Friday Five: Top 5 Greensboro Minor Leaguers

I spent a little bit of last Sunday checking out a game in Greensboro.  It's the second straight year that I have made the trek west to visit NewBridge Bank Ballpark, which is the home to the Marlins entry in the South Atlantic League.  If you live within driving distance of Greensboro, or are going to be in North Carolina at some point during the baseball season, it is worth a few hours of your time to catch a game at this stadium.

It was a rough afternoon for the Grasshoppers, the current name of the team, who were taking on the Kannapolis Intimidators.  The Intimidators are a White Sox affiliate.  Instead of writing a post on the current squad, I am going to take a little bit of time and write about some of the great players who have passed through Greensboro over the years.

There are some teams that do a great job of recognizing their past teams and players inside of their stadiums, and for this, the Grasshoppers definitely get strong marks.  Around the concourse of the field the team has banners that are broken down by decade that recognize different teams and players.  The banners are very well done.

There has been organized professional baseball in Greensboro for more than 100 years, but with a short ten walk, and a little bit of reading, baseball fans can soak in all of the greatness that has happened in the city's baseball history.  I took some notes, did a little supplemental research at home, and have assembled my top five Greensboro Minor Leaguers.  

The list is deep and told in baseball cards as always.....

Honorable Mention-

Jorge Posada - 1992 Greensboro Hornets 

Posada played on the 1992 Greensboro entry along with fellow future Yankees Derek Jeter and Shane Spencer.  In 101 games, Posada posted a .277/.389./472 line with 12 home runs, 22 doubles, 58 RBIs, and a surprising 11 stolen bases.  Posada went on to play 17 seasons in the Majors, all with the Yankees, collecting more than 1,500 hits, 275 home runs, 1000 RBIs while helping the team win the World Series in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2009.  Jay Jaffe's JAWS system rates him as the 16th best catcher of all-time just behind Thurman Munson.  

Don Mattingly - 1980 Greensboro Hornets 

Mattingly's appearance in Greensboro marked his first full season in professional baseball after spending 1979 in the short-seasoned New York-Penn League.  The Hornets boasted an infield with Donny Ballgame, future Twins fixture Greg Gagne, and Rex "Wonderdog" Hudler.  Otis Nixon was also an infielder on the team and future Twins and Phillies pitcher Fred Toliver anchored the rotation.  Overall a really deep team for the low minors.  Mattingly managed to post a .358/.422/.498 line with 9 home runs, 32 doubles, and 105 RBIs.  Overall, Mattingly would go on to play 14 seasons with the Yankees collecting 2,153 hits, 222 home runs, and 1099 RBIs.  He won the 1984 American League Batting Title with a .343 mark and also won the 1985 AL MVP Award.  

and now for the Top 5

5. Andy Pettitte - 1992 Greensboro Hornets 

Pettitte pitched for the Greensboro Hornets during his second year in the Minors.  After being drafted in the 22nd Round of the 1990 draft, Pettitte started his professional career the next summer with stops in the GCL and the New York-Penn League.  For the Hornets, Pettite went 10-4 in 27 starts with a 2.20 ERA. Andy Pettitte would go on to pitch 18 years with the Yankees and Astros.  Overall, he won 256 games and ended his career with 2,448 strikeouts.  Pettitte was also an important part of the Yankees winning the World Series in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2009 ending his career with a total of 19 postseason wins.  5 of those victories occurred in the World Series.  

4. Robinson Cano - 2002 Greensboro Bats 

Cano appeared on the 2002 squad along with Shelley Duncan and Dioner Navarro.  The year marked a sort of a break out for Cano who was just 19 at the time, making him one of the younger players on the squad.  In 2001, Cano's first season in the Yankees system, he posted a .231/.328/.361 line with just 3 home runs and 14 doubles in almost 250 at bats.  In his lone season for the Bats, Cano hit .276/.321/.445 with 14 home runs, 9 triples, and 20 doubles.  Cano is the lone active player on this list, but has put in 12 seasons so far with the Yankees and Mariners.  He is 33 and already over 2,000 hits, 250 home runs, and is approaching 500 doubles.  Jaffe's JAWS system already rates him as the 14th best second baseman of all-time and his peak 7 years of WAR already exceed the average Hall of Fame second baseman.  His best seven years have already past Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg, Craig Biggio, and Roberto Alomar measured by WAR.  Should be in Cooperstown at some point in the future.  

3. Curt Schilling - 1987 Greensboro Hornets 

Schilling actually started out his career as a Red Sox, later traded to the Orioles for Brady Anderson.  Schilling started 28 games for the Hornets that year and posted an 8-15 record.  His 3.82 ERA wasn't terrible, but he also struck out 189 batters in 184 innings.  The Hornets finished 30 games under .500 that season, so I am going to go ahead and overlook the 15 loses.  The beginning of Schilling's Major League career also got off to a bit of a slow start.  He ended up playing a total of 20 years, but only won 105 games during his first 12 years.  His last 8 seasons, split between the Diamondbacks and Red Sox, netted him 111 wins.  Schilling also surpassed 3,000 strikeouts, 11 postseason wins, and 3 World Series rings.  Schilling is not in the Hall of Fame yet, but should get there one of these days...

2. Mariano Rivera - 1991 Greensboro Hornets and 1993 Greensboro Hornets 

Rivera passed through Greensboro twice on his way up to the Yankees.  However, he was a starting pitcher almost the entire time he was in the Minors.  Overall, Rivera pitched 39 games for the Hornets during the two stops with 25 starts.  His combined won-loss record of 5-9 is not great, but during his first appearance in the South Atlantic League he pitched 114 innings and struck out 123 hitters.  His second time through he started ten games, only one once, and again had an excellent strikeout rate.  Rivera is the first of three Hall of Famers on this list, or he will be soon, after a great 19 year career as the Yankees closer.  He's MLBs all-time save leader with 652, but more importantly he was one of the greatest postseason pitchers in the history of the game.  Rivera ended his career with 42 postseason saves and a 0.70 ERA.  

1. Derek Jeter - 1992 Greensboro Hornets and 1993 Greensboro Hornets 

Jeter also appeared twice for the Hornets and is by far the most popular former Greensboro player out there.  Jeter first appeared for the team in 1992 closing out the year.  Jeter actually spent part of the season with the GCL Yankees before playing 11 games with the Hornets.  His .243/.378/.324 line was nothing to write home about, but it's also a really small sample size.  In 1993 Jeter returned to Greensboro, but stayed the entire season posting a .295/.376/.394 line with 5 home runs, 11 triples, 14 doubles, and 18 steals.  Jeter went on to play 20 seasons with the Yankees recording 3,465 hits, 260 home runs, 358 stolen bases, and won four rings.  

My Baseball Card Top 50- #30 New Guys From New York* Part 1

My Baseball Card Top 50
#30
New Guys From New York* 

*Excludes all players named Derek Jeter, Roger Clemens, or Mariano Rivera (different post)

This might take a little while, but the players in this post definitely deserve a little bit of credit for their impact on the baseball card hobby during my thirty years collecting cards.  I have heard all the garbage arguments about how the Yankees and Red Sox buy their teams and assemble a lot of high end talent with little consideration for home grown talent, but there is so much more to putting together a championship team than just opening up the wallet. 

Just look at the Dodgers the past two years, or the Phillies from a few years ago.  Angels could go into that category too.  Spending money on random players does not equal wins.  The late 90s Yankees were a rather pricey bunch of ball players, but they were also a great team.  Players set aside some of their own personal glory and stats to form, what I would argue to be, the greatest team of the past thirty years. 

Between 1996 and 2001 the Yankees made a total of 5 World Series appearances bringing home a grand total of 4 World Series rings to the Bronx.  The success on the field by the Yankees translated into success and popularity for the Yankees players in the baseball card industry.  None of the players in the post are slam dunk Hall of Famers.  In fact, most should not be at all.   However, the players in this post were all very good and played a key role in helping the Yankees to at least one, or several, of their four late 90s/early 2000s World Championships. 

The Yankees will take a few posts, so here's part one, which features four regular faces from the 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000 World Series winners. 

1990 Score Bernie Williams RC

Bernie Williams was a homegrown talent, they did exist, who appeared on all four of the World Series winners for the Yankees.  In my opinion, Bernie is not a Hall of Famer, but he was a good player and a great member of the Yankees teams.  He was a solid .300 hitter in his prime with pretty good pop, but Bernie's dWAR was negative for much of his career and he only hit .200 in the World Series including an .063 line against the Padres in 1998 and a .167 mark against the Braves in 1996.  The Bernie Williams rookie cards are all in 1990 products and can be found in abundance for little money.  Autographs and relics are pricy and he's not been a huge signer.  He does have a very nice autograph though if you can find a copy of one. 

1994 Bowman Jorge Posada

Posada fits into many of the same categories as Bernie Williams.  Very good player, appeared on all four World Series teams (only briefly in 1996 and also for the 2009 WS winner), but he is not a Hall of Fame player.  Posada might have been a more important player in some regards than Bernie Williams since he gave the team a plus offensive player while offering above average defense during his prime.  Posada also did a good job of helping to run the pitching staff, which always seemed to pull through when it needed to.  Posada did a decent job of hitting during the postseason too posted 11 career home runs during the playoffs.  Cardboard wise, Posada's rookie card is from the 1994 Bowman set which is one of the cheaper mid 90s products from that line.  The cards are pretty condition sensetive, so high grades can fetch big bucks.  Autographs aren't really plentiful, so again, they fetch a premium. 

1986 Donruss Paul O'Neill RC

Paul O'Neill was not a homegrown Yankees talent, but the prime of career was definitely while he was on the Yankees.  I would even argue that he was actually better his first few years on the Yankees (1994-1995) then the years he helped the team win four World Series titles.  O'Neill tailed off significantly during the 1999, 2000, and 2001 seasons and retired after the team lost the 2001 World Series to the Diamondbacks.  Again, not a Hall of Famer, but a very good player.  I like his 1986 Donruss rookie which is a pretty good set.  Cool card with the polyester Reds jersey.  O'Neill has signed a lot after his retirement, especially the last few years.  Much easier and cheaper to find than Williams and Posada. 

1988 Topps Traded Tino Martinez

This is difficult player for me to write about.  My most profound memories of Tino Martinez the player were formed around his brief time in St. Louis where he performed poorly and complained constantly until the team banished him to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  He seemed like a pretty uncool person which was only confirmed this past season when the Marlins fired him as their hitting coach after it was revealed he was abusive towards the players.  Now, for his time with the Yankees.

Tino is a perfect example of why the Yankees won often during the late 90s.  The Yankees actually did not sign Martinez as an expensive free agent, but rather traded for him and then kept him around New York.  Honestly, he was a great player for the Yankees.  Not Hall of Fame good, but he was the perfect hitter for the short porch out in right field.  During his career he played about 550 games in Yankee Stadium and hit almost 100 home runs and 100 doubles while slugging nearly .500 in that ballpark.  Other parks?  He hit .239 in Fenway with 6 home runs in 86 career games. 

His best year was actually 1997 when he finished second in the American League in MVP voting and also a career high 44 home runs.  Tino's rookie cards are 1988 and 1989 releases and are valued much like the Bernie Williams rookie cards.  Autographs can be a little bit tricky, but he has signed for a few larger print run sets, like the 2004 Upper Deck USA Baseball autographs.  Tino in a Devil Rays or Cardinals uniform has little value, but Yankees cards are pretty competitive. 

2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection Edgar Renteria Base

My least favorite type of relic card is the game used base.  Bases are communal property in the sport of baseball and it always seemed silly to open packs of cards and find a card with a piece of base attached to a specific player.  Did the player even touch that base?  Who else touched it too?  All of those questions go through my mind when I stumble across one.  Most of the time they migrate towards the back of my closet or a box and I pray they go away.  You can't sell them on Ebay and have it be worth your time for $0.99 the card will bring.  Further, people rarely want to trade for them.  Recently, I actually picked up two base cards I was excited to own.  First, one today and the second later this week.

2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection Edgar Renteria Base Card

Seventy-Five Cents is a great price for this card.  It is after all a base card.  Being a shortstop I understand there is a greater chance that Edgar Renteria may have had involvement with this base, but I am not for sure.  I have actually really enjoyed collecting the All Star Appeal cards from the 2004 Clubhouse Collection release.  Year after year Topps blesses us with tons of All-Star relics.  Year after year the relics get a little bit old after a week or two on the market.  I usually pick up a few Cardinals, Rays, and other players I like and call it good.  I pick up these cards in hopes of filling out my set.

Don't get me wrong, the base cards in this set are indeed really lame.  However, the autographs in the set are cool, and for the little money it take to buy a base card, worth finding to complete my collection. I will share two autographs with you quickly.  They are a little bit unique because of the relic piece which comes from the on deck circle from the All-Star game at Comiskey Park in 2004.  

2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection Garrett Anderson On Deck Circle/Autograph

Aside from the sticker autograph this is a really cool card and a unique relic.  An On-Deck Circle is communal just like a base, but I know that at some point Garrett Anderson at least stepped on the on deck circle.  Even if he didn't stand on it.  Maybe.  Topps also did a good job with including a lot of different players in the set.  Including ones they normally don't put in sets.  My favorite card from the set is Jorge Posada.  It is one of the few, Topps sets that Posada signed for, and a good find for any autograph collector.  

2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection Jorge Posada Autograph