Mar 30 2006 10:29 AM
I'll start: Bruce Boisclair, Hanshin Tiger.
By the way, searching for Bruce, I found out that we aced out another site.
The Kranepool Society is now the proud sponsor of the Bruce Boisclair page on baseball-reference.com. Now I know some of you young whippersnappers are saying Bruce who? Boisclair was a Met for his entire career. All 410 games. He started with the Mets in 1974 and lasted till 1979. Boisclair was a lanky type of guy who was primarily a right fielder. My picking Boisclair as a player to sponsor is because my guy, Ed Kranepool has been taken and because when I was in high school Boisclair was with the Mets and I always remember telling my father, “If this guy can play in the big leagues I KNOW I can” uh I was wrong. Click on the link and enjoy the career of Bruce Boisclair.We've really got to get that Society guy posting over here.
Bruce had an unfortunate legacy in Japan, bringing about the end of the tenure of Don Blasingame, who seriously preceded Bobby Valentine as the first American manager of a Japan League team, and was just as enthusaiastic as Valentine about the assignment.
By 1978, Hanshin's pitching staff compiled a 4.79 ERA and the team dropped to sixth place with a 41-80 record. Panic prompted the Tigers' front office to sign Don Blasingame to manage the team. Though he led the team to a 61-60 record in 1979, Blasingame found himself mired in controversy the following year. Refusing to play popular rookie Akinobu Okada, Blasingame ran into trouble with fans and the Hanshin organization.
Dave Hilton, the foreign player who was perceived as blocking Okada from joining the team's infield, began receiving death threats from Tigers fans. Team president Shojiro Ono stepped in and persuaded the manager to release Hilton and give Okada a chance to play. But when the Tigers acquired new foreign player Bruce Boisclair, Blasingame quit, claiming the decision had been made without his approval. Though Okada went on to hit 245 career home runs, Hanshin finished the turbulent 1980 season in fifth place with a 54-66 record.
