Unabashed junk wax weirdness! Just my style. Let's take a look at some the more choice items from the set, shall we?
Dave Stapleton is one of two Brewers in the set. Stapleton was coming off a short-but-awesome 1987 season in which he pitched 14 innings and allowed just three runs. He threw 13 more in 1988, but couldn't stick around, posting a 5.93 ERA. He played one more season professionally, but never appeared in the majors again.
Estelle (crying): I can't believe it, he was so young. How could this
have happened?
Steinbrenner: Well, he'd been logging some pretty heavy hours, first
one in in the morning, last one to leave at night. That kid was a human dynamo.
Estelle: Are you sure you're talking about George?
Steinbrenner: You are Mr. and Mrs. Costanza?
Frank (yelling): What the hell did you trade Jay Buhner for?!? He had
30 home runs, over 100 RBIs last year, he's got a rocket for an arm, you don't know what the hell you're doin'!!
Steinbrenner: Well, Buener was a good prospect, no question about it.
But my baseball people loved Ken Phelps' bat. They kept saying 'Ken
Phelps, Ken Phelps'.
I was kind of stunned to learn that Pat Borders played 17 years in the majors. He never made an All Star team or led the league in anything, but he did win two World Series, a gold medal with the 2000 USA Olympic baseball team, and appeared in five different postseasons. In the 1992 Series with the Blue Jays, he batted .450 and won MVP honors. Not a bad career at all.
Doug Jennings. What a depressing photo on this card. It looks like its about 150 degrees out. Anyway, he played for a while in the majors and didn't do much. Next.
Roberto Kelly was actually one of the first TTM autos I ever got from a non-Brewer. He was a pretty decent player, too. He made two all-star teams and finished with a .280 career batting average.
Walt Weiss was a punch-n-Judy hitter wit a slick glove who was a part of the A's juggernaut of the late 1980s. He played in 46 postseason games with the A's, Rockies, and Braves.
Jeri-curl enthusiast Melido Perez lasted ten seasons in the majors. Perez was a member of the no-hit club for a few months in 1990 when he tossed a rain-shortened seven-inning no-hitter, only to lose the feat after the season when MLB changed its definition of an official no-hitter. He also gave up Manny Ramirez's first career homer.
I don't even feel like looking up Steve Peters' career numbers. He just looks so dopey on this card.
This guy, either. Although he does have an awesome name. Also, two guys in a row with the snuff can in their pocket.
Randy Milligan played for eight years and a regular with the O's in the early 1990s. He is seen here very, very sweaty. Did they take these pictures on the face of the sun?
Hey! A Hall of Famer! The only one in the set.
Personally, I don't think this guy belongs anywhere near the Hall of Fame. Seriously, not even close. I'm talking, of course, about Edwin Nunez... who is mistakenly pictured on Edgar Martinez's card in this set. 'Gar is a clear HOFer in my mind and its a shame that he has only this thing and his 1988 Fleer for rookie cards.
Joey Meyer is the other Brewer in the set. According to (probably incorrect) lore, Meyer once hit a 582-foot homer with the Denver Zephyrs in old Mile-High Stadium in 1987. This ranks unofficially as the longest homer in professional baseball history. He hit only 18 homers in the Bigs, but is the only player to ever his a walk-off homer against Roger Clemens.
I have nothing to say about Mike Capel. I just like that you can see a house in the background of this card.
Someone get Dubs! It's Ronnie Gant! As a second baseman, no less.
We'll wind things up with Mackey Sasser. I won't recount his story here, but look it up. It's an interesting tale.
Glad you enjoy them! Cool story about the Meyer home run, I had not heard about that.
ReplyDeleteI can't see Jay Buhner without thinking of Frank Costanza.
ReplyDelete