WWTBAM Bored

He actually died Friday at the age of 79, but I just found out from Baseball Reference's front page this morning...

His overall stats have to be among the saddest in baseball history. He was 0 for 5 (with 4 strikeouts) in his lone 1967 cup of Major League coffee with the Angels. He was also 0-8 in his lone MLB managerial stint, seeing the Angels to the last 8 of their 12 straight losses they ended the 1988 season with after replacing Cookie Rojas as skipper.

Despite being hitless and winless, he did get a baseball card in Topps' 1989 set out of that interim manager gig, and it's the only reason I even knew he existed...



lb13

He did much better as the captain of the Love Boat.

littlebeast13 wrote:He actually died Friday at the age of 79, but I just found out from Baseball Reference's front page this morning...

His overall stats have to be among the saddest in baseball history. He was 0 for 5 (with 4 strikeouts) in his lone 1967 cup of Major League coffee with the Angels. He was also 0-8 in his lone MLB managerial stint, seeing the Angels to the last 8 of their 12 straight losses they ended the 1988 season with after replacing Cookie Rojas as skipper.

Despite being hitless and winless, he did get a baseball card in Topps' 1989 set out of that interim manager gig, and it's the only reason I even knew he existed...



lb13

I'm torn between whether the saddest of all are phantom players (players who spent time on an MLB roster but were never credited with an appearance) or those who actually performed in their cup of coffee (1-1, 2-2, or in one case, I think, 3-3) but never got another chance. (I guess for pitchers that would be retiring all batters faced.) --Bob

Bob78164 wrote:I'm torn between whether the saddest of all are phantom players (players who spent time on an MLB roster but were never credited with an appearance) or those who actually performed in their cup of coffee (1-1, 2-2, or in one case, I think, 3-3) but never got another chance. (I guess for pitchers that would be retiring all batters faced.) --Bob

Since the Phillies have a new Jewish manager, there have been articles about their first Jewish manager, Andy Cohen. He was manager for one day, and the Phillies won the game.

The Phillies' first Jewish manager

Bob78164 wrote:I'm torn between whether the saddest of all are phantom players (players who spent time on an MLB roster but were never credited with an appearance) or those who actually performed in their cup of coffee (1-1, 2-2, or in one case, I think, 3-3) but never got another chance. (I guess for pitchers that would be retiring all batters faced.) --Bob

One of my favorite players who nearly had what I'd think would be a unique distinction among MLB players was a catcher named Sean Mulligan, who was a September call up by the Padres in 1996. In his very first day on the MLB roster, he was put into the game to pinch hit.... only to be immediately pinch hit for himself when a pitching change was made. Five days later (In a game I attended, and the only reason I know this guy's story), he was brought in to pinch hit in the Top of the 9th with one out, and nearly hit into the game ending double play. That was his second and final Major League game as he sat on the bench the remainder of September. I wonder how many players make their ML debut as a pinch hitter who never even gets to walk to the plate before he's removed from the game? That could have easily been his only appearance (That game I attended had a lengthy rain delay midway through)....

lb13

littlebeast13 wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:I'm torn between whether the saddest of all are phantom players (players who spent time on an MLB roster but were never credited with an appearance) or those who actually performed in their cup of coffee (1-1, 2-2, or in one case, I think, 3-3) but never got another chance. (I guess for pitchers that would be retiring all batters faced.) --Bob

One of my favorite players who nearly had what I'd think would be a unique distinction among MLB players was a catcher named Sean Mulligan, who was a September call up by the Padres in 1996. In his very first day on the MLB roster, he was put into the game to pinch hit.... only to be immediately pinch hit for himself when a pitching change was made. Five days later (In a game I attended, and the only reason I know this guy's story), he was brought in to pinch hit in the Top of the 9th with one out, and nearly hit into the game ending double play. That was his second and final Major League game as he sat on the bench the remainder of September. I wonder how many players make their ML debut as a pinch hitter who never even gets to walk to the plate before he's removed from the game? That could have easily been his only appearance (That game I attended had a lengthy rain delay midway through)....

lb13

There was a recent player, I think a Dodger in 2016, whose first MLB appearance was to be "announced" as a pinch hitter. I recall that this guy did eventually get to the plate a few days later, and I can't tell you how many plate appearances he received or whether he's on a major league roster or still in contention for a roster spot somewhere. But I suspect that there are at least a handful of players whose first official appearance was to be "announced" into a game, only to be removed for a pinch hitter. --Bob

littlebeast13 wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:I'm torn between whether the saddest of all are phantom players (players who spent time on an MLB roster but were never credited with an appearance) or those who actually performed in their cup of coffee (1-1, 2-2, or in one case, I think, 3-3) but never got another chance. (I guess for pitchers that would be retiring all batters faced.) --Bob

One of my favorite players who nearly had what I'd think would be a unique distinction among MLB players was a catcher named Sean Mulligan, who was a September call up by the Padres in 1996. In his very first day on the MLB roster, he was put into the game to pinch hit.... only to be immediately pinch hit for himself when a pitching change was made. Five days later (In a game I attended, and the only reason I know this guy's story), he was brought in to pinch hit in the Top of the 9th with one out, and nearly hit into the game ending double play. That was his second and final Major League game as he sat on the bench the remainder of September. I wonder how many players make their ML debut as a pinch hitter who never even gets to walk to the plate before he's removed from the game? That could have easily been his only appearance (That game I attended had a lengthy rain delay midway through)....

lb13

Ask and Baseball Reference shall deliver. What triggered the research was a fairly famous baseball name making his debut last season.

mrkelley23 wrote:

littlebeast13 wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:I'm torn between whether the saddest of all are phantom players (players who spent time on an MLB roster but were never credited with an appearance) or those who actually performed in their cup of coffee (1-1, 2-2, or in one case, I think, 3-3) but never got another chance. (I guess for pitchers that would be retiring all batters faced.) --Bob

One of my favorite players who nearly had what I'd think would be a unique distinction among MLB players was a catcher named Sean Mulligan, who was a September call up by the Padres in 1996. In his very first day on the MLB roster, he was put into the game to pinch hit.... only to be immediately pinch hit for himself when a pitching change was made. Five days later (In a game I attended, and the only reason I know this guy's story), he was brought in to pinch hit in the Top of the 9th with one out, and nearly hit into the game ending double play. That was his second and final Major League game as he sat on the bench the remainder of September. I wonder how many players make their ML debut as a pinch hitter who never even gets to walk to the plate before he's removed from the game? That could have easily been his only appearance (That game I attended had a lengthy rain delay midway through)....

lb13

Ask and Baseball Reference shall deliver. What triggered the research was a fairly famous baseball name making his debut last season.

Awesome! The fewest games played on that list is four by John Freeman, who is also the only one on the list who never got a Major League hit. So Mulligan's the only one who got just one more chance to play after making such a unique debut. I always wondered why the Pads never found another chance to use him down the stretch because (though not on the NLDS roster) he was still brought out onto the field during the intros of their first playoff game that year (which I was also at)...

Also, the Shane Spencer entry was interesting since his position was listed as PH-DH. His at bat ended when Darryl Strawberry got caught stealing to end the top of the 9th. Also, it mentions that Rio Ruiz lost his first ML at bat to a poorly timed rain delay turned rainout. That reminds me of the extremely weird ending to Scott Sanders' Major League career, who had his last official appearance rained out before he could ever throw a pitch, however, he was called up by Cleveland the following year to make a spot start, which got rained out before becoming official after a few innings...... so the last time he was on a big league mound, the game didn't even count; and the last time he was officially in a game, he never got to even take the mound...

lb13

Moose was beloved in these parts and deserves more than this discussion about futility. Every one who knew him had "Moose stories."

Remembering Moose Stubing, Beloved Baseball Coach and Basketball Ref

So long to Larry "Moose" Stubing, a colorful character


RIP, Moose!