1990 Upper Deck #749 750 751 752

Oil Can Boyd
Mike Benjamin
Alex Cole
Eric Gunderson

BEST PHOTO

This is a weird mix of card. The two Giants cards are both boring except for the wicked wrist bend that Gunderson is sporting. The Boyd card is a ripoff as Upper Deck used very similar photos on the front and back. The only saving grace is the top-half crop on the back photo with the use of the horizontal layout.

The Cole card, though...whoa. We could talk about this one all day. The front is a very unusually casual shot with Cole carrying his own bats and duffel bag. I assume that's his bag, as nobody wore #18 for the Padres in 1990. Yes, nobody--not even Cole. That's because he didn't play for the Padres in 1990. Upper Deck obviously had this photo and decided to issue a card for Cole based on his great rookie season with the Indians, which started after the Padres traded him to the Indians in July 1990.

BEST STAT

Here's a good one. Cole's 1990 performance ranks in the top 25 all time for fewest plate appearances for a player scoring at least 43 runs. Note that almost every other instance on the list is either from way, way back in history or from the Steroids Era (1993-present), when scoring is up. The only exceptions are Wilson in 1978, Cangelosi in 1987 (although that was a very screwy year), Terrell in 1974, and Cole.

BEST IN 1990

Benjamin and Gunderson barely played in the majors in 1990. Boyd was the best, posting a 10-6 record along with an excellent 2.93 ERA. Special mention should go to Cole, though, who played in only 63 games but scored 43 runs thanks in large part to a .379 OBP.

BEST ANAGRAMS

Oil Can Boyd = I can bloody
Alex Cole = Axe cello
Eric Gunderson = Reduce snoring = Endure scoring

BEST CAREER

This is sort of a sorry lot. Cole and Gunderson both ended up with below-average numbers although both guys did some good things in the majors. Mike Benjamin was way below-average offensively but did play more than a season's worth of games at each 2B, 3B, and SS. In the end, I guess I have to go with Dennis Boyd. After all, the guy pitched professionally in 2005 and attempted a major-league comeback this year at age 49!

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