Bad Wax

One of the new things I want to incorporate into my blog is the Bad Wax Hall of Very Good. This is going to be for guys who are not in the Hall of Fame and are retired from baseball. What I am trying to come up with are requirements. I’m curious is any of my readers have any ideas as to what the minimum requirements should be. Also I think there should be levels in this Hall of Very Good. A bronze level for guys who just make it in, a silver level for guys who got in easily but have no shot at the real Hall of Fame and a gold level for guys who should have gotten into the Hall of Fame, but never did. I’m just curious as to your feelings of what as a minimum the criteria should be. Lurkers, come out and be heard! Now on to unlucky pack number 13.

1. Von Hayes – 1B/OF – Phillies – 666 – Looks like Von got the evil card in this set. Von had a great season in 1986, where he was 8th in MVP voting. Von put together another solid season in 1987 when he went 0.277/21/84/16. Not bad for a guy no one remembers huh? I don’t think he’s a Hall of Very Good guy, but I’d go with good, how about that?His fun fact was that he played little league when he was a boy. I am assuming most ball players did.

2. Bob Knepper – P – Astros – 722 – Bob was always that average pitcher. That guy in the 4th or 5th slot in the rotation. The one who was 50/50 whether he would win on any given day. He was way too good to be in the minors, but would never be a star. In 1987 he went 8-17/5.27/1.58. Once again proving he was that guy, or maybe less than that guy. His fun fact was he had a 10-1 mark as a senior in high schoolna dhe has 3 children.

3. Dave Lopes – OF/2B – Astros – 445 – This was late in his career, he was nearly 42 years old at this point. The wheels and power were gone and this was his last season. In his final run he went 0.233/1/6 in 43 at bats spread over 49 games. No fun facts on his card, although he was a manager of the Tucson Javelinas in the AFL when I was down in Tucson.

4. Padres Leaders – 81 – In 1986 the offensive leaders were Tony Gwynn and Kevin McReynolds. The pitching leaders were Andy Hawkins and Lance McCullers. I truly do hate Andy Hawkins and I will never in my life forget his “no hitter”.

5. Jimy Williams – MGR – Toronto – 786 – His family was so poor growing up him mom couldn’t afford to give him 2 m’s in his first name (rim shot!) In 1987 he guided the Jays to a 96-66 record, good for only 2nd in the AL East. Sadly it would be his best record with Toronto.

6. Steve Sax – 2B – Dodgers – 769 – In 1986 Steve had his best season, he was even 13th in MVP voting, so it was expected that he would continue this in 1987. Unfortunately for Steve he ended up going 0.280/6/46/37. Not horrible by any means, but it was 52 points lower than he hit in 1986 so that’s why no voting in the MVP race.His fun fact is that his brother Dave plays for the Red Sox.

7. Wayne Tolleson – SS – Yankees – 224 – This would be the last time he would be a full time guy in the majors. In 1987 he went 0.221/1/22 in over 340 at bats., so not productive at all! His fun fact was that he has a son.

8. Jose DeLeon – P – White Sox – 421 – Talk about your 5th in the rotation starter, Jose was a scrub with a capital S. Again we have a guy too good for AAA but not good enough for the majors, in other words he could have went off the the Japanese League. In 1987 he went 11-12/4.02/1.33, for yet another disappointing season.

9. Jeff Lahti – P – Cardinals – 367 – Jeff is a career middle reliever, unfortunately it was a short career, because it ended in 1986, when he went 0-0/0.00/1.71 in 2 innings of work. Jeff’s fun fact was that he own an apple orchord in Oregon and his nickname is the Jam Man.

10. George Bamberger – MGR – Brewers – 468 – George had three stints with the Brewers, unfortunately in 1987 he was not managing the Brewers. His last season was in 1986 and he went 71-81 and finished in 6th place in the NL West.

11. Mike Fischlin – SS/2B – Yankees – 434 – Mike was a career backup, never amassing more than more than 280 at bats in a season. In 1987 he ended up in the Braves organization, where he only played in one game and had no at bats. A sad end to a sad career. His fun fact was that he played baseball and basketball in high school.

12. Brook Jacoby – 3B – Indians – 405 – 1987 was the pinnacle of Brook’s career. He never did any better than this and never even recieved a vote in the MVP award race for this gem. He went 0.300/32/69 and like I said not once ounce of recognition. His fun fact was that he was his baseball and basketball’s team MVP.

13. Randy St. Claire – P – Expos – 467 – Randy was another career reliever. He was nothing special, in 1987 he went 3-3/4.03/1.25 in 44 games, he even got 7 saves! He was one of those guys who was in the minors for so long the back of his card is filled with his minor league numbers and there is no room for fun facts.

14. Gene Michael – MGR – Cubs – 43 – This was Stick’s final year in Chicago, before he ended up as a GM screwing up the Yankee franchise. In 1987 he guided the Cubs to a 68-68 record before he was canned.

15. Sammy Khalifa – SS – Pirates – 164 – This was Sammy’s final year. He went 0.176/0/2 in 17 at bats. He does have an entertaining list of hobbies in his fun facts. He is a fan of aerobics, raquetball, swimming, and biking. Sammy has no worries that his career is over at the age of 23, he’s got lots of hobbies to keep him busy!

16. Rich Bordi – P – Orioles – 638 – Rich was yet another middle reliever in the 1987 sea of relievers. He was with the Yankees in 1987 and went 3-1/7.64/1.64 in what would be his second to last season. His fun fact was that he was signed by Charles O. Finley.

17. Dwight Gooden – P – Mets – 130 – This was when the Doc started to look mortal after all the years of domination. In 1987 he went 15-7/3.21/1.20 with only 148 strikeouts. Oh how the mighty had fallen. I had him in my fantasy league that year and I remember how crushed I was that he didn’t dominate. By the way even with this record he was 5th in Cy Young voting.

Definitely not the best of packs, but not to terrible either. I give it a solid 2.5 star rating and that’s mainly for the Gooden and Jacoby. Overall I’ve seen better packs, I just wish there were less relievers. Does anyone know why the heck Topps went with 792 cards? Is there a reason to put in the middle relievers? I just get sick of seeing all these guys. Very tough to get psyched for reviewing these packs when they are loaded with middle relievers.