1989 Topps Major League Debut #113: Scott Scudder

Scott Scudder

PHOTO: Wow, this is a great photo. The Reds cards in this set look really good due to the red color of the borders. But also this is a very nice closeup, compacting Scudder's entire frame into the photo. I also like the slight blurriness on his right foot, probably due to the fact that it's so much further back and therefore out of focus (or maybe because it was moving quickly during his follow-through.)

STAT: A pretty impressive list of power hitters had multiple homers off Scudder. The only one who doesn't belong is Mike Fitzgerald, who himself hit multiple homers off just 5 pitchers. Scudder is the least impressive of that list.

ANAGRAM: Scott Scudder, Reds = Odd crested crusts

CAREER: 3/10

Scudder was a slightly below-average pitcher who walked too many guys and didn't strike out enough. He did face 10 batters in the 1990 postseason and didn't allow any earned runs. He was also traded away with Jack Armstrong to give the Reds one good year of Greg Swindell.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #104: Mike Roesler

Mike Roesler

PHOTO: Here's another Red...

STAT: Roesler allowed 5 homers and they were all interesting to some degree. One was a 3-run shot by Andre Dawson in the 12th inning. Three others came when he team was down but close in a game. And the other one was to the opposing pitcher, Don Robinson.

ANAGRAM: Mike Roesler = Irk me or else

CAREER: 2/10

Just 31 innings for this guy, although he pitched pretty nicely actually with a career ERA of 3.77 and WHIP of 1.23. He gets a 2 instead of a 1 because he was also included in the trade for Bill Hatcher. (see also Jeff Richardson.)

1989 Topps Major League Debut #103: Rosario Rodriguez

Rosario Rodriguez

PHOTO: We have a significant string of Reds players starting with Jeff Richardson and continuing here with Ros-Rod. I guess they had a lot of players debut in 1989, and they mostly came from the end of the alphabet.

STAT: Rodriguez gave up four homers, all to very good players and all when his team was already behind.

ANAGRAM: This guy pitched a lot at home....Rosario Rodriguez = Road rigour is zero

CAREER: 1/10

Just 30 career innings.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #100: Jeff Richardson

Jeff Richardson

PHOTO: Although Richardson doesn't look all that confident, this is a pretty awesome photo with all the red. It actually matches the card border.

STAT: This Jeff Richardson had a short career (see below) but there was another major leaguer named Jeff Richardson who had an even shorter career. The latter appeared in just one game for the Angels in 1990. (Interestingly, this second Ricahrdson was a pitcher and faced just two major league batters. The first one he allowed a bases-loaded triple to and the second he got on a groundout. Check out the box score. So he has a career ERA of 0.00 but did allow three inherited runners to score.)

ANAGRAM: Jeff Richardson = Franchise fjord

CAREER: 2/10

Richardson appeared in parts of 3 seasons, disappearing from the big leagues for a year in between each time. With only 171 major-league plate appearances, why does he get a score of 2? Because of this trade:

April 3, 1990: Traded by the Cincinnati Reds with Mike Roesler to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Billy Hatcher.

Hatcher had a decent year for the Reds in 1990 and then exploded in the post-season, including hitting 9-for-12 (.750) in their 4-game sweep of Oakland in the World Series.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #91: Joe Oliver

Joe Oliver

PHOTO: If I had told you there was a card in this set featuring a player without a right hand, you'd all have guessed Jim Abbott, and you'd have been correct. But look at this photo above...it's not hard to imagine that Oliver's right arm terminates at its elbow and he's just waving to somebody in the distance. I also feel the need to point out that his pants are way too tight.

STAT: For players with at least 3000 plate appearances, Oliver has one of the lowest triples totals (3) of all time. Most of the guys high on this list were catchers (surprise, surprise.)

ANAGRAM: Joe Oliver = Oreo jiver

CAREER: 4/10

Oliver was an old-school catcher, meaning tough as nails, slow as dirt, and didn't hit all that much. He was the starting catcher for the champion Reds of 1990 and otherwise had a fairly unremarkable career.