Mike Twardoski must have wondered what it took to get a big-league roster spot. He posted a career OBP of .405, including .424 at AA New Britain in 1990 and .422 for AAA Pawtucket two years later. And it's not as though it was only walks; he hit .285 and was a skilled bat-handler, going back to his days at Alabama, where his coach cited his command of the fundamentals (hit & run, etc.)
Only problem was, he didn't have any power (career SLG .400) and he could only play 1st Base. And the Sox weren't going to move Mo Vaughn out of the way to make room for a guy who would've hit 30 fewer HR. (Especially as Mo could get on base, too.) Moral of the story: if you're gonna hit like a shortstop, learn to play shortstop. Or at least left field. Hopefully Twardoski, the head coach at Emory since 2000, has done a better job of finding suitable positions for non-sluggers.
In his first two seasons, Darren Hodges made the Yankees think they'd found their next fireballer, as he rang up 238 Ks in 252 innings at Oneonta in 1990 and Prince William the next year. (And that sweet 2.32 ERA didn't hurt, either.) This earned him three years' worth of chances to show he belonged at AA Albany, but he didn't, never posting a K/9 above 6.0 there. It's not that he pitched poorly (in his 1994 swan song he was 5-1, 3.23 in 8 starts), but if you can't smoke the Eastern League, you don't get to smell the AL East.
Jason Maas was two years older than his brother Kevin, and went earlier in his draft (10th round) than Kevin in his (22nd round). He didn't have anything near Kevin's power (14 career HR), but he was in the top 5 in batting average and SB in several leagues. (In his career, he stole 127 bases in 157 attempts.) Following Kevin's sensational rookie year in 1990, Jason got off to the best start of his career at AAA Columbus (.352/.459/.507 in 30 games) and had visions of joining his baby brother on the big club.
So he demanded a promotion. The Yankees, reasonably content with Mel Hall/Jesse Barfield/Roberto Kelly/Bernie Williams/Bam Bam Meulens as their outfield, refused.
Frustrated, Jason demanded his release so he could hook on with another club. (I believe he would have been a minor league FA at year's end, but he probably wanted to strike while the iron was hot…that .966 OPS was far higher than his norm.) The Yankees said no, again.
Even more frustrated, Jason retired. (He was 28, after all.) And thus his dreams of a Maas & Maas Yankee lineup were no mas.
