It could not possibly be nicer to have baseball back.  Fantasy to check, something to throw on TV when there is nothing else on, and people projecting stats that show that Yadier Molina is on a pace for 162 home runs.  That’s always one of the most fun things about the start of baseball season—seeing a random person start off incredibly hot, getting tons of attention, only to have their season come crashing down back to earth, but not before fantastic overrating goes on. 

This week’s Top 7 looks at the most famous fast starts in recent baseball history.

7. Jason Marquis

Thanks to a ridiculous Cardinals offense, Marquis was the first pitcher to win 10 games in the National League in 2005.  It did a nice job of hiding the fact that Marquis is one of the most frustrating pitchers to watch in the history of baseball, as Cub fans are learning to enjoy.

6. Carney Lansford

On June 4, 1989, Lansford was still hitting .400, and The Sporting News had him on the cover with the headline, “A .400 Hitter?”  No.  He hit .336 for the season.  That’s the best thing about the start-of-the-year stats.  A guy can hit 10 homers in April and become the most famous baseball player in the country, but if he does so in any other month, no one really even pays attention or notices (unless you are Sammy Sosa and hit 20 homers in a month).

5. Sam Horn

A strong finish to the 1987 season made Horn and his 1988 Topps card hyped coming into the year, but he hit .148 with two homers in ’88 and ’89.  Then, playing for Baltimore, he returned with two home runs on Opening Day 1990.  His Topps card skyrocketed!  Sam Horn was back!  He actually had 37 bombs over the course of the next two seasons, but by 1995, he was completely out of baseball.  He does have his name attached to probably the most famous website based on a specific team, so that’s something.


4. Geronimo Berroa

In his first full season in the majors (1995), Berroa got off to a huge start in April.  It led to one great hyperbole in history, as the Baseball Tonight crew discussed his qualifications for the Hall of Fame.  Nowadays, with 900 sports radio stations and seven trillion blogs, such drivel is commonplace, but for it to occur when there was only ESPN is even more impressive.  In a related story, Ruben Sierra once proclaimed that he too was headed to the Hall of Fame.

3. J.T. Snow

Snow hit around 8 homers in the opening month of his rookie season.  He had the look that instantly made him young people’s favorite player across the country—the smooth swing, the sunglasses look, initials as a first name, the same last name as the guy who sang “Informer,” which was popular then somehow.  By the end of the season, he had barely doubled his home run total, seen his average fall to .241, and lost the Rookie of the Year to Tim Salmon.  He still ended up with a decent major league career though, with many solid seasons, six Gold Gloves, and becoming known as the person who saved Dusty Baker’s son’s life.

2. Chris Shelton

Shelton just about shut the Internet down from fantasy owners trying to pick him up in April 2006, when he hit 9 homers in the first 13 games of the season.  He hit seven more the rest of the season, and was already back in AAA by the end of July to make room for Sean Casey.

1. Tuffy Rhodes

He hit three homers on Opening Day 1994 and then hit five the rest of the season.  It also accounted for almost 25% of his career total.  He did go on to break the all-time record for home runs in a season…in Japan.

The Top 7 is written by Jason Major.  He still has the wiffle ball from his 3 homer, Opening Day performance in 1999.  Email him at jason@joesportsfan.com