You may not remember the way Dickie Thon was celebrated because his stardom was so meteoric. His 1982 stats tie him with Dale Murphy for 7th in the NL in WAR; in 1983 he was at the top of the NL - at the age of 25. 20 HR in the Astrodome!
But injuries befell him and he never had another year with 300 ABs til his 30s.
Oh yeah, I definitely remember how much promise he had before he got beaned by Mike Torrez of all people. I had forgotten that his hype was that heavy.
You may not remember the way Dickie Thon was celebrated because his stardom was so meteoric. His 1982 stats tie him with Dale Murphy for 7th in the NL in WAR; in 1983 he was at the top of the NL - at the age of 25. 20 HR in the Astrodome!
But injuries befell him and he never had another year with 300 ABs til his 30s.
Oh yeah, I definitely remember how much promise he had before he got beaned by Mike Torrez of all people. I had forgotten that his hype was that heavy.