, he was traded to Milwaukee for 39-year-old Dave Parker during Spring Training, 1991. In his first year with the Brewers, he batted .238 with 15 home runs and 59 RBIs, while striking out 107 times and walking only 22 times. In 1992, his numbers fell dramatically and in 112 games, Bichette had only five round-trippers despite batting .287 and was subsequently traded to the expansion Colorado Rockies immediately following the 1992 season.
There was no indication of the power outburst that the now 29-year-old Bichette was about to display.
In 1993, Bichette batted .310 with 21 homers and 89 RBIs in the Mile High City, and Colorado rewarded him with a healthy $2.8 million contract. He followed his breakout season by hitting 27 home runs in 35 fewer games in the strike shortened season and earned his first All-Star appearance.
But 1995 was truly his crowning achievement. That season, he narrowly missed the Triple Crown, leading the National League in both home runs (40) and RBIs (128), but Tony Gwynn batted .368 that year to beat out Bichette (who hit .340) for the NL batting crown. He was voted in as a starter for the All-Star game and was second to Barry Larkin in that year's MVP voting.
Bichette followed that season by raising his RBI total to 141 in 1996 despite a drop in home runs to 31 and made his third appearance in the Midsummer Classic.
He put up solid numbers the next three years, driving in over 100 runs each of them, and making one final All-Star Game appearance, but following the 1999 season, at age 39, Bichette, who, by this time, was making a handsome $7 million a year, was traded to Cincinnati for Stan Belinda and Jeffrey Hammonds.
Bichette's time in Cincinnati was semi-successful but ultimately short. He played in 125 games for the Reds, batting .295 with 16 home runs and 76 RBIs before being dealt to Boston to help bolster the Red Sox run to the playoffs, which fell 2.5 games short.
He remained in Boston for the 2001 season and appeared in 107 games but did not display the devastating power that made him a four-time All-Star.
Bichette finally retired as a Dodger on March 22, 2002.
He resurfaced in 2005, however, coaching his son, Dante Bichette, Jr., in the Little League World Series, but quietly returned to under-the-radar status until the picture to the right surfaced on a Red Sox blog earlier this year, after Bichette actually received three votes in favor of his placement in the Hall of Fame.
So, today, I will salute everyone's favorite gap-toothed right fielder for his 14 years of service in Major League Baseball, and for giving me fodder for this column. I hope baseball finds a place for you once again, Dante.
