John Paciorek – #6 in the William Henry Harrison Series

John Paciorek made his big league debut at the age of 18 on September 29th, the last day of the 1963 regular season. The Houston Colt 45’s defeated the New York Mets 13-4. Paciorek went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI’s, 4 runs and 2 walks. He had a career game. Little did he know at the time, it would be the only game he played in his career.

In the 1st inning, in Paciorek’s first major league plate appearance, he walked facing New York Mets starting pitcher Larry Bearnarth. He then scored his first major league run when he was knocked in by catcher John Bateman.

His second at bat came in the 4th inning. Paciorek would get his first base hit when he singled to left field. As an added bonus, he drove in both 1B Rusty Staub and 3B Bob Aspromonte. He would later score on pinch hitter Pete Runnels sacrifice fly to right field.

In the 5th inning, Paciorek entered the batter’s box again, this time facing relief pitcher Ed Bauta. He singled to left field for his second hit of the game and drove in 3B Bob Aspromonte for his third RBI of the game. He then would score his third run of the game thanks to shortstop Bob Lillis’ single.

Paciorek was issued a walk in the 6th courtesy of Grover Powell, the third pitcher he faced this game. He scored again for his fourth run of the game when Lillis knocked him in for the second time in two innings.

Paciorek connected for his third hit of the game as he singled to left to lead off the 8th inning. He was out at second when pinch hitter, Dave Adlesh, grounded into a double play.

He was signed as an amateur free agent in 1963. He would spend the year with Houston’s A ball affiliate, the Modesto Colts, before being called up to the majors that year. In spite of his performance with the Colt 45’s, he would begin the 1964 season with another A ball team, the Durham Bulls. He remained in Houston’s system through 1967 before playing in the minors for the Cleveland Indians for two years. Injuries that had hampered him throughout his playing career started to be too much to overcome and in 1969, Pacoirek ended his bid to come back to the majors.

He may have only played one game but he can claim something that no other baseball player can. He has the most at bats, three, of any Major League player that has a 1.000 AVG.

John is one of four brothers and each one of them played baseball professionally. Brothers Mike, Jim and Tom played as well although only John and Tom made it to the majors.

Mike spent 5 seasons in the minors with the Dodgers and Braves from 1973 to 1977. He also made two movie appearances. He was Scharf in Brewster’s Millions and an umpire in the 2005 Bad News Bears.

Jim played from 1982 to 1987. He played in 48 games with the Milwaukee Brewers in his final year. He then went to Japan and played for six more seasons.

Tom had the most storied career. He played for 18 seasons in the majors from 1970 to 1987. He spent time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Bravves, Texas Rangers and New York Mets. His best year came in the strike shortened 1981 season. He was an All-Star for the first and only time, 10th in MVP voting and 2nd in AVG in the AL batting .326 for the year.

He also has four nephews that played professionally. Nephews Mack, Pete, Tom Jr., and Joseph have all followed in the family’s footsteps.

Mack played five seasons in an Independant League from 2000-2004. Pete played seven seasons in the minors from 1995-2001 and then an additional two years from 2002-2003 in an Independant League before calling it quits. Tom Jr. only had one year in the minors in 1998 with a New York Mets affiliate before his brief career was over. Joseph was drafted by Milwaukee Brewers in 2007 and is currently still playing. He hasn’t made it to the majors yet but there is still time.

Ugueth Urbina 10/15/05 BMOS-19

On October 15th 2005, Ugueth Urbina and his friends attacked five of his ranch hands with a machete and set them on fire. He accused them of stealing one of his pistols and other items. The five victims were Vinkler Gallegos, Ricardo Osal, Mickel Enchenique, Argenis Farias, Tony Rodriguez and Bernardo Navarros.

Gallegos had bruises on his face and ribs. Osal had to receive 300 stitches to close wounds on his back and 150 stitches to repair severed tendons in his hands. Echenique had minor injuries and several contusions. Farias had fractures in his nose and cheekbone, Rodriguez had burns on his neck and in his right ear as well as injuries to his face and his eyes. He also suffered a knife cut on his right arm and a perforated eardrum. Navarros had burns on approximately 50 percent of his body.

Osal said afterwards that Urbina told them that he was going to kill all of them and bury them underneath his ranch and that at one point Urbina left him for dead as he was bleeding on the ground saying, “He’ll be the first one we bury.”

Rodriguez recalls that after Urbina’s friends were setting them on fire using gasoline and paint thinner. they were allowing them to jump in a pool to distinguish the flames.

When the police were called to the ranch the following morning, Urbina claimed to know nothing of the event stating that they victims had been drinking since 3pm the previous day and story was coming from being extremely drunk.

Urbina was granted free agency on November 1st 2005 by the Philadelphia Phillies and six days later he was arrested by Venezuelan authorities. He was charged with attempted murder. He was convicted of that charge on March 28th 2007 and sentenced to 14 years and 7 months in prison.

It appears that Urbina is no stranger to being on the wrong side of the law. In 2000 he was accused of assaulting a man in a Montreal night club when he was with the Expos. Then, four years later, he was jailed shortly for discharging a fire arm while under the influence of alcohol. His other encounters with the Venezuelan police include two counts of allegedly fighting and one traffic incident for running over an elderly man, all of which were resolved out of court.

Back in September 2004, Urbina was also in the news, but this time it was him and his family that were the victims. His mother, Maura Villarreal, was kidnapped. She was later rescued on February 18th 2005. The rescue resulted in the death of one of her kidnappers and the capture of her others. They did not collect on the $6 million dollars they were demanding for her rescue.

Urbina spent 11 years in the majors. He had a 44-49 record with a 3.45 ERA while accumulating 237 saves with six different teams. He was a two time All-Star in 1998 with the Montreal Expos and 2002 with the Boston Red Sox. While in Montreal, he lead the league in saves in 1999 with 41.

Bart Zeller – #5 in the William Henry Harrison Series

Bart Zeller signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1963 as an amateur free agent. He would spend seven total seasons in the minors. He posted a respectable .265 for a catcher in 551 career minor league games. That is 550 more games than he would play in the majors.

On May 21st in 1970, the Cardinals were facing the Philadelphia Phillies. The Cardinals starting pitcher was Steve Carlton who went 8 innings and struck out 16.

In the 8th inning, Vic Davillilo pinch ran for Cardinals catcher Joe Torre after Torre walked. Joe Hague pinch hit for second baseman, Julian Javier. The Cardinals would now need a catcher to start the next inning. After the the top of the 8th, Zeller appeared in his first ever Major League baseball game taking Hague’s spot in the lineup and replacing Joe Torre behind the plate.

Frank Linzy was now on the mound for the Cardinals to start to the bottom of the 9th to face Phillies left fielder Jonnie Briggs. Briggs singled and then advanced to second on center fielder Byron Browne’s sacrifice bunt. Linzy then issued an intentional walk to catcher Mike Compton.

The Phillies sent up pinch hitter Ron Stone to bat for their pitcher Joe Hoerner. This prompted the Cardinals to make a change of their own and bring in reliever Billy McCool with one out in the inning. The Phillies countered this move and pinch hit for Stone with Jim Hutto. McCool struck Hutto out for the second out of the inning earning Zeller his first and only career put out.

The Cardinals then took McCool out and brought in Sal Campisi to replace him and face Tony Taylor. Taylor singled to center field, knocking in Briggs for the winning run.

When all was said and done, Zeller played 2/3 of an inning and caught three different pitchers while doing so. He missed an opportunity to catch Hall of Famer Steve Carlton when replacing possible future Hall of Famer Joe Torre who will be eligible in 2014 as a manager.

Zeller was released by the Cardinals shortly after on June 8th but stayed on as a coach with the team for the remainder of the year. He later signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Brewers prior to the start of the 1971 season.

He played 22 games with the Brewers AAA affiliate the Evansville Triplets before being traded to the New York Yankees organization for catcher Bruce Look. Zeller played an additional 17 games that year after the trade with the AAA Syracuse Chiefs. This would be Zeller’s final year, ending his chances to play at the major league level again. Look did make it to the majors in 1968 with the Minnesota Twins and appeared in 59 games so he does not qualify for a card.

While Zeller may have stopped playing in 1971, he has since held both coaching and managing positions in an Independent baseball league. He was the Sioux Falls Caranaries’ bench coach in 2005 and 2006. Zeller then moved on to the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League where he served as both the third base and hitting coach. He then was named manager of the Joliet Slammers in 2011.

Larry Yount – #4 in the William Henry Harrison Series

Larry Yount, the older brother of Hall of Famer Robin Yount, can say he holds one distinction that his brother does not. While Larry did not experience the same level of success as Robin, his name is still in the record books. He holds the undesirable distinction of being the only player in Major League Baseball history to have appeared in a game without facing a batter.

Yount, the Houston Astros 5th round draft pick in 1968, entered his first Major League game on September 15th, 1971. After taking the mound, he threw one warm up pitch and injured his shoulder. Yount never had that opportunity again.

His best year came in 1971 with Houston’s AAA affiliate, the Oklahoma City 89ers. He went 12-8 with a 2.84 ERA and struck out 121 batters in 137 innings with 4 complete games.

He spent a total of seven seasons in the minors before his baseball career ended in 1975. The first five of them were in the Astros system and the last two were with the Milwaukee Brewers A and AA team. Yount was traded with Don Sutton for Wilbur Howard on March 30th, 1974. He had a 40-69 record while posting a 4.56 ERA.

Even though both brothers were with Milwaukee at the same time, they never had the chance to play together. After spending one year with the Brewers’ A team affiliate in 1973, the New York Co-Pilots, Robin was promoted to the Major League level the following year at age 18.

Gary Hargis– #3 in the William Henry Harrison Series

Willie Stargell had 1,540 RBI’s in his Hall of Fame career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. If he was able to drive in just one more, Gary Hargis may have known what it was like to cross home plate in a Major League baseball game.

In 1974 Gary Hargis was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the MLB Amateur Draft. He was taken in the second round and was the 35th overall pick.

He quickly rose through the Pirates system and was playing for the Columbus Clippers, the Pirates AAA farm team at the time, to start the 1977 season.

On September 29th 1979, Hargis made his Major League debut. He entered the game in the 13th inning to pinch run for Tim Foli who had just singled. Dave Parker was able to advance Hargis to second with another single. With two outs, Willie Stargell stepped up to the plate. Stargell struck out for the last out of the game, stranding both Hargis and Parker.

Gary Hargis never made it to the Major League level again. He was 22 years old at the time of the appearance and that would be his first and last game in the big leagues. He never had the chance to face a major league pitcher, never had the chance to take the field and never had another chance to score a run but he did enter the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs and the second to last day of the regular season in 1979 and that is an achievement that more than most that aspire to play the game can ever say.

He played three more years in the minor leagues before ending his career in 1981. In his 8 minor league seasons, Hargis batted .273 in 2,911 at bats and scored 353 runs.

Eddie Gaedel – #2 in the William Henry Harrison Series

In the second game of a double header between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Browns on Sunday, August 19th in 1951, Tigers pitcher Bob Cain was expecting to face Browns right fielder Frank Saucier. Instead Cain faced a pinch hitter to lead off the bottom of the 1st inning.

In steps all three feet and seven inches of Eddie Gaedel. Cain walked Gaedel with four straight pitches as he found it next to impossible to stop laughing and locate his pitches in the near, non-existent strike zone. Upon reaching 1st base, pinch runner Jim Delsing took Gaedel’s place. The Browns failed to knock Delsing in.

To ensure that Gaedel would not swing, Brown’s owner Bill Veeck warned him that he had taken out a $1,000,000.00 life insurance policy on him and he so much as look as if he might swing, there was someone with a gun on the roof ready to shot him.

Gaedel would never make another appearance as his contract was voided by the league two days after he first appeared with the Browns. He would end his career with a 1.000 OBP as he walked in his only plate appearance. He is one of only five Major League players with this distinguishing statistic. The other are Bill Batsch, Joe Cobb, Kevin Melilo and Dutch Schrick.

Although Gaedel could not play for the team, Veeck hired him and other dwarfs and midgets to dress as spacemen and run out on the field as well as hiring them to be vendors as their stature would impede the vision of the spectators.

Gaedel died at the age of 36 from a heart attack on June 18, 1961. He was beaten on his way home from a bowling alley by some individuals who he had an altercation with and followed him home.

While his contact may have been voided, his name will forever remain a part of baseball history. He will always exist in the box score from that day and it will always appear in each new edition of the Baseball Encyclopedia until printed books become obsolete.

Dick Wantz – #1 in the William Henry Harrison Series

After being elected as the 9th President of the United States, William Henry Harrison died of complications from pneumonia a mere 32 days after taking office. We will never know what he could have accomplished during the remainder of his four year term. We won’t know his failures; we won’t know his successes. What we do know is that he is forever part of history. He achieved something only 8 people before him ever did and over 170 years later, only 43 others have. He was elected President of the United States. So many ball players never even get to sniff the major leagues. Some of the ones that are fortunate enough to get there, fail to perform at a level that will continue produce steady MLB employment. Many players are too good for the minors yet not good enough for the majors but at least they knew they had their chance, they just failed to perform. These cards will be dedicated to those who had their chance but for a multitude of reasons, never get a large enough sample size to prove their worth. Some of their careers are cut short due to death, injury, rule changes or just poor performance. Regardless of the reason, they still were able to experience the dream no matter how short it was. The majority of these players are unknowns by most but they still made their mark when so many others with that dream never did. Unlike the Moments of Shame cards that are helping us remember incidents that those involved would rather forget, I hope to share information about players who are close to being forgotten and learn more about them in the process.

The first player in the series is Los Angeles Angels pitcher, Dick Wantz. An autographed postcard certified authentic by PSA, recently sold on eBay for $3,495.00. Yes, $3,495.00. For a price like that you would think he would have to be in the Hall of Fame, you would have to think that he had a storied career where he broke many records and helped win many championships or maybe he just pitched one inning of relief work and never played again. Wantz wasn’t around long enough to sign many autographs and not remembered fondly enough for many people that had his autograph to treasure and preserve it, making this autograph incredibly rare and desirable to the right fan.

Wantz was fortunate enough to break camp with the team and pitch on Opening Day on April 13th, 1965. The Angeles, who played their home games at Dodger Stadium at the time, opened up against the Cleveland Indians. The Indians were ahead 5-1 after 7 innings when Wantz was called upon to start the 8th. His debut would have been less than memorable regardless of how many innings in the future he might have thrown. He completed one inning while giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and striking out 2 batters.

Afterwards, Wantz complained of headaches and sought medical attention. A brain tumor was discovered to be the cause. Wantz went in for surgery in hopes of removing the tumor but sadly it was not successful. He lapsed into a coma and died exactly 30 days after his MLB debut on May 13th, 1965 at the age of 25.

Being a victim of cancer over 45 years ago would have ordinarily made someone a mere statistic today. Wantz will forever be more than that because he pitched one inning of baseball at the Major League level. He will forever have his own listing in each year’s edition of the Baseball Encylopedia. He will forever be a Major League Baseball Player.

Wantz’s obituary is posted below.

Denny Neagle 12/03/04 BMOS-18

Denny Neagle was once a promising young player. Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the third round of the 1989 amateur draft. He pitched for the Twins in 1991 before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates prior to the start of the 1992 season. He started to make a name for himself in Pittsburgh, making the All-Star team in 1995 and finished 8th in the Cy Young voting in 1996, the same year he was traded to Atlanta Braves mid-season. His best year came in 1997 with the Braves when he went 20-5 with a 2.97 ERA and a 1.084 WHIP. He made the All-Star team for the second time in his career and finished 3rd in the Cy Young voting. After spending the time with the Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees in the 1999 and 2000 seasons, Neagle used his past success to land him a mega-sized contract with the Colorado Rockies and signed a 5 year $51 million contract. This was the beginning of the end.

In 2001, the first year of his new contract, Neagle went 9-8 and posted a 5.38 ERA. The following year was no kinder. He had his first losing season since 1994 as he went 8-11 with a 5.26 ERA. Then came the injuries. He managed only to start seven games in 2003. He went 2-4 with a 7.90 ERA. The Rockies were stuck with a contract that was untradable and would have loved to rid themselves of this mistake. On December 3rd, 2004, Neagle gave them a reason they needed.

Injured and not having not pitched in over 17 months, Neagle rediscovered his velocity. Unfortunately for him, he wreaked of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and was driving down a street in Denver when he rediscovered it. Even more unfortunate for the down and out Neagle, there was a 40 year old filthy hooker, Jill Russell, in his passenger seat.

The reason for Neagle’s shitty performance in Colorado may have been discovered during this encounter. It seems he never found his comfort zone on the mound as each time he took the rubber, his pants were pulled up and fastened. The officer that pulled Neagle over observed his pants were down and when he questioned him as to why this was, Neagle said he pants were down because he was just getting comfortable.

Neagle must have the unwanted super hero ability to ejaculate truth serum because when asked the street walker with the William Shakespeare receding hairline and Willie McGee neck, she willingly said she was paid $40 dollars to perform oral sex. For not being smart enough to get his hummer in a hotel or back alley, just not get it at all, he was required to do 40 hours of community service.

This blow job blew his job. The Rockies terminated the remaining $19 million dollars left citing a moral clause in his contract.

We can just add this to Neagle’s list of shameful accomplishments off the field. It is just a nice dinner conversation he can have with his wife, his 4 year old son at the time of the 2004 arrest and his twins who were born two months prior. In addition to the blow job, back in October 2003, Neagle downed one too many beers and went for a spin, hitting another car. He plead guilty to the charge of driving with impaired vision.

Neagle threw his third strike when he was arrested again in August 2007 for driving while under the influence and to put the cherry on the downward spiral of his career, his name appeared on the Mitchell Report later that year.

No matter what Neagle does for the rest of his life, no matter how many incurable diseases he may cure, no matter how many world hunger problems he may solve and no matter how many orphans he may rescue from countless burning buildings, he will always and forever be known as the guy who ultimately paid $19,000,040 for a blow job from a partially shaved Sasquatch.

Rob Dibble 04/28/91 BMOS-17

Over Rob Dibble’s seven year career, he was never known subtlety or tenderness. The flame throwing right handed reliever found himself suspended several times for not being able to keep his temper in check. He, along with fellow relievers Norm Charlton and Randy Myers, made up the Cincinnati trio known as the Nasty Boys.

On April 28th 1991, Dibble was a bit more nastier than usual. Although he was given credit for the save and helped the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3, he was not pleased with his outing. Dibble was tagged for 5 hits and 2 runs over the final two innings of the game. After recording the final out, he turned and fired the baseball over the center-field fence at Riverfront Stadium. The ball traveled over 400 hundred feet before finding the bleachers and the elbow of an unlucky fan. The fan was 27 year old pregnant first grade teacher Meg Porter. Dibble’s unwarranted throw caused Porter to miss two days of work following the game.

After retirement, Dibble took his leap before you look approach to life to the broadcasting booth of the Washington Nationals. He found it hard to not make unnecessary comments about women watching baseball, speak positively about their pride and joy Stephen Strasburg and play nicely with fellow broadcaster Ray Knight.

One night, Dibble appeared to have some issues with two females watching the game behind the plate. He let his feelings be known on air. “Those ladies right behind there, they haven’t stopped talking the whole game. They have some conversation going on. Right here,” he said while circling them on the screen. (See the featured picture) “There must be a sale tomorrow going on here or something. Their husbands are going man, don’t bring your wife next time.”

Another time he took his nonsensical comments and directed them the franchise’s future Stephen Strasburg. On his Sirus XM radio show he said the following. “So for me, a little bit has to be put back on Strasburg here…OK, you throw a pitch, it bothers your arm, and you immediately call out the manager and the trainer? Suck it up, kid. This is your profession. You chose to be a baseball player. You can’t have the cavalry come in and save your butt every time you feel a little stiff shoulder, sore elbow…stop crying, go out there and pitch. Period.”

Unfortunately for both Dibble and Strasburg, this wasn’t a Gregg Jefferies hangnail or a Manny Ramirez sore throat. Strasburg was hurt and he was hurt bad. The rookie pitcher was shut down for the season and needed Tommy John surgery. Great way to endear yourself with the fans Rob; attack the one ray of light that is trying to break through the fog that has cemented the franchise as a permanent basement dweller.

This was the final straw and the former reliever became a former broadcaster as the Nationals relieved him of his analyst duties.

Matthew Clemmens 04/14/2010 BMOS-16

“Slowly a sound started to build in Lardass’ stomach. A strange and scary sound like a log-truck coming at you at a hundred miles an hour. Suddenly, Lardass opened his mouth. And before Bill Travis knew it, he was covered with five pies worth of used blueberries. The women in the audience screamed. Bossman Bob Cormier take one look at Bill Travis and barfed on Principal Wiggins. Principal Wiggins barfed on the lumberjack that was sitting next to him. Mayor Grundy barfed on his wife’s tits. But when the smell hit the crowd, that’s when Lardass’ plan really started to work. Girlfriends barfed on boyfriends. Kids barfed on their parents. A fat lady barfed in her purse. The Donnelly-twins barfed on each other. And the women’s auxiliary barfed all over the Benevolent Order of Antelopes. And Lardass just sat back and enjoyed what he created. A complete and total Barf-A-Rama.”

On April 14th 2010, Matthew Clemmens of Cherry Hill, NJ participated in a complete and total Barf-A-Rama of his own while attending the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals game at Citizens Bank Park. A visibly drunk Clemmens, began to verbally assualt the other fans around him with profanity. The 21 year old Eric Cartman and his friend started to spit as well. Some of their spit was directed towards the 15 and 11 year old off an of duty Easton PA Police Captain Michael Vangelo.

When Vangelo rightfully complained to Phillies security, Clemmens’ friend was removed from the game and ejected from the park. As the story has it, Clemmens then receives a phone call presumably from his friend and is heard saying, “need to do what I need to do. I’m going to get sick.” Clemmens then stuck his fingers down his throat and starting vomiting in the direction of the 11 year old child. He then starting throwing punches and spraying his vomit on the crowd.

The difference between Lardass Hogan and Matthew Clemmens is that Hogan is about standing up for yourself and putting people in their place. It is about making those who made you suffer, suffer as well. It is about being able to sit back with a giant smile on your face after you watched your diabolical plan for revenge go off without a hitch while getting the crowd to cheer you on right up until your moment of revenge. Clemmens is just about having a complete lack of self control, zero respect for those around you, the inexplicable urge to stick your fingers down your throat and purge the previously consumed contents of your stomach on an innocent 11 year old girl and trying to kick the ass of everyone around you The only time Clemmens would have been cheered on by the crowd was when he was getting his ass pummeled and then hauled away.

Clemmens was sentenced on charges of simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct and was sentenced to three months in jail, two years of probation and 50 days of community service. The judge presiding over the case said that his apology was insincere.

As if it is not bad enough that all of the media likes to constantly remind everyone that Philadelphia is the home of those who threw snowballs at Santa Claus and are nothing more than a bunch of battery chuckers, this walking trailer park makes himself vomit on children. His family maintains that he has a good heart and just had a momentary lapse in judgment. If am just unclear if the momentary lapse of judgment started when he drank more than he could handle, starting cursing at everyone around him, starting spitting at children, made himself vomit on a child or starting throwing punches while vomiting on the crowd? I suppose we will never know.