An all-star in 1983, Atlee Hammaker pitched for 12 years in the majors, going 59-67 with a 3.66 ERA. He pitched from 1981-1995 for the Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He won 12 games for the Giants in 1982, then won 10 more to go with a league-leading 2.25 ERA in 1983. He was a 10-game winner again in 1987 for the Giants and pitched for the team when reached the World Series in 1989, where they took on the Oakland A’s. Hammaker pitched in two games of the series and surrendered four runs in two innings.
Mark Salas caught for eight seasons in the majors, breaking in with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1984 and finishing with the Detroit Tigers in 1991. In 509 games he hit .247 with 38 home runs. He was mainly a reserve, but did play in 120 games for the Minnesota Twins in 1985. The year was his best at the plate as he hit .300 while setting career highs in home run (9), RBIs (41) and runs scored (51).
Rich Yett won 22 games while pitching for the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians from 1985-1990. He had his best year while pitching for Cleveland in 1988 as he won nine games while throwing a career best 134.1 innings.
Letters From Home Plate 
3 thoughts on “Swings and misses”