Posted By:
Al C.risafulliWhat a great thread! I missed this one.
My favorite obscure player of my lifetime was Josias Manzanillo. Manzanillo was a journeyman relief pitcher who was super-enthusiastic about being in the big leagues. When he went out to pitch at the beginning of an inning, he RACED out to the mound, and at the end, he RACED to the dugout. He always had a smile. Fun to watch.
My favorite obscure player of all-time is Lena Blackburne. Lena was a weak-hitting infielder around the turn of the century who later became a coach, manager and scout. He made his mark on baseball by discovering a mud pit on the banks of the Delaware River on the New Jersey side. The mud from that pit is now called Lena Blackburne's Baseball Rubbing Mud - the company still exists and is now used to rub up the baseballs before every major league game, and most minor league games as well. I just recently began collecting Blackburne's cards.
-Al