Pascual Perez
Gary Pettis
Fred Lynn
Mel Rojas
BEST PHOTO
Well it ain't Pettis' photo. Upper Deck nicely shows him missing a bunt, with the baseball whizzing by. On the back, it looks like he just received news about the death of a loved one.
I really like the Perez photos. His front shot captures him making one of his typical funny moves. You might remember that he did a lot of fist-pumping and other gesticulating on the mound. There are also bonus chunks of dirt flying between his legs. On the back, we can see that the Yankees were playing the Braves that day.
It's sad and odd to see Lynn wearing a Padres uniform. After all those great years with Boston, California, and Baltimore, Lynn was reduced to half his former self by 1990, his last year in the big leagues.
BEST STAT
Perez really could have been great if not for the injuries. He has the most seasons all-time for a starting pitcher with an ERA under 4.00 but also fewer than 100 innings pitched. The guy just couldn't stay healthy but was was good when he did pitch.
BEST IN 1990
Well this is a tough call. Perez, Lynn, and Rojas all played partial seasons in 1990--Perez due to coming back from injury, Lynn because he was winding down his career, and Rojas because he was just coming up as a rookie. Pettis is the only guy who played a full year and he wasn't all that good. I really don't know who to go with here, but I guess I'll take Rojas, who pitched fairly well that year.
I also didn't know until just now that Rojas is the nephew of all 3 Alou brothers. I guess his mother must be their sister. (And, somewhat less shocking, he is not related to Cookie Rojas.)
BEST ANAGRAMS
Pascual Perez = A supple craze
Gary Pettis = Gyrates tip (hell YES!)
Fred Lynn, OF = Fondly fern
Mel Rojas = Jam loser
BEST CAREER
Freddy Lynn. Over 300 HR and 1000 RBI, career 129 OPS+, 1 MVP, ROY, 9 consecutive all-star appearances, and several gold gloves. Overrated in Boston, underrated everywhere else.
Strange but true: Pascual's middle name is "Gross".
ReplyDeleteI noticed that too when writing up this post. I have no idea how rare or common that name is among Latin-speaking countries, but I've never heard it before as anything other than a European-descended surname (such as Greg Gross, Kevin Gross, etc.)
ReplyDeleteI note that Pascual's brothers Carlos and Melido also have Gross as a middle name, though, so perhaps this is their mother's maiden name?
This is the second Rangers card (I'm new to the contest so I'm going from most recent post to oldest) and they are both bunting....so much for them being a power team..HA!
ReplyDelete