List of Cups of Coffee

From SoSH

The following List of Cups of Coffee is a list of players who spent just a short amount of time with the Red Sox at the beginning of their career. It is complete from 1993 to 2004.

Contents 1 Hitters 1.1 1993 1.2 1994 1.3 1995 1.4 1996 1.5 1997 1.6 1999 1.7 2001 1.8 2002 1.9 2003 1.10 2004 2 Pitchers 2.1 1995 2.2 1996 2.3 1998 2.4 1999 2.5 2003 2.6 2004

Hitters

1993

• Jeff McNeely - hit .297/.409/.378 in 44 PA. Also stole 6 bases without being caught in only 18 times on base.
• Greg Blosser - former first round pick amassed two hits in 28 at bats in 1993 and one hit in eleven at bats in 1994.
• Luis Ortiz - had six hits in thirty at bats over 1993 and 1994. Drove in six runs in eighteen at bats in 1994.

1994

• Andy Tomberlin - hit .194/.310/.333 in 42 PA. Came up as a pitcher and had a 7-2 record and 92 strikeouts in 92.0 IP over his minor league pitching career. Also pitched two scoreless innings for Boston in 1994.

1995

• Steve Rodriguez - fifth round pick in 1992 had one hit in eight at bats.
• Ron Mahay - strong armed outfielder started five games for the division winners and hit .200/.273/.450 in 21 PA. Has since become a mediocre relief pitcher.

1996

• Greg Pirkl - wildly tattooed, Pirkl struck out in one of his two hitless at bats.
• Alex Delgado - catcher/utility man played in 23 games at C, LF, 3B, RF, 2B, and 1B but only managed 23 at bats. Made the opening day roster.
• Rudy Pemberton - hard-hitting, poor-fielding outfielder got 43 PA in 13 games, hitting .512/556/.780 and earing another 67 PA the next year before he was out of baseball. His 1996 season is among the most successful 40+ AB seasons of all time.
• Arquimedez Pozo - ten hits including a grand slam in 58 at bats.
• Walt McKeel - the Moonlight Graham of the 1996 Sox, caught for exactly one at bat. Eventually got 3 at bats for the 1997 Sox and 13 for the 2002 Colorado Rockies

1997

• Michael Coleman - one time top prospect hit .319/.387/.619 at Pawtucket in 1997 and stole 20+ bases three straight years in the minors, earning him twenty-four uneventful at bats. A classic AAAA player, Coleman has posted a career .825 OPS in over 1000 minor league games and is still kicking around.

1999

• Steve Lomasney - another one time top prospect, this Melrose native posted a .401 OBP in Trenton to earn two at bats on the last day of the 1999 season. Both ended in strikeouts. He is still kicking around the minor leagues.
• Creighton Gubanich - also a catcher, Gubanich became the fourth major league player to hit a grand slam for his first big league hit in May of 1999, which got him forty-seven uneventful at bats.

2001

• James Lofton - kicked around the minors for eight years before hitting .192 in 26 at bats for the Red Sox. Shortstop totalled 3377 minor league at bats.

2002

• Juan Diaz - power-hitting designated hitter/first baseman got two extra base hits (a double and a homer) in his seven at bats. Hit 40 HR in 188 games at Pawtucket.
• Bry Nelson - utility player currently has 4627 minor league at bats. Got into 25 games, mostly as defensive replacement, 34 at bats.

2003

• Andy Abad - first cup of coffee was with Oakland in 2001. Got seventeen at bats with the 2003 Sox. Was the first name alphabetically among active players for a while.

2004

• Earl Snyder - was not a cup of coffee player, but the Red Sox coaching staff thought he was, trying to "get him an RBI" in his only game by sending Bill Mueller to his death at home plate. Snyder had four RBI with Cleveland in 2002.
• Andy Dominique - fat catcher tore up the minors for three years. Did slightly less in Boston.

Pitchers

1995

• Jeff Pierce - lost three out of the twelve games he pitched in, posting a 6.60 ERA.
• Brian Bark - all star outfielder in college pitched well enough as Pawtucket's closer to get a call up. Pitched 2.1 scoreless innings and was out of baseball the next year.
• Matt Murray - allowed 10 runs in 3.1 innnings.
• Brian Looney - crazy guy.

1996

• Ken Grundt - allowed one run in 0.1 innings.
• Brent Knackert - posted a 9.00 ERA in 8 games. Had a great name.
• Kerry Lacy - won two games in 1996 but posted an 0.9 K/BB ratio for his short career.

1998

• Carlos Valdez - let up one hit in 3.1 ip did not allow a run. Did allow five walks and one hit.

1999

• Marino Santana - four innings, three home runs.
• Juan Pena - tragic story. Started off with 8 K in 6 ip allowing one run, then tossed seven shutout innings his next start. Arm problems got to him and his career line is 2-0, 0.69, 15 K, 3 BB, 13 IP.

2003

• Matt White - Rule V draftee, pitched 3.2 innings for the Sox, who traded him and his 11 ER (White managed to let 11 of the 13 men who reached base against him score) to Seattle for Shelton Fulse

2004

• Phil Seibel - didn't allow a run in 3.2 innings, may be back yet.
• Joe Nelson - racked up a 36.00 ERA for the 2001 Atlanta Braves, pitched well enough to earn a spot on the 2004 Sox and lowered his career ERA to 25.07 with 2.2 miserable innnings (which did include 5 K's)
• Jamie Brown - 7.2 innings, 15 hits.