Hit or Error? Baseball Digest's 1997 Rookie Edition Reexamined

Welcome to the 35th installment of Hit or Error, our ongoing excavation of Baseball Digest’s scouting archives—where we separate the prospect gold from the fool’s gold with the benefit of hindsight and a well-earned smirk.

For this round, we crack open the March 1997 issue, a time when Baseball Digest was confidently anointing Vladimir Guerrero of the Expos as baseball’s next megastar. And honestly, they nailed that one.

Then we turned the page to the Mets section and let’s just say the vibes weren’t quite as electric. While Guerrero was being compared to the likes of Roberto Clemente, the Mets' spotlighted prospects included a returning Jay Payton (again), pitchers Derek Wallace and Joe Crawford, catcher Alberto Castillo, and second baseman Jason Hardtke.

So the question, as always, is simple: Did Baseball Digest make a hit… or commit an error?

Let’s find out.

Derek Wallace: “A Force for the Future”?

That’s what Baseball Digest promised us in March of 1997.

“Pitched superbly out of the bullpen after recall last August… can pitch in middle or occasionally close. A force for the future.”

Ah, yes. The optimism of spring. The same season when every backup catcher is in the best shape of his life and every fifth starter is “poised to break out.”

In the case of Derek Wallace, the Mets were hoping they'd stolen one. A former first-round pick of the Cubs (1992), Wallace had a strong pedigree: a standout at Pepperdine, Cape Cod League MVP, and the kind of guy scouts loved to project because he had a clean delivery and a fastball that popped.

And to be fair, in 1996, the scouting report wasn't pure fiction. Wallace was solid in a short stint with the Mets: a 4.01 ERA over 24.2 innings, with 15 strikeouts and three saves. He even managed to tie a major league record by striking out four batters in one inning, which sounds like either a sign of dominance… or wildness… or both.

But that “force for the future” part? Not so much.

After 1996, Wallace bounced between levels like a pinball—AAA Norfolk, St. Lucie, the Gulf Coast League, back to Norfolk. He had a brief encore with the Royals in 1999 (8.1 innings, 3.24 ERA), and then… that was it.

In total, his major league career spanned 33 innings across two non-consecutive seasons, with a 2-4 record and a 3.82 ERA. Not terrible—certainly serviceable—but not quite the bullpen anchor Baseball Digest envisioned. His MLB WHIP of 1.667 suggests he was often working with traffic on the bases, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.05) hints at some control issues that likely kept him from sticking.

In the minors, he was a journeyman: over 500 innings, 348 strikeouts, 183 walks, and a 4.37 ERA. Respectable, but again—not the profile of a future closer. More of a “decent arm in the pen until the next guy shows up” type.

Still, hats off to Derek Wallace. He made it to The Show, earned a couple of saves, and once struck out four guys in one inning—meaning he accomplished more in the big leagues than 99.9% of the planet.

Final Verdict: ERROR

Not a total whiff, but let’s just say Baseball Digest was swinging for the fences and hit a slow roller to short.

Joe Crawford: The Curious Case of the Pitcher Who Pinch-Hit First

The Baseball Digest scouting report on Joe Crawford before the 1997 season read like a shrug: “Pitched for Bobby Valentine last year at Norfolk going 6-5 with a 3.44 ERA. Has chance to make Mets staff as a spot starter or middle reliever.” Translation: good enough to be in the conversation, not flashy enough to be remembered.

But Crawford cracked the Opening Day roster, and in true Metsian absurdity, made his MLB debut not on the mound but at the plate. On April 7 in Los Angeles, in the 15th inning of a game that refused to die, Bobby Valentine sent the lefty up as a pinch hitter. Crawford grounded out, then took the mound for the bottom of the inning.

And promptly took the loss.

After a leadoff walk and a forceout, Crawford struck out Greg Gagne and looked poised to escape the jam. But Tom Prince of all people , slapped a single to first, and Brett Butler scored the winning run. Crawford’s line: ⅔ of an inning, one hit, one run, one L.

Despite the rough debut, Crawford stuck around for 19 appearances that year, posting a respectable 3.30 ERA with a stingy 1.06 WHIP over 46.1 innings. He didn’t miss many bats, but he limited damage a lefty who threw strikes, kept hitters off balance, and didn’t get cute.

After his one year in Queens, Crawford bounced around Japan, Mexico, and the indies, finally retiring in 2001. He went on to become a vice principal and athletic director in Ohio not the kind of post-baseball path you find in Cooperstown, but one with plenty of impact.

So how’d Baseball Digest do? They said he had a chance and he made the team. They said he might help in middle relief and he did. But they never predicted he’d become the answer to a Mets trivia question: Who’s the only pitcher to pinch-hit before ever throwing a pitch and take the loss the same night?

We’re scoring the scouting report a tough-hop infield single , a little ugly, but it got the job done.

Alberto Castillo: The Catcher Who Kept Showing Up

The Baseball Digest scouting report on Alberto Castillo heading into the 1997 season was short and sweet, like a coach’s note scribbled on the back of a napkin: “Solid defensive catcher with accurate throwing arm. Pitchers love to throw to him. Has improved his hitting skills.”

Which, in scouting report language, roughly translates to: “He can’t hit, but we like him anyway.”

And in fairness, they weren’t wrong at least not about the defense. Castillo hung around the big leagues for parts of 12 seasons, and not because he was knocking the cover off the ball. He made his debut with the Mets in 1995 and was still catching in the majors twelve years later, which either says something about his skill behind the plate or the alarming lack of available catchers in the early 2000s.

He was a classic backup catcher: durable, defensive-minded, respected in the clubhouse, and occasionally capable of surprising you with the bat once every few months.

Castillo’s Mets tenure (1995–98) didn’t set Shea on fire. He hit just .198 as a Met, with two home runs and 14 RBIs spread out over 92 games. But he did make a little history: On Opening Day 1998, in the 14th inning of a game that had gone on so long the umpires probably started checking their calendars, Castillo delivered a pinch-hit, walk-off single against the Phillies. The Mets won 1–0, and Castillo got to be the hero , or at least the guy who finally sent everyone home.

After that? He embarked on one of the great journeyman tours of the modern era. Castillo suited up for eight teams over 12 years the Mets, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Giants, Royals, A’s, Orioles, and (briefly) the Yankees. He even played in the inaugural World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic and later captained their squad in the 2007 Caribbean Series.

Castillo’s final MLB line reads like that of a guy who always knew the pitcher’s name but never saw his fastball:.220 batting average, 12 home runs, 101 RBIs in 418 games.He never played more than 93 games in a season, never hit more than four homers, never posted an OPS over .736 , but pitchers liked throwing to him, and that kept his name on lineup cards long after his batting average wandered off to the Mendoza Line and didn’t leave a forwarding address.

After his MLB days, he bounced around the minors, the independent leagues, and even briefly got confused with a pitcher by the same name. (Seriously. Two Alberto Castillos. One roster. Somewhere, a clubhouse manager cried.)

So what do we make of the Baseball Digest scouting report?

They said pitchers loved throwing to him — check.They said he had an accurate arm ,check.They said he was improving his hitting, well define “improving.”

We’ll score the scouting report a foul tip off the mask ,

a little painful, but mostly accurate. And hey, you don’t last 12 years in the big leagues by accident.

For a kid from San Juan de la Maguana, Alberto Castillo made it. And he stuck.

And that’s a win in any language.

Jason Hardtke, Dirt-Diving Underdog

Sandwiched in the August 1996 Baseball Digest between the scouting blurbs for some guy named Vladimir Guerrero and another kid called Scott Rolen , both of whom went on to, you know, Cooperstown was a writeup on a Mets prospect who clearly knew his way around an infield and a bottle of bleach.

“Hard-nosed player whose uniform is always dirty. Made the International League All-Star Game in 1996. Has a chance to stick as a reserve infielder.”

It was the kind of scouting report that makes you say, “Hey, this guy might not be a star, but I bet he wins over a spring training crowd by sliding headfirst into first base.”

And honestly, Jason Hardtke did more than most. Drafted in the 3rd round by Cleveland in 1990, Hardtke had one of those classic baseball odysseys: bouncing through the minors, traded, cut, picked up, and finally making his big-league debut with the Mets in September of 1996. He logged 19 games that year and another 30 the next, hitting .268 in '97 and even clubbing a couple over the fence.

His MLB career spanned 67 games total a cup of coffee, yes, but he drank it all the way down and probably asked for another. He got a few more sips with the Cubs in 1998, then went off to Japan in 2000 to play for the Hanshin Tigers, where he hit .272, struck out a ton, and presumably got his uniform good and filthy all over again.

All told, Hardtke appeared in 1,140 minor league games and batted a crisp .290 with 103 home runs. The man played. He played in Burlington and Binghamton, Rancho Cucamonga and Wichita, Norfolk and Nagoya. He played for the love of it and maybe because he couldn't stop diving for grounders, regardless of the continent.

Since hanging up the spikes, Hardtke has stayed in the game. He managed the Visalia Rawhide and now runs a training academy in California , Hardtke World of Baseball, which sounds like the kind of place where you learn to break up a double play and also how to use OxiClean.

So, did Baseball Digest get it right? Well, they didn’t call him a future Hall of Famer they said he had a chance to stick as a reserve, and wouldn’t you know it, he did. Long enough to get his name in the box score, his jersey stained beyond repair, and his baseball journey tattooed across a dozen towns from Iowa to Ichinomiya.

In a scouting report sandwiched between legends, Jason Hardtke wasn’t a miss. He was a single up the middle not flashy, not loud, but solid, purposeful, and exactly the kind of guy who keeps the game honest.Was he Vlad? No. Rolen? Also no. But he was ours a gritty, reliable infielder who wore a Mets uniform and left it unwearable by the third inning.

So, as we close the book on the March ’97 scouting class, what’s the verdict? Two Hall of Famers (Guerrero and Rolen), one trivia footnote (Crawford), one forever backup who made a career out of catch and throw (Castillo), one reliever who flashed then fizzled (Wallace), and one dirt covered gamer who got his shot and made it count (Hardtke). Baseball Digest didn’t bat 1.000, but they rarely whiffed completely. In the end, that’s what makes these old scouting capsules so much fun: the bold projections, the cautious hedges, and the occasional dead-on read. Some were hits, some were errors,but all of them, one way or another, tell a story worth digging up.