So far so good, no doubles and I couldn’t be happier. Well I guess I’d be happier if the oil company execs would suffer the same fate as Enron. By the way, does anyone else see the direct ties to Enron here ? Or is it just me? I went to an event in the Triangle called Techie Tuesday and there were all the Hybrid car dealers there. Holy crap, I have never seen such sleazy dealings! Using sky is falling tactics to sell cars is ridiculous. When Bush got in office there were two things he had on his agenda, rising oil prices and starting a war. Congrats G Dub, you’ve got what you wanted. I can tell you one thing, if this president doesn’t do something about the price of gas very soon, McCain could hand out hundreds and couldn’t beat Obama. Enough political crap, here is pack number 3:
1. Dave Righetti – 86 Record Breaker – 5 – This card talks about how Righetti recorded the most saves in a season (46), breaking the record previously set by Dan Quisenberry in 1983 and tied by Bruce Sutter in 1984. Way to go Dave!
2. Mike Birkbeck – P – Brewers – 229 – This was Mike’s rookie card, let me tell you something, if you don’t have this one it’s OK. In 1987 he went 1-4/6.20/1.82 in 10 starts, I doubt if any of them were quality starts judging from the stats. Oh and he was an All American at Akron University, just goes to sow you, sometimes its not the best player who does well in pro ball.
3. Mike Woodard – 2B – Giants – 286 – Mike had a pretty brief career, a backup who never cracked 100 at bats in a season. In 1987 he went 0.211/0/1 in 19 at bats. You know you suck when they fill up the back of your card and you’ve only been in the league 2 years. No room for a fast fact back there.
4. Todd Worrell – 86 Record Breaker – 7 – I remember Worrell, man if I didn’t think he was going to become the next Sutter. Well we all know what happened, he didn’t but in 1986 he set the record for most saves by a rookie with 36. The previous mark was set by Doug Corbett in 1980. Seems hard to believe that all it took to break the record was 30 saves, but then again it was a different end game back then.
5. Roy Smalley – DH/SS – Twins – 744 – Roy had been in the league since 1975, when he broke in with the Rangers. He started a few years, but 1987 was his last season. He went 0.275/8/34, sure he could have kept playing but there were no takers. Must be tough to hang it up at 34. Roy and his wife have 3 children, wonder if one of them is Roy Jr. Small Smalleys (Ha Ha I kill myself).
6. Willie Hernandez – P – Tigers – 515 – Hey guess what Willie and his wife have 3 children too. Spooooky! 1987 was a tough season for Willie, his stats had steadily declined and then he put up this awful season 3-4/3.67/1.49 with only 8 saves, even though he finished 31 games. Ouch that stings!
7. Dennis Leonard – P – Royals – 38 – I posted the picture because I thought i was funny that he was wearing a vinyl warm up suit. Do you think he’s into vinyl and this picture let it slip out? Dennis actually retired after the 1986 season, when he went 8-13/4.44/1.34, I wouldn’t think that was bad enough to mean he had to retire though.
8. A’s Leaders – 456 – Hmmm who was it that was on the A’s in 1986? Oh yeah, Jose Canseco and Alfredo Griffen were the offensive leaders, while Curt Young and Jose Rijo were the pitching leaders.
9. Tom O’Malley – 3B – Orioles – 154 – In 1987 Tom was in Texas, peddling his career backup status there for a season. He went 0.274/1/12 there completely stinking up the joint. Hey but the Giants took him 16th overall after he hit 0.600 in high school as a senior. Sometimes prospecting can be dangerous.
10. Joe Niekro – P – Yankees – 344 – Did Joe retire this year . . . at 42 . . . the answer is . . . FALSE. He played for both the Yankees and the Twins. He went 7-13/5.33/1.490, not great at all and it probably wouldn’t have been the so bad to hang it up after that stinker.
11. Willie Upshaw – 1B – Blue Jays – 245 – In the early to mid 80s Willie was a prime time hitter. But in 1987 he was a shell of his earlier self and ended up going 0.244/15/58/10 and although that’s not horrible he was 30 years old, right in the middle of his prime and he should have been better than those numbers.
12. Rick Aguilera – P – Mets – 103 – Another card I got late in the 1986 set. 1987 was probably one of his best seasons as a pro. He went 11-3/3.60/1.37 and even missed half the season due to injury. Sadly it would be his last great season and he was only 3 years into his career. That is sad. Did you know, he grew up as a 3B, but switched to P in college.
13. Jim Leyland – MGR – Pirates – 93 – I put the picture on here, because he has a watch on. How many managers do you see with a watch on? It just looks out of place to me. In 1987 Jim took the Pirates to a 80-82 record, good for 4th in the NL East.
14. Luis Quinones – SS/3B – Giants – 362 – Another one of those scrubs who has most of the card taken up by his minor league stats. This was his rookie card, and in 1987 he went 0.218/0/8 in 101 at bats. Amazingly he stayed in the league for 5 more years! How?
15. Mike Easler – DH – Yankees – 135 – I was so excited when the Yankees got Easler. Then I realized it was at the end of his career, when he couldn’t field and even hitting was getting rough. 1987 was his last year in the majors and he split time with the Phillies and Yankees, his stats were 0.282/5/31, and unfortunately, there are no fast facts about him on his card.
16. Ozzie Smith – SS – Cardinals – 749 – The Wizard himself. I hope I don’t get as many of his cards as I got in the 1986 boxes, I think the grand total was 6. 1987 was a very good year for him, 2nd in MVP voting, an All Star appearance and a silver slugger award. He went 0.303/0/75/43 and was the leader on that Cardinals team which went to the World Series and lost.
17. Vance Law – 1B/3B – Expos – 127 – He has two children (let me knock that out right now). Vance was a starter in the mid 80s but by 1987 he wasn’t and ended up with a 0.273/12/56 and a damn cool nickname . . Long arm of the Law. Hats off to Vance and his two children.
I think when Topps has nothing else to say they look up how many kids he has. I can’t count the number of time we learn how many children the player has. What do they do in Shawn Kemp’s card? Anyways, it was a pretty good pack. We dodged the doubles bullet yet again and this pack brings up to 51 cards. Overall not too many stars but it still gets a 2.0 star rating in my book. I hate to even say this but this ox is already better than the 1986 ones, I didn’t get a double yet, maybe they fixed their seeding issues. Nah, I’ve just been lucky.
