MATT KLAASSEN: Memories Of Melvin Mora

Earlier today, I published some perfunctory thoughts about the reported retirement of Melvin Mora, last seen in a utility role with the Diamondbacks before getting released last summer. Fortunately, FanGraphs’ Matt Klaassen has gone a little deeper in his retrospective:

Mora finished his career with unremarkable utility stints with the 2010 Rockies and 2011 Diamondbacks, but his ascension from minor-league afterthought to bench player to super-utility man to a two- or three-year run of offensive greatness followed by a non-horrible denouement is still hard to believe. Perhaps it is less hard to believe given Jose Bautista‘s recent rise to greater heights, but it is stunning nonetheless for a guy who, prior to 2003, was probably more famous for being the father of quintuplets.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive summary of Mora’s odd and surprising career, this is the place. And Klaassen tops it off with an account of Mora’s biggest game.