A's Left Fielder Trivia Question

I saw this on tonights pre-game article on oaklandathletics.com.

Matt Holliday became Oakland's 10th Opening Day left fielder in the past 10 years.

Who has been the Opening Day Left Fielder the last 9 years? (no cheating, go from memory only!)

7 months ago micdog2001 9 comments 0 recs |

Comments

Memory only huh?

2009- Matt Holliday
2008- Emil Brown (Cust?)
2007- Shannon Stewart
2006- Jay Payton (Swisher?)
2005- Eric Byrnes
2004- Pretty sure I know every starter but LF for this one
2003-I don’t know….Chris Singleton
2002-Jeremy Giambi (David Justice?)
2001- TLong
2000- Ben Grieve

"Loyal? I'm the most loyal player money can buy." - Don Sutton

by vignette17 on Apr 7, 2009 11:42 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

7/10

Not bad. I forgot Kielty in ’04 and forgot Long played CF with Damon in LF in ’01. Singleton was the starting CF in ’03 with Long in LF.

"Loyal? I'm the most loyal player money can buy." - Don Sutton

by vignette17 on Apr 7, 2009 11:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

good job

I could only think as far back as Emil Brown, which is sad.

You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}

by micdog2001 on Apr 8, 2009 10:25 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

7/10

I remembered Damon started in LF at the beginning of ’01 for some stupefying reason…in Moneyball they mentioned how valuable he was according to their defensive metrics. Missed JerGi, Kielty, and Shannon Stewart.

by swatnick on Apr 8, 2009 4:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

10 different LF starters for the 00's...

But what about the 80’s and 90’s… Yes, Rickey obviously got a lot of the opening day LF starts… 11 to be exact, but there were some other interesting names mixed in… Jason Giambi got the start in LF for 1997, because Mac was still parked at first base. Canseco opened ‘86 and ’87 in left… I don’t remember much about it, but it must have been scary. Here is the full list for the last 30 years:
2009 M Holliday
2008 E Brown
2007 S Stewart
2006 J Payton
2005 E Byrnes
2004 M Kotsay
2003 T Long
2002 Jeremy Giambi
2001 J Damon
2000 B Grieve
1999 B Grieve
1998 R Henderson
1997 Jason Giambi
1996 P Plantier
1995 R Henderson
1994 R Henderson
1993 R Henderson
1992 R Henderson
1991 R Henderson
1990 R Henderson
1989 T Phillips
1988 D Parker
1987 J Canseco
1986 J Canseco
1985 D Collins
1984 R Henderson
1983 R Henderson
1982 R Henderson
1981 R Henderson
1980 R Henderson

by Titus on Apr 9, 2009 5:59 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

nice fact finding, where did you research it?

The only names I don’t know are Plantier and Collins.

You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}

by micdog2001 on Apr 9, 2009 5:49 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Plantier and Collins

This is from memory:

Phil Plantier came up with the Padres. He hit lefty (don’t remember if he threw lefty, too), was a power hitter with a slightly loopy swing — lowish average, decent walks. Like a less extreme Cust, and a better athlete and OF than Jack, but not as good a hitter.

Dave Collins was pretty much the opposite: a switch-hitter whose game was all about speed. He played for the Reds and IIRC was on the ‘81 team that had the best record in the majors but missed the playoffs because they finished 2nd in the 1st (pre-strike) half and 2nd half of the season. He led the NL in ’84, I think, with 60 or 66 steals. The A’s acquired him to lead off after they traded Rickey to the Yankees before the ‘85 season. He was fast, but not much of a hitter, and not a lot of walks. The only thing he did really well was run. He didn’t have much of an arm, either, and he only played LF for the A’s. Maybe the closest comparison now would be someone like Juan Pierre, but back then GMs were obsessed with speed and there were quite a lot of fast slap-hitters like Collins around. He wore glasses, and when he was in the outfield he would constantly stretch his hamstrings by kicking his feet up in front of him. It looked like he was doing some kind of interpretive dance about being a major-league outfielder.

Jose played LF in ‘86 and ’87 because Mike Davis was still with the A’s then.

"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s

by Nick on Apr 9, 2009 8:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs