Thursday, November 29, 2012

#34-Tony Fossas




Tony Fossas was a left handed specialist who's job was to get lefties.
Why he was so effective against lefties was summed up by then Cardinals manager Mike Jorgensen who said "He's got a little, what do you call it, a Frisbee slider or something, that left-handed hitters don't pick up." Adapting a sidearm motion he said it helped because "I hide the ball well and I have a very good slider, and my control is good." Fossas spent years in the minors some of which he described as "pitiful" and only made his debut in 1988 at the age of 30. 11 years in the minors after being drafted by the Twins in 1978 he spent his first 9 years as a starter but a move to the bullpen moved his career along. He also lost 20 pounds and no longer did he "feel like a beach ball on the mound." Fossas spent 12 years in the major and like many relief specialist bounced from team to team. Debuting with Texas in 88 the next two years were spent in Milwaukee followed by four in Boston, 3 in St. Louis and quick cups of coffee with Seattle, the Cubs, back to the Rangers and five games with the Yankees where his career ended in 1999. 
Fossas one job was to get left-handed batters out and he did that very well in his career. Just look at the numbers of some of the great left-handed batters and how they hit off of him. Not real well while righties hit him hard. 

Batter             AB   H  2B  3B  HR  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF   AVG   OBP   SLG
Wade Boggs         17   3   0   0   0   2   0   3   0   0   0  .176  .263  .176 
Barry Bonds        13   3   1   0   1   2   0   5   0   0   0  .231  .333  .538 
George Brett       18   3   1   0   0   3   0   2   0   0   0  .167  .286  .222 
Carlton Fisk        5   1   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .200  .200  .200 
Ken Griffey        24   3   0   0   1   1   0   7   0   0   0  .125  .160  .250
Tony Gwynn         10   2   0   0   1   0   0   1   0   0   0  .200  .200  .500 
Rickey Henderson    6   2   0   1   0   0   0   1   0   0   0  .333  .333  .667 
Chipper Jones       9   3   1   0   0   2   0   4   0   0   0  .333  .455  .444 
Jeff Kent           4   1   0   0   0   1   0   1   0   0   0  .250  .400  .250 
Jeffrey Leonard     4   3   0   0   1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .750  .750 1.500 
Edgar Martinez      4   2   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .500  .500  .500 
Don Mattingly      10   2   0   0   0   6   1   1   0   0   1  .200  .471  .200 
Fred McGriff       29   6   1   0   0   1   0   9   0   0   0  .207  .233  .241
Kirby Puckett       5   3   2   0   1   0   0   0   0   0   0  .600  .600 1.600 
Tim Raines          9   3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0  .333  .333  .333
Cal Ripken          6   1   0   0   0   1   0   1   0   0   0  .167  .286  .167 
Sammy Sosa          3   2   1   0   1   1   1   0   0   1   0  .667  .750 2.000 
Jim Thome           4   2   1   0   0   0   0   1   0   0   0  .500  .500  .750 
Alan Trammell       6   2   0   0   1   5   2   0   0   0   0  .333  .636  .833 
Lou Whitaker       11   5   2   0   0   0   0   0   0   1   0  .455  .455  .636 
Bernie Williams     7   3   0   0   1   0   0   1   0   0   0  .429  .429  .857 



#33-Greg Walker




Greg Walker was the first baseman of the Chicago White Sox through most of the 1980's. His fielding wasn't the greatest nor was his offense anything out of the ordinary other than his 85 and 87 seasons. 
Drafted by the Phillies in the 1977 draft he made his debut at Auburn in the New York/Penn League and hit just .255 with 2 HR's and 8 RBI's in 33 games. The next two years were pretty routine-and all were played at A ball level. In December of 1979 the White Sox picked him up on a Rule 5 Draft, but he spent several more years in the minors instead of the normal going right onto the major league roster. In 1980 at Appleton, still in A ball, he hit .280, knocked out 21 homers and drove in 98 runners. A similar season at AA saw him make a short stay at AAA Edmonton in 82 and a call up to the majors that same year. 
In 84, after a slow 83, he hit .294 with 24 Home Runs and drove in 75. One of those home runs caused a bit of ruckus in Chicago when the the scoreboard fireworks went off in the stands. During a game against the Texas Rangers at Comiskey Park Walker homered and the fireworks that would go off, but instead of going off in the air then fall into the stand and sent up six fans to the Park's first-aid station and four went to the hospital. In spite of that he had a career best WAR of 2.0 and a defensive WAR of -1.2. While he had another good stats year in 85 he could only garner a WAR of -0.1 and the same poor numbers on his defense. (I think those WAR numbers must be wrong.) 87 was his last good season with this 27 Homers and 94 RBI's though his average dropped to .256.
From 1988 on his numbers and appearances began to drop. One thing that didn't help was in July of 1988 when Walker, who was fielding ground balls before a game collapsed and suffered a seizure. According to the July 31, 1988 New York Times, "At first, his lips were starting to turn blue," Chicago bullpen coach Dyar Miller said. Four trainers, including Rick Smith of the Angels, were needed to hold Walker down and pry open his mouth to prevent Walker from swallowing his tongue. Walker bit his tongue and chipped a tooth from biting down so hard on a pair of scissors." He had no history of seizures before that incident. Walker recalled "I was pretty much dead, I was probably seconds or minutes away from being dead. That changes your perspective some." He suffered another seizure while in the hospital and the cause was a viral infection in the brain. After that he had no other seizures. In 1990 was released by the Sox though he quickly signed on with the Orioles his slide continued and he played his last game on July 1, 1990 and was released two days later. In 1991 he played in Spring for the Angles but was cut. Currently he works as batting coach for the Atlanta Braves. 

Monday, November 26, 2012

Friday, November 23, 2012

#32-John Farrell




Who is John Farrell? Well he isn't Bobby Valentine and in Boston that is all you need right now to become manager of the Red Sox. After Valentine's awful year-though some of the blame has to be put at the feet of the front office for the poor team they put out on the field this year-Farrell, who is supposed to be more a Terry Francona style manager, is bound to have more time to turn things around. 
Before he became a manager he was also a major league pitcher who was drafted by the Indians in the 2nd round of the 1984 draft. He picked up his first professional win on August 28 for Maine against the Syracuse Chiefs with a 8-1 win. The only run he allowed coming from a Kelly Gruber home run in the seventh inning. In just three years he was pitching for Cleveland making his debut on August 18, 1987.  Nine days later Farrell ended the Brewers Paul Molitor's 39 game hitting streak by getting him to hit into a double play, bouncer to short and reaching base on an error. Farrell threw a complete game shutout. Molitor signed a ball to Farrell with the words "To John, Wishign you a great career, my best always, Paul Molitor." Finishing out the season with a 5-1 and 3.39 ERA but he had a high WHIP of 1.304 and a poor K/BB rate of 1.27. In his first full season he went 14-10 with a high 4.24 and a WAR 2.6. 1989 was an unusual one for Farrell who's record dropped to 9-14 but he lowered his ERA to 3.63-his career best along with this K/BB rate of 1.86-and had his best WAR of 2.8. In June of that season his manger, Doc Edwards tinkered with Farrell's mechanics. "The coaches determined he was standing up too straight during his delivery."  'He had screwed up his mechanics' Indians manager Doc Edwards said. 'He was up too straight and couldn't get the ball over the plate consistently.' Farrell was happy with the results since a victory came right after the changes. After that he went 7-6 the rest of the season and had an ERA of 3.03 which lowered his season ERA from 4.39 down to 3.63. The season this card is for was the start of his injuries and he would only make 17 appearances in 1990 and none for 91 or 92. An elbow injury knocked him out for most of 1990. 
Signed as a fee agent by the Angles in 92 he struggled in 93 to a 3-12 and 7.35 with a WHIP of -0.9. After making only three appearances in 94 he returned to Cleveland and made just one appearance. In 1996 he made two appearances for the Tigers and was ineffective and his career came to an end. 

Monday, November 19, 2012

#31-Henry Cotto




Henry Cotto's card shows him at what appears to be Tiger Stadium and is enjoying his time having his picture taken. He was signed by the Cubs in 1980 and was sent to the Cubs Gulf Coast League team where he was sent up to Quad Cities, where he spent all of 1981at the Cubs A level team. 82 was Double A Midland and in 83 he was at AAA with Iowa. He debuted with the Cubs in 1984 and hit .274 with 8 RBI's in 105 games while playing all three outfield positions. 84 would also be his best WAR season with a WAR of 1.2 and a dWAR of 0.7. After the season the Dodgers tried to  get him from the Cubs in a deal for Ron Cey. Los Angeles also wanted Joe Carter in the deal, but the Cubs turned that version of the deal they eventually made down. Finally he was sent to the Yankees with Porfi Altamirano, Rich Bordi, and Ron Hassey for Brian Dayett and Ray Fontenot. The Yankees general manager, Clyde King said he was going to give Cotto a shot at the center field position because "we know he is an outstanding defensive center fielder and has the potential to be a good hitter some day." Well, he wasn't either with a WAR of -0.2 and a dWar of 0. 
From 84-87 Cotto was riding the elevator between the Yankees AAA team at Columbus and the Yankees. In 1987 he was called up five times by the Yankees from Columbus. During the 1985 Winter Meetings the Yankees offered Cotto along with Joe Cowley, Rich Bordi and Dennis Rasmussen to theExpos for Andre Dawson and Bill Gullickson.  The Expos were interested but wanted to switch Cotto for Dan Pasqua which the Yankees wouldn't do so the deal died. 
Sent to the Mariners after the 87 season where he started but even in the Kingdome displayed little power setting his career high in 89 with 9 HR's. In 1990, the season of this card, Cotto his .259 with 4 HR's and 33 RBI's in 127 games. Traded during the 1993 season he joined the Marlins and after the season was a free agent where he signed with the Orioles but ended up playing for the Yomiuri Giants in 1994. In game six of the Japanese World Series Cotto when 3-3 with a triple, a single and a homer-his second of the series-and the Giants wrapped up their 4 games to 2 victory. He returned to the US and played 17 games for the White Sox AA team at Nashville where he only hit .131 and his career came to an end. He is now working in the Giants farm system .

Friday, November 16, 2012

#30 David Cone




In the 40's there was Spud Chandler, in the 70's Don Gullet and the 90's had David Cone-he'd win a lot, lose few and have great ERA's and none of them made it to Cooperstown, Chandler was 29 when he debuted in the majors, therefore not enough time to pile up the numbs, Gullet and Cone suffered injuries that derailed their careers. 
Cone was drafted by the Royals in the 3rd round of the 81 draft and spent his first two years in their farm system dominating the Rookie and A Leagues he pitched in. However, in 83 injuries took him out for a year and upon his return in 84 he struggled for the next two years until returning to form in 86 and getting his first call up that year. In March of 87 the Royals committed one of those rare but often marveled at deals, a deal so bad you wonder what they were thinking? Cone along with Chris Jelic were sent to the Mets for Rick Anderson, Mauro Gozzo and Ed Hearn. 
After a mediocre 87 he helped the Mets win the National League East with his 20-3 and 2.22 ERA. Pitching to a 1-1 with a 4.50 the Mets were knocked out by eventual World Series winners the Dodgers. His next three seasons were all 14 win seasons but in 92 he was traded to the Blue Jays for Jeff Kent, that is what we call a win-win since both teams got something out of it-unlike the Royals in their boneheaded deal. Another 1-1 in the LCS but the Jays won the pennant. In two Series starts he had no decisions but the Jays won the first of what would be five World Series appearances for him. 
Realizing their blunder of years previously the Royals signed Cone as a free agent. (Yes Virginia, there was a time teams in small markets like Kansas City signed big name free agents.) Two-and-a-half good years including a Cy Young Award in 94 resulting in a return trip to Toronto in 95. Again all the Royals got in return was David Sinnes, Tony Medrano and Chris Stynes. Mind boggling really. 
Half way through the 95 season he was sent to the Yankees, in another bad deal, and his career reached a new level of success. 
Injuries limited his regular season appearances in 96 to just 11 games but in the post-season he went 1-1 with his win coming against the Braves in the Series which the Yankees won. In 98 and 99 he won Series games and had a no-decision in 99 all of which the Yanks won again. 
In 2000 he slumped to a miserable 4-14 and next year was in Boston where eked out a 9-7 mark, he was out all of 2002 and made a brief comeback with the Mets in 2003 but made his final appearance in May of 03. 

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

#29-John Cangelosi




This is John Cangelosi's card. He hit 12 home runs in his career. He was usually a fourth outfielder. His best seasons were 87 and 95 when he had a WAR of 1.8. What else can one say? He played for 13 years and then he was done. That's about it. Really. :) 

Sunday, November 11, 2012

#28-Duane Ward




Duane Ward was one of those Braves of the 80's that I thought if he stayed with the team he would have become one of my favorite players.  A 6 ft 4 in right-hander he was drafted by the Braves in the 1st round of the 1982 draft. His first few years in the organization he was used exclusively as a starter and wasn't too successful at it with a couple of shutouts but consistently high ERA's.  Returning with the big club from Spring Training in 1986 the 21-year-old Ward threw a 90-plus fastball with a strong slider. His career blossomed when he was moved to the bullpen midway through the 85 season. He was voted the Southern League's top pitching prospect by managers and scouts. I loved the sight of a tall right-hander who threw hard and three-quarters.  Unfortunately, Ward was traded by the Braves to the Blue Jays in July of 1986 along with Joe Johnson for Doyle Alexander and Jim Acker. The Jays GM had to deny suggestions that the team was throwing in the towel. Johnson did little for Toronto and Acker about the same for the Braves. However, Alexander was traded the next year to Detroit for John Smoltz. 
After two slow seasons shuttling between the minors and Toronto Ward's breakthrough year was 1988 when he went 9-3 with a 3.30 ERA over 64 games. The next two years were struggles for consistency but  in 1991he led the league in appearances with 81,  saved 23 games and had a WAR of 2.6. Two more great season followed with his brilliant 93 with 45 saves and an ERA of 2.13. Having already had two rough post-seasons in 89 and 91, 92 got off to an equally rocky start. A 1-0 record but an ERA of 6.75 didn't stop Toronto from beating the A's and facing Atlanta in the World Series. In four appearances he was 2-0 with no runs allowed in 3.1 innings pitched.  93 witnessed another terrible ALCS against the White Sox but he was superb in the World Series again going 1-0 with 2 saves and an ERA of 1.93 over 4.2 innings. And then his arm pretty much fell off. 
Spring of 94 developed biceps tendinitis. Ward missed all of 1994 and most of 95 with an injured right shoulder. He had surgery on July 8, 1994. Signed with the Cubs in the spring of 96 and pitched in the minors but it was obvious he wasn't the same. Another attempt at a comeback in 97 with the Rangers quickly ended with a DUI arrest . For six season he was a very good reliever and for three years he was lights out brilliant. At the age of 29, his career was all but over due to shoulder troubles and number of innings and appearances he was making. 

Saturday, November 10, 2012

#27-Rick Leach




He played football in college and was real good. However, this isn't about his football career its about his time playing baseball. He played at the University of Michigan and went to four bowl games and lost all four. Nevertheless he is in the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. Besides being an outstanding football player he was equally so a baseball player and he set Wolverine  records for games, hits, doubles, runs and RBI.  Leach was drafted in 1975, coming out of high school, by the Phillies who drafted him again in 78. Taken in the 1st round, (13th) in the 79 draft by the Tigers he was signed for a bonus of reportedly $200,000. One of the important points in his decision was he said "after looking at all this 280-pound and 270-pound linemen-I decided I'd been taking enough knocks in my career and it was time to get out." 
He debuted in 1981 but only hit .193 with 1 HR and 11 RBIs. Spending three years in Detroit he hit a meager .236 with 7 HR's and 49 RBIs. At the end of spring training 1984 he was released and quickly signed by the Blue Jays. A few months after his release by the Tigers he had some harsh words for the organization which he felt never supported him and that manager Sparky Anderson "never game me a fair chance." 

He spent most of 85 in the minors but came back in 86 to hit .309 with 5 HR's and 39 RBIs. A good season in 87 was marred by a disappearance in August. Disappearing before a Tuesday game in Seattle he showed Wednesday night in Detroit at the airport. The team said it was a 'personal problem with his wife.' Later it was revealed he had an argument with his wife. 
In 1989 Leach signed with the Rangers and is seen here in his Texas uniform. He hit .272 with a home run and 23 RBI's. In May he disappeared again this time in New York. When he returned 24-hours later he found himself under investigation by the police over a packet of marijuana found in his luggage. He was then ordered to undergo drug counseling and testing by the commissioner's office, though he was allowed to rejoin the team. 
After failing a drug test in August of 1990 he was suspended for 60 days by the commissioner and was out of the game for good. 

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

#26-Don Slaught




Drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 7th Round of the 1980 draft Don Slaught was a good glove capable hitting catcher who had a sixteen year career in the majors. Drafted out of UCLA he was an academic All-American with a GPA of 3.4. While he had an interesting career something he did in college was impressive in that he was pushing in the director of sabermetrics. According to the St. Joseph News-Press article of March 3, 1983 Slaught, "an econmomics major, has worked on other baseball-related college projects the last couple of years. 
"One was a statistical analysis in which he determined that in 1921 Babe Ruth… had the most outstanding single-season performance in baseball history. 
"In another, Slaught traced what he calls a player's marginal revenue product in terms of ability and performance contributed to a team and the effects on television and gate receipts. 
"He proposed that the formulas he followed could be self in evaluating trades, arriving at optimal lineups, setting salary structures, identifying strong and weak points of players and making historical comparisons." Dang! 
Debuting with the Royals in 82 he appeared in the 84 post-season where he hit .364 in the Royals defeat to the eventual Champion Tigers. 
Over the winter he was traded to the Rangers in a multi-team deal that saw Jim Sundberg go to Kansas, Danny Darwin and Tim Leary to the Brewers and Frank Willis to the Mets. After three years in Texas it was off to the Yankees for pitcher Brad Arnsberg. In New York the major criticism of Slaught's game was revealed. "The Royals, Rangers and three Yankees managers have criticized the way Slaught called a game." He said the staff had better numbers when he caught but after two years he was traded from the Yankees for Jeff Robinson and prospect Willie Smith in what was seen as a win for the Yanks. In Pittsburgh, the other flaw in his game was noticed. In his first eight years he had been on the disabled list six times. In 86 he suffered a broken nose and fractured cheek bone from an 'Oil Can' Boyd fastball. He missed  nearly two months after that beaning. Pulled groin in 1988 shorted a season where he had gotten off to a good start. 1991 it was a 'freak hamstring' injury and was forced to sit out the last month of the season. 
In spite of the perceived flaws on July 2, 1993 Slaught hit two three-run-home-runs and a sacrifice fly to drive in seven runs against the Reds in a 10-9 win over Cincinnati. Along with his baseball work he was also getting into coaching before his career ended. After losing the seventh game of the NLCS in 1991 drove home from Pittsburgh to Arlington, Texas, it took 24 hours. He got home to find out the Japanese team the Chunichi Dragons wanted him to coach their catchers. 
In the spring of 96 he signed with the Reds and was purchased by the Angles who then traded him, late in the season, to the White Sox. In 1997 he briefly played for the Padres before he was released. 
Slaught served as the Tigers' batting coach but resigned at the end of the 06 season because of missing his family and being away from his business interests.
On the card we have Slaught looking at either a play on the infield during an afternoon game-since he is in pinstripes more than likely at Yankee Stadium, though it could be a spring game. 

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

#25 Willie Randolph




It is Willie Randolph but not like you expect to him in his Yankees' uni instead here he is rounding second and watching the play unfold while no one is setting in the outfield bleachers at Dodger Stadium. 
Drafted by the Pirates in 1972 he was a 7th round selection and made his made his MLB debut in July of 1975 as a backup to Rennie Stennett. After the 75 season the Pirates wanted more pitching and included Randolph in a deal with the Yankees for pitcher Doc Medich. Replacing Sandy Alomar (Sr.) Randolph spent the next 13 years providing the Yankees with excellent defense at 2nd base  along with 4 All-Star appearances. With Randolph at 2nd the Yankees rolled off three straight American League Pennants and two straight World Series. However, in 1978 he missed the post-season with hamstring issues that occurred in the last week of the regular season.  In 77 Hal McRae bulldozed him to break up a double play. Randolph said "the next time he comes at me, I'll throw the ball right between his eyes." 
The New York Times reported a rumor in 1985 that after Randolph had lost a game with an error he called the San Diego Padres about a trade of Randolph for Alan Wiggins. Thankfully that deal never happened since Wiggins was just out of rehab for a cocaine problem and would have more relapses and his career was over shortly after. 
An injury plagued 1988 season was his last as a Yankee as the team signed Steve Sax from the Dodgers to play second and Randolph signed with the Dodgers to replace his replacer with the Dodgers. He had been negotiating a new contract with the Yankees, but the talks stalled for two reasons: The Yankees wanted Randolph to waive his trade-veto rights, which he was not prepared to do, and the Yankees, at Dallas Green's instigation, vigorously began pursuing Sax, who they eventually signed for three years and $4 million. 
Randolph batter .230 last season, the lowest average of his career. Injuries were primarily responsible. The Brewers and Oakland were two other teams in pursuit of him that off-season. In 1990 Randolph was traded to the A's where he made his last World Series in a losing effort against the Reds. A free agent again he signed with the Brewers in 91 and the Mets in 92. With no takers in 93 he retired and was named to a front-office. 
In 2005 he became manager of the Mets and in 06 lead the team to a 97-65 record an first place in the East. Sweeping the Dodgers they lost in seven games to the Cards. A slow start in 08 resulted in the infamous 3 AM phone call to Randolph in LA  that he was fired. He finished with a 302-253 record but in spite of that was fired and since then the Mets haven't finished above .500. 

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Another Modesto Bee article


Its that time again for another link to an article from the Modesto Bee by me. It doesn't have anything to do with baseball but it is sports related; and if you have an aversion to links here is the whole url:
http://www.modbee.com/2012/11/04/2442143/mcandrews-turlock-team-had-miracle.html


Saturday, November 3, 2012

#24-Joe Hesketh





- While he is a legend at the University of Buffalo injuries shorted his promising career. Drafted by the Expos in the 2nd round of the 1980 draft he started the season 7-0 and after he compiled an 8-2 with a 1.92 at the Expos' A league West Palm Beach team he made an appearance with the big league team in the Pearson Cup exhibition between the Expos and the Blue Jays. "I was really kind of scared when the first guy I had to pitch to was John Mayberry" he said after theme. "He went for a pitch that was little outside and filed out to left. I felt a lot more at was after that." In the game he threw three hitless innings, struck out three and walked two plus he got the win.  After a few more appearances at A ball he was promoted to Memphis to finish out the season. He made no progress as an elbow injury knocked him out for the entire 1981 season. 1982-84 were spent moving up through the minor league system and he made his debut in 84 and on August 10th made his first start at the Olympic Stadium against the Cubs. While the Expos won he didn't get a decision. September 28 Hesketh threw a four-hit shutout of the Mets-besides being his first shutout it was also his first complete game. He finished out the season with a 2-2 record and a 1.80 ERA. 
The next season saw a 10-5 with a 2.49 and another shutout. However, his season ended in late August when in a game against the Dodgers he tried to score from first on a two-out double and collided with the Dodgers' catcher. "He beat the ball to the plate, but (Mike) Scioscia had the plate blocked. Scioscia tagged Hesketh after he landed and plate umpire Eric Gregg called him out." Hesketh was described as looking "like a bug hitting a windshield." Hesketh was carried from the field on a stretcher. After that he was 6-5 with a 5.01 and would soon start suffering more injuries and losing his effectiveness. In 1988 he had a good season coming out of the pen and picked up 9 saves. However, another bad year and in the year of this card (1990) he pitched was released twice and pitched for three teams. Released by the Expos he signed with Atlanta and after a short time there was released by the Braves and finally signed by the Red Sox. 
In 1991 he finished the season with a 12-4 3.29 and a tie, with 1985, for his beast WAR numbers when he put up a 3.1. The next three years in Boston only saw him go 19-18 with a 4.44 as he switched time between the pen and rotation. It didn't help that his manager Butch Hobson he no patience with him and would pull him out of games at the first sign of trouble.  By 1993 he was described as a 'hard-throwing lefty when he broke in with Montreal in 1985. Now he relies more on guile than power." He signed a minor league contract with the Yankees 12 days after signing he retired rather that report to the minors after being cut by the Yankees. 




Friday, November 2, 2012

#23-Randy Velarde





Came up in 87 for the Yankees and played for 16 years in the majors as a utility infielder. Played for the Yankees, Rangers and A's. Was a good glove and decent hitter. Was named in the Mitchell Report and testified in the Barry Bonds trial. Yes, he juiced which must explain his .317-16-76 in 1999. In other words he is the baseball equivalent of Scotland's Willie Johnson who was sent home during the 1974 World Cup for failing a drug test which lead to the classic line that a doped up Johnson gave "the sort of performance that gives pep pills a bad name." That's all I gots to say about him.