The All-Judicial Team

Greetings #Kernels fans. Baseball is upon us again, and tomorrow happens to be the one-year anniversary of our "independence", let's call it, from ESPN, so maybe this will become an annual tradition.

Anyway, you may know that the Yankees acquired Brandon Drury last week, leading to all kinds of "Judge and Drury" (as in "jury") quips. We've also had occasion to watch Red Sox minor-leaguer Ryan Court (see final entry) in Pawtucket for the past couple years and always wanted to see a trade put him and Aaron Judge together. When Friend of Kernels @ZackRaab asked if there had ever been a player named Verdict, the inspiration was born for one of our famous "all-subject teams".

There have been four or five of these over the years, such as the All-Weather Team ("Flash" Gordon, Tim Raines, J.T. Snow), the All-Food Team (Chili Davis, Mark Hamburger, Felix Pie), and even an All-Double-Name Team (Wes Westrum, Jose Jose (who really exists), Dave Davidson). If we can dig any of them up, we'll post them for old time's sake. Or as an annual anniversary gift at the end of February.

The idea/format is to create a complete 25-man roster with the standard eight defensive positions, a DH, a five-pitcher starting rotation, and then as many bench and bullpen guys as needed who also fit the theme. Usually we end up with a closer and a couple managers/coaches as well. Each player (except for the 26th man who gets called up for doubleheaders) must have appeared in the majors at some point, even if just for one game, and played a decent amount of time at the position we slot him for (not necessarily "primary position", just enough that we'd feel comfortable putting him there for any one particular game). We don't make a lineup (that's the manager's job, duh), just present them all in order with a brief career description and some fun "whatever happened to" tidbits. And we try, whenever possible, to avoid using the same name more than twice.

So with the background out of the way, we present the Kernels "All-Judicial Team", with the relevant topic about trials and procedure underlined in the name. Consider yourself (Scott) Service-d and we'll see you in (Ryan) Court.



Starters

C Johnny (Approach the) Bench 1967-83
ROY 1968, MVP 1970 and 1972, HOF 1989. Seventeen years with Reds, led majors in home runs twice and RBIs three times. Remains only player in Reds history with 2,000+ hits and 300+ homers. Hosted "The Baseball Bunch" which some of us remember watching every week in the early '80s. Also committed no runs, no drips, and no errors.

1B David Justice 1989-2002
Three-time All-Star, one of 137 players with 300 career HR & 1000 career RBI. Hit solo homer which stood up for 1-0 victory in Game 6 of 1995 WS (Atlanta's only title); also won WS with Indians in '97. Yes, we know he was an outfielder for most of his career, but he won 1990 ROY as a first baseman, and we need one, so we're trotting him back out there. As of 2015, lived in San Diego, coaches a bunch of his kids' teams, and "has a taxi service" shuttling them all around.

2B Jurickson Profar 2012-
Current utility infielder for Rangers. Upon his callup, was the first player born in 1993 to make the majors. Hit home run in first at-bat. Played for Dutch teams in both Little League World Series and World Baseball Classic.

SS Craig Counsell 1995-2011
1624 games over 16 seasons, mostly with Arizona and Milwaukee. Won WS with Marlins in '97 and D'backs in 2001; scored winning run in the former on Edgar Renteria's walkoff single. Current Brewers manager.

3B Vance Law 1980-91
Eleven seasons, mostly with White Sox and Expos. All-Star with Cubs in 1988 when he had career-highs of .293 and 78 RBI. Coached BYU baseball from 2000 to 2012, now a development coach for the Sox. Also pitched in 7 games because Expos.

LF Barry (Bail) Bonds 1986-2007
You might have heard of him.

CF George Case 1937-47
Four-time All-Star in 10 seasons with Senators. Only player to led the majors in stolen bases five seasons in a row (1939-43). Lost a 100-yard dash to Jesse Owens in one of Bill Veeck's famous promos. New Jersey native; coached Rutgers to its only College World Series appearance (1950) and then coached for several major-league teams in the '60s. Died in 1989.

RF Aaron Judge 2016-
2017 ROY with Yankees. Led American League in all three true outcomes (52 HR, 127 BB, 208 K). Set major-league record for strikeouts in a season if you include the playoffs.

DH Al Chambers 1983-85
Aaron Judge has his chambers and so do we. Number-one draft pick in 1979 but appeared in only 57 games with Mariners over three seasons, hitting .208. Returned to his home area of south central Pennsylvania and (as of 2004) worked for Hershey Foods mixing chocolate syrup.



Bench

LF/3B Bobby Scales (of Justice) 2009-10
14th-round pick of the Padres in 1999, floundered in minors for 11 years before finally getting an injury callup with the Cubs. Stayed for about a year and a half before doing two stints in Japan. Hit .248 with 3 homers. Became director of player development for the Angels and is now a "special assistant".

C Jimmy Peoples (Exhibit 1) 1884-89
Six-year veteran of the old American Association, mostly with the Brooklyn Grays. Hit .211 with an OPS of .532. Committed 168 passed balls (still good for 58th all-time) but never led the league. Umpired for a few years before returning to Detroit and going into real estate.

IF Jeff Cross (Examination) 1942-48
Had an RBI single in his only game with the Cardinals in 1942 before joining the Navy. Returned in '46 and played 50 games a season until the Cubs purchased him in '48 and sent him to the minors, after which he moved to Houston and became an insurance agent.

OF Choo Freeman 2004-06
Real name Raphael. Hit .225 in parts of three seasons with Rockies. Got nickname because his grandmother's house backed to some train tracks and he would always ask when the choo-choo was coming. Had a hip replacement in 2007 and had to retire. Now runs a youth baseball academy in Dallas.



Rotation

SP Vern Law 1950-67
Father of our 3B Vance Law. 364 starts over 16 seasons, all with Pirates (interrupted by two years in Korean War). All-Star, Cy Young, and World Series winner in 1960. Hurt his ankle while celebrating the pennant win that year, then tore a shoulder muscle as a result of having to change his mechanics, and struggled for several seasons thereafter. 119 career complete games and 2672 innings. Also hit .216 with 11 career homers. Is an ordained Mormon priest.

SP Jim (Side) Barr 1971-83
Pitched 12 seasons for Giants and Angels, hit 230 IP five years in a row. Held record for consecutive batters retired (41) for about 35 years. In final season, was fined for flipping the ball at manager Frank Robinson upon being removed. Later spent 16 years as pitching coach at Sacramento State.

SP Mike Witt(ness) 1981-93
Two-time All-Star with Angels, is in their HOF largely thanks to the 11th perfect game in MLB history (1984). Third in Cy Young voting in 1986 but had an ERA over 4 every year after that. Led majors in earned runs allowed in 1989. Traded to Yankees in 1990 for Dave Winfield. Took up high school coaching to watch his kids grow up and still does it in Orange County.

SP Vern Ruhle 1974-86
Over 1400 innings in 13 years, mostly with Tigers and Astros. Went 12-4 with a 2.37 in guiding Houston to playoffs in 1980. Gave up Hank Aaron's 2,210th career RBI to break Babe Ruth's then-record. Coached for several other teams, including Astros and most recently Reds, until his death in 2007.

SP Tommy Fine 1947-50
Started on wrong foot with Red Sox by bringing his wife to spring training. Minor-league career then interrupted by a burst appendix and World War II and didn't make majors until age 32. Only pitched 36 innings in 1947 despite starting seven times. Unremarkable stint with Browns in 1950, then hung around minors for six more years. Was called to play winter ball in Cuba as a late replacement for Hoyt Wilhelm, and ended up throwing only no-hitter in Caribbean Series history (and came three outs from consecutive ones).



Bullpen

RP Ryan Sherriff 2017-
2010 pick of Nationals out of high school but didn't sign and played one year at Glendale Community College before the Cardinals drafted him in 2011. Got major-league callup last August to replace Trevor Rosenthal. Pitched 14⅓ innings over 13 games. Also pitched for
Israel in WBC qualifiers last year (his grandparents were Holocaust survivors).

RP Hung* (Jury) Chih Kuo 2005-11
212 relief appearances in seven years with Dodgers, starter for parts of 2006 and 2007 after triple-A tried to convert him. Became first Taiwanese player to homer in the majors (June 12, 2007) and celebrated accordingly. Also first Taiwanese All-Star (2010) as injury replacement for Jason Heyward. Granted free agency after his fifth elbow surgery and is now playing back in Taiwan.
* His name is alternately listed with either an O or a U, but Baseball Reference uses the U, and dammit, we needed the bat flip in there.

RP Jailen Peguero 2007-08
25 appearances with Diamondbacks. WHIP of almost 1.8. Hung around on a couple minor-league contracts, then played in Mexico until 2014 and two years in indie-ball. Got only major-league win when Jeff Salazar hit a walkoff homer against the Giants.

RP Jim Constable 1956-63
56 games over parts of five seasons including the Giants' last in New York and first in San Francisco. Nicknamed "Sheriff" in his playing days. (He and Ryan have an ongoing feud over this in our clubhouse.) Career ERA 4.87, hit .235 but never scored a run nor drove one in. Was waived twice during the 1958 season, then had a mental breakdown while playing winter ball in Cuba (also, Castro took over) and took three years off. Returned to finish his career with Giants, then eventually became a teacher.

RP Gus (Pro) Bono
Real name Adlai. Four games for Senators at end of 1920 season. Lost two of them. Threw a no-hitter for the "Shreveport Gassers" (really) in 1919 and later led them to that year's Texas League title. Moved to Detroit and became a millwright at a steel company until his death in 1948.

RP Jason (Witness) Standridge 2001-07
127 innings over 80 games, mostly with Rays. Made seven starts in 2003 and lost five of them. In only career plate appearance, drew a walk and was then caught stealing. Had a couple of spring-training invites but has otherwise been playing in Japan since 2007.

CL Mike Marshall 1967-81
Screwballer who won NL Cy Young in 1974 while setting a major-league record for appearances with 106. Two-time All-Star and three-time Reliever Of The Year. Holds a doctorate from Michigan State in kinesology-- an interest he developed after being injured in a car accident at age 11-- and was the one to suggest that Tommy John have Tommy John Surgery. Arrested for disorderly conduct in 1982 after throwing a baseball at the truck of a local dogcatcher. Still does pitching consults.



Staff

Manager: Scott Servais (of a summons)
Catcher for 11 seasons, mostly with Astros and Cubs. Hit .245, made one postseason appearance (1998 Cubs). Led majors in errors by a catcher in 1995. Served as assistant GM of the Angels alongside Bobby Scales. Current manager of Seattle Mariners.

Bench Coach: Tom Lawless
Quintessential "fifth infielder" 1982-90, mostly with Cardinals. Max playing time was 59 games with Jays in 1989. Hit .207 with three career homers, but one of those was a go-ahead shot in Game 4 of the 1987 World Series. Interim manager for Astros in 2014 when Bo Porter got fired. Also famous as the only player ever traded for Pete Rose (from Expos, August 1984).



26th man for DH

IF Ryan Court 2011-
23rd-round pick of Diamondbacks in 2011, but never got above double-A. Spent 2015 in indie-ball and got noticed by Red Sox, spent last two years in Pawtucket but has still never made majors. Currently in Cubs camp as a non-roster invitee.