Billy Hatcher 1992 Upper Deck

On May 31, 2017 I received this card from the Baseball Card Bandit (BCB):

On Facebook I wrote: Hey, the BCB sent me another card last week and this time it's from Atlanta. (John Manasso? Christie Tuccillo Manasso?)

2019 Notes: I'm naming checking my brother and sister-in-law here who live in a suburb right outside of Atlanta. It's a great place to visit and honestly, I wouldn't mind living there. 

It's old friend Billy Hatcher! You may remember Hatcher as the guy who, when with Houston, hit a ball and his bat exploded with super balls. Or you may recall that he was on fire in the 1990 World Series as Cincinnati beat the heavily favored A's in five games. 

Or you might recall him as a spark plug for some truly awful Red Sox teams pre-Dan Duquette. In one of his first games in Boston, he stole home and people around here reacted as if he broke Hank Aaron's record while at the same time, cured cancer. 

It was a cool thing but man, we were desperate for something interesting from our baseball team. Congratulations Billy Hatcher, for a very short time you peed Dos Equis. You were the most interesting man on the Red Sox.

2019: After 1990, the Red Sox got very bad and very boring. I remember that it seemed if every acquisition was going to be the one that made Boston relevant again. Herm Winningham, Mike Marshall, Billy Hatcher, Danny Heep, Tom Brunansky. These were the hitters that were going to bring the Sox back from the dead and have them compete with the Torontos, the Oaklands, the Minnesotas. 

Not only that, but they were going to bring home the trophy and teach the kids a thing or two about playing hard and professionalism. It didn't happen. It never happened. 

Hatcher was a bit of tease though, because he did play really well his first two weeks in red socks. I mentioned that he stole home (which really was a big deal and was one of four that he had with the Sox that season) and he hit pretty well. At least I remember him hitting well, his final slash in 1992 was 238/283/311 and that's not very good. 

Even when the Sox stunk and slid back to last a few years ago, they were never boring. Or at least not as boring as they were in the early 90s. That's an era I hope that they never return to. 

Paul O'Neill 1992 Upper Deck

On May 17, 2017 I received this card from the Baseball Card Bandit (BCB):

On Facebook, I wrote: The other day, after a few weeks off, the BCB sent over a new card. The postmark is from Boston and there's no note. It's been a year since the original BCB showed up (this one is a copycat) so it's nice to see this thing has been chugging along. 

Today's card is Paul O'Neill. You may remember him as the obnoxious, red ass Yankee who was never wrong about anything but before that he was a Cincinnati Red. He was sent to the Yankees in exchange for Roberto Kelly. 

These were the type of under-the-radar fleecings that New York used to make when they were focused on building a team. Anyway, by the time he played three games for New York, he became Asshole #1, on a team chock full of them. 

Here's 10 things about Paul O'Neill:

1. He was legit hilarious on his Seinfeld episode. 
2. New Yorkers loved calling him "Pauly", which ugh. 
3. He's actually a good color guy. 
4. If you loved Trot Nixon, you would have loved him on your team. 
5. His first two managers, Pete Rose and Lou Piniella, were the two biggest red asses in baseball history. That probably had something to do with his disposition. 
6. He won five rings. That's impressive. 
7. He made five All-Star Games. Also impressive. 
8. He pitched two innings in 1987. 
9. Led the league in hitting in the strike shortened 1994 season. 
10. According to BaseballRef, made over $51m in his career. 

So there's Paul O'Neill, the human embodiment of the Beastie Boys lyric, "One man's ceiling is another man's floor." A jerk on someone else's team but a lovable scrapper on yours.

2019 Update: I don't have a lot to say about this because I think that I did a pretty good job on the Facebook post. At this point it looks as if began concentrating more on the player rather than the BCB. 

Like I said, if you're a fan of the team that Paul O'Neill is on, he's one of your favorite players. It looks as if he gives a shit and I think that's what fans really want. They really like guys like Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Trout, ballplayers who make the game look a breeze. But they love guys like O'Neill who appear that they're giving 100% and for whom the game doesn't come as simple.

How can you get mad at a dude who's uniform is always dirty, is always diving around, who looks as if he played nine innings in the city dump (I will refrain from making the obvious Yankee Stadium joke here)? Especially compared to a player that seemingly glides along the outfield grass, who has a text-book perfect swing, who runs with grace and ease? Most fans identify more with an O'Neill type than the a Trout type because deep down, they know that that's who they are. 

But if Paul O'Neill isn't on your team, he's an asshole full of false hustle. A guy who knows he supremely talented but is fronting and pretending that he's a lunch pail guy. I don't know, the truth probably lies between the two point of views. I always thought he was an asshole. 

Otis Nixon 1990 Fleer

On April 17, 2017 I received this card from the Baseball Card Bandit (BCB):

On Facebook, I wrote: The BCB takes no holidays! I came home from my parents' house yesterday and found this waiting in my doorstop. And the BCB is so current too. 

You may remember that Otis Nixon was in the news last week because he went missing from his Atlanta home. He was found safe and sound a few days later. 

Home is an interesting concept to Nixon as he bounced around to nine different organizations in his 18-year career, including one year in Boston. It was the strike-shortened season of 1994 and he swiped 42 bags and was caught ten times. 

The Sox had no idea what to do with him (they batted him lead off because he was fast but his OBP was atrocious: .360) and was shipped to Texas as part of the Jose Canseco deal. 

Canseco was a dude the Sox knew and loved. A tall right handed power guy well past his prime. 

Nixon never won a World Series but played in three Fall Classics (all with Atlanta). He also made north of $19M in his career, though if he stayed away from the Bolivian marching powder he would have made more. But he was better than his brother Donnell and that's what matters.

2019 Notes: Despite playing for the Red Sox, Nixon was the type of player who didn't play for Boston a lot. Like I said above, he was fast, good defensively, no power and no arm. You can look through the years and the Red Sox don't have a lot of players like that. 

The thing about Nixon is that he looked older than he was. How old do you think he is in that baseball card above? Assuming that that photo was taken in 1989, he's 30-years-old. In any event, he played 17 seasons in the bigs, which is pretty impressive considering he made his money with his legs. And the legs are usually the first to go, see Ellsbury, Jacoby.  

I would've bet that he was an All-Star at least once, but he didn't. I realize that I'm hung up on who was and who wasn't an All-Star. I'm not sure why, but I am. 

Tom Glavine 1996 Topps Classic Confrontations

On March 30, 2017 I received this card from the Baseball Card Bandit (BCB):

On Facebook, I wrote: There's a lot to say about today's letter from the BCB. 

The return address is from one town away: Billerica, MA., so I knew the card would belong to the pride of Billerica: Hall of Famer Tom Glavine. 

But what I did not know is that I would receive a hand written letter, purportedly from the lanky lefthander, letting me know that HE is a fan of ME! You can imagine my joy in reading this communication and when Glavine said he'd meet me on the softball field, you know that I'll be there. 

I wonder if that's a metaphor? Maybe he means the softball field of life? What would that be though? Church? The Mall? Mac 2's? I'll have to think about this. 

Glavine is probably the best athlete to come out of Massachusetts in the last 40 years. He was drafted by the Braves and the NHL's LA Kings. He chose baseball, giving up being teammates with Wayne Gretzky to sharing a locker room with John Rocker (amongst better, less racist guys).

Glavine won over 300 games, a couple of Cy Youngs, a World Series and with fellow HoFer Greg Maddux starred in the last great Nike ad, "Chicks dig the long ball." Not a bad choice, in retrospect. 

Aside to the BCB, one of Glavine's Brave teammates lived closer to me than Glavine. Burlington native Pete Smith pitched for Atlanta from 1987 through 1993, before calling it a career in 1998. The MVC must have been a lot of fun in the early 80s.

2019 Notes: The MVC means the Merrimack Valley Conference, which is where Burlington High School and Billerica High School were grouped. I'm not sure if they're still grouped that way any more. I should check, but I don't want to. 

I don't have a lot to say about Tom Glavine other than I thought that it was really cool that he was from Massachusetts and was so dominant. There are a lot of baseball players, but not many seem to come from New England. You get your Billy Swifts, your Gary Disarcinas, your Jerry Remys; but you don't get a lot of Hall of Famers, like Glavine.

The one thing I really remember about Tom Glavine is getting his 1988 Score Rookie card, looking at the back and getting excited because he was from Massachusetts. Then looking at his win loss record that year and seeing 7-17, with the 17 in bold indicating that he led the league in losses. That tempered my excitement a bit. I had no idea that he was going to the Hall. 

I counted 14 Hall of Famers from the Bay State and other than Jeff Bagwell, most of these players died before I was even born. So it was pretty great to see someone so dominant in his era come from the same place you did. 

Even though he was elected to Cooperstown on his first ballot, where would you rank Tom Glavine amongst the pitchers of the 1990s and 00s? Behind Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux. Behind Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez. Probably above Mike Mussina, Curt Schilling and John Smoltz. Well ahead of David Cone and Kevin Brown, right? Not using any numbers (dangerous, I know) and going on what I remember, I'd say that Tom Glavine was probably the fifth best pitcher of his era.

Not too shabby, Glavine. And that gets you a street named after you in your hometown. 

Dave Henderson 1990 Fleer

On March 19, 2017 I received this card from the Baseball Card Bandit (BCB):

On Facebook, I wrote: This is the latest from the BCB, return address of Ash, which is the name of the dorm I lived in while in college. 

I am not sure if the BCB knows what a significant person Dave Henderson is in my life. Which is odd considering that I never met the man and he played for the Sox for less than one calendar year. 

But Dave Henderson is the person solely responsible for my Red Sox fandom. He also taught me that it's never over (which has had both positive and negative connotations), which is a pretty important gift. 

Anyway he was the spark that brought the Sox back from the brink of sure elimination in 1986 and probably would have been the World Series MVP -- if not for the double edged sword of the it's never not over thing. That's how those things work, sports karma. 

He was caught in the midst of a youth movement a year later and was traded to the Giants for Randy Kutcher. He rejoined the AL and became a sorta star in those awesome A's mini dynasty of the late 90s. After he left Oakland he finished with the Royals and then became a broadcaster where he began his career in Seattle. He passed away about a year ago and honestly, that sucked. 

Your sports heroes are not supposed to die. If these larger than life men can die, that means you're going to die one day too. 

God speed Dave Henderson, you taught me to believe in comebacks and also that it's okay to let people know that your favorite magazine is Playboy -- a fact he disclosed in the 1987 Red Sox yearbook.

2019 Notes: I could probably write about Dave Henderson for a year. I can remember Game 5 of the 1986 ALCS like it was yesterday -- though it was really 33 years ago (shit, I'm old). The Sox had a magical season in 1986. From the rejuvenation of Jim Rice to another batting title for Wade Boggs to Roger Clemens going supernova, everything was breaking right for the Red Sox. 

Even manager John McNamara couldn't screw this up. At least that's what I thought. In the ALCS, the Red Sox ran into the California Angels and they were not backing down. The cast of characters that were beating up the Sox included Brian Downing, Bob Boone, Doug DeCinces, Bobby Grich and John Candelaria. All of these guys were in the twilights of their careers but they were still doing a lot of damage to the Sox. 

But no one was crushing Boston like Mike Witt. The guy was practically in unhittable and was cruising along into the ninth when he gave up a home run to Don Baylor. The Angels were still up by one run and held a three game to one lead. Gene Mauch, who already had a huge collapse on his resume, brings in Gary Lucas. He immediately plunks catcher Rich Gedman. Mauch freaks out again and brings in Angels relief ace Donnie Moore -- who probably wasn't completely warmed up yet -- who ends up giving up the home run to Henderson. The Angels tie it in the ninth and the Sox won it in in the 11th on a Henderson sac fly. 

The Red Sox end up crushing the Angels in the last two games in Boston and go on to the World Series against the Mets -- the less said about that, the better. 

While this game was unfolding, in Amesbury my father was cooking Sunday dinner. This never happened, but he didn't care about sports and he was furious because his dinner was getting cold, I believe it was steak, peas and mashed potatoes (all his favorites), because my mother, myself and my brother wouldn't leave the TV. 

"Eat your dinner," he yelled. "They're just going to lose like they always do!"

Almost immediately after he said that, Henderson lined his shot into left field and three-fourths of our house went nuts. There was no way that we were leaving the den now and our dinner got colder and colder, while my Dad got angrier and angrier. Once the game was over, we came into the kitchen and were about to eat our cold meal. All of a sudden my uncle, aunt and grandmother pull into the drive way with piping hot McDonalds, Burger King AND Chinese food. It was another miracle and probably one of the best days of my life. 

What Dave Henderson taught me was immeasurable:

1. Baseball is the best fucking game in the world. Literally anything can happen. A guy who wasn't on the team, was only playing because the starting centerfielder (Tony Armas) was injured and who literally knocked a ball over the wall for an Angels' dinger a few innings earlier, can be the ultimate hero. 

2. No game is ever quite over, no series is ever done until the last out is made. Like I said above, anything can happen. And this game is burrowed so deep in my brain that I am forever chasing this dragon, trying to get that same feeling of jubilation and joy again. It won't happen, you can't be 12-years-old in the midst of your first pennant race ever again. 

3. Sometimes adults, even your father, aren't right. And sometimes you have to ignore their orders and you'll see something pretty great. 

And even though he wasn't even the best outfielder named Henderson, he still had a pretty amazing career. Dude had a kick-ass Fu Manchu, always seemed to be smiling and had a lot of style when playing the field; you could tell that he enjoyed being a major leaguer. Not only that, but he played for 15 years, went to four World Series, won one and was an All-Star. Sure, he never led the league in anything or was particular close to making the Hall of Fame, but that's a career that you'd take every day if offered. 

I know that Dave Henderson had some issues with the bottle, but he'll always be my hero. I wish that I had a chance to tell him. 

Carney Lansford 1992 Upper Deck

On March 14, 2017 I received these cards from the Baseball Card Bandit (BCB):

On Facebook, I wrote: I'm a few days late on this but the BCB struck again on Saturday. The reason why I was late is because I went on a brewery/distillery tour that day and I just now remembered taking this picture that night. 

This is a card of Carney Lansford who was one of the more underrated cogs in those late 80s Oakland sorta dynasty. Lansford was, in baseball terms, a "professional hitter", meaning he got a lot of hits. Baseball people are wordsmiths. 

He was not to be blamed for the A's disappointing postseason as he batted over 300 in eight series, including three World Series. Though a lot of that is due to a 1989 post season where he was on fire. The funny thing about Carney is that after 1987, his power fell precipitously. A threat to reach double figures in dingers ever year, he hit 19 total his last five years. 

He sorta reminded me of Bill Mueller but according to his Bball-ref page, his closest comp is Bill Madlock, which makes sense. All of these guys are professional hitters. 

Anyway, like those guys, Lansford led the league in batting average. And like Mueller he won his title as a member of the Red Sox. 

Three interesting things:

1. Was traded by the Sox for Tony Armas so that Wade Boggs could take over third. 
2. AFAIK, his parents are NOT circus folk so I'm not sure why they named him "Carney". 
3. The return address was BZN. I have no clue what that means -- and I'm fairly sober right now.

2019 Notes: There really isn't much more to say about Lansford other than he's one of those guys that you don't really think of too much any more. And if you're a Red Sox fans, you probably forgot that he was a member of the team. That's too bad because Lansford had a more than decent career. An All-Star, starting third baseman on a World Champion, a batting champion; that's a pretty nice resume for a guy to have. 

He's the type of player that many forget, but he shouldn't be. He may not be the best player at his position at his time, but he was in the conversation. These people should be saluted!

Tim Nahering 1990 Upper Deck and Spike Owen 1990 Upper Deck

On February 23, 2017 I received these cards from the Baseball Card Bandit (BCB):

2019 Notes: TWO cards! Unprecedented. Cool action shot of Naehring. Owen looks a lot thicker than I remember.

On Facebook, I wrote: A few days ago, I received TWO more cards from the BCB. The Tim Naehring card is postmarked from Iceland while the Spike Owen card hails from Denver. 

If you were a Red Sox fan in the early 90s, all you heard about was the potential of Tim Naehring. He could play anywhere in the infield, he could hit, had a bit of power and could run a little too. Unfortunately Tim Naehring couldn't stay healthy, so he was the ultimate tease. 

I remember thinking, "Okay, we have Mo at first, Valentin at short and Cooper at third. All we need is Naehring the play second and our infield is set for the decade." It never happened. Naehring would inevitably go down with an injury sometime in April, return in a June, get hurt in July and that would be it. A lot of ink was spilled over the never-was career of Tim Naehring. 

2019: Like I alluded to in the last paragraph, through no fault of his own, Tim Naehring is the worst kind of prospect. He's the one who has a ton of potential but can't reach it because he's always injured. That's worse than simply being not good because if you're not good, things happen and you try your best but you can't just cut the mustard. It happens. But when you're always injured, it's a bit of a tease. You perform well when you're healthy and then the inevitable injury occurs. Then you come back, do well, get everyone's (including yours) hopes up and then you tweak something. You're back on the shelf. 

After a while people lose patience with you and you're discarded as an oft-injured has been who can't be counted on. Some people will go even so far as to say you're not "tough enough", which is crap. If you're a professional athlete you put your body through a grinder every day, sometimes it just won't respond. But the nagging little voice in the back of your brain, the one that keeps saying, "You could have been something if you were a little healthier" must be maddening. To be betrayed by your own body and have to think about that for the rest of your life is simply unfair. 

Nahering is a respected talent evaluator in the Yankees organization now. I bet that it's easier to deal with his frustrating pro career easier there than if he drove a tow truck or was a CPA after baseball. 

---

Another Red Sox shortstop, Spike Owen was a part of the late 1986 trade that brought the AL Championship to Boston. Along with Dave Henderson, Owen was acquired for a handful of players who never amounted to much. He settled down the Boston infield that year and was--to a 10-year-old--a pretty decent player.

Owen played in those University of Texas super teams back in the early 80s with Roger Clemens and Greg Swindell. I always wondered whether Clemens and Owen would tell UT stories on bus rides to the park. If so, I bet their teammates wanted to murder them. 

Owen was eventually sent to the Expos for a package that brought the Sox John Dopson and Luis "Funky Cold" Riviera. I made up that last nickname.

2019: Spike Owen played 13 seasons in the big leagues. And for an undersized (5'9") guy who didn't hit a ton and played good defense, carved out a nice career for himself.  Aside from the 1986 Red Sox, he played on some mediocre teams: Mariners, Expos, Yankees and Angels. Here's something that I didn't know, in 1986 he was named team captain of the Mariners (they were terrible, but they could have been one of my favorite non-Red Sox teams ever -- I should write a blog on that some day) and then was shipped out of town by August. 

He also signed a pretty hefty deal with the Yankees in 1993 with the idea that he could provide veteran leadership. He didn't have an awesome year and the Yankees dealt him to the Angels after one season. Sorry Jetes. 

His older brother Dave also played in the bigs for two seasons. I wonder how Dave felt about his kid brother Spike being more successful than him? I bet that it eats at him. 

Bret Saberhagen 1992 Upper Deck

On February 14, 2017 I received this card from the Baseball Card Bandit (BCB):

On Facebook, I wrote: Look what came in the mail today? A valentine from the BCB, only this one is a little different than the other. For one thing, the envelope was taped up as if the BCB was all of a sudden worried of tampering. Second, no "Why can't we get guys like these?" note. Third, the envelope is red instead of white. BTW, it's postmarked Charlotte, NC. 

Anyway, it's nice to see Bret Saberhagen. And I'm glad to see he's playfully holding an apple instead of a bottle of bleach, which is what he sprayed in NY writers in 1993. Seems like a peach (HA!) of a guy. 

2019 Notes: Even though I wrote this two years ago, I forgot that Saberhagen did this. In the 90s, this was a pretty big scandal. But now, I'm sure that there would be a loud group of people who would love this sort of thing and hold Bret Saberhagen up as a hero. Those early 90s Mets teams were problematic. Saberhagen did this, Vince Coleman lit firecrackers near reporters, David Cone was accused of masturbating in the bullpen. Baseball players are idiots. 

In other news, even though it wasn't used a lot, the joke-y baseball cards were some of my favorite. I like guys wearing big umbrella hats or walking around with a giant glove or blowing a ridiculous large bubble. 

By the time Sabes showed up in Boston, he was older, more respected, his arm was hanging on by sinew and he was expected to be the number two behind Pedro. In all honesty, he should have pitched a game or two and called it a career. But he gutted out 175 innings with a sub-4.00 ERA, which is pretty decent all things being equal. 

BTW, he joined the Sox staff when he was 33. I thought he was like 64. It just goes to show that a. he was around forever (jumping on the scene in 1984 at 20) and b. age is a relative. 

That's the lesson today boys and girls, you're only as old as your rotator cuff.

2019: Saberhagen had a terrific career, if you took out the even numbered years. That's the one thing that I remember about him. He was lights out in the odd years but was very human in even years. He did win two Cy Young Awards and the 1985 World Series MVP (the latter and one of his Cys came when he was 21-years-old). I bet Kansas Citizens thought that Saberhagen was just going to keep cruising along to a Hall of Fame career after that. [narrator] He didn't. [/narrator]

I remember being stunned when the Royals traded him to the Mets and for former über-prospect Gregg Jefferies too! That was insane. Jefferies was supposed to lead the Mets into the new millennium. [narrator] He didn't. [/narrator]

Saberhagen ended up pitching for the Rockies (which I don't recall) before coming to the Sox after spending an entire year on the disabled list. His first year back was a bit of a wash-out but his second and third years weren't too bad. Then he went on the DL for the entirety of the 2000 season before hanging it up after a handful of games in 2001. 

Carlton Fisk 1990 Upper Deck

On January 29, 2017 I received this card from the Baseball Card Bandit (BCB):

2019 Notes: Fisk looks really regal in this shot, huh? Like something happened and he's about to put an end to it. Maybe he's going to fight Deion Sanders for drawing a dollar sign in the dirt every time he comes to the plate? Who knows what this red ass will do!

On Facebook, I wrote: Yesterday I received another BCB card, this time it was from Austin, TX and it was of Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk. 

The greatest catcher the Red Sox and New England ever produced, Pudge Fisk was unceremoniously told to leave because the Boston front office was both cheap and inept. 

Fisk literally changed his sox, going to Chicago and tormenting the AL for another decade plus. And he usually saved his best games to beat his old team. I remember being at a game where Eric Hetzel was dominating the Pale Hose, but the Red Sox couldn't score a run. In the eighth inning he left a ball up in the zone and Fisk hit it to Cambridge. Final score 1-0, Chicago. 

Durable as hell, Fisk also is one of a handful of players to see MLB action in four decades. In short, screw you Haywood Sullivan for letting Fisk go and trying to replace him with your banjo hitting kid.

2019: There's not a hell of a lot that I can add to this entry. I mean there is, but if you know anything about baseball in the last 30 years, there's nothing more than I can add. Carlton Fisk was beloved in New England because he was one of us (born in New Hampshire, grew up in Vermont) and he represented what we all want to be. Fisk was a hard working, no shit taking, tough-ass Hall of Famer who was not only great day in and day out playing the roughest and most cerebral position on the field but rose to the occasion during the big moments (see Game 6, 1975 World Series). 

No matter what we do, we'd all like to think that we're the Carlton Fisk of our jobs. Deep down you know whether that's true or not*.

* It's funny, my dad coached my brother's Little League team and the parent of the worst kid on the team used to call my father after every game and yell at him over the (perceived) lack of playing time the kid got -- BTW, this kid did not like baseball at all. The one thing he'd say to my dad practically every time was, "You're making a mistake [redacted] is the next Carlton Fisk! He should play more!" Even almost a decade after Fisk left Boston and was slinking into the decline of his career, people were using him as the example of greatness. That's how transcendent Fisk was. 

In any event when Fisk left, Red Sox fans were pissed. They were pissed when Lynn and Burleson and Tiant and Lee were all shipped out of town; but they were really mad when Fisk packed up and went to Chicago. And when the Sox said it was a mail snafu, fans were doubly angry. It never should have got to that point, they screamed. And they were right. Haywood Sullivan was a shitty owner and his kid, Marc was an even shittier catcher. I guess it's wrong to blame Marc Sullivan for his spot on the Red Sox roster -- what would you have done? -- but if there was ever a human avatar for the bumbling of the Red Sox front office in the 1980s, it was him. 

Anyway, time heals most wounds and Fisk came back to the Red Sox and has worked with the team in some nebulous front office position. It's kind of how he got his 27 retired. Even though I got into baseball five years after Fisk changed socks and all I knew him was a Chicago guy, I like Carlton Fisk on the Red Sox. 

Tom Gordon 1992 Pinnacle

On January 14, 2017 I received this card from the Baseball Card Bandit (BCB):

2019 Notes: Hey! That was two years ago yesterday! Crazy!

On Facebook, I wrote:  The first BCB showing of 2017 and it's Tom "Flash" Gordon pre-Sox edition. And it's postmarked Las Vegas, NV. Sin City, home of Wayne Newton, the Golden Knights (Trump showers praise on these guys--ha! Political!) and coming soon, the Raiders. Speaking of the Raiders, Gordon is shown wearing Bo Jackson's old number 16! Blasphemer! 

2019: Sweet Donald Trump pee tape joke. 

Anyway, we have a lot to thank Tom Gordon for. Saving 46 (I think) games in a row in 1998 -- before blowing a save in the first game of that year's playoffs.And for having the yips in 2004 when he was with the Yankees. 

Gordon did have one of the best curve balls I've ever seen, going from 12 to 6 and making hitters look really silly. He was also a diminutive man, his card says 5'9", but I bet he was smaller than that. 

2019: Gordon was also a member of the Cubs, White Sox, Diamondbacks and Astros. If you put a gun to my head and asked me to name all the teams Tom Gordon was on, I would be dead because his appearances with Houston had been erased from my mind. 

But that's why baseball is the greatest sport on Earth; you don't have to be freakishly tall, wide or have exceptional good balance to be a star. You just have to be you. That's the lesson today, kids.

2019: Tom Gordon was a really good ballplayer. He might not be a sure-fire Hall of Famer, but he was a two-time All-Star and if you wanted to build a bullpen in the 90s or 00s, you could do a lot worse than Tom Gordon. However, once the postseason started, you should probably think about leaving Gordon off the roster. 

His career ERA in October was 7.06 and he was torched by the Sox in 2004, to the tune of ten hits and six runs in six innings including two home runs. His ERA in that series was 8.10 and if you're a Yankee fan and want to point fingers, Gordon might be the guy you start with. Or maybe Joe Torre, why did he keep running him out there to get a beating? I don't know, I'm just glad he did. 

Actually, now that I look at the numbers, Gordon worked nine games in that post season to go along with the 80 that he pitched in during the season. My guess is that he was wiped out come October 1. Torre really put him through the meat grinder that year. BTW, the next year he appeared in 79 games in the regular season and three more in the postseason. That's insane. 

To be fair, Gordon was just as bad with the Red Sox in 1998 and 1999 and again with the Phillies in 2007--though aside from 1998 (73) he didn't appear in nearly as many games as he did with the Yankees. 

Oh well, the post season is a crap shoot, I suppose. One minute, you're Tom Gordon getting your head kicked in and the next minute your Nathan Eovaldi mowing down Yankees, Astros and Dodgers like he's mowing a lawn. Baseball is a funny game. 

Gordon's son Dee has played in the majors since 2011 and like his dad is also a two-time All-Star who hasn't experienced a lot of post season success either. But despite the bad luck in October, that's not a bad career either. 

Scott Fletcher 1990 Upper Deck

On December 23, 2016 I received this card from the Baseball Card Bandit (BCB):

On Facebook, I wrote: Is the BCB really Santa? That's what some people are saying. Postmarked from Salt Lake City too. Perhaps the BCB is Mitt Romney?After many moons, the BCB dropped a Scott Fletcher card on me with a note asking "Why can't we get players like that?"

This question was often posed by erstwhile Channel 4 reindeer/sportscaster Bob Lobel (not his nonunion Mexican equivalent Pablo Bell) when a former Bostonian did well in another uniform. 

2019 Notes: Hey! I refer to Bob Lobel here and I didn't need to do it in the last entry. I guess that just goes to show that I should probably read the next entry so that I'm not doubling up the work. 

Today's card features Fletcher in a different pair of Sox, White to be exact, getting upended on a double play. Fletcher was the prototype Dirt Dog that Boston fans have grown to love: scrappy, no power, no speed, and did the "little" things. He was one of the many who manned second base prior to the arrival of Dustin Pedroia. 

You should praise Zeus every day that you get to watch Pedroia instead of Scott Fletcher.

2019: I know that I wrote a bit about this a few days ago when I was talking about the Red Sox and their shortstop problems of the 1980s and into the 90s, but that also extended to the second base. I mean, Tim Naehring played pretty well but he was always hurt. Luis Alicea was okay for a little while and Todd Walker and Mark Belhorn were both good too, but once Pedroia showed up, that was the second baseman you wanted in your lineup every day. He hit for average and power, he was fast, he had great range and could throw too. 

Pedroia hasn't played in over a year (and in 2017 he was slowed down by a bunch of injuries) so I think that people forget how good of a player he is; but when he's on, he's one of the best in either league.  

This is a really cool shot of Fletcher jumping over Angels infielder Jack Howell to turn a double play. If I was him, that would be hanging in my living room. 

Fletcher played for 15 seasons in the big leagues and that's nothing to sneeze at. He did okay for the Red Sox when he showed up in 1993 (95 OPS+) but the most important thing is that he stabilized the second base position. The Sox had no idea who to put there after Jody Reed left, so Fletcher was the guy. The following season, he fell off the cliff and he spent his last year in Detroit before retiring. 

Fletcher only made it to the postseason once in his career (1983 when he was with the White Sox the first time), never made an All-Star game or win any awards (MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, etc). He just was Scott Fletcher, professional baseball player. And I think that for most people who never made the majors, that would probably be an okay lot in life. But I wonder if it gnaws at him that he was just a fine major leaguer. 

Getting to wear a big league uniform for 15 years is no easy feet, but I wonder if Scott Fletcher feels differently? 

Steve Lyons 1990 Upper Deck

On October 7, 2016 I received this card from the Baseball Card Bandit (BCB):

On Facebook, I wrote: Another card from the BCB. This time with a taunting message, "Why can't we get players like this?" Not from the left coast but from the heartland of this great county, Milwaukee, WI. 

2019 Notes: The quote above comes from long-time Boston sports TV reporter Bob Lobel. Whenever someone who once played in Boston did well for another team, Lobel would look into the camera and sigh, "Why can't we get players like that?" It's actually a pretty decent line. 

Steve "Psycho" Lyons was a terrible ball player and is currently a terrible announcer. He's lucky that he pulled down his pants in Tiger Stadium because I don't think anyone would remember him because although he played a lot of positions, he didn't play any particularly well. Fun fact: once traded straight up for Tom Seaver. 

My list of suspects grows:

Alice Cooper (knows a lot about Milwaukee)
Anthony Perkins (he's dead but he was Psycho)
Arthur Lee Allen (also dead but may have written taunting letters if he was the Zodiac)Paul Herman (spends a lot of time in Milwaukee now)Tim O'Neill (went to school in Milwaukee)
Donnie Most (put Milwaukee on the map as funny man Ralph Malph on TV's Happy Days and doesn't like me taking his name in vain.)

Who knows? It could be YOU!

2019: Again, I spent a lot of time wondering who could be the BCB and not too much on the player. Two of those names are friends of mine who spent time in Wisconsin, one is a suspect's name of the Zodiac Killer, the other are famous people -- one of which is dead. 

There isn't much to say about Lyons other than he was a backup infielder who got a lot of mileage out of talking a lot and accidentally pulling down his pants in Detroit during the 1990 season. 

He was a member of the 1986 Red Sox team until he was on second base in the ninth inning of a game that the Sox were losing by one run with Wade Boggs up and he attempted to steal third. He was thrown out by a mile. Sox manager John McNamara buried him (rightly) on the bench and before long he traded in one pair of socks for another, going to Chicago for Tom Seaver. 

The Red Sox didn't hold any grudges and he came back to the team three other times, after spending time in Atlanta, Montreal and in Spring Training with Cubs. 

He currently works for the Red Sox cable company NESN and wasn't fired after he was arrested for domestic batter in January 2017. He also got canned from Fox Sports in 2006 for making some derogatory remarks about Spanish-speaking people.

Steve Lyons is a bit of a dipshit.