04/24/24
June 01, 2012
Meet the Cup of Coffee Club: There have been 17,808 players who reached the Major Leagues, 974 of whom only played a single game. The Awl profiles some of these members of the Cup of Coffee Club. "The first batter I faced was Hank Aaron," said pitcher Rex Hudson, whose first and last appearance was on July 27, 1974. Consecutive home runs to Aaron and Dusty Baker ended his day two innings later.
I met one of the members of the Cup of Coffee Club in 2007, former Yankee Hal Stowe. He was sitting next to me in the bleachers at Yankee Stadium for a Yankees/Mets game, along with at least 10 members of his family. He was in town for his 50th wedding anniversary.
He didn't talk too much about his career. He did tell me it was the first time he was back at the stadium since his days with the team. And he claims to have thrown batting practice the day that Maris hit #61.
When I got home that night I tried to look for info online. That's when I saw that he pitched one game in relief in 1960. In '61 he broke camp with the team after receiving the Most Outstanding Young Pitcher Award in spring training. But there was a personality conflict with new manager Ralph Houk. Stowe was kept on the bench until May, when he was sent down to the minors. The Yankees eventually released him in '63. He was picked up by Minnesota in '64, but never reached the majors again.
Here's a story about an unusual win he got while playing for Charlotte.
posted by goddam at 10:14 AM on June 01, 2012
Why wasn't Calvin Schiraldi in that club?
posted by beaverboard at 10:49 AM on June 01, 2012
Why wasn't Calvin Schiraldi in that club?
I'm not sure why he would be? Is there a joke about Schiraldi and coffee?
posted by grum@work at 11:12 AM on June 01, 2012
No comment other than to say what a cool post that was. All hail the insignificant!
posted by tahoemoj at 01:15 PM on June 01, 2012
That would be a bitter pill to swallow. But there are probably some players in the minors in their 30s who are jealous of them.
Since 1980, these players qualify for lifetime healthcare, but 43 days are required to get a yearly pension of $34,000.