He could have been a great baseball player

[oplum29]

just sports in general, is like a true life Greek tragedy, it's really amazing.

we've all seen players who had high hopes, maybe started out fast, then faded. maybe they were top prospects, but never panned out. maybe they were ROY, #1 prospects, you name it, but for whatever reason, it didn't pan out.

you've heard the names before. Guys like:

- Todd Van Poppel
- Brien Taylor
- Ben Grieve
- Kevin Maas
- Gregg Jeffries
- Jesus Montero
- Kerry Wood

and the list goes on, and on, and on, and on.....

but there are three names in particular, that i think about as true Greek tragedies:

- Josh Hamilton
- Tony Conigliaro (TonyC)
- Rocco Baldelli

just a real quick bio for those that maybe never heard of these guys:

- Hamilton was the #1 pick, and the first high schooler to go first since ARod. You know the story. Drugs really ruined what to me, would have been a HOF career. he was out of baseball completely for 3-years, came back, and finally broke into the bigs 9-years after going #1. he had a good career. 5X all-star, league MVP, hit 4 HRs in one game, and had that memorable HR Derby at Yankee Stadium.

- TonyC signed with Boston at 17, and made his debut at 19 (this is 1964). at 20, he led the AL in HRs (the youngest to ever do that), and at 22, he was named to the All-Star team. A few weeks later, he took a pitch to the face, and was never the same. his career went downhill very quickly and he had to retire at 30 because of the damage to his eye from the hit.

- Rocco Baldelli was a 1st round pick for Tampa, and drew comparisons to Joe DiMaggio. He was the final piece in what hopefully was to become an elite outfield in Tampa with Hamilton, Carl Crawford, and Rocco. (they never played a single game together) Rocco had a nice start to his career, and then the injuries and medical diagnosis came down, and his career was never the same. He could have been great, but nobody will ever know because of his medical condition. After playing in 292 games his first two years, he only played in 227 games over the next 6 years (missed all of 2005). He retired at 29.

i think of these guys, because i remember pulling their cards out, or in TonyC's case, watching Fever Pitch. i think of why we got into card collecting in the first place, and it honestly wasn't to flip, it was to collect. i see where i started, where i'm at, and i worry about where i'm going with my collection.

so when i can look back and see a card of Josh Hamilton for example, i smile to a simpler time.

how about you guys? how do you feel about the guys i listed, or about your collection in general. any other players you can think of that should have been on this list?

[REGGIE206]

I voted Josh Hamilton. If he only had his head on straight at the start of his career, he would have been amazing.

[SupermanBrandon]

Mike Trout

[TBTC Baseball]

Hamilton was such a beast when he was on.

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by SupermanBrandon

Mike Trout

/Thread

[Rooftop]

Oscar T

[rats60]

Of those 3 Hamilton was the only one who showed flashes of potential greatness, winning the MVP with an OPS+ of 170. Baldelli was a league average player his first two seasons. Tony C was solid, but he led the AL with 32 HRs and his OPS+ was 133. The next season it was 122. Solid numbers but nothing suggesting greatness.

I voted other, Herb Score is my choice. He led the AL in Ks his first 2 seasons, setting the record for rookies that was later broken by Dwight Gooden (how good could he have been if not for drugs?). He had an ERA+ of 141 as a 22 year old rookie. The next year he led the AL at 166. He was having a better season his third year when he was hit in the face by a line drive and his career was pretty much over.

[oplum29]

Originally Posted by rats60

Of those 3 Hamilton was the only one who showed flashes of potential greatness, winning the MVP with an OPS+ of 170. Baldelli was a league average player his first two seasons. Tony C was solid, but he led the AL with 32 HRs and his OPS+ was 133. The next season it was 122. Solid numbers but nothing suggesting greatness.

I voted other, Herb Score is my choice. He led the AL in Ks his first 2 seasons, setting the record for rookies that was later broken by Dwight Gooden (how good could he have been if not for drugs?). He had an ERA+ of 141 as a 22 year old rookie. The next year he led the AL at 166. He was having a better season his third year when he was hit in the face by a line drive and his career was pretty much over.

but that's the thing, we'll never know how great some of these players could have been, if not for their circumstances. you mentioned Herb Score, i don't really remember much about him, but i'm glad you mentioned him.

i think you'll always wonder what a healthy TonyC with two good eyes could done with Boston in his career. or what Rocco could have done if Tampa actually had a chance with that outfield of Rocco, Hamilton, and Crawford. Drawing comparisons to Joe DiMaggio is pretty impressive, that's not something you see or hear about everyday.

[bub838]

Not as hyped as those guys but Mark Fidrych could have had a great career.

[Robles Fan]

Grady Sizemore

[tyblain]

Josh Hamilton was GREAT for a short time.

[Stifle]

Tony Conigliaro wasn’t able to avoid a fastball, Hamilton wasn’t able to avoid his addiction.

Mark Fydrich had rumors about a bar brawl ? ? Many say the arm was spent ?

Ray Fosse ?

Pitchers -
I believe the guys name is Face that was hit in the face.
A Reds Pitcher in the 60’s, had a ALL STAR appearance as well as 2 Cubs pitchers basically at the same time Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. Mark and the Reds pitcher both were severely injured while running the bases.

[majestik101]

Josh Hamilton.

[Archangel1775]

Jose Fernandez was destined for greatness. Only played through his 23 year old season before his untimely death.

Another is Yasiel Puig. He was electric but was put in his place by the "unwritten rules" that stole his thunder. Injuries to his hamstrings derailed him also.

[YouTheManNick]

Out of those three I gotta go with Tony C.

At least Josh Hamilton got paid and I'm sure he's doing okay wherever he is now. Rocco is having a nice post-playing career managerial run.

Tony C's life didn't get much better after he stopped playing. And he died young.

Had he not got hit, maybe he has a nice, long career and avoids everything that came later.

Edit. Just read about some of Hamilton's post-playing exploits. Not great. I still think Tony C is more tragic.

[jplarson]

Mark Prior

[lambeauleap87]

Originally Posted by Robles Fan

Grady Sizemore

[YouTheManNick]

Grady's Ladies deserve their own 30 for 30.

[LCM1223]

Josh Hamilton had the sweetest, smoothest, most mechanically-sound swing of all time

Drugs are bad mmmkay

[onenineeightsix]

Originally Posted by LCM1223

Josh Hamilton had the sweetest, smoothest, most mechanically-sound swing of all time

This. His four homer game in Baltimore is worth a view. Went 5-5 with 4HR and a 2B. Think he went like 8 for 10 with 6 homers in two games.

[MoreToppsPlease]

Originally Posted by Archangel1775

Jose Fernandez was destined for greatness. Only played through his 23 year old season before his untimely death.

Another is Yasiel Puig. He was electric but was put in his place by the "unwritten rules" that stole his thunder. Injuries to his hamstrings derailed him also.

There wasn’t anything untimely about it, blow would’ve caught up with him eventually. Unfortunately it took others along with him when it did. He should never be remembered as great as a result.

[larry25]

Ah, Sizemore. Had the same damn knee surgery as him. Wasn't easy. But I vote Hamilton as well.

[ScooterD]

For anyone that wasn’t around or doesn’s follow baseball from the 40-50s, read up on Herb Score and Pete Reiser. They likely won’t do well in this poll, but it’s good baseball history

[Retired hobbist]

Originally Posted by Stifle

Tony Conigliaro wasn’t able to avoid a fastball, Hamilton wasn’t able to avoid his addiction.

Mark Fydrich had rumors about a bar brawl ? ? Many say the arm was spent ?

Ray Fosse ?

Pitchers -
I believe the guys name is Face that was hit in the face.
A Reds Pitcher in the 60’s, had a ALL STAR appearance as well as 2 Cubs pitchers basically at the same time Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. Mark and the Reds pitcher both were severely injured while running the bases.

Go further back and David Clyde was the can't miss prospect until he blew out his arm.

[bub838]

Probably a lot of promising pitchers diagnosed with tired arm before Tommy John surgery a thing.