Friday, September 03, 2004

Remembering Rambo

Craig Wilson is a pinch hitting machine. Another dramatic come-from-behind late inning heroic victory against the Brewers on Wednesday. Seeing the evolution of wilson from a pinch-hitting stud into a fine everyday hitter, I can't help but wonder what happened to Mike Diaz?

In 1986 and 1987, Mike played in exactly 200 games, and hit 28 home runs in 450 at-bats, racking up 84 rbi in the process. Keep in mind that those were the days when those power numbers were very uncommon. I remember during those seasons that there were times when it felt like Diaz was stalking the pitcher from the bench, just waiting for his chance to get his at-bat in a clutch situation and pull out the game with a timely hit. The dude had some serious power.

Unfortunately, in 1988 Diaz suffered a total power outage (0 hr in 74 at-bats) before being traded to the White Sox for Gary Redus in mid-August. Diaz would go on to hit 3 hr in 152 at bats with the White Sox that season, and never be heard from in the majors again. I vaguely remember that he went to play in Japan, but I've never been able to find out what kind of success he had over there. Anyway, it seemed like an odd end to what looked like a promising career. Diaz's career always left me feeling a bit empty, as if it seemed that he never got the proper chance to see what he could do with 500 at bats in a season. Granted he was a horrible defensive player, but those Pirate teams were not exactly loaded.

Taking a look at Craig Wilson's first 2 years with the Pirates, it shows that he hit 29 hr in 526 at-bats, with 89 rbi. Those numbers are very similar to Diaz's numbers. Wilson though did hit for a much higher average and was 2 years younger. Obviously, Craig has gone on to solidify his place in the major leagues, while Diaz has been basically forgotten.

**Update: I did some research and found MIke Diaz's Japanese statistics. He played for the Lotte Orion from 89-92. He destroyed the league in his first 2 seasons, then tanked for the final two. Take a look for yourself, here.

posted by bkopec @ 1:59 PM   1 comments