MLB history: Forgotten stars of the current NL Central teams

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The NL Central includes four ancient teams and MLB’s other team that switched leagues relatively recently. Who are their forgotten stars?

As June opens, and the reality of baseball “after” the COVID-19 pandemic becomes totally unclear, Call to the Pen presents the third in our series of stars forgotten by MLB history. As with the earlier pieces in this series, we’re sorting by current divisions. Today: the current NL Central teams’ obscure stars.

Bill Robinson, Pirates – Like many in the rest of our series, Bill Robinson was a star for only a relatively brief period with the Pirates, but he certainly did contribute to the Bucs effort at the end of the 1970s during their old, cross-state rivalry with the Philadelphia Phillies. Interestingly, the Elizabeth, PA native ended up playing for both franchises for a total of 12 of his 16 years in MLB.

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Both teams were very good in the late ’70s, the Pirates finally winning the World Series in 1979, and the Phillies in ’80.

Robinson retired after the 1983 season with the Phillies, but he had his best season in Pittsburgh in ’77, when the Pirates were very good, but not quite good enough to win their division. They won 96, the Phillies 101.

That year for Robbie (or Weaser) was in the middle of a five-year stretch in which the first baseman-outfielder hit .280 or better in four seasons with two years over .300. He drove in 104 runs in ’77, and at some level, one must wonder, “How?” The team also included Al Oliver, Phil Garner, Dave Parker, and Willie Stargell.

Robinson beat them all by at least 16 RBI – Parker was second. Robinson was also third on the team in average at .304.

It’s a bit difficult to evaluate Robbie as fielder since he played all three outfield positions, as well as first and third base. He was a marginal disaster at third, playing there infrequently and posting a Rtot of minus-14 (“you could look it up”), but in less obscure analytical terms, he was at or above the league average for fielding percentage for three of his other four positions.

For older folks, Bill Robinson’s place in MLB history is as a .258 hitter who played for several very good teams as a starter or frequently platooned player. For younger fans, well, who knows how he might finally be judged?

He never won any MLB awards except a paycheck, but in 1977, he finished in 11th place in the MVP vote. As a Pirates fan as a kid, I’d say Robinson deserves a minor star’s respect. In ’77, he had 13 three-hit games. Moreover, that best statistical year was his age-34 season. He learned.

Sadly, Bill Robinson died young, at the age of 64.

Mandatory Credit: Jeff Gross /Allsport /

Jeff D’Amico, Brewers – Considering the Milwaukee Brewers for a forgotten star, one encounters a problem like the Houston Astros’ – a team that hasn’t been in its current league that long, and therefore, any player selected isn’t likely to be really forgotten.

The Brewers moved to the NL in 1998, and for two years they finished fifth in the NL Central. In 2000, however, they finally moved out of the cellar, and an unlikely player was a star on that team: Jeff D’Amico.

I can actually hear Milwaukee baseball fans shaking their heads at this point. Well, not actually their heads moving, of course, but they’re all muttering, “D’Amico was a bum.”

This is where the argument is rolled out that goes, in its stripped-down form, “No one in MLB is really a bum. They’re all very, very good baseball players.” However, D’Amico’s aggregate record was not impressive in the least. He finished an eight-year career at 45-52 with an overall ERA of 4.61.

The guy just put too many people on base. His career WHIP was 1.343.

And yet his personal MLB history does include that one line from the year the NL Brewers finally crawled out of the cellar. The 6-foot-7 or 6-foot-9 right-hander, depending on your source, went 12-7 that year and challenged for the ERA title for the season, finishing third.

Interestingly, the Brewers ace that season needed to eat innings in his last start to qualify for that title, and barely made it, but in giving up six earned runs to the Reds Sep. 28, he slipped behind Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson for the seasonal honor.

The fact is that Jeff D’Amico was plagued by injuries for most of his career, but in 2000, he was sharp – his 1.164 WHIP was the Brewers best mark among starters that campaign.

He also holds the distinction of having hit the first triple in Miller Park history.

Johnny Kling, Cubs – The Chicago Cubs of the first decade of the twentieth century are largely now known as the Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance Cubs, but the team as a whole performed admirably for five full years, 1906-10, appearing in the World Series four times and winning twice.

One of the undoubtedly forgotten cogs in the Small Bears machine was Johnny Kling, the starting catcher for the final game of the ’08 Series, the last Chicago would win for 108 years.

Kling was the starting catcher for four of the five years of the Cubs mini-dynasty, missing only 1909 for a no-doubt unique reason in MLB history. Following the Cubs win in 1908, Kling won the world’s billiards championship and invested $50,000, likely including some or all of his chalky prize, in what Sabr.org calls a “billiard emporium” in his hometown, Kansas City, MO. And he took a leave of absence from the Cubs to oversee the place.

That resulted in a dispute with the Cubs, a messy one. He returned to the team in 1910.

In 1908, however, the Cubs last championship season for a very long time, Kling was a most useful piece. He hit .276, the second-highest team average, and drove in 59 runs, an ancient team-third for the eventual World Champions.

In the World Series that year, he hit .250 and drove in two runs in 16 at-bats, his best series performance in the Cubs’ most dominant era.

The closest he ever got to an award was a 27th place in the MVP voting in 1911 at the age of 35. He hit over .300 twice, .312 in 1906, and .317 as player-manager of the Braves in 1912.

However, perhaps the bottom line on this player, who shone somewhat brightly in a championship year, is that he was a modest man and apparently, a very nice guy. He reportedly thought people would never be interested in his baseball career.

Following his career in MLB, Kling became wealthy in real estate, and in 1933, he bought the minor-league Kansas City Blues and ended segregated seating in their home park, which also was the home venue for the Negro League Monarchs.

His is a most interesting place in MLB history.

Jesse Haines, Cardinals – The St. Louis Cardinals, of course, have the most World Series titles (11) after the dreaded New York Yankees (27), and obviously, the most in NL history.

However, this was not always the case. Going into the 1926 season, the Redbirds hadn’t won a Series since their 19th century days as the American Association’s Browns, and in fact, few count their two Series wins as the Browns.

Yet the Cardinals took the NL crown that year and advanced to the World Series with only two fewer wins than the Yankees, who featured Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Eventually, this Series would be known in MLB history because of Pete Alexander’s allegedly hung-over save in game seven and Ruth being thrown out trying to steal to end that game.

The guy sort of lost in the shuffle of history and the Cardinals’ first modern Series win (including two teens’ deaths in the celebration) was the game-seven winning pitcher, Jesse Haines, who had been a most useful pitcher that year, including the Series.

During the ’26 season, Haines was 13-4 with a 3.25 ERA. He had thrown a no-hitter two years earlier and had a reputation as a fierce competitor. As he aged, he came to throw a knuckleball he actually threw with his knuckles, unlike most (or all?) other pitchers who have used the pitch.

In the Series against the Bombers, player-manager Rogers Hornsby trusted the right-hander with the final start. Unfortunately, he developed a bleeding blister, necessitating a reliever, but his overall ERA for the Series was 1.08.

Jessie Haines played 18 of his 19 years in the big leagues with the Cardinals, compiling a 210-158 career record and a 3.64 ERA. Eventually, he came to be known on the team as “Pop,” a mentor. He belonged to three St. Louis world championship teams, retired at 43, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1970.

Frank McCormick, Reds – There are no doubt Cincinnati Reds fans who have heard of Frank McCormick, and some may even have some sense of the player’s importance, but outside of Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania, it’s fairly safe to say he’s truly forgotten. He may only be recalled in those places, in fact, by ancient sportswriters or baseball historians.

A forgotten league MVP and World Champion is a fairly rare creature in MLB history.