Jesus, the Defensive Specialist is lucky to be here after ‘Mighty’ Joe Quinn’s estate sent their legal hounds in to tear Deep in the Hole a new one. Who would have thought that excluding their man in the Defensive Specialist’s breakdown of the best Australian to have played in the big leagues would cause such a ruckus? The situation was on a knifes edge until the Defensive Specialist ignored his Chief Legal Counsel’s advice and approached the estate man-to-man. The way the Defensive Specialist sees it, if you can stare down a 220-pound base runner trying to bust up a double play any-which-way he can, then you can talk your way out of a 3 million dollar law suit. The Defensive Specialist carefully broke down Joe’s career, highlighting his short comings in comparison to some of the other players in this evaluation and once again reiterated that it would tarnish their mans reputation to consider him against the modern day player. “Let him be remembered for being the first Aussie in the big leagues” the Defensive Specialist implored. Fortunately the Defensive Specialist’s common sense prevailed and Joe’s estate agreed to back down under the proviso that The Defensive Specialist run a picture of Joe (Joe is in the top left corner):
Pool B
Brad Harman
Brad Harman was born in Melbourne and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2003. He was unexpectedly added to the Phillies 40 man roster and made his major league debut in 2008 when All Star Jimmy Rollins was injured. Unable to hit .500 with 25 jacks and 75 RBI’s in the time Rollins was out of the lineup, Harman was demoted back to the minors after 6 games and 11 plate appearances. To date his big league numbers are 1 hit in 10 at bats with 1 RBI.
Graeme Lloyd
Graeme Lloyd put together a tidy 10-year big league career across 8 big league clubs. The majority of his career saw Lloyd as a LOOGY (Lefty one out only guy) meaning that he would generally come in to face a dangerous opposition left handed hitter. If the Defensive Specialist was handing out an award for ‘Best running hay maker thrown by an Australian in the Major Leagues’ Lloyd would be a no contest winner for the wild punch he threw at Armando Benitez in 1998.
Originally signed by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1988, Lloyd made his first Major League appearance as a 26 year old for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1993. In his first season, Lloyd appeared in 63 relief innings, compiling a win loss record of 3-4 with a pretty ERA of 2.83. In 1994 Lloyd worked 47 innings generating a 2-3 tally with 3 saves and an ERA of 5.17. 1995 saw Lloyd toss 32 innings for the Brewers while going 0-5. His ERA was 4.50 and he recorded 4 saves. In 1996 he appeared in 52 innings going 2-4 with a 2.82 ERA before being traded to the New York Yankees for Bob Wickman and Gerald ‘Ice’ Williams. His first year in the Big Apple was a little rocky as he posted a 17.47 ERA in 5.2 innings and took the loss in two ballgames. Lloyd was part of the 1996 Yankee World Series team working in 5 postseason innings, earning a win in the World Series and not giving up any runs.
In 1997 Lloyd appeared in 46 games, compiling a 1-1 win loss record and one save. His ERA was 3.31 in 49 innings. Lloyd was part of another World Series team in 1998, submitting a spectacular 1.67 ERA in 37 innings of work with a win loss record of 3-0. He appeared in 3 postseason contests yielding no runs once again.
In early 1999, Lloyd was included in the Yankees blockbuster trade for Roger Clemens, which saw him being packaged with David Wells to Toronto. Lloyd’s workload jumped considerably as he cracked the 70-inning barrier. He went 5-3 with 3 saves and ERA of 3.62 while appearing in 74 games.
Lloyd lost all of 2000 to arm surgery after signing as free agent with the Montreal Expos for 12 million. He rebounded in 2001 with 84 appearances and 70 innings. His win loss record was 9-5 with one save and an ERA of 4.35. Lloyd started the 2002 season with Montreal and worked 30 innings, going 2-3 with 5 saves before being traded to the Florida Marlins for a package of players including Cliff Floyd. With Florida, Lloyd tossed 26 innings winning 2 and losing 2.
Lloyd was a free agent after the 2002 season and signed with the New York Mets in January 2003. He took part in 36 games as a Met, going 1-2 with a 3.31 ERA before he was packaged to the Kansas City Royals for Jeremy Hill in late July. At age 36, Lloyd threw 12 innings for the Royals, losing 2 games and submitting an ERA of 10.95. He did not appear in the big leagues again after the 2003 season.
Lloyd’s career numbers were 30-36 with a 4.04 ERA and 17 saves. He also has 2 fat daddy World Series rings to his name.
Jeff Williams
Lefty Jeff Williams signed with the LA Dodgers as a free agent in 1996. He made his major League debut in September 1999. He operated as a starter primarily in his rookie year, going 2-0 in 17 innings. In 2000 he played in 7 games, submitting a stinky 15.88 ERA in just 5 innings work. 2001 saw Williams used in 24 innings where he went 2-1 mostly in relief. His ERA was 6.29. 2002 was Williams’ final season in the big leagues. He pitched 10 innings and had an ERA of 11.70.
His Major League numbers were 4-1 with a 7.49 ERA in 57 innings.
Like Michael Nakamura, Williams found himself playing Japanese Major League Baseball. He signed in 2003 with the Hanshin Tigers and established himself as a bonafide relief pitcher helping the Tigers to their first Central League championship in 18 years. Williams has now spent 6 years in the Japanese Major Leagues having considerable success.
As an interesting side note, Williams was named in the Mitchell report -allegedly having purchased steroids from admitted dealer Kirk Radomski. The report included a reproduction of a cheque for $1,820 Williams paid to Radomski in 2004 for the steroids. Williams has never tested positive for steroids in his professional career.
Pool B is in the books. If you look up to the top right hand corner on this page you will see a new poll set up and ready for your votes. The pole will remain open until next Tuesday. Send any question or comments to thedefensivespecialist@gmail.com or hit the comments box below
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