Top Five Worst West Haven Yankees Of All-Time

The West Haven Yankees would only end up being a minor league baseball team for seven years (1972-79), before their move to Massachusetts. During that half decade-plus span, the Yankees would end up being one of the most successful minor league teams to date, winning four Eastern League championships in those seven years.

Many big names played for West Haven, such as Buck Showalter, Dave Righetti and Ron Guidry, putting up big numbers. And then there were some less-memorable players who struggled in a West Haven uniform.

These are the top five worst players in West Haven Yankees history.

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Loyd Colson

Loyd Colson played just one lone season for West Haven two-years after he already made it to the Yankees bullpen in the bigs. A 4.50 career ERA pitcher in the majors would put up a 4-3 record, 1.38 ERA season in 1972, after pitching 30 games in relief (52.0 IP) for the Double-AA squad . Although Colson is one of the best pitchers to ever stand on the mound for West Haven, his .067 batting average in 15 ABs (1-for-15) would mark one of the worst batting averages in W.H. Yankees history for a player with at least one registered hit. Colson was an overall .219 hitter in his 96 minor league at-bats throughout his career.

5.

Doc Medich

Doc Medich was a household name in the early 1970s for Yankee fans. New York’s 30th round selection in 1970, would find himself with West Haven in ‘72, posting a 11-3 record with a 1.44 ERA. Just like Loyd Colson though, Medich, like many pitchers, was not a good hitter. His 2-for-35 batting campaign would land him a .057 average, making him own the lowest batting average for a player with at least one registered hit in West Haven Yankees history.

• NOTE: I do feel a little funny adding two pitchers to this list who frankly were fantastic when it came to their main job of pitching. But if you want to be technical and be like a true stat geek like I am, both Colson and Medich are one of the worst offensive players in West Haven Yankees history when it comes to at-plate production.

4.

Steven Chilcott

As the former first-overall pick in the 1966 MLB Draft, Chilcott would find himself playing for the Yankees organization in the early 70s. Chilcott would play the bulk of his Yankee minor league games for West Haven, putting up a sub Mendoza line batting average of .146 (6-for-41) in 18 games. All of Chilcott’s six hits were singles, but his 11 walks and one hit-by-pitch for a .352 OBP, upped his OPS to a .498 before he was later sent down to New York’s Single-A affiliate. 1972 would mark the last season that Steven Chilcott ever played for a major league organization, never making it to the majors to become one of the earliest ‘busts’ in MLB and Mets history.

3.

Mark Softy

I’m not sure what’s worse: Having a sub .200 batting average or an ERA almost in the double-digits before the ‘.’ comes in. Mark Softy’s time with West Haven spanned throughout two seasons (1978, ‘79), where he split time in both seasons in the starting five and out of the bullpen. 1978 saw Softy near 100-innings pitched at 90.0, where he put up the worst season of his career with a 7.20 ERA through 25 games (14 GS). Although Softy posted three complete games in ‘78, he only had two wins to his name for a 2-8 record, along with one save. 1979 saw fewer innings pitched with 68.0 through 14 games (8 GS) for one complete game and a lowered ERA of 5.56. Softy’s time with the ‘79 Yankees squad would actually mark his only winning season during his five-year minor league career, as he posted a 4-1 record with West Haven.

2.

Joseph Guarascio

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Joseph Guarascio’s career lasted one lone season in 1977. The right-hander fresh from playing at Cornell, started his pro-career with West Haven. His relationship with the Connecticut team would sour quickly though as after 13 games he would be sent down to low Single-A ball. In Guarascio’s 13 games played, he would go 4-for-38 (.105) with an OPS of .302, which was lower than some of his teammates batting averages. Despite being a utility player, his massive lack of offensive power and consistency would see him being a one-and-done player after 1977.

1.

Mike Fischlin

The beginning of Mike Fischlin’s career was a rough one, and his time with West Haven was no exception. Only playing for the Double-AA Yankees for one season in 1976, Fischlin would appear in 91 games and have nearly 300 plate appearances for 248 at-bats. His 38-for-248 was met for a .153 batting average. Posting just 50 strikeouts in 98 games, Fischlin did make a lot of contact with the ball and had great plate discipline, but lack of power halted him from producing on a bigger scale.  Although he has the lowest batting average by a West Haven Yankee in over 80 games played, Mike Fischlin did end up making it to the majors one year later in 1977, for the Astros. He would end up finding himself on the MLB Yankees in 1986, where he batted .206 in 71 games (21-for-102), actually having more hits for the Double-AA Yankees than he did for the MLB Yankees.

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