It was a nice weekend, I was at a booth in the Durham Animal Protection Society’s Walk for the Animals. My wife’s company sponsored the event and we gave away a ton of dog toys. Unfortunately since it was pretty hot out, we left our critters at home. The two schnauzers aren’t really people friendly and the Newfoundland puppy just gets so hot, so fast. We just felt it was better that way. Sunday was a relaxing day for us, as my wife and I took a complete day off and just relaxed. But now it’s Monday and I am going to get some posts up here, including my first Operation Topps post in two days. Let’s take a look at pack 22.
1. Juan Nieves – P – Brewers – 79 – Juan was one of those guys that had me crossing my fingers every time I watched him pitch. I think because I rooted for every rookie in this set, Juan was one of the better ones. In 1986 he went 11-12 and in 1987 he went 14-8/4.88/1.53 and became the second youngest player in MLB history to throw a no hitter. His fun fact was that he was scouted by over 75 colleges and every major league club as a high school star in the spring of 1983.
2. Bill Doran – 2B – Astros – 472 – In 987 Bill was entrenched as the 2B for the Astros. He was a solid all around player and in 1987 he went 0.283/16/79/31 and was 18th overall in MVP voting. This was probably one of his best seasons as a pro. His fun fact was that he won All America and All MAC honors while at Miami of Ohio.
3. Doug Corbett – P -Angels – 359 – Before Mark Eichhorn, Doug was the rookie saves leader with the 23 he put up for the Twins in 1980. Unfortunately that was the most he would ever put up and in 1987 he was on the Orioles, which would be his last stop and year in the majors. He went 0-2/7.83/1.63 with one save. His fun fact was that he was a graduate of the University of Florida.
4. Ryne Sandberg – 2B – Cubs – 680 – At this point in his career, Ryne had established himself as one of the best second basemen in baseball. He went 0.294/16/59/21 which was good for an All Star appearance (his 4th). One curious thing about Ryno, even though he is in the HOF, he didn’t have even close to 3000 hits, only 283 homers, and a career batting average of 0.283. If he wasn’t on the Cubs would he get in? Jeff weigh in on this one. His fun fact and marketing ploy was that he co-authored a book called “Ryno”.
5. Rick Reuschel – P – Pirates – 521 – I wish I scanned this one because he was in his mesh see through Pirates stack hat, and it appears that he has an envelop in his hat. I will try and get this scanned tonight. In 1987 he split time between the Pirates and the Giants, he went 13-9/3.09/1.10 and was third in Cy Young voting. Not too bad for a 38 year old. His fun fact is that one of his hobbies is carpentry.
6. Len Matuszek – 1B/OF – Dodgers – 457 – This career back-up came to the end of the line in 1987 where he was with the Dodgers but played very little. In 1987 he had one hit in 15 at bats. That was how he closed out his career. He lists his hobbies as audio and video recording. That is pretty odd to me.
7. Craig McMurtry – P -Braves – 461 – Craig was a lightly used middle reliever, but unfortunately for him, he wasn’t in the majors in 1987. He spent the year in the minors. His fun fact was that he lettered in baseball, football, basketball and track in high school. Also he has one daughter.
8. Greg Gagne – SS – Twins – 558 – Greg was one of those players, that although his stats were ok, he just had a larger persona. Take his 1987 season, it was his third starting season and he went 0.265/10/40, not really all that impressive, especially considering all that talent around him. His fun fact is that he is one of nine children and that he earned All State honors in baseball and football in high school.
9. Garth Iorg – 3B/2B – Blue Jays – 751 – How odd, this is the third player I’ve reviewed today that had his career end in 1987. His entire career spent with the Blue Jays, in 1987 he went 0.210/4/30. If that wasn’t a slap in the face, he also had no fun fact!
10. Jeff Calhoun – P – Astros – 282 – Jeff was a middle reliever in the mid 80s and quite possibly had his best season in 1987. He went 3-0/1.48/1.20 in 42 games. His fun fact was that he is a graduate of the University of Mississippi in 1980.
11. Terry Kennedy – C – Padres – 540 – Terry was a pretty solid guy to have both in the field and in your lineup. 1987 would mark his last trip to the All Star game. For the Orioles, he went 0.250/18/62, which would end up being one of the best seasons of his career. He has three children, 2 girls and a boy.
12. Tom LaSorda – Mgr – Dodgers – 493 – He coached the Dodgers for 21 seasons and this was right smack in the middle of it. In 1987 he guided his team to a 79-83 record that was good for fourth in the NL West.
13. Mike Trujillo – P – Mariners – 402 – Mike was a spot starter for the Mariners in 1987. It would also be his last season as a Mariner. He stats for the year were 4-4/6.17/1.46 in 28 games (7 starts). Nothing special and there are no fun facts about Mike.
14. Kent Tekulve – P – Phillies – Kent had one of the oddest throwing motions I had ever seen, he was a submarine pitcher, the first I had ever seen. In 1987 he was 40 years old and still pitching strong in the majors. He was a middle reliever that went 11-5/2.99/1.27 and that was over the course of 73 games. Definitely one of the game’s unappreciated players. No fun fact for Kent.
15. Hal Lanier – Mgr – Astros – 343 – Double, first reviewed in pack 12.
16. Ben Oglivie – OF – Brewers – 586 – Double, first reviewed in pack 1.
17. Chuck Tanner – Mgr – Braves – 593 – Double, first reviewed in pack 7.
Not too terrible, only 3 doubles and we are almost at the 350 card mark. I never would have dreamed that it would go so well. I know it’s all going to come to a skreetchy halt, but, still it’s fun to see how well I’m doing with the set. My overall score for this pack is 2.0 stars. The Ryno card was fun as was the Nieves and Reushall, but overall the pack seemed to lack that star power that’s needed if this were to ever go over the 2.5 star mark.
Ryno was always a HOFer in my book, even before I started rooting for the Cubs. He was a defensive monster, and had several HOF-worthy seasons even if they didn’t add up to the so-called “magic numbers.”
Ryno pretty much had everything you would want from a baseball player. He had speed(344 SB), power(282), and for the most part a good average(hit .300 5 times in his 16 seasons). He had an MVP award and a 10 time all star. His defensive skills at 2B were near perfect (hence the .989 fielding percentage which maybe the highest for 2B of all time). People knock his defensive because they say he never made the spectacular play. But his positioning and handling the baseball was why he won the second most gold gloves(9) that a second baseman ever has (though I believe Alomar should not have won as many as he did). Not a first ballet guy since he never hit any of the milestone numbers, but a HOF none the less.