Just why were the Orioles so lousy at the turn of the century? Check out this bumper crop of Floating Head Rookies. If the fact that you've likely never heard of any of them doesn't convince you of their irrelevance, let's peek at the cumulative minor league stats on the back:Spurgeon had gone 31-16 with a 3.51 ERA in 86 career games. That would make him the cream of this particular crop.
Brea was 16-29 with a 4.37 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. In the MINOR LEAGUES.
And Mr. Casimiro, while he had a pretty great name, was a .242 hitter who averaged an RBI every 7.5 games.
Be still, my heart.
So as we receive reports on the progress of Matt Wieters, Brian Matusz, and Jake Arrieta this Spring, just remember that they might not all pan out, but the odds are certainly a lot better than they once were.
6 comments:
With a farm system like that - I don't understand how we have failed to contend!?!
Vintage Rookies=vintage looking card or older prospects?
The 2001 Upper Deck Vintage tri-rookie cards were littered with crumbums and shoe clerks [as Norman Chad would say]. The only decent rookie was Ichiro.
Tim - I'm as shocked as you are.
Bob - Haha, how true! Plenty of ambiguity there.
William - Well, 1 out of 90 ain't bad. Wait...
Leslie Brea was a cast off from the mets of the time, another bastion of great young talent...
Max - Don't I know it. He was one of the prizes of Syd Thrift's crummy fire sale. If Melvin Mora hadn't turned out to be lightning in a bottle, that whole summer of trading would have been a loss.
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