[Big Six]

Twenty-two year old Hack Wilson had all the trappings of a future star when he entered the 1922 draft. He had the potential to hit for a high average, and it was easy to project him as one of the greatest home run hitters in the game. The Hollywood Stars drafted him second overall, immediately after uberprospect Lou Gehrig. At the time, most experts thought Wilson was only a little bit less promising.

A decade later, both men are still playing professional baseball. Gehrig is one of the greatest hitters in the major leagues, with two OBA plaques on his trophy shelf and a lifetime .344 average. Still only 29, Lou will almost certainly hit his 300th home run this summer, and he has already driven in over a thousand runs.

Wilson’s saga has been far different.

Hack has played exactly one game in the major leagues, for Hollywood in 1925, and he did not come to bat. “Moonlight Wilson” has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Perhaps injuries have stalled Wilson’s career. He’s never been injured too badly, but he misses time every year with one boo-boo or another. Could that be why Hack’s talent has eroded or, in some cases, has failed to materialize?

His Contact rating was once predicted to max out at 16. Today, he rates a 9 in that category, and he’s supposedly as good as he’ll ever get. His Power potential, once a sluggerish 16, is now 13…but he’s never developed his talent for hitting the long ball, not at all! His Power rated a 4 when he was 24, and it’s a 4 today. His batting Eye, once thought to be on its way to an eagle-like rating of 17, has stagnated at 9.

So Hack continues to hack merrily away for the St. Paul Saints, for whom he is currently playing his eleventh season. He has a grand total of 34 home runs in his professional career.

Perhaps it’s not fair to bring this up, but at this point in his career, if Lou Gehrig hit 34 home runs some season, we'd call it an "off year."

Wes Ferrell was the Portland Beavers’ prize for finishing with the worst record in baseball in 1925. The righthander was given the honor of Number One Overall Pick in the Draft, and has since done very little to show that he deserved such recognition.

The Beavers certainly gave him plenty of chances. Between 1926 and 1930, they trotted Wes out to the mound for 83 starts, and an additional 55 relief appearances after they decided to try to convert him to a reliever.

However, if a pitcher cannot throw strikes, it doesn’t matter which role he is asked to perform. He’ll stink either way. Wes posted a 36-59 record, with a 5.74 ERA. He allowed 952 hits in 759.2 innings, and walked 482 batters. His WHIP of 1.89 is among the worst I’ve ever encountered for a pitcher who was allowed to throw so many innings.

Before the 1932 season, the Beavers finally released Wes. For some reason, the St. Louis Cardinals signed him a week later. On June 25, he threw a six-hit shutout for the Cardinals’ AA affiliate, the Omaha Buffaloes. Since Wes is still only 24 years old, might it be possible for this Number One Overall Pick in the Draft to resurrect his career?

His Stuff and Control ratings are currently maxed out at 1. I don’t think we’ll be seeing Wes in a big league stadium again.

So, who are the bigger busts? Is it worse to have a career like Wilson and Ferrell, ones that will never materialize into anything resembling what we once thought they’d enjoy? Or, is it worse to have non-careers like Ruffing and Jackson?

There’s one more highly touted player whose career appears to be in jeopardy. That’s Dizzy Dean, like Ferrell a Number One Overall Pick in the Draft (Senators, 1929). Dizzy first injured his triceps as a rookie pro, missing a month of the 1929 season. He ruptured his triceps tendon in April 1931 after pitching four innings.

Dean’s Control and Stuff have been affected by his injuries, and the Senators have sent him to their Class A affiliate in Grand Rapids to get back on track. He’s proven he can dominate Class A hitters (8-0, 0.99, 76 K in 73 IP). Will Dizzy ever be more than the ace of the Cereal Kings? We’ll see.