Craig Paquette forged an 11-year Major League Baseball career in large part due to his versatility and ability to play nearly every position on the field.
With the ability to play all over the yard, as well as offer some pop in the middle of the lineup, Paquette made successful stops in Oakland, Kansas City, New York, St. Louis and Detroit before retiring after the 2003 season.
In our newest Card Back Q&A, we flip over a few of the longtime big leaguers cards and talk about the hot start to his MLB career, leading the Kansas City Royals in nearly every offensive category upon his arrival, the value in his versatility and more.
Tony Reid-The back of your 1994 Topps card mentions your hot start by saying ‘Craig proved he belonged by hitting .292 with 13 extra base hits and 19 RBI in 24 June games, his first month in the big leagues.’ What was it like getting called up and having that hot start right off the bat? It had to feel great to get going in the right direction right away.
Craig Paquette– It really did. It was one of those things that I don’t even know how to explain it. I started out great. The feeling was unbelievable. The hardest part was that I was on such a senior team. I played with three or four Hall of Famers that were at the end of their careers. That first team in Oakland was Rickey Henderson, Goose Gossage, and Dennis Eckersley. There were two rookies up there. It was Brent Gates and myself. Not that it made t easy but they didn’t know how to pitch you. They would come right at you. The video was just starting to come out. You had the video guy showing you videos of every at bat. That first month it felt like everybody was straight me off with a fastball. They get ahead and then they followed it with a nasty slider. Then all of a sudden, boom, they realized I was a really aggressive first ball fastball hitter. I loved hitting the fastball. All of a sudden I get started off with sliders, curveballs and everything else.
Obviously, you looked at my card. I started out hitting .290 and then at the end of the year I hit .220. I didn’t change my attitude and my aggressiveness. I just stayed with the game plan and they found that out. I struggled for the next year and half. At least I stayed in the big leagues. That’s all that matters.
TR–The back of your 1997 Topps card states, ‘As the lowest scoring team in the league, the Royals took hitters where they could find them. They found Paquette, who didn’t even have a job, when the 1996 season opened. Six months later, he had completed a season in which he was the club leader in home runs and RBI.’ How much did it mean to find a new home and, in year one, become the team leader in big offensive categories?
CP-That was my biggest wakeup call, getting released by Oakland the last day. Its funny, these teams know what they are doing. I thought I was a likeable guy but for some reason I didn’t turn out that way for them. They released me on the last day of spring training. At that time, every other team has their roster made. I already knew I was going to go somewhere in Triple A. Bob Boone, who was our Triple A manager in Oakland when I was there in 1992 or 1993, got the job in Kansas City. The day after I was released he was getting ahold of my agent saying we want Paquette. Get him over here.
Sure enough, the next day I flew to Omaha, their Triple A team. He kept in contact with me telling me they were trying to get me up there as fast as they could. I think three weeks later I was in the big leagues. I missed right around the first month of the season. After missing a month, like you said, I led the team in home runs and RBI. The sad part that in baseball and in life, there is so much politics involved. Because I wasn’t one of Kansas City’s guys, at the end the year they have their Player of the Year and I thought it would be phenomenal if I won Player of the Year after being released by Oakland and then miss a month and leading the team in home runs and RBI. They gave it to Tom Goodwin. You have to be kidding me. He hit .270. I hit .260. He stole 40 or 50 bases (Goodwin actually stole 66 bases in 1996)
I don’t like to get on people but he was a below average center fielder. He had the worst arm strength of anybody I saw in the big leagues. It’s frustrating that politics come into it. He was there the whole time. The GM liked him. It’s frustrating.
TR–The back of your 2000 Upper Deck card says ‘Paquette’s value lies in his versatility. He can play nearly every position, including left and right field, first, second, and third base.’ Can you just speak to that versatility and how it served you so well during your career?
CP-That is one of those things that Tony LaRussa came up to me and talked to me about in one day in Oakland. I think it was 1995. He told me they were going to get the most value out of me if they could move me around. It was myself and Scott Brosius at third base. They had just released Kevin Seitzer. Scott was moving around and I was moving around. I got to Kansas City and Bob Boone moved me around. At the end of the day, I started at every position in the major leagues other than pitcher and catcher. I even started at shortstop and centerfield a few times. It’s something cool to tell people. The only reason I didn’t want to catch is because I didn’t want to put the pads on.
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