Baseball History: Wondering What Could Have Been
One of the hot topics over the past few days in various online forums involves what players one would want to give a clean bill of health to. Let’s look back throughout baseball history and see what players could have benefited the most.
Over the course of baseball history, there have been players who appeared destined for stardom until injuries got in the way. While some of those players continued to play at an elite level, and even made the Hall of Fame, they still were not quite what everyone expected. One still has to wonder “What if” when looking back over their careers.
Now, imagine that you had the ability to go back and give one player in baseball history perfect health. That player would be able to have his entire career unfold, and could perhaps become the player everyone imagined. It is certainly a fascinating topic to think about.
That topic of conversation has been making the rounds online lately. From various social media outlets to different chat groups, it is a topic that has spurred a great deal of discussion. It is also a topic that, when going back over baseball history, could lead to quite the interesting hypothetical.
And so, let us look back and think of what could have been. Here are ten players whose careers, as impressive as some of them were, could have been that much better if they remained healthy.
Brien Taylor
Brien Taylor was going to be the next ace of the New York Yankees, the pitcher that would bring them back to the postseason. Instead, he was the second player taken with the first overall pick to never make it to the majors.
He was considered the top prospect in the game heading into the 1992 season, despite having not thrown a pitch professionally. After a solid debut, he was rates as the second best prospect in baseball going into 1993. Taylor reached AA in his second minor league season, and while he exhibited command issues, Taylor was still considered the top pitching prospect in the Eastern League. His time in the majors was coming, and likely very soon.
Instead, disaster struck in the offseason. Taylor, while attempting to defend his brother and a friend during a bar fight, injured his left shoulder. He underwent surgery, missing the entire 1994 campaign. When he returned, he had lost his velocity and any semblance of command, as he was battered in the Gulf Coast League and South Atlantic League.
One has to wonder what could have been if Taylor had not gotten in the way that night. The Yankees were on the verge of returning to dominance, and the hard throwing Taylor could have been a key part of that resurgence. Instead, he will be remembered as the second player taken with the first overall pick, along with Steve Chilcott, to never reach the majors.
Brien Taylor had the potential to be a star. Instead, one violent night at a bar ended his chance to live up to that potential.
John Paciorek had a one game major league career, but what a game it was.
At 18 years old, Paciorek was given a one game stint in the majors by the Colt .45s. An expansion team in just their second year, Houston was looking for anyone that could be a part of the future. Paciorek, although he was still a teenager, impressed in that one game trial. He was 3-3 with three RBI and four runs scored, while drawing two walks. With that performance, he seemed a lock to be a key piece of the .45s future.
However, back issues would be his undoing. He had already missed time in 1963 due to problems with his sciatic nerve. Those problems led to his being sent to the minors to start the 1964 season, and eventually spinal fusion surgery. He missed most of that 1964 season, and all of 1965, as he recovered from the surgery.
When he came back, he just was not the same. Released by the Astros after two mediocre seasons, he was picked up by the Indians. There, he seemed to have regained his form, but injuries reared up once more. He tore his Achilles during warmups, ending his career at 24 years old and with just one game in the majors.
Had it not been for injuries, John Paciorek could have been a star. Instead, he is remembered for having the greatest performance of any player with one career game at the major league level.
J.R. Richard was a star, and when the Houston Astros paired him with Nolan Ryan in 1980, it was expected the duo would lead the team to the postseason. Instead, Richard saw his career come to an abrupt end.
He was starting to get the recognition he deserved. Hindered by bouts of wildness early in his career, Richard became a fearsome strikeout machine, leading the National League in 1978 and 1979. He had four consecutive years with at least 18 wins, and won the ERA title in 1979 as well. In 1980, he made his first All Star appearance, and appeared well on his way to establishing himself as one of the best pitchers in the game.
Then, on June 14, Richard began complaining of nausea and numbness in his arm. The Astros could not find anything wrong, and began to think he was faking his symptoms. Then, just over two weeks later, he collapsed while throwing before a game, suffering from a stroke. Richard attempted a comeback in the minors, but his reflexes were gone. His career came to a sudden end with that stroke.
Afterwards, Richard had a tough life. He lost most of his money in an oil business scam. The rest of his money, and his house, were lost in his two divorces. He was found living under an overpass in Houston in 1994, but got his life back on track. He got back into baseball, first as a coach, then as a motivational speaker.
The Houston Astros thought they had the top of their rotation set for years with Nolan Ryan and J.R. Richard. Those plans lasted for just about three months into that initial season.
A two sport star, few players were as well known as Bo Jackson was during the height of his abilities. Unfortunately, right as he began to find himself as a baseball player, Jackson’s career was derailed.
Even with that shortened career, Jackson was a human highlight reel on the diamond. He hit home runs in four consecutive at bats, albeit over multiple games. Jackson infamously ran up a wall after catching a deep fly ball, and once threw out a runner at home while flat footed on the warning track. And who can forget his snapping a bat over his head after striking out?
Just as Jackson seemed to be on track to become a true star for the Kansas City Royals, disaster happened. He was tackled during a Raiders playoff game, and left with a hip injury. What was originally thought to be bruise turned out to be a dislocated hip. He popped his hip back into the socket himself, but ruined the blood vessels in the area. He ended up with a fractured hip and avascular necrosis, leading to hip replacement surgery and the end of his football career.
Amazingly, Jackson made a comeback in the majors. After missing most of the previous two seasons, he made his comeback with the White Sox in 1993, producing a respectable .239/.289/.433 batting line with 16 homers. That season, he won the AL Comeback Player of the Year award, and was even better in 1994. However, with the season cut short due to the player’s strike, Jackson realized he wanted to pursue other interests, and did not return when baseball began once again.
Bo Jackson was just beginning to realize his potential as a baseball player when his hip injury derailed his career. Had he remained healthy, who knows what type of player he could have been.
Smoky Joe Wood had a 14 year career, with eight seasons on the mound and six more as an outfielder. Had an arm injury not ended his pitching career, he could have been a Hall of Famer.
Wood had established himself not only as one of the hardest throwers in the game, and one of the top pitchers. He reached the majors at just 18 years old, and by the time he was 21, led the league in strikeouts per nine innings. In 1912, he led the American League with 34 wins, 35 complete games, and 10 shutouts. After missing most of the next two seasons due to a thumb injury, Wood led the AL with a 1.49 ERA in 1915.
He sat out the entire 1916 season due to a salary dispute, and was traded to the Cleveland Indians, who thought they acquired a top pitcher. However, he hurt his arm in his only start of the season, effectively ending his pitching career. He would appear in just two more games on the mound afterwards, having earned each of his 117 victories by age 26.
Wood was not done with baseball though. Due to a shortage of players in 1918 because of World War One, he had a chance to make the team as a utility player. A solid hitter during his time as a pitcher, he transitioned to the outfield, where he became a decent player. He had a .298/.376/.433 batting line over his final five seasons, hitting 18 homers and stealing 19 bases. Wood was above average with the bat in every one of those years, but missed his chance at stardom.
One of the hardest throwers, and most dominating pitchers of his time, Smoky Joe Wood could have been an all time great. Unfortunately, his arm was unable to handle the workload.
Considered one of the most dominant pitchers of his time, Sandy Koufax’s career was a tale of two halves. After six mediocre seasons, he became a star with the Los Angeles Dodgers in his final six years.
That run was one of the more impressive streaks of any pitcher in baseball history. He made the All Star Game each season, as he became the dominant pitcher in baseball. Koufax threw four no hitters, including a perfect game, breaking the record held by Larry Corcoran, and led the league in strikeouts four times, including a then record 382 strikeouts in 1965. He led the league in ERA in each of his last five seasons, posting an ERA under 2.00 in three of those years.
Then, right as Koufax was at the top of his game, he suddenly retired. It eventually came to light that he had been suffering from arthritis for the previous two seasons, his arm a black and blue mess that required constant painkillers, icing, and various balms. His doctor was concerned that Koufax would eventually lose usage of his famous left arm had he continued to play.
Given his dominance over those final six seasons, Koufax is already regarded as one of the all time greatest pitchers ever to play the game. He is in the conversation as the best left handed pitcher, and his exploits remain legendary even 50 years after his final game. And yet, for as good as Koufax was, one has to wonder what his career would have been like if he remained healthy.
Sandy Koufax was felled in the midst of his prime, taken out by an arthritic condition. Even though he pitched with pain, he was one of the best that the game had ever seen.
Ken Griffey Jr
Ken Griffey Jr was already an all time great, received the highest percentage of any player in the Hall of Fame, and was one of the best all around players in baseball history. Yet, he could have been even better.
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His career certainly ranks amongst the best ever. Griffey made 13 All Star Games, won 10 Gold Glove awards, and was the 1997 American League MVP. He led the league in homers four times, and hit 40 or more home runs seven times. Griffey also had a great deal of speed in his younger days, stealing double digit bases in 10 of his first 11 years.
As it was, the majority of his accomplishments came with the Seattle Mariners. He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds prior to the 2000 season, the home town kid coming to the team his father starred with. He suffered a variety of minor injuries after his first season in Cincinnati, and eventually torn his hamstring in 2004. All told, Griffey lost the equivalent of two full seasons from those injuries, which precipitated his decline.
Even with those issues, he still had an amazing career. Griffey produced a .284/.370/.538 batting line, and hit 630 homers. Had he remained healthy, there was a chance that he could have broken the all time home run record. Instead, we have to wonder how much greater Griffey, already one of the all time greats in baseball history, would have been.
Next: Ten greatest players to never appear in majors
There were few players that had the type of all around game that Ken Griffey Jr possessed. For as great as he was, he could have been even better.