Hey cool, “blog” is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year. How sweet is that?

Anyway, I mentioned last week that while I was in Phoenix I picked up a copy of The Scouting Report: 1990 at a used bookstore. I’ve been flipping through the book every now and then, and I thought it might be fun to take a quick look at some of these while we’re waiting for the 2005 season.

Without further ado, here are a few excerpts from Finley‘s entry found on page 19:

Everyone in the Baltimore organization thinks this 14th-round pick could be a great one… Finley undercut a few balls, and his lean build [he was listed at 6-2, 175 lbs.] is representative of someone who should hit a lot of line drives… He throws well and plays centerfield like a young Fred Lynn… In the International League Finley was considered such an outstanding prospect that some observers rated him a better prospect than Greg Jefferies… He looks like he’s been around forever, though he’s only 24. He really is a natural.

Finley hit .249/.298/.318 in 217 at-bats in his first exposure to the big leagues. Lofty comparisons here. Lynn won the AL ROY and MVP in 1975. He won four Gold Glove awards and was named to nine all-star teams (he also retired as a Padre, following the 1990 season). Jefferies, a former first-round pick of the Mets, had been named Minor League Player Of The Year by Baseball America in both 1986 and 1987.

Here are their respective career totals:

       G   AB    R    H  2B  HR  RBI
SF  2289 8471 1327 2336 405 285 1071
GJ  1465 5520  761 1593 300 126  663
FL  1969 6925 1063 1960 388 306 1111

      BA  OBP  SLG OPS+
SF  .276 .337 .450 108
GJ  .289 .344 .421 106
FL  .283 .360 .484 130

Although Finley’s qualitative numbers are similar to those of Jefferies, Finley has lasted a lot longer. Lynn was a better player than both. If he’d stayed healthy, he’d be a serious HOF candidate right about now.

Factoids about Finley:

• Has never hit .300 in a single season.
• Has hit 10 or more triples in a season five times and is the active leader with 109 career three-baggers.
• Hit more homers at age 39 (36) than between the ages of 27 and 30 (34).
• Didn’t hit more than 11 homers in a season until age 31, when he hit 30.
• Top comps at age 30: Jerry Mumphrey, Mookie Wilson, Brett Butler, Doug Glanville, Dave Martinez, Joe Orsulak, Randy Winn.
• Top comps at age 39: Jose Cruz, Don Baylor, Chili Davis, Dave Parker, Ellis Burks, Tony Perez, Gary Gaetti.
• Is 15 home runs shy of joining Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonds, Andre Dawson, and Willie Mays as the only big-league hitters to hit 300 homers and steal 300 bases in their career.

I’m going to run one or two of these each week during the off-season. Who should I profile next? Candidates include Wade Boggs, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Tony Gwynn, and Deion Sanders. Talk to me. Who’s it gonna be?