MLB Prime 9: Greatest Teenage Seasons

[Music] welcome to prime nine the countdown show that covers the very best in baseball guaranteed to start arguments not end in this episode it's the nine greatest teenage seasons why nine that's baseball nine players nine innings prime nine [Music] you don't often see a teenager make much of an impact in major league baseball there's the young right-hander dwight gooden for someone under the age of 20 to simply play on a regular basis is quite an accomplishment much less excel [Music] our precocious players had to have played during the modern era and still been a teenager on june 30th at least halfway through the calendar year wally bunker has been a godsend to the baltimore pitching staff the rookie right-hander will be gunning for his 14th victory today and we only looked at what they did during the regular season of that year there is the first home run of his career a couple became hall of famers others had much shorter career arcs so here they are the nine greatest teenage seasons starting with number nine on prime night and here are some of the cubs who sparked their pennant drive bill cabareta first baseman when you hear phil cavaretta you immediately think of who is he this is a man that played 20 years with the chicago cubs and while he'd play in three all-star games and win an mvp award in 1945 his rookie season was also special in 1935 as an 18 year old he was the everyday first baseman with the chicago cubs he played on a pennant winning team and actually played in the world series as an 18 year old he was surrounded by chuck klein and gabby hartnett and two 20-game winning pitchers lon warnicky and bill lee so he was on a tremendous cubs team in fact one of the best cubs teams in history clubs in 1935 were a heck of a ball club they go 23-3 in september which included a 21-game win streak cavalry is there every step of the way as chicago is making this run to 100 wins in the national league pennant in 1935 and that's why he's special he is an everyday player at the age of 18 years old just do not see this in major league history how rare was phil's feet well his time in the field and productivity are unmatched by any player in his age 18 season for a teenager to come into that situation especially with the cubs independent race to do what he did simply amazing our next teenage sensation is best known to some as the national league manager of the year in 1998. larry durker the sixth rookie manager in the history of major league baseball in a division of title others recall him as a long-time announcer for the houston astros anytime either one of these guys walks out to the mound you could see a shutout or possibly is the pitcher who threw a no-hitter in 1976. [Music] [Applause] everyone here's the name larry durkin they immediately think of a man that wore many hats with the houston astros but so many people forget that his first hat was actually of a teenage pitching phenom and a rare one indeed for he made his major league debut for the houston cult 45s on his 18th birthday in september of 1964. i was so young it was just overwhelming when i got to the ballpark they had a big birthday cake there and i had to pose for pictures with some of the other players and then i remember the first inning was willie mays and i threw a slider that started out at him and he bailed out and it broke over the inside part of the plate so that was my first strikeout of my career well fanning maze on your 18th birthday is a good start but it was his second full season at the age of 19 that earned him a place in this show he won 10 games against eight losses had a 318 era in 187 innings if the numbers don't jump out and grab at you inside the numbers there are some things that make dirker very valuable if you look at how he was used if you look at the defense behind him durker really comes out and looks to be an amazingly valuable player it's the era of the picture the dominating picture so for a teenage pitcher to toe the rubber in the mid-1960s and to have some level of success is truly a remarkable accomplishment he could hide the ball real well and when you can hide the ball real well from hitters you're going to be successful he was a kid that feared nobody including all the great ball players that he faced and consequently became one of the greatest pictures of the use of naturals ever had well larry's first impression of houston must have hit home for he made it his home and over his pitching career and then his broadcasting career and his managing career all with the astros he kind of emerged as mr astro the face of a franchise and it all began as a fresh face in [Music] 1964. [Applause] yes thinks that that guarantee and they immediately think of 1997 world series but in may 1996 we first saw a glimpse of what type of ball player edgar renteria could be here is edgar renteria and just over the globe of gomez and he has his first major league single and renteria is well on his way in his major league career when edgar renteria came up as a 19 year old in 1996 he put together a really special year a home run there is the first home run of his career if you look at all the shortstops in the national league in 1996 with at least 450 plate appearances rentaria's ops plus was the second best behind barry larkin his batting average was the highest edgar hits it into right field marlins are on the board this guy's a good looking player i could tell you when the first time i saw edgar entering there was the look of a guy that not only skill wise but his maturity renter here trying to pick up another rbi and he does we had a solid young player that was the future a championship future the following year after edgar was no longer a team and once again was responsible for the eventual world series winning run i'd like to be better than sir williams i feel that once i get going i can probably be a better all-around player bold words indeed from a 19 year old playing his first year of big league ball for his hometown team tony of course debuted as a kid who was actually living at home with mom and dad leaving for the ballpark after eating his conflicts in the morning is it tougher for a local boy to play for his own home club at times at times it is because a lot of the people expect a home run every time with the [Applause] plates the fans loved him tony was a young guy good looking guy he was a natural hitter you have a natural ability to wait longer than somebody [Applause] else i developed a swing where i can wait just a second longer than the normal hitter i think because i've made my bat real quick uh-oh deep to left home run i don't want to be an average big leaguer i want to be a great big leaguer tony c hit 24 homers his rookie year for boston still the most home runs ever hit in a teenage season well stroke to left and conigliaro has come up with another long home run the fans just took the tony at his hitting exploits all of a sudden the red sox had some new things to climb aboard with he continued to thrive for the next three campaigns but at the age of 22. one pitch changed everything and a sickening moment turned the hero into a hospital case to whom baseball might just be something in a scrapbook tony would play just four more seasons but the excitement he generated in boston as a 19 year old will live on forever he had something going for him he had the charisma he had the talent and he could have been one of the all-time great players five this husky teenager is robert william andrew feller of van meter iowa that fastball was famous all over the state when he was a school boy when bob feller burst onto the scene he was clearly a phenom and in fact in many ways he was the second coming of walter johnson he clearly was poised to inherit the mantle of the hardest throwing pitcher in baseball just 17 years old in 1936 rapid robert instantly made a name for himself when he found 15 batters in his first big league start he went on to become one of the most feared pitchers in the game it was hard to see the ball there were times when he'd throw that thing you just you couldn't hardly follow it one time in spring training they clocked this fastball with methods that are not as modern as today 113. he could really throw bingo but that ball was traveling better than 100 miles an hour i don't care when he was pitched whether it was 1910 or 2010. he could throw hard i'm not sure we'll ever see another teenager burst out of the scene the way bob feller did back in the mid 30s and it was as a 19 year old in 1938 that this fireballing phenom unfurled a record-setting season adding to his growing legend fowler 1938 was a really special pitcher when it comes to great teenage seasons he threw 277 innings won 17 games and proved to be as unhittable as any other pitcher in all of baseball and he had yet to turn 20. at the time it was the most strikeouts any teenager had had in the modern era and still to this day is the second most for any teenage pitcher the fascination feller fueled that season wasn't confined to strikeouts for he topped 200 in more than just that category feller not only struck at 200 he also walked 200 in the modern era of baseball only one other pitcher has ever done that nolan ryan did it twice feller went on to become a hall of fame pitcher no surprise to those who saw him in that magical year of 1938. the season still holds up and creates a little bit of wonderment and awe to think that he was doing this as a 19 year old there's a pretty good pitcher named bob feller and you've been compared to him uh how does that strike you i just hope i have the same kind of career he did uh i've only been up one year now and there's a long way to go i hope you want to talk about a picture bursting onto the scene it was wally bunker his first three starts were complete game victories he won his first six decisions as a major league pitcher simply amazing brooks robinson and aparicio lead the charge to congratulate bunker baltimore got so caught up in the exploits of this 19 year old they christened his mound bunker hill and it was there bunker battled batters with not much more than a two-pitch arsenal wally bunker was more of a fastball pitcher he threw both a four-seam rising fastball as well as a two-seam sinking fastball he had a heavy sinker that mickey mantle once described as being one of those sinkers in which he could break your back while kids his age were dancing at sock hops bunker was socking it to batters with a season that has stood the test of time we're all teenage pitchers since 1901 those 19 wins are the most that 792 winning percentage is the highest bunker had an amazing season but you wonder how he did it one of the unique things about bunker was he was not a strikeout pitcher what he relied on was lots of ground balls the infield defense behind bunker and 64 was quite impressive they had the highest fielding percentage in the league and that's what bunker needed because he wasn't striking guys out bunker was hit lucky in 1964. but wally's luck didn't last long for he was out of baseball by the age of 26 still he will always be remembered for his battles on bunker hill at the tender age of 19. wally bunker is a good example of someone who comes up like a ball of fire with great promise but as we know with pitchers it doesn't always work out that way and bunker although he had a major league career he went on to not fulfill the kind of promise that he indicated in his rookie year in the fall of 1925 as a 16 year old a louisiana native named mel ott came to new york for a tryout with the new york giants he put on a hitting display that had them all talking one look at malott told mcgraw he had something here john mcgraw said this kid's got the most natural swing i've seen in years he's going to be one of the greatest left-handed hitters the national need to see and he's 16 years old mel made his major league debut when he was just 17. but mcgraw was careful to ease him along and it wasn't until 1928 that he finally got the chance to play most every day he promptly put up numbers never before produced by a teenager some of which remain first for a teen all time [Music] as a 19 year old ball player in the mid-1920s to be able to put up those statistics is downright remarkable it was just the start of ott's hall of fame career the following year he hit 42 home runs and had 151 rbis a pair of marks that no 20 year old has matched since and unlike some young stars whose flame soon burns ox mel had decades of success still to come for 22 years melhaut was a consistently dominant presence in the national league the man they called master melvin had a leg kick swing perfect for the short porch at the podograms together they helped him to a bevy of firsts on his way to 511 home runs with that unorthodox batting style he became the new york giants greatest slugger he was the youngest player to reach a hundred home runs 200 home runs first national ball player to get 300 home runs 400 home runs 500 home runs he's just doing phenomenal things at an early age and doing things that had never been seen and haven't been seen since we now return to prime nine where in this episode we're spotlighting baseball's greatest teenage seasons our selections all had to have played during the modern era and they had to have still been a teenager halfway through the calendar year [Music] here then are the men who had the two greatest teenage seasons out of thousands upon thousands of big league ball players we begin with number two you remember gary yeah i remember the kid and here's the starting picture gary nolan for cincinnati start his career he impressed everybody gary nolan broke in as a youngster it was an amazing pitcher right from the start the way gary nolan burst onto the scene was a personification of the latter part of the decade of 1960s the power picture the pure force the pure power out of high school for less than a year the 18 year old incredibly struck out three batters in his first big league inning of work struck him out on a curveball i didn't know i was the most impressive young pitcher i have ever seen and everybody agree with me gary nolan a young veteran the way he throws the ball i say wow he's going to be a great pitcher because he truly bought down very low and the ball explodes came up on the ears and that was tough even the very best in the game were left flailing at this kid's stuff so remember i thank you faith for the first time willie mays and he struck him out four times and nobody did that before i remember willie come back the next day and say hey you know who i am i say no sir he said well i will amaze you congratulations throughout the 67th season the rookie who turned 19 in may gunned them down one after another if you could finish the season with a 14-8 record and strike out over 200 baddies as a teenager that is just simply amazing he followed up his rookie season with a number of solid years gary nolan just was outstanding his first few years and he got a lot of respect from that unfortunately he also had a lot of arm trouble and retired at the age of 29 but nolan's teenage season lives on forever the 19 year old rookie in 1967 he was one of the outstanding pitchers in baseball this was the question is this guy really 19 19 years old there's the young right-hander dwight gooden he was so good it was a joke he had a fastball no one else had mixed with a curveball that no one else had he just mowed down the entire league he will not turn 20 until november he's a young 19. after a brief stay in the minors doc came to the mets camp in 1984. i got to spring training very excited you know just been removed from high school a year and a half earlier but he had far from high school stuff gets his first strike out here from the first part of the season he showed that he really belonged in the major leagues as far as talent he was beyond his years he has been brilliant today facing doc when he first came up you really got into the batter's box and weren't too confident that things were going to work out your way he got him with a fastball and that may be the best fastball he's thrown tonight you knew that it was going to be a tough night he could throw that fastball in an area where it looked good to the eye but by the time he got ready to swing at the ball had a lot of movement and the equalizer was the breaking ball at 19 or 20 he was able to throw that 3-2 curve ball and it would be a consistent pitch dwight gooden has just shocked the world of sports by being so successful at such a young age i've read quotes from sandy koufax and bob gibson saying there was no way i could have done what dwight gooden did at his age like mesmerized some of the best hitters in baseball at the 84 all-star game going out there and facing american guys for the first time at 19 years old my first year in the major leagues and i was very very nervous duck was so nervous he struck out the side in his first all-star inning after all-star break that's when i really knew that i belonged and i had a good shot at you know being very successful by season's end dr k had fanned more batters than any teenager in the modern effort when doc was 19 it very much looked like men against boys but in this case it was a youngster who was the man and it was grizzled major league hitters who were the boys before we go we'd like to cite two extraordinary players who did debut in the big leagues as teenagers but didn't post the kind of first-year numbers needed to make this show both mickey mantle and ken griffey jr were signed straight out of high school and both reached the majors at the age of 19. well here's a young fella who's the story of spring training in the mariners camp 19 years old but while their rookie seasons left them just a bit short for this episode they did between them go on to hit more than 1100 home runs [Applause] and they appeared on 29 all-star teams but there is one major difference between these two elite center fielders mantle played in 12 world series and earned seven rings in his 22 years of big league ball junior never even reached the fall classic that's our prime nine what's yours

Channel: cacable7

Views: 10,006

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Id: hlw7YGRNAtg

Length: 22min 0sec (1320 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 24 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/gaytham4statham]

There have been 2 of the greatest teenage seasons in history in DC since this video aired, I think it's time for a new list

[u/TheFriffin2]

Juan Soto was 12 years old when this episode aired wtf