yeah!

I don’t know, I loved that screwball!

this post was in response to HRH by the way

good then I wasn’t tripping when the burnt into my cerebellum image of Melhuse pinch hitting came to mind… But good point that was on the manager not on Melhuse

Mecir, for example, was excellent after we picked him up from Tampa Bay in 2000, and still good in 2001, before losing his touch the next couple years.

Rhodes, on the other hand, was a total wipeout from the word go. Horrible performance, rotten attitude, nothing to like there whatsoever. I’m sure the man has some redeeming attributes, but he chose not to display any of them in Oaktown.

Redman, same story. Hated his contract from the get-go, hated his performance, hated his attitude, and couldn’t wait to see him off the roster. Unfortunately, when he and Rhodes blessedly left, they brought in…

Jason Kendall. He’s not reallly like the others, in that he had some special moments, and in fact the second of his three years in Oakland was actually pretty good. But I can’t help it, I just so utterly hated watching him “hit” – or “throw” – that I can’t keep him off my list.

Finally, T-Long. Seemed like a nice enough guy in isolation, but couldn’t hit, never showed an iota of development, and started enough games in the outfield that he wound up feeling it was an entitlement of his no matter how badly he performed. It must have come as a complete shock to him how fast his career ended once that lousy contract of his ran out.

So that’s my personal list: Rhodes, Redman, Kendall, Long. My fingers shudder in revulsion just typing out the names.

I do dissent from your idea about Macha/Dye/Melhuse, though I know yours is the more commonly held opinion. Dye wasn’t himself that year; in fact, he was the worst player in the entire league that year. I mean, .172/.261/.253(!!!)/.514(!!!!!). Yes, he’d hit a home run in the series, but he was just 3 for 13, his performance all season just screamed “This is not my year!” – and, oh yeah, he had loafed his way into an out at second base on that Johnny Damon-Damian Jackson collision play. The same pitches that got Melhuse out would have gotten Dye out as well… That damn series should have ended in game 3.

In his time in St. Louis, I’ve soured on him. I don’t like his blind eye to the steroid issues and his lame defense since then. I do like that he saves animals, though.

I couldn’t include him cuz I loved that canon arm but in light of his steroid abuse and the fact that Aaron Harang has become a productive player maybe he deserves to be on the list

In the “From Fan Favorite to Un-Favorite” category, my nominees would be:

Bobby Crosby (hard to remember now, but he was loved here in the early days)

Houston Street (ditto, and with good reason, but he was just brutalized here towards the end)

Not that these guys would make my personal list. Whatever the reasons for Crosby’s failure to develop as we all hoped, a lack of effort and desire certainly doesn’t appear to have been among them, so I won’t kick him when he’s down (although I certainly don’t relish watching him play). Street is a good, smart, hard-working guy who couldn’t sustain the extraordinary level of success he started out with in a job (closer) that is judged more ruthlessly than any other on the diamond; I won’t pile on.

Similarly with Chavez. I know you’ve hated him since forever (Chavez-hating is the one thing that I instantly think of whenever I see the name “Vacafan”), but I’ll be rooting for a Chavez comeback until the day he hangs them up. I won’t expect it, and I most certainly wouldn’t advise Billy Beane to plan on it, but I’ll root for it.

This list was made in about 5 minutes. It is not supposed to be perfect or comprehensive. It is merely supposed to be a starting point for fun discussion and nostalgia about our least favorite a’s and worst a’s memories. Part of being a fan is not just winning, not just loving your star players, but being disappointed, angr, and frustrated, especailly seeing your least favorite player trot out day after day (whywhywhywhy Jack hannahan!!!) etc. So have fun with it.

And really Matt Holliday goes on that list already??
O-cab can’t go on there for me solely because he IS NOT Bobby Crosby.

Roberto Clemente wouldn’t have got the out at home, but the feeble throw enticed the batter to try for second and enabled Suzuki to make a FANTASTIC play. I mean, when have you ever seen a catcher sprint out past the pitcher’s mound to cut off a throw and nail a baserunner? Vin Scully was gushing about it. (Yes, I chose to watch Scully rather than Fosse & Kuip, and I’m not embarrassed about it.)

Koch is already on there. He is definitely on the productive, but still… category.

Casilla is definitely working his way onto the list. Lets not forget he aged like 4 years over one summer and got a new name :) or that he was declared the next K-rod when he was first called up…

And what a fine moment, with Dye hoisting him off the ground in celebration, and Manny heading back to the dugout robbed of his walkoff glory. I meant to make note of it on my comment above that put Long on my own least-favored list.

Unfortunately, that one moment of glory doesn’t outweigh a whole career of bad-production, bad-contract, roster-clogging awfulness.

On the other hand, if the category was “Nasty Nicknames”, Long would be one of the big “winners.” “Magellan” was mean, but wonderfully evocative. Priceless.

juan cruz, how could I leave him off!!!

They played him anyway because he was supposedly needed in the field even if he couldn’t hit. He trashed his own offensive numbers because his team wanted him in there. A lot of guys wouldn’t be willing to look bad that way. That’s not on him, that’s on management.

So are you some kind of homophobe?

(JK, I assume you’re just a rotten typist and lazy proofreader.)

no time to locate the “reply” link…

You must be some kind of busy guy! ;-)