Wednesday: Gone But Not Forgotten

Usually, ‘gone but not forgotten’ refers to someone who left a lasting impression in his or her particular field of work. In this case though, the phrase refers merely to a nagging recollection that I can’t get out of my head. Does anyone remember Tony Mounce? There have been plenty of terrible pitchers who have gone in and out of the Rangers’ system and most of them I cannot recall by sheer memory. For some reason though, Tony Mounce, who fits right into that category of pitchers, always comes popping into my head at random intervals throughout the year.

Mounce had an abortive big league career to say the least. The Rangers were the only team he ever pitched for. That was during the 2003 season. He was called up on June 13th and, after a trip to the minors, Mounce was recalled and pitched his final game on September 22nd. Mounce only had one victory in his short-lived baseball career. His final record was 1-5, with an ERA of 7.11. I seem to recall that Mounce always began his games with a no-hitter through the first few innings, and then he seemed to fall apart after that. I think that’s about the only semi-good thing I can say about his career, though he did have one game where he pitched six innings and only allowed two runs.

Mickey Mantle would be the epitome of someone who is gone but not forgotten, and Tony Mounce exemplifies someone completely the opposite. So the fact that I still remember this forgettable pitcher is a perfect example of the irrelevant and mysterious lasting impressions that some people give off.

Baseball-reference.com.