Running baseball thread part VIII

Well, Pendleton was pretty much done after 1993 so, if anything, it would have been Chipper and TP on the left side that year and then they would have had to find a third baseman. But Blauser had a career year after Chipper got hurt, so they re-signed him in 1994 and moved Chipper to third instead.

It's definitely hard to imagine that '93 team without TP and Blauser, but I'd love to have had the chance to see them with a young Chipper.

 

I was 10 during that season, so I don't really recall Jones' defense at short. Was he Gold Glove-caliber in a couple years prior to the injury or was he the average shortstop with a good stick?

 

Hello, Scott Hairston: three at-bats, three home runs over two games.

 

What Bonds would give for just two of them.

 

Saw both homers he hit last night. Watching the game at home and was like "3-run homer right here." Next pitch, gone.

 

Well, he had only been in the minors for about 3-plus years before the knee injury (which was spring of '94, not '93; I was wrong.) So it's hard to say exactly how good he was in the field -- I do know he had won pretty much every organizational award coming up through the minors, plus MVP of the Sally League, Top Prospect of the Carolina League and ROY of the Int'l League, before he made it to Atlanta.

Most of that was due to his hitting, of course. But he was never a bad fielder, at either position. Maybe not Gold Glove-worthy, but certainly good enough to hold down a starting job in the major leagues.

 

I still remember debating with friends about who should win the Rookie of the Year during Jones' first full season in 1995. I'm sure that still burns a fire for you, huh?

 

755

 

755.

 

Some dude just got real rich.

 

After getting beat up for it.

 

Hey, it's worth not working for the rest of your life -- or at least for a while.