With many fans paying attention to current players or those of several decades past, it’s only fair to provide an opportunity to remember some forgotten 1990s baseball stars.
Baseball is more prone to nostalgia than seemingly any other sport. The quality of play is as high as it’s ever been, yet we as fans always seem to harken back to the good old days. Somewhere in between is the lost decade of the 1990s.
There are many potential reasons why the 1990s seems to be an afterthought in baseball lore. It’s too recent to be longed for by older fans, yet too long ago to be instantly recalled by younger fans. The steroid era. The strike. Bud Selig’s reign of terror.
This is unfortunate, because the 90s saw some truly excellent players. With the recent Hall of Fame voting, many of these superstars returned to the foreground this past month, including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Curt Schilling, Jeff Bagwell, Edgar Martinez, Larry Walker, Fred McGriff and Ivan Rodriguez. Many of these players don’t get the recognition they deserve, and the players a tier below them are downright forgotten.
The following group of players don’t have a common bond aside from being very good players that time happened to forget. Each position is represented, including a pitcher from each side. None of these players lasted more than a year on the Hall of Fame ballot, but all of them deserve to have their careers acknowledged every so often. Join us as we go on a journey through baseball’s forgotten decade.