What Ever Happenned To...Sports Edition

N1120A · Tue Jan 15, 2008 3:37 am

Ok, so a fun discussion for once.

Ground rule: No steroid talk

Here's the subject. Sports players who made a big time impact for a season or three and then seemed to disappear off the face of the earth. We can talk about the memories we have as well as where they are now.

First up: Baseball left fielder Benny Agbayani.

The Affable Hawai'ian came up to the Mets rather late in life at 28. He hit a ton, getting an extra base hit on about a third of his hits, and had a very respectable .362 career OBP. He sort of disappeared off the map and into Japanese baseball. What happened Mutt fans? KROC?

bok269 · Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:13 am

Quoting N1120A (Thread starter):
He sort of disappeared off the map and into Japanese baseball. What happened Mutt fans? KROC?

Interestingly enough he is playing for Bobby Valentine on the Chiba Lotte Marines in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League. He was MVP in 2005.

N1120A · Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:16 am

Quoting Bok269 (Reply 1):

Interestingly enough he is playing for Bobby Valentine on the Chiba Lotte Marines in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League.

Makes sense, seeing that he was one of Bobby's favorites.

Quoting Bok269 (Reply 1):
He was MVP in 2005.

That shows his talent level. Anyone know why he never picked up with another MLB team?

KROC · Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:58 am

Quoting N1120A (Thread starter):
The Affable Hawai'ian came up to the Mets rather late in life at 28. He hit a ton, getting an extra base hit on about a third of his hits, and had a very respectable .362 career OBP. He sort of disappeared off the map and into Japanese baseball. What happened Mutt fans? KROC?

With the Mets Agbayani cooled off as quickly as he heated up. He was a player and fan favorite back when I was still stationed in Cali around 1999-2001. He came out of nowhere and had a big stick and seemed to get some clutch hits as well. However his production tailed off pretty quickly as well. That's when he ended up in the Japanese League. Before that though after being let go by the Mets he had unsuccessful stints in Colorado and Boston. Not being able to succeed at Coors Canaveral might explain why he is in the Japanese League.

N1120A · Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:27 pm

Quoting KROC (Reply 3):
Not being able to succeed at Coors Canaveral might explain why he is in the Japanese League.

I think he was playing with the Rox post-humidor.

Next Player:

Todd Hollandsworth - Won the Rookie of the Year for the Dodgers in 1996 after drawing all sorts of comparisons to Kirk Gibson. Seemed the only similarity to Gibson was how injury prone he was. What has he been up to and has he ever done anything compared to that season?

AirCop · Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:39 pm

Todd Hollandsworth was just another over-hyped Los Angeles Dodgers Rookie of the Year. Last I heard he last played for the Reds and Indians in 2006. Guy had an average career stat wise, judging from all the teams he played for, but had to make a nice living..

KROC · Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:42 pm

Quoting N1120A (Reply 4):
I think he was playing with the Rox post-humidor.

He was there in 2002. That is pre-humidor if I remember correctly.

Quoting N1120A (Reply 4):
Todd Hollandsworth - Won the Rookie of the Year for the Dodgers in 1996 after drawing all sorts of comparisons to Kirk Gibson. Seemed the only similarity to Gibson was how injury prone he was. What has he been up to and has he ever done anything compared to that season?

He last played in '06 for the Reds. I think he is retired now though.

His next best season after his rookie year was 2000 according to baseball reference.com He had 19 HR's between L.A. and Colorado, but a very unimpressive 40-something RBI's and a .265 or so BA. His '02 was decent as well with Col/Tex. 16/67/.284 He did his 3 Bombs in one game...I think for Atlanta. I could be thinking about a different player though.

N1120A · Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:44 pm

Quoting AirCop (Reply 5):
but had to make a nice living..

According to Baseball Reference, he earned just under 14 million in 12 seasons. His highest seasons were 2.75 million.

Quoting AirCop (Reply 5):
Todd Hollandsworth was just another over-hyped Los Angeles Dodgers Rookie of the Year.

Well, the 4 who preceded him in that line of 5 all had pretty damn good careers, and one is headed to the Hall of Fame.

Next up: Football Running Back Christian Okoye. They called him the Nigerian Nightmare when he led the NFL in rushing with the Kansas City Chiefs. He had 2-3 good years and disappeared. What happened there?

N1120A · Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:50 pm

Quoting KROC (Reply 6):

He was there in 2002. That is pre-humidor if I remember correctly.

2002 was the humidor year

Quoting KROC (Reply 6):
but a very unimpressive 40-something RBI's

Remember that Hollandsworth spent much of his time, particularly with the Dodgers, as a lead off hitter.

Quoting KROC (Reply 6):
He did his 3 Bombs in one game...I think for Atlanta. I could be thinking about a different player though.

He did it for Colorado in 2001.

huskyaviation · Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:53 pm

Quoting N1120A (Reply 7):
They called him the Nigerian Nightmare when he led the NFL in rushing with the Kansas City Chiefs. He had 2-3 good years and disappeared. What happened there?

Not exactly sure, but he did resurface last year with in that awful Mark Burnett pirate reality show. He was like the second guy thrown off the ship.

I believe he only rushed for 2 1,000 yard seasons (1,480 in 1989 and barely over a thousand in 1991). IIRC, he got hurt in 1990 or 1991 and then KC developed Barry Word and Harvey Williams, and eventually phased Okoye out.

N1120A · Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:03 pm

Quoting HuskyAviation (Reply 9):

I believe he only rushed for 2 1,000 yard seasons (1,480 in 1989 and barely over a thousand in 1991). IIRC, he got hurt in 1990 or 1991 and then KC developed Barry Word and Harvey Williams, and eventually phased Okoye out.

Apparently, he is coaching football at Montclair High School in California. I hear he may well have had Earl Campbell syndrome, where he was just overused by the Chiefs, which led to his injuries. He showed promise catching passes in his rookie year, so perhaps he could have been better utilized.

Next up: Todd Greene, Catcher. He came up with the Angels after hitting 40 home runs in 1 minor league season. Where did he disappear too and why?

HickoryShampoo · Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:19 pm

Quoting N1120A (Reply 10):
Next up: Todd Greene, Catcher.

"The San Diego Padres agreed to minor league contracts with left-hander Shawn Estes and catcher Todd Greene on Saturday."

"Greene played in 61 games for the Giants last season, making 37 starts at catcher, and hit .289."

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2730783

KROC · Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:57 pm

Quoting HickoryShampoo (Reply 11):
"The San Diego Padres agreed to minor league contracts with left-hander Shawn Estes and catcher Todd Greene on Saturday."

"Greene played in 61 games for the Giants last season, making 37 starts at catcher, and hit .289."

Show-off.

N1120A · Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:01 pm

Quoting KROC (Reply 12):
Quoting HickoryShampoo (Reply 11):
"The San Diego Padres agreed to minor league contracts with left-hander Shawn Estes and catcher Todd Greene on Saturday."

"Greene played in 61 games for the Giants last season, making 37 starts at catcher, and hit .289."

Show-off.

Yeah. That's just plain cheating Wink

. .289 isn't bad at a position that only has about 5 good hitters at any given time, and there is no doubt that he can hit with power. Wonder why Greene can't latch on?

HickoryShampoo · Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:07 pm

Quoting KROC (Reply 12):

Quoting N1120A (Reply 13):

Well, Hells bells...it you wanted me to guess, I'd have said "selling Kias and playing in a beer league in East Jesus, Michigan."

N1120A · Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:18 pm

Next Up: Bob Hamelin. Big guy who fit every European's stereotype of a baseball player that won the AL ROTY in 1994 after smashing 24 dongs and 25 doubles in only 104 games. Where did he go?

AirCop · Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:32 pm

Bob had some leg and eye problems which led to an early retirement. Last played with at the time the hapless Detroit Tigers. I think he had something like 65 career home runs, and struck out alot.

N1120A · Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:38 pm

Quoting AirCop (Reply 16):
and struck out alot.

Actually, if you look at his stats, he didn't strike out that much for a power hitter, and had high OBPs from a lot of walking.

HickoryShampoo · Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:39 pm

Quoting N1120A (Reply 15):
smashing 24 dongs

Yeesh....don't think I'd want him on my team, either. scared

KROC · Tue Jan 15, 2008 8:29 pm

Quoting N1120A (Reply 15):
smashing 24 dongs and 25 doubles

That sounds like Saturday Night for me.

Signed, FXramper

N1120A · Tue Jan 15, 2008 8:30 pm

Quoting KROC (Reply 19):

HickoryShampoo · Tue Jan 15, 2008 8:54 pm

Quoting KROC (Reply 19):

Tom in NO · Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:04 pm

Quoting KROC (Reply 19):
That sounds like Saturday Night for me.

Signed, FXramper

You guys gotta ease up on the man.....he hasn't been the same since I took him behind the woodshed in our fantasy Super Bowl a few weeks ago wink

Tom at MSY

KROC · Wed Jan 16, 2008 3:52 pm

Quoting Tom in NO (Reply 22):
You guys gotta ease up on the man.....he hasn't been the same since I took him behind the woodshed in our fantasy Super Bowl a few weeks ago

Exactly. I gotta beat him while he is down! I'm playing him this week in fantasy basketball (after I took your child sire's behind the woodshed) and baseball is right around the corner. Maybe this year he won't finish in triple digits behind 1st place. Wink

aa61hvy · Wed Jan 16, 2008 4:55 pm

Quoting Tom in NO (Reply 22):
You guys gotta ease up on the man.....he hasn't been the same since I took him behind the woodshed in our fantasy Super Bowl a few weeks ago

That was a fluke, the 3rd place game I had 221 points-Brady didn't show up on the previous week causing me to lose.

Sad

Sorry I'm still bitter about not repeating as FFball champ...

KROC · Wed Jan 16, 2008 5:16 pm

Quoting AA61Hvy (Reply 24):
Sorry I'm still bitter about not repeating as FFball champ...

Gee, thats tough bro. Hope you can get over it. Wink

seb146 · Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:57 am

I have some "What ever happened to..." The Buffalo Sabres goalie who got his neck run over by a skate, Vince Carter who hit a home run ending the World Series (1993?) between the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies, and Dekimbe Mutombo, formerly of the Denver Nuggets, I believe.

KROC · Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:03 am

Quoting Seb146 (Reply 26):
Vince Carter who hit a home run ending the World Series (1993?)

Actually that was Joe Carter and he retired from baseball.

Mutumbo who speaks like 5 or 7 different languages is very active in his home country with charity and relief work.

N1120A · Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:09 am

Quoting Seb146 (Reply 26):
Vince Carter who hit a home run ending the World Series (1993?)

Joe Carter (not Vince Carter, formerly Air Canada) hit that home run. He had 4 more rather productive seasons in Toronto before finishing up with an effective year split between Baltimore and San Francisco and retiring in 1998. He did TV for both the Jays and the Cubs later

Quoting Seb146 (Reply 26):
The Buffalo Sabres goalie who got his neck run over by a skate

Clint Malarchuk nearly died, but came back 4 days (!) later after receiving 300 stitches in his neck, and played a few more seasons. He coaches now. Talk about the ultimate hockey player.

Quoting Seb146 (Reply 26):
Dekimbe Mutombo, formerly of the Denver Nugget

Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo Wink

is still active, playing as Yao Ming's back up in Houston. He passed Kareem last year to place second behind Hakeem Olajuwon on the all time blocked shots list.

N1120A · Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:10 am

Quoting KROC (Reply 27):

Mutumbo who speaks like 5 or 7 different languages is very active

Actually, the last count was up to 9. French, English, Portuguese, Spanish and 5 African languages.

Mir · Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:57 am

Quoting N1120A (Reply 4):
I think he was playing with the Rox post-humidor.

Even post-humidor Coors is a great place to be an offensive player. The homeruns may be down, but the outfield is still so damn big that a lot more hits drop in.

-Mir

N1120A · Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:43 pm

Quoting Mir (Reply 30):
The homeruns may be down, but the outfield is still so damn big that a lot more hits drop in.

The funny thing about that is that the big outfield is how the negated some of the dry/thin air issues before. I actually think the current set up makes for more interesting baseball, because you get a lot of exciting doubles and triples.

ORFflyer · Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:57 pm

Whatever happened to Lenny Dykstra? Last I heard he had a "chain" of high end car washes in CA somewhere.

N1120A · Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:02 pm

Quoting ORFflyer (Reply 32):
Whatever happened to Lenny Dykstra? Last I heard he had a "chain" of high end car washes in CA somewhere.

Nails has come back into the news lately as someone pointed to as a potential steroid user. Other than that, he owns a bunch of small businesses and shows up on The Street and Faux News from time to time.

seb146 · Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:05 pm

Quoting KROC (Reply 27):
Actually that was Joe Carter and he retired from baseball.

Well, at least I got the last name right! LOL

Quoting N1120A (Reply 28):
Clint Malarchuk

I remember seeing it on the news. I could not believe he survived! Good to hear he is still active.

Quoting N1120A (Reply 28):
Dikembe Mutombo

I didn't think he was still playing. Cool that he is doing charity work, too!

N1120A · Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:06 pm

Quoting Seb146 (Reply 34):
Cool that he is doing charity work, too!

Mutombo has been doing that stuff for years. The guy understands that, despite being as rich as he is, he needs to give back. Further, he is not your typical dumb jock, being highly educated, particularly in diplomacy and development.

KROC · Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:17 pm

Quoting ORFflyer (Reply 32):
Whatever happened to Lenny Dykstra? Last I heard he had a "chain" of high end car washes in CA somewhere.

He is also starting a magazine aimed directly at professional athelets teaching them how to better manage their millions.

ORFflyer · Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:51 pm

Quoting KROC (Reply 36):
He is also starting a magazine aimed directly at professional athelets teaching them how to better manage their millions.

On the streets yet? I'd like to look at an issue or two....

KROC · Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:45 pm

Quoting ORFflyer (Reply 37):
On the streets yet? I'd like to look at an issue or two....

I don't think its going to be a newstand thing. Its supposed to be paid for by advertising and such and it would be distributed to the atheletes free of charge.

Tom in NO · Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:01 pm

Quoting Seb146 (Reply 34):
Quoting N1120A (Reply 28):
Clint Malarchuk

I remember seeing it on the news. I could not believe he survived!

Not a video for the faint of heart.....

Tom at MSY

N1120A · Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:17 pm

Quoting Tom in NO (Reply 39):

Not a video for the faint of heart.....

No. The commentary made by the people doing TV for the game summed it up quite well. The trainer for the Sabres saved Malarchuk's life, no question.

KROC · Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:19 pm

Quoting N1120A (Reply 40):
No. The commentary made by the people doing TV for the game summed it up quite well. The trainer for the Sabres saved Malarchuk's life, no question.

I've only heard about this, never seen it. I guess I'm going to have to check out youtube and see if its on there.

N1120A · Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:21 pm

Quoting KROC (Reply 41):

I've only heard about this, never seen it. I guess I'm going to have to check out youtube and see if its on there.

Its on there. I didn't post it because it is really gruesome and may well have freaked some people out. Keep a look out for the footage done from the stands that doesn't cut out like the TV one did. You can literally see the blood pump out of his throat with his heart beat.

huskyaviation · Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:07 pm

Quoting N1120A (Reply 42):
Its on there. I didn't post it because it is really gruesome and may well have freaked some people out. Keep a look out for the footage done from the stands that doesn't cut out like the TV one did. You can literally see the blood pump out of his throat with his heart beat.

I remember seeing this on highlights after it happened, but haven't seen it since. It honestly makes my stomach turn. Has that ever happened before or since?

N1120A · Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:10 pm

Quoting HuskyAviation (Reply 43):
Has that ever happened before or since?

Yes and, sadly, the outcome wasn't as positive. A Swedish player named Bengt Akerblom died in 1995 from a similar injury.

srbmod · Fri Jan 18, 2008 1:47 am

Keeping it in the realm of hockey, 1996 Vezina Trophy winner, Jim Carey. His career sank faster than a saucer pass.

N1120A · Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:06 am

Quoting Srbmod (Reply 45):
Keeping it in the realm of hockey, 1996 Vezina Trophy winner, Jim Carey. His career sank faster than a saucer pass.

Yeah, he was a beast and pretty much got supplanted by the still very effective Olaf Kolzig. The crazy thing is that Carey only played 5 seasons in the NHL and retired 9 years ago at only 25. No clue where he is now.

fxramper · Fri Jan 18, 2008 6:13 pm

Quoting KROC (Reply 19):

Quoting Tom in NO (Reply 22):

Quoting KROC (Reply 23):

Someone actually has a life beyond this website and fantasy sports and missed a few days on roster updates.

I'm in it to win it. goldmedal

Where were you again during the football season, Mike?

Oh yeah, drafted Losman. My bad. bigthumbsup

KROC · Fri Jan 18, 2008 6:25 pm

Loseman was a backup. Besides, I was closer in football than you were in baseball!!! You were so far out of first last year you;re gonna start 20 games back this year!!! Wink

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