Kirk Gibson

Legendary, but never an All Star.

Why we like him: Kirk Gibson was the 1988 National League MVP. He also hit one of the most legendary home runs in World Series history that season which propelled his Dodgers to victory over the Oakland A's. He played the game with such tenacious competitiveness and intensity that he was often described as a football player on the diamond. Yet this man was never an All Star. He was one of my absolute favorite players to watch play the game.

Ladies and gentlemen, Kirk Gibson, ballplayer.

Mike Gallego

Getting ready to do what he does worst.

Why we like him: You have to love it when a player understands exactly what his job is and does it without complaint or a desire for attention. From 1988 to 1990, the Oakland Athletics were the poster boys for the increasingly popular (and highly dubious, in retrospect) playing style of gearing your entire offensive game around the home run. By employing mashers like Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Dave Henderson, and Dave Parker, the A's were piling up runs with an almost cocky pizazz, blasting homer after homer during their three year run of World Series appearances. What they forgot, however, were the little things.

Despite being a career .239 hitter with just 42 homers over the course of his 13-year career, Mike Gallego was a key piece to A's championship puzzle. On a team that was built solely around slugging percentage, the A's were obviously lacking defensively. While terrifying hitters to face at the plate, Canseco and McGwire were each essentially a klutz in the field. Someone had to pick up their slack and make plays. Gallego had a career fielding percentage of .977 and put up a sparkling .986 while patrolling second base.

The other aspect of Gallego's game that warrants some serious merit was his ability to handle the bat in situational opportunities. He could almost always lay down a good bunt, hit a grounder to right side of the infield, or just find a way to move a baserunner. He never led the league in anything except sacrifice hits in 1990 with 17. That's the tell-tale sign of a guy who wants his team to win. And they did, at least until they ran into the Reds in the World Series that year.

Mike Gallego's career was about as ultimately meaningless as they come. By they end of his career, he'd been shipped off to the Bronx and again to St. Louis after a short second stint with Oakland, and he was nothing more than a defensive substitute or platoon infielder. However, just because a guy doesn't put up numbers does not mean he isn't appreciated.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mike Gallego, Ballplayer.

Delino DeShields

Greatest. Cap. Ever.



Why we like him: Sometimes I remember players because of the way they played the game, statistics they compiled over their career, or even just because of the way they looked.  Then there are players you remember because of all of that as well as the fact that they were a piece of one of the most ludicrously stupid trades in baseball history. Meet Delino Lamont DeShields.

DeShields was a pretty good player by any standard, a pesky lefty slap hitter that always seemed to find his way on base and steal second, third, and shortstop's wallet.  In his first year in the league, 1990, DeShields batted .289 with 42 steals for a young Expos team that had a certain buzz about them. They were competitive within the division always seemed like a threat to sneak up on anyone in the National League.  DeShields was part of the Montreal's youthful foundation that centered around himself, Larry Walker, Rondell White, and Marquis Grissom, all of which had enough veteran leadership around them in guys like Tim Wallach, Tim Raines, and Andres Galarraga to make them legitimate contenders in the future.

At the end of the 1993 season, DeShields' stock had never been higher.  He was coming off a .295 season with 42 steals and looked like the prototypical, consistent leadoff hitter of the future.  He even finished 16th in MVP voting in 1992.  The Expos were loaded with young talent and looking to make a run for the division in 1994 (and I like to think they would have won the Series too, you know, if there was one).  They just needed a little more firepower in the pitching department to send them over the top.  The Montreal brass dangled DeShields on the trade market looking for any takers.  The Los Angeles Dodgers were willing to part ways with a young pitching prospect of their own named Pedro Martinez in return for the pesky DeShields. No, really. Straight up. Needless to say, the rest is history.

Pedro Martinez went on to win his first Cy Young Award in Montreal in 1997 on his way to becoming one of the best pitchers the game has ever seen.  DeShields played three seasons for the Dodgers and batted .241 before walking away to St. Louis as a free agent in 1997.  DeShields' final career stats include 13 big-league seasons, a .268 average, and 463 steals.  And an involvement in one of the single dumbest, head-scratching-est trades in baseball history.

Ladies and gentlemen, Delino DeShields, Ballplayer.

Ricky Jordan

I assume he's holding a bat.

Why we like him:  This story is just further proof that all that glitters is definitely not gold.  In 1989, a pretty big portion of the Philadelphia Phillies' future rested in the hands of a young, talented first baseman named Paul Scott Jordan. I have no idea how you get "Ricky" out of that. He was coming off a 1988 season where he made his debut and batted .308 with 11 homers and 43 RBI in 69 games for the Phils while playing a pretty good first base.  His first full season in the bigs, 1989, saw Jordan bat .285 with 12 home runs and drive in 75 runs.  The Phillies seemed to have a very good, greatly talented young first baseman that could serve as an integral part of a budding baseball powerhouse in Philly.

Then 1990 happened.  The league had seeminly figured Ricky out.  His average dropped to .241 as he posted the lowest slugging percentage of his career at .352.  The Phillies began having their doubts whether or not Jordan could be their everyday first baseman, much less a cornerstone of their organization.  Left fielder John Kruk was getting heavier, to put it nicely, and could no longer track down fly balls anymore, so the Phillies decided to move him and his superior left-handed bat to first and give the leaner, more athletic Jordan a try in left field in 1992.  Though it wasn't a complete disaster like many other defensive moves, Ricky Jordan the outfielder didn't really impress either.

Jordan knew he had to find some type of role with the squad, and simply decided to become the best pinch hitter he could  be.  From 1992-1994, Jordan experienced some of his most productive years as a hitter, and did the most he could with what few at-bats he was given.  When the strike of 1994 happened, Ricky Jordan was one of the hottest assets in baseball, a 29-year old trustworthy pinch hitter who could give you innings at first or in left.  Believe it or not, a guy like on the bench that was extremely valuable in the time before steroids made every player in the league a threat to produce offense.

When baseball started again in 1995, Jordan was inexplicably nowhere to be found.  He was granted free agency by the Phillies in late 1994, and signed by the California Angels in the spring of '95, but never played a game for the Angels.  His contract was purchased by the Mariners during Spring Training in 1996, and he went on to play 15 games for the M's, batting a ho-hum .250 with 28 at-bats.  At the end of the '96 season, he was released by Seattle and never played again.  To paraphrase Def Leppard's Joe Elliot, it's better to burn out in 1989 than to fade away as just another bench warmer in the steroid era.

Ladies and gentlemen, Ricky Jordan, Ballplayer.

Joe Orsulak

Orsulak is Polish for "mock turtleneck."

Why we like him: If, for some reason, you're looking to complete your outfield platoon and you're only using players from the 80s and early 90s, Joseph Michael Orsulak is your guy.  Everything the guy did on the diamond, whether it was legging out a triple or taking the donut off the bat in the on-deck circle, looked difficult because he did it with so much hustle.  He even admittedly likes watching minor leaguers more than the majors just because of the passion and love for the game.

Orsulak's 14-year career was both underwhelming and under-appreciated.  He was a career .273 hitter who managed a total of 57 homers and 405 RBI.  Despite some decent seasons, he was never close to making an All Star squad, but he did finish 6th in Rookie of the Year voting in 1985.  He was the kind of guy you wanted in the dugout and the clubhouse.  He was willing to do whatever it took to put his team in the best situation to win, which is really all you can ask of him.  Whether it was starting in left field, pinch hitting, pinch running, or just finishing up on defense in a blowout, "Joe O" was there to do whatever needed to be done.

Joe Orsulak is especially highly revered in Oriole lore, as he was the first player to make a putout in the then-new Camden Yards on Opening Day in 1992, catching a fly ball off the bat of Kenny Loafin' Lofton.  Also, fittingly, he was the first player to emerge from the dugout that day, sprinting to his position in right field like any real ballplayer would.  I'm willing to bet he was already dirty too.  If you're wondering, Orsulak was 0-for-3 on April 6, 1992, but I'm fairly certain every out was productive.  His O's and Rick Sutcliffe beat the Indians and Charles Nagy 2-0.

A player like Joe Orsulak probably wouldn't have a chance in the league today.  He's too much of a man.  He'd be replaced by some heartless bench-warmer with the potential to hit 20 homers.  Players don't show pride in the smallest things anymore, but when you see it, you know it, and you love it.  Next time you see a guy jog out a grounder to second or walk the last 40 feet to his position, think about Joe Orsulak, a man of pride and a rarely-seen love for the game.

Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Orsulak, Ballplayer.