Picture credit score: Vector picture by VectorStock / Pau2000
January 23 – Comfortable fiftieth birthday, Erubiel Durazo
Who is aware of what number of homers the person would’ve clobbered if his again acted like a traditional again. Born within the Sonoran capital of Hermosillo, Mexico, Durazo moved 4 hours north to Tucson, the place he performed highschool and junior faculty ball, however nonetheless didn’t get anybody to draft him. He performed two seasons for Monterrey within the Mexican League and caught the eyes of Diamondbacks scouts in 1999. Brief-armed however highly effective and affected person, Durazo exploded up the minor league ladder to the majors, hitting 11 homers in 52 video games and supplanting Travis Lee at first base. Nonetheless with Mark Grace additionally going to the desert, he by no means bought the possibility to play a full season (however was on the 2001 championship group) till being traded to the A’s after the 2002 season. He hit over 20 homers with a excessive on-base proportion in every of the 2 full seasons there (even getting MVP votes, plural, in 2004). Since 1995, his profession .381 OBP is among the many prime 50—and a thousandth higher than A-Rod’s.
January 23 – Comfortable fiftieth birthday, Mark Watson
Watson pitched in 11 major-league video games whereas being in eight completely different organizations, which is kind of the underdog ratio. Seven of these appearances had been shutout aid outings—together with his first two, each in opposition to the Yankees in 2000 whereas pitching for Cleveland, a promising signal of issues to return. However a type of appearances was an eight-run catastrophe in 2002, when he was with the Mariners and his opponents had been the Angels. That swelled his profession ERA to 10.95. Elementary.
