How does a guy with a lifetime Batting Average of .250, who never received a single vote for the Hall even make this list? It reminds of us a band that fails to generate any real respect, but in retrospect is viewed as ahead of their time by the generation that follows. The metaphor is we are talking about is Jim Wynn, the man dubbed the “Toy Cannon”.

How is it possible to hit .361 and hit 41 home runs without anyone noticing?  The answer is to perform that incredible feat the same year that Roger Maris hit 61 Home Runs.

History has given the pitching staff much of the credit for the World Series Runs of the Baltimore Orioles in 1966 and 1970, but it was the heavy-hitting Boog Powell who was the favorite of the fans in Maryland.

A lot of baseball players take flak for their high salaries. One of those who did was Kevin Brown, who was the first man in professional baseball to sign a contract worth $100 Million. Sadly for Brown, his deterioration made that one of the worst contracts, as in the final years of his career, he was not a player who should have been among the game’s highest-paid.

This isn’t to say that Kevin Brown didn’t have flashes of brilliance because he certainly had enough of them to warrant such a huge contract in the first place. He was regarded as one of the most intense pitchers, and as much as his temper served to fuel his unparalleled competitiveness, it also would cause his unraveling on occasion. Nevertheless, Kevin Brown was a major reason that the Florida Marlins won their surprise World Series in 1997 and the Padres’ 1998 World Series appearance. He had a brilliant fastball and forkball and rarely gave up the longball.

Unfortunately, Kevin Brown was unable to maintain his skill set, and his production dropped off during his final years with the Dodgers and during his American League return to the Yankees. Had Kevin Brown lived up to the years leading up to his nine-digit contract, he would be a serious contender for induction. As it stands now, it doesn’t look good.