Ten MLB Players You Forgot Played For Certain Teams

Can you name how many people played in the MLB? The answer is no. There have been so many people to play in the MLB that you sometimes forget which team they even played on. Like if you really think about it sometimes the biggest names to ever play the game might have played in a certain team and you just don’t remember that they did. We all know Jeter played entire career with the Yankees, Craig Biggio played five different positions for the Houston Astros in his entire career, Ernie Banks is literally named Mr. Cub so you know that he played for the Cubs his entire career and if we look in the current time for baseball than well we know that Albert Pujols spent half of his career in St Louis and the other half in Los Angeles (both Angels and Dodgers). But sometimes we might forget that a certain player played for a certain team for either a short period of time or even for a season. Now I wanted to take a deep dive into looking for 10 entries for this list because I’m not listing them as the ten best players you forgot played for a certain team because I’m not trying to look at every baseball card at stats all day or go on Baseball Reference for every player that played for more than one team because as I said before, can you name how many people played in the MLB, it’s not worth the time and effort to do that certain research. So I am just going to jot down ten names because I can always revisit this sort of list one day; which let’s face it I love doing baseball lists and this one is a very fun topic to do. Now to make this interesting I’m going to talk about 10 very well known baseball players because I could talk about Edwin Jackson and people will question who he is and I could tell you that he is a former MLB pitcher who holds the record for playing for 14 different teams. So instead I will pick ten well known players to make it simple for everyone at home. Alright let’s make this a fun one to read and lets countdown Ten MLB Players You Forgot Played for Certain Teams.

Ten MLB Players You Forgot Played for Certain Teams

10. John Smoltz with the Red Sox/St. Louis Cardinals (2009) – The 8 time All-Star and former Cy Yong Award winner had one of the strangest careers. For starters he is one of the handful of many pitchers to successfully get Tommy John surgery and have a lengthy career afterwards. He also is one of a handful of pitchers to have a great career at starting but also being a closer. Smoltz had 213 career wins, 3,084 career strikeouts but also had 154 career saves. Now many people know him for his long career in Atlanta with the Braves and I mean who wouldn’t remember him; after all he helped lead them to multiple World Series, winning it all in 1995, but he also was a part of Atlanta Big Three as him, Gregg Maddux and Tom Glavine were the three most dominating pitchers of not just Braves history but in the 90’s. However Smoltz didn’t end his career in Atlanta as his final year he played in Boston and St. Louis. Yes Smoltz said he still had more in the tank and signed a 1 year deal with Boston at the age of 42. He didn’t really pitch well in Boston as his Win/Loss Record was 2-5 and his ERA was over 8. The Red Sox designated him for an assignment and then released him but he was soon picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals 2 days later and finished the 2009 season with them. He didn’t pitch as bad with them as he did with the Red Sox but I bet many John Smoltz fans, hell many Atlanta Braves fans, couldn’t tell you that Smoltz played one more year before retiring and it wasn’t even for their team. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWOsIgHXVs0

9. Reggie Jackson with the Baltimore Orioles (1976) – Mr. October aka Reggie Jackson spent most of his time in the West playing for the Oakland Athletics and his later years with the California Angels but he is pretty well known for also playing 5 years in pinstripes with the New York Yankees. Jackson won 2 World Series with the Yankees in 1977 and 1978. He also won the World Series with Oakland 3 times in 1972 - 1974. Here is the thing with Reggie Jackson while every team I named he was pretty well known for I also forgot to mention two. He started his career in Kansas City but it was his rookie year but they were also known as the Kansas City “Athletics”, so technically it was before they were known as the Royals so technically he played for one more different team. Before the historic 1977 season which saw Reggie Jackson hit 5 homeruns in the World Series, Reggie was playing for a different team a year prior. In 1976 Reggie Jackson signed with the Baltimore Orioles and it was honestly shocking to learn this. I didn’t find this out from watching a documentary or Google searching randomly at 2 in the morning, I learned this while playing MLB the Show. After grinding hours upon hours on MLB the Show’s Diamond Dynasty I earned a pack that held a 1976 Reggie Jackson baseball card and he had on a Baltimore Orioles uniform. Now this might come to a shock but he didn’t sign with the team till May 1st and he put up some pretty shocking numbers for missing over a month of baseball. He somehow managed to hit 27 homeruns, score in 91 runs, bat .277 and oh yeah place 16th for AL MVP voting. Did I forget to mention the man missed an entire month? Now there have been players to be injured for a month that still place in a high position for MVP voting but for Reggie Jackson it was insane because we didn’t think the man was playing baseball that year cause he was traded to Baltimore earlier on that year and he didn’t want to play without a contract and threatened to not play. The fact that Jackson is not known as a Baltimore legend is honestly astonishing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8qqU2OEfXs

8. Anthony Rizzo with the San Diego Padres (2011) – Anthony Rizzo is probably the only player on this list that is active and I don’t have a reason why I just find this very interesting. Rizzo is one of the best first baseman of this generation. He is a 3 time All-Star and a 4 time Gold Glove winner. He also helped the Chicago Cubs break the 108 year curse and win the World Series in 2016. Now while his 10 year career with the Cubs is pretty memorable and his recent stint with the Yankees is pretty memorable, his 1st time in the Major Leagues was not in a Cubs uniform but with a Padres uniform. In 2011 Anthony Rizzo was called up from the minor leagues and honestly I’m shocked many people forgot about this considering it was a big deal in MLB considering he was one of the biggest prospects in the minor leagues. But while Rizzo’s career in San Diego wasn’t long, he also wasn’t that good. He wasn’t the Rizzo we know and love today but we got a sneak preview from the future Core member of the Cubs World Series winning team. Shockingly enough he was traded after the season was over to the Cubs because the Padres rather have Yonder Alonso play at 1st instead of Rizzo and yet Rizzo is still playing to this day and Alonso has been retired since 2019 and never had a huge successful career like Rizzo did. Padres’ fans can only ask to themselves what Rizzo could have been with the Padres had they picked him over Alonso. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmgOY0_su70

7. Andruw Jones with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2008) – Andruw Jones is arguably one of the greatest centerfielders in baseball’s history. He is one of the greatest defensive outfielders ever and could very well be voted into the Hall of Fame within the next 5 years. The 10 time Gold Glove winner is best known for his many years playing for the Atlanta Braves. He helped the Braves make it in the playoffs each season he was a part of the team and he almost won the NL MVP back in 2005 but had 20 less votes than the eventual winner Albert Pujols. While Andruw Jones might be well known for his years in Atlanta it wasn’t his only place where he called home. He jumped ship to Chicago to play with the White Sox, Texas to play with the Rangers and even wore pinstripes for 2 years with the New York Yankees but prior to playing with all of these teams; Jones signed a 2 year deal back in the 2007 offseason with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now I forgot that Jones played with the Dodgers in general let alone in 2008 because 2008 was the year where Andre Either and Matt Kemp took charge in the outfield and also where Manny Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers and became there top player. But Jones’ 2008 season with the Dodgers is completely hit and miss as the guy really didn’t do much for the team. Jones struggled with injuries throughout the season and needed to get multiple surgeries. But even when he was healthy Jones was playing terrible as he batted below .200 and only hit 3 home runs in just 75 games. The Dodgers ultimately released him after the 2008 season but out of all the random teams Jones played for, his time with the Dodgers is pretty forgettable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXgrjZTlE-o

6. Mike Piazza with the Florida Marlins (1998) – Mike Piazza was a beast with the bat, everyone knows that. The things he will do to a baseball with a baseball bat is honestly poetry. Piazza’s career is pretty well documented considering he was the last played drafted and signed in his draft class but what came next is an incredible journey as Piazza became the greatest Catcher in MLB history. Now obviously people know him well for his years with the Dodgers but they also know him for his years with the New York Mets, arguably probably one of their best players in franchise history. Hell even his one year with the Padres and Athletics are pretty memorable considering he played pretty well for those teams. However he also played 5 games with the Marlins back in 1998, the same year he ended his journey with the Dodgers but also began his journey with the Mets. There was just a 5 game gap in between those journeys but still it’s not all that memorable. Piazza and Todd Zelie were traded to the Marlins for Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, and a couple of minor leaguers, but this trade at the time was a pretty big trade; yet somehow it is forgotten by many baseball fans. In just the 5 games he played for the Marlins we batted .278 with 5 runs batted in. He was then traded to the Mets where as you know he became their best player on the team for many seasons. The Marlins were rebuilding their team even though they just won the World Series a year prior and the franchise itself formed in 1993, but still they wanted to rebuild their team and trading away many of their big names was that solution. Trading away Piazza as well was also their solution but just imagine the Marlins built their team around Piazza, they would had been a dominating team. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHGsJ_qCDAc

5. Duke Snider with the San Francisco Giants (1964) – Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider, three of the most incredible outfielders in the 1950s but also the best players of that generation of players. Duke Snider is pretty well known in Brooklyn considering he is known as “The Duke of Flatbush”. Snider was the Dodger’s big power bat and leading player in the 1950’s and early 60’s. Now while his time with the Dodgers is pretty memorable, his time with the Mets is memorable as well, considering he made the All-Star team and was once again playing in New York. But what if I told you Snider played for the enemy of the Dodgers and suited up with the Giants and was teammates with Willie Mays. You might call me crazy but believe it or not Mays and Snider shared the same field together with the same uniforms on in 1964. Snider only played in 91 games, mostly as a back up and his numbers were drastically below average for his career. He batted .210 with 4 homeruns and 17 runs batted in. The 1964 season would also be Snider’s final year in baseball as he decided to retire soon after the 1964 season ended. Snider will always be remembered as the Dodger’s big bat but we shouldn’t forget the one season where two of the best outfielders of the 1950’s were once teammates.

4. Ken Griffey Jr. with the White Sox (2008) – Considered by many as one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Ken Griffey Jr. had such an incredible career in baseball and is most known for his years with the Seattle Mariners and the Cincinnati Reds. However did you know that Ken Griffey Jr. and Michael Jordan have something in common? If you said yes then well you must know that just like Michael Jordan, Griffey Jr. played in Chicago for the White Sox. While Michael Jordan never physically played for the White Sox, he was still under the teams system in Triple-A, but for Griffey Jr. however he played 41 games in Chicago in 2008. The Reds traded Griffey Jr. to the Sox for a couple of up and coming players. Griffey Jr. at this point of his career was pretty much heading towards his final years of playing and was going to become a free agent after the 2008 season and he must of made some impact with the team has he helped them make it into the playoffs. In his time with the White Sox he hit .260 with 3 home runs, 18 runs batted in and 10 doubles while posting a .347 OBP and a .405 Slugging Percentage. Sure he wasn’t the same Griffey Jr. who mashed homeruns left and right in the 90’s but he was still the superstar name that was considered by many to be the Michael Jordan of baseball. While his time with the White Sox is not that memorable and only lasted a couple of months he still had a big moment in his career as he passed Sammy Sosa in the all time home run list. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ixqv1wyJ5s

3. Babe Ruth with the Boston Braves (1935) – We all know the long history and career of the Great Bambino as he is literally considered the greatest of all time. His time with the Red Sox and Yankees is talked about religiously with baseball fans and historians as the trade between Boston and New York created such a huge rivalry and curse aka the Curse of the Bambino. Now this one might shock many but did you know Babe Ruth didn’t finish his career in the Yankees but in Boston. Well not the Boston Red Sox but the Boston Braves. By 1935 Ruth knew his days in baseball were coming to a close and he wanted to become a manager however he was given the assistant manager job and also a ball player with the Boston Braves. Ruth only played in 28 games with the Braves where he hit .181 and had 6 home runs. He really didn’t do anything fancy with the team as he was 40 years old at the time and didn’t really want to play anymore but more manage the ball club. However here is the thing though, Ruth retired from baseball in the middle of the season on June 2nd after having an argument with Braves owner Emil Fuchs. Ruth never became a full time manager and later stepped away from baseball in general after being one of the first 5 inaugural inductees in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Sure his time with the Braves wasn’t all that memorable but at least he got to go back to the city where his career began and went out with a bang.

2. Ivan Rodriguez with the New York Yankees (2008) – Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez could be on this list for multiple teams as he played for 6 teams in his career. He is mostly known for his years with the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers but he also is remembered for his 1 year stint with the Florida Marlins as he won his one and only World Series ring and won the NLCS MVP. Rodriguez is a former MVP, 13 time Gold Glove winner and a 14 time All-Star who was the catcher for many incredible pitchers including Nolan Ryan, Justin Verlander, Dontrelle Willis, Roy Oswalt and the 2008 Yankees pitching staff. Oh yeah did I fail to mention that one of the greatest catchers of all time shared the catching position with at the time the injured Yankee Legend Jorge Posada and was the catcher for Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina. Pudge was traded to the Yankees in 2008 after Posada needed season ending shoulder surgery. His time in New York wasn’t fondly remembered like his time with the Astros or his final years with the Nationals as he really didn’t play all that well and shared the catching position with backup catcher Jose Molina. In just 33 games Rodriguez batted .219 with 2 home runs and 3 runs batted in. Now I actually knew about Rodriguez’s time with the Yankees because I attended one of the games he played in with the Yankees in 2008 and saw him in person when arriving at the game so I guess you can say I was lucky enough to remember Rodriguez being a part of the Yankees. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh7HjauNWZA

1. Sammy Sosa with the Baltimore Orioles (2005) – This final entry on this list I actually never knew about and believe it or not I don’t think anyone who watches baseball and is a fan of the Baltimore Orioles can remember Sammy Sosa with the O’s. Sammy Sosa is famously remembered for his many years in Chicago, both the White Sox but mostly the Cubs, and even his rookie year and final year with the Rangers. I mean Sosa in Texas is pretty well known considering former President of the United States George W. Bush traded Sosa to Chicago and it has become a running joke ever since. But we are here today to talk about the forgettable 2005 season he had in Baltimore. Well there not much to talk about because well he had a very terrible season. I mean one positive side to his only year in Baltimore is the fact that he and Rafael Palmerio became the 1st 500 homerun club members to play together in the same team. Other than that Sosa had a pretty forgettable year stat wise but also in general. Sosa hit .221 with 14 homeruns and 45 runs batted in 102 games for Baltimore and this was his worst performing season since 1992. Of course this was probably the 1st year since 1992 Sosa didn’t take any performance and enhancement drugs, allegedly. Now while his time in Baltimore is forgettable, I kind of want this detail to be remembered because this was a pretty terrible deal Baltimore made with Sosa. Sosa was paid $17.875 million dollars that year with the Cubs paying 7 million because of the trade they had with Baltimore to get Sosa. However Baltimore was still paying Sosa $11.875 million and he was the highest paid player on the team that year and he performed poorly. Just think this wouldn’t be the last time Baltimore paid someone the most money to do poorly, *cough Chris Davis*, but this was a pretty early example of it. Sosa won’t be heading to the Hall of Fame anytime soon and will always be remembered for his years crushing balls in Wrigley Field for the Cubs but defiantly not remembered for the one year he played for the same team that signed Chris Davis to a $161 million contract.