Thursday, January 28, 2010

A Danny Clyburn Kind of Day


Danny Clyburn 1997-98

Danny Clyburn is one of those guys that I remember some people had high expectations for, but things just didn't seem to work out. It's kind of like my day today, I was going to get up early and make a nice breakfast for myself before work but then my snooze button didn't work and I overslept. There's not much that Danny or I can do about anything at this point, but it leaves me feeling a little "meh".

Danny was drafted in 1992 by the Pirates in the 2nd round, and as a Pirates fan at the time, it seemed like he was going to be the next big thing. He never even made it to the Majors with the Pirates and was traded twice before making his big league debut with the Birds in 1997. The Reds traded him to Baltimore with another Minor Leaguer for Brad Pennington in 1995. That trade sure seems like a push looking back on it.

Danny ended up playing in only 13 games for the Orioles over his 2 seasons in Baltimore and struck out in nearly half of his at-bats with the team. He was traded to the Devil Rays for Jason Johnson before the '99 season and played in 28 games for Tampa that season which was his last taste of the Major Leagues. He continued to play for the Newark Bears of the Independent Atlantic League through the 2004 season before apparently hanging up his spikes.

As I hope that tomorrow starts out better than today, I wish Danny better luck with his post baseball career.

UPDATE 2/7/11- Unfortunately, Danny was shot and killed today in Lancaster, SC. A suspect is in custody. I'm sorry that your luck didn't improve Danny. RIP.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

RIP Danny :-(

Unknown said...

I remember when Danny played for the Rochester Red Wings (AAA Orioles at the time). When he got hold of a ball it always whent far, kinda reminded me of Sam Horn. I was sad to hear of his tragic passing, it made the loyal news here in Rochester, because he was such a fan favorite.