Tim Layana
Greg Myers
Pete O'Brien
John Candelaria
BEST PHOTO
Upper Deck makes great use of the dual photos here by showing Myers in full catching gear, face obscured, on the front, but giving us a good look at the guy while batting on the back. My only beef is that both photos were taken at Comiskey, featuring him in the same road jersey. (Most of the cards in this set seem to feature two different jerseys in the photos.)
I have to say that I love the O'Brien card. It's got an action batting shot on the front and an action fielding shot (pretty rare for a 1B) on the back, plus he's rocking different uniforms. The front photo must be a spring training game since he's wearing a warmup jersey but there is no batting cage.
The Candelaria card here maintains his perfect streak of looking terrible on every single one of his baseball cards.
BEST STAT
Greg Myers is one of three catchers to play every season from 1989 to 2005. Can you name the others?
BEST IN 1990
Interestingly, only one of these guys played a full season in 1990, and he was also the best that year: Tim Layana. In his only full season in the majors, Layana pitched to a 114 ERA+ over 80 innings.
BEST ANAGRAMS
Tim Layana = Anal amity
Greg Myers = Merry eggs
Pete O'Brien = Teenier bop = bee protein
John Candelaria = Nonracial jehad
BEST CAREER
I'll give special mention to Greg Myers, who was a good backup catcher for many years and had a very long career as a result. But the best player in this bunch is Candelaria, who was a good pitcher for many years and a great pitcher for a couple, notably 1977 with the Pirates. Also, except for 1 of 2 games in the 1979 World Series, he pitched excellently in the post-season and was part of the '79 championship team, combining with Kent Tekulve on a shutout in Game 6.
This is an easy case of gotta support the team with Myers. Actually, I remember being a kid and he would just about sign any autograph, and sign for hours at a time. For me, it isn't even close!
ReplyDeleteI went with the Candy Man (even though he pitched for the Dodgers for a few years).
ReplyDeleteThe pictures on the backs are a lot better than the pictures on the fronts. Greg Myers shots are the best of the bunch.
ReplyDeleteTim Layana died in a car accident in 1999. In fact, after a quick look, the accident happened 10 years ago Friday.
ReplyDeleteHad to go with O'Brien, mostly for sporting the Pony cleats. Those bring back many late 80's images, particularly of Darryl Strawberry.
ReplyDeleteWow, good eye, Chaz!
ReplyDeleteAlso I totally forgot that Layana had died. Thanks for the reminder Greg.
ReplyDeleteI cannot go for Tim Layana simply because of the anagram. I'll probably go for Pete-O, simply because the Candelaria card is so U-G-L-Y and it has no alibi.
ReplyDelete