Need name of obscure rookie starting pitcher

May 8, 2007 8:56 AM

San Francisco Giants Filter: I'm looking for the name of a rookie starting pitcher who was called up from the minors. This happened in the latter half of the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks in between the year 2000 and 2004. I can't remember the season exactly. This pitcher got absolutely rocked by the D-backs and never really surfaced again. Myself and all of my buddies cant figure out what the guys name was. Any and all suggestions will help. But if you have the numbers or date of the game that would be awesome too.
posted by keeblerte6 to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (10 answers total)

If by "never really surfaced again," you mean "pitched this one game, maybe two or three more, then disappeared," I couldn't find anyone - unless you're wrong that it was against Arizona. If that's the case, here are your likely suspects (all pitchers who pitched less than four games for the team in that season):

2000 Giants: Scott Linebrink, Chad Zerbe, Ryan Vogelsong

2001 Giants: Kurt Ainsworth (link shows debut against Arizona, 1IP/0ER, but second stint against Houston saw him get rocked)

2002 Giants: Joe Nathan

2003 Giants: Manuel Aybar, Brian Powell (one game vs. Colorado, got shelled), Noah Lowry

2004 Giants: Merkin Valdez (faced STL and CIN), Kevin Walker, Leo Estrella (faced Houston twice, not ARI), Jesse Foppert
posted by peacecorn at 9:43 AM on May 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Well, I can tell you that Linebrink, Lowry and Nathan are still in baseball and are very effective pitchers
posted by andifsohow at 10:09 AM on May 8, 2007

I think that you're thinking of Salomon Torres. Torres came up in 1993. He pitched all right, but is most well known for costing the Giants the pennant on the last day of the season against the Dodgers. He became a pariah in SF (though he played there for a few years), before retiring in '97.

Whats notable about Torres is that after 5 years of being an instructor during his retirement, he came out of retirement and caught on in Pittsburgh as a reliever, where he has remained since 2002.
posted by lilnemo at 10:15 AM on May 8, 2007

I don't think it's Torres, because isn't the poster looking for someone who came up just for one game?

As peacecorn mentioned, my first thought was Jesse Foppert.
posted by ORthey at 10:19 AM on May 8, 2007

Jerome Williams came up in 2003, started 4 games against the D-Backs and went 2-1, with 1 no decision. In his one loss, he gave up 4 runs. But he wasn't nearly as demonized as Torres.
posted by lilnemo at 10:19 AM on May 8, 2007

Brad Hennessey gave up 5 runs in 4 innings in his 1st start against Arizona. But the Giants won 18-7.
posted by lilnemo at 10:29 AM on May 8, 2007

lilnemo: I think you meant to use this link.
posted by cerebus19 at 10:35 AM on May 8, 2007

Vogelson is in Japan now, but pitched for the Pirates up through 2006.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:42 AM on May 8, 2007

I think Jason Williams was a fairly regular starter for a few months though.
posted by ORthey at 4:59 PM on May 8, 2007

My household stathead says:
Jerome Williams or Kurt Ainsworth were my first guesses.

Thinking more, Brian Powell might be a better bet. He started exactly one game in 2003 for the Giants and got shelled (though it was against Colorado). He wasn't a rookie, though - had pitched 4 previous years in the majors, a lot in 1998 and 2002 for the Tigers.
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:13 PM on May 8, 2007