The Kent Hrbek All Stars
When running the numbers for our Top 100 Padres, Richard went way beyond the top 100. And in doing so, he brought to my attention that the following players all donned Padre uniforms:
#114- Joe Lefebvre
#389- Doug Gwosdz
#489- Adam Hyzdu
#572- Jason Szuminski
#575 Ed Wojna
#617- Eric Cyr
#629- Walt Hriniak
Now, Gwosdz was a truly exceptional catcher hampered by the fact that he was among the worst hitters in MLB history, and Hriniak would go on to great acclaim as a hitting instructor (Gwosdz could've used his help...).
Nonetheless, a crappier bunch of ballplayers you couldn't hope for. It does make me feel better, though, that both Mike Champion and Champ Summers were Padres.
#114- Joe Lefebvre
#389- Doug Gwosdz
#489- Adam Hyzdu
#572- Jason Szuminski
#575 Ed Wojna
#617- Eric Cyr
#629- Walt Hriniak
Now, Gwosdz was a truly exceptional catcher hampered by the fact that he was among the worst hitters in MLB history, and Hriniak would go on to great acclaim as a hitting instructor (Gwosdz could've used his help...).
Nonetheless, a crappier bunch of ballplayers you couldn't hope for. It does make me feel better, though, that both Mike Champion and Champ Summers were Padres.
posted by Lance Richardson at 6:02 PM
3 Comments:
Joe Lefebvre had a *CANNON* for an arm ... I *love*d watching that guy throw from the outfield ... clearly I think that should count more ... and bump Joe into the Top 100 :-)
Gwosdz, pronounced "goosh" ... man, he was lame with the stick :-)
I saw Szuminski at Spring Training ... he's the MIT grad, right?
I think I have a Hriniak baseball card ...
Hriniak played for the Padres? Now there is a great bar bet.
Just saw Gwosdz's name and that brought back some really funny memories. Doug was the nicest guy ever and my husband Kevin and I were fortunate enough to get to know him during his time in San Diego - the 3 of us were the same age - so young when I think about it now. One night Kevin and I were waiting for Doug next to his car in the players' lot - we were all dressed up, ready to take Doug out for some drinks. Doug came out of the Padres' locker room dressed in sweats and an old fishing hat. There were tons of kids waiting for the players to come out and they mobbed Doug and asked him if he was a Padre - he gave them all a sly grin and said he wasn't - but pointed to my Kevin and said "but he is - that's Kevin McReynolds!!" At which point Kevin was mobbed by little kids asking him for his autograph. Which he signed, but with his own name - Kevin Ulrich. Doug Gwosdz was funny, down to earth, generous and just an all around good guy - nothing pretentious about him at all. He was a fine catcher...too bad his hitting didn't equal that skill.
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