Remembering Phil Plantier

Different people think of different things when you mention Phil Plantier. Massholes remember him tearing up the American League in 53 games as a rookie in '91 and falling on his face the following season. San Diegans remember him letting loose with 34 home runs in '93 and falling on his face the following season.

I am neither of those but I remember that part of his career as well. After he left the Pads the second time (his initial exodus being, along with Broke, part of the 12-player deal that got us Finley and Cammy), I lost track of him. In fact, until I looked at his Baseball-Reference page, I was unaware that he was part of the exclusive Three-Times Padres Club (Trivia: Who were the others?). He last appeared in the majors at the age of 28, finishing the '97 season with the Cardinals after being jettisoned by the Friars again, this time in a 6-player deal that included Fernando.

Yeah, different people think of different things when you mention Phil Plantier, be it any of the above, his sitting-on-an-invisible-chair batting stance or even the houseplant they named after him. But I'm willing to bet that the majority of baseball fans remember him somehow.