Fifteen for Obscurity

In the spirit of the true Long Reliever, I present a list of the Fifteen Most Obscure Baseball Players of All Time. The list comes courtesy of Jonathan Comey of the Massachusetts paper SouthCoastToday. The entire article can be found here.

15. Ned Yost, catcher. Ned's given name is Edgar.

14. Johnny Dickshot, outfield. Yes, "Dickshot." You can look it up.

13. General Crowder, pitcher. "General" is much better than "Dickshot." Plus, Dickshot's nickname was "Ugly."

12. Andres Mora, utility. Utility? Was he a kitchen knife or a baseball player? The ability to play a number of positions, though, can keep a guy with marginal talent around a lot longer than a specialist.

11. Stubby Magner, outfield. I'll bet Stubby was glad his last name wasn't "Dickshot."

10. Dutch Zwilling, outfield. Among all hitters, Zwilling ranks last alphabetcially.

9. Bob Smith, pitcher. This 1920s and '30s era pitcher's best friend was a catcher named John Doe. (You don't really believe that, do you?)

8 and 7. Bob Smith, pitcher and Bob Smith, pitcher. These two were both pitchers in the Major Leagues during the 1959 season. They had a combined 0-4 record that year. Neither pitcher made it to the 1960 season.

6. Ed Hug, catcher. Huggie was the position player's equivalent of the Long Reliever. He had only one plate appearance in his career. The result? A walk. He didn't even have a nickname. How sad is that?

5. Mike Tyson, infield. Only his name separates him from total obscurity.

4. Howard Ehmke, pitcher. Won 166 and lost 166.

3. Dave Rozema, pitcher. Dave and Kirk Gibson married twin sisters.

2. Dave Brain, shortstop. Aside from the great name, he led the National League in home runs with 10 in 1907. The next season he had 9 hits total.

1. Terry Felton, pitcher. This Texarkana boy had a career record of 0-16. His nickname must have been "Dickshot."