This requires more thought. Who are the top 5 WORST players in MLB history? And WHY?
2007-11-13 03:40:32 · 14 answers · asked by gosuleague 2 in Sports ➔ Baseball
John Gochnnauer SS
Played for Brooklyn Superbas 1901
Cleveland Bronchos 1902
Cleveland Naps (WTF NAME IS THAT) 1903
Had 48 errors and 98 errors in 1901 and 1902 respectively. Very good answer. A .869 SS fielding % would be the worst among SS's considering he played full seasons BOTH of those years. That's nasty....
2007-11-13 04:10:21 · update #1
Klondike Smith
Moonlight Graham
John O'Connell 2B Oriolies and Tigers 1891 and 1902 respectively
Tony Vonfricken C Boston Beaneaters 1890
John Taber SP Boston Beaneaters 1890
I dunno why I know so much about the Beaneaters... I just do ok!!
2007-11-13 03:55:55 · answer #1 · answered by Legends Never Die 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I'm not sure about all 5, but for one of them I'll say with Dick Stuart. He may not technically be one of the worst players of all time, but he's probably one of the guys I'd like least to have on my team.
If you just look at his batting stats, he's not so bad. He hit over 220 homers and had a lifetime BA somewhere around
.260 or so.
He possibly was one of the worst fielders of all time though. He played 1027 career games, all but 3 at first base, and made 169 errors. If you average that over 162 games, that's like making 27 errors a season--at first base!
Also,he was kind of a jerk. One year the Twins played the last 4 games of the season at Fenway Park. Both teams were out of the pennant race but the series drew some interest because Stuart and Harmon Killebrew were tied for the AL home run lead. Killebrew hit 5 homers in the 4 games and finished ahead of Stuart.
Stuart told the press that Killebrew won because he had the advantage of hitting against Boston's pitching, and that if he had been able to do that he would have hit ten home runs. Talk about embarrassing your teammates!
2007-11-13 12:37:55 · answer #2 · answered by bencas9900 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ty Cobb was suspended once for beating up a handicapped guy in the stands. The Tigers players refused to play unless he was reinstated. The management had to come up with a team to play one game in which they lost 22-4 or something like that. It was 1912, I think. So I'd nominate that team. That's quite a lot more than 5 players.
Marvelous Marvin Throneberry was a better player than his reputation. Still, strange things happened to him. He committed 3 errors in one play once, had a home run called back for his not touching first and the call was reversed when Casey Stengel argued but then he was called out for missing second, too, and that call stood.
Robin Yount's brother was a relief pitcher and was called into his first game. He was announced but then injured his arm warming up and never made it back to the bigs. So he is credited with one appearance even though he never played. That's REALLY failing to impress.
2007-11-13 12:48:11 · answer #3 · answered by Sarrafzedehkhoee 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How about "Marvelous" Marv Throneberry, considered by the experts to be the very worse of the worse. He was only fittingly, a member of the 1962 Mets.
Jeff Stone, Phillies. It pained me that I was subjected to this "major leaguer" as I often wondered, how on God's earth did anyone ever think he was major league material????? I say this in all honestly, but as a young man, I was a better ball player than Jeff Stone.
History also mentions a guy who played for the Indians I think named Joe or John or Jake Gochnaur. He played over 100 years ago. Before "Marelvous" Marv, this guy was the most laughed at. Sad!!
I'm sure this is an subjective question so I'll have to give consideration to two more players. "I'll be back"!!
2007-11-13 11:51:42 · answer #4 · answered by The Mick 7 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Eddie Gaedell, the midget that batted once for Bill Veeck. Could barely lift the bat.
Bob Uecker, great announcer and baseball ambassador but admitted himself that he never really wanted to play, he just wanted to hang out in the bullpen. Not wanting to play is probably the worst quality to have in a ballplayer, more so than not being able to play.
Herb Washington, pinch runner for the Oakland A's. Couldn't really hit worth a damn, was only on the team because he was fast. Unfortunately, you can't steal first base.
Gotta think on the last two...
2007-11-13 11:59:58 · answer #5 · answered by Rudy L 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Joe B, I think you made up somebody. I looked in Baseball-Reference.com and found a John Kennedy that played five games for Philadelphia in 1957. He was in 2 games as a SS, but had no fielding chances.
2007-11-13 23:03:21 · answer #6 · answered by Kelly P 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
omg there has got to be someone horrible from the bad old days of Cleveland baseball. Jimmy Piersall was a good player but nutty as a fruitcake, the dude ran the bases backwards once.
2007-11-13 11:50:12 · answer #7 · answered by alomew_rocks 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
John Kennedy-Shortstop Phillies mid 60's lasted 1 inning.Made 3 errors on three plays got pulled and never played again.
2007-11-13 12:15:20 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
i might be slightly biased, but i'm gonna say a-rod lol
btw: for the guy who said cal ripken jr. is one of the worst all time- go check his stats- more than 3000 hits, 2632 consecutive games, more than 400 homeruns... etc.
2007-11-13 18:35:00 · answer #9 · answered by Megan 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cal ripkin jr holds the record for grounding into double plays in a season. something like 237 times. but by no means would i say he is the worst. i do think brett boone could make a go at the top 5 though.
2007-11-13 11:56:11 · answer #10 · answered by rooster_nugget 6 · 0⤊ 4⤋