Unluckiest Man in Baseball History

[ElHalo]

Some would say Ed Delahanty, who died after being kicked off a train for being drunk and rowdy.

Some would say Dave Dravecky, who got cancer in his pitching arm, had half of the muscle removed, came back to pitch again... had his arm basically fall off in the middle of a pitch, re-injured the arm in a pileup celebrating the Giants' 1989 pennant win, got cancer in the arm again, had to get the arm amputated in 1993... and then got hit by a bus a little while back. He's still alive, at least, though.

Some would say Dizzy Dean, who suffered a career ending injury (essentially) in the All Star Game.

Some would say Rube Waddell... wasn't it he who suffered the debilitating arm injury after injuring his arm in a scuffle with a teammate and then sleeping with the injured arm out the window of a train?

Some would say Ray Fosse... or Tony Conigliaro... or Ray Chapman...

Who would you say?

[scootermojo]

dave dravecky. the name just makes me feel bad. that sucks. i remember when that happened, his arm breaking in two in the middle of a pitch. sick.

what about christy matthewson? didn't he get gassed in the army on accident at boot camp preparing for WWI? i think that's what led to his early death.

i still feel for roger maris for what he had to endure. that's just unfair. matt williams wasn't the greatest player niether but fans were rooting for him when he was on pace to break maris' mark in '94 before the strike.

roberto clemente, any red sox or cubs fans for the last 80 years, lou gehrig, the fans in '81 and especially '94, tony gwynn in '94 and lately, steve bartman. anybody would have did what he did but everybody wants to make him a scapegoat. gonzalez's (sp?) error was WAY more crucial. plus, the cubs had a chance to win the next game as well and blew it.

[BoSox Rule]

I'd have to say Bill Bucker was pretty damn unlucky

[macintosh]

Roberto Clemnte. Dying while trying to HELP people.

[Chadwick]

Walter Johnson.

He lost 1-0 a record 27 times in his career.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Don't forget Herb Score.

Johnson might have had the misfortune of losing all those 1-0 games, but he had a full career with a lot of great moments. Chapman, Score, and Conigliaro had very bright futures taken from them due to extremely unlucky breaks. The greatest misfortune is having the opportunity for greatness taken away from you by no fault of your own.

Lou Gehrig, Roberto Clemente, Harry Agganis, Thurman Munson, Danny Thompson, Francisco Barrios, Ross Youngs, Addie Joss, Steve Olin, Tim Crews, Billy McMillon, etc. Etc. Etc.

[RuthMayBond]

Lyman Bostock, Dickie Thon, Jim Eisenreich, Fred Merkle, JR Richard, Mark Fidrych, Steve Busby, the old-timer whose female stalker shot him, Ernie Banks (all those years & never got in the playoffs) h Don't use Delahanty, he CHOSE to get drunk. You guys are hitting all my lists, except I have a list of the luckiest MLers.

[scootermojo]

Don't use Delahanty, he CHOSE to get drunk.

if your going to think like that then you can say don't use clemente because he choose to get on that plane. i'm sure when delahanty go hammered that night he didn't think to himself, "gee, wouldn't it be great if i died tonight?"

what was the name of the umpire who got shot in the mid to early '90's chasing that theif? he got a bum deal, also. of course, one could think that he choose to chase that robber so it's his fault that he is a crippled.

[Captain Cold Nose]

what was the name of the umpire who got shot in the mid to early '90's chasing that theif? he got a bum deal, also. of course, one could think that he choose to chase that robber so it's his fault that he is a crippled.

Steve Palermo.

[Steve02C5]

Dickie Thon, who has headed for greatness. I lived a couple doors down from him, in an apartment complex, here in Houston - heck of a nice guy, what a tragedy.

[RuthMayBond]

if your going to think like that then you can say don't use clemente because he choose to get on that plane. i'm sure when delahanty go hammered that night he didn't think to himself, "gee, wouldn't it be great if i died tonight?"

what was the name of the umpire who got shot in the mid to early '90's chasing that theif? he got a bum deal, also. of course, one could think that he choose to chase that robber so it's his fault that he is a crippled.

Tell me you're not trying to compare these. Palermo & Clemente were trying to HELP people. No, Delahanty didn't think that, but what good comes of getting drunk?

[ElHalo]

Tell me you're not trying to compare these. Palermo & Clemente were trying to HELP people. No, Delahanty didn't think that, but what good comes of getting drunk?

Plenty of good comes from getting drunk. If it wasn't for getting drunk, most of us would never have been born.

Come on now. Everybody's gotten drunk and rowdy, most of us probably dozens of times. I don't think any of us ever expected to die because of it (unless we were stupid enough to try driving after getting drunk and rowdy).

Delehanty was drinking on a train. He wasn't driving, he wasn't opperating heavy machinery. He was sitting on a train. Of course he was drinking; what else would he do? Could he possibly have expected that they'd kick him off the train in the middle of nowhere and he'd get hit by another train/ fall off a bridge/ whatever?

Sorry, you can't say that Delahanty deserved to die because he'd been drinking. If that were true, then 99% of all people on Earth would deserve to die, many of them several times a day.

[RuthMayBond]

I didn't say he deserved to die, I said he deliberately put himself in a bad position, and not even with the hope of helping others.

[ElHalo]

I didn't say he deserved to die, I said he deliberately put himself in a bad position, and not even with the hope of helping others.

Well, ok. But so did Thurmon Munson. Munson knew that flying a plane was a dangerous activity. Does that mean he wasn't extremely unlucky that he died?

[RuthMayBond]

Well, ok. But so did Thurmon Munson. Munson knew that flying a plane was a dangerous activity. Does that mean he wasn't extremely unlucky that he died?

I thought I included Munson in my list (unless someone else got him first). He was extremely unlucky, but it also depends upon what level his pilot skills were.