Tony Zych debuts for Mariners, becomes last player on MLB’s alphabetical list
A unique piece of baseball history was written late Friday night in Oakland.
Mariners reliever Tony Zych made his major-league debut, tossing two innings while allowing two runs in Seattle’s 11-8 victory against the A’s. In doing so, he officially became the last player in MLB history, at least in terms of alphabetical listing.
Zych bumped up Dutch Zwilling, who was the last player listed in the MLB record books since making his debut on Aug. 14, 1910. That was 105 years ago if you’re scoring at home. A great run at the bottom if you will, but the spot belongs to Zych now, and he figures to have similar staying power.
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On the other end of the spectrum, all-time great and baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron held the first position for several decades. He was finally knocked down a spot when reliever David Aardsma debuted in 2004.
No. 2 on the list, but No. 1 in the hearts of many fans is Hank Aaron.
As for Zych, he was a fourth round draft pick of his hometown Chicago Cubs in 2011. After toiling in the minors for three-plus seasons, he was traded to Seattle for a player to be named later in April. He’s gone on to post a 2.98 ERA over 48 1/3 innings in the Mariners organization, but isn’t considered much of a prospect.
With that in mind, sometimes opportunity is all it takes for a pitcher to flip the switch. Zych has a few weeks to turn heads and earn another chance in 2015, which would make those career stats a bit more appealing.
People will be looking, too. More than he can imagine. He’s the bookend to baseball history now, which means people will always know his name.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
