The Forgotten Jays...

number15 · Post #1 » by **number15** » Mon Jan 7, 2013 5:45 pm

Everyone talks either of the current Jays or way back to the glory day Jays...... why dont people talk about the standout Jays from all those years of losing. The guys that have been forgotten of sorts.

Some guys that stand out for me are, Jose Cruze Jr., Alex Gonzalez (original), Homer Bush, Raul Modesi, Tony Batista etc....

What are some of your favorite forgotten Jays?

xAIRNESSx · Post #2 » by **xAIRNESSx** » Mon Jan 7, 2013 6:19 pm

Not my favourites, but I remember when we made a "splash" and acquired Orlando Merced, Benito Santiago and someone else I forget.

The_Hater · Post #3 » by **The_Hater** » Mon Jan 7, 2013 6:55 pm

xAIRNESSx wrote:Not my favourites, but I remember when we made a "splash" and acquired Orlando Merced, Benito Santiago and someone else I forget.

It was Merced, Garcia and Plesac what we got from the Pirates for a bunch of minor leaguers.

Garcia looked like a decent enough starting 2B but immediately stopped hitting in Toronto. Merced was a corner OF with marginal power entering his last year before free-agency. They were supposed to be the 2 gems but I think Plesac as a cheap middle RP ended up being the the only guy that lasted more than a season in Toronto.

Not sure how the guys Gord Ash gave up turned out but I'm guessing that we lost this trade badly.

Graham's Cracker · Post #4 » by **Graham's Cracker** » Mon Jan 7, 2013 8:08 pm

Wasn't Jose Pett the guy they gave up in that trade and he was supposed to be a dominican stud.

Edit: Just read because my interest was piqued and Jose Pett was actually Brazilian. http://hyzduhq.blogspot.ca/2009/03/prospect-flashback-jose-pett.html

Al_Oliver · Post #5 » by **Al_Oliver** » Mon Jan 7, 2013 8:29 pm

The_Hater wrote:
They were supposed to be the 2 gems but I think Plesac as a cheap middle RP ended up being the the only guy that lasted more than a season in Toronto.

Not sure how the guys Gord Ash gave up turned out but I'm guessing that we lost this trade badly.

Come on, we got the 'Sac in that trade

sule · Post #6 » by **sule** » Mon Jan 7, 2013 8:32 pm

Santiago was only really good defensively and for our pitching staff.

I'm gonna go ahead and name some pitchers that passed through our team that had solid years here and some who went on to be better elsewhere:

Kelvim Escobar
Chris Carpenter
Paul Quantrill
Paul Spoljaric
Woody Williams
Mike Timlin
Estaban Loaiza
Gustavo Chacin
Erik Hanson
John Frascatore (our worst pitcher post-World Series with a -0.7 WAR in 126 innings)

why22 · Post #7 » by **why22** » Mon Jan 7, 2013 9:44 pm

Eric Hinske, Corey Koskie....

Gibby · Post #8 » by **Gibby** » Mon Jan 7, 2013 10:14 pm

Homer Bush, Chris Woodward(believe he was on our AAA team last year) Josh Phelps

satyr9 · Post #9 » by **satyr9** » Mon Jan 7, 2013 10:30 pm

I came to bring the truly forgotten (Phil Roof, Tim Nordbrook, and Pedro Hernandez for starters), then I read the actual OP and they don't apply.

IMO the actually good and unheralded guys of the '94 'til now era, at least guys that had nice Jays careers and get very little credit from fans now are:

Shannon Stewart (easily my first guy on this list and the only one I think is a no doubter that should be on everyone's list)
Darrin Fletcher
Tony Batista (so hilarious to watch)
Woody Williams
Paul Quantrill
Billy Koch

And one more guy who doesn't get that much credit for how good he was after our run: Mike Timlin. He was pretty light's out through a lot of the 90's, but never quite got a closer's rep so he never got the credit for it (Speier almost made my list too). Woody's the only starter I can put on, 'cause the good ones through that era are mostly remembered. That isn't to say we've forgotten these guys, but some of the seasons they put up would've turned them into nostalgic favourites like Lloyd or Jesse or Tim Clancy or Eichorn (for example) if they'd played on better teams.

Raptor_Guy · Post #10 » by **Raptor_Guy** » Mon Jan 7, 2013 10:56 pm

Does anybody remember how bad Russ Adams was defensively? Or the dynamic duo of Chris Gomez and Chris Woodward running the shortstop position?

So grateful to have Reyes..

rarefind · Post #11 » by **rarefind** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 1:26 am

Ken Huckaby
Mark Hendrickson
Dave Berg
Pasqual Coco
Joey Hamilton (disaster)
Alberto Castillo
Brad Fullmer
Pedro Borbon
Steve Trachsel
Craig Grebeck
Marty Cordova
David Segui

That was fun.

UN-Owen · Post #12 » by **UN-Owen** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 1:48 am

Jose Canseco

phillipmike · Post #13 » by **phillipmike** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 1:53 am

Homer Bush was at a Jays instructional for kids this past week along with some other former Jays.

http://www.thestar.com/ajax/photoplayer/1310984

DHK · Post #14 » by **DHK** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 2:36 am

Shannon Stewart..one of my fav jays.
Ed Sprague is another however he was part of the World Series team
No mention of Shawn Green??
Delgado/Green duo was extremely fun to watch
Tony Bautista was funny to watch
Billy koch and his 100mph+ fastballs
Woody Williams was a solid player here along with Escobar but long forgotten..
Jose Cruz Jr...used to give me migraines as a hitter and everytime I would give up on him, he'd have a big game right after.

N31L · Post #15 » by **N31L** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 3:15 am

None of these guys really stood out, except for a few, but its so weird looking at some of these names, remembering how bad those times were. It's great to compare to where we are now.

Vinnie Chulk
Josh Towers
Kevin Cash
Shea Hillenbrand
Royce Clayton
Kevin Mench
David Eckstein
Gabe Gross
Cory Lidle

Frank Catalanotto
Kevin Millar
Brad Mills
Corey Patterson
Guillermo Quiroz
Jo Jo Reyes
Randy Ruiz
Scott Schoeneweis
Justin Speier
Ty Taubenheim

Aimless Outlook · Post #16 » by **Aimless Outlook** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 4:13 am

My two no-namish favs were Reed Johnson and Frank Catalonotto.

Shimso · Post #17 » by **Shimso** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 4:16 am

My one memory of Jose Cruz Jr was when he hurdled over the catcher at home plate, slid past the plate and then lunged back to score. Been trying a while to find a clip of it but haven't been successful.

UN-Owen · Post #18 » by **UN-Owen** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 5:10 am

Ted Lilly seems to be somewhat forgotten

He's had a pretty good career since leaving the Jays

And I remember being somewhat impressed with David Bush in his limited time with the club. He reminded me of a poor man's Tim Hudson

Blair · Post #19 » by **Blair** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 5:49 am

Batista! That guy was hilarious.

I'll always remember Matt Stairs for his comment when asked about his approach at the plate and he said he likes to swing the bat as hard as he can. Also learned recently that Stairs has played on 13 MLB teams (12 counting Expos/Nats as one) which is tops except for Dotel's 13 teams.

Josh Towers was a guy who drove me up the wall. Just when you thought the club was finally going to take him out of the rotation he'd toss a 3 hit shutout. Of course he'd immediately resume being atrocious afterward.

Looking forward to adding Lind to my list of forgotten Jays. It's so weird to play in the AL East with a 1B that for years has been guys like Cooper Overbay etc.

wtcantfw · Post #20 » by **wtcantfw** » Tue Jan 8, 2013 2:15 pm

phillipmike wrote:Homer Bush was at a Jays instructional for kids this past week along with some other former Jays.

http://www.thestar.com/ajax/photoplayer/1310984

He was also featured in ESPN's 30-for-30 documentary "Broke".