The Daveys: Part Deux

Dave Paisley

A few days ago I dished out the first batch of Daveys of the decade, the baseball award that only I can give. It sure saves on all that paper and hole punching and voting. Tonight's crop is a mixed bag. There are some players that are greatly to be admired, and there are some who, er, aren't.

As with the first group of awards, in order even to qualify for a Davey, a player must have demonstrated a consistent ability to play Major League Baseball throughout the decade. For some of this bunch that's their crowning achievement. After all, where else can you be a backup middle infielder pulling down a cool half mil? Do it for a whole decade and you may never have to get a real job.

So let's get to it.

Dante Bichette - Overrated Slugger of the Decade
Bichette owes his entire career, lock, stock and barrel, to the thin air of Denver. A very light-hitting outfielder in his early days with California and Milwaukee, Bichette is the Coors Effect personified. A hundred-point jump in slugging and a fifty-point jump in average and on-base percentage coincided eerily with the move to Colorado. After seven seasons of rarefied air, it's back to earth with a bump for the new millennium when Dante models his brand new Reds uniform next season.

Jay Buhner - Best Gimmick Player Night of the Decade
In a tip of the cap to my Strikethree.com colleague Jason Barker, I bestow this award on Buhner for his sponsorship of Buhner Buzz night, an annual ritual of head shaving for thousands of Mariner fans throughout much of the decade. Seattle loves Buhner and Buhner loves Seattle. If there were an award for best baseball player reference in a Seinfeld script, Buhner would be a prime contender there, too.

Dennis Eckersley - Reliever of the Decade
With 296 saves during the nineties, Eckersley surely deserves the recognition. Squeezing in a second career as a reliever after more than a decade as a starter is a remarkable achievement. Honorable mention to Randy Myers.

Joe Carter - RBI Vulture of the Decade
"How can a player who has racked up all those 100+ RBI seasons be overrated?" you might ask. If you do ask, you haven't been reading around here very long. Simply put, Carter is the epitome of the RBI vulture, a player who does everything he can to score runs ahead of him while sacrificing chances for those batting behind him to bring him home. Honorable mention to Juan Gonzalez.

Otis Nixon - Scrub Outfielder of the Decade
Otis is certainly a fascinating player. After almost a decade of trying to land a major league job, he finally made it for good with the Expos and Braves in the early part of the decade. Never quite a full-time player, he has bounced around almost every year since leaving the Braves in 1993. Good for a .650 OPS and 50 steals a year there are few more consistent scrub outfielders out there. Otis, of course, is also a cast-iron certainty for a spot on the All-Ugly Team.

Billy Ripken, Mike Maddux (tie) - Least Famous Brother of the Decade
Yes, if you can't be very good yourself, be the brother of a famous major league player. It only really works if you have some modicum of talent (and we're talking small modicums here.) However, this technique doesn't always work, with the most famous example being Craig Griffey.

Chili Davis, Harold Baines (tie) - Most Consistent Hitter of the Decade
These guys are practically twins. Both started as outfielders but converted to DH in the '90s. They're within a year of each other in age, and they've both played for pretty much two decades with extraordinary consistency. They just keep chugging out there, year after year, turning in an on-base average around .350 and a slugging average of .450, with occasional years gusting higher.

Todd Van Poppel - Pitching Phenom Bust of the Decade
Oakland, Detroit, Texas, Pittsburgh - all have failed to turn this sure-fire, cant-miss prospect into a major league pitcher. Which just goes to show that you should rarely believe the early hype. With a career 22-37 record and a 6.24 ERA in 135 games, I hope Todd invested the signing bonus wisely.

Rex "The Wonder Dog" Hudler - Best Nickname of the Decade
I always loved this nickname. Hudler himself was one of those pesky middle infielders who can't hit unless it's in a crucial game against your team.

So there we are.

Are there Daveys of the Century waiting to be awarded? You'll just have to wait and see.

about the author

Dave Paisley was actually the model for the Davey statuettes. Suggest that's the reason why the statuettes are fully clothed at drdjp@strikethree.com.