Yesterday's Immaculate Grid: #281

01/08/2024

Results - Rarity Score of 132

Anyway

The only problem with writing about the Immaculate Grid is having to share my failures with y’all. Please don’t ask me why I thought Jim Edmonds played at third base for the St. Louis Cardinals. I don’t know. But I do know I should have used Rogers Hornsby instead. I hope you, reader, were smarter than I was.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun with this grid that only features East and Central division teams and the new (?) third base category. Starting with the STL-DET column, I used Vince Coleman, the prolific base stealer and former Rookie of the Year, because my dad taught me about him in one of our conversations about baseball’s speedsters. Fun name alert: that’s the reason I used Buck Farmer, whom I learned after watching a Reds game last year and chuckling at his name. Finishing the DET column is the lesser-known WSH-DET pitcher from the Tigers 2012 postseason staff, Aníbal Sánchez. Not a ton of crazy thinking here, just some first guesses that played out.

Working top to bottom in the BOS column as well, I chose Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley, who won both a Cy Young and MVP as a reliever in 1992. He’s a good one to learn, as he played for five teams across his 24-year career and compiled a decent list of accolades and milestones. Broken record, I know, but it’s former Brave time again with Adam Duvall, who played for CIN before ATL and BOS after his second ATL stint. Jon Lester for WSH-BOS was a bit of a step out on the limb for me, as I remembered his Red Sox tenure, but I wasn’t totally sure about the Nationals appearance. Thankfully, it worked out for me, as I need some kind of win to pick me up before falling off a cliff.

Jim Edmonds is a centerfielder. Not even close. I even contemplated using Rogers Hornsby, the versatile infielder who led the league in every slash line category for six consecutive seasons. Anyway. The Todd-man, Todd Frazier, makes his second appearance in four days for me as CIN’s hot corner mainstay from 2011-2015. Even though I gave up the metaphorical lead in the metaphorical seventh inning, I recovered with journeyman Ildemaro Vargas, who I actually saw play in a game at Nationals Park last summer. 0.6% is not a bad closer. We move. 

Say Hello to Sabo

Today’s history piece is more for me than anything else because this Immaculate Grid summary had a surprise in store. The most popular answer for the Cincinnati Reds third baseman is Chris Sabo. I may be betraying my age a little bit here (or my ignorance), but I’ve never heard of Sabo, so I’ll look at his playing career in order to teach myself something new. 

Born on January 19, 1962 in Detroit, Michigan, Christopher Andrew Sabo grew up in a hard-working family and became a unique three-sport athlete in high school, driven by that familial work ethic. A talented hockey goalie, golfer, and baseball player, Sabo wrestled between hockey and baseball as his future of choice. He ultimately went with the latter. Though drafted by the Montreal Expos out of high school, Sabo chose to play baseball for the University of Michigan, where he manned the infield alongside another future Red in Barry Larkin (Baseball Almanac). After his collegiate career, Sabo was drafted in the second round of 1983 draft by the team with whom he would debut, the Cincinnati Reds. 

Sabo would get the call-up in 1988 and would make his chance well worth it, appearing in 137 games and slashing .271/.314/.414 on his way to a Rookie of the Year award. He would go on to spend the following five years in Cincinnati, including a 1990 World Series win, before signing with the Baltimore Orioles for the 1994 season. His career began to slow down here, as he only appeared in 68 games with the Orioles and went on to play for both Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals in 1995 for a cumulative 25 games. Sabo returned to the Reds who raised him for his send-off season in 1996. Here’s to you, Chris Sabo, and the 14% of people who picked you in this Immaculate Grid so I could learn a little more about baseball’s past.

Spotlight Player

Even though we did a spotlight of sorts already for Chris Sabo, we’ll pick a different player to zero in on for the Grid breakdown. Inspired by Buck Farmer, I’m picking a funny name found in the STL-DET intersection. My pick of the day: Grover Lowdermilk.

Here’s Lowdermilk’s breakdown for the Grid: 

• Pitched for STL, CHC, SLB (BAL), DET, CLE, CHW

• <3.00 ERA Season: SLB x1, SLB/CHW x1

Thanks for reading and Go Braves,

CN

*All statistics and historical information are pulled from Baseball Reference, unless otherwise noted.