GSNHOF Nominee - Sixto Lezcano

All thanks to Garvey Cey Russell Lopes for this post, as before he sent this card to me I was completely unaware of the awesome that was Sixto Lezcano.

Now Cardboard Gods did a write up on Sixto a little over two years ago, and it's damn good (as always). I don't want to completely rehash what CG said, but I do want to capture the pure awesome that is Sixto Lezcano. So instead of telling you that Sixto played 12 seasons with 5 teams, or that Sixto's 1979 season was his best (.321/.414/.573 with 28 homeruns and 101 rbi, 15th in MVP Voting, Gold Glove), I'm just going to tell you some fun facts about The Sixto Kid (okay, not his real nickname, but wouldn't that have been sweet?):

1. Sixto is the only (I couldn't find anyone else who has done it) player who hit a grand slam on opening day twice. 1978 versus the Orioles and 1980 versus the Red Sox. There's a fun anecdote about it in the comments of CG's post as well.

2. Sixto's 1979 Strat O Matic Card is supposedly awesome. I don't understand what it all means because I didn't play, but it looks good.

3. Sixto was part of deals that brought Rollie Fingers and Ted Simmons to the Brewers and Ozzie Smith to the Cardinals. But Sixto's best trade, in my opinion, occurred when the Padres traded him to to Phillies in 1983 for FOUR PLAYERS TO BE NAMED LATER.

Is there a limit on the amount of PTBNLs you can throw in to a trade?

Sadly, none of those four dudes (Marty Decker, Ed Wojna, Darren Burroughs, and Lance McCullers) ever really panned out for the Padres. And to make matters worse for the Padres, they do had to send a PTBNL as part of the deal. And unlike the four the Padres received, this dude was awesome: Another Great Named legend, Steve Fireovid!


The Phillies received Sixto Lezcano and Steve Fireovid in the SAME TRADE. Has there ever been a better combination of great names in a trade before? If so I'd like to hear it! But as of now, I consider this trade the name equivalent of Heathcliff Slocumb for Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek, with the Phillies filling the role of the Red Sox.

4. Sixto was traded by the Padres because he lost his job to a young Tony Gwynn. If you have to lose your job to anyone, it might as well be the young version of a future superstar.

5. One last fun fact: According to a CG commenter, there was a rumor that Sixto lost part of one or both of his feet to a hunting accident as a child. I have absolutely no idea if this is true or not. But needless to say, we here at the GSNHOF will try to get to the bottom of this.

But for now, time to get back to work. Enjoy your nomination Sixto, and enjoy Sixto GSNHOF faithful!

To see the best sports names of all time, visit the Truly Great Names page.
To see some good sports names that were voted out, visit the Good Names page.
To see the current voting ballot, visit the Ballot page.