And therein lies a big part of the problem. Steve Reed was a middle reliever who had a similar name to a lot of other players, including some middle relievers.
But our man Reed was a cut above most of his namesakes, and most other pitchers for that matter.
You may have already noticed Reed's name during this countdown. He was second to Eric Plunk in ERA for middle relievers over 1992-1997. That table appeared in Mike Jackson's post.
Reed had only 2 bad seasons in a 14-season career. Those came in 1998 and 2005.
Check out the most seasons since 1992 with at least 40 IP and an ERA+ of 107:
Rk | Yrs | From | To | Age | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mariano Rivera | 15 | 1996 | 2011 | 26-41 | Ind. Seasons |
2 | Randy Johnson | 15 | 1993 | 2008 | 29-44 | Ind. Seasons |
3 | Trevor Hoffman | 14 | 1993 | 2009 | 25-41 | Ind. Seasons |
4 | John Smoltz | 14 | 1992 | 2007 | 25-40 | Ind. Seasons |
5 | Greg Maddux | 14 | 1992 | 2006 | 26-40 | Ind. Seasons |
6 | Tom Glavine | 14 | 1992 | 2006 | 26-40 | Ind. Seasons |
7 | Andy Pettitte | 13 | 1995 | 2010 | 23-38 | Ind. Seasons |
8 | Pedro Martinez | 13 | 1993 | 2005 | 21-33 | Ind. Seasons |
9 | Curt Schilling | 13 | 1992 | 2007 | 25-40 | Ind. Seasons |
10 | Roger Clemens | 13 | 1992 | 2007 | 29-44 | Ind. Seasons |
11 | Roy Halladay | 12 | 1999 | 2011 | 22-34 | Ind. Seasons |
12 | Mike Timlin | 12 | 1996 | 2007 | 30-41 | Ind. Seasons |
13 | Steve Reed | 12 | 1993 | 2004 | 28-39 | Ind. Seasons |
14 | Mike Mussina | 12 | 1992 | 2008 | 23-39 | Ind. Seasons |
15 | Roberto Hernandez | 12 | 1992 | 2006 | 27-41 | Ind. Seasons |
This is a list of the most successful pitchers from the last 20 years..and there's our man.
Here are the career stats (through 2011) for those same guys:
Rk | G | GS | IP | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Roger Clemens | 709 | 707 | 4916.2 | 143 |
2 | Tom Glavine | 682 | 682 | 4413.1 | 118 |
3 | Roy Halladay | 378 | 352 | 2531.0 | 138 |
4 | Roberto Hernandez | 1010 | 3 | 1071.1 | 132 |
5 | Trevor Hoffman | 1035 | 0 | 1089.1 | 141 |
6 | Randy Johnson | 618 | 603 | 4135.1 | 136 |
7 | Greg Maddux | 744 | 740 | 5008.1 | 132 |
8 | Pedro Martinez | 476 | 409 | 2827.1 | 154 |
9 | Mike Mussina | 537 | 536 | 3562.2 | 123 |
10 | Andy Pettitte | 489 | 479 | 3055.1 | 117 |
11 | Steve Reed | 833 | 0 | 870.2 | 133 |
12 | Mariano Rivera | 1042 | 10 | 1211.1 | 206 |
13 | Curt Schilling | 569 | 436 | 3261.0 | 128 |
14 | John Smoltz | 723 | 481 | 3473.0 | 125 |
15 | Mike Timlin | 1058 | 4 | 1204.1 | 126 |
Reed had the fewest IP but a good ERA+ relative to the group.
The card is 1993 Upper Deck #752. This set is thought by many to be one of the best of the 1990s. Indeed, check out that photo on the front. It takes advantage of Reed's submarine delivery and fills the entire card with his image. The rest of the front is understated and subtle, and I like the fact that Upper Deck didn't mind covering up part of its own name with the player image.
The card back is sublime too. It features a second color photo that occupies more than half the space! The player appears larger on the back than on the front of many other card issues!
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