Name the player and why you loved to watch them play. pre 95

I grew up having 2 favorite players--first Joe Morgan--loved that arm torque when he was at the plate. My second was Steve Garvey--loved that he played everyday--had those big popeye forearms---and the Dodgers were one of my favorite teams back then.

Keep it old-school---pre 1995.

My first "favorite" player was Juan Gonzalez. Was also a big Canseco fan. I have since disengaged my fandom for each due to their cheating.

Jay Buhner and Ken Griffey Jr

Ozzie Smith and you know why.

Adamsince1981 said:

Ozzie Smith and you know why.

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Did Ozzie do the back flip every day or just on special occasions?

Lifelongfan said:

Adamsince1981 said:

Ozzie Smith and you know why.

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Did Ozzie do the back flip every day or just on special occasions?

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Just special occasions...mainly opening day. Ozzie was just awesome.

George Brett and Mike Schmidt

Both played baseball.
Both loved baseball.
Both are champions.
Both are legends.
Both dominated baseball.
Both played for One Organization.

barry bonds (circa 89-93) was who i modeled my game after in high school. choked up on the bat, all black cleats, long pants, and flip down shades! we both played left field and i thought he was skillful in every aspect of the game and did it in such an effortless manner. watching him steal a base was like watching a cheetah chase its pray! every time he was at the plate or on base there was an anticipation that something big could happen. except for throwing sid bream out...

Alan Trammell as he was everything to Tiger baseball back when I started to play and watch them. He played the game the right way and only for one team the Tigers. Larry Walker, the guy had a cannon for an arm and knew how to hit. Last was Jack Morris, watching him pitch was awesome for so many years. All three are just way too underrated.

dreamerfan said:

Alan Trammell as he was everything to Tiger baseball back when I started to play and watch them. He played the game the right way and only for one team the Tigers. Larry Walker, the guy had a cannon for an arm and knew how to hit. Last was Jack Morris, watching him pitch was awesome for so many years. All three are just way too underrated.

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He and Sweet Lou were a pleasure to watch.

Lifelongfan said:

dreamerfan said:

Alan Trammell as he was everything to Tiger baseball back when I started to play and watch them. He played the game the right way and only for one team the Tigers. Larry Walker, the guy had a cannon for an arm and knew how to hit. Last was Jack Morris, watching him pitch was awesome for so many years. All three are just way too underrated.

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He and Sweet Lou were a pleasure to watch.

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It's BS that Trammell and Whitaker aren't in the Hall. Both deserving. Not first-ballot, but definitely deserving. I hope the Veterans Committee do what's right (including Santo).

Thurman Munson

Tough and gritty!

You really had to see Kirby Puckett play in 1984 to see why everybody in Minnesota fell in love with the guy. I did--I was in college then--and became a fan immediately. Sure, I was already a Gaetti fan, I knew who he was. But this kid Puckett, where did he come from, slapping base hits everywhere, flying around the bases, so speedy in centerfied...young Puck was a sight to see.

Mo Vaughn

He was by far my favorite player in the '90s....had a pretty sick Mo collection that adorned my room growing up but was lost when the roof leaked and flooded my room in I want to say 1998.

Posters, cards, Pinnacle tins/coins, IP Autos, Sports Illustrated, Beckett covers, minor league team issues, etc.

What really stinks is the collection was probably 'Beckett' worthy at some point, as I literally had almost every Mo Vaughn card besides 1/1s (when 1/1s were actually rare). I remember the '97 Flair Legacy 'Legacy Collection' was one I didn't have and I went ahead and purchased it a few years ago on eBay as a tribute.

Greg Cleveland said:

You really had to see Kirby Puckett play in 1984 to see why everybody in Minnesota fell in love with the guy. I did--I was in college then--and became a fan immediately. Sure, I was already a Gaetti fan, I knew who he was. But this kid Puckett, where did he come from, slapping base hits everywhere, flying around the bases, so speedy in centerfied...young Puck was a sight to see.

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kirby puckett was my guy before bonds!!! he is underrated in the annals of the sport. aside from manram i have never seen anyone that could do what they wanted with a bat like him. kirby could charlie brown your pitcher first at bat, rip a double down the opposite field line second at bat, take you upper bowl third at bat, foul off 9 pitches and walk fourth at bat, and hit one back up the middle fifth at bat... and somewhere in between rob you of a home run, make a diving catch, throw out a runner, and do it while still being 5'6 ... cause there is no way he was 5'7.

Willie Stargell - Infectious attitude of having fun, big bat, and leadership qualities

Nolan Ryan - A fastball filled with awe

Mark Grace - Watched his whole career unfold, blue collar player, clutch hits, gold glove fieldwork - my favorite was watching him catch all those wild throws from Shawon Dunston and saving so many balls in the dirt from becoming errors.

gracecollector said:

Nolan Ryan - A fastball filled with awe

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I have to agree on this one I loved watching him pitch.

Frank (BIG Hurt) Thomas. - He used to murder that ball.

Don Mattingly- da Hitman..remember when I was around 8 or 9 in a sneaker store in da Bronx..seeing a poster of him in a pinstriped suit, holdin a bat like a gun...was da coolest thing ever....been following Donnie baseball, Yankees, and baseball ever since...

GReat marketing...

Two players summed up my "kid years" of baseball fandom (about 1975-1985):

Rod Carew and Steve Garvey.

Carew was a favorite mainly for the poise and smoothness he had at the plate and also in the field. A solid, reliable hitter, with an easy, cool batting stance. I first became a fan in the mid 70's when he was on the Twins. Looked forward to games between the Angels and Twins so I could see him play on TV. Imagine how excited I was when he joined the Angels! Honestly, a day bordering on mania when I heard the news. I received his biography as a gift that year and even did a book report on it for English (Got an "A"!). I was lucky enough to meet him at a free signing in the late 80's. He was gracious and friendly and even autographed the biography for me. He will always be my favorite ballplayer of all time.


Garvey was another favorite. Growing up in Orange County (Huntington Beach, to be precise) in the 70's, the California Angels were definitely the poor stepchild of Southern California sports. The Angels were my favorite team, but I had no compunction with rooting nearly as hard for the Dodgers at that time. (Pre- Interleague play days). Garvey was so Hollywood-perfect! A crushing hitter/slugger, fine defensive skills, and the steady, dependability of KNOWING that he was always going to be the starting first baseman for the team. Garvey represented a perfection that is, to this day, hard to adequately describe.

When he went to the Padres in 1983, it was so strange to me. I remember having pseudo-philosophical discussions with myself about this (as philosophical as a 16-year old could get): "If Garvey is playing, but not playing as a Dodger, what exactly does that mean for the permanence of anything in life?" Truly, I can trace the falloff of my collecting from that moment, as I stopped collecting cards about halfway through the 83 season. I still liked watching Carew play for the next few years, but it was almost physically painful seeing Garvey as a Padre. When I got back into cards in the late 80's, it didn't bother me much anymore; I still collected Garvey cards, whether as a Padre or a Dodger.

(Vintage, doofy pic of me, giddily holding some Dodger cards, including Garvey, ca. 1978)

JackLondon said:

Two players summed up my "kid years" of baseball fandom (about 1975-1985):

Rod Carew and Steve Garvey.

Carew was a favorite mainly for the poise and smoothness he had at the plate and also in the field. A solid, reliable hitter, with an easy, cool batting stance. I first became a fan in the mid 70's when he was on the Twins. Looked forward to games between the Angels and Twins so I could see him play on TV. Imagine how excited I was when he joined the Angels! Honestly, a day bordering on mania when I heard the news. I received his biography as a gift that year and even did a book report on it for English (Got an "A"!). I was lucky enough to meet him at a free signing in the late 80's. He was gracious and friendly and even autographed the biography for me. He will always be my favorite ballplayer of all time.

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One of my best memories was watching that UPS truck pull up to the front of my house bringing me my Sports Illustrated poster of Rod Carew... Loved him! Probably because of Carew, I became such a big fan of Gwynn.

My favorite player, though, was Reggie Jackson...whose poster also showed up that day! (3 for $10...the third was JacK Lambert of the Steelers!)