Menu
A+ A A-
Committee Chairman

Committee Chairman

Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at [email protected] .

Francisco Liriano

Francisco Liriano had an interesting career, constantly dealing with injuries and poor performance, yet he was one of the best flamethrowers of the game when he was on.

Liriano went to his first and only All-Star Game as a rookie with the Twins in 2006, but he was not able to immediately follow up due to Tommy John surgery.  The Dominican came back in 2008, and after two years of struggles, rebounded with a 14-10 season and the American League Comeback of the Year Award.

The pattern continued for Liriano, and with his third team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, he had one of his best years, winning a career-high 16 Games and had a ninth-place finish for the Cy Young.  Liriano made history by becoming the first player to win the Comeback Player of the Year in both leagues.

He continued to play for six more years, with stops in Toronto, Houston, and Detroit, before returning to the Pirates to conclude his career.  Liriano had a lifetime record of 112-114 with 1,815 Strikeouts.

Fernando Rodney

Fernando Rodney had one of the more unique celebrations after a save, as he mimicked shooting an arrow from the mound.  As he is a member of the 300-Save club, we got to see it often.

Rodney had a long career, 17 years in total, playing for Detroit (2002-09), Los Angeles (AL) (2010-11), Tampa Bay (2012-13), Seattle (2014-15), Chicago (NL) (2015), San Diego (2016), Miami (2016), Arizona (2017), Minnesota (2018), Oakland (2018-19) and Washington (2019).  A four-time All-Star, Rodney twice led the American League in Games Finished, and when he was a Mariner, he won the Saves Title with 48.  He would have five other seasons where he had at least 35 Saves.

The Dominican never started any of his 951 Games but did finish 590 of them with 327 total Saves.

Rodney closed off his MLB career with the Nationals, winning a World Series Ring.  

  • Published in Baseball

66. Felix Hernandez

Felix Hernandez played his entire MLB career with the Seattle Mariners, the team where he would become the "King" of the Pacific Northwest and all of Baseball.

“King Felix” made his first appearance in the Majors in 2005, and after showing gradual improvement over his first few seasons, Hernandez took the throne in 2009, leading the American League in Wins (19), H/9 (7.5), and finishing second in Cy Young voting.  Hernandez was better in 210, winning the Cy Young, with a league-leading 2.27 ERA and 7.0 H/9, while also finishing atop the leaderboard in Innings Pitched (249.2).

Hernandez would not win the Cy Young again, but he was a contender for the award for years to come.  From 2011 to 2015, he was a perennial All-Star (he went to six in total), and the last of those four years, he was in the top eight in Cy Young votes, including another second-place finish in 2014.  That year, Hernandez led the AL in ERA (2.14), WHIP (0.915), and H/9 (6.5).

Hernandez played until 2019, retiring with a career record of 169-136 and 2,524 Strikeouts.

  • Published in Baseball

89. Dustin Pedroia

Dustin Pedroia debuted in 2006 with the Red Sox two seasons after being drafted in the second round, and it did not take him long to prove that he belonged in the upper tier of American League players.

Playing at Second Base, Pedroia was still considered a rookie in 2007, and he would win the Rookie of the Year award with a .317 Batting Average and 165 Hits.  That season, he helped the BoSox win the World Series, and Pedroia was cemented as a nationally known baseball star.  Pedroia had an even better 2008, winning the AL MVP, leasing the league in Runs Scored (118), Hits (213), Doubles (54), was an All-Star, Silver Slugger, and Gold Glove winner.  That was Pedroia’s best year, but he was far from done. 

The infielder had three more .300 seasons and won three more Gold Gloves.  For a small in stature baseball player, he had good power with five 15 Home Run seasons, and he was also able to steal 20 bases four times.  Pedroia was considered one of the dugout leaders and won two more World Series Rings (2013 & 2018).

A knee injury in 2017 cut short his career, as he was only able to play in a combined nine Games in 2018 and 2019. He retired after sitting out the 2020 Season, with 1,805 Hits and a .299 Batting Average.  The impact that Pedroia had in Boston will always be undeniable.