This occasional series on some of the ugliest men in baseball focuses on those guys who have distinguished themselves through their unattractiveness. Why do this? To gain a better understanding of the role of physical aesthetics as it relates to player performance. In other words, this has absolutely no redeeming societal value whatsoever.
The inspiration for this occasional series? Seeing these ugly guys on baseball telecasts and remarking to my husband how ugly they are, which he always finds annoying, as he's usually focusing on the important things like batting stances, stats, situational analysis, etc.
Note that I'm leaving umpires, managers and general managers out of this list because I think enough has been written about the Steinbrenners.
Ah, Julian Tavarez. Who can forget him? His pock-marked face and constant scowl are reminiscent of the bad guy from the "Grease" movie. His attitude and penchant for fisticuffs, however, made the bad guy from "Grease" look like a honor student.
We hated Tavarez when he played for the Cubs, even though we're Cubs fans. Why? He has a streak of crazy a mile wide, and we hated having to root for him. He's the sort of guy you love to hate because of that "bad guy" aura he gives off, helped by his ugly, ugly face and the way he sometimes attacks people. The photo above flatters him. He almost looks like a normal human being.
He whined his way off the Cubs because they refused to make him a starter, eventually winding up with the St. Louis Cardinals where -- surprise! -- he was delegated to the bullpen. Touche!
Wanting to share his wonderful attitude and winning smile with the world, he traveled on to the Red Sox, and even started a few games for them, earning the loathing of the Sox fans I know for his typical unsportsmanlike conduct. It was with the Sox that he solidified his place on the Crazy Hall of Fame for brawling with the Rays during spring training 2006, even stepping on Joey Gathright's arm. At least he can't brass knuckles with him to the mound.
Tavarez is currently serving time with the Washington Nationals.
How ugly is he? Taverez is an 9 on the ugly scale, with 10 being eye-gougingly gawdawful.
Career stats: As of Aug. 15 -- 88 wins -82 losses, 4.46 ERA
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