Todd Edward Zeile

Nickname: Big Z, The Man
Career Stats: .265 AVG, .346 OBP, .423 SLG, 2004 H, 253 HR, 1110 RBI, 397 2B, 23 3B, 53 SB, 1279 K, 945 BB
DYK: Played for 11 different teams during his 16 year career. He’s the only player in history to hit a home run for over 10 teams. Led the majors in errors in the 90’s. In ’99 while with the Rangers, he was part of the first team since 1916 to have 4 players whose last names began with the letter "Z." Hit a three run homer in his final at bat as a Major Leaguer vs. the Expos in '04which makes him the last person to hit a homerun off an Expos pitcher. Has the most home runs for a player whose last name begins with the letter "Z." He’s married to a former Olympic gymnast. He has an IMDB page with acting and producing credits, and the Onion even wrote an article referencing him. Todd Zeile is a lot more interesting than I thought he was.

Tanner Joe Meyer

Nickname: Joey, Big Stick
Career Stats: .251 AVG, .300 OBP, .416 SLG, 18 HR, 74 RBI, 119 H, 24 2B, 1 SB, 124 K
DYK: The first player to hit a walk-off homerun off of Roger Clemens. Had more strike outs than hits during his two seasons with the Brewers. Joey Meyer, Rob Deer and Gary Sheffield were supposed to lead the Brewers to many World Series titles in the late 80’s and early 90’s. That didn't really go according to plan. He hit .297 with 120 homers in 464 minor league games from ’84 to ’87, but only hit .251 with 18 homers in 156 games for the Brewers.

Frederick Wayne Honeycutt

Nickname: Rick, Ricky Ricardo, Free Willy
Career Stats: 109-143, 3.72 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 2160 IP, 1038 K, 657 BB
DYK: 2 time All-Star. Won the World Series with the A’s in ’89. Currently the Dodgers pitching coach. Oldest player in MLB during the ’96 and ’97 seasons. Led the AL with a 2.42 ERA in ’83. Caught hiding a thumbtack in a bandaged finger and suspended for 10 days in ’80.

Stephen Louis Sax

Nickname: Saxy, Steve, Nice Pants, The Steve
Career Stats: .281 AVG, .335 OBP, .358 SLG, 54 HR, 550 RBI, 913 R, 1949 H, 278 2B, 47 3B, 444 SB
DYK: 5 time All-Star. Rookie of the Year in ’82 and Silver Slugger award winner in ’86. Caught stealing 30 times in ’83. Ranked in the top ten in outs made 10 of his 11 full seasons. Hit two triples and stole home in a game against the Cubs in ’84. Sax is probably most famous for contracting Steve Blass Disease during the ’83 season in which he committed 30 errors.

Willie Dean McGee

Nickname: The Big Ugly, E.T.
Career Stats: .295 AVG, .333 OBP, .396 SLG, 79 HR, 856 RBI, 1010 R, 2254 H, 350 2B, 94 3B, 352 SB, 1238 K
DYK: 4 time All-Star and 3 time Gold Glove winner. Won the NL MVP and Silver Slugger in ’85. Led the NL in GIDP in ’87. Only had 79 career homers, but somehow hit two in Game 3 of the ’82 World Series to break the hearts of Brewers fans everywhere. Hit for the cycle in ’84 vs. the Cubs. Went to school at Diablo College. Anybody who was a fan of baseball in the 80’s should sign the petition to get Willie’s number retired at Busch Stadium.

Ruben Angel Sierra

Nickname: El Indio, El Caballo, El Ruben, Big Rube, Ruben Slam-wich
Career Stats: .268 AVG, .315 OBP, .450 SLG, 306 HR, 1322 RBI, 1084 R, 2152 H, 428 2B, 59 3B, 142 SB, 1239 K
DYK: 4 time All-Star. Won the Silver Slugger in ’89. Led the AL in sacrifice flies in ’87 and in outs made in ’87, ’88 and ’93. Hit a homerun in his second MLB at bat. I didn’t know this before, but he made some really bad music in the 90’s.

Gary Carter

Nickname: Kid, Kid Carter, Captain Nice Guy
Career Stats: .262 AVG, .439 SLG, 324 HR, 1225 RBI, 1025 R, 371 2B
DYK: Growing up Gary Carter seemed like the nicest guy in baseball. I'm not sure if he was or wasn't but his smile sure made him seem somewhere between genuine and snake-oil salesman. Regardless of the dude's persona, he was a heck of Catcher. He was definitely my favorite growing up. He played 19 seasons, he's in the Hall of Fame, he played for the Expos. Prior to suiting up for the Expos, he signed a letter of intent to play football at UCLA.

Rickey Eugene Reuschel

Nickname: Big Daddy, Chubs
Career Stats: 214-191, 3.37 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 5 SV, 3548.1 IP, 2015 K 935 BB
DYK: 3 time All-Star and 2 time Gold Glove winner. Gave up back to back jacks to Bo Jackson and Wade Boggs to start the 1989 All-Star Game. Named the 31st best Cubbie of all time by BleedCubbieBlue.com.

Pedro Guerrero

Nickname: Big P, Cokey
Career Stats: .300 AVG, .370 OBP, .480 SLG, 215 HR, 898 RBI, 730 R, 1618 H, 267 2B, 97 SB
DYK: 5 time All-Star. Won the Silver Slugger in ’82. World Series MVP in ’81. He was arrested in 1999 for trying to buy 33 pounds of cocaine. He was later acquitted however, because with an IQ of 70 it was decided that he was too dumb to arrange something that complicated. Apparently he’s so dumb, according to his lawyer, that he’s unable to write a check or make his bed. Also apparently liked to do drugs with OJ’s girlfriend.

Craig Alan Biggio

Nickname: Bags, Dirt
Career Stats: .281 AVG, .363 OBP, .433 SLG, 291 HR, 1175 RBI, 1844 R, 3060 H, 668 2B, 55 3B, 414 SB, 1753 K, 285 HBP
DYK: 7 time All-Star, 4 Gold Gloves and 5 Silver Sluggers awards. Led the league in HBP five times. Earned over $82 million during his 20 year career. He is the only player in the history of baseball to have 3000 hits, 600 doubles, 400 stolen bases and 250 homeruns. I’ve got to be honest, the main reason I wanted to feature Craig Biggio today was so I could share this.

Stephen Charles Balboni

Nickname: Bye Bye, Bruno, Big Stache, Bones
Career Stats: .229 AVG, .293 OBP, .451 SLG, 181 HR, 495 RBI, 351 R, 127 2B, 856 K
DYK: What a gem "Bye Bye" Balboni was. The guy could hit the ball a mile, always swung for the fences, and, most often, struck out. To this day he's got the record for single season home runs in a Royals uniform (36) under his belt. When I'm playing RBI Baseball on the original Nintendo I like to keep "Bones" on the bench for his pinch hit power. Ironically, his animated player mirrors his playing days to perfection - lots of long balls, lots of strike outs. If you ever wanted to "learn from a pro," I encourage you to consider mastering your craft under the direction of Balboni.

Jose Antonio Rijo

Nickname: The Hose
Career Stats: 116-91, 3.24 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 3 SV, 1606 K, 663 BB
DYK: Son-in-law of Juan Marichal. All-Star in ’94. World Series MVP in ’90. Made his major league debut with the Yankees when he was 18 years old. Recently fired from the Nationals after one of his scouting finds was discovered to be 4 years older than previously thought.

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.