Milk Carton All-Stars of the Week.....12/3/2009

As promised, we doubled up the Milk Carton All-Star of the Week in honor of Tiger Thursday(or Two-time Thursday, whichever you prefer). This week, we have two fire-balling closers whose 15 minutes expired about 15 minutes ago.

The hefty gentleman to your left is journeyman Bob Wickman. Wickman started out his as a set-up man with the Yankees from 1992 to 1997, when he ended in Milwaukee. He wouldn't emerge as a closer until 1998 when he closed out 25 games for the Brewers. He followed that up by saving 37 games the following year. Wickman would make the biggest name for himself in Cleveland, where led the league in saves with 45 in 2005 and became the Indians' all-time saves leader with 130 in 2006. He was then traded to Atlanta, where his penchant for loading the bases up before closing out games made Braves fans sweat during 9th innings like Patrick Ewing during the playoffs. All in all, the hefty right-hander notched 267 saves in his 15 seasons(good for 25th best all-time) and made two All-Star game appearances. However, the nail in his coffin as a closer came when he gave up a grand slam to Adam Dunn in extra innings and then complained to Braves manager Bobby Cox about having to closer in non-save situations. That led to his release and subsequent arrival in Arizona, where he became Jose Valverde's caddy.

The man with the sweet chin hair next to him is hard-throwing Billy Koch. Koch was the 4th overall pick in the 1996 Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. Koch's triple-digit fastball made him an instant hit with Canadians(who aren't used to speed outside of a mountie on a galloping horse) and Koch notched 31 saves in his rookie season(which was good enough to make him 7th in RoTY voting behind eventual winner and New York Met waste-of-space Carlos Beltran). Koch continued to dominate the 9th inning his next two years in Toronto, saving 33 and 36 games in 2000 and 2001 respectively. He was then traded to Oakland for former Rookie of the Year Eric Hinske. Koch blew up in his first year with the A's, busting out 44 saves before then-Twins catcher A.J. Pierzynski served up Koch's career kill shot by going yard in Game 5 of the ALDS. Koch's career would never be the same afterwards. He was traded to the White Sox for closer Keith Foulke and would only save 19 games in two seasons in the Windy City before ending his career with the Florida Marlins at age 29 in 2004. In his short career, the Rick Vaughn clone struck out 357 batters in 407 innings and saved 163 games in his 6 year career.

So let's give a round of applause to the two biggest examples that quality closers can come from anywhere.......Bob Wickman and Billy Koch, ladies and gents!