Infield: First baseman Tony Perez (1964-1986) was an RBI machine and a big star on The Big Red Machine. He was known as Doggie, and everyone knew that “if the game goes on long enough, the Big Dog will bite." He hit 379 home runs and drove in 1,652 runs during his career. He was overshadowed by Rose, Bench and Morgan, but he made it to the Hall of Fame in 2000. Terry Pendleton (1984-98) was a fairly ordinary third baseman – switch hitter, good glove, decent speed, nothing spectacular. Except that for two years, pretty much out of the blue, he batted .319 and .311 and led the league in hits both years, winning the MVP in ’91 and finishing as runner-up in ’92. For those two seasons, he hit .315 and accounted for almost a third of his career home runs; the rest of his career, he batted .260. Second baseman Tony Piet (1931-38), whose birth name was Anthony Pietruszka, was a decent enough player for a few years. He could hit .280 and draw a few walks in a good seasons. Tony Pena (2006- ), son of the catcher, is a dreadful hitter but can field the ball at shortstop well enough.
Outfield: Tony Phillips (1982-99) was one of the best utility players in baseball history - a temperamental guy who played for eight teams and, believe it or not, played regularly at second and third base, shortstop and all three outfield positions. He was never recognized as a star, but he had a .374 career on-base percentage, and he finished with 2,023 hits, 1,300 runs, 160 home runs, 177 steals and 819 RBI. He had five seasons with more than 100 walks and four seasons with more than 100 runs scored. He’s listed as the starting right fielder here, but expect him to move around. Center fielder Terry Puhl (1977-91) never did anything to draw attention to himself (and playing in the AstroDome in the ‘80s was a great place to hide from publicity), but he was a consistent and valuable player. He didn’t do anything outstanding, but he did everything well, and he basically never made an error in the outfield. Left fielder Tom Paciorek (1970-87) was a good role player for a long time. He was never a full-time player, but in mid-career he played 100-120 games per year and he was a good enough hitter to last until he was 40.
Catcher: Tony Pena (1980-97) hit .260 with no walks and just a bit of power, but he was a terrific defensive player, a great athlete and a lot of fun to watch in his distinctive low crouch with the front leg extended. He was a respected guy who played in five all-star games and batted .338 in 29 postseason games, though he never won a World Series title.
Rotation: Togie Pittinger (1900-07) was a very average, very durable pitcher who won 115 games in the first decade of the 20th century. He won 27 in 1902 and 23 in '05, and in between he lost 20 twice. Shortly after he finished his career, he died of Bright's Disease at age 37. Tacky Tom Parrott (1893-96) wasn’t quite as good as Pittinger, but he was good enough to stay busy for a couple of years and win 39 games. He and his brother, Jiggs Parrott, were the first players from Oregon. As a side note, "Tacky Tom and Jiggs" sounds like an old Saturday morning cartoon show, doesn't it? Tom Poholsky (1950-57) had a couple of decent years, albeit with losing records, as a back-of-the-rotation guy for the Cardinals. Tom Phoebus (1966-72) was a pretty fair pitcher for some pretty fair Baltimore Orioles teams. He pitched a no-hitter in 1968 and won a World Series title in 1970, but eventually got squeezed out of the rotation and shipped to San Diego to make room for the gang that produced four 20-game winners in 1971. The theme of this rotation is “pretty decent” and “good enough.” The ERA+ statistic measures a pitcher’s earned run average against the league average ERA; an ERA+ of 100 is precisely league average, and how much a pitcher’s ERA+ is above or below 100 reflects how far above or below average he was. Understand? We tell you this so that we can point out the first four starters have career ERA+ stats of 98, 96, 100 and 100. They were pretty much average. Tim Pugh (1992-97) is the fifth starter. His career ERA+ was 83. He was well below average.
Bullpen: Closer Troy Percival (1995-2009) had 358 career saves and, as a bonus, saved three of Anaheim’s four wins in the 2002 World Series. He averaged 10 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. His ERAs weren't as consistent as you'd like to see out of a closer, and he never led the league in saves, but he was pretty darn good. Ted Power (1981-93) wasn’t a power pitcher, other than his name, but he was a consistent, dependable reliever for a long time. Tony Pena (2006- ), no relation to the other two (father and son) Tony Penas on this roster, is a workhorse reliever who has split his time between the Diamondbacks and the White Sox. He is still in mid-career. Tot Pressnell (1938-42) had a workmanlike career for the Dodgers and the Cubs. Taylor “T-Bone” Phillips (1956-63) bounced around for a few years and pretty much got bounced around by hitters wherever he landed. Tony Pierce (1967-68) was a lefty who came up to the K.C. A’s at age 21 and pitched pretty well, then moved with the team to Oakland, pitched OK for a few games – and then disappeared. Never pitched again, minors or majors. Done at 22. Don’t know his story, but we’re guessing his arm blew up. Travis Phelps (2001-04) was an 89th-round draft pick who made it to the bigs and pitched fairly well for a couple of years.
Bench: Tom Poquette (1973-82) was a good role player, a fourth outfielder and a lefty pinch-hitter, for a few years. He had three years in which he batted between .290-.315 as a semi-regular. Tom Pagnozzi (1987-98) was a hard-working, but not hard-hitting, catcher who beat out Tom Prince, Todd Pratt and Tom Padden for the job backing up Tony Pena on this roster. Slick-fielding utility infielder Tony Perezchica (1988-92) has nothing in common with Tony Perez except for the first nine letters of their names. Tomas Perez (1995-2008) was another utility infielder. Outfielder Tom Poorman (1880-88) led the American Association with 19 triples in 1887, so he must have had something going on, and he even pitched a few times during his career, though not very well. He’ll have a role on this team’s bench.
Manager: Tony Pena, the catcher, is player-manager. He was named the American League manager of the year in 2003 for the amazing feat of dragging the Royals above the .500 mark for the first (and to date, last) time since 1994.
Outfield: Tony Phillips (1982-99) was one of the best utility players in baseball history - a temperamental guy who played for eight teams and, believe it or not, played regularly at second and third base, shortstop and all three outfield positions. He was never recognized as a star, but he had a .374 career on-base percentage, and he finished with 2,023 hits, 1,300 runs, 160 home runs, 177 steals and 819 RBI. He had five seasons with more than 100 walks and four seasons with more than 100 runs scored. He’s listed as the starting right fielder here, but expect him to move around. Center fielder Terry Puhl (1977-91) never did anything to draw attention to himself (and playing in the AstroDome in the ‘80s was a great place to hide from publicity), but he was a consistent and valuable player. He didn’t do anything outstanding, but he did everything well, and he basically never made an error in the outfield. Left fielder Tom Paciorek (1970-87) was a good role player for a long time. He was never a full-time player, but in mid-career he played 100-120 games per year and he was a good enough hitter to last until he was 40.
Catcher: Tony Pena (1980-97) hit .260 with no walks and just a bit of power, but he was a terrific defensive player, a great athlete and a lot of fun to watch in his distinctive low crouch with the front leg extended. He was a respected guy who played in five all-star games and batted .338 in 29 postseason games, though he never won a World Series title.
Rotation: Togie Pittinger (1900-07) was a very average, very durable pitcher who won 115 games in the first decade of the 20th century. He won 27 in 1902 and 23 in '05, and in between he lost 20 twice. Shortly after he finished his career, he died of Bright's Disease at age 37. Tacky Tom Parrott (1893-96) wasn’t quite as good as Pittinger, but he was good enough to stay busy for a couple of years and win 39 games. He and his brother, Jiggs Parrott, were the first players from Oregon. As a side note, "Tacky Tom and Jiggs" sounds like an old Saturday morning cartoon show, doesn't it? Tom Poholsky (1950-57) had a couple of decent years, albeit with losing records, as a back-of-the-rotation guy for the Cardinals. Tom Phoebus (1966-72) was a pretty fair pitcher for some pretty fair Baltimore Orioles teams. He pitched a no-hitter in 1968 and won a World Series title in 1970, but eventually got squeezed out of the rotation and shipped to San Diego to make room for the gang that produced four 20-game winners in 1971. The theme of this rotation is “pretty decent” and “good enough.” The ERA+ statistic measures a pitcher’s earned run average against the league average ERA; an ERA+ of 100 is precisely league average, and how much a pitcher’s ERA+ is above or below 100 reflects how far above or below average he was. Understand? We tell you this so that we can point out the first four starters have career ERA+ stats of 98, 96, 100 and 100. They were pretty much average. Tim Pugh (1992-97) is the fifth starter. His career ERA+ was 83. He was well below average.
Bullpen: Closer Troy Percival (1995-2009) had 358 career saves and, as a bonus, saved three of Anaheim’s four wins in the 2002 World Series. He averaged 10 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. His ERAs weren't as consistent as you'd like to see out of a closer, and he never led the league in saves, but he was pretty darn good. Ted Power (1981-93) wasn’t a power pitcher, other than his name, but he was a consistent, dependable reliever for a long time. Tony Pena (2006- ), no relation to the other two (father and son) Tony Penas on this roster, is a workhorse reliever who has split his time between the Diamondbacks and the White Sox. He is still in mid-career. Tot Pressnell (1938-42) had a workmanlike career for the Dodgers and the Cubs. Taylor “T-Bone” Phillips (1956-63) bounced around for a few years and pretty much got bounced around by hitters wherever he landed. Tony Pierce (1967-68) was a lefty who came up to the K.C. A’s at age 21 and pitched pretty well, then moved with the team to Oakland, pitched OK for a few games – and then disappeared. Never pitched again, minors or majors. Done at 22. Don’t know his story, but we’re guessing his arm blew up. Travis Phelps (2001-04) was an 89th-round draft pick who made it to the bigs and pitched fairly well for a couple of years.
Bench: Tom Poquette (1973-82) was a good role player, a fourth outfielder and a lefty pinch-hitter, for a few years. He had three years in which he batted between .290-.315 as a semi-regular. Tom Pagnozzi (1987-98) was a hard-working, but not hard-hitting, catcher who beat out Tom Prince, Todd Pratt and Tom Padden for the job backing up Tony Pena on this roster. Slick-fielding utility infielder Tony Perezchica (1988-92) has nothing in common with Tony Perez except for the first nine letters of their names. Tomas Perez (1995-2008) was another utility infielder. Outfielder Tom Poorman (1880-88) led the American Association with 19 triples in 1887, so he must have had something going on, and he even pitched a few times during his career, though not very well. He’ll have a role on this team’s bench.
Manager: Tony Pena, the catcher, is player-manager. He was named the American League manager of the year in 2003 for the amazing feat of dragging the Royals above the .500 mark for the first (and to date, last) time since 1994.
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