Carlos Zambrano and the 7 Most Wasted Talents in Baseball History

As a baseball fan, there is nothing I find sadder than a player who seems to be on the path to Cooperstown, but then lets his talent slip away because his head isn't in the game.  Be it drugs, an attitude or just plain bad decisions, seeing a player with legend potential go down is always a downer.

Most recently, Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano joined this group.  Currently on the disqualified list, Zambrano has gone from being a stud fireballer to a chronic headcase who continually clashes with his teammates and coaches.

The man known as "Big Z" is just one of many players in baseball history whose talent has gone to waste due to circumstances like these among other reasons.  Here are the seven players who could have been something amazing, but just didn't have it in the end.

No. 7: Dave Parker

On paper, Dave Parker is certainly a Hall-of-Famer.  In 19 seasons with Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Oakland, Milwaukee, California (later Anaheim, then Los Angeles) and Toronto, he hit .290 with 339 home runs and 1,493 RBI.  In that time, he also made seven All-Star teams and won two World Series rings (1979, 1989) as well as the 1978 NL MVP Award.

Yet, after 1980, Parker's career just went on a steadfast decline.  One could blame his injury problems and issues with weight, but what really sunk Parker's talent was his cocaine use.  It seemed that from 1979 up through 1984, the once powerful bat had gone cold.

Parker was a witness in the famous Pittsburgh drug trials of 1985 and was fined by Major League Baseball after admitting he had used cocaine.  Had he stayed clean, there's no telling just how incredible he could have truly been.

No. 6: Joe Charboneau

Many of you have probably never heard of Joe Charboneau.  He burst onto the scene in 1980 as a 25-year-old outfielder for the Cleveland Indians and had a great rookie campaign.

Charboneau hit .289 with 23 homers and 87 RBI en route to being named AL Rookie of the Year.  When he wasn't winning fans over with his stats, he was winning them over with his antics.  More often than not, Charboneau would dye his hair crazy colors, open a beer with his eye and then drink it through his nose.  The Indians may have been awful, but Charboneau gave the fans hope.

Unfortunately, that hope was short-lived as Charboneau injured his back in spring training the following year and was never the same again.  He appeared in just 70 more games before retiring.

It was truly a shame considering how Charboneau could have been the team's saving grace.

No. 5: J.D. Drew

If there were an award for how often someone frustrates the fans, J.D. Drew would have won it all five years that he's played for the Boston Red Sox.  Since coming to Beantown, the man has been constantly injured and has underachieved.  Over the course of his five-year deal, he has averaged just 120 games per season.

Simply put, Drew was a talented college player who was able to cut it in the majors, just not on the level scouts expected of him.  In 14 seasons, Drew has shown lack of effort both at the plate and in the field and despite a few good seasons, he has become alienated from most fans of the teams for whom he used to play.

Considering how St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa, who managed Drew for six seasons, called the outfielder someone "content to go out and give just 75 percent," just how wasted his talent is seems pretty clear.

No. 4: Carlos Zambrano

When he became a full-time starter in 2003, many thought that 22-year-old Carlos Zambrano would be the staff ace that could ultimately lead the Chicago Cubs back to the playoffs and into the World Series.  It is now 2011 and while Zambrano has contributed to a few trips to the playoffs, the Cubs still have not won a Fall Classic.  In fact, in recent years, Zambrano has been known more for his bad attitude than his talent. 

There is a laundry list of incidents involving Zambrano during his time in the Windy City.

The first occurred in 2007, when he got into an altercation with his catcher, Michael Barrett, over a passed ball.

In 2009, he was ejected from a game for arguing balls and strikes and just went ballistic.  He threw a ball into the stands, tossed his glove and even smacked a water cooler with a bat.  He was suspended for six games.

Last season, he got into a shouting match in the dugout with Derrek Lee over a mistake in the field.

Most recently, on August 12, after being ejected from a game during which he pitched horribly, Zambrano just seemed to finally snap.  He cleaned out his locker and threatened to retire.  For this, he was placed on the 30-day disqualified list.  Definition: he cannot participate in any team activities and is suspended for 30 days without pay.

Given how great Zambrano once was, it's just sad to watch him now.  His fan base has become less "Hey, what will Big Z do tonight" and more "OK...how is Zambrano going to mess up this year."

This is a wasted talent that is definitley one for the books, and hopefully Zambrano can find a way to turn it around.

No. 3: Brien Taylor

I'm guessing that many of you reading have never heard of Brien Taylor.  That doesn't surprise me considering how he never pitched in the majors.  The New York Yankees took him with the first overall pick in the 1991 MLB Amateur Draft, hoping that his 99 mph fastball would cement him as their starter of the future.

Taylor impressed in his first full season in the minors in 1993, striking out 150 batters in 160 innings but also giving up 102 walks.  Instead of participating in an instructional league that offseason to work on mechanics, Taylor opted to return home.  Then, the house fell down.

That winter, Taylor was defending his brother in a fistfight and ended up on the losing end.  When the dust settled, he had a dislocated shoulder, a torn labrum and torn capsule.  He missed the entire 1994 season and was never the same.  The Yankees released him in 1998 and he was out of baseball by 2000.

Since then, Taylor has been living in his home state of North Carolina working various blue collar jobs and raising his five daughters.  It's sad that the fans never got to see what could have been the 1990s equivalent of CC Sabathia just because of a silly fight.

No. 2: Dwight "Doc" Gooden

Dwight Gooden first burst onto the baseball scene at age 19 in 1984.  That year, he went 17-9 with a 2.60 ERA and 276 strikeouts in 218 innings pitched.  He was the clear-cut choice for NL Rookie of the Year.

The next season, he went 24-4 with an incredible 1.53 ERA as he ran away with the NL Cy Young.  He won his first World Series ring the next year, and then the troubles began.

You see, Gooden is a textbook example of a player whose career was ruined by drug use.  In this case, cocaine was the drug of choice.  In 1987, he missed the first two months of the season due to attending drug rehab.

Injuries then began to take their toll on the right-hander and he again tested positive for cocaine in 1994.  This earned him a two-month suspension and after testing positive during his suspension, he was suspended for the remainder of 1994 and all of 1995.

Gooden came back with the New York Yankees in 1996 and was an average pitcher until his retirement in 2001 at age 36.  Despite his seeming redemption, Gooden has continued to struggle with substance abuse and even appeared on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew." 

Simply put, Gooden was a player who let the limelight control him.  Most everyone he knew was a part of the drug culture of the 1980s, so he was just trying to be with the in-crowd.  Unfortunately, that cost him a big chunk of his potential and what was once a Hall-of-Fame career turned into a Hall-of-Shame one.

No. 1: Darryl Strawberry

Like his former teammate Doc Gooden, Darryl Strawberry was a player who got caught up in the drug culture.  Although not officially caught and suspended until 1995, Strawberry was an active cocaine user and both his attitude and play suggested it.  He often got into altercations with teammates and while he hit for good power, his batting average was hit or miss.

Something proved not to be right following his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1991.  From 1992 and on, Strawberry only played in more than 100 games in a season just once, in 1998.  He was suspended for most of 1995 due to his drug use, but things really hit rock bottom in 1999.

During spring training of that season, Strawberry was arrested for cocaine possession as well as soliciting sex from an undercover police officer dressed as a prostitute.  He was suspended for 140 games and was out of baseball by the end of the season.

After essentially being run out of the game, Strawberry had multiple run-ins with the law regarding his drug problems.  He hasn't been in trouble since 2002, so here's hoping that the rest of his life is clean and happy.

Still, one can only feel for a man who had legendary talent, but wasted it away just for the cheap thrills of drugs.