1989 Topps Major League Debut #136: Lenny Webster

Lenny Webster

PHOTO: As with a number of cards in this set, this is another nice perspective shot where we can see all the way from the grass to the clouds behind Webster. I just wish it were less overexposed and more in focus.

STAT: Nearly a third of Webster's 33 career homers came on the second pitch of the at-bat.

ANAGRAM: Lenny Webster, Twins = Blew twenty sinners

CAREER: 4/10

Webster was a pretty good backup catcher for a bunch of years and was a starter in one year (1998 with the Orioles.) He had a number of productive years with the bat, especially as a backup catcher.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #135: Gary Wayne

Gary Wayne

PHOTO: Wayne looks so relaxed in this photo that I'd have to think it's a casual toss back to the catcher. At the very least he must be pitching from the stretch and not the windup.

STAT: Wow, Wayne was really a mop-up guy. Of his 22 career homers allowed, 16 of them came when his team was already behind. Scroll down to his performance in the May 30th 1993 game against the Phillies. His first homer came when the Rockies were already losing 13-1. Then it was 15-1 and he allowed another. Then it was 16-1 and he allowed another. Jeez.

ANAGRAM: Gary Wayne = A grey yawn

CAREER: 3/10

Wayne had 2 really good season: 1989 and 1992. He never really had a bad season but must not have been all that effective at the end, of else as a lefty he would've stuck around.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #119: Paul Sorrento

Paul Sorrento

PHOTO: This is a depressing photo for two reasons: 1) Sorrento's face is half-obscured and half in a funny position, making the photo worthless and 2) The Twin in the background between Sorrento's legs is touching himself in a rude manner.

STAT: Sorrento was one of 4 guys to have at least 10 homers but fewer than 100 RBI every year from 1992 to 1999. If you can name the other 3, you are a baseball trivia god.

ANAGRAM: There are a million good anagrams for Paul Sorrento. Here are a few:

Poorer sultan
Surer platoon
Personal tour
Porous rental
Opulent roars

CAREER: 4/10

Gotta love that Sorrento was once in a trade for Bert Blyleven.

Paul was a a good hitter, although not good enough to have a long career as a 1B or DH. He averaged 25 HR and 84 RBI per 162 games played, which would be great numbers for some outfielders or infielders, but probably below average for a 1B or DH. When his OPS fell below league average in 2 years with Tampa Bay, his career in the big leagues was over.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #93: Greg Olson

Greg Olson

PHOTO: This guy is quote obviously a catcher, making it easy to differentiate him from Gregg Olson the pitcher. Catcher photos without the face mask or protective gear freak me out a little. Would you want a catch a 95 MPH fastball without a mask or chest protector?

STAT: Check out Tom Glavine's career numbers by catcher. The last column, tOPS+, breaks out Glavine's own offense-allowed numbers by catchers. Olson's figure of 88 means that batters did far less against Glavine when Olson was catching him as compared to the rest of the catchers. Javy Lopez also did well (but not as well as Olson) with a 93. Mike Piazza and Paul LoDuca were both over 100. Here's the same stuff for John Smoltz. Here, Olson was average with a 99. Smoltz did better with Lopez (90) but was generally quite close to 100 for most of the otehr guys (Berryhill 102 and Estrata 108 for example.)

ANAGRAM: Greg Olson = Loser gong (failed game show contestant)

CAREER: 3/10

Olson couldn't stick long in the majors thanks to arriving when he was already 28 and just not hitting much at all. He did hit pretty well in the 1991 playoffs includin the most important hit of this 1991 NLCS game.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #92: Francisco Oliveras

Francisco Oliveras

PHOTO: For all these photos with the mesh jerseys, I'm always wondering what's showing from underneath. Oliveras' T-shirt looks like it might show a crab or something odd like that.

This guy is not to be confused with Omar Olivares, whose last name is actually spelled slightly differently.

STAT: For guys pitching no more than 250 innings before The Steroids Era (up until 1992) Oliveras had one of the highest HR totals, although he wasn't all that bad of a pitcher. Check out the three guys to hit multiple homers off him. Jay Bell did it before he transformed into a power hitter.

ANAGRAM: Francisco Oliveras = Cocaine flavors, sir! (and also "No valor sacrifices!")

CAREER: 2/10

Not a bad pitcher with one really good year and 3 fairly decent years.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #64: Terry Jorgensen

Terry Jorgensen

PHOTO: Any baseball card collector's eye should be immediately drawn to the writing on the knob of the bat. In this case, it's a safe and ordinary "TJ", the initials of the batter.

STAT: Jorgensen's lone big-league homer came in this game, a 9th-inning 3-run shot that unfortunately just made the lopsided score a little less lopsided.

CAREER: 2/10

After a cup of coffee in 1989, Jorgensen disappeared in the majors until 1992, when he was a pretty disused and ineffective batter.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #50: Chip Hale

Chip Hale

Here's our second Twin in a row, this time a far less successful one.

PHOTO: This is also kind of a worthless photo of Hale, but I'm curious about that banner in the background. Does anybody know what it says or which stadium it's from?

STAT: Of Hale's 7 career homers, 4 came off guys who played for the Yankees, although only Scott Kamieniecki was a Yankee at the time of the homer.

CAREER: 2/10

Hale has the distinction of being traded from one team to another team after his final major-league appearance. Obviously he was trying to make it back to the big leagues, but after being released by the Dodgers and signing with the Angels, the Angels traded him to the Cardinals in 1998.

Also, not too many guys in history have their two leading positions as DH and 2B.

Not to much else to say about Walter William Hale.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #49: Mark Guthrie

Mark Guthrie

PHOTO: This is a fairly crap photo, but I also can't shake the feeling that Guthrie looks a lot like Terry Francona.

STAT: Not too many people think of Guthrie, but the guy does make the top 50 since 1901 for most games pitched.

CAREER: 5/10

Guthrie hung around for a long time because he was a lefty and he was pretty good. Most of his seasons were a little above or a little below league-average, but he posted a few great years in 1992 and 1996, as well as his final 2 seasons of 2002 and 2003. (He probably could have kept on pitching if he had wanted to.)

He was in lots of trades involving good players: Kevin Tapani, Rod Beck, Dave Martinez, Steve Trachsel, David Justice...

1989 Topps Major League Debut #33: Mike Dyer

Mike Dyer

Now isn't this odd. If Dyer's middle name were "Cud," that would be really neat. Because then we'd have two Twins players: Mike Cud Dyer and Mike Cuddyer.

PHOTO: Looks like he's checking the runner. Get used to that, dude, because you're going to give up a lot of baserunners in your career.

STAT: After starting in 1989, Dyer was a reliever for the rest of his career. But he did spin a few nice gems, including his only complete game, a 1-run effort against the White Sox.

CAREER: 2/10

After his MLB debut in 1989, 16 games with the Twins, Dyer went to the minors and resurfaced again in 1994 with the Pirates. In 1995 and 1996, he was a league-average reliever pitching 150 innings over the 2 seasons.