When it came down to making a selection with their first-round pick (#3 overall) on June 4th, 1990, the Phillies had narrowed the possibilities down to two primary candidates--University of Iowa shortstop Tim Costo and So-Cal high school shortstop-turned-catcher Mike Lieberthal. Despite his relative youth and inexperience, the Phillies ended up going with the 18-year-old Lieberthal. ""I've scouted since 1967," Philly scout Jeff Hankins said by way of explanation, "and as a receiver, he's the best high school catcher I've ever seen." (Hankins also projected Lieberthal to hit for the same average as Houston's then-catcher Craig Biggio, and knock 12-15 homers a season). Costo would ultimately get drafted by the Cleveland Indians, and traded to the Reds, where he would play in 43 games over two seasons, ending up with a career .610 OPS. Lieberthal, on the other hand, would play in 1174 games for the Phils over the course of his 13-year stay, posting a career .781 OPS and setting all sorts of franchise catching records. All in all, not a call really worth much second-guessing.
Lieberthal had the misfortune of being the Phillies' rock during one of their leaner stretchers, debuting in the majors a year too late to be part of the 1993 pennant run, and leaving for the Dodgers in 2007, the year that the Phils would finally return to the playoffs. Lieberthal's time in Philly wasn't all bad, however. He caught Kevin Millwood's no-hitter in 2003, played in the '99 and '00 all-star games (scoring a meaningless run off Marion Rivera in the latter) and eventually even got a bobblehead of his as a scenery fixture on Dwight Schrute's desk in The Office. Despite losing the better part of several seasons to injury, Lieberthal still left with the Phils records for home runs, RBIs, and games caught, and won the 2003 NL Comeback Player of the Year award for his troubles. Plus, as a fellow M.O.T., I'd be remiss not to mention that he also currently ranks fifth on the all-time list for home runs by Jewish ball players.
"When I gave him the details," Jeff Hankins said of Lieberthal after he was drafted to the Phillies, "His first word was 'awesome.'"
Original Story:
http://www.the700level.com/2009/06/to...
