Favorite players from other teams growing up

BlueJays · Post by **BlueJays** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:36 pm

Got the idea from another forum I occasionally read.

Given the team you cheered for growing up, it would be pretty easy to figure out who your favorite players were growing up, but how about guys that didn't play for your team?

I was a big fan of Sandy Alomar Jr. when watching those mid 90's Indians teams (I was a catcher myself).

I really liked John Smoltz, but he actually finished his career in St. Louis.

I hated the Cubs, but they pretty much always sucked, so it was hard hating some guys like Mark Grace.

I liked Kevin Brown. He started a Fox Saturday game once and in an interview he explained how to throw a sinker. Started throwing them myself in games I started. Seemed like they moved a lot, but I usually would hit the batter.

I was a bit older, but living in Cincinnati I really liked following Sean Casey. I was at this game:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes ... 9130.shtml

17k fans might be a stretch, I remember there being maybe 5,000. We sat down the RF line and could easily hear the umpire call balls and strikes. Anyway, Andy Benes had a no-hitter going into the 9th, and with 1 out Sean Casey broke it up for their only hit of the game. That day I didn't like him as much. I ran into him at Game 3 of the World Series this year when I was running around the stadium looking for a good standing room place. Ran past him in the stair well and stopped, turned, and said "Sean Casey?". He stopped right in his tracks, almost as if he was shocked somebody recognized him. Ended up chatting about Cincinnati and Kentucky. Turns out he lives 1 exit away from my parents in Northern KY. It was pretty cool to see he's just as nice as he'd come off as in his interviews on TV.

Anybody play MLB Showdown card game? My favorite cards of guys that weren't that good were Ray Durham and Keith Foulke. I think because they were my AL team.

Anyway, what players did you guys like growing up?

Yankees · Post by **Yankees** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:58 pm

Love this topic...great thought.

My first favorite player was Damaso Garcia...obviously not a Yankee. After I transitioned to my lifelong loyalty Mattingly, I was a huge fan of Ryne Sandberg and Will Clark for no great reason. I would always go out of my way to watch Tony Gwynn play, too.

My favorite Red Sox (my most hated team) players were Wade Boggs (so glad I got to see him win a chip with the Yankees) and Dustin Pedroia.

When I picked up my 2nd favorite team (Nats) while living in DC, I became a HUGE Adam Dunn fan. He then joined Jason Giambi on the "They seem bigger" team when I met him in Dupont Circle. I thought he was a giant...he is big, but not huge.

Phillies · Post by **Phillies** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:00 pm

Being from Delaware, I got a good dose of the Orioles along with the Phillies. Even though I was a Phillies fan, I was obsessed with Cal Ripken as a kid. If his face was on it, I owned it. Since I do follow the Orioles a bit, I'll go Ken Griffey Jr. as my favorite from other teams. Had a poster of him on the wall and a ton of his baseball cards. Favorite non-Phillies pitcher was definitely Mike Mussina. Favorite non-Orioles pitcher was Roger Clemens (unfortunately).

Mets · Post by **Mets** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:29 pm

Grew up a Mets fan - but still had a few favorites to watch (not all make sense):

Ken Griffey Jr
Bo Jackson
Andy Van Slyke
Ryan Sandburg
Chris Sabo
Matt Williams
Jay Bell
Robin Venture (before he came to the Mets)

Athletics · Post by **Athletics** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 2:02 pm

Giants fan here, so anyone in the division I automatically hated.

But for hitters I loved Ken Griffey Jr with that smooth swing (since I am southpaw) and Vlad Guerrero since there was nothing he wouldn't try to hit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bqj3jynJnU

For pitchers it would be Greg Maddux (for the obvious reasons) and then Zito (though not once he became a giant) and Santana.

I would name older guys, but I am only 27 anyone before the 90s I never actually got to see.

Giants · Post by **Giants** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 2:11 pm

I grew up in the Bay Area but my dad was a huge Red Sox fan (and my divided loyalty between the Sox and the Bay Area teams is not something I like to discuss, leave it be), so picking anyone from those 3 teams would be cheating. However, the only non Red Sox/Bay Area player I ever remember my dad telling me to stop and watch was Nolan Ryan. One of my earliest baseball memories was his last no hitter, which I remember watching with my dad (whether it was on highlights or live I have no idea). After my dad died I always made a point of watching everyone of Ryan's starts that I could, which meant I was watching live on ESPN when Robin Ventura foolishly charged the mound. My first memorabilia purchase in Dallas was a 16x20 autograph of that moment. It's ironic that Nolan and I disagree about more or less everything baseball related, but you can't take away those memories.

Astros · Post by **Astros** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:46 pm

Growing up I didn't have cable, the Reds were sporadically on local TV, so I got whatever network games were on, the All Star Game and the playoffs.

The guys that's the reason I'm a Cardinals fan is Dennis Eckersley, I know it doesn't count since he's a Cardinal but I'll tell the story anyways. Growing up, all of my friends were Braves fans, and I wasn't, so every year in the 90s I picked a different team to cheer for. Pirates, Giants, Reds, etc. I remember before the 1996 season seeing on the top of a Baseball Weekly that Eck signed with the Cardinals. Since I spent the time most kids spent after school watching cartoons watching VHS tapes of NFL, MLB and NBA highlights, I knew you were good if Eck was on your team and decided I was a Cards fan. Have been ever since. Now to the topic at hand.

Loved Andy Van Slyke from the Super Duper Baseball Bloopers VHS tape that I wore out

Lenny Dykstra is probably my favorite non Cardinal of all time. I loved the way he played and if I could've got my hands on chewing tobacco in 1993 I'd have cancer now, he was my guy.

Always liked Sean Casey and met up with Steve maybe 10 minutes after he ran into him and was glad to hear he's as nice as he always came across.

Phillies · Post by **Phillies** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:07 pm

Cardinals wrote:Growing up I didn't have cable, the Reds were sporadically on local TV, so I got whatever network games were on, the All Star Game and the playoffs.

The guys that's the reason I'm a Cardinals fan is Dennis Eckersley, I know it doesn't count since he's a Cardinal but I'll tell the story anyways. Growing up, all of my friends were Braves fans, and I wasn't, so every year in the 90s I picked a different team to cheer for. Pirates, Giants, Reds, etc. I remember before the 1996 season seeing on the top of a Baseball Weekly that Eck signed with the Cardinals. Since I spent the time most kids spent after school watching cartoons watching VHS tapes of NFL, MLB and NBA highlights, I knew you were good if Eck was on your team and decided I was a Cards fan. Have been ever since. Now to the topic at hand.

Loved Andy Van Slyke from the Super Duper Baseball Bloopers VHS tape that I wore out

Lenny Dykstra is probably my favorite non Cardinal of all time. I loved the way he played and if I could've got my hands on chewing tobacco in 1993 I'd have cancer now, he was my guy.

Always liked Sean Casey and met up with Steve maybe 10 minutes after he ran into him and was glad to hear he's as nice as he always came across.

In 1993 (or maybe 94) I wanted to be Dykstra for Halloween. No clue what company they went through, but my parents called and ordered a Dykstra uniform for me. Came in the mail like the day before kids are supposed to wear their costumes to school. Whatever company my parents ordered it from spelled his name wrong and got the wrong number. So I went to school as #1 Lenny Dikstra of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Nationals · Post by **Nationals** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:11 pm

I had to think about this one for a bit--when I was growing up, I can recall that I was almost exclusively a fan of players from my teams (Minnesota and then Colorado), so no one really sprung to mind immediately.

But then, as I reflected further, I remeber that for some reason, I liked the Orioles--particularly Mussina (that knuckleball thing in video game baseball!), Ripken (the streak seemed so much cooler as a 12 year old), and, for some odd reason, Palmeiro (yeah, I can't figure this one out either). I also had soft spots for Tony Gwynn (perhaps because he was Puckett-like?) and Biggio and Bagwell (no singular reason here).

Rangers · Post by **Rangers** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 6:53 pm

The most unique guy that I liked from a different team was Ellis Burks. I had a soft spot for the Red Sox when I was little and he tossed me a ball from the field when I was a kid.

Burks wasn't obscure or anything, but the other guys on other teams that I liked were pretty big stars.

Angels · Post by **Angels** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:50 am

I've been a Texas Rangers fan since I was 6 years old, and lived near the ballpark there for 30 years before moving to Virginia a couple of years ago. I cheered for those horrible Rangers teams of the 1980s, and my favorite guys were Ruben Sierra, Buddy Bell, and Steve Buechele.

But my absolute favorite player was always Dale Murphy. Class guy, and I was an outfielder, and I could see Braves games on TBS in Texas. So I always loved him and collected his baseball cards and memorabilia above anyone else's. Because of him, I've always worn #3 as an athlete myself.

I got the chance to meet him last year at a minor league game in Richmond, and it was the most in-awe I've ever been. And I've met every living U.S. president...

Royals · Post by **Royals** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:55 am

Ozzie Smith stands out from my youth. A little later it was Griffey, Maddux and Glavine.

Reds · Post by **Reds** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 12:33 pm

Because there was much less television coverage when I was growing up most of my favorite players on other teams come from teams the Reds faced in the playoffs, or frequently during the season. Mike Schmidt and Willie Stargell were always fun to watch. I also liked watching Manny Sanguillen of the Pirates hit because he pretty much swung at anything. On the Dodgers I liked LFr Billy Buckner and recall one nationally televised game when he slid into third, where Tommy Lasorda was miked and commented on the way the f'ing ball took off, it was a triple (Buckner had wheels then). Announcers Kubek and Gariagiola where momentarily speechless. Naturally being a typical teen anyone who could get away with dropping an f bomb on TV became an instant favorite.

Cubs · Post by **Cubs** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:02 am

I had a thing for the sidearmer / submariner pitchers, Dan Quisenberry and Kent Tekulve. I tried emulating it in a little league game once and got a stern talking to from my Dad.

The '82 Brewers team with all the facial hair and the guys who could mash were fun - Gorman Thomas, Ben Olglvie, Pete Vukovich, etc. Plus when they lost in the World Series it started my life-long hatred of everything Cardinal.