Introducing a new installment of Baseball Questions We All Must Answer. There are questions that, within our lifetimes, every baseball fan -- each one of us -- must account for. These questions are of utmost importance. This is one of those questions.
Baseball Questions We All Must Answer: Who Is The Most Forgotten Baseball Player?
Who is the most forgotten baseball player?
Friend, I don’t really know whether you and I are going to be able to get to the bottom of this in a single afternoon, but let’s try anyway. This question, of course, creates a paradox. Meet me after the jump.
Months ago, I discussed this very question with our own Jeff Sullivan, who pointed out that it is impossible for us to know the most forgotten baseball player. After all, if we remember him, he is not forgotten!
With that in mind, it may seem as though this is a fool’s errand, but this could not be further from the truth. One by one, we must name the forgotten baseball players. They will be remembered, certainly, but all the while we will be whittling down the candidates until there is one player, and only one, who will stand as the most forgotten. We will not know who he is, of course, but he will remain The Most Forgotten all the same. There’s a certain mysterious sort of beauty in that.
So join me, friends. Claw at the Monolith of Forgotten Baseball Players, ripping away the shingles one by one until all that remains is that which we can never see.
Here are some guidelines:
- When choosing a forgotten baseball player, try to stick within the last 20 or 30 years. Anyone can name a shortstop from 1911. That’s no fun.
- If a player is forgotten, you had to know him in the first place. You were familiar with him at some point in your life, but for years, you had completely forgotten that he ever existed, and you never gave him a passing thought.
- This is a community project. If you would like to nominate a player as the Most Forgotten Baseball Player (and thereby strike him from contention), either leave a comment below or tweet it at me (@jon_bois).
To begin the proceedings, I hereby suggest Ed Taubensee. This guy was a catcher for 11 years -- 1991 through 2001 -- and I certainly knew he was, but I realized that in the nearly ten years since, I hadn’t thought of him even once, even for a second. I came across his name a while back while searching for something else, and I stared at it for a solid five seconds before realizing who he was. It was quite a moment.
Your turn.
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