MLB history: Forgotten stars of the current NL East teams

Forgotten stars of the current NL East teams

Warren Cromartie, Nationals

The Nationals pose an interesting problem in trying to find lost stars in MLB history. The current Washington franchise was, of course, the Expos first, is not really that old a club (starting in 1969), and while they were a Canadian club, they became best known as a fertile ground for players who became big stars elsewhere.

Most serious fans know about the tall, left-handed pitcher, the father-star of the currently rising star in Toronto, and the guy whose nickname was “Rock.”

The player who had perhaps the most interesting, but somewhat forgotten career for the franchise, though, was Warren Cromartie, and he actually played within the last 40 years.

Cromartie was an everyday player and a very good one for the first high-water mark in Expos history, the 1980 and ’81 seasons when the team lost the NL East championship by one game to the Phillies, then in the following, strike-divided year, knocked off the World Champs from Philly in the “divisional series” before losing to Los Angeles on a walk-off homer in the fifth game of the NL Championship series.

In 1980, Cromartie played mostly first base, with two games in left field; in ’81 he split time between first and right. He hit .288 and .304 those two seasons and made only 14 errors in almost 2200 chances, the vast majority at first in ’80. He made no outfield errors in those two years.

In the nine years, he was in Montreal between 1974 and 1983, Cromartie hit .280, with 222 doubles and an OPS of .737.

But to quote Verbal Kint, “And like that…he’s gone.” After his age-29 season. He had back problems in ’83, as well as a dispute with manager Bill Virdon over a temper tantrum he threw after a loss. He became a free agent at the end of that season as well.

Cromartie took his services to Japan, where he played for the Yomiuri Giants, and for five of the next seven years hit over .300, topping out at .363 in 1986 with 37 home runs.

Then he came back to America, where, in his final season, at the age of 37, he hit .313 for the Kansas City Royals.

All in all, Warren Cromartie put together one of the weirdest stellar careers in professional and MLB history.