The Vintage Baby Pictures Quiz
Back in November, THT’s John Brattain presented a couple of fascinating looks back at the scouting-report prognostications on some intriguing young prospects presented in the 1994 Baseball Almanac. John called the looks “Baby Pictures,” an evocatively apt description: When presented with a snapshot of a familiar adult from when he or she was in diapers, sometimes we can clearly see the resemblance, and sometimes we can’t. Similarly, these soothsayers predicting the future trajectory of unproven young talents sometimes get it right on the money, and sometimes they don’t.
It’s no surprise that even the experts don’t always foresee the development path of prospects. If everyone knew what would happen in advance, there would be no reason, as the old saying goes, to play the games. Lots of things happen, good and bad, lucky and unlucky, to ballplayers as their careers progress; generally, it’s only in retrospect that things become obvious or appear inevitable.
Inspired by John’s idea, here I present the complete minor league statistics of some prominent historic players, mostly from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. But rather than just tell you up front who owned each bunch of stats, I’ll challenge you to try to figure them out. Let’s find out how well you can recognize them, based strictly on the numbers they compiled before they reached The Show.
The answers are down at the bottom of the article. No fair peeking until you’ve made your best guess!
Questions
We’ll start off with some pretty easy ones. What players do these three minor league careers belong to? Obviously, these were, to say the least, some rather impressive young prospects.
Player No. 1 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1949 17 K.O.M. D SS 89 323 54 101 15 7 7 63 52 66 20 .313 .404 .467 .871 1950 18 W.A. C SS 137 519 141 199 30 12 26 136 94 90 22 .383 .480 .638 1.118 1951 19 A.A. AAA OF 40 166 32 60 9 3 11 50 23 30 5 .361 .450 .651 1.100 Player No. 2 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1950 19 Inter.-St B OF 81 306 50 108 20 8 4 55 42 34 7 .353 .440 .510 .950 1951 20 A.A. AAA OF 35 149 38 71 18 3 8 30 14 10 5 .477 .528 .799 1.326 Player No. 3 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1952 18 Northern C SS 87 345 79 116 19 4 9 64 33 19 25 .336 .402 .493 . 894 1953 19 S.A.L. A 2B 137 574 115 208 36 14 22 125 35 22 13 .362 .398 .589 .987
Okay, now some pitchers. These might be a little bit easy as well, given that these are four of the most startling minor league records ever put together. Who are these four guys?
Pitcher No. 1 Year Age League Class G IP W L H HR BB SO ERA WHIP 1952 19 A.A. AAA 12 62 2 5 37 ? 62 61 5.23 1.60 1953 20 Eastern A 23 98 7 3 64 5 126 104 4.68 1.94 1954 21 A.A. AAA 33 251 22 5 140 13 140 330 2.62 1.12 Pitcher No. 2 Year Age League Class G IP W L H HR BB SO ERA WHIP 1965 18 Appal. Rookie 13 78 3 6 61 4 56 115 4.38 1.50 1966 19 W. Carol. A 29 183 17 2 109 2 127 272 2.51 1.29 1966 19 Eastern AA 3 19 0 2 9 0 12 35 0.95 1.11 1967 20 Fla. St. A 1 4 0 0 1 0 2 5 2.25 0.75 1967 20 I.L. AAA 3 7 1 0 3 0 3 18 0.00 0.86 Pitcher No. 3 Year Age League Class G IP W L H HR BB SO ERA WHIP 1982 17 Appal. SA 9 66 5 4 53 1 25 66 2.47 1.18 1982 17 NYP A 2 13 0 1 11 2 3 18 4.15 1.08 1983 18 Carolina A 27 191 19 4 121 11 112 300 2.50 1.22 Pitcher No. 4 Year Age League Class G IP W L H HR BB SO ERA WHIP 1983 20 Fla.St. A 4 29 3 1 22 0 0 36 1.24 0.76 1983 20 Eastern AA 7 52 4 1 31 1 12 59 1.38 0.83 1984 21 I.L. AAA 7 47 2 3 39 3 14 50 1.93 1.13
Okay, now these might be a little bit more difficult. Who are these two young second basemen?
Player No. 4 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1960 19 NYPA D 2B 85 321 60 89 8 5 1 43 55 35 18 .277 .385 .343 .727 1961 20 Fla.St. D 2B 130 484 105 160 20 30 2 77 60 33 30 .331 .403 .508 .911 1962 21 S.A.L. A 2B 139 540 136 178 31 17 9 71 95 61 15 .330 .431 .500 .931 Player No. 5 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1964 18 Cocoa Rookie 2B 37 123 17 40 5 3 0 21 14 22 14 .325 .416 .415 .831 1965 19 Fla.St. A 2B 125 439 57 133 20 8 1 52 73 74 52 .303 .400 .392 .792 1966 20 Carolina A 2B 112 383 64 112 19 3 1 30 50 79 28 .292 .367 .366 .733
And how about these two young pitchers from the late 1950s?
Pitcher No. 5 Year Age League Class G IP W L H HR BB SO ERA WHIP 1957 21 A.A. AAA 10 42 2 1 46 5 27 25 4.29 1.74 1957 21 S.A.L. A 8 43 4 3 36 2 34 24 3.77 1.63 1958 22 A.A. AAA 13 87 3 4 79 1 39 47 3.31 1.36 1958 22 I.L. AAA 20 103 5 5 88 0 54 75 2.45 1.38 1959 23 A.A. AAA 24 135 9 9 128 4 70 98 3.07 1.47 1960 24 I.L. AAA 6 41 2 3 33 2 17 36 2.85 1.22 Pitcher No. 6 Year Age League Class G IP W L H HR BB SO ERA WHIP 1958 20 Midwest D 35 245 21 8 200 11 50 246 1.87 1.02 1959 21 Eastern A 37 271 18 13 238 12 47 208 2.39 1.05 1960 22 P.C.L. AAA 18 139 11 5 116 9 34 121 3.11 1.08
All right, we’re going to get more challenging. Who is this interesting pair?
Both were left-handed batters, good defensive outfielders who could handle center field but were best suited for right.
Player No. 6 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1953 18 Northern C OF 114 418 74 136 18 13 9 80 76 62 14 .325 .432 .495 .927 1954 19 Three-I B OF 134 502 105 158 26 6 32 111 80 53 25 .315 .414 .582 .996 1955 20 Texas AA OF 25 90 9 21 1 0 1 9 15 18 2 .233 .346 .278 .624 1955 20 Eastern A OF 113 374 74 108 15 3 19 78 77 60 24 .289 .414 .497 .912 1956 21 A.A. AAA OF 131 433 77 127 20 8 17 75 41 55 7 .293 .358 .494 .852 Player No. 7 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1953 19 Mt.St. D OF 125 513 129 167 20 24 35 164 70 142 17 .326 .409 .663 1.072 1954 20 Carolina B OF 17 48 10 13 0 2 2 7 8 14 0 .271 .362 .479 .841 1954 20 Northern C OF 114 406 94 146 11 11 27 105 52 71 22 .360 .447 .640 1.087 1955 21 Western A OF 141 502 117 158 25 6 40 116 79 81 14 .315 .409 .627 1.037 1955 21 A.A. AAA OF 9 22 2 6 2 0 1 3 ? ? 0 .273 ? .500 ? 1956 22 A.A. AAA OF 154 574 114 168 35 12 37 120 57 112 15 .293 .364 .589 .953
We’re getting into seriously difficult territory now. Any guesses on these two pitching prospects?
Pitcher No. 7 Year Age League Class G IP W L H HR BB SO ERA WHIP 1950 18 Ohio-Ind. D 17 123 7 8 120 6 68 83 3.22 1.53 1951 19 Three-I B 22 150 8 10 110 2 105 103 2.88 1.43 1952 20 Eastern A 20 129 5 9 113 ? 63 85 3.49 1.36 1953 21 I.L. AAA 3 5 0 0 6 ? 0 4 1.80 1.20 1953 21 S.A. AA 34 158 5 12 151 13 66 124 4.56 1.37 1954 22 S.A. AA 35 193 13 11 182 21 91 140 4.29 1.41 1955 23 I.L. AAA 20 129 8 5 106 13 81 105 3.77 1.45 1956 24 A.A. AAA 22 163 9 11 142 ? 56 144 3.53 1.21 Pitcher No. 8 Year Age League Class G IP W L H HR BB SO ERA WHIP 1951 20 Eastern A 33 263 20 9 207 ? 53 173 2.16 0.99 1952 21 A.A. AAA 20 160 11 4 143 ? 46 143 3.15 1.18 1953 22 A.A. AAA 36 261 23 9 198 22 57 211 2.90 0.98
Here are a couple of fun ones. Who are these two minor league mashers?
Player No. 8 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1951 18 Calif. C OF 66 201 21 46 9 0 4 31 27 47 2 .229 .325 .333 .658 1952 19 Pioneer C OF 129 515 115 161 30 4 31 121 72 99 4 .313 .402 .567 .969 1953 20 (In Military Service) 1954 21 (In Military Service) 1955 22 S.A. AA OF 13 30 4 6 0 0 0 3 3 12 0 .200 .273 .200 .473 1955 22 Mexican AA OF 7 27 3 4 1 0 1 4 ? ? 0 .148 ? .296 ? 1955 22 Pioneer C OF 101 366 84 113 19 5 32 104 64 109 4 .309 .417 .650 1.067 1956 23 Western A OF-1B 141 523 131 156 25 3 66 158 88 171 4 .298 .406 .736 1.142 1957 24 P.C.L. Open OF 23 72 8 17 0 0 6 17 10 32 0 .236 .337 .486 .823 1957 24 S.A. AA OF-3B-1B 23 90 18 19 2 0 8 21 13 31 1 .211 .311 .500 .811 1957 24 Western A 1B-OF 97 348 71 92 13 0 31 84 61 117 2 .264 .383 .569 .952 1958 25 P.C.L. AAA 1B 80 315 61 98 14 1 31 82 36 76 0 .311 .380 .657 1.037 Player No. 9 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1977 19 Midwest A OF 22 53 9 10 4 0 0 3 8 23 1 .189 .302 .264 .566 1977 19 Pioneer SA OF 34 100 22 25 3 0 7 21 11 32 3 .250 .319 .490 .809 1978 20 Midwest A OF 13 35 2 5 2 1 0 4 1 14 1 .143 .167 .257 .424 1979 21 Southern AA OF 53 157 28 43 9 1 6 26 12 47 0 .274 .347 .459 .806 1979 21 Midwest A OF 35 120 18 31 3 1 2 12 15 46 0 .258 .341 .350 .691 1980 22 Midwest A OF 61 209 31 66 15 3 12 56 20 47 0 .316 .403 .589 .992 1980 22 Eastern AA OF 17 65 11 20 3 1 4 9 4 14 0 .308 .362 .569 .932 1981 23 Eastern AA OF 109 389 97 126 17 3 40 102 60 107 0 .324 .429 .692 1.120 1982 24 P.C.L. AAA OF 127 472 121 163 22 10 50 144 74 109 5 .345 .450 .752 1.202
This impressive young trio was in the same organization. Who are they?
Player No. 10 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1968 17 Northern A 1B 57 212 22 55 5 0 13 43 18 64 3 .259 .335 .467 .802 1969 18 Carolina A 1B 129 464 75 134 22 3 31 92 58 148 6 .289 .373 .550 .923 1970 19 Eastern AA 1B 141 471 94 153 25 5 33 120 85 148 4 .325 .448 .609 1.057 1971 20 P.C.L. AAA 1B 142 548 104 171 30 5 36 114 39 167 1 .312 .358 .582 .940 Player No. 11 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1969 18 Appal. Rookie 1B 64 231 50 84 18 6 10 60 36 42 14 .364 .446 .623 1.069 1970 19 Carolina A OF-1B-3B 118 402 77 126 19 4 22 67 81 79 16 .313 .430 .545 .975 1971 20 P.C.L. AAA OF 134 482 111 161 28 10 36 100 83 108 8 .334 .428 .658 1.085 1972 21 P.C.L. AAA OF-1B 88 309 60 92 14 1 17 56 58 96 4 .298 .400 .515 .915 Player No. 12 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1971 21 Eastern AA SS 74 237 27 50 7 1 8 31 27 66 3 .211 .307 .350 .657 1972 22 P.C.L. AAA 2B-3B-SS 131 436 80 127 23 6 26 91 87 145 6 .291 .418 .550 .969
And who are these three right-handed pitchers?
Pitcher No. 9 Year Age League Class G IP W L H HR BB SO ERA WHIP 1965 18 Fla. St. A 25 175 8 15 148 3 69 108 2.98 1.24 1966 19 Calif. A 22 159 11 6 120 15 43 152 2.77 1.03 1967 20 Southern AA 18 102 6 5 75 1 36 61 2.21 1.09 1968 21 Southern AA 18 108 10 4 94 8 28 93 3.00 1.13 Pitcher No. 10 Year Age League Class G IP W L H HR BB SO ERA WHIP 1970 18 G.C. Rookie 3 16 0 0 11 1 4 21 2.81 0.94 1971 19 Midwest A 25 187 18 2 141 9 50 149 1.83 1.02 Pitcher No. 11 Year Age League Class G IP W L H HR BB SO ERA WHIP 1972 17 Calif. A 12 75 5 5 87 6 33 56 4.80 1.60 1973 18 Calif. A 31 202 12 8 182 15 91 218 3.65 1.35 1974 19 Texas AA 23 167 14 3 141 14 60 163 3.40 1.20
All right, our final test is the most difficult. If you can figure all these guys out, you are a true master.
At the conclusion of the 1964 season, would you be in favor of trading this guy:
Player No. 13 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1961 17 Soph. D OF-3B-2B-P 128 502 159 178 39 7 35 108 109 97 64 .355 .467 .669 1.136 1961 17 Northwest B OF 9 25 2 7 1 0 0 1 ? ? 2 .280 ? .320 ? 1962 18 P.C.L. AAA OF-3B-1B 121 391 55 87 16 6 16 41 21 66 16 .223 .263 .417 .680 1963 19 Texas AA OF-3B 125 475 112 148 27 5 36 95 65 91 35 .312 .395 .617 1.012 1964 20 P.C.L. AAA OF-2B 132 464 70 134 18 3 12 54 64 81 40 .289 .366 .418 .784
… even-up for this guy?
Player No. 14 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1961 18 W. Carol. D C-1B-2B-OF 96 332 63 108 20 4 3 69 44 23 13 .325 .411 .437 .848 1962 19 Calif. C C-3B 106 314 51 99 21 2 2 32 45 34 5 .315 .401 .414 .815 1963 20 Northwest A C-OF 85 261 30 83 10 0 2 36 46 35 3 .318 .426 .379 .806 1963 20 P.C.L. AAA C 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 .000 .167 .000 .167 1964 21 P.C.L. AAA C-OF-1B-3B 125 406 71 125 20 6 23 83 66 71 1 .308 .407 .557 .964
And would it change your decision if you knew that in your organization, you already had this guy …
Player No. 15 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1959 17 Neb. St. D C 44 143 14 41 4 3 2 28 25 37 3 .287 .394 .399 .793 1960 18 Calif. C C 77 250 36 63 9 2 5 32 39 62 3 .252 .352 .364 .716 1961 19 Northwest B C 124 385 48 112 21 6 3 56 59 53 2 .291 .382 .400 .782 1962 20 Eastern A C 103 323 34 85 19 3 1 50 43 50 1 .263 .357 .350 .707 1963 21 P.C.L. AAA C 112 311 36 94 20 1 6 36 32 38 1 .302 .362 .431 .793 1964 22 P.C.L. AAA C 108 314 22 54 7 0 4 29 29 58 2 .172 .237 .232 .469
… as well as this guy …
Player No. 16 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1960 18 Soph. D C-OF 91 290 55 71 12 3 12 51 69 108 8 .245 .398 .431 .829 1960 18 Calif. C C 10 24 2 1 0 0 0 1 6 12 0 .042 .226 .042 .267 1961 19 Soph. D C-OF 109 328 106 109 21 6 24 95 159 89 6 .332 .554 .652 1.207 1962 20 Northwest B C-OF-2B-3B 118 339 49 99 15 3 14 68 66 67 2 .292 .409 .478 .887 1963 21 Texas AA OF 134 469 128 166 25 5 35 101 91 91 6 .354 .479 .652 1.131 1964 22 P.C.L. AAA OF 143 452 70 118 24 2 19 73 89 98 1 .261 .385 .449 .835
… and, for good measure, this guy, too?
Player No. 17 Year Age League Class Pos G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS 1960 18 Appal. D C 44 153 32 41 10 3 3 15 21 34 0 .268 .352 .431 .784 1961 19 Calif. C C-OF 88 273 36 68 12 1 6 45 56 72 6 .249 .368 .366 .734 1962 20 Calif. C C-3B-OF 105 331 42 79 12 3 8 39 37 77 7 .239 .315 .366 .681 1963 21 Texas AA C-3B 115 379 66 123 30 3 23 81 35 66 2 .325 .378 .602 .979 1964 22 P.C.L. AAA C 21 62 6 16 4 0 2 8 5 14 0 .258 .304 .419 .724 1964 22 I.L. AAA C-OF 113 374 40 81 10 1 13 40 26 92 4 .217 .269 .353 .622
Answers
Player No. 1: Mickey Mantle
Player No. 2: Willie Mays
Player No. 3: Hank Aaron
All three, of course, went on to all-time great major league careers, after all three had simply dismantled their minor league competition. I’m not sure if Aaron was still batting cross-handed there in 1952, but he was still playing shortstop.
Pitcher No. 1: Herb Score
Pitcher No. 2: Nolan Ryan
Pitcher No. 3: Dwight Gooden
Pitcher No. 4: Roger Clemens
Some serious heat bein’ brung here. Score in particular is a guy I wouldn’t have wanted to dig in against.
The most amazing one is Clemens, simply because unlike the others, he was demonstrating masterful control from day one. Zero walks in 29 innings in the Florida State League, against 36 strikeouts? That’s just not fair.
Clemens was so damn good the Red Sox quickly decided to dispense with the whole minor league development thing, and just bring him up to the big leagues, the way the Giants had done with Mays. One can hardly blame them. But it’s awfully intriguing to imagine what kind of a stat line Clemens might have put up if he’d been given a full season in the minors.
Player No. 4: Pete Rose
Player No. 5: Rod Carew
Something quite interesting here is Carew’s rather high strikeout rate, with virtually no power and a high batting average. That’s a very unusual combination, and one that’s generally unsustainable. In the majors, Carew would continue to demonstrate the odd profile to a lesser extent, until he finally reduced the strikeouts and became a truly sensational high-average hitter.
Rose, on the other hand, was controlling the strike zone from the get-go. And was he a triples monster, or what?
Pitcher No. 5: Bob Gibson
Pitcher No. 6: Juan Marichal
Based on their minor league careers, one would have been hard-pressed to expect that they’d find similar success in the majors, indeed that Gibson would become the superior pitcher. Marichal dominated minor league hitters like few pitchers in history, while Gibson showed pretty good stuff but struggled with his control. One remarkable thing about Gibson is the degree to which he was preventing home runs in the minors; that was a far more impressive skill of his at that point than his capacity to strike hitters out.
Player No. 6: Roger Maris
Player No. 7: Willie Kirkland
Maris was clearly a very impressive, well-rounded young talent, but if you’d told me that one of these two guys would become a two-time MVP and a record-setting home run champ, my money would sure have been on Kirkland. He was in some hitters’ leagues, but still Kirkland was leading his leagues in all kinds of stuff, while Maris never led a minor league in anything.
Kirkland’s career turned out to be among the more disappointing in history: He played well in the majors for a few years, but never developed into the star it appeared he would, and then, at age 28, he suddenly collapsed into a journeyman.
Pitcher No. 7: Jim Bunning
Pitcher No. 8: Gene Conley
Betcha didn’t get these two, did ya?
Talk about your career twists and turns. Bunning meandered through the minor leagues for a long time, showing decent stuff but never performing among the best pitchers in any of his many leagues. Then, in his first full year in the majors, Bunning would suddenly break out as a major star, and remain one for the next decade.
Conley, on the other hand, just blew the minors away, destroyed them. His minor league stats closely rival Marichal’s for sheer all-around polished brilliance. Then, in the majors, after a solid rookie year, Conley turned out to be okay but nothing special, nothing close to a star.
Minor league statistics are very predictive of major league performance, but they are by no means infallible. And once in a while, they’re amazingly off the mark.
Player No. 8: Dick Stuart
Player No. 9: Ron Kittle
A couple of guys most assuredly not attending the “put-the-ball-in-play” school. Stuart, in particular, was about as one-dimensional as a player can be, but when that one dimension is home runs, at a rate like that, it would seem that eventually you find your way to the majors.
Player No. 10: Greg Luzinski
Player No. 11: Mike Anderson
Player No. 12: Mike Schmidt
Rarely in history has an organization had three, count ’em three, young right-handed power prospects coming along all at the same time quite like these three.
The most impressive of the prodigies, all things considered, was Anderson. Weirdly, he was never able to translate his dominance of the minor leagues into major league success. Not only did Anderson never break through as the major league star it appeared he would, he was never even able to establish himself as a major league regular. He was an excellent defensive outfielder, but his status at the major league level rapidly deteriorated from can’t-miss-prospect to semi-regular to defensive replacement to gone.
Luzinski did make it as the major league star slugger he seemed destined to become. But the Phillies made the very odd decision to shift “The Bull” from first base to left field and leave him there, despite his incapacity to cover any ground at all. And Luzinski’s weight seemed to get the better of him as time went on; he wasn’t nearly the hitter past the age of 27 that he had been up to that point, and he was finished at 33.
Schmidt, of course, just became the greatest third baseman in the history of the sport, that’s all. But he was primarily a middle infielder in the minors, and it’s interesting to contemplate what sort of value Schmidt might have generated had he continued to play shortstop and/or second base through the heart of his major league career.
Pitcher No. 9: Rollie Fingers
Pitcher No. 10: Rich Gossage
Pitcher No. 11: Dennis Eckersley
It’s debatable whether the two of these fellows who are in the Hall of Fame ought to be, and/or whether the third should be too. But one incontestable point is that these are three of the greatest relief pitchers in major league history.
All three were starters in the minor leagues, and all three were hugely impressive in that role, as we see. Eckersley went on to forge a very good (though not great) career as a major league starter. That his teams continued to use him in the starting role until he clearly demonstrated he was no longer up to it, and only then moved him to the bullpen, is entirely sensible.
But the decisions to commit both Fingers and Gossage to relief specialist roles while still young major leaguers are highly questionable. Both thrived wonderfully in the bullpen, of course, and both were amazingly durable and resilient relievers. But those very attributes suggest that, given the proper opportunity, coaching and patient guidance (and that thrust upon Gossage in 1976 by the 67-year-old Paul Richards likely wasn’t it), both could have delivered outstanding major league starting careers, and produced even more value.
The bullpen is always there, ready and waiting, to welcome and comfort veteran starters, or those who demonstrably aren’t hacking it in the more demanding starting role. But the rush to commit a star-quality young pitcher to a bullpen career has never made sense to me.
Player No. 13: Jose Cardenal
Player No. 14: Jack Hiatt
Player No. 15: Bob Barton
Player No. 16: Dick Dietz
Player No. 17: Randy Hundley
Hiatt was a fine-looking catching prospect, no doubt about it. He’d hit .300 at every level, and drawn walks at a nice rate, and suddenly in AAA at age 21 shown good power as well. The fact that his organization (the Angels) kept fooling around with him at positions other than catcher might indicate that they weren’t thrilled with his defense behind the plate, but it might not; there are good reasons to move a young player around and try him at different positions even if he shows good aptitude at his primary spot.
But the concept of Hiatt as a better-looking overall prospect than Cardenal is hard to swallow. This kid Cardenal was amply demonstrating the kind of power-speed combination that one very rarely finds. The Giants themselves had been so dazzled by Cardenal that they jumped him all the way up to AAA at the age of 18. He proved to be not ready for that, but he then blew out AA, and when given another AAA shot at 20 Cardenal looked to be coming along just fine. Should the Giants have given up this guy before he was 21, in exchange for Hiatt?
The one obvious reason to do so would be positional need within the organization. Catchers are often in short supply; if the Giants needed a catcher, and especially if they were overloaded in the outfield, then Cardenal-for-Hiatt might be appropriate. But as we see here, the Giants already had three viable catching prospects at the AAA level.
Each had failings, for sure, but each also had something going for him:
– Barton didn’t impress much as a hitter (though his completely disastrous 1964 batting performance was likely a fluke, it reasonably had to alarm the Giants), but he seemed to be a fine defensive catcher.
– Dietz looked ready to be an outstanding major league offensive perfomer, but the fact that the organization had moved him from catcher to left field strongly indicated the unsatisfactory status of his catching defense.
– Hundley’s hitting had been up and down, but all the evidence we have from subsequent seasons clearly indicates that his quickness, alertness and throwing strength as a catcher were highly impressive.
None was an apparent star, but among the three it would certainly seem that the Giants had some useful talent coming along behind the plate. And it wasn’t exactly as though the team had an urgent need for catching help: At the major league level, the Giants already had an excellent young regular, in 27-year-old Tom Haller.
And while the Giants were obviously more than adequately served in center field with the veteran superstar Willie Mays, the five players who’d combined to fill the two outfield positions alongside Mays for the 1964 Giants had presented OPS+ figures of 108, 91, 77, 75 and 71. It wasn’t as though they had no room for improvement in the outfield.
It was a trade that simply didn’t make sense from the Giants’ standpoint, and it worked out dismally. Cardenal, given a chance to play with the Angels in 1965, immediately became a solid regular, and played in the major leagues though 1980. Hiatt, with little opportunity to play given the crowd of Giants behind the plate, didn’t make the majors to stay until 1967, and never became anything more than a utility player. Cardenal would earn 212 Win Shares in his major league career, while Hiatt earned 48.