Each year it seems at least one player comes out of nowhere to put up a fantasy season that catches us all by surprise. This can take on all forms, like the young player taking the great leap forward, the veteran pulling out one last super year when it looked like he was past his prime or even the nobody special guy who just has the one great fluke year.

I went back the past 10 seasons and identified one guy among the top 20 or so hitters and pitchers who surprised. Some years there are several strong contenders and other years it was hard to come up with a viable candidate. All the dollar values quoted come from the RotoTimes Player Rater. 

Here are the Top 10 Where Did That Come From Fantasy Seasons.

10. 1999 Kevin Millwood – 18 Wins, 2.68 ERA, 205 SO, 0.996 WHIP

The previous season, Millwood broke into our consciousness with a 17-win season but his other numbers were all significantly worse. In 1998, Millwood posted a $9.82 fantasy season and followed it up with a $30.04 value. Millwood beat out Ivan Rodriguez, who went from a $16.42 campaign in 1998 to a $30.77 value the following season.

9. 2000 Darin Erstad - .355-25-100-121-28

Except for steals, Erstad never approached any of these fantasy numbers either before or after this season. And the steals were a career-high, too. This year checked in at $34.40 compared to a $0.46 value a season earlier. And it took a fantastic season by Erstad to edge out Richard Hidalgo, who went from a minus $4.07 to a $29.87 season in 2000. This was clearly Hidalgo’s best season, but he finished 20^th in the MVP voting and three years later he finished 18^th. And this is a particularly pleasant memory for me as I had both of these guys on my dynasty league team this season.

8. 2001 Bret Boone - .331-37-141-118-5

Boone had been a decent-to-good fantasy second baseman for many years before this one but never had a season like his first one in his second go-round in Seattle. An 80-point increase in average was accompanied by an 18-count increase in HR and a 67-total increase in RBIs. Wow. Boone went from a $1.37 value in 2000 to a $30.08 player in 2001. Curt Schilling had a pretty big year, too, going from a $12.35 value to $31.75 but finished a distant second.

7. 2002 Eric Gagne – 4 Wins, 52 Saves, 1.97 ERA, 114 SO, 0.862 WHIP

There was not a single hitter that had an out-of-nowhere season among the top 20 this year. If you wanted a list of the top hitters of the late-90s early-00s, this is as good as place as any to find it. Even the pitchers were pretty established this season. Gagne takes the nod because this was the year he switched from mediocre starter to fantastic reliever. After posting a minus $1.27 value in 2001, he busted out for a $26.67 season in his first year as a closer.

6. 2003 Esteban Loaiza – 21 Wins, 2.90 ERA, 207 SO, 1.113 WHIP

After pitching parts of eight seasons in the majors prior to this one, Loaiza had a year unlike any before or since. He had a career-low fly ball rate, a below-average HR/FB ratio, stranded a bunch of runners and played behind a pretty good defense. All of that helped him go from a negative $8.83 value in 2002 to a $25.72 mark in 2003. Scott Podsednik actually had a greater jump in pure dollar value, but his 2002 numbers were produced in just 20 at-bats.

The myth of the “contract season” did not start with this year by Beltre, but this is probably its most famous example. This is what many people know Beltre for, which is a shame because he is a fine two-way player. He went from a $0.08 value in 2003 to a $36.41 mark in 2004. For what it is worth, Beltre is in the final season of his contract in 2009, too.

4. 2005 Derrek Lee - .335-46-107-120-15

Nobody expects Beltre to come within a country mile of his career-year of 2004, but it seems that is not the case with Lee. He suffered a broken wrist in 2006 and for the past two seasons fantasy players have been anticipating a comeback to his 2005 level. Here is my best Dana Carvey doing George Bush imitation – “not gonna happen.” Anyway, Lee went from an $18.63 season in 2004 to a $42.65 year. Chone Figgins also deserves a mention, as he went from $14.82 to $31.73 in 2005.

3. 2006 Ryan Howard - .313-58-149-104-0

Everyone figured Howard would hit if and when he got the chance. He caught a break in 2005 when Jim Thome came down with an injured elbow. Howard hit very well in 88 games that year and he took it to another level in 2006. In those 88 games with 312 at-bats, Howard posted a $5.51 season in 2005. He followed that up with a $35.57 campaign the next year.

2. 2007 Magglio Ordonez - .363-28-139-117-4

A valuable fantasy performer for six years, Ordonez had back-to-back injury-shortened seasons in 2004 and 2005. He bounced back somewhat in 2006 and turned in the best fantasy season of his career in 2007. A .385 BABIP helped him to a $35.88 fantasy season, up from $13.81 the year before. Brandon Phillips gets a shout-out thanks to going from an $11.53 season in 2006 to a $28.59 campaign this year. Carlos Pena’s monster season came after a year in which he had just 33 at-bats in the majors.

1. 2008 Cliff Lee – 22 Wins, 2.54 ERA, 170 SO, 1.110 WHIP

A solid pitcher from 2004-2006, when he averaged 15 wins per season, Lee suffered through a tough year in 2007, thanks in part to a strained abdominal muscle. He came back in 2008 better than ever. Lee refused to walk anyone, got a bunch of swings outside the strike zone and was extremely stingy with the home run ball. It all added up to a $26.11 season, up from a negative 9.72 from the previous season.

Which player is your pick for the Where Did That Come From season in 2009?

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Wondering
written by cyclo polisher, August 26, 2010

I've been out of the fastasy game for quite some time..Are the players above still work a look at next season?

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wow power leveling
written by wow power leveling, June 08, 2009

if wow power leveling and wow power leveling wow gold

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Great List
written by Vince, March 23, 2009

Hey Brian,
As a Dodger Fan, I remember Gagne 2002 season, as it was definitely out of nowhere. I didn't even know he was on the team when the season began. This is a really great top ten list, you can post this to our site http://www.toptentopten.com/ and then link back to your site. We are looking for top ten lists and our users can track back to your site. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list.

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written by BrianJoura, March 22, 2009

Thanks for reading and commenting, Eric.

Cliff Lee went undrafted, too.

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written by Eric Gehman, March 22, 2009

No love for Ryan Ludwick? I mean, he was a prospect in the Cards organization but he went undrafted in a big way last year... seems like the type of thing we're talking about here, especially in comparison to performances like '07 Magglio, which was more a result of good luck and returning to true talent level than anything radically unexpected...

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