Yesterday’s pack was great, we got 13 cards that weren’t doubles. I’m thinking this might be a sign that either one, things are a changing, or two we are gearing up for a pack loaded with doubles. I am thinking it will probably be the latter. On the home front, things are going great with the new puppy (Carbon) and she is going through her classic puppy phase of eating everything she sees. So I am keeping my cards up high since I saw her walking around with a wax package wrapper in her mouth this morning. You know with a dog the size of her, it might be interesting what kind of damage she could do to my cards. I have to be real careful with her and them. So let’s take a gander at pack 51 (can you believe we are already up to pack 51?
1. Bruce Berenyi – P – Mets – 339 – Bruce played a number of terrible seasons with the Reds where at one point he had lost 18,14, and 13 games in back to back to back seasons. It wasn’t that he was unlucky, he was just a bad pitcher. He was always deemed someone with control issues. He ended up on the Mets in late 1984 but because of shoulder injuries he missed almost the entire season. In 1986 he injuries were still not completely healed and he went 2-2/6.35/1.739 in only 14 appearences, it would be his last game.
2. Tom Nieto – C – Cardinals – 88 – Besides having a cool last name, Tom didn’t really add a whole lot to the history of baseball. He was a backup for his entire career. In 1986 he was with Montreal and he went 0.200/1/7 in 65 at bats. This was about average for his whole career. He went on to become a rather successful minor league coach, for Cincinnati and the New York Yankees.
3. Mike Stenhouse – DH/OF – Twins – 17 – There is a great page set up to the history of Mike in Baseball Reference, but to sum it up, in college he turned down scholarships from big name baseball Universities (like Arizona State), in order to attend Harvard. He was an Ivy League all star and was selected a few times in the draft, but eventually went to the Expos. His claim to fame is being in a book called Mendoza’s Heros, which chronicles sub 0.200 hitters. His best quote is, “The worst hitting instruction I ever got was when I got to the big leagues.” In case you are curious in 1986 he was with Boston and hit 0.095/0/1 in 21 at bats. Great AAA guy though!
4. Bill Caudill – P – Blue Jays – 435 – Just out of curiosity, how many pitchers do you know who where eyeblack? Even better, how many people know why you where eye back? Bill was a decent reliever, nothing to write home about but certainly wasn’t a borderline major leaguer,like the rest of the players I reviewed today. In 1986 he went 2-6/6.19/1.459 with no saves. Not a terribly great season for him and actually it would be his second to last year.
5. Al Cowens – OF – Mariners – 92 -At first I thought this was the guy that was driving OJ in the white Bronco, but I think that’s someone else. This Al started 13 seasons for the Royals, Tigers and Mariners. He was your basic 0.270/11/73/12 guy. 1986 would be his last season (of course since it’s apparently the motif today) and he went 0.183/0/6 in 82 at bats. A terrible way to go out especially after 12 years, but hey, at least he was a starter in the majors and that’s a big deal.
6. Fred Lynn – OF – Orioles – 55 – Double, firs reviewed in pack 1.
7. Tom Waddell – P – Indians – 86 – Double, firs reviewed in pack 1.
8. Steve Sax – 2B – Dodgers – 175 – Double, firs reviewed in pack 28.
9. Rob Wilfong – 2B – Angels – 658 – Double, firs reviewed in pack 1.
10 Pete Rose Card history 1971-1974 – 4 – Double, firs reviewed in pack 48.
11. Blue Jays Team Leader – 86 – Double, firs reviewed in pack 48.
12. Joel Skinner – C – White Sox – 239 – Double, firs reviewed in pack 40.
13. Steve McCatty – P – A’s – 624 – Double, firs reviewed in pack 40.
14. Steve Yeager – C – Dodgers – 32 – Double, firs reviewed in pack 40.
15. Dwight Gooden -1985 Record Breaker – 202 – Double, firs reviewed in pack 40.
Overall I am going to give this pack a 1.5 star rating. It wasn’t a terribly good pack by any stretch of the imagination. The new cards I got were of miserable players and even the doubles weren’t that great. Well it looks like I was right from the begining, I just ended up with a large set of doubles and worthless cards! Bad wax at it’s best!
