Bad Wax

Since I knew today was going to be busy, I decided that maybe I should knock out today’s Operation Topps post last night. That would have been the smart thing to do, instead I did the dumb thing which was to play Baseball Mogul 2009 for 4 hours. I have already found some flaws in the system. I needed to bolster my hitting and decided to trade the Brewers. Originally I wanted to get Fielder, they wanted my two best prospects and Derek Lee (my best hitter). I was going to dump Lee to get him anyway, but the prospects hurt. So I decided maybe to upgrade my 2B with Weeks, so I added him and put one of my most talented rookies on the table so it was a 4 for 2 trade. The computer wanted to pull the trigger immediately, so I backed off and added JJ Hardy, the computer wanted a starting pitcher, so I threw in Dempster and we were back in business. So in the end I got Fielder, Weeks and Hardy for Lee, Theriot, and Dempster plus 2 prospects. Enough fantasy baseball talk, lets get to the pack (number 23).

1. Wayne Krenchicki – 3B/1B – Expos – 774 – Besides having one of the more difficult names to pronounce, he was a little used back up for the Orioles, Reds, Tigers and Expos. 1986 was actually his last season in the bigs. No stats for 1987. His fun fact was that his brother Tom was a SS in the Dodgers organization.

2. Dan Petry – P – Tigers – 752 – Known to his teammates as “Peaches”, was a fairly dominant pitcher for the first 6 years of his career, unfortunately by 1987 he was quite so dominating. In 1987 he went 9-7/5.61/1.66 for the Tigers in what would become his last season in Detroit. His fun fact was that he and his wife have a son.

3. Dave Lopes – ’86 Record Breaker – 4 – I bet you are wondering what kind of record he broke in 1986. He broke the most stolen bases by a 40 year old mark of 25. The old record was held by Honus Wagner at 23. This is no longer a record as the “Man of Steal” Ricky Henderson, crushed it by stealing 37 in 1999.

4. Cliff Speck – P – Braves – 269 – Cliff broke into the league in 1974 but didn’t get called up until 1986. Unfortunately, that was all he had in him. He didn’t pitch in 1987, a one year wonder who went 2-1/4.13/1.41 in 13 games. His fun fact was that he enjoys working on cars. I think you might find him with that kind of business right now.

5. Ozzie Virgil – C – Braves – 571 – Looking at Ozzie’s career, it’s easy to see the peak and valley he went through. His best years were from 1984 – 1987 at the age of 27 – 30, then his numbers just drop off the table which at 30 for catchers is about right. 1987 was his best season he went 0.247/27/72 and earned his 2^nd All Star appearance. His fun fact is that he like flying model planes.

6. Bob Brenly – C/3B – Giants – 125 – I was certain this was a double, but after further review, I have figured out that it isn’t. At 33, this was his last full time gig, he went 0.267/18/51/10 which wasn’t bad at all for a catcher. His fun fact is that he enjoys college basketball.

7. Red Leaders – 281 – The offensive leaders for the Reds in 1986 were Eric Davis and Dave Parker. The pitching leaders were Bill Gullickson and Tom Browning.

8. Jerry Mumphry – OF – Cubs – 372 – This was pretty late into Jerry’s career. In 1987 he was 34 years old and still with the Cubs. He went 0.333/13/44 in what proved to be his biggest offensive output of his career. There is not a fun fact about Jerry.

9. Scott Terry – P – Reds – 453 – This is a Scott Terry rookie card. I know, I’m as blown away as you are. In 1987 Scott was a middle reliever and pitched in 11 games. He went 0-0/3.38/1.58 over those 11 games, and most importantly got an invite back for the next year. His fun fact is that he played his college ball at Southwestern University.

10. Glenn Hoffman – SS – Red Sox – 374 – Trevor’s older brother (a second sighting). In 1987, he split time between the Red Sox and the Dodgers, where he went a combined 0.214/0/16. But the best part was his career wasn’t over, he went on for a few more years. His fun fact was that he was an All Star in American Legion ball.

11. Craig Nettles – 3B – Padres – 205 – He was still hanging in there at 42. He was playing for the Braves though. And in 1987 he went 0.209/5/33 in just 117 at bats. Mainly used as a defensive replacement, this would be his second to last season. No fun fact listed for Graig.

12. Jody Davis – C – Cubs – 270 – Jody was 30 in 1987 and like Ozzie Virgil, you can see the stats drop off the table. In 1987 he went 0.248/19/51 in what would be his last full season as a Cub. His fun fact is that he ahs 3 kids.

13. Bob Tewksbury – P – Yankees – 254 – 1987 was split between the Yankees and the Cubs for Bob as he was part of the Steve Trout deal. He stats for 1987 were 1-8/6.66/1.93, which was pretty bad, but he was pretty young too. No fun fact for Bob.

14. John Shelby – OF – Orioles – 208 – Shelby split time between the Orioles and the Dodgers in 1987, he also had his best season in the majors. He went 0.272/22/72/16, in what was a great season for him. His fun fact was that he has a son John III.

15. Teddy Higuera – AL All Star – 615 – This was Teddy’s only All Star appearance, and on the back of his card, it lists AL strikeout leaders and he was 6^th. Believe it or not Clemens was 2^nd to Mark Langston (by 7 K’s).

16. Teddy Higuera – P – Brewers – 250 – How funny is it that I got these two cards back to back. Teddy was coming off an amazing season in 1986 but never could live up to that season again as in 1987 when he went 18-10/4.61-1.23. A sold season definitely but not like the 1986 season. No fun fact for Teddy.

17. Kelly Gruber – 3B/2B – Blue Jays – 458 – Kelly was 25 in 1987 and got his first taste of a starting role. His numbers weren’t that great at 0.235/12/36/12, but they were good enough for him to start again next season where he rewarded the Blue Jays with a nice season. His fun fact was that he was a 4 sport star in high school. He was an All-District quarterback. I wonder how big Bel Aire’s district is?

Overall a pretty darn good pack, no Hall of Famers or major stars even, but a bunch of good blue collar guys. Overall I am going to give this a 2.0 star rating. I’ve been trying to figure out how to continue operation topps for the 1988 set. I think I am going to mix it up a bit, because I don’t like not getting complete sets after 2 boxes of cards. I might just buy the set and do a complete 792 card review of the set, broken down into 17 card lots. Tell me what you think about that?