STATUS: Retired Hero Papelbon ended his career with 368 saves. That’s 9th on the all-time list and more saves than Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers (who had 341). His combative personality, while perhaps fueling his success, did not make him many friends in baseball. Papelbon’s physical attack on teammate Bryce Harper near the end of […]
Victor Martinez
STATUS: Retired Hero Originally from Venezuela, Victor Martinez was a superb hitter. He retired in 2018 with 5 All-Star Games, 2 Silver Slugger Awards, and 1,178 RBIs. After he retired, Martinez founded a 2,400-acre cattle and horse operation called Victoria’s Ranch. In 2020, one of his horses won the Tampa Bay Derby. Autograph Card 2004 […]
Buddy Bell
STATUS: Retired Hero Buddy Bell is a member of one of only five three-generation MLB families. His father, Gus Bell, is in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. His sons Mike Bell and David Bell both spent time playing in the MLB. Bell was a four-time All-Star for the Cincinnati Reds. He was a good […]
Vida Blue
STATUS: Retired Hero Vida Blue was one of the hardest-throwing pitchers of his era. He won both the Cy Young Award and the AL MVP award in 1971 at the age of 21. Though he was a Hall of Fame-caliber pitcher, Blue got caught up in MLB’s cocaine scandal in the early 1980’s, which likely […]
Jim Wynn
Status: Retired Hero Standing at a relatively small 5’9″, Jim Wynn was nicknamed “The Toy Cannon” because he had a lot of “pop” in his bat despite his small size. In fact, he had so much pop in his bat that if not for the long outfield fences of the Astrodome, he probably would have […]
Buster Posey
Status: ACTIVE HERO Buster Posey led the San Francisco Giants to three World Series victories. He is one of the best hitting catchers of all time and even won the National League batting title in 2012. A 2011 home plate collision with Scott Cousins led to the MLB adopting rule 7.13, known colloquially as the […]