Rick Wilkins
Sometimes when I mess around with the Showdown Bot , I'll come across something peculiar and end up down a rabbit hole. Take Rick Wilkins for example, a man who started off anonymously enough and ultimately ended up on a merry-go-round of teams to end his career. 1991, starting off behind the plate in Chicago. Nothing special, maybe a lack of power but as far as catchers go the defense holds up... 1992. Ok, the power seems to be even more lacking, but he maintains that defense and even improves on his on-base. Even cuts down on the strikeouts and even reaches base a bit more. 1993. Holy crap. From ho-hum to amazing. 30 home runs in real life and his card is pretty nice as a result. Defense blasts off from +7 to +11 and the on-base is fantastic for any position, let alone the defensive minded catchers spot. Can he maintain this? In a word...no. True, 1994 was shortened, but most people figured that insane '93 season was a blip on the radar for Wilkins. Everything regressed to t