Wow, this grouping is full of kids. Three youngsters and one Kid.
David Segui
Gary Carter
Rafael Valdez
Glenallen Hill
BEST PHOTO
Three things stick out about the fronts: how young Segui looks, how you can see a bit of Carter's brain by looking up his nostrils, and how Valdez seems to be struggling to write on a baseball with a Bic pen.
The card backs are all nice changes of pace from their fronts, but not so nice to show Hill looking at a pop-up.
BEST STAT
In just 3 career games, Valdez gave up 4 home runs. That's not quite the record, as 4 guys who appeared in no more than 3 games gave up more homers. All good players hit those homers off Valdez.
BEST IN 1990
Not a single guy here played a full season in 1990. Nobody appeared in as many as 100 games. I guess I pick Carter, who in 92 games with the Giants hit 9 HR with a 104 OPS+. Hill showed some promise as he put up 12 HR and 32 RBI in 84 games, but batted just .231.
BEST ANAGRAMS
David Segui = Guide divas
Gary Carter = Racy garter (heh) = Great carry
Rafael Valdez = Rave fall daze
Glenallen Hill, Blue Jays = A jellybean selling hull = Hell bells: A ninja gulley
BEST CAREER
Clearly Gary Carter had the best career. David Segui is one of those guys really hurt by being linked to steroids. He wasn't a fantastic player and the casual fan chalks up whatever he did well in the game to steroid use, which I doubt is a fair analysis. From 1995 to 2001, Segui was a well above-average player even though his HR and RBI totals didn't rank him high among first basemen. Again, had he played outfield instead of 1B, I think he'd be more highly-regarded these days. Oddly enough, Glennallen Hill is in exactly the same boat as Segui. Hill finished with a 112 OPS+ and had a handful of great seasons as a part-time player. But nobody is going to remember that now.
(Incidentally, I just saw a video of Hill homering onto the roof of a building across from Wrigley in 2000. Pretty amazing...I'm sure it's on YouTube. Go check it out.)
