SEPT2014. THE 138th ARTICLE FOR BASEBALL GURU

ONEMOREINNING

GREAT MINOR LEAGUERS

JIGGER STATZ:

   His major league career was so-so but combine 737 hits while there, and his Minor league total with 3,356 hits, and Jigger Statz (as a professional) has over 4,000 career hits. Throw in ten seasons in the minors with over 200 hits each and we have an impressive Minor League career!

LEE RILEY:

   You have to give Lee Riley credit….he played in the Minors for just about 22 years. That's a long haul but he made it worthwhile. Over that period he accrued 2,418 hits and his lifetime average while there was .318. His hits consisted of over 900 that were for extra bases.

     He only managed to play in four Major League games but both his sons had decent careers in the NFL and the NBA.

SMEAD JOLLEY:

   In four Major league seasons Jolly managed to play as a pinch hitter and a replacement for injured ballplayers.

   It's his 16 Minor League seasons though that stand out.  He had an amazing total of 3,000 hits and an even more impressive 336 homeruns. To top all that off, his lifetime batting average was .367. Not a shabby career at all!

JOE BAUMAN:

   Move over Barry Bonds and make room for Joe Bauman. 47 years before Bonds, Bauman hit a mind boggling 72 homeruns and did it without Steroids. In just 9 years (and in many of them he played injured) he hit 337 homeruns. He had over 1,300 RBIs and a career batting average of .337

   His Major league career was injury prone and lasted just a few years.

   After baseball he returned to his home town of Roswell where he shared publicity with what some people feel was an Alien landing close to where he owned a gas station.

FRANK SHELLENBACK:

   Most of us have heard of the infamous 1919 "BLACK SOX" but most of us have not heard of Frank Shellenback or are aware of the fact that he was on that team. He won one game for them that year and only managed 9 more while in the Majors.

   Ah, but it's his Minor League numbers that make him one of the best of all time. He won 316 games and lost only 192. Unfortunately he came into the Majors when spitballs were banned and that was his bread and butter pitch.

 

   Next month: PART TWO