A deep Birthday Team today. Al Martin is the worst position player on the roster and he had 1172 hits, 132 home runs, and 173 stolen bases over an 11-year MLB career.

C: Steve Yeager (17.9 WAR)
1B: Jim Northrup (22.1 WAR)
2B: Jose Lopez (10.0 WAR)
3B: Randy Velarde (24.9 WAR)
SS: Billy Rogell (24.8 WAR)
LF: Joe Medwick (54.3 WAR)
CF: Al Martin (7.4 WAR)
RF/Not that one: Non-Tioga George Burns (39.4 WAR)

SP: Bob Friend (40.8 WAR)
SP: Ben McDonald (20.8 WAR)
SP: Cal Eldred (15.8 WAR)
SP: Jarrod Parker (6.5 WAR)
SP: Damian Moss (1.7 WAR)
RP: Horacio Ramirez (1.9 WAR)

Fun name: Stub Smith
Not that one: Fred Smith
Pinch Hitter: Dave Hansen (3.7 WAR)

This newspaper article states that "Vaughn was cut about three inches deep in the abdomen."

Complementing Vortex: Wikipedia used to have this (removed for not citing a source):

As Vaughn was returning to his home he was met on the street by his father-in-law, and an argument followed. DeBolt, according to the police report, slashed at the pitcher with a razor, cutting through his overcoat and inflicting a wound to the stomach. Vaughn was taken to the Kenosha Hospital and was able to leave the facility within a few days. Following the stabbing incident, DeBolt fled the city and was sought by police in several jurisdictions.

Nice. Thanks, guys!

Jose Lopez has had a significant NPB career as a first baseman with the Giants and BayStars for last eight seasons, putting up a line of .274/.314/.492 with 198 home runs; he's cleared the 30 HR mark in three seasons, and led the Central League in RBI in 2017. He slumped in 2020, hitting only .246/.269/.396 with 12 HR in 81 games.

Lopez played more than 1000 MLB games from 2004-12 and even had a 3.7 WAR, 67 extra-base hit, 96-RBI season, and was nondescript enough for me to have no recollection of him whatsoever.

You don't remember this thread?

Ha! No, no I do not. That’s...quite a thread.

This newspaper article states that "Vaughn was cut about three inches deep in the abdomen."

Yikes, that had to be almost one-fifth of the way into Hippo.

I figured Vaughn was a big guy, given his nickname, but I didn't realize how big he was - 6'4" and 215 pounds was huge for the era. I could only find two other players from the 1920 National League as tall as Vaughn - Eppa Rixey (6'5") and George Kelly (6"4").

I think Vaughn was one of the pitchers available in the Superstar Baseball game, and as such when I was a kid I thought he was much better than he actually was. Looking back at him, though, he appears to have been closer to that image than the image of a good but historically unexceptional pitcher I've had for years. He had a very good five year peak, but perhaps this stabbing wound (if that is indeed what turned him from excellent pitcher to dreck) cost him a Hall of Fame career (give him another good season and maybe a decline year or two and he surpasses 200 wins and 3000 innings, perhaps around 55 WAR - not a great selection in hindsight, but not one worth complaining about).

Hmmm ... after 2009 ...

Lopez <1 WAR
Lowe 0 WAR
Vargas 18 WAR, 9 of it before FA in 2014
Danks 8 WAR, 5 of it in 2010

White Sox would have lost a bit in 2010 then won the trade after that. The Ms later traded Vargas's last pre-FA year for a 3-WAR year from Kendrys Morales. Vargas just kept (maybe keeps) exceeding expectations.

SP: Bob Friend (40.8 WAR)

Bref shows him with 46.8

most lifetime WAR, losing lifetime record

1 Bobo Newsom 51.3
2 Nap Rucker 47.1
3 Bob Friend 46.8
4 Murry Dickson 43.0
5 Tom Candiotti 42.3
6 Danny Darwin 40.3

At the top of the page it shows him with 40.8, the combined total of his pitching and (terrible) hitting.

Man, that was some terrible hitting -- 121/150/144 with a 29% K-rate. A career 178 BABIP which is hard even for a pitcher.

Which raises the question -- which position player loses the most WAR due to his pitching? I don't know that there have been enough with enough innings to matter. The occasional old guy who was a genuine 2-wayer surely pitched well enough to add WAR. I looked up Kieschnick and he was average in his 96 innings (more than I realized ... and with a better FIP than ERA!) Looking back, I'm not sure why that experiment ended. In 2003 he was solid with the bat and worth 1.2 WAR overall; in 2004 he got pretty good results on the mound but was lousy at bat but still 0.7 WAR total which is fine for a reliever/pinch-hitter. He hit well but pitched terribly at AAA in 2005.

EDIT: Despite Maddon's best efforst, Ohtani still has positive WARpit; Ankiel does too of course.