Day Twenty: Pee Wee Briley

When a guy has a good nick-name it can really go a long ways. Especially when that nick-name really just seems like it should be his name. Greg Briley was called Pee Wee and I'm not really sure I have ever referred to him as Greg. I always knew that this was his name, as it was always written on his baseball cards (and I'm pretty fond of any Topps Gold Cup Rookie cards such as the 1990 edition above. Griff has a great one that year as well.), but nobody I know ever called him anything but Pee Wee. And from 1989 to 1992 he was a significant figure in the ever evolving cast of characters that flanked Ken Griffey Jr in centerfield.

So as you can see above, Pee Wee had a solid rookie season in 1989. Both him and Junior looked on the brink of stardom. Honestly, it is hard to fathom now because history tells a different story obviously, but in 1990 Briley was poised for big things. He played a lot of left field in those first two seasons, anchoring a solid defensive outfield with Griffey and Darnell Coles and then in his third year playing pretty much everyday with Buhner and Griffey. He could steal bases as well, but never had much more than a man named Pee Wee's worth of pop in his bat. Looking back at the numbers in Baseball Reference right now he was actually a negative wins above replacement guy in 1991. Strange to think that, but algorithms and computer hiveminds don't lie! All I remember is that in 1991 Pee Wee Briley was part of that special group of up and comers who cracked .500 for the first time in Mariners' history. That whole lineup is etched in my mind. And Pee Wee holds a corner outfield spot in my heart. Not much more to say about Briley than that. And I wanted to make sure that someone who wore glasses but didn't look like a dork followed up the inexcusably awkward looking Pete O'Brien. Thanks for 4 seasons of baseball and a short stint as an original Florida Marlin, Pee Wee!

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