Sunday, June 11, 2017

Chipping Away on the All-Time Brewers

A few days ago, I posted a list of the all-time Brewers cards I still needed. It was mostly for my own reference, but Bo over at Baseball Cards Come to Life was nice enough to track down a few of them from his collection that are headed my way. Yesterday, I got TWO orders I had placed for the collection - a sportlots order of regular cards and an ebay lot of signed cards. I'll start with the regulars and do a post on the sigs tomorrow. Get ready for some guys you barely remember!!!


This is the GOLD edition of Chris Jones's '94 Topps. Jones was a reserve outfielder who bounced around the NL for a decade before landing in Milwaukee for all of 16 ABs in 2000. He got three hits and his MLB career was over with. I honestly never remembered him as a Brewer and realized upon getting this card that the memories I did have of him were actually of Chris James. Nice foil, tho.


Brandon Kolb appeared in ten games in 2001, the last ten of his 21 game MLB career. He did not fare well with that awful Brewers club, allowing 16 runs in just over nine innings. In his short time with the Crew, he manged to give up five homers to the Reds. 


This was the first time I actually got to see one of the old UD 40 Man cards (or "Fourtyman" as they put it, like it's a weird last name). They are very sharp, much higher quality than Topps Total. I really wish there would be another huge-checklist set like this. Where else will I find future John Fosters and Jason Contis in Brewers colors? 


Corey Patterson is probably the most accomplished player of this lot. He hung around for 12 years and had pretty decent power and speed numbers. The Brewers picked him up in the last part of the 2009 season after he was cut by the Nationals. He appeared in 11 games and got one hit. One hit? That's all we got is one goddamn hit?



Nevin Ashley is still active, currently in the Mariners system. He debuted with the Brewers as a 30-year-old rookie in 2015. This is another guy I either have forgotten about or never noticed in the first place. He got two hits in 21 plate appearances. "Rookie Star" is probably a bit of a stretch.


David Goforth.. hey! He's still with the organization! He even pitched an inning with the big club this season. He's currently in Colorado Springs and, like most pitchers there, not doing very well. He did, however, have a very good season in the thin air in 2015 and pitched pretty well in brief stint with the Brewers. Here's to hoping he can find that groove again.


Now... this is the backside of the Goforth card. What the hell is this?  Do they literally need to tell me that this is a David Goforth baseball card? Where the name and photo on the front not enough? It reminds of this old Far Side gem...



Jhan Marinez was a very effective reliever in 2016. He struggled out of the gate in '17 and the Brewers tried to send him down, but the Pirates nabbed him on waivers. I didn't think much of it at the time, but he had been very sharp since the move and, with the Brewers 'pen sucking big-time ass, it seems as though they should have given him a bit longer leash.


George Brunet is one of the handful of former Seattle Pilots of which I am missing cards. He threw over 60 innings for the team in their only year of existence, but got shutout by Topps as well as in the handful of retrospective Pilots issues. He was traded just after the franchise moved in Milwaukee and later went on to have a Hall of Fame career in the Mexican League.

This haul now brings me to a total of 789 of the 841 All-time Brewers.

2 comments:

  1. UD Fortyman is just as great as Topps Total for including anyone and everyone in the game. Unfortunately, the brand didn't stick because, unlike Total, the price point wasn't exactly ideal (I think the packs were $3 each if I'm remembering right).

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  2. $3? Ouch. Unless, they were 75-card packs.

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