Another Top 10 MLB Players You Forgot Played For A Certain Team

A couple of years ago I made a list of MLB players you may have forgotten played for a certain team and I wanted to come back to this topic and talk about ten more players that also played for a certain team that you may have forgotten that they have played for. Now just like the last list I made, this isn’t ranking the ten best players but more just me listing off ten players to my knowledge and doing some heavy research that I found interesting that they played for this team and probably nobody remembered that they played for said team. I will be talking about pretty well known players so if you are looking for Octavio Dotel and his 13 different teams that he played for then well this isn’t that list. Also shout out to you for even knowing who Octavio Dotel is. These are just going to be well known players that are currently playing, retired or made it into the Hall of Fame.

10. David Cone with the Boston Red Sox (2001) – David Cone had a pretty great 17 year career where he won 5 World Series Championships and won the AL Cy Young back in 1994. Many people know David Cone as one of the ace’s of the late 80’s to early 90’s New York Mets or his multiple stints with the Kansas City Royals. He also was traded mid season to the Blue Jays in 1992 where he would help them win a World Series. But he is fondly remembered as a member of the New York Yankees as during that time he won 4 World Series titles and in 1999 he pitched a perfect game and since 2008 he has been a color commentator for the Yankees on YES. However did anyone know that he played for the Yankees’ biggest enemy of the Boston Red Sox? Well it was news to me too as I found this out while I was a work and they were showing MLB Network’s Baseball Seasons: 2001 on the TV and long behold it showed David Cone being interviewed and under his name it said 2001 Red Sox Pitcher. In 2001 Cone had a 9-7 record with a respectful 4.31 ERA and 115 strike outs. It wasn’t something that was going to be remembered so that’s probably why he has made it on this list today.

9. Rickey Henderson with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2003) – Honestly you can make a whole list with Rickey Henderson as the man literally played for 9 different teams. The late great Rickey Henderson is one of the best to ever play on the field as he holds the record for most stolen bases in a single season (130), all time runs scored (2,295) and all time stolen bases (1,406). Now for some you know Rickey Henderson for playing for the Oakland Athletics from 1979 – 1984, 1989 – 1993, 1994 – 1995 and the 1998 season but for others you may know him for his 5 year stint with the Yankees or his two year stint with the Mets or how about his multiple stints with the Padres. Yeah the Hall of Famer played for many teams but they are kind of remembered. After all he played for the Angels, Mariners, Red Sox and Blue Jays so all of those teams could be included on here as well. Can you name me the team he played for the year he retired? If you said the Dodgers then you are absolutely correct. Rickey Henderson at the age of 44 signed in July 2003 with the Los Angeles Dodgers after playing with the Newark Bears in the independent leagues and winning the MVP for the Atlantic League All Star Game; at 44 years old, the man is a legend. In 30 games with the Dodgers he batted .208 with 3 stolen bases and 15 hits. Again he was 44 years old and yet nobody cared because he is one of the greatest of all time and not one single person can say that they hated him because he was a fun and down to earth person.

8. Lee Smith with the New York Yankees (1993) – To say that the man that once held the All Times Saves record played on the team that now holds the man that owns the record (Mariano Rivera) is pretty crazy to know. Lee Smith is one of the greatest relief pitchers of all time as he has 478 career saves with 1,251 career strikeouts and a career 3.03 ERA. He’s more fondly remembered for his time with the Cubs and Cardinals and even his small stints with the Red Sox and Angels but with the Yankees; well I didn’t even know he played for the 1993 Yankees. The Cardinals were 10 games below .500 in the end of August during the 1993 season and the Yankees were 1 ½ games back from the Blue Jays for a 1st place lead. With Smith being a free agent after the end of the season the Cardinals traded Smith and he pitched in 8 games for the Yankees striking out 11 batters and picking up 3 saves. He also didn’t give up any runs in these 8 games but it wasn’t enough as the Yankees went 11 – 15 in September and missed the playoffs. Smith signed a 1 year deal with the Orioles the next season where he had one of his best seasons of his career as he led the league in saves (33) and made the All-Star game. But can you just imagine if the Yankees signed him back and if he ended his career in pinstripes. Maybe just maybe Smith would have been remembered more as being a former member of the Bronx Bombers.

7. Carlos Santana with the Philadelphia Phillies (2018) – The only active player on this list, Carlos Santana, has become a journey man in his second half of his career as he has played in 6 different teams in the last 6 years but 7 years ago he would be playing on his most forgetful team. Santana is now in his third stint with Cleveland as the current First Baseman has had his best seasons with the Guardians. After his first stint in Cleveland was up he signed a 3 year deal worth $60 million with the Phillies. Now while he only lasted one year with the team, it is forgotten in many baseball fans memories. After all how can you remember who played for Philly the last 20 years at First base when they have had 3 huge memorable names also play the position (Ryan Howard, Bryce Harper and Rhys Hopkins). Santana played in 161 games for the team where he smashed 24 homeruns, 28 doubles, brought in 86 runs while batting .229 with an .352 On Base Percentage. Not the craziest season to remember but it was a solid season. So why did he play for Cleveland in 2019? Well one can say it was because he was frustrated with the team in September but others can say it’s because Philly was rebuilding their team for the future. Either way he was traded to Seattle but then traded to Cleveland. So now why was this season forgotten? While it might of happened 7 years ago, Santana found more success with teams like the Brewers and even more recently with the Twins where he won his first Gold Glove award.

6. Lance Berkman with the New York Yankees (2010) – From 2001 – 2008, Lance Berkman was one of the scariest batters to face in the major leagues as the man was one of the best hitters in the game. In that span he averaged 33 homeruns and 110 RBI’s with a .303 Average and a .980 OPS. The man was one of those guys who could and should had been an MVP but come the 2009 season he started to have an early decline and by 2010 the Astros were ready to part ways with their best hitter on the team. At the time of the trade the Astros were below .500 and the Yankees were in desperate need of another bat in the lineup. He was traded to New York and didn’t do so great with the team. He batted .255 with one homerun and 9 runs batted in and would later become the starting First Baseman after Mark Texeria got injured in the postseason. The Yankees would lose to the Texas Rangers in the ALCS and Berkman was later released. He signed with the Cardinals in 2011 and had a bounce back year, making the All Star team and placing 7th in MVP voting. Just imagine if the Yankees kept Berkman for the remaining one year of his contract; he might have been a big needed bat for the 2011 season.

5. Tino Martinez with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2004) – From one former Yankee First Basemen to another; Tino Martinez was one of the best batters in the league in the 90’s. His time with Seattle was pretty good but his time in New York was pure insanity. In a decade where guys where crushing baseballs left and right and would later get caught doing steroids, Martinez is one of the few sluggers who was clean in the Steroid Era. He averaged 29 home runs and 115 runs batted in during his first 6 years in New York. We are also talking about the guy who took over the position that was held by one of the greats of the 80’s into the 90’s aka Don Mattingly. So it was no surprise that Tino would make the position his own. He did the same with his time in St. Louis but he also took the position of 1B in Tampa. After the 2003 season, the then Devil Rays were in need of a brand new First Basemen and the Cardinals were moving Albert Pujols from the outfield to First. The Cardinals traded Tino Martinez to Tampa and he had a pretty successful year with the team. He had 23 homeruns and 76 runs batted in with a .262 average and an OPS of .823. I’m actually surprised that people forgot that Tino played for the Devil Rays as many late 80’s to early 90’s superstars played there from Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff to Wade Boggs. Tino Martinez’s one season there I guess is forgotten because he played for a team that came in 4th place but he himself played pretty well.

4. Kenny Lofton with the Pittsburgh Pirates (2003) – Rickey Henderson ran so Kenny Lofton could run too. That’s not how the saying goes but Kenny Lofton was just like Rickey as the man played for a lot of teams in his career. Kenny Lofton is best known for his years in Cleveland where he was one of the fastest players in the league, leading the league in Stolen Bases from 1992 – 1996; he was pretty fast. He would then play for a bunch of random teams. From the Giants and White Sox to the Yankees and Rangers, the one odd ball team that he played for and was actually having a truly great year was the Pirates. At age 36, Lofton signed a 1 year, $1.025 million contract with the Pirates. The 2003 Pirates had no business in getting a guy who was looking for a World Series ring and to have him on their team it wasn’t going to make them contenders overnight. But during his 84 games in Pittsburgh, he was actually hitting really well. He had 94 hits, 19 doubles, 4 triples with 9 homeruns, 26 runs batted in, 18 stolen bases and a 1.7 WAR. Now on paper that seems like an average type of state line for a speedy centerfielder but let me tell you this in a weird perspective. Lofton averages 10 home runs a season in his career and before he gets traded to the Cubs he has 9. Why is that a crazy stat line? Well the answer is because he was on pace to hit 20 homeruns before being traded and his average per season was 10! He was once again traded to Chicago and managed to hit .327 and get his homerun numbers up to 12. But his time with Pittsburgh was incredible considering he’s getting paid less than there star players Brian Giles and Jason Kendall and is at the age where some consider retirement; meanwhile he played another 4 years and was somehow getting better each year. He was hitting in the almost.300 range at age 40. Lofton is a different person who I never knew played for the Pirates but also only got 3.2 % of the vote to get in the Hall of Fame, eliminating him from being in the ballot the next year. That statement itself is criminal but knowing a 36 year old man played better than 75% of his whole team for half the year and it’s forgotten about is even crazier.

3. Will Clark with the St. Louis Cardinals (2000) – How is Will Clark not in the Hall of Fame? That is something I will never understand. Will Clark was a legend in the mid 80’s and the 90’s. He was one of the best hitters in the game and one of the best First Basemen. He has had his best seasons with the Giants/Rangers but mid way in his years as a Texas Ranger injuries would begin to plague his career and he began to struggle a bit. We’re not talking anything crazy; you know just batting .284 instead of hitting .300. But in 1999 he signed a two year deal to play with the Baltimore Orioles. Now I was going to include his time there as well but I mean his time with the Cardinals has a better stat line. On the day of the MLB Trade Deadline, Will Clark was traded to the Cardinals so he could replace an injured Mark McGwire. Before being traded, Clark was batting .301 with 9 homeruns and 28 runs batted in, but once he arrived to St. Louis the man put on a power surge. Clark batted .345 with 12 homeruns, 42 runs batted in, 15 doubles, a 1.081 OPS and had a 2.1 WAR. He literally carried the team on his back to make it into the playoffs where he would bat .412 in the NLCS against the eventual winners, the New York Mets, and would call it a career soon after at the age of 36 for family obligations. He literally took a team onto his back and ended his career with a huge bang. He didn’t even receive enough votes to stay in the Hall of Fame ballot in 2006 as he was short by 3 votes. Again, here I say how was this man not in the Hall of Fame? His time with the Cardinals was a sample size but it was huge and yet somehow forgotten by many fans of baseball.

2. Steve Carlton with the Minnesota Twins (1987 – 1988) – Steve Carlton is one of the greatest pitchers of all time. That’s not even an opinion, that’s a simple fact. Steve Carlton is 4th all time in strikeouts (4,136), 11th in wins (329) and he also has 4 Cy Young’s under his belt. The man literally was a monster in the 70’s. His time with the Phillies is perfection as he might just be their best player ever; next to Mike Schmidt of course. But he also started out with the Cardinals where he started to become that monster we all know and love of the 70’s. His time in Philly ended in 1986 where he would be released and then signed to the Giants and soon retired before un-retiring and joining the White Sox. The guy is literally Brett Farve but in baseball. He would then join the Indians and pitched terribly so they then traded him to Minnesota, where at age 42 and 43 he became a trash can on the mound. His time with the Twins is pretty forgetful when in your final 4 games of your career you have over a 16 ERA in less than 10 innings. The team would later release him and no other team picked him up so he would later retire, for good this time. Carlton probably might be the only one on this list that I am including more than one year as he barely played with the team and played so badly that the word “forget” is an understatement and the words that should be said is “was this a dream” or “this maybe happened in a different universe where Steve Carlton was never a good pitcher”. Yeah that last one seems more accurate to me. Either way his final go around at pitching never destroyed his legacy of being one of the best to ever pitch. He became a 1st ballot Hall of Famer and nobody ever mentions his two year stint in Minnesota where he was Rookie A Ball pitching to Kaiju’s who smashed baseballs.

1. Julio Franco with the New York Mets (2006 – 2007) – Julio Franco is one of those players you forgot how good he truly was in his day but also the fact that he played in the MLB till he was almost 50 and played in the independent league at the age of 58. Franco was one of those guys who lived for the sport. Born from the Dominican Republic, Julio Franco became a solid bat in any lineup but also he had longevity and could still hit the ball well in his 40’s. He’s well known for his years in Cleveland and Texas but he also made his mark as a member of the Atlanta Braves, again in his 40’s. It wasn’t until he became a Met to where he started to create history. Although history somehow becomes forgotten when I think maybe some Mets fans remember his tenure as a New York Met. He became one of the oldest players to play professionally in the Major Leagues but also the oldest player to hit a grand slam in the MLB and also the oldest player to ever hit a homerun in the MLB, again in his late 40’s. He even started a game at Third Base at 47 years old, a position he hasn’t played since his rookie year back in 1982. He did all of this with the Mets and somehow we have forgotten these memorable milestone moments for baseball because it’s been almost 20 years and so much has happened since 2007. I think Julio Franco in general is surely forgotten for not just his time in New York but forgotten on how great he truly was. He has over 4,000 career hits between 6 different leagues, he hit over .400 twice in the Mexican League and he is the only known MLB player to hit a homerun with his grandson in attendance. Man is legit a legend, put him in the Hall of Fame already BWAA Committee. Also fun fact that I feel like I want everyone to know that is also forgotten, he played with Pete Rose in his rookie year who would later not retire until he was 45 years old. Julio Franco probably learned a thing or two about longevity from Pete Rose.