Random Listia Autos - Part 16

I’m on a roll featuring this series two days in a row after not showing it for a year! Here are past entries, if you want to catch any older posts in the series. I'm sure you have nothing better to do, so read up.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5 
Part 6
Part 7 

Part 8
Part 9 
Part 10
Part 11 
Part 12 
Part 13 
Part 14 
Part 15

We’ll start off with a former Pirates lefty Tom Gorzelanny, who has one of those names I just could never pronounce. While he has shifted between starter and reliever, his best years came as a starter with the Pirates early in his career. He went 14-10 with a 3.88 ERA in 2007, by far his best campaign. He had a few decent years out of the pen with both Washington and Milwaukee. Still only 34, he’s currently in the Mets’ minor league system, although hasn’t pitched this year due to a shoulder injury.

Rickie Weeks. Raise your hand if you still knew he was playing? He’s currently on the Rays and has played in 36 games. He’s best known for having some pop in his bat as a second basemen for Milwaukee for 11 years. He hit 20 HRs for them in three straight seasons, earning an All-Star spot in 2011. He was even voted in as a starter, which is a great honor. In 2010, he led the league with 754 plate appearance, which is a lot. He must’ve been feeling pretty good after being named Baseball’s Sexiest Player by Cosmo Magazine in 2009. He’s essentially now carved a role as a yearly minor league free agent with a chance to stick with the club. Regardless, he’s doing ok with over $47Mil in career earnings. I'd trade places with him.

You could have told me Kevin Gregg was still pitching someone and I would have been like, “ok, cool.” Alas, he hasn’t pitched since 2015. He had a few very good seasons as a closer from 2007-2013, saving over 30 games three different times. I will say that I’ll always have a place in my heart for him for being one of the few people to yell at David Ortiz, telling him to run a ball out. But we all know Ortiz didn’t run and that such a chore was beneath him, so Gregg was the one at fault.

2009 NL Manager of the Year Jim Tracy makes an appearance in this series. He took over as manager on May 29^th, 2009 when Clint Hurdle was fired, and led the Rockies to the post-season. He also appeared in the post-season in 2004 with the Dodgers, where he had his most success as a manager. In 5 years there, he was 427-383, and for his career finished 856-880 (assuming he doesn’t manager again). Just under .500. Too bad! As a player, he was part of the Cubs in ’80 and ’81, finishing as a .249 hitter in 185 career ABs.

What a great looking card! I do remember Mark Teahen as a decent prospect, and in fact, he did crack Baseball America’s pre-season Top 100 in 2005. He was part of Billy Beane’s 2002 Moneyball draft as well, but was traded to the Royals in the three-team deal that sent Carlos Beltran from KC to Houston. He had a couple of decent years in KC, hitting .290 with 18 HRs in 2006. He played for KC through 2009, then played for the White Sox (2010-11), and the Blue Jays (2011). He currently plays with Padova in an Italian baseball league, which is pretty cool. Here is the team roster.