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May 21, 2015 4:57 PM

"Of the 17,808 players (and counting) who’ve run up the dugout steps and onto a Major League field, only 974 have had one-game careers." These are some of their stories.
posted by artsandsci (8 comments total)

Well, 974 out of 17,808 does translate to 5.5%, or a solid 1 out of every 20 players. So while one-and-done appearances in the majors must absolutely suck for those players who never get a shot at a second game, statistically speaking they aren't that rare.

I feel especially bad for those who sustained career-ending injuries in their first games, and sometimes in their first at bats. That's some very tough luck.
posted by mosk at 5:06 PM on May 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I guess this focuses on hitters and so doesn't mention the saddest case of all: Larry Yount, who was sent in to pitch the 9th inning but then hurt his elbow throwing warmup pitches and left the game before doing anything. He's credited with a major-league appearance but zero pitches thrown.
posted by vogon_poet at 5:06 PM on May 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

Reminds me of Joe Shlabotnik...
posted by jim in austin at 5:46 PM on May 21, 2015

These are great stories. I love the kid that struck out, hit into a triple play and then a double play in his only game.

Thanks for posting. Fun reading.
posted by AugustWest at 7:08 PM on May 21, 2015

One update on this story is from the last section, on Jeff Banister.

He's now the manager of the Texas Rangers. It's such a shame they're so awful; his time as a Major League manager may end up being protracted as well.
posted by LoRichTimes at 7:57 PM on May 21, 2015

Thanks so much for the post! Excellent! Baseball is my favorite season!
posted by Upon Further Review at 8:52 PM on May 21, 2015

That's more than 1 in 18. The article should be about how weirdly common this is, not making out that it's rare.
posted by w0mbat at 11:27 PM on May 21, 2015

Cup of Coffee players look rarer when you realize that more than ten million "man-games" have been played (MLB passed 200K total games a few years back, and there are 25 players on each team's active roster). So a Cup of Coffee player represents less than one in 10.000 of these.
posted by Etrigan at 3:18 AM on May 22, 2015 [1 favorite]