As baseball celebrates its All-Stars this week, let's not forget
that for every player having a season in the sun, there's
another laboring under a cloud. Here then are our
Anti-All-Stars, baseball's overachievers in the category of
underachieving. All of the following players began the '98
season with lofty promise. As the numbers show—stats are
through Sunday's games—none of these guys has come close to
living up to expectations.
Catcher Charles Johnson, Dodgers. Coming off a breakthrough
season with the world champion Marlins, he is hitting just .205
with 80 strikeouts, second most in the league. Johnson endured a
particularly arid 0-for-35 stretch in the period around his May
15 trade from Florida to Los Angeles, which earned him the rare
distinction of being a bust on both coasts. On defense, the man
who committed no errors in '97 has five this season.
Sidelined for much of the season, the Cubs' Johnson is hitting only .115.
(Matthew Stockman)
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First baseman Fred McGriff, Devil Rays. Eyebrows lifted when
Tampa Bay acquired the Crime Dog from Atlanta in the off-season
for a paltry $20,000 in cash. McGriff's disappointing eight
homers and 42 RBIs (and his salary of $5 million) indicate that
the Devil Rays got hoodwinked. A cleanup hitter in name only,
McGriff went one stretch of 111 at bats without a homer and a
span of 23 games with just one RBI. The words crime and dog both
could be used to describe his play this season.
Second baseman Mike Lansing, Rockies. Colorado traded three
pitching prospects to get Lansing and then signed him to a
four-year, $23.3 million contract, only to watch him go 16 for
100 in May. The same player who cracked 20 home runs for the
Expos last season has just four homers and 26 RBIs in '98 and
has spawned a new term in Denver: the reverse Coors Field effect.
Shortstop Mark Grudzielanek, Expos. After tying a major league
record for shortstops with 54 doubles last season, he has hit
only eight this year. Meanwhile, the perpetually disgruntled
infielder has already committed a league-high 18 errors, not
including the time he called his own team a "laughingstock."
Third baseman Kevin Orie, Cubs. Hoping to generate better power
numbers after a promising rookie season in '97, he tinkered with
his swing this spring. The result: He brought new meaning to the
expression sophomore slump, hitting just .184 with two homers in
42 games before being sent to the minors on May 27. Orie has
since returned but has failed to silence the echoes of legendary
Cubs third base washout Gary Scott. (Dishonorable mention goes
to Mariners third baseman Russ Davis, who leads all major
leaguers with 25 errors.)
Outfield Brady Anderson, Orioles; Jose Cruz Jr., Blue Jays;
Lance Johnson, Cubs. Anderson, who is still haunted by the
expectations generated by his extraordinary 50-homer season in
'96, got off to a horrendous .077 start in his first 16 games
while battling injuries. His body and batting average (.220) are
still hurting. Cruz hit 26 homers in '97 and finished second in
the American League Rookie of the Year balloting, but he
unraveled this season after pitchers realized he couldn't hit a
curveball. Batting .214 with three homers after 52 games, he was
demoted to Triple A Syracuse. Johnson is on the trading block in
Chicago, which is no shock considering he's hitting .115 and is
getting paid $4.9 million this year and will get $5.1 million in
'99. He has languished on the disabled list since late April
with a mysterious inflammation of his right hand. (This just a
year after he missed 39 games because of shinsplints.)
Designated hitter Frank Thomas, White Sox. A .300 hitter in each
of his eight big league seasons and the defending American
League batting champion, he is frustrated to be hitting just
.275 and has complained that the umpires have unfairly enlarged
his strike zone. His mortal power numbers (14 homers, 55 RBIs)
have led him to change his own nickname from the Big Hurt to
Five O'Clock Frank because he's doing his best work in batting
practice.
Starting pitcher Hideo Nomo, Mets. His numbers have declined
steadily since his Rookie of the Year season in '95, but nobody
could have predicted he would be designated for reassignment by
Los Angeles and then traded to the Mets. Amid reports that his
fastball has lost its pop and that he's tipping his pitches,
Nomo is 2-8 with a 4.90 ERA and isn't even the best Japanese
pitcher on his team.
Closer Mark Wohlers, Braves. After saving 97 games in the last
three seasons combined, he has only eight saves and a 5.63 ERA
in '98. He had lost so much control over his pitches in June
that he asked to be sent to the minors, where he is rebuilding
his delivery and consulting a psychologist. On July 1 he yielded
five hits, including two homers, walked three and gave up six
runs in two thirds of an inning against the Charlotte Knights.
(Dishonorable mention must go to the entire Mariners bullpen,
which has blown 15 of 27 save opportunities.)
Tell us what you think. Sound off on the CNN/SI Message Boards.
Issue date: July 13, 1998
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