NEW YORK – With Different Matt off this week and Management mishandling the rotation, today’s post is downright tardy. It’s a late bloomer, if you will. And THAT got me thinking about Late Bloomers in Sports. Have a look.
Mike Easler: For a guy that labored in the minor leagues for most of his first 10 years in baseball, “Hit Man” finally got some consistent playing time with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Yes, he got a ring with the ’79 Bucs, but he had a whopping 2 ABs in that World Series. It wasn’t until 1980 that Easler became a regular. After being drafted in 1969, this guy paid his dues… and then some. He finished with the Stankees in 1987 with career 162-Game Average of .293, 17 HRs, 73 RBI. Pretty flocking good.
Barry Sanders: This guy broke ankles for a living. If you don’t know who he is, you’re welcome in advance for your introduction. 10th among NFL all-purpose yards leaders by total all-purpose yards gained (18,308), Sanders didn’t start for his high school team – and it was as a defensive back. 3 games into the season, the starting running back got hurt. Barry stepped in for Wally Pipp II and the rest is Swivel-Hip History. Have a looksie:
Jamie Moyer: For a guy that pitched in 4 decades, he was poop until he was 33. His renaissance began with Angry Ward’s Seattle Mariners, after Boston lost interest in him. Over the next nine seasons he soft-tossed his way to 133 wins, 1,128 strikeouts and a .600-plus winning percentage in eight of those years. And he did when guys were juicing. At 45, Moyer went 16-7 with a 3.71 ERA and 123 strikeouts for the Philadelphia Phylthies.
Curt Warner: The guy was bagging groceries after going undrafted in 1994 and cut by the Packers. But Ram fan Grote2DMax’s prayers were answered, along with the religious Kurt’s, and the phone rang. NFL? No. Instead, his rebirth began with the Iowa Barnstormers in the Arena Football League. Unless you’ve been living in cave, you likely know the rest of his story. You may not no, however, that he was contemplating coming out of retirement this year at the age of 47. This would be after he became the only player to be in both the Arena Football and NFL Hall of Fames.
That’s it… leave your thoughts below and come back manana for Junoir Blaber, who wears bloomers, ironically.
