#352 Dave LaRoche

Another case of a young player dealt often throughout his career....debut in 1970, collected a handful of saves, a 3.00 ERA, and 9-2 body of work over two seasons...imported by the Twins to bolster their deflated bullpen thereby dismantling the Angel’s relief corps....One season in the upper midwest and was traveling again...road took him to Chicago where fortunes floundered....came back with Cleveland, upping his value....returned to team of debut mid 1977-1980....finished up in Yankee pinstripes in a mop up role where he gained notoriety for his “La Lob” pitch a variation on Steve Hamilton's "Folly Floater"....Two sons, Adam and Andy were major league players, the former being a regular for 12 years, hitting 255 homers.....A case of doppelganger?...how is his profile on the 1972 any different from then Angel teammate Jerry Moses’?...are they both of the same person or was it a switch... maybe a bit more  hair on the sideburns. 

#766 Steve Hamilton

The Floater man  I think Steve Hamilton had fun a baseball player...At least twice he threw a slow motion high arching ball high called the Folly Floater that got Cleveland’s Tony Horton out on foul catch by Thurman Munson 7/24/70…captured by the miracle of Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFvp7kMraAw … The Yankee Stadium crowd roared with delight…Horton is left crawling into the dugout…Maybe it’s the reason why Horton quit baseball next year (DK)…Also should be happy given he is in Giant’s uniform(airbrushed with a Cubs cap) having escaped early from the 1970 White Sox, a 106 game loser…Hamilton was the mainstay Yankee relief pitcher in the mid to late sixties…in 140 pinstripe appearances had a 34-20 record with 2.78 ERA, 36 saves…Like Ron Reed was also a NBA player Steve was a Minneapolis Lakers 1958-60…Prematurely grey which only added to a colorful career….Finished career with Cubs in 1972, 1-0 W-L, 4.76 ERA …Passed away in  1997 at age 63.