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Mark Grudzielanek retired yesterday. He was always one of my favorite players while growing up for a reason that I could never quite understand. Perhaps it was his awesome last name and the fact that I could pronounce it meant I was a better baseball fan than the other kids. Or maybe it was because some baseball card (I think Topps Stadium Club?) said Grudzie had more doubles in a season than any other National League second baseman who played most of his games in a dome (Or something like that, I can’t recall.) That card must have been printed after his 54 doubles in 1997, leading me to think that he was one of the greatest second basemen to ever play the game. Grudzielanek posted career fWAR is 25.9, putting him in the same category as Mark Loretta and Fred Pfeffer, you know, guys that make you think of the greatest to ever play the game of baseball. Grudzielanek managed to put together quite a career spanning fifteen years and seven teams as a player who could handle himself capably at second base, even getting some starts at short, while holding his own with the bat. It was clearly time for Grudzie to hang ‘em up though—in 110 at-bats last season, he managed to rap out 30 hits, bringing his career total to 2040, but none for extra bases. It’s hard to offer much to a Major League club when you slug .273. Grudzielanek’s retirement is also cruel reminder of the passing of time. Already the All-Stars I pretended to be during Little League practice have retired, Ken Griffey Jr calling it quits last May and Jim Edmonds needing to back out of his minor league deal just last week, and now the lovable journeymen are dying off too. Many of the 90s superstars, like Edgar Martinez, Jeff Bagwell, and Barry Larkin, will be waiting to hear from Cooperstown next year. Even worse, the list of former Expos still active shrinks by one and we’re nearing the point where that team from Montreal will no longer have influence over baseball whatsoever. And that’s a damn shame. (Photo via SportsMemorabilia.com)

Mark Grudzielanek retired yesterday. He was always one of my favorite players while growing up for a reason that I could never quite understand. Perhaps it was his awesome last name and the fact that I could pronounce it meant I was a better baseball fan than the other kids. Or maybe it was because some baseball card (I think Topps Stadium Club?) said Grudzie had more doubles in a season than any other National League second baseman who played most of his games in a dome (Or something like that, I can’t recall.) That card must have been printed after his 54 doubles in 1997, leading me to think that he was one of the greatest second basemen to ever play the game. Grudzielanek posted career fWAR is 25.9, putting him in the same category as Mark Loretta and Fred Pfeffer, you know, guys that make you think of the greatest to ever play the game of baseball.

Grudzielanek managed to put together quite a career spanning fifteen years and seven teams as a player who could handle himself capably at second base, even getting some starts at short, while holding his own with the bat. It was clearly time for Grudzie to hang ‘em up though—in 110 at-bats last season, he managed to rap out 30 hits, bringing his career total to 2040, but none for extra bases. It’s hard to offer much to a Major League club when you slug .273.

Grudzielanek’s retirement is also cruel reminder of the passing of time. Already the All-Stars I pretended to be during Little League practice have retired, Ken Griffey Jr calling it quits last May and Jim Edmonds needing to back out of his minor league deal just last week, and now the lovable journeymen are dying off too. Many of the 90s superstars, like Edgar Martinez, Jeff Bagwell, and Barry Larkin, will be waiting to hear from Cooperstown next year. Even worse, the list of former Expos still active shrinks by one and we’re nearing the point where that team from Montreal will no longer have influence over baseball whatsoever. And that’s a damn shame.

(Photo via SportsMemorabilia.com)

  1. mexicanbaseball reblogged this from oldtimefamilybaseball and added:
    is about time he retired. His body...past couple of years. But he ended
  2. lophelia reblogged this from oldtimefamilybaseball and added:
    Dodgers! Followed...2.0 in Blake DeWitt…...name. (Oh, and...
  3. oldtimefamilybaseball posted this
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