Who's Your Favorite Player?

[Pat]

My favorite player has to be Oswaldo 'Cobra' Escarcaga.

Second favorite player is Jake Fredrick

Finally my third favorite player has to be Mack McMurdo.

No wonder the fans don't show up.

[Lintyfresh85]

No wonder the fans don't show up.

When you inherit the mess that Acid and Khrog left you, you take what you can get.

[Clay]

Why do you keep comparing your IF's to OF's? Wouldn't it make more sense to compare Poling to someone like Edgar Martinez?

Mostly because I don't really look at the defensive side as much as offensive. I plug guys in where they work, but I don't identify them to it the same way.

I actually would love to eventually have a true 1-to-1 comparison of Poling to David Wright.

[Jistic]

Cliff Burgett. He's the best player I ever drafted not in the first round.

I still have a soft spot for some ex players. McEvoy and Simmonds especially.

[Clay]

Decided to honor my favorite player with an '87 Topps All-Star card...



It's based on this card right here....

[Whale]

I've got a couple... and like Clay its mostly due to me 'finding' the player and watching them become a contributing member of the ball club.



Finally my third favorite player has to be Mack McMurdo.

Mack, a waiver claim in 1984 had been a starter for Hartford since the day the BLB opened. Although he was a constant member of their rotation, it didn't mean he was very good. With an ERA hovering in the 5's I decided to take a flyer on McMurdo because I liked his solid control and movement ratings and figured that his numbers would take a solid bump with a move to the pitcher friendly IL. I was worried that his age at the time (36) would play a big factor in his downfall but thankfully I was wrong. What I didn't expect was for McMurdo to be a borderline front of the rotation starter since coming over... and that's exactly what he has become. Each year since being here he has had a career year. Magically, he seems to be getting better with age. In 7 years and 202 starts with Hartford McMurdo only managed a 10 VORP. In his four years and just 63 starts with California, McMurdo has put up a 75.1 VORP. Like I said, never could I imagine this guy would blossom on the wrong side of 30.

I've got many more guys I could go on and on about... but these three guys are the ones I really have taken a liking to.

I'm glad McMurdo worked out for you. My scouts never really liked him at all, and I never really wanted to put him in the rotation. But he always hung around just well enough to pitch in the 4/5 slot. And whenever I was ready to give up, he'd go out and pitch some 8 inning gem. He's a guy I could never quite understand, but I see the move to the IL has done him well.

[Carlos]

Love the card, Clay.