Guardians hoping new catcher Mike Zunino is last only alphabetically

It's not even Christmas, and the Guardians have already had an outstanding offseason. It started with the signing of free agent Josh Bell, who fills two roster needs: a first baseman, and a run-producing hitter with power who is the cleanup guy their lineup needed. Now it's continued with the signing of free agent catcher Mike Zunino, who instantly becomes the greatest player in Guardians history whose last name begins with "Z." Through the years the Guardians haven't exactly excelled at catching some Z's. But it's not for a lack of inventory. According to Baseball-Reference.com, there have been 103 players in major league history whose last name starts with the last letter of the alphabet. Six of them have appeared in games with the Guardians. Zunino will make it seven, the first since Bradley Zimmer roamed the outer garden in Cleveland toggery. The roster of Guardians Z-men is a short one. In addition to Zimmer, there's pitcher Sam Zoldak (1948-50), pitcher Jimmy Zinn (1929), pitcher Bill Zuber (1936-40), infielder Paul Zuvella (1988-89), and pitcher George Zuverink (1951-52). It's a non-nostalgic, non-descript group, distinguished only by their anonymity, their mediocre statistics, their extremely brief careers in Cleveland and the certainty that none of their uniform numbers will ever be retired. Four of the six Z-dudes have negative career WAR numbers: Zuverink -0.1, Zinn -0.2, Zuber -0.3, Zuvella -0.5, Zoldak 2.2, and Zimmer, the stud of the group, 2.7. That's not to say that major league players whose last name begins with "Z" are boring. For example, there's pitcher Zip Zabel, who while pitching for the Cubs in a game against Brooklyn on June 17, 1915, came into the game in the first inning as a reliever, and pitched a record-setting 18 1/3 innings, and became the winning pitcher when the Cubs scored the winning run in the bottom of the 19th. Another member of the Z-group is Bud Zipfel (no relation to Zip Zabel), a first baseman for Washington in 1961-62. "Bud" wasn't his real name. His real name was "Marion Sylvester Zipfel," which explains why everyone called him "Bud," or his nickname, "Zipper the Ripper." The roster of Z's in major league history also includes four Zimmers: Bradley, Charles (also known as "Chief"), Don and Kyle, Bradley's brother. Joe Zapustas, whose entire major league career consisted of two games with the Philadelphia A's in 1933, was the first major league player born in Latvia. You're welcome. In 1957 the Orioles had a catcher named Frank "Noodles" Zupo. On July 1 of that season, Zupo caught Orioles pitcher George Zuverink, which was thought to be the first time in major league history that both members of a battery had last names that started with "Z." Remember Peter Zoccolillo? Me neither. But in his one-year major league career he hit .108 for the Brewers in 2003. Pitcher Ed Zmich was born in Cleveland in 1884 and died in Cleveland in 1950. In between he appeared in 13 games (record: 1-5) for the Cardinals in 1910-11. Then there was Pirates shortstop Frankie Zak, who in 1944 was chosen for the National League All-Star team only because the game was being played in Pittsburgh, and, at the last minute, the National League team needed a backup shortstop. At the time there were travel restrictions due to World War II. Zak happened to be in Pittsburgh, so they put him on the All-Star team. Carlos, Victor, and Eddie Zambrano helped carry the "Z" banner through the first decade of this century. But the Zambranos have nothing on the Zimmermans. In major league history there have been eight Zimmermans: Bill, Eddie, Heinie, Jeff, Jerry, Jordan, Roy, and Ryan, plus two Zimmermanns: Bruce and Jordan. In the 1970s it's too bad that Royals outfielder Joe Zdeb never got to hit against Twins pitcher Bill Zepp. Pitcher Bob Zick's entire major league career consisted of eight relief appearances for the Cubs in 1954. When Zick reported to the Cubs in the middle of the season, he introduced himself to manager Stan Hack. "I'm Zick," said Zick. Said Hack: "I haven't been feeling so well myself." That may be an apocryphal story, but it shouldn't be. What we know for sure is that the Guardians in 2023 will be adding a seventh member to their franchise "Z" club, and Mike Zunino is already the best of the lot. Start with his career 9.8 WAR, which dwarfs the other six Guardians "Z's." Over his last eight seasons, Zunino has averaged 17 home runs per year. That includes single-season totals of 22, 25, 20, and 33, but also strikeout totals of 158, 132, 160, 150 and 132. Just call him Mr. True Outcome. But Zunino's strikeout-or-home run profile still beats good guy Austin Hedges' profile of strikeout-or-groundout. Bo Naylor is Cleveland's catcher of the future. Zunino is the Guardians' catcher until then. Hopefully he won't get zick. Contact Jim Ingraham at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.