LansdowneSt's Facegen Checklist

[luckymann]

Hahahahaha. Are these your own unis and caps bud?

[LansdowneSt]

No, I have NoPepper's set for all the uniforms thru 2015 including the NeL and 19th c. ones. So, I think these are from those.

[LansdowneSt]

Jonathan Broxton threw a pitch that seemed to equate with his 6-foot-4, 300-lb frame: a 100-mph heater on which few hitters could lay wood. Oh, yeah, and he also threw a slider. A very average bender. Then, in July 2008, when Broxton became the Dodgers’ closer, he impressed just about everyone, especially when he tossed that unhittable blazing fastball. Nevertheless, even with his best pitch, Broxton blew two critical saves – one in each series - against those fightin’ Phils in the 2008 and 2009 NLCS. Anyway, JB pitched in the All-Star Game in 2010, saving the game – barely – but he was never the same afterwards. Why? He lost his fastball. In 2011, elbow trouble plagued JB throughout most of the season, after which he became a free agent. - howtheyplay.com

After thirteen years in the bigs, he retired. He then became the head baseball coach at Edmund Burke Academy in Burke County, Georgia in March 2018. He brought on his father, Randy, as an assistant coach. The school won the state championship in Broxton's first season as head coach. - bRef Bullpen wiki

Redid the facegen. The game lists him at 240 lbs and a clean fg import atop the game added weight makes his head far too large so tried to narrow it in parts. It's not perfect but better than the former ships-with-game one in the pack imo. This continues me trying to look at all the players in my Historical Random Debut sim...

[LansdowneSt]

[Growing up, Pete] Alonso remained tethered to a simple dream, something he envisioned as a child and would write about in school repeatedly -- in the seventh grade, in later years: He wanted to play major league baseball, and he wanted to do what he needed to do to make that happen. Alonso says now, "It's being stubborn and just a very strong inner belief because if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will." People kept telling Alonso how different he was, how inadequate, and he retains every bit of it. The high school coach who, when Alonso decided to switch high schools, told the teenager he'd never be good enough for college. The professor who returned his essay about aspirations with a C grade and a comment that his dream of playing baseball was not realistic. The scouts, many of whom saw the body and the way he ran and didn't envision a pro ball player. - ESPN.com

To remind everyone, in his rookie year, Pete Alonso was an All-Star for the Mets who won the HR derby, bashed 53 regular-season HRs, won the NL Rookie-of-the-Year Award and finished seventh in the MVP voting. As the ESPN article on his backstory indicates, he had one goal and "There [was] no Plan B."

The fg in the pack was very pink on my monitor so I redid the facegen.

[LansdowneSt]

As the Astros celebrated a walk-off win over the Mariners [on Sept 7, 2021], Jake Odorizzi was lighting on fire his team's strategy when it comes to his usage. In the postgame Zoom with media, Odorizzi let his frustration over his limited innings boil over. Astros manager Dusty Baker only let Odorizzi get through five innings before pulling him in a tie game. Odorizzi, who signed a two-year contract with the Astros before the season, has struggled this season when he faces a lineup for a third time. Odorizzi, who is 6-7 with a 4.28 ERA, has only pitched past the fifth inning in six of his 21 starts.

In the media session, Odorizzi took six questions before abruptly walking off. Here's how that went: On the Astros taking him out after five innings: "You want honesty, I think it's bullsh-t." On if he's talked to Baker or pitching coach Brent Strom about the situation: "No, nobody talked to me." On his frustration level: “I mean think it’s pretty freaking obvious. Just go take a look at it. It’s not like I just made my debut yesterday. Been doing this for a while. So, it’s extremely frustrating.” On what the next step is for him: “Your guess is as good as mine.” And, before a seventh question could be asked, Odorizzi was out: "I'm done. I'm not going to say anything more than that, so see ya." - chron.com

An underappreciated piece acquired by Tampa in the (in)famous Wil Myers trade, Odorizzi has a 68-63 record and a 3.95 ERA (104 ERA+). He would also like to pitch longer in his starts. Or so I've heard...

Another ships-with-the-game fg in the pack that I didn't like... Redid it.

[LansdowneSt]

Some people are lucky enough to live their dreams. Sandy Valdespino is one of those rare individuals. In 1939, Valdespino was born in San Jose de las Lajas, Cuba. He recalls growing up in a country with a booming economy. “In Cuba, we used to live good. We had good jobs,” Valdespino said. “We had sugar cane, potatoes, apples, rum and the tourists. The tourism was great. We made all those things happen.” And Cuba had baseball. “Oh, that was my dream,” Valdespino said with a smile and a laugh. “Since I was a kid, you know. I used to watch the New York Yankees. Baseball was very famous in Cuba. We had a lot of good baseball players in Cuba. That was my dream, and I came here. I played in the World Series.”

“I was very lucky,” he said. “In the beginning, I was kind of worried. What if I don’t make it? What am I supposed to do? But I work hard. I work hard and I keep myself in good discipline. I make a lot of friends. It was good for me.” Valdespino’s dream led him to a career that spanned two decades. He played seven seasons in the Major Leagues, playing as a corner outfielder for the Minnesota Twins where he made a catch that is still talked about. With his back to the ball, Valdespino ran to the fence and started to jump so he could see over the top rail where the ball would land. “When I jumped, my spikes caught the fence and kept me on balance,” he said. “I saw the ball and threw my glove up and it went in. Whop! That was one of my greatest catches ever; they are still talking about it. They have it on a replay they show.” Valdespino said that after the game, the opposing manager for Cleveland said in an interview that he had been in baseball for 20 years. He had seen Willie Mays making great catches, but that was the greatest catch anybody ever made. - Albany Herald

Per SABR, the Cleveland press corps had a different take on the catch:

“Great catches are a lot like pretty girls. The last one you see is always the best one.” - Bob Sudyk of the Cleveland Press, after seeing a spectacular catch by Sandy Valdespino on June 18, 1967

There was no fg in the CU Facepack so made this one.

[LansdowneSt]

He is the ex-husband of Anna Benson. That's a whole 'nother crazy story though so let's stick to baseball...

As a Clemson junior in 1996, Kris Benson rolled to a 14-0, 1.40 record with 178 strikeouts in 142 innings. He was the consensus top talent in that year’s draft and went No. 1 overall to the Pirates as the Tigers marched to the College World Series. Before joining the Pirates, Benson suited up for Team USA at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He signed on Aug. 11 for what was then a record $2 million in what was the first year of skyrocketing draft bonuses. Three years later, Benson finished fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. Overall, in nine seasons he went 70-75 with a 4.42 ERA equating to a 100 ERA+.

Redid the facegen.

[LansdowneSt]

Pitcher Kyle Dowdy moved around a lot in the two years before he made his major league debut with the Texas Rangers on Opening Day in 2019. He was originally drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 12th round of the 2015 amateur draft, out of the University of Houston. On July 31, 2018, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians along with OF Leonys Martin for SS Willi Castro. After the season, on December 13th, he was picked by the New York Mets in the 2018 Rule V Draft, then on March 26th, he was claimed off waivers by the Rangers when the Mets tried to return him to the Indians after he had failed to make the opening day roster. Overall, in one season of major league work, he went 2-1 with a 7.25 ERA in 13 games of mostly relief work. - bRef Bullpen wiki

Redid the facegen.

[LansdowneSt]

Pitcher Wilfred “Kid” Carsey achieved an 81-59 record for the 1892-95 Philadelphia Phillies, working an average of 317 innings per season. He was the antithesis of big hard-throwing contemporaries Cy Young and Amos Rusie. The diminutive Carsey frustrated hitters by delivering deceptive slow curves. He was normally cool and collected, but at times he was feisty and unprincipled, in baseball and in life.

Carsey pitched with a crossfire motion, starting from the right edge of the pitcher’s rubber and striding further to the right, to send his curves at a tough angle for a right-handed batter. His right foot barely touched the right edge of the rubber; Pirates manager Connie Mack complained that it was an illegal delivery. Cap Anson, the venerable playing manager of the Chicago Colts, said about his team, “We murder speed pitchers. It’s the crossfire, slow drop curve pitchers like Carsey … who fool us.”

In 1913, after his playing days were over, he promoted a female vs. male baseball game but when 3,000 people came to see the game they found Carsey had fielded not the top semi-pro team, the Bloomer girls but instead men with wigs. He left town with the $700 gate receipts. No refunds were given. After that, Carsey dropped out of the public eye, and little is known about his later years. In February 1951, at the age of 80, he was found at the Brooklyn Dodgers spring training camp in Vero Beach, Florida, squeezing 90 gallons of orange juice per day for the team. When asked what he thought of present-day ballplayers, he called them semipros. “Nobody has the speed of Amos Rusie,” he said. “We had to pitch to strike out a batter. There was no foul strike rule to help us.” He went on. “They called me a fooler. I made a study of every batter’s weakness and knew just where to throw the ball. Sometimes I’d get ‘em out and sometimes I wouldn’t.” - SABR

Redid the facegen. The before is from the CU Facepack but with the wrong suffix (-kid) instead of -wil.

[LansdowneSt]

"He's a good little player, whether you ask him to play daily at one position or to help out at a second position." - Carlton Fisk

Craig Grebeck, signed as an undrafted free agent in 1986, went on to have a 12-year career as a utility player with five major league teams. His first chance in the majors was in 1990 at the age of 25, when he hit .168 in 119 at-bats. He played mostly third base, but also shortstop, second, and one game at DH. Although the average wasn't impressive, the Sox kept him and played him more the next season. He was fine the next year and 1992 was similarly satisfactory, with .268/.341/.387. It clearly sufficed for an all-purpose back-up infielder to hit that well. After his White Sox tenure, the rest of his career was as a journeyman, playing for four teams in six years. - bRef Bullpen wiki

I used the Getty Image to redo the fg and it makes him look young. I fussed with it for quite a bit and finally called it good enough and am posting. After all, there are many facegens to get through and how rugged baby-faced Craig's cheeks look isn't a problem I should probably worry about. I can at least see his face better relative to the one in the CU Facepack.

[LansdowneSt]

In his career, Héctor Carrasco pitched for seven major league teams as part of fourteen total organizations. He was the property of two expansion teams - the Florida Marlins in 1993 and the Arizona Diamondbacks, in 1998 - but played for neither, then was part of the first edition of the Washington Nationals in 2005. Carrasco pitched in 647 games in his twelve major league seasons - all but 10 in relief. He was a capable major league reliever for a dozen seasons. In his rookie season in 1994, Carrasco hurled 56 innings with an ERA of 2.24, which was good for an ERA+ of 188. He managed those numbers while recording nearly three quarters as many walks as strikeouts. Carrasco never did get his walk rate under control, but he was still effective as late as his age-36 season (2006). He posted a 3.41 ERA (133 ERA+) in 100 innings for the Angels that year. Not too surprisingly, he posted a career best walk rate in 2006, handing out 2.4 bases on ball per nine. His walk rate was never lower than 3.3 per nine in any other season of his career. - redsreporter.com & bRef Bullpen wiki

Redid the facegen.

[LansdowneSt]

Cincinnati Reds right-hander Ryan Mattheus has always relied on his sinker, usually to great success. In his first two seasons with the Washington Nationals from 2011-12, the pitch helped him to a 2.84 ERA in nearly 100 innings. But the results haven’t been there since. The Reds harped on him to change some things last season, but it took being owned by certain left-handed hitters like Cody Asche and Gregory Polanco to drive the point home. He had become predictable, always pitching down and away to lefty hitters. “They knew sooner or later they were going to get that pitch,” the 32-year-old Mattheus said. “I remember throwing pitches to Polanco that were six inches off the plate, but he knew they were going to be in that vicinity and he hit them hard.” - cincinnati.com, March 2016

His year with the Reds was his final one in the majors. Overall, Mattheus had a record of 9-11 in five years of service with an ERA of 3.72 (106+). Lefties had an OPS of .809 off him versus righties who had a .672 OPS against him.

Redid the facegen.

[LansdowneSt]

Rick Bauer pitched in parts of seven seasons in the big leagues, primarily with the Baltimore Orioles. He enjoyed his finest season as a reliever with the Texas Rangers in 2006, making 58 appearances with a 3-1 record, 3.55 ERA and 2 saves in 71 innings. After a poor spring the following year, he spent all of 2007 in the minors and made four final big-league appearances with the Cleveland Indians in 2008. Bauer debuted in the Korea Baseball Organization on May 21, 2009, allowing 4 hits, 4 walks and 7 runs in 1 2/3 innings against the KIA Tigers. He had a 15.63 ERA in his first two games for the LG Twins. He finished 2-2 with a 7.90 ERA and was released a couple of months later.

Redid the facegen using the Blue Jays photo..

[LansdowneSt]

"Virtually certain to stay with the Dodgers is Tommy Dean, a $60,000 bonus baby from Iuka, Miss., one of the most exciting young shortstops to come into the National League in years. 'No player has ever reminded me so much of Pee Wee Reese at the same age', says Bavasi. 'And no one is going to get him away from us in any draft.' " - Sports Illustrated, March 29, 1965

Tommy Dean signed for a large bonus in 1964, and played four years in the major leagues, primarily as a shortstop. Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1964, he came up to the majors for 12 games with the Dodgers at age 22 in 1967. Early in the 1969 season, Dean was traded to the San Diego Padres, and he was their chief shortstop in their inaugural season. He appeared in 101 games and hit .176/.251/.245, making only 9 errors in the field. In 1970, he was in 61 games, hitting .222/.271/.304. The following year, 1971, his last in professional baseball, he was in 41 games as a back-up for San Diego. - bRef Bullpen wiki

Redid the facegen.

[LansdowneSt]

Justin De Fratus was picked by the Phillies in the 11th round of the 2007 amateur draft. He was called up by the Phillies in September 2011 and made his big-league debut. De Fratus again split 2012 between the majors and minors within the Phillies organization. Overall, he spent parts of five seasons in the majors, accumulating a 7-6 record and a4.08 ERA (94 ERA+). De Fratus was scheduled to be a bullpen coach for the Oklahoma City Dodgers in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to Covid-19, then was bullpen coach for OKC in 2021.

Reddi the facegen. As I've said many times, I prefer the non-wide-smiling ones. Personal preference.

[LansdowneSt]

Greg Pryor played professional baseball for 16 years between 1971 and 1987, 10 of them in the major leagues. 1984 saw Pryor’s most dramatic success. Filling for both an oft-injured George Brett and second baseman Frank White, Pryor became a “supersub” as Kansas City won the American League West. The following year, he won a World Series ring with the Royals. All told, Pryor's career spanned 10 years in the majors. He played in 789 games with 2,049 PA, 471 H, 14 HR and a .250 BA.

Pryor’s 16 years as a professional baseball player had in some ways prepared him well for the career in business on which he embarked in 1987 — but in other ways, not so well. In April 1990, some three years after Pryor’s retirement from baseball and his entry into the business world, he was interviewed by Mike DeArmond in the Kansas City Star about the transition. “When I finally got a job that started at 8 o’clock (in the morning), it was quite a shock. You know I never saw the sun at this level before. I never saw these people or all these cars. Is this what happens early in the morning?” More seriously, Pryor spoke of the change: “In baseball, you, in essence, work for yourself … It’s you and the ball, totally. You catch it or you don’t. You throw it. You direct the ball. You have that control.” In the business world, “you lose that control, unless you have your own business.” Colleagues in the business world don’t understand this, and the ex-ballplayer has to become reconciled to the fact that he’ll never play again, never get back that control.” Pryor concluded that “I’m never probably going to adjust totally to being out.”

Redid the facegen in the hopes of eliminating the shadow and getting a clearer mustache.

[LansdowneSt]

Pitching for the San Diego Padres, Juan Eichelberger threw a complete game to get his first big league win in September 1979. He had two very solid seasons back-to-back for the Padres, going 4-2, 3.65 in 15 games in 1980, and then 8-8, 3.50 in the strike-shortened 1981 season, when he was the team's pitching ace. His iffy control was a problem, however, as he walked more batters than he struck out in 1980, and had a poor 81/74 K/W ratio in 141 1/3 innings in 1981. That weakness hurt him in 1982, when he finished with a record of 7-14, 4.20, with 72 walks against 74 Ks in 177 2/3 innings. His control issues notwithstanding, were it not for a controversial scoring call, he might have had the Padres' first no-hitter on June 2, 1982.

Eichelberger was traded to the Cleveland Indians with Broderick Perkins in return for P Ed Whitson before the 1983 season. However, he struggled even more that season, at 4-11, 4.90 in 28 games. After that season, he was out of the major leagues for five years until 1988, when he returned for 20 games in relief with the Atlanta Braves.

Were it not for a controversial scoring call, he might have had the Padres' first no-hitter on June 2, 1982.

Redid the facegen.

[percolaten]

Job well done!

[LansdowneSt]

González Germen played four years in the league as a reliever. In that time, he mustered a 3-3 record, 4.63 ERA (91 ERA+) in 129 G and 144 IP. He split time with several organizations in the majors and minors. After his MLB time came to a close in 2016, he moved on to the Orix Buffaloes in the ***, the Olmecas de Tabasco in the Mexican League and he is currently, at age 33, pitching in the Dominican Winter League.

Redid the facegen from the same photo but adjusted it to take out the purple lighting.

[LansdowneSt]

Flores signed with the New York Mets as an amateur free agent in March of 2002. For the first three minor league seasons, Flores hit .257 and was named to the Gulf Coast League All-Star team. Having never played above A-ball, on December 7, 2006 the Washington Nationals selected Flores from the New York Mets in the annual Rule 5 Draft. Flores somewhat surprisingly spent all of 2007 as the backup catcher to Brian Schneider for the Nationals. He played in 90 games in 2008 batting .256/.296/.402 with 9 home runs and 59 runs batted in. Unfortunately, his season was cut short in early September after a collision at home plate with Philadelphia’s Chase Utley. This event would begin his career-long struggle to stay off the disabled list. In five years with the Nats, he played in 311 games with 1,014 PA, accumulating 226 H and 23 HRs with a .241 average. - natsgm.com

Redid the facegen. Apologies to Nats fans for showing him in Dodgers blue (he didn't make the team having signed with LA after his Washington time ended) but that picture was the best to use for a facegen.