Catching up with Bigbie
In case you skipped over the most recent batch of comments attached to today's blog entry, "Buddy" provided a link to an article from the Ball State Daily News regarding former Oriole Larry Bigbie.
Bigbie is being inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, an honor that might seem predictable given his status as a first-round draft pick and the years he spent in the majors. But you had to wonder whether the university would distance itself from Bigbie after his inclusion in the Mitchell Report.
Here's the link, which includes a strong denial from Bigbie that he had been blackballed and forced to resume his career in Japan.
According to the story, Bigbie will play independent ball this year, suiting up for the Edmonton Capitals of the Golden Baseball League. He'd like to catch on with a major league team, but knows his time is running out.
I was convinced that Bigbie would be a superstar with that sweet swing and developing power. He could run and throw. He had looks and personality.
So much for that prediction. He hit 31 home runs in parts of six seasons. His defense slipped, frustrating coaches and management. And he took a shortcut that eventually rerouted him to an independent league.
Bigbie will always have a place on my good-guys list of players I covered on the Orioles. He was one of my favorites. And I'm glad that he'll find some joy in his baseball life later this week.
If only the rest of his career had turned out differently.
And the same goes for that 1999 draft.
 |
Categories (click for archive)Roch Kubatko | Roch Kubatko Orioles |
Roch,
Who would you rather have at bat with the game on the line: Bigbie or Luis Matos?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Depends if it's a righty or lefty on the mound. - Roch
Roch,
Bigbie was one of my favorite O's of that period. I wish him the best.
Baldy
PS I loved your latest reply to a Brummie post, I laughed long and loud.
deff gotta go with Bigbie on that he has more power and Matos was just flat out bad.
If you want to give him the benefit of the doubt, you'd say that was a bad time to be coming up with the O's. Thank you David Segui.
"He had looks and personality." Ha! Good stuff Rochie. Baseball reflects life. Cheaters get dumped....unless they're THAT good.
*Request to allow italics font on message board.
Bigbie was a juiced bust. Its shame we didnt hold onto Eric Brynes for a year or two after we traded for him.
Roch,
Maybe this is a question best left unanswered but do you know who ran that draft?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was Tony DeMacio's first season as scouting director. - Roch
Tell Bigbie that for Batting Practice in Edmonton they go to the outfield and swing at the mosquitoes.
Roch, I'm not really saying but I'm just saying this...the fact that we can afford to assign Sarfate is the biggest vindication of Andy's plan yet. Remember in the 90's - early 00's when teams would lurk about the Atlanta Braves? The castaways were 26 man material on a lot of clubs.
Three years ago, Sarfate would have been an untouchable on this club.
Well done Andy.
Why did we get the guys who took steroids, and got worse? Except for Roberts, of course, but he only tried them once in a brief moment of weakness. ;)
Best to forget that whole era and look forward to a much better future.
Yeah the 1999 draft.. It was going to be spectacular 7 picks in the top 50 because of the O's letting Palmeiro,Davis, and Alomar leave as fre agents.. WHAT A BUST!! Other than Brian Roberts the O's bsically got nothing. That draft definetly hurt the O's.
Shaz try this for italics
You can use html tags. I don't know how to show an example since placing the tags in the meessage shows the effect and not the tag. Html tags are surrounded by less than and greater than signs. The beginning tag has a less than sign, followed by the tag, followed by the greater than sign, The ending tag contains a greater than sign, followed by a '/' character, followed by the tag, followed by the greater than sign. Place the beginning tag before the text you want to modify and the ending tag after the text you want to modify. To create italic use the i tag.
Hope I explained it clearly enough.
For BOLD use b.
Hey Brothaa, and School of Roch students...if you care to look at mlbtraderumors.com, there are a number of teams looking to sign, or have signed players at well under 1 mil contracts, and some of those players are either coming off serious injury, or haven't even played in a few years...not so with our O's. I'm excited about the direction of the team, and so should every REAL fan on here. Ann Marie, I'll stop in and say hi as soon as you get your shop opened. Later all!
Hearing Bigbie's name makes me think of Eric Byrnes. I was in middle school back then, so I don't exactly remember the details of the Byrnes/Bigbie trade. Why did we trade Bigbie for what amounted to a couple month rent of Eric Byrnes? And if we felt Byrnes could play in Baltimore, why didn't we sign him after the season?
I hope my friend Craumer is reading this, as he swears that Byrnes was one of the better players to wear the O's jersey in recent memory.
I have a friend who is a huge baseball fan like myself and his name is Ted Williams (imagine that). And we always argue about Orioles baseball... we used to always go back in forth about who was going to be the next star in the outfield Luis Matos or Larry Bigbie. I took Bigbie saying he would be an all star and he took Luis.
Can I claim victory (in the smallest of margians) over this?
Im thinking, no, I cant.
They let Byrnes go because he was horrible...hit .192 with an OPS of .545.
Luis Matos; the only guy I know who broke a finger while trying to bunt.
in case you missed it...
Jeopardy, College Edition - had a clue on tonight in the category :
Retired Number by Team
5: Brooks Robinson
20: Frank Robinson
sadly, nobody knew the answer.
Harrisburg Steve, I'll send you an email about our store grand opening (probably the same day as the Sens' Fanfest) and I'll hook you up with cool stuff if you promise to buy something and keep me employed, if not at least tell all the important people how awesome my store is ;)
To stay moderately on-topic... I always maintained a strong belief that you should never trust a guy named "Larry" but that may be due to the first "Larry" I ever "knew" was Larry on "Three's Company" and he was pretty shady. Then again, Bigbie went to school in Indiana. You can't be shady and live in Indiana. Ask Woody Boyd.
Maybe I shouldn't mix my tv shows up like that.
I'm still kinda sad that I lost my Luis Matos jersey. I'll always love him for robbing Big Sloppi of a homerun at "Fenway South", a catch that made even most of the Sawx fans around us look down, and mumble "okay fine, that was a reaalllllly good catch...no really, it was....crap..." I became my own demographic that day. I went to the team shop and bought a Matos jersey after that game and I'm pretty sure he was released the next day. Okay, and maybe I bought it partially due to the fact that he was pretty hot. ::shrugs:: Happens.
I'm banking my job on the Nationals *NOT* releasing Strasburg after I bring a metric crapload of Strasburg stuff into my store this year.
Two things.
mike downes said:
Yeah the 1999 draft.. It was going to be spectacular 7 picks in the top 50 because of the O's letting Palmeiro,Davis, and Alomar leave as fre agents.. WHAT A BUST!! Other than Brian Roberts the O's basically got nothing. That draft definitely hurt the O's.
First, everyone should re-read what Mike said (I corrected his typos) and realize that a good player is seldom worth letting go for a draft pick, even a supplemental 1st round pick. Prospects seldom ever reach their expectations, and often don't even make it as a decent MLB player. Fans continually over rate their team's minor league players.
Secondly, Eric Byrnes was never much of a player. He is a nut, show off and screwball. The fans in Arizona first loved him because they thought he was showing enthusiasm and he put up some good numbers. Management thought they had to pay him because they were letting go other players and didn't want to completely PO the fans. The fans then saw a guy who didn't play good defense, got tired of his goofball somersaults each time he threw the ball, his constant injuries, lack of off season training. Not to mention his interest seem to lie in his tv show more than his baseball career.
Obviously I'm not, nor ever was, an Eric Byrnes fan.
I have 2 signed baseballs, Cal Ripken and Larry Bigbie. Nice end pieces, No?
Thanks Socal O's Fan. I appreciate the explanation. You won't, however, find me using italics on here. That's too hard. And I don't post enough to make it worth learning. And I don't use italics that often. And if I really need italics to get my point across, I should consider rephrasing. Good lookin out though. Go Birds!
I too thought Bigbie would be a star....and more importantly, I too would like to read one of Brummie's articles.
C'mon Brummie.....duty calls. lol.
Ann-Marie said...
I'm still kinda sad that I lost my Luis Matos jersey. I'll always love him for robbing Big Sloppi of a homerun at "Fenway South", a catch that made even most of the Sawx fans around us look down, and mumble "okay fine, that was a reaalllllly good catch...no really, it was....crap..." I became my own demographic that day. I went to the team shop and bought a Matos jersey after that game and I'm pretty sure he was released the next day. Okay, and maybe I bought it partially due to the fact that he was pretty hot. ::shrugs:: Happens...
Two thoughts about this. The day Matos made that catch? My birthday! How do I remember? I made my one and only trip to Baltimore that day. I didn't get to see that game, but I was there the next day to see the Orioles beat the Red Sox again 4-1 behind a gem from Rodrigo Lopez. Matos played centrefield that day so he hadn't been released yet ;) Also, a new attendance record was set that day (49,828) and I'm not sure it has been topped since. The only bummer? The game lasted two hours and five minutes. All that way for my Baltimore pilgrimage and I attend one of the shortest games in recent memory.
As for Matos being hot, well... I'm not qualified to comment. It does remind me of a comment a friend of mine made once. He knows I've always collected baseball cards, so one day he made an astute observation. "So if I'm not mistaken," he said, "what you are saying is that in your house, you literally have thousands of pictures of men."
I didn't know how to respond... not sure I do to this day. That's how much I love baseball I guess.
Roch,
I thought that was the 1 and only Fran Wren draft? Wasn't his strength supposed to be evaluating college talent? Wasted opportunity both that draft and the "Frank Wren era" (aka "Hello Syd, oops!"). Bigbie hurt. Matos was a surprise that never panned out ala Julio or Cabrera. Byrnes sucked, and everyone knew it. The Bigbe trade was about shaking up that locker room. Honestly, that '99 draft is what is preventing me from sporting the full blown Orange SunGlasses with this group of yung "talent." Dammit they need to win. My son needs a winner to cheer for. I need a winner to share thse experiences with him. I can't raise him in a world where he has to expect losses to the Spankees and Sux. Not to mention that Snyder is the worst ownerin sports and my son will be a 5th generation Redkins' fan. Come on O's, little Rob is counting on you. It's tought rooting for both the 'Skins and O's. A lot of the folks on this blog have had the fortune of being Ravens fans, so they are only tortured 1/2 of the year. Us 'Skins and O's fans have had it pretty bad.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DeMacio was the scouting director, Wren was the GM (for his one and only season). - Roch
You learn some cool new stuff everyday. Sadly in this case it wasn't about Larry Bigbie. In fact I'm just posting to try out these html tags that Social O's fan explained. Here goes:
Larry Bigbie wasn't very good>/i>
Luis Matos was worse>/b>
Did it work? Oh, I guess I'll have to wait to see. LOL.
Thanks for letting me have my fun Roch!
Bigbie we hardly knew ye.
scroll the trolls
don't feed the trolls
Just ban the darn trolls
Hey. Tags. Cool.
Or not. I can't preview them, so they maybe they won't work?
Anyway, what WILL work is this: STOP FEEDING THE TROLLS
Everything in watching Larry Bigbie made me a big supporter. He reminded me of Curt Blefary in his penchant for doing damage to the Yankees with his bat. I loved his old school way of moving to the ball and catching it with two hands--OK, now that was so unlike Clank Blefary!-- I kept pointing the talent of Bigbie out to my two sons, who were under 10 years of age at the time.
"Big B" became a cynical assignation for big body, big steroid body.
I'm sorry this became Larry's choice. I agree with you, Roch, Larry is a good guy. His story captures the sadness of the steroid era for all or us.
Good luck, Larry.
I'm checking out Oscar Salazar in the Carribbean World Series...that dude can still hit! He was a big igniter in our big Boston comeback game last year.....also Chris Roberson is having a big game for Mexico, did he have Orioles ties too?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Triple-A outfielder. Met him in spring training. Terrific guy. Totally forgot about him. - Roch
Roch-
Frank Wren did everything right to get this team into position to reload quickly, then they went out and got the next superstar in Belle.
That was the draft that killed the O's.
7 picks in the top 91 right? He let all the vets go after 98, picked up all those comp picks, then, pooof, nothing.
Grrrr...you would bring up Bigbie. I still die of embarrassment every time I hear his name (and it has nothing to do with baseball).
God, the '99 draft. PAINFUL!
As for the media thing, I crossed a line Roch drew in the sand long ago, I won't cross the "BS media" line again.
The MLB article I felt lacked balance and objectivity. Andy made some wide open statements that should have been jumped on, or better yet turned into another article. But this is not politics, this is Baseball where everyone has to get along, so to an extent I understand why certain things are left alone.
The above statement is what I should have said instead of the BS comment.
As for my articles, I would love to post a few links on here. I just wrote a very nice article the other day about German Tax cheats (I use some big words in it that most of you wouldn't understand LOL).
A few problems though.
1 I don't get a byline. Most web only articles don't unless they are written by one of our senior correspondents or for our web magazine. So no matter what I send,you guys would just accuse me of making it up. I do have some older stuff I did on a freelance basis with a byline. for a smaller publication that I would consider sending along.
2. I want to keep my job. I am smart enough to know that the second I linked one of my recent articles or revealed which well known British news corporation I work for, a BMS or RichD would be right on the phone to the complaints department, telling them that one of their employees spends way too much company time on SOR. Or worse yet, you guys would start leaving "Way to go BRUMMIE" comments in the comment section of an article.
I have a kid to feed (and another on the way). I am not about to get fired or suspended because I was dumb enough to link my own work in a forum where I am heavily detested.
Some day soon perhaps. But not now.
Cheers,
The Brumster
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
So send it to me and I won't post it for everyone to see. And congrats on your second child. - Roch
Roch
Is there a limit on the number of players a team can offer an invite to spring training. Must they already have signed a minor league contract?
What factors are considered in an offer to attend camp?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
No limit. They have to be under contract. - Roch
So Brummie, where is the link to one of the older articles you said you would post?????????????????
Brummie, you are detested on here for quite a few reasons other than front office bashing. Simply put, you are a COWARD, who name calls behind the anonymity of your keyboard, things that you would be too scared to say to the face of one you are directing the vemom toward. Secondly, you are a COWARD becuase you have to lie about your job, etc.....everyone on here knows that you are in Maryland somewhere, a kid with a keyboard in his parents home. You pretend to be a globetrotting journalist, who has hours available each day to read and post on here, many times being the first poster after Roch had submitted his blog. You just lie in wait because you have nothing else to do. Besides, if you were always travelling the globe, while constantly being apart from a pregnant wife and young child, you would still be a COWARD for not being a good husband and father, being away from home 99% of the time!! Oh, and your lack of baseball knowledge backs up the fact that you are probably under 25, and havent been around the block enough.
Ugh! I shutter when I think about that 1999 draft ... seven first round picks (including three supplemental picks) and only the last pick, Brian Roberts, to show for it.
You want to know why we've had 12 straight years of misery? That 1999 draft is the starting point.
Thanks, Roch for the Bigbie update. I had been wondering where he had ended up after his Japan gig. Unfortunately, Larry was one of those nice guys that finished last. I hate it when that happens. It broke my heart when it finally became clear he was so involved with steroid use.
Ann Marie - I think you'll be safe betting that the Nats don't do anything with Strasburg anytime soon. Not trying to jinx the guy, but anything short of a catastrophic injury or off-field accident should still have him on the fastest track they can manage to get him to DC. If he's everything they say he may start in Harrisburg this year (don't know if they have announced that yet or not - obviously I don't follow them as closely as I do the Orioles). I'm looking forward to seeing him in action, but am mindful of the hype surrounding Ben MacDonald back in the day so I don't think it'll be as smooth and easy as Nats fans might think.
Since Socal gave us the tip on how to do italics and bold I'll have to give them a try. Roch'll probably regret letting that post go through if too many of us start cluttering up our posts with them but hey, gotta make school fun!
I hung out with Bigbie and some friends in Canton one night after a game during his last season with the O's. One of the nicest players/guys I've ever met. Ponson, on the other hand, an absolute jerk.
I stood in line with a large group of 14 year girls at fan fest to get my picture with Bigbie. I felt old and extremely tall.
He was a good guy and I wish him good luck
The Mitchell Report is over rated and never served a purpose... it was stupid and should have never came out... for what? All these guys have talent steroids or none... You cant take a guy off the street roid him up and expect him to be in the big leagues, these guys have an unbelievable talent... Bigbie is a good player and a all around nice guy.. I wish him the best and hop he can get back!!!