Brandon Duckworth…this is an exciting one!
Back in 2000, Brandon Duckworth was one of the Phillies biggest prospects. He was undrafted out of Cal State Fullerton but after a strong season in AA-Reading in 2000 (13-7, 3.16 ERA) he put himself on the prospect map. He followed it up with an even better campaign in 2001 in AAA-Scranton (13-2, 2.63 ERA) that would result in him getting called up to The Show.
He was great in his major league debut, with eight quality starts in his first nine games. He would end up going 3-2 with a 3.52 ERA/1.25 WHIP over 69 innings in 2001. He seemed destined to be a mainstay of the Phillies rotation for years to come.
Things, as they often do in baseball, didn’t work out.
Duckworth pitched 163 innings with the Phillies in 2002 but was largely ineffective (8-9, 5.41 ERA). He would never regain his 2000/2001 form, bouncing between AAA teams and the majors until 2008. He would retire following the 2013 season.
I got his autograph in 2001 while he was pitching in AAA. It was right before his call-up and I remember being very excited to get his autograph. I even sprung to get him on a ball. The problem was back then I used the Rawlings Offical League balls–like an idiot–and the autograph soon faded to nothing. I have been looking for a nice replacement for years.