On paper, Marvin Freeman shoulda been somebody. He was 6'7" of lanky arms and legs plus he had an awesome (if obvious) nickname: "Starvin' Marvin".
He toiled in relative obscurity for 10 seasons, almost evenly split between the Phillies, Braves and Rockies. A typical 10th or 11th man on a pitching staff, Freeman's one notable season amazingly happened within the not-so-friendly confines of Coors Field in Denver. While his fellow Rox pitchers were being violated by bats and balls on a regular basis, Freeman put together a most impressive 1994, going 10-2 with a tidy 2.80 ERA. If you check the secondary stats, it was clearly a bit of a house of cards but at least Freeman got in one solid season and a bit of extra cheddar before fizzling out by the fall of 1996.
Trivia: Freeman was the first Rockies pitcher to receive Cy Young consideration, finishing 4th in 1994 balloting. Here is a summary of other Rockies who netted votes. It's a typically short list:
Jeff Francis (9th place in 2007)
Ubaldo Jimenez (3rd place in 2010)
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