Justin Speier was selected in the 55th round in the 1995 MLB Draft. Even if you only took his contributions to the 1998 Cubs, which was one appearance for an inning and a third, you'd have to be impressed with the outcome. But Speier went on to pitch for another 11 years for various teams after 1998, which may make him the greatest 55th round draft pick in history.
And his contributions for that 1998 team did not end with that single appearance where he gave up two runs. He was also packaged in a deal with Kevin Orie and Todd Noel for Steve Hoff, and most importantly, Felix Heredia who would go on to solidify the bullpen for the Cubs at the end of the season.
He was more of a middling reliever playing for the Marlins, Braves, Indians, and Rockies before heading north of the border to the Toronto Blue Jays. There, he switched to a strict maple syrup diet and had the best years of his career. He then signed a free agent with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim where the maple syrup carried him to one more good year. But the LA lifestyle got to him, he switched to an avocado diet, and his ERA doubled for his final two seasons in the majors.
Would you care for some Justin Speier highlights? Because I am about to blow your socks off with some Justin Speier highlights.
Wait, you didn't want highlights from his wedding? Oh...I did not expect that reaction. But if you watched the video, he seemed like such a happy guy. I couldn't find out whether they are still married, but I sure hope they are. Anyway, to please the people who want highlights of him on a field, here you go:
Oh, you actually want to see him playing in a game? Fine, here goes my last video with him striking out Minnesota Twins great, Jason Kubel, with a sick pitch.
The internet has WAY too many videos these days. But seriously, I think Justin Speier has the worst collection of highlight videos of any player with 12 years of MLB experience. The only other worthwhile video was him yelling at Mike Scioscia. But it was an impressive career nonetheless, and it all started with his experience with the 1998 Chicago Cubs.
In case you missed it:
Introduction
#47 - Matt Karchner
#46 - Jose Nieves
#45 - Rodney Myers
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