Since we're all excited about Slyde's new book (buy it here!), I thought I'd take a moment to make use of the newest feature at FanGraphs to look at the careers of some of the key players on the 1990 team.
First, let's look at Larkin, Davis, Sabo, and O'Neill.
Davis was having a HOF-caliber career (i.e. same pacing as Larkin) before the injuries started to pull him down by age 28 or so. O'Neill was a slow starter, but he had a fine career as well.
Best season was Davis's. Best carer was clearly Larkin's (of course). Sabo had a nice peak, but fell off quickly.
Now for a second set: Billy Hatcher, Todd Benzinger, Mariano Duncan, and Joe Oliver:
Joe Oliver might have had the best career of the bunch, once you account for the fact that he was a catcher. I would have guessed Hatcher.
Not often that you'll see a player's cumulative WAR trace have a negative slope. But hey, Benzinger caught the last out! That's an image I'll never forget...
I will probably always overrate Hatcher because of his World Series heroics, but I was surprised to see that he never was a 3 win player.