The brightest stars burn the fastest | Page 3 | The Boneyard

The brightest stars burn the fastest

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
 
Gary Sanchez really burst onto the scene..had a couple good / solid years and then fell off the face of the earth.
 
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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.
 
storrsroars said:
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.
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with the Mets, it is every big prospect that comes up.
just wait for all the Ronny Mauricio chatter coming our way

​

 
Chin Diesel said:
Fernando Mania with the Dodgers was great. He stuck around a few years, but his rookie season was electric.
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He's like in every HOF, south of the border :)
 
Boston Strangler, Andrew Toney.

Had just transitioned from supporting role on Sixers to lead dog when he got hurt and never recovered.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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uconnblueinky said:
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.
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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.
 
businesslawyer said:
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.
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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.
 
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.
 
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StllH8L8ner said:
Nadav Henefeld
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Actually a great example... I was 10 years old when he burst onto the scene and made UConn basketball a thing. Then just like that, he was gone. We continued as a 20 win team and made the sweet 16 without him, but we would've been a championship-level team with Nadav for year two.

Viet Vet said:
Danny Almonte
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I know it was rampant cheating and everything else, but it was super fun watching that team of 14-year-olds lay the smack down. Think it's pretty much been determined that the dominant Chinese Taipei teams were using overage players, too, no?
 
Huskybass said:
Jacoby Ellsbury.
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Ehh, I'm not quite feeling this one.

Yes, he came out of nowhere to hit 30+ home runs and have an MVP-caliber season in 2011, but he also had very good years in 2009 and 2013 around being hurt. He wasn't a flash in the pan.

He's mostly vilified because the Yankees were stupid enough to give him a massive contract for so-so performance (while also being hurt).
 
A recent one to consider is Jordan Spieth. Looked like the next great golfer and has completely fallen off.
 
nomar said:
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.
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This actually undersells it.

He stepped into the closer role in late June, and allowed two (2) earned runs in the entirety of July, August, September, and October.

He had hitters absolutely bamboozled with basically two pitches -- a 90 mph fastball, and a splitter that fell off the table. And if the hitter guessed wrong (and they usually did), they were toast. You almost need a guy like that to come in out of nowhere and be unhittable for 4 months before hitters figure them out.
 
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Roy Batty, the Nexus-6 combat model replicant, was superior to humans in almost every way but only had a life span of four years.
 
Palatine said:
Roy Batty, the Nexus-6 combat model replicant, was superior to humans in almost every way but only had a life span of four years.
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I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off (the) shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.

200.gif
 
HuskyHawk said:
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off (the) shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.

200.gif
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At least no one is asking Roy "What you mean 'you people' ??!?!?"
 
boog204 said:
Actually a great example... I was 10 years old when he burst onto the scene and made UConn basketball a thing. Then just like that, he was gone. We continued as a 20 win team and made the sweet 16 without him, but we would've been a championship-level team with Nadav for year two.



I know it was rampant cheating and everything else, but it was super fun watching that team of 14-year-olds lay the smack down. Think it's pretty much been determined that the dominant Chinese Taipei teams were using overage players, too, no?
Expand ...
I can’t believe Nadav wasn’t first on my mind TBH. He’s my favorite Husky of all-time and I was so disappointed when he left.
 
Tenspro2002 said:
This actually undersells it.

He stepped into the closer role in late June, and allowed two (2) earned runs in the entirety of July, August, September, and October.

He had hitters absolutely bamboozled with basically two pitches -- a 90 mph fastball, and a splitter that fell off the table. And if the hitter guessed wrong (and they usually did), they were toast. You almost need a guy like that to come in out of nowhere and be unhittable for 4 months before hitters figure them out.
Expand ...

Insane. But he didn't come out of nowhere! That's what's crazy. He just had it that season.
 
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