Who's your favorite mediocre baseball player?

[Imgran]

The rules:

Player may be liked for on- or off-field reasons.

Player must be an average or below overall player. Neither Hall of Fame players, or players who would belong in the Hall of Very Good, need apply.

All periods are acceptable, and liking a player on the basis of a career year or short term burst of excellence is fine as long as they're predominately mediocre and they grade out as average or worse at their profession.


Just an example, I always had a soft spot in me for Aaron Sele. No particular reason, Sele was just the first rookie phenom pitcher I got to watch emerge. What he did that year was part of what got me hooked on baseball. Never turned into much, but he could eat some innings and make hitters look foolish on occasion. Made himself some money rattling around the league as a 200 inning mid 4's starter -- your bogstandard #3-4 guy, not bad, not great.

With that said, let's not rules-lawyer. I just picked a pitcher with a 101 career ERA+, I dun wanna hear about how a 101 ERA+ is not "average or below" or how he won a lot of games in front of great offenses OK?

So who's your favorite?

[brewcrew82]

Mine would be Eric Byrnes...I like the crash test dummy mentality he played with and he seems like quite the character.

Also of note, for some unknown reason I really liked Mickey Tettleton when I was a kid. :s

[RaysFan_98]

Carlos Pena and Kelly Shoppah Pena because he is the nicest guy you will ever run into as a fan i have gotten a million autographs from him over the years as a Rays fan and he is the most humble guy i have ever met and he doesn't shy away from us fans and will spend a good clip of time talking to us and he is a great leader. Kelly Shoppach because of the fact that he is also a very nice guy and while he wasn't the greatest catcher ever he was a leader and he knew how to handle our young pitching staff.

[Blue387]

I am fond of Benny Agbayani, who played briefly for the Mets about ten years ago. He put up two good seasons and then disappeared. I also have a soft spot for former Met Angel Pagan, now with the Giants.

[KevinWI]

Craig Counsell! He came up big a few times in the World Series for the Diamondbacks and Marlins, but he'll probably go down as a mediocre player. Great bench player, great pinch hitter. He had a poor 2012 which ultimately led to his retirement, but I think he had a nice little pro ball career. He's from Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin and in his final years, took less money to stay in Milwaukee, so have to appreciate that.

[GiambiJuice]

Jim Leyritz, Ricky Ledee, Scott Brosius.

[doctor_gogol]

Andy Dirks and Ryan Raburn.

Not the greatest players, but when they need to come through, they do. They picked up the slack during the playoffs last year.


Although Raburn may have a breakout season in 2012. He was on fire in the spring. Lead the Tigers in HRs

[Cochise]

From a few years ago, remember Rance Mulliniks? Great name, slightly above average player. He did stick around for awhile, though.

[Zito75]

I've got a few:

John Moses, my all time fav. Played OF for the Mariners back in the 80's. We met him during batting practice and used to chat with him before games. Nice guy.
Mike Gallo, pitched for the Astros back in 2005 and in the World Series. Another class act and great guy - we're now friends on Facebook.
Turk Wendell, just loved his energy and the quirkiness he brought to the game.
Jason Grilli, another class act.
Clint Barmes, just a gritty player. Loves to get dirty - much like Eric Byrnes listed above.

[Imgran]

From a few years ago, remember Rance Mulliniks?

Not until you mentioned him.

Great name, slightly above average player. He did stick around for awhile, though.

It's cool. I was just trying to break people out of "only remember the superstars" mode.

Here's another -- he was a terrible pitcher for us, but I actually liked Julien Tavarez. He had a unique turn of mind and sometimes it played in his favor and sometimes it didn't. Very demonstrative on the mound too. I'll still remember him bouncing the ball to Youk a couple times for the out at first if he didn't like the throwing angle, or pointing to bases on the double play, or trying to run down Brian Roberts on a "pickoff play" -- while time was out. Just an insane guy and could be really fun to watch. Had some really good outings in Boston as an emergency starter too before his arm gave out.

[theAmazingMet]

Casey Candeale in the 80's

[Dude Paskert]

Mark Bellhorn, not just for his slugging in the '04 postseason (after a horrible start) but also for making 2B a net positive for the Bosox in that key year after they went into spring training with no idea who was going to play the position.
Funny thing was I hated his guts when he was with the Cubs. Only had two decent years in his baseball career, but I understand that he bought some Dunkin' Donuts shops around Boston while he was here and I'd guess those things are money factories.

[Jackaroo Dave]

Mark Bellhorn, not just for his slugging in the '04 postseason (after a horrible start) but also for making 2B a net positive for the Bosox in that key year after they went into spring training with no idea who was going to play the position.
Funny thing was I hated his guts when he was with the Cubs. Only had two decent years in his baseball career, but I understand that he bought some Dunkin' Donuts shops around Boston while he was here and I'd guess those things are money factories.

Odd, when I saw the thread title, I immediately thought of Bellhorn's alternate on the 04 Sox, Pokey Reese. I liked Bellhorn too, but that year was one of the non-mediocre ones.

[leewileyfan]

Jimmy Bloodworth. He formed part of a solid DP combo with Cecil Travis when he was with the Senators before WW II. Saw him make some great defensive plays at Yankee Stadium + a HR into the LF bullpen.

Just saw his picture in Who's Who and loved the name - Bloodworth ... great over the Yankee Stadium P.A. system. He served in WW II; won the International League MVP in the late '40s and was Comeback Player of the Year with the Reds. Lone World Series as a utility player with the Philly "Whiz Kids."

Got a kick out of Red Barber's play-by-play, referring to "Mr. Blood-WUTH, whom Mr. Giles of the Reds' organization has wanted for quite some time now.

He was just a great defender and apparently a solid team leader. [Often took aturn at 1B and batted "clean-up."].

{RIP, JHB. Nah! I'd never call you mediocre - just a non-star contributor}.

[Zito75]

Odd, when I saw the thread title, I immediately thought of Bellhorn's alternate on the 04 Sox, Pokey Reese. I liked Bellhorn too, but that year was one of the non-mediocre ones.

Everytime I hear Pokey Reese I think of Bip Roberts. Must be something about those first names.