Ha. I’m looking at Franco stats after reading this and looking for his 1999 season with the Braves bc I remember him trying to steal a base in the WS that season vs. the Yanks… looks like I also have this syndrome. It was Otis Nixon. Same age, too!
That's hilarious. I always liked Otis Nixon, but he looked like an old man from the start of his career. So I can see how he'd be easy to confuse with later Franco, who actually was an old man by that point (at least in baseball terms).
I always felt like Samuel was kind of a bust, I suppose because his rookie year was really good and then he just kind of stayed at that level. It doesn't help that he was on some (in my mind) dreadfully boring Phillies teams then--not completely terrible like the Pirates but not good like the Cardinals and Mets. Maybe it's just because he was in the NL so I didn't see him as much as the other two. Anyway, he carved out a pretty nice career, too. Thousands of guys who've played in the majors would trade with him. I don't really think Baines belongs in the Hall, but it hardly seems worth getting bent out of shape about it.
I was a little surprised by Samuel's numbers, to be honest. The easiest way for me to differentiate him from the other two back in the day was that I never thought he was as good as Franco or Baines, and being on those terrible Philly teams (I'm in total agreement there) didn't help. But looking back on their careers in retrospect, there's a lot less separation than I expected.
Love all 3 of them. My personal ranking for the trio is 1. Franco 2. Samuel 3. Baines (I think it is fine he is in the HOF). I associate Franco with Cleveland (and the 1993 Texas Rangers b/c of Ken Griffey Jr. Presents MLB on SNES), Samuel with Philadelphia (and 1993 Cincinnati for the reason mentioned earlier) and Baines with Chicago White Sox (and 1993 Baltimore). I remember being surprised Franco was still playing after catching a Braves game in '05. And he still had a stint with the Mets and Braves left in him, not to mention his time in Mexico. Respect.
If I had to personally rank them, I'd probably go 1. Franco 2. Baines 3. Samuel. Nothing against Samuel, just that he played most of his prime in the NL when that still mattered, so I feel like I just didn't see him as much. Though I had plenty of his cards.
Ha. I’m looking at Franco stats after reading this and looking for his 1999 season with the Braves bc I remember him trying to steal a base in the WS that season vs. the Yanks… looks like I also have this syndrome. It was Otis Nixon. Same age, too!
That's hilarious. I always liked Otis Nixon, but he looked like an old man from the start of his career. So I can see how he'd be easy to confuse with later Franco, who actually was an old man by that point (at least in baseball terms).
I always felt like Samuel was kind of a bust, I suppose because his rookie year was really good and then he just kind of stayed at that level. It doesn't help that he was on some (in my mind) dreadfully boring Phillies teams then--not completely terrible like the Pirates but not good like the Cardinals and Mets. Maybe it's just because he was in the NL so I didn't see him as much as the other two. Anyway, he carved out a pretty nice career, too. Thousands of guys who've played in the majors would trade with him. I don't really think Baines belongs in the Hall, but it hardly seems worth getting bent out of shape about it.
I was a little surprised by Samuel's numbers, to be honest. The easiest way for me to differentiate him from the other two back in the day was that I never thought he was as good as Franco or Baines, and being on those terrible Philly teams (I'm in total agreement there) didn't help. But looking back on their careers in retrospect, there's a lot less separation than I expected.
Love all 3 of them. My personal ranking for the trio is 1. Franco 2. Samuel 3. Baines (I think it is fine he is in the HOF). I associate Franco with Cleveland (and the 1993 Texas Rangers b/c of Ken Griffey Jr. Presents MLB on SNES), Samuel with Philadelphia (and 1993 Cincinnati for the reason mentioned earlier) and Baines with Chicago White Sox (and 1993 Baltimore). I remember being surprised Franco was still playing after catching a Braves game in '05. And he still had a stint with the Mets and Braves left in him, not to mention his time in Mexico. Respect.
If I had to personally rank them, I'd probably go 1. Franco 2. Baines 3. Samuel. Nothing against Samuel, just that he played most of his prime in the NL when that still mattered, so I feel like I just didn't see him as much. Though I had plenty of his cards.
Impressive Canva skills!! I wish that I’d had the idea to utilize the Spider-Man meme for one of my posts, I find it hilarious😂
It's a classic for a reason!