The brightest stars burn the fastest

[Scoe]

Daunte Culpepper-was never the same without Randy Moss. Dolphins picked Culpepper over Brees.

Steve Avery- one of the Braves young star aces along with Smoltz and Glavine.

Mark Wholers- was never same after Leyritz homered off him in game 4 of World Series.

Brandon Jennings- had a 55 pt game as a rookie

 

[Chin Diesel]

Fernando Mania with the Dodgers was great. He stuck around a few years, but his rookie season was electric.

 

[Deepster]

Fernando Mania with the Dodgers was great. He stuck around a few years, but his rookie season was electric.

I thought of him and looked him up. He pitched 17 seasons!

 

[Kolumbo]

James Bouknight certainly captivated UConn Country for a couple covid years. Lots of kids leave early though and it doesn't pan out.

Victor Page from Georgetown left after his sophomore year and didn't even get drafted.

 

[Kolumbo]

Daisuke Matsuzaka came with an extremely hefty price tag after a very good career in Japan. ROY candidate at age 27 and Cy Young candidate at 28. Then it all unraveled. Twas a shame.

 

[storrsroars]

Look up Koufax. Only had a handful of full seasons.

Four man rotations back then. A full season was 40-41 starts as opposed to 31-33 today.

Still remarkable he retired at 30 after compiling a 10.3 bWAR season and his third Cy. Have to wonder if today's $$$ would've changed his mind and kept pitching despite the pain (or taken a year off for an operation). He made $125K in 1966, about $1.23 million today. But he'd be more likely been making $30 mill/year in today's market.

 

[Jaydumo20]

James Bouknight certainly captivated UConn Country for a couple covid years. Lots of kids leave early though and it doesn't pan out.

Victor Page from Georgetown left after his sophomore year and didn't even get drafted.

Victor Page. Good call.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I guess he flamed out? He had a pretty rare thoracic joint problem, even had a rib removed to try and help it and then pitched well into a postseason run against doctors orders and was never the same.

Yeah. I Wouldn't say that he lost it. It was definitely injury. But considering how short he was on the top of the heap. I remember listening to an interview he did with Dan Patrick and he was talking about his rehab and seemed so confident.
I remember that there was also something about that interview that had some controversy. Re: Harvey wanting to promote a product on the air as a contingency to be interviewed and Patrick pushing back. I recall Harvey coming across kind of unlikeable

 

[Mr. French]

Jeff Francoeur was a good one for me - he became my favorite player instantly, was the best player all summer after a call-up as a rookie and was on the cover of SI "The Natural." He had a pretty strong sophomore season then stunk the rest of his career - he's now a good broadcaster, though.

He maaaaay have influenced my username.

 

[HooperScooper]

Len Bias.

Does death count? That's the ultimate flame out.

 

[UCfor3]

JR Richard is a good one. Andrew Luck. Zion maybe?

 

[amishboy]

That kid from St. John’s in the 90s. Totally forgot his name. From the Dominican Republic

Felipe Lopez? Just saw a 30 for 30 on him.

 

[controlfade]

Tim Lincecum , was a machine for like 5 years and then had nothing

 

[lonsharkin51]

Generation K. Pulsipher, Isringhausen and Wilson. That worked out great for the Mets.

 

[TheDrifter75]

Rookie pitcher for the Cardinals, Rick Ankiel. Had a great season 3.50 era, just short of 200 strikeouts. Then in the playoffs against the Braves lost all control. It was the most unbelievable meltdown I'd ever seen. Threw wild pitch after wild pitch. He never did get his control back. He took some time off and came back as a fielder. Worth a look on YouTube

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Gary Sanchez really burst onto the scene..had a couple good / solid years and then fell off the face of the earth.

 

[champs99and04]

For the Yankee fans out there, how about Jesus Montero? He was their top prospect, tore it up in his first month or so, then was abruptly traded and washed out of the league a few years later. Gary Sanchez is another guy that comes to mind.

 

[BrysonDeMan]

Fidrych is the obvious answer as he was huge nationally.

Was trying to think of teams I followed. For the Mets, I'd go with Mike Vail.. Dude was called up in August 75 and starting in his third game went on a 23 game hitting streak, which tied 3 others as the longest streak for a rookie in MLB history. Much was expected of him for 76, but he was below replacement.

Pedro Ciriaco did it twice, for the Pirates and Red Sox. He was a supersub who had a knack for big moments and had like a month in both Pittsburgh and Boston where he became a folk hero. Ultimately was not consistent once he got more ABs and became a mere mortal.

with the Mets, it is every big prospect that comes up.
just wait for all the Ronny Mauricio chatter coming our way

​

 

[willie99]

Fernando Mania with the Dodgers was great. He stuck around a few years, but his rookie season was electric.

He's like in every HOF, south of the border

 

[Chin Diesel]

Boston Strangler, Andrew Toney.

Had just transitioned from supporting role on Sixers to lead dog when he got hurt and never recovered.

 

[nomar]

This doesn't really fit the theme but I just thought of a guy who, for one season, was arguably the greatest closer of all time. (Eckersley's 1990 season is the only competition.) At the age of 38!

His name: Koji Uehara.

Now, he had a pretty good career. And the season before the Sox got him, he had a 1.75 ERA in 36 IP. But what he did in 2013 for the Sox, at 38, is downright incredible:

74.1 IP, 1.09 ERA, 0.565 WHIP,101/9 K:BB ratio (2 of the 9 were IBB)

But that was just the appetizer. In the playoffs, he was even better:

13.2 IP, 0.66 ERA, 0.512 WHIP, 16/0 K:BB ratio

He was excellent in his year 39 & 40 seasons for Boston, and then very good in his year 41 and 42 seasons for the Sox and the Cubs, respectively. But nothing like that 2013 season. He made batters look like they were swinging with toothpicks. I have never, in 40 years of watching baseball, trusted a player more than I trusted Koji in the 2013 playoffs.

Over the course of the season, Uehara faced 265 batters and only reached a 3-0 count four times. Two of those four were IBBs, and the other two he ended up striking out.

 

[uconnblueinky]

Mark Prior-He was the No. 2 overall pick in 2001, made his major league debut in 2002 and became the Cubs’ ace in 2003. He ranked in the top three in ERA, wins and strikeouts while starting 30 games. But Prior’s supposed perfect pitching mechanics didn’t protect him from injury as he struggled to stay on the mound thereafter.

After winning 18 games in 2003, Prior won 18 games over the remainder of his career and retired in 2013, seven years after his last MLB action.

Icky Woods- Ickey Woods became a cult hero in Cincinnati thanks to a rookie year in which he found the end zone 15 times and performed his infamous “Ickey Shuffle” dance.

Those 15 touchdowns were the second-most in NFL history for a rookie, and Woods became the focus of the Bengals’ offense ahead of Pro Bowl running back James Brooks.

But just two games into his second season, Woods suffered a torn ACL and was never the same. Already a heavy back, he struggled to keep off the weight and did not regained the explosiveness he showed in 1988.

He was benched upon his return the following season and played only 19 more NFL games after the injury.
Don Maclean- His most notable NBA moments came during his second NBA season, when he nearly tripled his scoring average to 18 points per game. He finally looked like the star he was with the Bruins, but that stardom was short-lived.

The following season, the Washington Bullets made numerous roster changes, including trading for Chris Webber and drafting Juwan Howard. The moves knocked MacLean down the forward depth chart, and injuries also reduced his effectiveness.

MacLean then became expendable and embarked on a journeyman career that included playing for seven different teams in his final seven NBA seasons.

 

[boog204]

Mark Prior-He was the No. 2 overall pick in 2001, made his major league debut in 2002 and became the Cubs’ ace in 2003. He ranked in the top three in ERA, wins and strikeouts while starting 30 games. But Prior’s supposed perfect pitching mechanics didn’t protect him from injury as he struggled to stay on the mound thereafter.

After winning 18 games in 2003, Prior won 18 games over the remainder of his career and retired in 2013, seven years after his last MLB action.

Icky Woods- Ickey Woods became a cult hero in Cincinnati thanks to a rookie year in which he found the end zone 15 times and performed his infamous “Ickey Shuffle” dance.

Those 15 touchdowns were the second-most in NFL history for a rookie, and Woods became the focus of the Bengals’ offense ahead of Pro Bowl running back James Brooks.

But just two games into his second season, Woods suffered a torn ACL and was never the same. Already a heavy back, he struggled to keep off the weight and did not regained the explosiveness he showed in 1988.

He was benched upon his return the following season and played only 19 more NFL games after the injury.
Don Maclean- His most notable NBA moments came during his second NBA season, when he nearly tripled his scoring average to 18 points per game. He finally looked like the star he was with the Bruins, but that stardom was short-lived.

The following season, the Washington Bullets made numerous roster changes, including trading for Chris Webber and drafting Juwan Howard. The moves knocked MacLean down the forward depth chart, and injuries also reduced his effectiveness.

MacLean then became expendable and embarked on a journeyman career that included playing for seven different teams in his final seven NBA seasons.

Was going to add Mark Prior in. He had all the makings of a hall of fame pitcher.

And completely forgot about Ickey! Good one.

 

[boog204]

Mattingly and Hardaway were both exceptional players for prolonged periods of time before having the length of their careers shortened. Fidrych and Lin are the best examples I can think of.

Not sure if we have same definition of “prolonged.” Penny had four healthy seasons and then was never the same. He played 14 years, but was an absolute shell of the explosive player he was.

Mattingly had a slightly longer run of 5-6 years as arguably the best player in the sport and then almost overnight he had no power and couldn’t move. He still played out 6-7 more years.

So neither guy had their careers shortened. They were just shadows of self. Lin is the probably the ultimate example for this thread because for two weeks he was it. And then… Fidrych at least got a year.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Linsanity is easily the best answer. Peyton Hillis would be my #2. Another good one would be former Pats running back Jonas Gray: 201 yards and 3 TDs in his first game for the Pats, then we was late to practice, barely saw the field again and was cut after the season.