1989 Topps Major League Debut #140: Ed Whited

Ed Whited

PHOTO: Here's a nice rainbow card with just about every color you can think of represented. The bat says "15" but that's Jeff Treadway's number. Whited wore 10.

STAT: Whited's lone career HR came in the bottom of the 9th in this game, bringing the Braves closer but they still lost.

ANAGRAM: Ed Whited = Did he wet?

CAREER: 1/10

Just 82 career plate appearances.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #138: Jeff Wetherby

Jeff Wetherby

PHOTO: We can probably narrow this photo down to one of three games. (1, 2, & 3.) Unless this is a spring training photo taken at Shea Stadium (sometimes teams play their last 1 or 2 spring games in the big parks up north) those 3 games are the only ones Wetherby ever played in at Shea.

Interestingly, we can rule out #2 above. If you click on the box score, our man never actually went to the plate. He pinch hit for Paul Assengrabber but then was himself pinch hit for when the Mets changed pitchers. If I had to guess, I'd go with game #3 which, played on a Sunday, was certainly a day game.

STAT: Wetherby hit only 1 ML homer, but it was a good one, coming off Greg Maddux. Sure, the game was already totally lost by then, but at least he hit one out against a first-ballot HOFer.

ANAGRAM: Jeff Wetherby, Braves = Why jab bereft fevers?

CAREER: 1/10

Just 55 career plate appearances.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #122: Mike Stanton

Mike Stanton

PHOTO: Nice photo of a rookie.

STAT: Stanton has appeared in the most games all-time for pitchers with fewer than 100 saves. (That's true up to 144 saves, which is Jesse Orosco's career total.)

ANAGRAM: Mike Stanton = Not mistaken (or Kitten moans...heh)

CAREER: 8/10

Wow, a middle reliever getting a score of 8? You bet your ass. Stanton had a better-than-average ERA almost every full season he pitched, was part of both the Braves and Yankees dynasties, appeared in 18 post-season series and 53 games with a 2.10 ERA, won 3 World Series championships, and pitched in the 2nd-most games all time.

Of course, he was also named in the Mitchell report. What that means for history will take a lot of time to unfold.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #99: Rusty Richards

Rusty Richards

PHOTO: This photo is just plain weird, as the equipment on the field looks like it's attached to the front of his uniform. Odd. I do like the batting cage and tree in the background, and overall this card has a lot of nice colors.

STAT: Richards gave up 3 career homers, but all 3 were to catchers: one to Mackey Sasser and two to future HOFer Craig Biggio.

ANAGRAM: Rusty Richards = I crush dry rats

CAREER: 1/10

Richards only got into 3 major-league games.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #81: Kent Mercker

Kent Mercker

PHOTO: Dig that crazy hair flapping in the breeze!

STAT: Mercker's best career game score was his 1994 no-hitter against the Dodgers. Game #4 on that list was also a no-hitter, of which he pitched the first 6 innings.

CAREER: 5/10

Mercker is still technically active, having pitched last year and hoping to get a call to join a team this season. Given that he's pitched quite well the last several years, that might happen.

Anyway, Mercker has been all over the board as far as his pitching goes. He's had a handful of excellent seasons as well as a few stinkers, and a bunch in between. He's appeared in 16 post-season games but accumulated only 22.1 innings despite making starts in 3 of those games. He struck out 15 in those 22.1 innings but also walked the same number.

He'll be best remembered for being an important part of the Braves' winning seasons as well as the two no-hitters he participated in. He was also the guy the Orioles traded to the Indians to re-acquire Eddie Murray.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #76: Kelly Mann

Kelly Mann

PHOTO: Hey, what time is it? 12:35, that's when! I love it! This is our second catcher in a row.

STAT: Mann's lone career homer came in this game, which is from Bizarro World. The Braves still sucked, but not for long. And the Reds starting pitcher? Norm Charlton?!? It's easy to forget that Charlton did start 37 games in his career.

CAREER: 1/10

Just 18 career games.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #70: Derek Lilliquist

Derek Lilliquist

PHOTO: This is the creepiest photo in the 1989 Topps ML Debut set. Take a look at the card...do you see why?

OMG THERE IS A GUY IN A SUIT STANDING NEXT TO A HEARSE IN THE OUTFIELD. HE APPEARS TO BE WAITING FOR LILLIQUIST TO DIE SO HE CAN PUT HIM IN THE CAR AND TAKE HIM TO HIS FUNERAL. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111

Ok folks, but seriously, I'm not sure what that is. I think the shiny horitontal thing is actually the leg of another pitcher throwing a warm-up way in the background. And I have no idea who the man is.

STAT: Of the 108 pitchers to appear in at least 100 games over 1992-93, only Gregg Olson had a better ERA+ than Lilliquist. He was damn good those 2 seasons.

ANAGRAM: Derek Lilliquist = Die killer quilts!

CAREER: 3/10

Lilliquist bounced around a lot and other than those 2 great years in the Indians bullpen, he didn't have much major league success.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #65: Dave Justice

David Justice

PHOTO: I love the photo with all the red, yellow, and blue, not to mention all the autograph seekers in the background. Back in 1989, Justice was called "Dave" before he started using his full first name all the time.

STAT: Just 4 times in history has a player hit 40 HR in a season during which he played for more than 1 team: Greg Vaughn in 1996, Mark McGwire in 1997, Justice in 2000, and Adam Dunn last year.

ANAGRAM: Possible proof that Justice used steroids later in his career: Dave Justice = Juiced as vet

CAREER: 7/10

Justice was a great player who benefited from being in the right places at the right times. He was with Atlanta as they rose from the ashes, then went to Cleveland just in time for their second World Series appearance on the 1990s, then caught on for the tail end of the Yankees' great run, and finally sniffed another post-season appearance with Oakland at the end of his career. In 21 post-season series Justice batted only .224 but did drive in 63 runs in 112 games, an excellent rate for the playoffs.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #45: Tommy Greene

Tommy Greene

PHOTO: This is the cleanest-cut look I have ever seen Greene sport, yet he also looks about 40 years old in this photo, when he was actually about 22.

Greene was a thrown-in in the Dale Murphy trade and was huge for the 1993 Phillies.

STAT: Greene is one of just 9 guys to issue at least 7 walks in a no-hitter.

CAREER: 3/10

Greene had one very good year with the Phillies in 1993. It wasn't as good as his 16-4 record indicates and he also pitched poorly in the post-season that year.

The above-mentioned no-hitter was caught by Darren Fletcher, as mentioned by a commenter.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #30: Drew Denson

Drew Denson

PHOTO: This guy looks pretty tough, and pretty serious. Not to be confused with the much-more-famous-but-just-as-unsuccessful-at-the-major-league-level Drew Henson.

STAT: The back of the card doesn't tell you about his first major-league plate appearance. All he did was come up as the go-ahead run with 2 outs in the 9th inning against Mark Davis, who would go on to win the Cy Young award that year.

CAREER: 2/10

Denson gets a 2 instead of a 1 because after his cup of coffee in 1989, he fought back to the majors in 1993 with the White Sox. Sure, he got only 5 PAs, but that must have taken some serious determination on his part.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #17: Geronimo Berroa

Geronimo Berroa

PHOTO: I dig this photo, a nice action shot at Shea Stadium. It almost looks like he's engaging in a hammer throw.

STAT: In 1996, 21 different players hit 30 HR with 100 RBI and 100 runs scored. If you guessed forever, you'd probably get the other 20 guys before naming Berroa. (Some other toughies on that list, though, are John Jaha and Bernard Gilkey.)

CAREER: 3/10

Berroa bounced around a lot and played as many as 140 games in a season only 3 times in his career. He did post the aforementioned 30-HR, 100-RBI season with Oakland in 1996 but couldn't keep up that power.

For some dumb reason, I often confuse Berroa with Francisco Cabrera. Their first names both have multiple syllables and sound a tad similar, while their last names are both heavy on the "r"s. They also both came up with Atlanta in the same era.