Best minor leaguers that never played in the majors?

venflaalachi · 03-21-2017, 10:30 AM

I was wondering if anyone had a list or anything that had some of the best minor league players that either did not play or barely played in the majors. I want to include negro and minor league players in a fictional historical run but know nothing about the players who played in the minors

Padreman · 03-21-2017, 10:43 AM

Just google it there's info out there

mitchkenn · 03-21-2017, 10:47 AM

seamheads has a list of top 100 based on WAR at this link:
http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/hi...tab=metrics_at
the minor leagues is a bit more difficult. BB ref has players and years and stats, but you'll have to dig through each year and team to find them.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi
this is a list of all the minor leagues. click on one of the team and find batting stats. If the players are in bold they made it to the majors.
It's a lot of work, a lot of looking and clicking and keeping track of players. But i don't know of a list that exists, and this is ONE way to amass your own.

sprague · 03-21-2017, 11:39 AM

Two come to my mind

Ed Breckinridge. 1890's

Joe bauman 1940's 50's. He was mr 72 hr in the Texas league.

Pinetarpress · 03-21-2017, 12:13 PM

I always found Mike Cole fascinating ....Big time OBP guy with great speed...perhaps he played in the wrong era....But, always amazed he basically was out of MLB affiliated baseball after the season he had in 1985 with the Royals AAA club

venflaalachi · 03-21-2017, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitchkenn

seamheads has a list of top 100 based on WAR at this link:
http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/hi...tab=metrics_at
the minor leagues is a bit more difficult. BB ref has players and years and stats, but you'll have to dig through each year and team to find them.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi
this is a list of all the minor leagues. click on one of the team and find batting stats. If the players are in bold they made it to the majors.
It's a lot of work, a lot of looking and clicking and keeping track of players. But i don't know of a list that exists, and this is ONE way to amass your own.

thank you, ill start here

Bluenoser · 03-21-2017, 12:58 PM

Jigger Statz http://www.baseball-reference.com/re...d=statz-001arn always goes in my fictional leagues. He did get into almost 700 ML Games, but a little known fact about Jigger is that he's the "Other Guy" with over 4000 career hits. Most of them came in the minors, but still pretty impressive.

Plus how can you "Not" use a guy with that last name

alkeiper · 03-21-2017, 02:12 PM

I have a hard time thinking of players who NEVER played in the majors. There are a lot of players whose short MLB stints really don't do their careers justice. Jigger Statz is a good one. Buzz Arlett. Smead Jolley, Ike Boone, Frank Shellenback, Joe Hauser. Also look into negro league players who were past-prime when the color line broke such as Quincy Trouppe, Buzz Clarkson and Dan Bankhead.

Some players who never played in the majors of interest:
Joe Bauman- mentioned above
Steve Dalkowski- the minor league flamethrowing legend with no control
Hector Espino- the minor league home run king. Played most of his career in Mexico but a brief stint in the Cardinals' organization gets him in the database.
Alfredo Edmead- Pirates minor league who tragically died due to an on field collision

mitchkenn · 03-21-2017, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alkeiper

I have a hard time thinking of players who NEVER played in the majors. There are a lot of players whose short MLB stints really don't do their careers justice. Jigger Statz is a good one. Buzz Arlett. Smead Jolley, Ike Boone, Frank Shellenback, Joe Hauser. Also look into negro league players who were past-prime when the color line broke such as Quincy Trouppe, Buzz Clarkson and Dan Bankhead.

include ray dandridge in that list.

Tiger Fan · 03-21-2017, 05:43 PM

Steve Dalkowski had a pretty good career in the long term sim I ran over night.

Drafted in the 8th round in1956 by the Milwaukee Braves, he would spend 12 years in their organization. Dalkowski spent 21 days on the major league roster as a September call-up but never appeared in a big league game.

His long minor league career was highlighted by a pair of no-hitters. The first came in 1957 when he fanned 10 but walked 9 while no-hitting the Wausau Lumberjacks while with Eau Claire. He would get another no-hitter in 1959 while pitching for Cedar Rapids of the Midwest League.

In 1959 he split his time between Cedar Rapids and Austin of the Texas League, fanning an amazing 303 batters in 215 innings.

He did spend a little time in AAA but most of his career was at the AA level and he finished with 102 wins against 86 losses.

Hoiles · 03-21-2017, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Jigger Statz http://www.baseball-reference.com/re...d=statz-001arn always goes in my fictional leagues. He did get into almost 700 ML Games, but a little known fact about Jigger is that he's the "Other Guy" with over 4000 career hits. Most of them came in the minors, but still pretty impressive.

Plus how can you "Not" use a guy with that last name

That guy was a big star for me in a past random debut game.

alkeiper · 03-22-2017, 08:14 AM

Jigger Statz played 2,536 games for the PCL version of the Los Angeles Angels. There are only 16 players who played that many games for an individual MLB franchise. It amazes me that there are players who were such an integral part of their city's baseball history and they are more or less completely forgotten by casual fans.

Padreman · 03-22-2017, 09:44 AM

http://m.milb.com/news/article/20151128158353340

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Héctor_Espino

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Barrera

alkeiper · 03-22-2017, 11:18 AM

The PCL Hall of Fame is worth perusing for names.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifi...e_Hall_of_Fame

The Yurpman · 03-22-2017, 12:26 PM

As a Red Sox fan, one guy who always sticks in my mind is Daniel Bard. Yes, he did throw 250 some odd innings in the majors but he went from a first round pick to out of the majors incredibly quick. I believe he barely made it to three years service time. It seemed like he just woke up one day and lost all of his control.

alkeiper · 03-22-2017, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Yurpman

As a Red Sox fan, one guy who always sticks in my mind is Daniel Bard. Yes, he did throw 250 some odd innings in the majors but he went from a first round pick to out of the majors incredibly quick. I believe he barely made it to three years service time. It seemed like he just woke up one day and lost all of his control.

Bard his first year in the minors had awful control. He turned around the next year when the Sox made him a reliever, that's when he zoomed to the majors. Three successful seasons and the Red Sox tried to turn him back into a starter. I usually approve of making starters out of pitchers who can handle the role but I never understood it. Bard immediately fell apart.

alkeiper · 03-27-2017, 11:14 AM

Check out http://infinitecardset.blogspot.com/. Gary Cieradkowski writes and illustrates the players on the fringes of professional baseball. A lot of interesting stories, and plenty of useable career minor leaguers in the bunch.

thehef · 03-27-2017, 02:00 PM

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/9...eague-baseball

Many of these ^^^ are Negro Leaguers and/or guys who have already been mentioned above. But not all. An interesting read.

Similar slideshow here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb...mlb/ss-BBxKhNL

These types of lists are - understandably - dominated by Negro Leaguers, plus some Cubans, Mexicans, and Japanese. A list-plus-backstory of true minor-leaguers who never made the majors is harder to come by, but would be very interesting because they would be the more unknown bunch.

jerseygary · 03-28-2017, 11:27 AM

I'm Gary Cieradkowski - the guy who does The Infinite Baseball Card Set blog that alkeiper recommended (thanks!)

I just started playing OOTB and I'm really hooked on it. I especially like bringing up to the majors all the fringe minor leaguers I write about and illustrate like Mose Solomon, Walt Cazen or Buzz Arlett. I just received the new copies of a journal I'm starting called "21" which focuses on all those forgotten or overlooked players. This issue features two that I like using in my games, Steve Bilko and Shags Horan, two sluggers who never made the grade in the majors.

Anyway, it was nice to see my work mentioned on a forum for a game I just began playing with enthusiasm!

03-21-2017, 10:30 AM	#1
venflaalachi Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2017 Posts: 193	Best minor leaguers that never played in the majors? I was wondering if anyone had a list or anything that had some of the best minor league players that either did not play or barely played in the majors. I want to include negro and minor league players in a fictional historical run but know nothing about the players who played in the minors

03-21-2017, 10:43 AM	#2
Padreman Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2013 Location: Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico (formally San Diego, CA.) Posts: 4,140 Blog Entries: 1	Just google it there's info out there __________________ Chargers= Despicable Traitors

03-21-2017, 10:47 AM	#3
mitchkenn Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Oregon, not by design Posts: 2,853	seamheads has a list of top 100 based on WAR at this link: http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/hi...tab=metrics_at the minor leagues is a bit more difficult. BB ref has players and years and stats, but you'll have to dig through each year and team to find them. http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi this is a list of all the minor leagues. click on one of the team and find batting stats. If the players are in bold they made it to the majors. It's a lot of work, a lot of looking and clicking and keeping track of players. But i don't know of a list that exists, and this is ONE way to amass your own. __________________ "This is my opening farewell " - Jackson Browne “They make a desolation and call it peace.” ― Agha Shahid Ali "Maybe she just has to sing, for the sake of the song - And who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong." - Townes Van Zandt "I saw a young man leaning on his wooden crutch - He called out to me, 'Don't ask for so much' And a young woman leaning in her darkened door She cried out to me, 'Why not ask for more?' " - Leonard Cohen "Hello darkness, my old Friend ...." - Paul Simon Before Mays, before DiMaggio, there was Oscar Charleston. "All the lies about Babe Ruth are true." - Waite Hoyt Avatar is the late great Townes Van Zandt. rip.

03-21-2017, 12:58 PM	#7
Bluenoser Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In The Moment Posts: 13,683	Jigger Statz http://www.baseball-reference.com/re...d=statz-001arn always goes in my fictional leagues. He did get into almost 700 ML Games, but a little known fact about Jigger is that he's the "Other Guy" with over 4000 career hits. Most of them came in the minors, but still pretty impressive. Plus how can you "Not" use a guy with that last name Last edited by Bluenoser; 03-21-2017 at 01:12 PM.

03-21-2017, 05:43 PM	#10
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,541	Steve Dalkowski had a pretty good career in the long term sim I ran over night. Drafted in the 8th round in1956 by the Milwaukee Braves, he would spend 12 years in their organization. Dalkowski spent 21 days on the major league roster as a September call-up but never appeared in a big league game. His long minor league career was highlighted by a pair of no-hitters. The first came in 1957 when he fanned 10 but walked 9 while no-hitting the Wausau Lumberjacks while with Eau Claire. He would get another no-hitter in 1959 while pitching for Cedar Rapids of the Midwest League. In 1959 he split his time between Cedar Rapids and Austin of the Texas League, fanning an amazing 303 batters in 215 innings. He did spend a little time in AAA but most of his career was at the AA level and he finished with 102 wins against 86 losses. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Columnist- The Figment Sporting Journal MY FIGMENT LEAGUE BROOKLYN KINGS DYNASTY PAST DYNASTYS My History of Hockey Replay Tiger Fan's Sporting News : the mid 1940's Tiger Fan's All Sport Replay: The 1920s History of Sports 1901-15 Historical Tutorial and Feedback League My first fictional attempt The HOB4: The last of my series of history of baseball replays that go back to OOTP2 and the old message board. Last edited by Tiger Fan; 03-21-2017 at 05:48 PM.

03-21-2017, 11:39 AM	#4
sprague All Star Starter Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 1,921	Two come to my mind Ed Breckinridge. 1890's Joe bauman 1940's 50's. He was mr 72 hr in the Texas league.

03-21-2017, 12:13 PM	#5
Pinetarpress Major Leagues Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 422 Blog Entries: 1	I always found Mike Cole fascinating ....Big time OBP guy with great speed...perhaps he played in the wrong era....But, always amazed he basically was out of MLB affiliated baseball after the season he had in 1985 with the Royals AAA club

03-21-2017, 02:12 PM	#8
alkeiper Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 82	I have a hard time thinking of players who NEVER played in the majors. There are a lot of players whose short MLB stints really don't do their careers justice. Jigger Statz is a good one. Buzz Arlett. Smead Jolley, Ike Boone, Frank Shellenback, Joe Hauser. Also look into negro league players who were past-prime when the color line broke such as Quincy Trouppe, Buzz Clarkson and Dan Bankhead. Some players who never played in the majors of interest: Joe Bauman- mentioned above Steve Dalkowski- the minor league flamethrowing legend with no control Hector Espino- the minor league home run king. Played most of his career in Mexico but a brief stint in the Cardinals' organization gets him in the database. Alfredo Edmead- Pirates minor league who tragically died due to an on field collision

03-22-2017, 08:14 AM	#12
alkeiper Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 82	Jigger Statz played 2,536 games for the PCL version of the Los Angeles Angels. There are only 16 players who played that many games for an individual MLB franchise. It amazes me that there are players who were such an integral part of their city's baseball history and they are more or less completely forgotten by casual fans.

03-22-2017, 09:44 AM	#13
Padreman Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2013 Location: Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico (formally San Diego, CA.) Posts: 4,140 Blog Entries: 1	http://m.milb.com/news/article/20151128158353340 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Héctor_Espino https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Barrera __________________ Chargers= Despicable Traitors Last edited by Padreman; 03-22-2017 at 09:51 AM.

03-22-2017, 11:18 AM	#14
alkeiper Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 82	The PCL Hall of Fame is worth perusing for names. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifi...e_Hall_of_Fame

03-22-2017, 12:26 PM	#15
The Yurpman Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 318	As a Red Sox fan, one guy who always sticks in my mind is Daniel Bard. Yes, he did throw 250 some odd innings in the majors but he went from a first round pick to out of the majors incredibly quick. I believe he barely made it to three years service time. It seemed like he just woke up one day and lost all of his control.

03-27-2017, 11:14 AM	#17
alkeiper Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 82	Check out http://infinitecardset.blogspot.com/. Gary Cieradkowski writes and illustrates the players on the fringes of professional baseball. A lot of interesting stories, and plenty of useable career minor leaguers in the bunch.

03-27-2017, 02:00 PM	#18
thehef Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 4,858	http://bleacherreport.com/articles/9...eague-baseball Many of these ^^^ are Negro Leaguers and/or guys who have already been mentioned above. But not all. An interesting read. Similar slideshow here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb...mlb/ss-BBxKhNL These types of lists are - understandably - dominated by Negro Leaguers, plus some Cubans, Mexicans, and Japanese. A list-plus-backstory of true minor-leaguers who never made the majors is harder to come by, but would be very interesting because they would be the more unknown bunch.

03-28-2017, 11:27 AM	#19
jerseygary Bat Boy Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Kentucky Posts: 10	I'm Gary Cieradkowski - the guy who does The Infinite Baseball Card Set blog that alkeiper recommended (thanks!) I just started playing OOTB and I'm really hooked on it. I especially like bringing up to the majors all the fringe minor leaguers I write about and illustrate like Mose Solomon, Walt Cazen or Buzz Arlett. I just received the new copies of a journal I'm starting called "21" which focuses on all those forgotten or overlooked players. This issue features two that I like using in my games, Steve Bilko and Shags Horan, two sluggers who never made the grade in the majors. Anyway, it was nice to see my work mentioned on a forum for a game I just began playing with enthusiasm!