Three Players Who Prove Chances Are Worth Taking

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

Every year, there are a few all but anonymous players who out of nowhere have brilliant seasons, helping to drive their teams into contention and leaving even hardcore fans scratching their head, and asking, “Who are these people?”


This year probably won’t see anything along the lines of Bill Mueller’s 2003 AL batting title or Allan Anderson heisting the AL ERA crown in 1988, but as is the case every August, a glance through the league leaders reveals not only some rather obscure characters, but a lesson the Yankees might take to heart in the midst of their present miseries.


Take Brady Clark, for instance. Even the most die-hard Mets fan probably doesn’t remember this, but for about 10 minutes back in 2002, Clark played his home games in Flushing, traded from the Reds as part of the haul the Mets got for Shawn Estes. Claimed by the Brewers on waivers in January 2003, Clark promptly showed that the .373 on-base average he’d put up in limited play in 2001 wasn’t a fluke, and turned into a useful fourth outfielder. Last year, he hit .280 and drew 53 walks for a tidy .385 OBA, stole 15 bases, and cracked 26 extra base hits in 353 at-bats while playing all three outfield positions.


It wasn’t an MVP performance, but it sure beat having Karim Garcia and Shane Spencer around.


This year, Clark ranks sixth in the league with a .311 average, seventh in runs with 76, and has played a perfectly fine center field, in all proving a more than adequate replacement for Scott Podsednik, the AL steals leader whom the Brewers traded over the winter. If the Yankees had Clark, in fact – a decent glove in center capable of getting on base at a 37% clip – they’d probably be in first place.


Clark isn’t even the most impressive out-of-nowhere player in the majors this year. That would be Washington’s John Patterson, a 27-year-old starter who prior to this year had gone 7-11 with a 5.04 ERA in 32 starts spread over parts of three different seasons for the Diamondbacks and Expos.


Patterson currently ranks third in the NL with a 2.52 ERA and fourth with 8.56 strikeouts per 9 innings. Unlike Clark, Patterson was a top prospect for a really long time, ranking in the top 15 of Baseball America’s annual list of the top 100 prospects twice, and making the list another three times. But serious arm problems in the minors led Arizona to give up on him last March and trade him to Montreal for Randy Choate, a scrub lefty who once played for the Yankees.


This year, the big curve and good command that had scouts pegging Patterson as a future ace a decade ago have finally returned, a simple matter of the man finally combining a clean bill of health with some major league experience. Taking a risk on this sort of player, one with all the talent in the world who’s just had some bad breaks, would have prevented the Yankees from having to resort to the dread specter of Al Leiter.


Unlike Clark and Patterson, Houston third baseman Morgan Ensberg didn’t exactly come out of nowhere – the man did pop 25 home runs in just 385 at-bats two years ago. But no one, save possibly Mrs. Ensberg, could have foreseen what he’d do this year, namely chalk up top five league rankings in home runs, RBI, slugging average, and OPS.


Ensberg’s breakout comes after years of frustration – in 2001, at 25, he hit for a .992 OPS in Triple-A and didn’t even see the majors that year, and no matter how well he hit in the years since, he was never quite able to seize a full-time job.


At age 29, this year is not only the first time Ensberg has simply been penciled into the lineup every day and allowed to hit, it’s really the first time the organization has shown any confidence in him. In 2002, for instance, with the immortal Geoff Blum serving as the club’s everyday third baseman, Ensberg got just five at-bats during a September call-up, despite his years of impressive minor league numbers. Until this year, he was perennially mentioned as trade bait whenever the Astros were in need of a backup middle infielder or mop-up reliever, and he’d have looked awfully good in pinstripes coming off the bench or in the DH role over the last few seasons.


The lesson to be learned by looking at all these players is simple – in every case, it took the player years to overcome a label that at some point had been prematurely slapped on his back. In Clark’s case, he was considered a fourth outfielder simply because he’d never been given a chance to start. In Patterson’s case, he was considered a failed prospect because an injury had derailed his career and prevented him from living up to outlandish predictions that he was the next Roger Clemens. And in Ensberg’s case, he had to overcome the fact that he’d been kept in the minors too long, thus earning an undeserved reputation as a “AAAA” player.


In every case, though, it couldn’t have been more plain that they had talent worth taking a flier on.


It’s only quite recently – and only out of the utmost desperation – that the Yankees have started taking risks on this sort of free talent. Oddly, it’s worked out rather well for them – Aaron Small has given the club more than it could have hoped for in the rotation, and Shawn Chacon, finally out of Coors Field, is actually showing signs that he might be a better bet to make an impact in the long run than expensive free agents Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright.


Should they start actually planning ahead, and collecting this sort of talent when they get the chance, the Yankees might even go through next season without wondering whether or not the lack of depth that’s led to Tony Womack as center fielder and an injured Kevin Brown being sent out to the mound has cost them a shot at the World Series.


The New York Sun

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