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.