My Select List: No-name solid performers

[Hy Feiber]

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... ma01.shtml

Starting with infielder Mark Loretta.

Hit .295 lifetime over 15 years.

Over 1,700 hits.

Next is Marco Scutaro, hit .277 over 13 years.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... ma01.shtml

Lastly, for now, late bloomer David Eckstein, prior career minor leaguer, who hit .280 lifetime over 10 years, had over 1,400 hits.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... da01.shtml

All guys unheralded, but having consistent numbers over at least 10 years.

[Moe Gibbs]

Those are 3 very prime examples..good work..! I had completely forgot about Loretta.[but isn't that the point here...?]
With 750 some odd roster spots there must be more like 900 MLB / AAAA names to keep track of now. Too much for me, I don't even try. So many good to great players coming and going at all times..it's just a blur.
Scutaro had a late career surge IIRC and I think it was with SFG.
I brought up Bob Bolin [recently] as one of the best pitchers nobody ever heard of.
Our very own Ken Phelps had an impressive career for a guy who spent so much time on the bench. Was he "solid"..? Well, he had at one point a HR rate of 1 per every 11 ABs that spanned more than just a few seasons.

[Hy Feiber]

Thanks for your response, Moe, as for Phelps, he wouldn’t make my list here, hit just .239, had 400 some odd hits.

I’d like to find these “gems in the rough,” having say, at least 1,000 hits with a batting avg of .270.

Eckstein was a big surprise, having spent many years in the minors before having success.

That persistent desire to make it in the majors after toiling in obscurity is a hallmark of strong character.

Bolin did have a good career, “under the radar,” overshadowed by Marichal, Perry and others on those great Mays/McCovey/Cepeda/Hart teams.

[Moe Gibbs]

Many Mota had a strange career.
He played only about 1000 games in 20 years, with about a .300 career average.
He wasn't really a No-name Guy if you were a SFG Fan...he killed the Giants and it was always in a white knuckle situation late in a close ball game.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... ma01.shtml

[Hy Feiber]

I’ll add Coco Crisp to the list.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... co01.shtml

[Moe Gibbs]

I’ll add Coco Crisp to the list.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... co01.shtml

Well then you have to add Randy Wynn, Terry Puhl, Lou Piniella and Jose Cruz Sr...!

[rockycola]

Don Demeter, OF, 3B, 1B. I kinda liked him but I kinda hated him because he was kinda Rocky's replacement on the Tigers in 1964

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... do01.shtml

It was also the year my Mother died so that it all kinda sucked.

[Ziskmagic]

With the 10 MVP votes he received in 1996 he's probably too high profile for this list, but I remember Tony Phillips being a menace of an opponent.

In 18 years in the majors, he made no ASG appearances. He amassed 50+ WAR, with a career .763 OPS. He played virtually every position capably, took his walks, could steal a base, had a little bit of pop - he was a fixture on some great Oakland and Detroit teams on the 80s and 90s, while never being "the guy".

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... to02.shtml

[Bil522]

Now this guy was a 3 time All Star over his 19yr career but not many will remember him. He was a comfortable 0 fer when he pitched and amassed 69.5 WAR in his great career with the Cubs, Giants and Pirates.....He is Rick Reuschel.

This guy was a 1 time All Star CF over his 16yr career. He was truly the prototypical leadoff batter as his 2300+ hits and career .377 OBP will attest to. He was the last true bunting artist in baseball. His name is Brett Butler

[Ziskmagic]

Now this guy was a 3 time All Star over his 19yr career but not many will remember him. He was a comfortable 0 fer when he pitched and amassed 69.5 WAR in his great career with the Cubs, Giants and Pirates.....He is Rick Reuschel.

This guy was a 1 time All Star CF over his 16yr career. He was truly the prototypical leadoff batter as his 2300+ hits and career .377 OBP will attest to. He was the last true bunting artist in baseball. His name is Brett Butler

I remember Brett Butler being a total PItA...his bunts were exquisite, even on the cement turf of the Kingdome. He owned the strike zone - he walked more than he struck out, and IIRC he would foul off pitch after pitch, finally deflating the opposing pitcher, team, and fan base with an opposite field dinker, which he would turn into a double or a triple with his elite speed. 131 triples and 54 homers in his career,. 290 BA. Solid.

He may have been the player responsible for eliciting that gravelly, kinda angry Dave Niehaus voice which so aptly expressed the nuisance factor of a filthy opposing pitcher or a dominant opposing hitter- although I think Willie Wilson of KC probably preceded him.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... br01.shtml