#121 Alvis Woods
#122 Dennis Eckersley
#123 Manny Trillo
#124 Dave Rozema All Star Rookie
#125 George Scott
#126 Paul Moskau
Al Woods is BRUT card #4.
THE DESIGN
Good: The back of Woods' card mentions that he hit an Opening Day pinch-hit homer. Neat. He's the 20th most-recent guy to do that.
Bad: This isn't exactly bad, but it's interesting. The back of Moskau's card abbreviates "Earned Run Average" as "E.R.A." with the periods. I wonder when the periods were completely dropped from stat abbreviations such as ERA, RBI, etc.
THE PHOTOS
Good: It's impossible not to love Scott's photo. He's displaying an actual real smile, so rarely seen on baseball cards. I wish the Boston logo on his helmet were visible, but otherwise it's a great shot.
Four of these cards feature batting practice paraphernalia.
Bad: Apparently, both Al Woods and Manny Trillo were hanging out in a criminal's hideout from the 1960 Batman TV show. The photos are so crooked, it's ridiculous.
THE STATS
Al Woods had an interesting year in 1980. He's one of the most recent players to get 15 homers in a season with no more than 400 ABs and 35 or fewer K's.
Dave Rozema is one of three guys with two different seasons allowing exactly 100 hits. Could this stat be more meaningless? I don't think so.
This is weird. George Scott, otherwise a great player, had one of the worst all-time OPS+ for a guy in his 3rd season or later, minimum 350 ABs. I wonder what happened that year?
Paul Moskau is one of three pitchers to complete at least one game and also finish at least one game every season from 1977 to 1980.
THE COUNTERS
Hall of Famers: 15
(+1 for Eckersley)
Deceased: 4
(none)
Future managers: 10
(none)
Fathers and sons of major leaguers: 7
(none)
Loyalty counter: 12
(none)
Rookies of the Year: 9
(none)
Total all-star appearances: 280
(+6 for Eckersley, +4 for Trillo, +3 for Scott)
Total MVP awards: 11
(+1 for Eckersley)
Total Cy Young awards: 6
(+1 for Eckersley)
Posts
13 comments:
The accomplishment by Alvis "Penguin" Woods was even greater than you've shown. This pinch-homer was in his 1st big league at bat and was not only a season opener, but a franchise opener for the Blue Jays.
I wonder if Manny "Joker" Trillo is going to get as much attention in this blog as he did in 1988?
I also love Boomer Scott's card. My disappointment is that you can't see his necklace (like in his '76 card) and his gold tooth.
Dave Rozema was touted as the next Mark Fidrych. He had great rookie numbers like The Bird. Unfortunately, he also developed arm problems and was cut short like The Bird.
That list of bad OPS+ in 3rd year or later is not a list you want to get on. Most of those guys aren't going to last very long. The fact that Dal Maxvill made it twice in the top 12 shows you (1) what a simply putrid hitter he was, (2) what a gifted fielder he must have been or (3) that he had incriminating photos of Bing Devine locked away in a safety deposit box.
Holy Enzo Hernandez, Batman. I just checked Hal Lanier's numbers. He only had 5 seasons that would qualify. He made it all 5 seasons (1966-1970). People talk about the great 5 season runs of Rogers Hornsby and Sandy Koufax. Hal Lanier reminds me of Bob Uecker: Anybody can stay in the league hitting .300. It's a lot more of an accomplishment when you're hitting .200 with an OBP of .220!
I think the Rozema card is great -- nice action shot, I like that you can see the ball, the rookie cup, and the fact that when you pulled that card in 1978, you really thought you were getting something, because of the whole Fidrych-Rozema hype.
But I still have to vote for Scott. A simply great photo.
It was down to Eck & Scott.
Had to go w/Scott. Really good photo w/a player havin' some fun before the game.
Moskau looks like he just woke up
scott takes the richie hebner pose and makes it his own. kind of reminds me of big papi.
didn't realize he played for 3 different teams in '79 - his last season - sox, royals, and yankees. another red sox hero goes out in pinstripes.
i have to mention yet another collared windbreaker under the jersey - thanks eck.
More fun facts for Dave Rozema:
He and Kirk Gibson are brothers-in-law, having married a pair of sisters!
Dave is infamous for failing to deliver an attempted flying karate kick to John Castino of the Twins during a brawl in 1982. He tore knee ligaments and missed the rest of the season, derailing a promising start (3-0, 1.63). This past summer, the Western Michigan Whitecaps immortalized the moment with a bobblefoot doll.
When I hear the name George Scott, I think of this guy. Or if you prefer a more seasonally appropriate clip, there's this one.
Wow tough call. I picked Boomer in a fiercely close race with Rozema. Both pictures were great.
How skinny was Trillo?
I love the whispy look of Eck's mustache. But Scott's card can't be beat for genuine good feelings.
If you haven't clicked on Kevin's bobblefoot doll link yet, do so now, it's hilarious.
What a great group of cards. The Eck and Scott's cards are classics.
I love the hideous Cubs road jerseys from this period sported here by Manny Trillo.
Rozema's card is awesome too.
kevin - genius dr. strangelove reference. though for a change, i didn't think of it with you, since i could never ever think of george c. scott when i think of boomer. the worst thing is, now when i think of boomer, i think of this loser and i cant think of anyone worse to think of ever.
i like shots around the batting cage, they seem like a natural place for a dude to snap a shot of a ball player. so this batch is a gold mine. the boomer got my vote with his candid look of joy.
moskau looks like he is about to perform a strip tease or something, by the way his jacket is jauntily coming off...though by his expression, he is a lot like the girls at my local bar, just in it for the money...
George Scott, another big bat from the mid-late '70s Boston lineup: Rice, Yastrzemski, Fisk, Lynn, Hobson, Dwight Evans, Scott. All 30+ home run hitters.
A good upcoming poll question could be who had the better smile on their '78 card, George Scott or Jim Rice?
I am only counting '84 Tigers since I can't keep track any more, and most of the Tigers were from an era before I was old enough to know what was going on. I was only doing it because I knew that many of the '84 Tigers has a rookie card in this set, including Dave Rozema. Anyway Rozema brings the count to 4.
I miss Manny Trillo terribly. I can't believe he's gone!
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