02-24-2009, 05:45 AM
That box score included Jim Hickman, a Cub who Bill James often cites as a guy who had one outlier year (1970) that was so much better than the rest of his career, that it almost doesn't make sense.
I kind of feel sorry for the guy. Have you ever looked at his career?
He kicked around the minors for a <i>real</i> long time, and didn't get to the majors till he was 25. And that was with the infamous 1962 Mets, widely regarded as the worst team of all time. (120 losses is still the record).
He was the Met starting RFer for their first five seasons, during which they lost:
120 games
111
109
112
95
They came in 10th place (last) in <i>each</i> of his first 4 seasons, before coming in 9th place when they "only" lost 95 games. (of course the Cubs came in 10th that year).
All that losing has got to wear on a guy. I'm assuming that that Met 5-year run of losing is, by far, the worst run any team has ever had. During Hickman's time with the Mets, they lost 2 out of every 3 games...for 5 straight years.
So then he gets traded to the Dodgers. He's gotta be rejoicing...at that time, the Dodgers were the class of baseball, having won the pennant in the NL the 2 previous years, and having won 3 of the last 4 pennants, including 2 of the previous 4 World Series.
From the cellar to the penthouse, right?
But then Sandy Koufax retires at age 30, and the Dodgers two other HOF pitchers (Drysdale and Don Sutton) have off years, combining to lose 31 games between them.
The Dodgers come in 8th place, 28 games out of first.
Then he's traded to the Cubs, and is an integral part of their gut-wrenching 1969 season. He finally has his Brady Anderson year (a year too late), and then stays with the Cubs through a few more near-misses (they came in 2nd place 3 times during his brief Cub period.)
Then he's traded to the Cardinals in '74, and they spend almost the entire season in first place, only to lose out to the Pirates on the final weekend of the year, and finish a game out of first.
The end. After that he retires.
Was he a bad-luck charm? Or just in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Very weird career.
I kind of feel sorry for the guy. Have you ever looked at his career?
He kicked around the minors for a <i>real</i> long time, and didn't get to the majors till he was 25. And that was with the infamous 1962 Mets, widely regarded as the worst team of all time. (120 losses is still the record).
He was the Met starting RFer for their first five seasons, during which they lost:
120 games
111
109
112
95
They came in 10th place (last) in <i>each</i> of his first 4 seasons, before coming in 9th place when they "only" lost 95 games. (of course the Cubs came in 10th that year).
All that losing has got to wear on a guy. I'm assuming that that Met 5-year run of losing is, by far, the worst run any team has ever had. During Hickman's time with the Mets, they lost 2 out of every 3 games...for 5 straight years.
So then he gets traded to the Dodgers. He's gotta be rejoicing...at that time, the Dodgers were the class of baseball, having won the pennant in the NL the 2 previous years, and having won 3 of the last 4 pennants, including 2 of the previous 4 World Series.
From the cellar to the penthouse, right?
But then Sandy Koufax retires at age 30, and the Dodgers two other HOF pitchers (Drysdale and Don Sutton) have off years, combining to lose 31 games between them.
The Dodgers come in 8th place, 28 games out of first.
Then he's traded to the Cubs, and is an integral part of their gut-wrenching 1969 season. He finally has his Brady Anderson year (a year too late), and then stays with the Cubs through a few more near-misses (they came in 2nd place 3 times during his brief Cub period.)
Then he's traded to the Cardinals in '74, and they spend almost the entire season in first place, only to lose out to the Pirates on the final weekend of the year, and finish a game out of first.
The end. After that he retires.
Was he a bad-luck charm? Or just in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Very weird career.
There's nothing better than to realize that the good things about youth don't end with youth itself. It's a matter of realizing that life can be renewed every day you get out of bed without baggage. It's tough to get there, but it's better than the dark thoughts. -Lance