Willie Deserved Better – And So Did These Guys

I never expected I would feel bad for Willie Randolph. How the Mets could screw up a slam dunk of a firing the way they did by canning a manager who just won his third of four games after flying coast-to-coast the day after meeting with the GM and asking to be fired IF he was going to be before making the trip is amazing, indeed. In honor of Willie Randolph’s 3:14am EDT firing on Tuesday is the All-“They Deserved Better” Team:

FIRST BASEMAN

Bill Buckner (Dodgers/Cubs/Red Sox/Angels/Royals — 1969-1990)

Bill Buckner played 22 seasons, 2517 regular season games, 23 postseason games and an All-Star game but it’s hard to remember him for anything else but his error in Game #6 in the 1986 World Series. Now that the Curse of the Bambino has been broken, Red Sox Nation has forgiven Buckner who hit .289 in his career with 2715 hits, 174 home runs and 1208 RBI. Even with the forgiveness, no one will ever respond to the name Bill Buckner with “isn’t he the guy who led the NL in hitting in 1980?” Instead, it will always be the error in ’86 that comes to mind.

This spot could have gone to Fred Merkle — known for the “Merkle Boner” of 1908 that contributed to the New York Giants losing the pennant that season.

SECOND BASEMAN

Ken Hubbs (Chicago Cubs — 1961-1963)

Ken Hubbs won the National League Rookie of the Year and a Gold Glove in 1962. During that season, he set a then-Major League record of 78 consecutive games without an error and 418 total chances without an error. Hubbs didn’t have the best sophomore season in 1963 and unfortunately, he would never make it to a third season.

Hubbs had a horrible fear of flying and, with Major League teams beginning to fly more, he decided to meet his fear head on and took flying lessons. On February 13, 1964, Hubbs and his friend Dennis Dayle decided to fly in a Cessna 172 from Utah to California after visiting Dayle’s parents and participating in a charity basketball game for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Within a week of obtaining his license, the 22-year-old Hubbs was only able to navigate the snow and poor weather for five miles and his plane crashed onto Utah Lake in Provo. Hubbs and Dayle were found dead in the wreckage of the plane on the frozen lake.

SHORTSTOP

Ray Chapman (Cleveland Naps/Indians — 1912-1920)

Ray Chapman was the only Major League player to die from an injury on the baseball field. On August 16, 1920, Chapman came up to the plate against the Yankees at the Polo Grounds in the late afternoon. Yankees pitcher Carl Mays was on the mound and threw an inside pitch that eyewitnesses say Chapman never moved out of the way of. The ball hit Chapman so hard and made such a loud sound that Mays thought the ball hit Chapman’s bat. He fielded it and threw the ball to first base but Chapman didn’t move from the ground.

While the game continued, Chapman was taken to a local hospital and died 12 hours later. After Chapman’s death, baseball changed the rules to replace dirty baseballs with clean ones and banned the spitball. Helmets weren’t introduced to the game for 30 years following the death and to date, Chapman is the only player to ever suffer an unfortunate on-the-field injury serious enough to lead to death.

Chapman’s death inspired the Indians. They wore black arm bands for the rest of the season and went on to win the American League Pennant and win the World Series over the Brooklyn Robins. His replacement, Joe Sewell, went on to play 14 seasons in the Majors and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.

THIRD BASEMAN

Cecil Travis (Washington Senators — 1933-1941; 1945-1947)

Mainly a shortstop during his career, Cecil Travis started his career as a third baseman and this wouldn’t be the first team to move a shortstop to third base, would it? Travis was on his way to a Hall of Fame career before it was interrupted by World War II in the winter of 1941-42.

Often, baseball players that went into the military never became soldiers. For Travis, that was not the case. Travis received a Bronze Star for his military service and there is a disputed story that he suffered a case of frostbite during the Battle of the Bulge that required an operation to prevent amputation of his feet.

When he returned to baseball at the age of 31 he barely played in 1945 and struggled during his last two seasons in the Majors. For his career, Travis was a three-time All-Star, hit .314 with 1544 hits, 78 triples and 665 runs scored in 12 seasons. Out of baseball from the age of 28 to 30, the war cost Travis his prime in baseball. The season prior to his call to duty, Travis hit .359 with 101 RBI , 106 runs scored and 19 triples.

CATCHER

Josh Gibson (Negro Leagues — 1930-1946)

Many say Josh Gibson was the best catcher in the history of baseball.  Unfortunately, because Gibson spent all of his career in the Negro Leagues and died three months before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, there is no Major League record for Gibson.

The statistical accuracy of what Gibson did there and in independent leagues but a plaque at the Josh Gibson Hall of Fame credits him with “almost 800” home runs.  During his years in the Negro Leagues, Gibson’s feats were legendary.  Former Negro Leaguer Jack Marshall stated that Gibson once hit a home run over the third deck near the left field bullpen for the only fair ball hit out of Yankee Stadium.  Other unconfirmed stories state that Gibson hit a home run to dead center field at Yankee Stadium two feet from the top of the wall above the bleachers — 580 feet away from home plate.

My favorite Josh Gibson story:

Gibson came to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth as a member of the Pittsburgh Crawfords.  Down one with a man on, Gibson hit a ball so high into the twilight it disappeared, winning the game… or so they thought.  The next day, in Washington, the same two teams were playing again and a ball comes falling out of the sky as Washington takes the field.  A Washington outfielder catches it and the umpire yells to Gibson, “You’re out!  In Pittsburgh… Yesterday!”

OUTFIELD

Joe Jackson (Athletics/Naps/White Sox — 1908-1920)

Banned from baseball for his alleged role in the Black Sox Scandal of 1919, Joe Jackson admitted to a grand jury that he participated in the fixing of the World Series in 1919 but spent the last 30 years of his life proclaiming his innocence.

Whether he agreed to participate or not, Shoeless Joe’s numbers in the 1919 World Series — .375 batting average, five runs scored and six RBI in eight games — at least cast a shadow of doubt.

As one who is always willing to give the benefit of the doubt, here’s a place where I think the rules should apply. In 13 seasons, Jackson hit .356 with 1772 hits, 873 runs scored and 785 RBI. Jackson led the AL in on-base percentage in 1911; total bases, hits and triples in 1912; hits, doubles and slugging percentage in 1913; total bases and triples in 1916 and triples in 1920. Even with his career being cut short by his permanent ban from baseball, Jackson is a definite Hall of Fame candidate IF he was eligible.

Tony Conigliaro (Red Sox/Angels — 1964-1967; 1969-1971; 1975)

If there was no bad luck, Tony Conigliaro might have been one of the best baseball players to ever play the game. A bold statement, I know, but look at his career:

In 1964, on the verge of a Rookie of the Year worthy season, Conigliaro was hitting .290 with 24 home runs and 52 RBI but broke his arm in August thus ending his run at the award. In 1965, he led the American League in homers with 32 and was picked to play in the 1967 All-Star game during the season where he became the youngest player to reach 100 home runs.

The 1967 campaign would go sour when Jack Hamilton hit Conigliaro with a pitch on the left cheekbone on August 18, 1967. The pitch broke his cheekbone and caused severe damage to his retina.

He missed a year and a half and returned in 1969 and earned Comeback Player of the Year honors with 20 home runs and 82 RBI and followed that with another impressive season in 1970 with 36 home runs and 116 RBI. His vision deteriorated due to the ’67 incident and he struggled in 1971 with the Angels. Conigliaro returned in 1975 to the Boston Red Sox but was forced to retire due to permanent vision damage.

In 1982, after an interview in Boston for a broadcasting position, Conigliaro suffered a heart attack on his way back to the airport. His health continued to deteriorate and shortly after the heart attack, Conigliaro suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma. He spent the last eight years of his life in a vegetative state and died in 1990 at the age of 45.

Walt Bond (Indians/Colt .45s/Astros/Twins — 1960-1962; 1964-1965; 1967)

Signed as an amateur free agent in 1957 by the Cleveland Indians, the 6’7” Bond was a natural first baseman but the Indians decided to play him in the outfield. In 1962, Bond received a September call-up and went 19-for-50 with 17 RBI and 10 runs scored in 12 games. Despite his .380 average, Bond was sent down after the team acquired Joe Adcock.

After a season in the Minors, Bond was purchased by the Colt .45s and he hit .254 with 20 home runs and 85 RBI in Colt Stadium – one of the toughest hitter’s parks in baseball — while playing mostly at first base. In 1965, the Colt .45s became the Astros and moved to the Astrodome — another tough hitter’s park. During that season, the Astros traded for Jim Gentile and moved Bond back to the outfield. He went back to the minors after 1965 and was traded to the Twins in 1966.

In 1967, Bond joined the Twins and played 10 games and hit .313 with a home run and five RBI. However, Bond had leukemia several years before, and the cancer reared its ugly head again and he was released by the Twins.

Bond received treatment and was able to play in three more Minor League games with Triple-A Jacksonville but his strength was declining and on September 14, 1967, Bond died a month before his 30 ^th birthday.

STARTING PITCHER

Ernie Broglio (Cardinals/Cubs — 1959-1966)

On June 15, 1964, Ernie Broglio became infamous in Cubs lore. The ’64 Cubs were 27-27 and in need of a pitcher so they traded young outfielder Lou Brock to the St. Louis Cardinals for Broglio who was coming off of an 18-8 season.

The Brock-for-Broglio deal at the time was not considered lopsided. However, Broglio would never live up to his top flight pitching reputation and Lou Brock would help the ’64 Cardinals to a World Series.

In his two and a half seasons with the Cubs, Broglio went 7-19 with an ERA of 5.40. Brock went on to a Hall of Fame career with their National League rivals. Now, “Brock for Broglio” is a term used as an adjective to describe a lopsided trade.

While Broglio was never a superstar, he was a respectable 77-74 with a 3.40 ERA.

RELIEF PITCHER

Donnie Moore (Cubs/Cardinals/Brewers/Braves/Angels — 1975; 1977-1988)

Mentally, Donnie Moore was never stable. From most accounts, he battled depression his entire life. Moore got the California Angels within one strike of making the World Series but a home run by Red Sox outfielder Dave Henderson on a 2-2 pitch in Game 5 of the ALCS tied the game and eventually the Red Sox won in 11 innings (scoring another run off of Moore in the 11 ^th ). The Red Sox then went on to win the next two games and overcome a 3-1 deficit in the series to eliminate the Angels.

Moore spent the next few years of his life hounded by sports fans and sports media who blamed him for the Angels collapse in ’86. He battled alcoholism, drug abuse, financial difficulties, marital problems and depression. After being cut in June 1989 by the Kansas City Royals while in their Minor League system in his 14 ^th year in baseball, Moore returned home and continued his downward spiral.

On July 18, 1989, an argument with his wife, Tonya, pushed him over the edge. Moore shot his wife three times in front of their three children then shot himself. Luckily, his daughter, Demetria was able to get his wife to the hospital and she survived the shooting. Donnie, however, did not survive.

MANAGER

Willie Randolph (New York Mets — 2005-2008)

It wasn’t surprising that Willie Randolph was fired last week by the Mets. The way GM Omar Minaya and the Mets handled it was. As for the story of Willie Randolph’s time with the Mets, it was best told by Randolph on Friday on the website of the New York Daily News . Rather than tell it again, here is a link to Randolph’s own account of the firing .