Career Stats: 1,350 G; .300/.359/.522; 242 HR; 898 RBI; 1,550 H; 809 R; SB Data Not Known. Michael Redd 6. He falls short of being Cooperstown worthy, butConcepcion's career was celebrated in Cincinnati back in 2007, when his jersey, No. While Abbott wasn't an elite pitcher, the fact that he lasted a decade in major league baseball with only one hand is truly a remarkable featand it's a shame that future generations will view him only as an oddity and not as the inspirational figure he truly isif they notice him at all. A seven-time All-Star and one of the smoothest fielding third basemen of the 1940s, Ken Keltner almost single-handedly ended Joe DiMaggios 56-game hitting streak in 1941. He was just 17 years old when his Rookie Cards were featured in the 1997 Bowman and Bowmans Best sets. He was also a phenomenal defensive second baseman as well and one of the best at turning the double play, yet he never received a Gold Glove Award due to the presence of two other second basemen who were equally as adept with the glove: the Royals' Frank White and the Tigers' Lou Whitaker. He is currently working on assembling the entire base catalogs of four of his all-time favoritesKerry Wood, Mark Prior, Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee. Wally Moses hit .300 or better in seven consecutive seasons to start his career, from 1935 through the 1941 season. A fixture on the first four National League All-Star teams from 1933 though 1936, Wally Berger was a power-hitting center fielder who led the National League in home runs (34) and RBI (130). He generated down-ballot MVP support three different times, and was an All-Star in 2012 when he hit .324/.394/.540 for a 149 OPS+ with 32 doubles, 16 home runs and 68 RBI in a 4.6-WAR season. Young had a 32-homer, 27-steal season to finish fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2007 when he helped the D-backs reach the NLCS. Before he was a postseason hero serving as a veteran utility man for the Washington Nationals, Kendrick was a rock solid second baseman for the better part of a decade with the Angels. It's not like Vizquel is the second coming of Rey Ordonez, a slick fielding shortstop who was inept at the plate. When Frank White broke in with the Royals in 1973, he had the unenviable task of replacing fan-favorite Cookie Rojas at second base and was met with a less-than-warm welcome by Royals fans. The first shortstop to hit 40 home runs in a season, a feat he accomplished in 1969, Rico Petrocelli spent his entire 13-year-career with the Boston Red Sox. Born without a right hand, Abbott joined the Angels starting rotation in 1989 without having pitched a single inning of minor league baseball, going 12-12 with a 3.92 ERA and finishing fifth in the American League Rookie of the Year Voting. Sam Cassell 1. The A's career leader in hits, his 649 stolen bases ranked seventh on the all-time list when he retired, a number that ranks 14th today. While the Royals would fall to the Phillies in the World Series, White was also part of the 1985 Royals team that won the only World Series championship in team history. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Stay in the know about the latest sports card, hobby news, and promotions from Beckett. Barry Sanders. Career Stats: 1,190 G; .256/.346/.317; 14 HR; 254 RBI; 821 H; 339 R; 35-for-68 SB. During the first six seasons of the 2000s, he hit .292/.406/.584 while averaging 35 home runs, 98 RBI and 6.1 WAR and winning a Gold Glove every year. Peja Stojakovi 5. 1980-89: Dwight Evans. Seemingly every baseball generation has its underrated third basemen. This includes managing the Yankees to a World Series triumph in 1996 and picking the American Olympic team in 2000 that went on to win the gold medal, which are just two examples of his incredible impact on the sport. In 1990, Oquendo set the National League record for fewest errors by a second baseman in at least 150 games by committing only three. Career Stats: 2,324 G; .255/.293/.383; 160 HR; 886 RBI; 2,006 H; 912 R; 178-for-261 SB. The two third basemen in recent years whove seemed poised to join Nettles, Evans and company in underrated purgatoryare Adrian Beltre and Scott Rolen. White was also one of the two runs that scored on Dave Winfield's 11th-inning-double in Game 6 of that series, the hit that eventually won the championship for Toronto. the first player to ever bat as a designated hitter. For many, nostalgia remains the driving force behind baseball card collecting, and thats how we arrived at the idea of One-Sheet Collections. Theres also Buddy Bell, Ron Santo, Ken Boyer and a range of other third basemen who hit respectably and offered superb, if under-appreciated, defensive value. All MLB players dream of earning a place alongside legends such as Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Tom Seaver, Willie Mays, and Bob Gibson. Bonds qualifies here because the steroid-addled caricature he created for himself in his final seasons obscures everything he was before. All rights reserved. Sievers has the "honor" of being the first man with 300 lifetime home runs not to be elected to baseballs Hall of Fame. The only other players with that many trips to the plate and slash stats that high are Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Larry Walker and Manny Ramirez. I should clarify. A top-25 prospect at the start of the 2005 and 2006 seasons, Quentin failed to live up to expectations during his time in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Career Stats: 1,902 G; .265/.338/.398; 151 HR; 706 RBI; 1,726 H; 844 R; 76-for-116 SB. In Game 2 of the 1992 World Series against the Braves, David Justice was at-bat with runners on first and second. The great game of baseball. The little things that don't necessarily show up in the box score might matter more to you than they do to someone else. I also count him as one of the few players 25 and under who already hasa shot at Cooperstown. The Opening Day starter twice during his time in Cleveland, Westbrook eclipsed 200 innings three years in a row from 2004 to 2006. Career Stats: 2,328 G; .259/.311/.342; 79 HR; 646 RBI; 2,249 H; 1,181 R; 649-for-898 SB. 13, was retired by the team. On July 17, 1941, the Indians were playing the New York Yankees. He was far from a power hitter, and he only went deep eight times in 1985, making him the last NL player to drive in 100 or more runs in a season while hitting fewer than 10 home runs. Career Stats: 263 G (254 GS); 87-108; 4.25 ERA; 1.43 WHIP; 1,674 IP; 1,779 H; 1.43 K/BB. He also managed the Angels to their first-ever postseason appearance in 1979 (serving as Ryan's manager) and is still regarded as one of the most popular Angels of all time. Hernandez made his mark as a rookie during the Florida Marlins 1997 World Series run, but his best work came as a member of the Expos and Nationals. Pitching: Christy Mathewson leads the pitching staff and he would battle Wagner for player of the decade honors. A key contributor on three World Series-winning Boston Red Sox teams in the 1910s, Dutch Leonard largely played in the shadow of Babe Ruth and "Smoky" Joe Wood. He won Silver Slugger honors in 2014, hitting .271/.342/.467 for a 126 OPS+ with 23 home runs and 76 RBI and two years later he was traded to the Mets for left-hander Jon Niese. Youre correct. Yes. In 1939, Doerrbegan a string of 12 consecutive seasons with 10 or more home runs and 73 or more runs batted in; in 1940 the Red Sox became the 12th team in major league history to have four players wiith 100 RBI as Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Joe Cronin and Doerr each collected at least 105. After starting his career with three years of limited playing time in Cleveland, Jay Bell was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1989, where he became the everyday shortstop for the team that went to the NLCS in three consecutive seasons. Except the umpire missed Gruber's tag and ruled Sanders safe. McRae is one of only a handful of players who have a rule be named after them. Calling Evans "one of the most underrated players in baseball history" James wrote: Dwight Evans is the very unusual player who had all of his best years in his thirties. Conine enjoyed success for a few seasons, placing third in Rookie of the Year balloting in 1993 and earning an All-Star selection in each of the next two seasons. Yet somehow, Tim Salmon was never named to an All-Star team. Of the 18 players elected to start the 1934 All-Star Game, Berger is the only one not enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Is Lance Berkman leaning on a beat up old Ford in the Astrodome parking lot? Choke artist. He was traded from Baltimore to the Angels in 1982 to make room for Cal Ripken Jr.; ironically, DeCinces was the man who had the unenviable task of replacing legendary third baseman Brooks Robinson, so his time in Baltimore was sandwiched in between two all-time greats. Doug Christie 9. Among Rolens accolades from 2000 through 2009: 48.3 WAR, 127 defensive runs saved and a .285/.368/.497 slash. Injuries would take their toll andultimatelyend his career in 1985 after only 38 innings of work. Let's take a look at the 50 most underrated baseball players in the history of the game. He failed to replicate that level of production, but settled in as a solid middle-of-the-order producer, averaging 25 home runs and 88 RBI per 162 games during his nine years with the team. He has Rookie Cards in 1997 Bowman, Bowman Chrome and Topps Stars. Babe Ruth also hit .393 with 41 homers in 1923. It was an era in baseball defined by power. Please enter the verification code that you received on your email. Honorable mention: Craig Biggio, who willbe lambasted as one of the worst defensive Hall of Famers when his 3,000 hits get himenshrined. Career Stats: 2,011 G; .284/.376/.527; 393 HR; 1,199 RBI; 1,949 H; 1,251 R; 67-for-117 SB. Career Stats: 2,012 G; .291/.364/.416; 89 HR; 674 RBI; 2,138 H; 1,124 R; 174-for-255 SB. Owner of 11 Gold Glove awards, including nine straight from 1993 through 2001, Vizquel only made three All-Star games, due primarily to the fact that he's been overshadowed by those who were more offensively gifted. Trailing 5-3 as they headed into the bottom of the ninth inning against the Detroit Tigers on June 22, 1979, Doug DeCinces stepped to the plate with two outs, Eddie Murray on first base, and a Ken Singleton home run having cut the deficit to one run. Your Account has been confirmed and activated successfully. Its a crime! He had four straight 4-WAR seasons from 2002 through 2005, peaking in '04 when he hit .340/.419/.562 with 41 doubles, 27 home runs and 104 RBI to win Silver Slugger honors and tally a career-high 5.6 WAR. Along with his Bowman and Bowman Chrome rookies, he also has a Rookie Card in 2000 SPx and Upper Deck Victory, along with a jersey patch rookie in 2000 Black Diamond Rookie Edition. That's the response we set out to elicit with our rundown of each MLB team's most underrated player of the past 20 years. Without question, the highlight of Abbott's career came on Sept. 4, 1993 when he threw a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium, walking five while striking out three. During Guillen's five-year heyday with the Tigers (2004-2008), he hit .308 with an .870 OPS and 128 OPS+. Before Clayton Kershaw arrived on the scene, it was Billingsley who was on his way to becoming a homegrown ace for the Dodgers after the team selected him 24th in the 2003 draft. Alomar threw the ball to John Olerud at first base to double-up the Braves' Terry Pendleton, but Pendelton had already been called out for passing Deion Sanders on the base paths. However, injuries took a toll from there, and he pitched just 65 more innings in the majors. Thus far, Heyward has mostly seemed to offer tantalizing glimpses of what he might become. He hit .292/.332/.424 for a 108 OPS+ with 28.5 WAR in nine seasons with the Halos, earning one All-Star selection and some down-ballot MVP support in 2014 when he logged a career-high 6.1 WAR. From 1980 through 1990, Stieb failed to win at least 11 games only once, posting an average season of 14-10 with a 3.29 ERA and 1.22 WHIP and nine complete games.
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