Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Da Wrestling Board. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Baseballers of Lesser Note: Mike Lansing
Topic Started: Nov 30 2010, 02:29 PM (1,852 Views)
Erick Von Erich
Member Avatar
I'm Big E and I tell it like it is
[ *  *  * ]
Hallo there, and welcome to the seventh installment of (Professional) Baseballers of Lesser Note. In which we spotlight some of the distinguished gentlemen who have partaken in the professional gentleman's sport of baseball throughout the various eras encompassing the aforementioned sport.

This week we look at Mike Lansing

Posted Image

What'd He do?
Career stat totals:
9 Seasons / 1110 games/ .271 BA / 84 HR / 440 RBI

What Can You Tell Us About Him?
The pride of Casper, Wyoming's baseball scene (they had one?), Mike Lansing's road to the big leagues was a bit unusual. In 1990 he was picked in the amatuer draft by an independent league team known as the Miami Miracle -- a team that, at one time, was co-owned by Bill Murray (yes, THAT Bill Murray). Due to an agreement with MLB, the Miracle was able to pick in the draft, alongside MLB franchises. Lansing became Miami's shortstop, but with the announcement of the Florida Marlins in July 1991, the Miracle soon faded and Lansing was picked up by the Montreal Expos. He spent 1992 in the Expos' minor league system, then made the 1993 Opening Day roster as the club's backup infielder.

What Happened to Him?
When Delino DeShields left Montreal in the Pedro Martinez trade, Lansing became the team's primary second bagger in 1994. That year the team posted the best record in the majors, but the players' strike prematurely ended their chance at the World Series. While players were seemingly leaving Montreal at an alamring rate, Lansing remained with the club until the end of the 1997 season.

During that time, Lansing became a favorite of Fantasy Baseball Nerds, with his productive second baseman stats. In 1997, he batted .281 with 20 homers and 70 RBIs-- great numbers for "2B" which was traditionally a weak position, in terms of production.

His stats; combined with his Wyoming heritage; led the Colorado Rockies to pursue Lansing as a free agent. Extremely hard. Wyoming receives a good bulk of Rockies' TV and radio, so Lansing helped the team's regional fan appeal. Of course, it helped that Lansing had some of his best games playing against the Rockies in 1996 and 1997.

Lansing, then approaching 30, was given a hefty contract by the Rockies and expectations were huge. Maybe it was the fervor of the Denver Broncos' historic Super Bowl win in January, 1998-- but the Rockies marketed themselves as World Series contenders before the 1998 season, with pre-season labels like: "the Road to the World Series" and other crap. Lansing and fellow free agent signee Daryl Kile (SP) were their primary reasons for this. The Rockies' even began to push Lansing goofy knickname of "Laser".

The Laser never lit up, as Lansing had a decent year in 1998, but not the All-Star year the Rockies expected. The entire team fell well short of expectations, as 1998 was probably the year when the novelty of Rockies baseball died in Denver. It also did not help that Lansing had replaced the popular Eric Young at 2B; a Rockies hero who had made the All-Star squad just two years prior. Things got progressively worse for Lansing in ensuing seasons as injuries began to pile up. Sure, he may have had fans driving down from Casper, but Lansing became quite unpopular in Denver. It was no real fault of his-- he produced decent, but never GREAT numbers. He seemed to floruish in blow-outs, but was awful in the clutch. Fans felt that the Rockies' had been hoodwinked with Lansing. Enitrely appropriate, as they had overpaid drastically for a 30 year old second baseman who was simply mediocre.

Yet in 2000, Lansing hit for the cycle in a rout against the Diamondbacks, needing only four at-bats to do it (an MLB record). But in July, the Rockies finally cut their losses with Lansing and dealt him to the Red Sox in a deadline trade. Lansing batted only .194 down the stretch and was not a positive factor for the Red Sox. He spent one more year as in infielder with the Sox, but was released at the end of the 2001 season. He landed with Triple A Buffalo (Indians), but retired at the end of 2002 due to a nagging back injury.

Eventually, it was indentified in the infamous Mitchell Report that Lansing was a user of steroids. According to the report, Lansing had five separate transactions for human growth hormone in 2002. Whether he had been using before that is questionable and puts his career in a questionable light.

When his career concluded, Lansing returned home to Casper and became active in youth baseball. With all sorts of MLB records for a Wyoming-born player, Lansing is something of an icon in Casper. In 2002, the Pioneer League Casper Rockies built a new stadium and named it "Mike Lansing Field". Although the Rockies have re-named themselves the Ghosts (still affiliated with the MLB Rockies), their stadium remains Mike Lansing Field.

Lansing might be rather forgettable in 49 states, but in Wyoming he's "baseball".
DWS Apparel Store- Buy. Consume. Obey.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
torturedsoulv1
true maharajah Jinder Mahal
[ *  *  * ]
I remember him well and actually thought he was better than the stats you posted
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kagan McDuff
Unregistered

Mike was a real nice guy. I grew up on the same street as he did in Casper.

I was disappointed when the Mitchell Report came out. But it gave me a different perspective on players who used or may have used steroids in that era.

If someone offered you a magic pill, and told you if you take this magic pill you can make $1 million a year, would you take it?
Quote Post Goto Top
 
Erick Von Erich
Member Avatar
I'm Big E and I tell it like it is
[ *  *  * ]
Mike got a bum deal in Denver. He was brought in expected to be an All-Star after fans had been teased with the acquisition of Craig Biggio before the '96 season.

For steroids, since they weren't specifically banned, had I been playing baseball I probably would've at least tried them. Maybe one year... but if my numbers took off and my contract was up the next year... it'd be tough to turn it down for the next year. I'd rationalize it as: "hell, if I shave a year or two off of my life and only live to be 83 instead of 85, but I make a few million more-- shit, why not?"

My steroid stance is: yes, it's unfortunate and embarrassing that it happened. But we can't just wash it away and pretend it didn't happen. We have to live with that stigma. Heck, it might even inspire a guy to hit 74 home runs the "clean" way.


Oh, and welcome about Kagan McDuff. You wouldn't happen to know Rose W. Axl, would you?
DWS Apparel Store- Buy. Consume. Obey.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
« Previous Topic · Sports · Next Topic »
Add Reply