Peter Joseph Incaviglia

Nickname: Pistol, Inky
Years Played: 1986-1998
Teams: Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees
Highlights/Awards: Led the league in strikeouts in ’86 and ‘88
Career Stats: .246 AVG, .448 SLG, 206 HR, 655 RBI, 194 2B, 33 SB, 1277 K
Best Season: 1986; .250 AVG, .320 OBP, .463 SLG, 30 HR, 88 RBI, 21 2B, 185 K
DYK: Made his major league debut before playing a game in the minors. Owns the NCAA single season home run (43) and RBI (143) records. Has a rule named after him, the Pete Incaviglia Rule.
Thoughts: The first time I heard about Inky was in an article describing how he hit a ball through the outfield wall, I instantly liked him. He was my second favorite player in the 80’s, behind Rob Deer. Hit 30 homeruns as a rookie and didn’t ever receive a vote for Rookie of the Year, how did that happen?

Joaquin Andujar

Nickname: One Tough Dominican, El Loco
Years Played: 1976-1988
Teams: Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland A’s
Highlights/Awards: 4 Time All-Star (77,79,84,85), World Series Champion in ’82, GoldGlove in ‘84
Career Stats: 127-118, 3.58 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 1032 K, 731 BB, 9 SV
Best Season: 1984; 20-14, 3.52 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 147 K, 70 BB
DYK: Led the NL in hit batsmen in ’84 and ’85. Really enjoyed cocaine. Once removed himself from a game because of jock itch.
Thoughts: Lots of memories of Andujar from my younger years. The two most prominent are him winning two games in the ’82 World Series including Game 7, and his meltdown in Game 7 of the ’85 World Series. This guy was a quote machine, I’ll leave you with some of his better ones:
"How can I play baseball if I'm stupid? If I was stupid I wouldn't have pitched in the World Series. I'd be playing ball in Mexico or Yugoslavia or on Pluto."
"It wasn't my arm (that was injured). It was my forearm."
"I win or I die."
"That's why I don't talk. Because I talk too much."
"There is one word in America that says it all, and that one word is, 'You never know.'"
"You can't worry if it's cold; you can't worry if it's hot; you only worry if you get sick. Because then if you don't get well, you die."

Ronald Joseph Karkovice

Nickname: Ron, Carp
Years Played: 1986 - 1997
Teams: Chicago White Sox
Highlights/Awards: Went 0 for 15 w/ 7 strikeouts in his only postseason appearance.
Career Stats: .221 AVG, .289 OBP, 96 HR, 335 RBI, 336 R, 120 2B, 24 SB
Best Season: 1996; .228 AVG, .424 SLG, 20 HR, 54 RBI, 60 R
DYK: Hit an inside the park grand slam in the Metrodome. Caught Wilson Alvarez’s no hitter in 1991.
Thoughts: Not sure why I thought Korkovice was a good power hitter, he clearly wasn’t. The guy didn’t like to walk either, as evidenced by his career .289 OBP. He had a great blonde stache though, you don’t see enough of those.

Ellis Rena Burks

Nickname: Smooth
Years Played: 1987 - 2004
Teams: Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians
Highlights/Awards: Two time All-Star (90, 96), Two time Silver Slugger winner (90,96), Gold Glove in 1990
Career Stats: .291 AVG, .510 SLG, 352 HR, 1206 RBI, 1253 R, 402 2B, 181 SB
Best Season: 1996; .344 AVG, .408 OBP, .639 SLG, 40 HR, 128 RBI, 142R, 45 2B, 32 SB
DYK: Second player in Red Sox history to hit two homers in one inning. Currently works as a special assistant to the general manager for the Indians.
Thoughts: Got ripped in the ’96 MVP voting, finishing behind Caminiti’s steroids and Piazza. Playing in Colorado undoubtedly hurt him with the voters. Look at those numbers though, how can he not be the MVP that year?

Timothy Raines

Nickname: Rock, Tim
Years Played: 1979 - 2002
Teams: Montreal Expos, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Oakland A’s, Baltimore Orioles, Florida Marlins
Highlights/Awards: 7 time All Star (81-87), Won the Silver Slugger in 1986, 2 time World Series Champion (96, 98)
Career Stats: .294 AVG, .385 OBP, 170 HR, 980 RBI, 808 SB, 1571 R, 430 2B, 113 3B, 2608 H
Best Season: 1983; .298 AVG, .393 OBP, 11 HR, 71 RBI, 90 SB, 133 R, 32 2B, 8 3B
DYK: Played his first game with Montreal when he was 19. Carried his cocaine in his hip pocket and slid headfirst so are to avoid losing any, smart man.
Thoughts: Probably the second greatest leadoff hitter of my time, and somehow can’t get any love for the Hall of Fame, but we don't debate HOF credentials here at Foam Finger. Another favorite team of mine to play Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball with was the Chicago White Sox. Raines led off and was unstoppable. You also had Ventura, The Big Hurt, Ellis Burks and Ron Karkovic in the lineup with Black Jack McDowell on the mound.

Charles Sidney Fernandez

Nickname: El Sid, Fat
Years Played: 1983 - 1997
Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros
Highlights/Awards: Two time All-Star (86, 87), Won the World Series in 1986
Career Stats: 114-96, 3.36 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 1743 K, 715 BB, 1866 IP
Best Season: 1989; 14-5, 2.83 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 198 K, 75 BB, 219 IP
DYK: Sid wore #50 in honor of his favorite television program, "Hawaii Five-0." Made a comeback attempt in 2001, but pitched in only one minor league game before re-retiring.
Thoughts: We’re sticking with the pitchers from the ’86 Mets theme today. My main memory of Sid Fernandez is my friend giving him the nickname “Fat Sid.” I don’t know why, but to an 11 year old kid, that was hilarious. He was a rotund fellow, but also a very good pitcher. Had some knee problems that limited his innings later, but still had a solid career and could strike some people out.

Jesse Russell Orosco

Name: Jesse Russell Orosco

Nickname: Chief, Sidewinder

Years Played: 1979 - 2003

Teams: New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins

Highlights/Awards: 2 time All-Star (83, 84), World Series Champion in ‘86

Career Stats: 87-80, 3.16 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 1179 K, 581 BB, 144 SV

Best Season: 1984; 10-6, 31 SV, 2.59 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 85 K, 34 BB

DYK: Career leader in games by a pitcher. Oldest player in the league from ’99 to ’03. Had an RBI single in Game 7 of the ’86 World Series. Last player who played in the 70’s to play in a major league game.

Thoughts: Probably the first guy to have a spot on the roster for the sole purpose of getting out left handed hitters, now almost every team has one. Chief made over $15 million in his career while rarely throwing over 50 innings a year for the last 15 or so years. Pretty good work if you can get it.

Ricardo Bones

Nickname: Ricky, Bones,
Years Played: 1991 - 2001
Teams: San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, Florida Marlins
Highlights/Awards: AL All-Star (1994)
Career Stats: 63-82, 4.85 ERA, 564 K's, 11 Complete Games, 1 Shutout.
Best Season: 1994; 11-11, 3.43 ERA
DYK: Bones is the pitching coach of the Mets' Triple-A farm team, the Buffalo Bisons.
Thoughts: What a gem Ricky was. I would venture a guess that nobody outside of Brewer die-hards even remembers this. He had a long mane of hair, a pencil-thin stache and a penchant for sucking. Only once in his career did he win more games than he lost and he enjoyed five double-digit loss season. He did make an all-star team, but he never saw the field.

Karl Derrick Rhodes

Nickname: Tuffy
Years Played: 1990 - 1995
Teams: Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox
Highlights/Awards: None
Career Stats: .224 AVG, .310 OBP, .349 SLG, 13 HR, 44 RBI, 74 R, 14 SB
Best Season: 1994; .234 AVG, .318 OBP, .387 SLG, 8 HR, 19 RBI, 39 R, 6 SB
DYK: First NL player to hit three homeruns on opening day. All-time leader for foreign-born players with 442 home runs in Japan. Hit 55 homeruns in 2001 to tie Sadaharu Oh’s Japanese League record. Holds the all-time Japanese record for ejections.
Thoughts: He’s still playing and dominating in Japan, I had no idea. I knew he played in Japan, but thought his career ended years ago. Last year he hit 40 bombs with 118 RBI and a .277 average at the age of 40! Up until now my only memory of Tuffy was taking Gooden deep three times on opening day in ’94. I remember that game well, I hate the Cubs but I couldn’t tear myself away from the TV.

Michael Warren Scott

Nickname: Scooter
Years Played: 1979 - 1991
Teams: New York Mets, Houston Astros
Highlights/Awards: Cy Young in ’86. Three time All Star (86, 87, 89).
Career Stats: 124-108, 3.54 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 1469 K, 627 BB, 3 SV
Best Season: 1986; 18-10, 2.22 ERA, .92 WHIP, 306 K, 72 BB
DYK: Led the NL in ERA, WHIP, K/9, Innings, Strikeouts and Shutouts in ’86.
Threw a no-hitter vs. Giants in ’86. One of the writers of The Office was a big Astros fan, hence the name Michael Scott for the lead character.
Thoughts: The 1986 Astros had a nice top of the rotation with Scott, Nolan Ryan and Bob Knepper. Scott was a devastating pitcher from ’85 to ’90, logging more than 200 innings every year and a ton of strike outs. Apparently it was because he learned how to throw a split-finger fastball when traded to the Astros, because he sucked when he was with the Mets. He struck out 306 batters in’86, since then only Pedro Martinez, Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling have struck out more than 300 in one season. There were some accusations of Scott doctoring the ball over his career, but it was never proven.

Randall Max Ready

Nickname: Rerun, Randy

Years Played: 1983 - 1995
Teams: Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, Oakland A’s, Montreal Expos
Highlights/Awards: Earned almost $2.5 during his career
Career Stats: .259 AVG, .359 OBP, .387 SLG, 40 HR, 239 RBI, 312 R, 27 SB
Best Season: 1987; .309 AVG, .423 OBP, .520 SLG, 12 HR, 54 RBI, 69 R, 7SB
DYK: Was traded with John Kruk to the Phillies in ‘89. Named New York-Penn League Manager of the year in ’03. Two time minor league batting champion.
Thoughts: How did Randy Ready stick around for 13 seasons? He tore up the minors w/ a .343 average in 689 games, but it never really transferred to the big leagues. I only remember him because of his fantastic name. He seems to be a pretty good minor league manager though, so it must have been his smarts that kept getting him roster spots until he was 37 years old.

David Francis Dravecky

Nickname: Double D
Years Played: 1982 - 1989
Teams: San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants
Highlights/Awards: All Star in ’83, Hutch Award winner in ‘89
Career Stats: 64-57, 3.13 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 558 K, 315 BB, 10 SV
Best Season: 1985; 13-11, 2.93 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 105 K, 57 BB
DYK: Currently a Christian motivational speaker and author. Had his left shoulder and arm amputated in 1991. Was teammates with Kevin Mitchell. Played in the 80’s but never sported a stache.
Thoughts: The ultimate soft-tosser, he pitched to contact, as evidenced by his 558 stirkeouts in 1062 career innings. He was a pretty good pitcher though, it was difficult to pick his best season because they were all pretty much the same. But like many people, the main memory I have of Dravecky is seeing his arm snap in two while pitching. I can’t even think of the name “Dave Dravecky” without wincing.

Jesse Lee Barfield

Nickname: Rifleman

Years Played: 1981 - 1992
Teams: Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees
Highlights/Awards: All-Star in 1986, 2 time Gold Glove winner (86,87), Won Silver Slugger Award in 1986
Career Stats: .256 BA, .466 SLG, 241 HR, 716 RBI, 715 R, 216 2B, 1234 K
Best Season: 1986; .289 BA, .559 SLG, 40 HR, 108 RBI, 107 R, 35 2B
DYK: Led American League outfielders in assists three times (85-87). First Blue Jay to hit a pinch hit grand slam. Apparently there’s a statue of him in his hometown of Joliet, Illinois. Hospitalized in 2006 after a fight with his son. Writes a blog http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/barfield
Thoughts: Barfield had a cannon for a right arm, and nobody looked better in the Blue Jays powder blue unis than him. Played on some teams in the late 80’s that could score a lot of runs, but unfortunately for Barfield he got traded to the Yankees before the Blue Jays got really good in the early 90’s under Cito Gaston. He did however get to play for the immortal Stump Merrill for a season and a half in New York, so he’s got that going for him.