Five very fun facts about our boy Jimmy Gobble.
1) Gobble is one of three major league players to be born in Bristol Tennessee. The other two are Scotty Barr and Lew Flick (also known as "Noisy" Flick).
Scotty Barr was a righthanded multi-position player who played for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1908-9, making only 121 plate appearances, hitting .112/.228/.140. Can you say Dead Ball Era? Scotty died in 1934 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Lew "Noisy" Flick didn't fare much better, hitting .175/.195/.175 in 41 PAs for the Philadelphia A's (again) in 1943-4. Flick died in Weber City, Virginia in 1990.
(Moment of silence for Scotty Barr and Noisy Flick.)
Thank you.
2) Gobble has faced Lew Ford more than any other hitter. Gobble-Ford has come to fruition 29 times, with Ford hitting .308/.379/.808 with 4 HOMERS against our Jimmy. Gobble's second most frequent opponent is Brandon Inge, who's hitting .250/.429/.563 against Gobble in 22 PAs.
3) Gobble is 7th All-Time in Innings Pitched amongst active Royals with 338.1. Gobble is 6th all-time if you don't consider Kevin Appier "active".
4) Gobble's salary for 2007 will be smaller than his 1999 signing bonus: $725,000 to $712,500.
5) Gobble is married. His wife's name is Julie. Last February RR honored his happy news, and a few commenters chimed in to report that they are good folks.