Surprising, I know, so let me explain.
Over the past ten seasons (2001-2010) only 19 players, by my count, have won championships with two different teams. Looper is one of those chosen 19. In 2003 he tasted glory with the upstart Florida Marlins, earning a save in game 4 of that year’s World Series even though by then he’d largely been replaced as the team’s primary closer. By 2006 he was back again, this time with the similarly plucky St. Louis Cardinals, also playing a relief role during their run to the title.
Not surprisingly, the list of two-team, two-time winners is flush with the guys of Looper’s caliber: lefty specialists and setup men and multiple-position infielders and pinch hitters and aging outfielders with a little bit of pop and, well, you get the point. For the most part they aren’t franchise players because 1) the list of franchise players is small to begin with and 2) franchise players tend to stay with the same one (or two) franchises.
Cal Ripken Jr. never had a chance.
No, this is an honor generally bestowed on journeymen, the ones who keep a suitcase packed every July when the trading deadline rolls around, the ones who eschew mansions for the more mover-friendly luxury lofts. And among them only the lucky few can look back on a 10-year career with 5 different franchises and know, rings on hand, that they cheated their baseball fate.
I now present, in honor of Mr. Looper, a starting 9 and accompanying bench composed entirely of players who carry this proud distinction.
LF Pat Burrell (Giants, Phillies)
When Pat the Bat entered the league a decade ago he was the center piece of Philadelphia’s snake-bitten franchise, and nothing in 2001 seemed to suggest the Phils were on their way to baseball superpower status.Ten years later he’s got two rings and, as an arthritic outfielder who can still pull a home run, has become one of those “missing piece” players that do one thing well enough to keep themselves in the postseason conversation.
At this point Burrell could probably bounce from contender to contender on a series of short-term contracts for as along as he wishes to prolong his career. For the sake of rhyming nicknames and in the interests of sleazy lifelong bachelors, let’s hope the ride lasts a while longer.
CF Johnny Damon (Yankees, Red Sox)
How many players in the last 20 years can say both of the following?
“I spent more of my career with the Kansas City Royals than any other franchise.”
and
“My face is synonymous with postseason baseball.”
It’s a riddle fit for a Sphinx, and the only answer is Johnny Damon (or maybe Pharaoh Ramses III, I’m not sure). Although he spent the first six years of his career with Kansas City, Damon managed to ditch Kaufman Falls for the relatively brighter lights of Oakland through a combination of the Royals’ incompetence and not being so good that the incompetent Royals wouldn’t be willing to trade him. Of course he was good, just not that good. In fact no one player has been that good in the last 20 years besides Mike Sweeney, go figure.
After Oak-town Damon took the World Series tour through Boston and New York where his hirsute (later clean-shaven) likeness became a permanent fixture on the postseason circuit. As a member of the Tigers last season he missed October, but something about the Caveman tells me he’ll be back in our fall picture soon enough.
RF Juan Encarnacion (Cardinals, Marlins)
Encarnacion was always the fourth of fifth best hitter on a given team. He had enough pop and hit for a high enough average to justify his starting, but never really cracked above-average-player status. It’s remarkable, really, considering that Encarnacion was already a full-fledged starter with Detroit by the time he was 23. Usually when players emerge that young there’s some room for growth, you figure a mature big league hitter at 23 becomes an above-average big league hitter by 29. But Enarnacion’s first full-season batting line in 1999 almost perfectly predicted the rest of his career: .255, 19 HR, 74 RBI.
That was Juan Encarnacion, and he was lucky enough to win titles. Perhaps the good fortune overwhelmed him, because Juan never made it to either championship parade.
3B Mike Lowell (Red Sox, Marlins)
He’s easily the best hitter on this list, and absolutely the only player who could be considered the best offensive player on one of his championship teams. In 2003 Lowell willed the Marlins to a second world series championship alongside fellow corner man Derek Lee. That year he posted a career-high in home runs with 32 while also leading the team in RBI and cancer recoveries (1).
By 2007 Lowell seemed firmly in decline, but, in something a renaissance season, the third-baseman surprised most pundits with career bests in RBI (120) and batting average (.324) during the Red Sox run to the title. He capped the comeback with a World Series MVP trophy, his only postseason award of any kind. 2007 would be the last meaningful year of his career, as debilitating injuries led to a precipitous decline. In 2010 he retired with 223 career home runs and two sparkling bands of glory.
SS David Eckstein (Cardinals, Angels)
A tough choice here between Eckstein and Juan Uribe, but Eckstein gets the nod here because he played shortstop on both of his championship teams and also won a World Series MVP. As baseball’s favorite lilliputian, Eckstein received Danny Woodhead-esque deification from fans and traditional pundits while suffering Francoeur-like scorn from sabermetricians. The truth about Eckstein probably falls somewhere in between, stranded in that massive gulf between feel and numbers.
Yes, he was a slap hitter with limited range, negligible speed, and a pretty low OBP for a player batting so high in the order. Yes, he probably got way too much recognition because of his size -- twice receive more than 10 MVP votes and twice appearing in the All Star Game despite only hitting .300 once in his career.
BUT...You can’t deny that was fun to watch him play. It fun to watch a 5’7” dude that looked like Legolas play short stop for a playoff team. It was fun to see him fake a bunt and then “jack” a 330 foot home run right down the line. It was fun to see him succeed at the highest level and then think to yourself, “Hey, I could maybe crush that man with my bare hands.”
2B Juan Uribe (Giants, White Sox)
There isn’t really a true second-baseman in the bunch, so I’ll take the versatile Juan Uribe here if only to show my appreciation for the man. His game isn’t the prettiest -- his fielding isn’t slick and he’s a perennial top contender for the Andruw Jones Memorial “I Swung So Hard I Fell Down” Award. Ozzie Smith he is not, but there’s a lot to like about Uribe once you get passed the pudgy exterior.
He’s an infield-playing, poor man’s version of Vladimir Guerrero -- he’ll swing at anything and hit anything. Like Guerrero, the book on Uribe must be pamphlet thin because I’ve seen the guy launch pitches from his eyes down to his toes. It’s infuriating at times, especially when those wild swings result in wild misses, but nothing can equal the stunned look on a pitcher’s face when a guy like Uribe turns on a curve ball heading for his shoe-tops. Plus, he’s the type of player who seems to pop up over and over again in big situations, from his clutch catch with the White Sox in the 2005 World Series to his monster home run as a Giant in the 2010 NLCS.
He may be an equally likely candidate for a big error or atrocious one-pitch at-bat in a key spot, but that’s the risk you take with Uribe. Besides, It’s fun to have those types of all-or-nothing player in the postseason, it adds a touch of maddening instability to the already tense moments of October.
1B Eric Hinske (Yankees, Red Sox)
Of all the players on this list it is Hinske who came closest to winning three rings with three different franchises over the past decade. Too bad it was his own futile hack at a Brad Lidge slider that sealed Tampa Bay’s fate in the 2008 World Series and ultimately ended any dreams of a personal threepeat this decade. Hinske instead will have to rest his laurels on the two championships he won as a pinch-hitting specialist for the 2007 Red Sox and 2009 Yankees.
Looking back its odd to imagine that Hinske’s career ever reached the point of pinch-hitting specialist, and even more strange that he reached that plateau so soon. In 2002, at age 24, he was the American League Rookie of the Year. By 2006 he was a bench warmer for the Red Sox. While many ROY’s don’t go on to stardom, most at least hold a starting spot for the first 5 years of their career. So in that sense he’s been a unique failure. The solace for Hinske is that he’s become a coveted left-handed bench bat. I would say its little consolation, but the champagne permanently lodged in his tear ducts begs to differ.
C Jose Molina (Yankees, Angels)
There are, like, no other catchers who qualify so I, like, have to put Jose Molina here even though there is, like, nothing interesting to say about him. He’s, like, the fattest, slowest Molina brother, which is, like, like being the fattest, slowest person in line at Golden Corral. It’s, like, hard to do.
Why am I writing like this?
I have no idea.
SP Curt Schilling (Red Sox, Diamondbacks)
SP Josh Beckett (Red Sox, Marlins)
SP A.J. Burnett (Yankees, Marlins)
With Josh Beckett’s window closing fast and A.J. Burnett’s permanently sealed shut, Schilling is the only member of this club, at any of the positions, even in the conversation for Cooperstown. He’s no lock, and he might even be a long-shot, but his postseason success certainly contributes a great deal to his candidacy. It’s amazing to think that a player as consistently excellent as Schilling played for five different franchises. For a mercurial talent like Burnett the changes in scenery make sense, but Schilling...really? Plus, his middle name is Montague, which make him absolutely un-tradeable in my book.
But for all of Schilling’s postseason heroics, and they are considerable, I don’t think any compare to Beckett’s moment as the king of the hill in 2003. Screw the bloody sock, for my money Beckett’s Game 6 clincher in the 2003 World Series against the Yankees is one of the very best pitched games in postseason history.
Consider: It was a clinching game in the World Series, in Yankee Stadium, Beckett was 23 years old. Result: he pitched a complete game, 9 K, shut out opposite Andy Pettitte to win the championship. I can’t recall a better pitched game in the World Series during my lifetime. The stakes, the performance, the fact that he played for the freaking Marlins, it amazes me to this day.
RP Javier Lopez (Giants, Red Sox)
RP Brendan Donnelly (Red Sox, Angels)
RP Damaso Marte (Yankees, White Sox)
Marte and Lopez are both lefty specialists, so their presence on this list makes plenty sense. Contending clubs always have room for quality bullpen southpaws, and good ones are scant. In the 2009 World Series Marte proved the importance of left-handed relief, absolute devastating Ryan Howard and company en route to the Yankees’ 27th championship.
Donnelly follows more along the lines of Eric Gagne. Donnelly was a dominant back-end reliever for a few years with the Angels, maybe not Gagne-in-LA dominant, but good enough to make an all-star appearance for the Halos in 2003. When the well dried up and he became a merely effective middle reliever, his past success prompted a few clubs to take a flier on him. One of those teams was the 2007 Red Sox, and Donnelly soon found himself with two more titles to his name than Ken Griffey Jr., Tony Gwynn, and Roy Halladay combined.
CL Braden Looper (Cardinals, Marlins)
No true closers made the cut, but Looper comes closest. Its ironic, really, because he’s most famous for losing the closing job to Ugeth Urbina during the Marlins’ run to the 2003 title. After that the former first round pick stuck around long enough to pitch relief for the 2006 Cardinals and eventually finish his career as a backwash starter for the pitching-starved Milwaukee Brewers.
Even more remarkable, Looper managed to win two world championships without ever playing on a truly exceptional team. The 2006 Cardinals are, by most any measure, the weakest champion of the last 10 years. Only the 2003 Marlins run a close second. I’m partial to the three-division, wild card playoff alignment, but if I were to craft an argument against it the ‘06 Cardinals and ‘03 Marlins would be exhibits 1 and 1a. In legalese that means they both kind of sucked.
THE BENCH
OF Aaron Rowand (Giants, White Sox)
I love Aaron Rowand, so let’s just get that out of the way. His face-plant into the center-field wall at Citizen’s Bank Park ranks among the greatest defensive plays in recent Phillies history. Never before have man and padded wall achieved such majesty.
And so it pains me to use this space to berate him, but alas I must.
Let’s start with this premise: The 2010 San Francisco Giants are the most unlikely champion of the past 40 years. One reading this might default to the normal arguments -- the Giants barely made the playoffs, they had a below-average offense, and managed to win the NLCS in 6 games despite being outscored by their opponents. True, all of these things make them unlikely champions.
But all of that is ancillary when you consider that the Giants, more so than any other team of the free agent era, managed to somehow build a serviceable major league roster despite the fact that two of their most highly paid players made zero contribution to the team’s playoff run. No other team even comes close. And that feat alone makes them the most unlikely champions of the last 40 years.
I’m of course referring to Rowand, who had the 3rd highest salary on the team at $13.6 million, and Barry Zito, who had the highest salary at $18.5 million. Rowand only batted 11 times during the Giants’ run, and Zito never even made the postseason roster. Together their salaries accounted for 25% of the team’s entire payroll, a full quarter of the budget sunk into two useless players.
How could the Giants have possibly overcome that level of contractual malpractice?
Good timing, and I mean really, really good timing. Between 2005 and 2010 the Giants farm system spit out a historically good spate of prospects -- from Lincecum to Cain to Sanchez to Posey to Bumgardner. Had any one of those players not developed in time for 2010, the Giants probably couldn’t have afforded enough talent to win it all. But as it was, the Giants could use the service wage scales to their advantage, ultimately paying a little over $27 million combined for the services of those five of those major cogs -- or in other words less than they paid for Rowand + Zito.
Or in other, other words -- Giants GM Brian Sabean is the luckiest man in the world.
IF Scott Spiezio (Cardinals, Angels)
Scott...pssst...Scott...dude, you have ketchup on your chin. Oh wait, sorry that’s the dumbest strip of facial hair in postseason history. Brian Wilson’s beard takes pity, you are but a lonely sheep in his infinite pasture.
OF So Taguchi (Phillies, Cardinals)
If there was a little troll that rode around on a teradachtyl and stole World Series rings from players who did nothing to deserve them -- and maybe there is -- then I think So Taguchi would be first on his hit list. It’s absolutely criminal that Taguchi received any form of compensation for his 2008 season in Philadelphia, much less a freaking parade.
If you can find something interesting to say about So Taguchi you’re a better sports writer than I.
Further reading for Braden Looper:
http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2011/3/25/2072367/braden-looper-retires-cardinals-marlins
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/03/25/braden-looper-retires/
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