The End of an Era.

Cardinals · Post by **Cardinals** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:36 pm

The Russel Branyan, ladies and gents, has ended in JP-dom.

Ever since I rejoined the league after my brief hiatus in which my team was minidrafted in the 04-05 offseason, and entered again via the minidraft as the Atlanta Braves, I have had one Russ Branyan on my squadron.

Branyan was the longest tenuted Brave/Angel/Astro and probably the longest tenured player ever to be on any of my franchises, including the Expos/DBacks and Mets.

Branyan lasted nearly two full calendar years on my roster. Mid to late June 2005 until June 2007. Quite an accomplishment.

Big Russ in 2005: (Atlanta Braves)

.264/.356/.525 , 30 HR, 70 R, 87 RBI in only 121 games. Lord knows how monsterous he would have been if he played in 162. Only 151 K's for him to boot. A slick OPS of .881, Russ was clearly undervalued.

Not only that, but against RHB he hit a terrific .287/.375/.586 with 25 of his 30 HR against normal handed folk.

Big Russ in 2006: (Anaheim Angels)

.260/.374/.560 in 119 games, 31 HR, 76 R, 74 RBI, 134 Ks. Again, tooling all over righties to the tune of .267/.378/.570. If only he got to play in 162 games, maybe we would have seen Russ hit 62.

Russ in 2007 didn't respond well to a rebuilding franchise. He was an older lefty, age 31, playing for a team that puts no value in LH Power hitters. The team went young on him, and adapted for right handed hitters by moving to the Juice Box.

Big Russ in 2007, as a member of the rebuilding Houston Astros:

.185/.295/.341 in 54 games, still knocking out 8 HR and K'ing only 68 times, with 25 runs and 15 RBI's.

In 294 games as a member of my Franchise, Branyan has hit 69 home runs, scored 171 runs, driven in 176, and struck out 353 times. For all we know, Russ saved another out by missing the ball- there could have been an additional 200 GIDP's. That would have hampered my win total.

So Russ Branyan, this post is for you. You will be missed, and hopefully when Houston raises the IBC Championship banner in 2008, you will be there to hoist the trophy proudly above your head. You are the longest tenured player ever to grace my lovely franchise, and you probably will be until Tim Lincecum carries the torch away from you.

Dodgers · Post by **Dodgers** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:52 pm

Ouch.

Cardinals · Post by **Cardinals** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:53 pm

We wish Russ continued and sustained success. Lincecum is now the longest tenured player in franchise history. He is still invited to our eventual WS ceremony despite now suddenly being awesome after he leaves my franchise.

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 3:20 am

Not to send this spiraling off on a tangent, but since you mentioned your longest tenured player, the longest current and longest ever tenured Tiger is Alex Gordon. However the guy on the roster who was initially acquired the longest ago is Vin Mazzaro, a pick at the end of the 2005 draft.

Mariners · Post by **Mariners** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:06 am

I guess I should give a shout out to recently traded Bobby Jenks! Not only is he a local fav (Inglemoore H.S., same school as my "frist love" [Lisa S.]), but he was my last original player from my dispersal draft.

Cardinals · Post by **Cardinals** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 12:01 pm

Tangent away, the post is two years old.

Reds · Post by **Reds** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 12:10 pm

Khalil Greene has been on my team since day one (Feb. 2005). Obviously barring a strong second half that could come to an end after this season. Next is Matt Diaz, a free agent pick up in early 2005, who keeps getting decent projections, so unless I deal him he will be around a bit longer. He is available for decent prospect or MR.

Astros · Post by **Astros** » Sun Jun 14, 2009 2:14 pm

Mike Koplove has been on my team since 2002, except for a 2 month stint where I traded him to Gabe in 06 for his World Series run. The longest Cardinal for a consecutive amount of time is Yadi Molina, who first played for me in 04 and I signed in 03