Unrequited Love

[gobears1987]

Tony Graffanino. However, he did help the Sox in 2005 despite not being on the team.

[DeadMoney]

Saw a lefty minor leaguer in Spring Training 2007 throwing in the mid 90s with a decent change and solid curve ball and absolutely fell in love with him. Loved the swagger and presence he had on the mound. It looked like he belonged on a big league diamond. His name: Gio Gonzalez.

[LITTLE NELL]

Originally Posted by SI1020

You are amazing. I remember that special. It was narrated by Jack Brickhouse.

Yes it was Brickhouse who did the show. For the time it was something that you just did not see. I wonder what kind of a career Callison would have had if he wasn't traded away from the Sox. As I posted earlier he had a nice career but nothing approaching Super Star status.

[TaylorStSox]

Borchard. Man, I loved me some Joe Borchard. I thought he was the next coming of Mickey Mantle. He pretty much soured me on prospects.

[AshleyShaferBMW]

I thought Gordon Beckham would be a perennial All Star

[October26]

Originally Posted by Bucky F. Dent

The passing of Pascual Perez got me thinking about his brother, Melido. I had an inexplicable love for the right handed Dominican, and an completely unsubstantiated belief that, given enough time, he could become a dominant starter for the Sox. I looked at Melido Perez and I saw the next Juan Marichal. That obviously never took place, and to this day I have no explanation for what I saw in this guy and his game that led me to these absurd conclusions.

So, since we are headed into the cold dark days of the offseason, who was your guy? Who was the Sox player or prospect that you were damned certain was going to become the next Babe Ruth or Cy Young, who never turned into the all-star you had always dreamed he would be, and, in the words of Bart Giamatti, left you to "face the fall all alone."

I've been out of town (in Denver, CO) and am just getting a chance to get caught up on the latest Sox news; it looks like last week was a busy and productive one for our Sox. Anyway, while scanning WSI threads, I found this one really interesting to read (thanks Bucky for starting it). I will add the name of a former Sox player who I thought would be great: Francisco Barrios.

If you don't remember him, you can read all about Francisco here.

I know his Bio reads like he didn't amount to much but when I was a kid, I thought Francisco would be great. I was excited to see a player with a Spanish last name (Barrios is a family name on my mom's side) who had such talent wearing a White Sox uniform. I dreamed of Francisco being selected to the All-Star game and of getting a Barrios jersey for Christmas. Neither of these things happened, although I did enjoy watching Francisco collect his career-high 14 wins for the Sox in 1977. Sadly, Francisco's life ended too soon at age 28 as a result of a drug overdose/heart attack.

[white sox bill]

Back in the 70's, we had some good relief pitchers, most recall Gossage and Forster, but I always like Cy Acosta who was a pint sized Hispanic that was very good for a season or two. Without googling him, not sure whatever bacame of him.

The other 2 were Ed Herrmann because he wrote me personally after I offered to start his fan club (I was all of maybe 10) and then Lloyd Allen a obscure releiver that had but a handfull of games w/the Sox

[thomas35forever]

Originally Posted by gobears1987

Tony Graffanino. However, he did help the Sox in 2005 despite not being on the team.

So did Josh Paul, but I don't think anyone ever thought that highly of him.

[Wedema]

Scott Ruffcorn-- #1 draft pick who never won a game in the majors!

[TDog]

Originally Posted by palehosepub

Bill Melton, the first player I really "latched onto" about 1969 as a 7 year old. Although he was a very good player who won a home run title I always thought he going to be a Hall of Famer. I would always argue with the Cub fans in the neighborhood how much better Melton was than Santo. Maybe if he didn't blow out his back he could have piled up some big numbers.

The scarey part is that I am now 50 years old and I still believe that Melton was better than Santo and Santo is a HOFer due to a Cubs / Tribune conspiracy.

Probably time for counseling or therapy...

I think Melton could have been a better hitter than Santo, although the numbers don't show it. Melton played in a notorious pitchers' park, and the friendly confines were very friendly to hitters. Santo also hit in a lineup with Billy Williams and Ernie Banks. Melton was strongly criiticied by baseball analysts for striking out too much (once as many as 107 times in a season), although there wasn't a big difference between Melton's strikeout and Santo's in the late 1960s. Over their careers, Santo struck out at a slightly higher rate.

Santo was clearly the better third baseman, especially early in their careers. Melton was an outfielder who was converted to a third baseman in the minors a year before coming up to the majors as a third baseman. The year they two were teammates, Santo played a lot of second base. But Santo was five years older and at the end of his career.

I never believed Melton was going to the Hall of Fame, but I have never believed Santo belonged in the Hall of Fame.

I was a huge Melton fan, though. And a huge Carlos May fan. When I was a kid, I thought of May and Melton the way Giants fans thought of Mays and McCovey. But it wasn't only Giants fans who were in love with Mays and McCovey, and, of course, baseball fans are still in love with the memory of Mays and McCovey.

[Moses_Scurry]

I thought Dave Gallagher would win multiple batting titles and hit in the .300's every year. I also thought it was really cool that he invented some hitting device, but I can't remember now exactly what it was. Obviously it never took off.

[soxnut1018]

I don't go that far back, but Joe Crede.

[TDog]

Originally Posted by Moses_Scurry

I thought Dave Gallagher would win multiple batting titles and hit in the .300's every year. I also thought it was really cool that he invented some hitting device, but I can't remember now exactly what it was. Obviously it never took off.

That was the Stride Tutor. Gallagher got it patented in 1991, but a picture of Gallagher using it appeared in the Yuma Daily Sun in April 1988.

I was at the Ray Kroc Baseball Complex waiting for Mike Yastrzemski, who I was I writing a story about on a day when a game with the White Sox AAA affiliate was rained out. Outside the clubhouse, Jeff Schaefer was lobbing balls up to Dave Gallagher,whose feet were chained together as he was hitting balls into a chain link fence. Gallagher explained his invention and its purpose, and I took notes and took a picture. Mike Yastrzemski went into a terribly slump after I interviewed him, and he retired from baseball that summer. Gallagher was called up to the Sox in May and hit .300 for the season.

Today Gallagher runs a baseball academy in New Jersey, which by all accounts is very successful.

[haganaga]

Originally Posted by Moses_Scurry

I thought Dave Gallagher would win multiple batting titles and hit in the .300's every year. I also thought it was really cool that he invented some hitting device, but I can't remember now exactly what it was. Obviously it never took off.

[COLOR="rgb(175, 238, 238)"]And he's been milking that device for years[/COLOR]

[HomeFish]

I was convinced that Miguel Olivo would be an All-Star catcher, and when the Sox traded him I was so upset that I wrote a song about it and posted it on WSI.