# Name that Baseball Player **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 19, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009 "2009-05-19T20:43:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009/1 "2009-05-19T20:43:55Z")
One severe deficiency in my love of baseball is a thorough knowledge of its past players. I try to keep an eye on [baseball-reference.com](http://baseball-reference.com)’s daily blog, which likes to pull up random and weird facts that tend to shed light on the more unknown stars of the game. This thread isn’t for weird, out-of-context stats - just a backwards look at someone you think may be missed in typical discussions of great players (“great” being an extremely subjective term). Feel free to cherry pick whatever stats you like. So, without further ado: This catcher posted these lifetime numbers over a 21 year career: H: 2472 HR: 248 RBI: 1389 AVG: .285 OBP: .348 SLG: .437 ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009/2 "2009-05-19T20:57:42Z")
Carlton Fisk? Pure guess, now going to see if I’m even close. I checked. It was my second guess. I’ll leave this unanswered. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009/3 "2009-05-19T21:05:53Z")
Johnny Bench probably has more home runs, so my guess is Ted Simmons, which I will not check. If I can think of a question, I’ll post one. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009/4 "2009-05-19T21:33:16Z")
Ted Simmons was it. Bench and Berra hit too many dingers. Campanella not enough. Nobody else fits. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009/5 "2009-05-20T03:12:44Z")
Yup. Ted Simmons. I grew up an AL fan, so he’s never touched my radar. I know I’m completely giving myself up as an ignorant baseball fan, but there it is. Those numbers are really good - was it the lack of big media markets that did him in? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009/6 "2009-05-20T03:35:12Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Yup. Ted Simmons. I grew up an AL fan, so he’s never touched my radar. I know I’m completely giving myself up as an ignorant baseball fan, but there it is. Those numbers are really good - was it the lack of big media markets that did him in? The whole “small market” thing gets too much play. The idea that playing in New York or LA automatically brings one acclaim is a reidiculous exaggeration, at best. The reason Ted Simmons got so little attention is that he played catcher at the same time as a legend (a legend who ALSO played in a small market). No matter how good a catcher was, he wasn’t going to get much attention so long as Johnny Bench was around. Bench is the reason Simmons was always a benchwarmer in the All-Star Game. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009/7 "2009-05-20T13:13:04Z")
Ok, here’s another one: Right Fielder, 20 seasons: H: 2446 HR: 385 RBI: 1384 AVG: .272 OBP: .370 SLG: .470 OPS+: 127 Gold Gloves: 8 ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009/8 "2009-05-20T13:45:51Z")
My first guesses on that are Andre Dawson, Danny Tartabull or Dale Murphy. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009/9 "2009-05-20T14:02:03Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > My first guesses on that are Andre Dawson, Danny Tartabull or Dale Murphy. No on all 3, but good guesses (except I don’t think Tartabull was a gold glover, was he?) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009/10 "2009-05-20T14:15:10Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > Ok, here’s another one: > > Right Fielder, 20 seasons: > > H: 2446 > HR: 385 > RBI: 1384 > AVG: .272 > OBP: .370 > SLG: .470 > OPS+: 127 > Gold Gloves: 8 Dwight Evans (I cheated and looked it up after I guessed). Center fielder, 15 seasons: H: 1665 HR: 291 RBI: 964 AVG: .250 OBP: .366 SLG: .436 OPS+: 128 ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009/11 "2009-05-20T14:18:34Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Dwight Evans (I cheated and looked it up after I guessed). Dewey was pretty strong. Even as a Yankee fan I always liked watching him play. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009/12 "2009-05-20T14:29:42Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > Dewey was pretty strong. Even as a Yankee fan I always liked watching him play. Yeah. I narrowed it down to him pretty quickly once I stopped thinking about hitters and started thinking about gold gloves. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-baseball-player/497009/13 "2009-05-20T14:38:28Z")
Checking my guesses, I came across [Don Baylor](http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=17#). That’s not how I remember the guy. Anyone know who’s photo that is?