The Colorado Rancheros Deck of Fame

[Tasan]

Ringing Ranchero Field's upper outfield decks are 3ft high concrete ends of the upper decks. On these, it has been decided, we will put 3ft tall by 4ft wide banners commemorating our finest players since our current owner and GM, Tasan, took over the franchise.

The first players inducted are from the Ranchero's run of 12 years as a top franchise in FOOL, 1985 - 1996 (with the exception of one player). This run saw the Rancheros take 3 FOOL titles, 6 straight RL regular season titles from 1988-1993, 2 other 1st places and 4 wild card draws. This great run saw many Ranchero legends born. The first inductees are as follows:

#63 SP Masazumi "Slider" Sanu - 332-170 3.57era 4606 Ks with the Rancheros, 4 time POY, 14 time All star

Slider came to the Rancheros via the now defunct Vulture league after the 1981 season. He signed one of the largest contracts in league history (at the time), 8 years, $148 million. Several owners saw this as a risky move, since many VL pitchers flamed out after coming to FOOL. This was not to be the case for Slider. After 3 so-so seasons and one really nice season to put him "on the map", Slider successfully lobbied Tasan to go to a 4 man rotation and his career became legendary. Slider currently holds the single season record of 353 Ks in 1986, and the is second leading K pitcher in history, only following the legendary Carlos Gonzales. He is the Ranchero career leader in almost every starter stat there is.

#49 CL Felix Padilla

Padilla became the Ranchero's closer in 1989 and never looked back. Over the next 11 years, Padilla amassed over 370 saves to become Colorado's all time save leader at 387. Padilla got his break in the league with Ann Arbor, and overall has the 2nd most saves of all time with 541.

#38 CL Dan Brewer

Dan came to the Rancheros via the previous ownership, but made his mark under Tasan. Upon Tasan arriving in 1974, Dan became the closer for the Rancheros for the 8 seasons (except 1977 when Dan threw a temper tantrum and was demoted to setup man) and amassed 274 saves for the team, 2nd all time. After his stay in Colorado, Dan bounced around the league, finally retiring after the '86 season after only getting to be a full time closer 1 more season.

#58 SP Jose "Husk" Gomez

Husk came to Colorado in the mega deal in which Tasan blew up the team and set in for a rebuild in 1981. Husk was one of two key components of this deal, and paid off mightily in the end. After making the bigs in 1986, Husk went on to win 254 games for the Rancheros, winning 20 games or more 7 times. He also was an all-star 8 times and won 3 POYs during his career. He is 2nd in Colorado annals in Ks and wins, and is 12th and 14th respectivly overall in FOOL leaderboards.

#67 SP Donald "Terror" Long

Terror was drafted by Colorado in 1983, rising quickly to the bigs by 1987. That first season was a bumpy one for him, but afterward he cemented his place in the Ranchero Trio (him, Husk, and Slider) and went on to win 225 games, all in Ranchero yellow and black. His stats were never as pretty as the other 2, but he got the job done, never winning less than 14 games until his final season in 1999. After that disaster of a season, Terror hung up the cleats, 3rd all time in Colorado in wins. He also made the all-star game 5 times, and was POY 2 times.

#42 3B Jorge "Gobbler" Villarreal

Gobbler was the other linchpin in the mega deal that kicked off the Ranchero's rebuilding effort in 1981. After making the bigs a little premature in '83 and '84, then being sent down in '85 to get things right, Gobbler came back in '86 and stayed until the league wide redraft in 2000. Over that time, Gobbler became one of the greatest hitters FOOL has seen, amassing over 3000 hits, 470 HRs, 2000 RBI, and a career OPS of .963. He hit 30+ homers 12 times, more than 200 hits 9 times, and more than 150 RBIs 5 times. He was also a 2 time MVP and 7 time all-star. He owns all but 2 Colorado career offensive records, stolen bases and triples, and although he never had the speed for stealing bases he is 4th in Colorado in triples. Gobbler is, and will probably remain, the all -time FOOL leader in RBIs with 2088. He's also 3rd all time in HRs, behind only the great Hideaki Tanaka and Bobby Barrett. He is 5th in hits, although if the current rumors are correct, he could move up that list some. The Rancheros are prepared to offer him a contract if he decides not to retire this year.

#11 OF Martin Rice

Rice came to Colorado before the '86 season from the New York Panthers as a reaction to Colorado's poor performance vs lefty pitchers in the '85 playoffs. Rice failed to impress his first two seasons, barely coming close to .250 batting, although he did show some of his power. In 1988, everything came together for him, and from the point on he was a mainstay in the Ranchero's OF. Rice hit 396 HRs, 2698 hits, and 1617 RBIs for Colorado, and 426/3054/1767 overall, ranking him among the league's best in those categories. He's pretty much second in most categories in Colorado history, only to Villarreal. Rice was a 3 time all-star.

#39 OF Gonzalo Gonzales

Gonzales also came over in the mega deal kicking off the rebuild in '81, although at the time his future role was unexpected. He matured slowly in the minors, but after making the team in a part time role in 1987, set up shop in the DH and OF slots and didn't give it up until retiring in 1999. Over that time, Gonzales racked up the 3rd most HRs in Colorado history (373), the 4th most hits (1753), and 3rd most RBI (1166). Gonzalo was never a pure contact hitter, but he goes down as one of the best home run hitters of Colorado history, tied for the second best season ever by a Ranchero, with 40 homers in 1991. He was the 1987 rookie of the year and 2 time all-star during his time in Colorado.

#83 OF Dave Carlisle

Dave was drafted by the Rancheros in '82 and had to wait for a while to get a chance in the bigs. A natural CF, Colorado was getting real good play from Sloan Hynes right when Carlisle became ready to go. The Rancheros gambled in '88 and let Hynes go in free agency, and gave Dave his chance. He didn't disappoint either, hitting .361 and winning the Rookie of the year, as well as the hearts and minds of the Colorado faithful. While only getting to see full time duty 3 seasons, Dave started regularly against righties, and was always good for a clutch homer, hit, walk, or stolen base. He even hit over 20 homers twice while playing part time, and 5 times overall. While he doesn't appear high on almost any FOOL leaderboards, he did succeed to get on many Ranchero career boards, and is the all time leader in batting average for Colorado at .335, putting him 10th all time in FOOL. In addition to his ROY, he was also a 2 time all star.

[Tasan]

#51 RF Felipe 'The King' Aguilera

The King came to Colorado in the massive, league wide redraft held before the 2000 season. To say that he was an established player when he arrived is an understatement. He owned what was argueably one of the most dominant seasons ever by hitter, his 1997 season where he hit 48 homers, drove in 198 runs, had a .380 average with an OPS of 1.176 for St. Louis. He continued his dominance as a Ranchero, hitting 364 more home runs and never having an OPS lower than .863 in 11 seasons as a Ranchero. Over those 11 seasons, he led the league in home runs 5 times, RBIs 4 times, triples 3, runs and OPS once each, along with several other smaller statistical titles. His final season with the Rancheros, 2010, saw no decline, and if it weren't for the league folding then reforming with all new players, he might have gone on to be the sole member of the 600 home run club. He's a player that has truely lived up to his nickname.


#36 C Billy Landry

During Tasan's run as owner/manager of the Rancheros, and to a greater extent the history of the franchise, the team has struggled to find catchers who can both hit well and play the position without embarassing the team. Billy Landry was the first catcher to fill both of these roles with top marks. Landry joined the team in 2001 and went on to hit almost 250 home runs as a Ranchero, while driving in over 80 runs in each of his 10 seasons with the club. To go along with all the hitting, Landry collected 5 gold gloves with Colorado. He led the league twice in walks and once in OPS. Current Ranchero's catcher Jud Wallace hopes to one day reach Landry's lofty hitting heights, but from what we can see right now, he'll never be the position player Landry was, and therefore not the complete player Billy Landry was for the Colorado Rancheros.


#42 Joey Drinkall

Joey's run as an Ace for Colorado didn't get to last long, but while it did he made a lasting impression. Drafted in 2001 with the 5th overall pick, He had a lot to live up to. He struggled early in the minors, but finally had a breakout season in 2005 with the Colorado Springs AAA club. The next season saw Drinkall in the bigs. His first three years were average. In 2009 Joey convinced Tasan to go back to the 4 man rotation that pushed Sanu to greatness, and it worked for the Rancheros again. In 2009, Joey won 26 games and had an ERA of 2.88 along with 298 Ks in 281 innings. He was also awarded the Prado award and named to the all-star team for the 3rd time. He was only hitting his prime when the league folded, and never got to experience his full potential.

[Alan T]

Nice to see this return/updated!

[muns]

Very cool Tasan very cool. Congrats on getting that up for all to see

[Tasan]

I've got 3 more from the restart era that I'll add tomorrow night during the playoffs. Yay 75 years of fool!