Lance Blankenship, an outstanding college (UC Berkeley) star and prospect with the A's was a difficult out. I pitched against him in American Legion games, and man did he rock me. No homers, but consistent hitting. It was a time when the Bay Area and Sacramento was ripe with talent.
Lance pro career suffered as a platoon player, mostly because the A's major league and minor league system was so full of talent. There was nowhere to put Lance everyday -- though Mike Gallego could have been traded to make room for him. Just like current GM Billy Beane, Doug Jennings, Kirk Dressendorfer and Terrance Frazier; the Canseco-era A's suffered from too much talent and not enough room for everyone.
» Allen Gordon is a music journalist who currently works on the sports desk of the Star-Ledger in Newark, NJ. He is a former collegiate baseball player at Grambling State University. He has played with or against many of the current major leaguers from the Bay Area, except for Ryan Dreese (Tex) and Jimmy Rollins (PHI), who were coached by his father in Little League.
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Copyright © 2003 by AGE. Posted April 18, 2003.
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