Who's your favorite mediocre baseball player?

[StanTheMan]

Historically - Herman Franks and Sal Yvars, because of The Polo Grounds in 1951.

Players I watched as a kid? Rex Hudler, Ken Reitz,

Players who I watched come through AAA when I had a good friend working for the team, met them, and got lots of tickets from them after they made it to the bigs? Brian Barber, Tim Costo

[Second Base Coach]

Among the Dodgers of my youth, Lee Lacy was considered average by many but has some skills that did not always show up in the box score. He and Joe Ferguson bounced back and forth off the roster and I always thought the team was better off with these guys than without.

On the pitching side, the Dodgers always made it a point to get rid of anyone who management thought was just average. Often times they would blossom somewhere else. See Rick Rhoden, Dave Stewart and Rick Sutcliffe for more information on this. As far as pitchers who really were average but managed to stick around for a little while Alejandro Pena comes to mind only for unrealized potential.

[willshad]

Here's mine:

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I wouldn't call Oscar Gamble 'mediocre'. he actually had a career 127 OPS+..about the same as Jim Rice. He never played a full season, but the time he did play, he was a really good hitter. In 1979 he only played 100 games, but produced a 187 OPS+. In 1977 he played 137 games and had a 162 OPS+.

[Jackaroo Dave]

Among the Dodgers of my youth, Lee Lacy was considered average by many but has some skills that did not always show up in the box score. He and Joe Ferguson bounced back and forth off the roster and I always thought the team was better off with these guys than without.

On the pitching side, the Dodgers always made it a point to get rid of anyone who management thought was just average. Often times they would blossom somewhere else. See Rick Rhoden, Dave Stewart and Rick Sutcliffe for more information on this. As far as pitchers who really were average but managed to stick around for a little while Alejandro Pena comes to mind only for unrealized potential.

Exactly so. After years of therapy, I had finally freed myself from memories of the Stewart-Honeycut trade, and now they come flooding back. You're saying that the above guys were not actually mediocre, and I heartily agree.

[chinese home run]

It would have to be Dusty Rhodes for me. In all the years he had with the Giants, 1954 stood out like a beacon- it seemed he always did something to help the team win a game that year, whether as a pinch hitter or playing in the outfield to give Monte Irvin a rest. And what a World Series! He never had a year like that in the majors before 1954, or after 1954 as well.

I was lucky enough to meet him about ten years ago and for some reason the two of us hit it off- I guess it might have been because we both spent time in Staten Island or because we both sold cars for a living. I was a lifer in that business until a few years ago, but he only did it for a short time after he retired. He told me once, "They just had me there for my name. Hell, I couldn't have sold an ashtray to Edward R. Murrow." (LOL)

He was always a million laughs regardless of whatever we talked about, and we exchanged Christmas cards for several years. Those are prized possesions, and yes, you'd have to shoot me to get them. (lol) He always holds a place in my heart, and, of course, if it hadn't been for him, my beloved Giants wouldn't have won the Series in '54.

[Imapotato]

That's an hilarious ancedote chinese HR