Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps #539 Neal Heaton

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, December 31, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #539.
• Player Name, position, team: Neal Heaton, pitcher, Pittsburgh Pirates.
• Major League Debut: September 3, 1982.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Pirates): 42 G, 147.1 IP, 6-7, 55 R, 50 ER, 67 SO, 55 BB, 18 GS, 1 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 3.05 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Indians #2nd, June 1981. Traded by the Expos to the Pirates 03/26/1989. Bats: left. Throws: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 5. This is his fourth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Neal was signed as a 2nd round Draft selection of the Indians, June 24, 1981 by Scout Leon Hamilton. Neal is a 1979 graduate of Sachem (N.Y.) High School."
• Commentary: Of the six colors Topps used for their 1990 design, I think the light blue looks the best. Sure any Oakland Athletics card with green borders looked great, and the red borders suited teams like the Cardinals and Red Sox, the blue looked great with for almost EVERY team. Including the Pirates, who did not have a single blue element in their logo, uniform, lettering, etc. Case in point? The card of veteran pitcher Neal Heaton of the Pirates. Now, although Heaton had been in the majors full-time since his eight game cup-of-coffee in 182, for some reason, he did not appear in his first Topps card until 1987, long after his days with the Indians and Twins (although there were no issues joining those other companies apparently). All of Heaton's hard work paid off when he was named to his first and only All-Star Team in 1990. In fact, during that rain soaked affair, the NL skipper, Roger Craig, held Heaton back in the event that the game would go into extra innings. I remember the broadcasters that night saying something to the effect of "Craig could use Heaton to pitch nine innings if he had to." I'm sure Heaton's real manager, Jim Leyland, would not have agreed, but considering he was a durable starter with a lot of relief experience, if it had to come down to it...well (it never happened as the AL won 2-0 in the rain-delayed affair). Heaton would finish the year with a 12-9 record in 30 games, a 3.45 ERA, 68 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.24. He would pitch for one more season with Pittsburgh before being traded in 1992 to the Royals in exchange for Kirk Gibson (who quite frankly, I don't recall seeing him on a Topps card in a Pirates uniform). After spending most of the season in KC, Heaton was released and signed on with the Brewers (he appeared in one game for Milwaukee). In 1993, he pitched for the Yankees. Upon being released from the Bronx in June of that year, Heaton retired from playing.
• Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 9 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2009 Topps #286. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 2009 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps Traded #75T Alan Mills

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, December 17, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps Traded #75T.
• Player Name, position, team: Alan Mills, pitcher, New York Yankees.
• Major League Debut: April 14, 1990.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Prince William, A-Carolina): 26 G, 39.2 IP, 6-1, 5 R, 4 ER, 44 SO, 13 BB, 0 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 7 SV, 0.91 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Angels #1st (Special), June 1986. Traded by the Angles to the Yankees 06/22/1987. Bats: both. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 4. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Alan was signed as a #1 Special Draft selection of the Angels, June 10, 1986 by Scout Preston Douglas."
• Commentary: With Topps excluding the color yellow as one of the colored borders of it's 1990 product, it was no surprise that they would try to incorporate it in their traded set that year. At the time, I didn't like the idea of the transition the borders made from yellow to red and back, but looking at it now, more than 23 years later, I realize that it does make sense. Who would want to go blind looking at all that yellow? It's like staring at bright lights. And I guess Fleer didn't get the hint because all the cards in their base set was a eye-blinding shade of yellow. Alan Bernard Mills managed to impress the Yankees brass enough to make the huge leap from Single-A to the Opening Day roster. If you look at his stats in Prince William (where he did spend two-and-a-half seasons), he was extremely dominant. His stats in 1989 alone were enough to promote him to the Florida State League. However, the success in the minors didn't translate to success in the majors. In 36 games, all relief appearances, Mills would earn a 1-5 record, sport an ERA of 4.10, strike out 24 hitters, and earn a WHIP that was just a shade under 2 (1.944). He spent most of the following season in the minors, with the Yankees' AAA team in Columbus. But when he was called up to the main squad, he once again struggled. It was after being traded to the Orioles when Mills would find his stride. He would spend nine seasons in Baltimore, appearing in 346 games for the O's, while earning a 32-21 record, 14 saves, striking out 354 of the 2106 batters he faced in 480 innings of work. Unfortunately, as a middle reliever in the 90's, he wouldn't get much in terms of cardboard love. His last Topps card appearance was in the 1994 Topps set.
• Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 5 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2009 Topps #375. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1991 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps Traded #67T Mike Marshall

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, October 21, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps Traded #67T.
• Player Name, position, team: Mike Marshall, first baseman, New York Mets.
• Major League Debut: September 7, 1981.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Dodgers): 105 G, 377 AB, 41 R, 98 H, 21 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR, 42 RBI, 2 SB, .408 SLG, 33 BB, 78 SO, .260 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Dodgers #6th, June 1978. Traded by the Dodgers to the Mets 12/20/1989. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 11. This is his tenth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "His first 5-Hit major league game: 4-22-84. He belted 100th major league Home Run: 7-17-87. He belted 1st World Series Home Run: 10-16-88."
• Commentary: After nine seasons, a .271 average, 137 home runs, 484 rbi's, an All-Star Game selection, and one World Series title, the Los Angeles Dodgers traded Michael Allen Marshall (not to be confused with the pitching workhorse Michael Grant Marhsall) to the New York Mets with pitcher Alejandro Pena for All-Star second baseman Juan Samuel. I'm sure he would have loved to move back to his natural first base position, after years of spending time in right field at Chavez Ravine. But they already had Eddie Murray, a player they traded for in 1989, at first. So it was off to the bright lights of the Big Apple. His stay with the Mets, however, was short lived. After appearing in 53 games from April through June 12, 1990, in which his hitting numbers included a .239 average with 6 homers and 27 rbi's, Marshall was traded to Boston for three minor leaugers. He entered 30 games for Boston, hitting a better .286-4-12. An injury riddled 1991 campaign saw him play for both Boston and the California Angels before taking his talents to Japan in 1992, where he joined the Nippon Ham Fighters for a season before calling it quits for good. Since then, he's been running around the independent leagues, working in various capacities from manager to team president, general manager, to vice president of baseball operations for four different organizations.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 13 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1981 Topps Traded #843. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps #611 Walt Terrell

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, October 15, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #611.
• Player Name, position, team: Walt Terrell, pitcher, New York Yankees.
• Major League Debut: September 18, 1982.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Yankees): 13 G, 83 IP, 6-5, 52 R, 48 ER 30 SO, 24 BB, 13 GS, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 0 SV, 5.20 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Rangers #33rd, June 1980. Traded by the Padres to the Yankees 07/22/1989. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 11. This is his ninth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Walt attended Morehead (Kentucky) State University. On August 6, 1983, he became the first pitcher in NY Mets' team history to belt 2 Home Runs in one game."
• Commentary: Figures that on the day that he achieved the feat described on the back of the card that it would be against the Cubs. Not only did he get the win (against future HOF Fergie Jenkins no less) but those two home runs accounted for all 4 of the Mets runs that night. He was a one-man wrecking crew. For those who have been enjoying the Yankees run of success these last couple of decades, what I'm about to write is going to shock you. The Padres, looking for help for a pennant chase against the Giants, traded Charles Walter Terrell and a player to be named later (Freddie Toliver) to a team that had no postseason aspirations whatsoever. This team was 7.5 games out of first place by the time this trade was made. That team? The New York Yankees. The Yankees gave up Mike Pagliarulo and Don Schulze to acquire Terrell, who wound up being a "rent-a-player" for the Bronx. In 1990, Terrell signed with the Pirates. But after a 2-7 record and 5.88 ERA in 16 starts, the Bucs released the beleaguered pitcher. Four days later, he signed with the Tigers, a team he found much success with in the middle 80's (54-48 record, 4.10 ERA, 35 complete games, 7 shutouts, 450 strikeouts). He finished his season with a 6-4 record, an ERA of 4.54 and 30 k's in 12 starts. He would pitch for two more seasons with the Tigers before calling it a career in 1992.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 13 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1993 Topps Traded #81T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1993 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps Traded #107T John Russell

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, June 14, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps Traded #107T.
• Player Name, position, team: John Russell, catcher, Texas Rangers.
• Major League Debut: June 22, 1984.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Braves): 74 G, 159 AB, 14 R, 29 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 0 SB, .233 SLG, 8 BB, 53 SO, .182 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Phillies #1st, June 1982. Signed with the Rangers as a Free Agent 05/09/1990. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 7. This is his fourth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "John caught Nolan Ryan's sixth No-Hitter, 6-11-90."
• Commentary: The problem with the 1990 Topps set is three-fold. First, there was so much of it printed out, whether in box form (the traditional white cardstock) or in retail packs (I'm sure this was an experiment...and they used grey cardstock to boot). Secondly, although it uses the regular 1990 elements, the design's color scheme was just awful and inconsistent with how the regular set worked. Kudos to Topps for putting yellow to complete "the rainbow" but the transition to red was just not necessary. Third, short of hosting the rookie cards of Dave Justice and Scott Erickson, Cecil Fielder's first Topps card as a Tiger, there really isn't much happening in this set. Heck, even Cubs cult legend Hector Villanueva couldn't save this set from being valuable. As of now, box loads of this set could be sold for pennies on the dollar, and if I had to buy this set now, I wouldn't spend more than $5.00 on it...and even that seems to be a bit too much. But I digress. John William Russell was the Phillies' first round draft pick, eventually became their regular catcher in 1986. But other than that, he wasn't really used to his full potential. He never played more than 100 games in the majors during the season (the most he appeared in was 93 that magical year in '86, when he hit .241 with 13 homers and 60 rbi's). But he did manage to play well enough in the minors that when needed in Philly, his name was on the "must call up" list. After a season in Atlanta, the backup catcher signed on with the Texas Rangers. Eventually, he would be the mentor to Texas' budding superstar, Ivan Rodriguez. But finally, something good happened to John Russell. He was entered into a unique fraternity of catchers, joining the likes of Jeff Torborg, Art Kusnyer, Tom Egan, Ellie Rodriguez, and Alan Ashby (eventually joined by Mike Stanley). What did all these players have in common? Each one of them caught one of Nolan Ryan's seven no hitters. Russell caught the sixth one on June 11, 1990 against the Oakland Athletics. It would be the first of two no-nos for Ryan as a Ranger. For his part, Russell went 1-3 with a solo home run in the second inning off of Scott Sanderson. He finished the season appearing in 68 games, hitting a good .273 with 2 home runs and 8 rbi's...and one no-hitter. And although he would appear in a grand total of 115 games over the course of his Rangers career, the game on 06/11/1990 put him in the history books. Russell retired after the 1994 season, playing in two games for the Cardinals' AAA team in Louisville and turned to coaching. He was named manager to the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 2008 season, a role he would hold until 2010.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 7.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2003 Topps Traded and Rookies #130T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps #36 John Costello

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, January 11, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #36.
• Player Name, position, team: John Costello, pitcher, St. Louis Cardinals.
• Major League Debut: June 2, 1988.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Louisville-AAA): 4 G, 5 IP, 0-0, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 SO, 1 BB, 0 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 1 SV, 1.80 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Cardinals #25th, June 1983. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 2. This is his second and final Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "John has worked as a greeter at the restaurant of Cardinals' manager Whitey Herzog during wintertime."
• Commentary: I was actually hoping that this was going to be about the 1990 Topps card of one of my favorite Cubs in 1989, Domingo Ramos. Instead, it's a repeat of a Random Card of the Day segment from 10/19/2010. Oh well.  Regardless, this is one good looking card.  One of the most colorful border designs ever used by the company, Topps collectors rang in the new decade with six different colored borders (red, orange, green, blue, dark blue...I likened it to indigo, and violet). And in many cases, the strong colored borders complimented the picture on the card. To wit, a blue border for a Cubs player worked. Green and the Athletics, perfect. Even red and the Cardinals (or Reds), looked great. Orange and the Athletics? Green and the Dodgers? Not so much. Here is an example of a card that worked. John Costello in his red Cardinals Spring Training attire really pops with the red borders, specifically, the solid red that appears at the bottom of the card. It looks natural. If he appeared in the sheet that was green, or even blue, his card would not look as nice. Costello himself had a brief career with the Redbirds. And the only reason why I used his minor league numbers in the "last line of statistics" was because his major league numbers were above his for games with St. Louis. In reality, Costello pitched in 48 games in 1989, worked 62.1 innings, had a record of 5-4, sported an ERA of 3.32, and even recorded three saves. He spent three seasons with the Cards, compiling a 10-6 record and a good 2.97 ERA to go with 79 K's. He was traded to the Expos on April 23, 1990, for Rex Hudler.   
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 2.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1992 Topps Traded #35T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps #406 Joe Magrane NL All-Star Pitcher

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, November 5, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #406.
• Player Name, position, team: Joe Magrane, All-Star Left-Handed Pitcher, National League.
• Commentary: The orange sheet (*F according to the back of the card) was used for all of the All-Star cards, the 5-card Turn Back the Clock subset, the 4-card Nolan Ryan tribute, and the 3-card Record Breakers subset. On the heels of an 18-9 record, Joe Magrane was selected by Topps as the National League Left-Handed All-Star pitcher.  Magrane, who led the NL in ERA the year before, had a banner 1989 campaign, his 18 wins good for third in the NL, along with a career high 127 strikeouts, a pretty good 2.91 ERA in 234.2 innings of work.  He even finished 4th in the 1989 Cy Young Voting.  Unfortunately, he wound up leading the league in losses the following year with 17.  Doesn't mean he was a bad pitcher as his other numbers met his career (up to that point) average, it's was just a bad year overall for the 6th place Cardinals.  Okay, back to the point.  The blurb on the back mentions Magrane's back-to-back complete game shutouts.  It mentions both his "6-hit, 6-0 Shutout with 9 Strikeouts at Chicago, 06/10/1989," and his "5-hit, 10-0 Shutout vs. Expos, 06/14/1989."  The list of 1989 NL Leaders in Earned Run Average are listed on the right hand side of the card, ironically Magrane's name is not listed on it.  Who made the cut?  Scott Garrelts (leading with 2.28), Orel Hershiser (2.31), Mark Langston (2.39), Eddie Whitson (2.66), Bruce Hurst (2.69), Doug Drabek (2.80), John Smiley (2.81), Tim Belcher (2.82), Sid Fernandez (2.83), and Bryn Smith (2.84).
• Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1993 Topps Traded #80. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps #527 Ron Hassey

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, October 13, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #527.
• Player Name, position, team: Ron Hassey, catcher-designated hitter, Oakland Athletics.
• Major League Debut: April 23, 1978.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Athletics): 97 G, 268 AB, 29 R, 61 H, 12 2B, 0 3B, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 1 SB, .328 SLG, 24 BB, 45 SO, .228 AVG.
• Any special information about players: Drafted by the Indians, #10th, June 1976. Signed with the Athletics as a Free Agent 12/06/1987.  Bats:  left.  Throws:  right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 15. This is his fourteenth card.
• Blurb on the back: none.
• Commentary: Normally, I would say that maybe all the cards of the Athletics players should have been printed with the green borders (see Jose Canseco's 1990 Topps card). It makes sense visually.  But I look at the background on Hassey's card and the "indigo" borders work here as well.  It is not as striking visually as let's say Pat Perry's card (a pitcher from the Cubs, his card has red borders) or Kal Daniel's card (Dodgers with an orange border).  Ron Hassey is one of those players who may not have the Hall-of-Fame credentials, but during his 14-year career in MLB, he's been involved in a lot of historic events.  Hassey caught not one, but TWO PERFECT GAMES, (Len Barker's on 05/15/1981 and Dennis Martinez' on 07/28/1991). Chicago Cubs fans will recognize him as one of the players sent to the Cubs in the Rick Sutcliffe trade (the one which sent Joe Carter to the Indians).  He was a part of three Oakland A's World Series rosters (winning it all in 1989).  In 1990, he was Bob Welch's personal catcher, the year in which he won the Cy Young award on the strength of a 27 win season.  After one last go with the Expos in 1991, he went to become a coach with the Rockies (1993-1995), Cardinals (1996) and Mariners (2005-2006), a scout with the Diamondbacks (1997-2003), a minor league manager, and a minor league manager, spending the 2012 season with the New Orleans Zephyrs.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 17.

Tomorrow is Retro Sunday, the one day of the week that we feature a card from 1951-1975. The card we will feature tomorrow is: 1961 Topps #567. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps #75T Alan Mills

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, October 3, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps Traded #75T.
• Player Name, position, team: Alan Mills, pitcher, New York Yankees.
• Major League Debut: April 14, 1990.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Prince William A-Carolina): 26 G, 39.2 IP, 6-1, 5 R, 4 ER, SO 44, 13 BB, 0 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 7 SV, 0.91 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Angels, #1st (Spec), June 1986. Traded by the Angels to the Yankees 06/22/1987. Bats: both. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 4. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Alan was signed as a #1 Special Draft selection of the Angels, June 10, 1986 by Scout Preston Douglas."
• Commentary: I must be one of the few who actually liked the 1990 Topps design.  Not exactly loved it, but the colored borders made me want to collect every card Topps made that year (Score was good too, have the full set somewhere...).  It also helped that Topps Magazine first printed in the winter of 1990, so I had that magazine with me EVERYWHERE!!!  I mean, six different border colors (red, orange, green, blue, indigo, violet...okay, I'm a closet Crayola crayon collector too).  How cool would it have been for them to attempt a yellow border (not like 1991 Fleer)?  Well, Topps finally found a way to incorporate the missing color with their Traded set.  So it's not dominantly yellow.  Who would want to be blinded by a yellow-dominated border?  I can live with the yellow transitioning over to red borders.  Anyway, for a guy who played in the majors for parts of 12 seasons, you'd think he'd have more cards than 4 regular or traded cards (his others are from 1991 Topps, 1993 Topps, and 1994 Topps).  Mills had a great year in the minors in 1989 (both with Prince William of the Carolina League and Fort Lauderdale of the Florida State League), with a combined record of 7-5, and a 2.17 ERA.  Primarily used as a middle reliever, he spent parts of 2 years with the Yankees.  He appeared in 46 games for the Bronx Bombers, going 2-6 with a 4.19 ERA, with 35 strikeouts to boot.  Mills was traded by the Yankees for Baltimore, where, besides two years with the Dodgers, he spent most of his career.
• Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 5 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be 1994 Topps Traded #53T.  Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps #33 Greg Walker

Due to the delays described on Sunday, the Random Topps Card of the Day posts for Thursday, January 19, through Sunday, January 22, will be posted during the week.

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, January 23, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #33.
• Player Name, position, team: Greg Walker, first baseman, Chicago White Sox.
• Major League Debut: September 18, 1982.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (White Sox): 77 G, 233 AB, 25 R, 49 H, 14 2B, 0 3B. 5 HR, 26 RBI, 0 SB, .335 SLG, 23 BB, 50 SO, .210 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Phillies, #20th, June 1977. Drafted by the White Sox in the Rule V Draft, 12/03/1979. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 8. This is his eighth and final Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: None. There is a 1989 Monthly Scoreboard which splits Walker's runs and hits by month.
• Commentary: I don't see why people get so down on the 1990 Topps set. The design shows a lot of color with the borders, and if you have a factory set, you could pretend you have a jigsaw puzzle and try to reassemble what the printing sheets look like before they were cut. In fact, I have three of the six sheets of 1990 Topps somewhere in my basement. Granted, unless you have the orange sheet (with a nameless Frank Thomas), they aren't worth much either. But I'm sure they would look nice framed anyway. Greg Walker was the White Sox' first baseman throughout most of the 1980's. He was a member of the "Winning Ugly" White Sox from 1983, and 22 home runs and 78 rbi's from 1984 through 1987. He saw limited time in 1988, and in 1989, was replaced by eventual 1989 Topps All-Star Rookie Team member Carlos Martinez. Walker was released by the White Sox at the end of April, 1990, and signed with the Orioles a few days later. He played with the O's for two months before being released by the team in July, 1990. It would be the end of his major league career as a player. He returned to the Sox as their hitting coach in 2003. In 2012, he joins the Atlanta Braves as their new hitting coach.
• Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 11 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1999 Topps #261. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps #36 John Costello

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, October 19, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #36.
• Player Name, position, team: John Costello, pitcher, St. Louis Cardinals.
• Major League Debut: June 2, 1988.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Louisville-AAA): 4 G, 5 IP, 0-0, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 SO, 1 BB, 0 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 1 SV, 1.80 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Cardinals #25th, June 1983. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Costello's second and final regular Topps card (totals include regular and traded cards only). One of the most colorful border designs ever used by the company, Topps collectors rang in the new decade with six different colored borders (red, orange, green, blue, dark blue...I likened it to indigo, and violet). And in many cases, the strong colored borders complimented the picture on the card. To wit, a blue border for a Cubs player worked. Green and the Athletics, perfect. Even red and the Cardinals (or Reds), looked great. Orange and the Athletics? Green and the Dodgers? Not so much. Here is an example of a card that worked. John Costello in his red Cardinals Spring Training attire really pops with the red borders, specifically, the solid red that appears at the bottom of the card. It looks natural. If he appeared in the sheet that was green, or even blue, his card would not look as nice. Costello himself had a brief career with the Redbirds. And the only reason why I used his minor league numbers in the "last line of statistics" was because his major league numbers were above his for games with St. Louis. In reality, Costello pitched in 48 games in 1989, worked 62.1 innings, had a record of 5-4, sported an ERA of 3.32, and even recorded three saves. He spent three seasons with the Cards, compiling a 10-6 record and a good 2.97 ERA to go with 79 K's. He was traded to the Expos on April 23, 1990, for Rex Hudler. The back of Costello's card shows how loyal he was to the Cardinals organization, specifically, his manager Whitey Herzog. The bio on the back reads "John has worked as a greeter at the restaurant of Cardinals' manager Whitey Herzog during wintertime." Even then, baseball players needed a second job.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 2 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH320. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 2008 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Comparing the Major League Debut Classes of 1990 and 2010.

1991 Topps Major League Debut 1990: Luis Gonzalez, Frank Thomas.
I had so much fun last year comparing the MLB Debut classes of 1989 and 2009 that I thought since Topps produced three MLB Debut sets in the early 90's that I would do this kind of article again this year and will most likely do one again next year after the 2011 season.

According to Baseball Reference, 17,498 athletes got their names into the annals of Major League Baseball record-keeping. In fact, 203 of them made their MLB Debuts in 2010. That's 203 more players that have etched their names into history books, baseball encyclopedias, and 203 more players who finally reached the pinnacle of their professional careers, no matter how long or how brief their stay was. They can honestly say that they have arrived.

After the success of the 1990 product, Topps once again created a box set featuring all 159 players who made their big league debuts throughout the 1990 season. The 161-card set (featuring two checklists), was similar in design to the 1991 Topps set, but lacked the 40th Anniversary logo that was seen on the top left corner of the regular cards, and instead of a team name, the banner that appeared on the right side of the card held the date of the player's first appearance. And once again, the players' cards were numbered in alphabetical order, even though the checklists listed all the players by the date of their debut.

Everyone from Delino DeShields (who debuted on April 9, 1990 and was one of six players to make his debut that day) to Glenn Sutko (who made his first appearance on October 3, 1990, the last player to debut that season) was included in this set. Nineteen players would go on to become All-Stars at some point in their careers. We'd all get to know their names on a regular basis like Frank Thomas, Luis Gonzalez, Carlos Baerga, Moises Alou, Charles Nagy, Steve Avery, Todd Hundley, and more who were part of this set. Players who had high expectations, but eventually faded from the spotlight (Kevin Maas, Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes, Scott Chiamparino) were also in this set. This was the only set that would have Topps cards of Mets catcher Dave Liddell, Ramon Manon of the Rangers, and Howard Hilton of the Cardinals. And if you're asking who these last three guys are, let's just say that they are among the few players whose major league career lasted no more than two games (and in the case of Manon, just two innings in one game).

Believe it or not, as of the end of the 2010 season, every player who made their debut in 1990 were no longer in baseball. In fact, the last 1990 debutant finished his career in 2008 (actually, two of them did). So unless somebody makes a surprising comeback next year, the final stats for the debut class of 1990 are complete. Combined, the debutantes of 1990 combined for 46 All-Star Game appearances, 5,007 home runs, 23,011 runs batted in, 3,379 stolen bases, and a batting average of about .266. Pitchers who debuted in 1990 have gone on to a combined record of 1695-1690, saved 667 games, completed 214 games, faced 133,003 batters, struck out 19,889 of them, gave up 3,296 home runs, and had a cumulative ERA of 4.41.

At any given point during the 2010 season, there were 750 players on active rosters (not counting those on the disabled list). And in amongst the shuffling of talent, 203 baseball players, some who've toiled in the minors for a very long time, and at least one player who was just drafted in the 2010 free agent draft, got to step onto the field of a major league stadium for the very first time and play at least one inning of major league baseball. Ninety-eight of them were position players, the other 105 stepped onto the pitcher's mound for the very first time. Of the 203, one was born in 1990 (Starlin Castro), and the oldest player to debut was 35 years old (Hisanori Takahashi).

The 2010 debutantes combined for one All-Star Game appearance (Jason Heyward), 239 home runs, 1172 runs batted in, 170 stolen bases, and a cumulative .249 batting average. Pitchers went 155-180 with an ERA of 4.38, striking out 2,565 batters, and saved 35 games.

Just for fun, let's compare both classes:

• Players making debut: 1990 = 169; 2010 = 203
• Position Players/Pitchers: 1990 = 85/84; 2010 = 98/105
• Earliest Debut: 1990 = Delino DeShields, Howard Hilton, Tim Layana, Scott Radinsky, Dave Rohde, Scott Ruskin (April 9, 1990); 2010 = Jesse English, David Herndon, Jason Heyward, Austin Jackson, Carlos Monasterios, Logan Ondrusek, James Russell, Scott Sizemore (April 5, 2010)
• Latest Debut: 1990 = Glenn Sutko (October 3, 1990); 2010 = J. C. Boscan (October 1, 2010)
• Youngest at time of Debut: 1990 = Rich Garces (born May 18, 1971, or 19 years, 123 days old); 2010 = Starlin Castro (March 24, 1990, or 20 years, 44 days old)
• Oldest at time of Debut: 1990 = Dar Smith (July 29, 1960, or 30 years, 51 days old); 2009 = Hisanori Takahashi (April 2, 1975, or 35 years, 5 days old)
• Shortest Career (1 Game only): 1990 = Jeff Richardson (0.1 innings, two batters faced), Dave Liddell (one plate appearance, one hit, ended his career with a perfect 1.00 batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, and an OPS of 2.000); 2010 = J. C. Boscan, Rob Delaney, Steve Hill, James Houser, Jeff Marquez, and Jay Sborz each have only one MLB game under their belt.
• Longest Career, Seasons: 1990 = Luis Gonzalez and Frank Thomas (19 seasons each); 2010 = only time will tell.

Of the players from the debut class of 2010, just like in 1990, there could be some Hall of Fame candidates. Most may go on to All-Star caliber, or very long careers in the bigs. And for some, this may be their only year in the majors. But all of them can say that they achieved their dream of being a Major League Ballplayer.

And nothing can take that away from them.

I've clamored before about wanting to bring back the Major League Debut set. But I know in today's age of exclusive contracts and rookie card restrictions that a set of this type might never see the light of day again. And although I have a feeling that many collectors would not want to get a set that might have stars but plenty of "never will be's" amongst them, a set like this could contain the only card of a player who played in one inning of major league ball.

1991 Topps Major League Debut 1990: Dave Liddell, Jeff Richardson.
At least both Dave Liddell and Jeff Richardson have cards in the 1990 set. Who knows what the future will bring for the 203 players who first appeared in 2010. Most might never play in the majors again, disappearing in the obscurity of minor league baseball for the rest of their professional careers. A set like this would give them an albeit slim piece of cardboard immortality.

Oh well, I can dream, can't I???

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. Later on this week, I will post my picks as to who I think will make the 2010 Topps All-Star Rookie team. There will be a contest involved. Details to come soon. jba

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps #133 Ricky Horton

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps ard of the Day for Wednesday, September 22, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #133.
• Player Name, position, team: Ricky Horton, pitcher, St. Louis Cardinals.
• Major League Debut: April 7, 1984.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Cardinals): 11 G, 45.2 IP, 0-3, 24 R, 24 ER, 14 SP, 10 BB, 8 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 4.73 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Cardinals #4th June, 1980. Signed with the Cardinals as a Free Agent 07/20/1989. Bats: left, Throws: left.
• Any special information about this specific card: Horton's eighth and final regular Topps card (total includes regular and traded cards only). Because of the randomness, there are some cards within the 1990 set that look great. Any green bordered cards of the Oakland Athletics, for example, works. A blue Cubs card? Absolutely. An orange bordered card of a St. Louis Cardinal? Really??? The red bordered cards would have worked better. But I digress. Horton's career started with the Cardinals, and after a two year run with the White Sox and Dodgers, returned to the Cards as a free agent. He pitched for one more year with the Redbirds before hanging up his spikes for good after the 1990 season. He finished his career with a record of 32-27, an ERA of 3.76, 319 K's, a WHIP of 1.363. Was a really good pitcher regardless of how he was used.
• Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 8 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: Thursday: 1992 Topps #275. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps Traded #8T Willie Blair

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, April 23, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps Traded #8T.
• Player Name, position, team: Willie Blair, pitcher, Toronto Blue Jays.
• Major League Debut: April 11, 1990.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (AAA-Syracuse): 19 G, 106.2 IP, 5-6, 55 R, 47 ER, 76 SO, 38 BB, 17 GS, 3 CG, 1 SHO, 0 SV, 3.97 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Blue Jays #11th, June 1986. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Blair's first regular Topps card (his rookie card). Back in 1990, Topps actually selected the players that would get in the traded sets properly. Because there was no second series, and because Topps didn't try and airbrush the logos of a player's new team going into the 1990 season on any of the cards in the base set, many of the players who switched teams in the off-season were saved for the Traded sets. Willie Blair played in the minors in 1989, and didn't make his debut until 1990. Topps did the right thing by holding him off until the end-of-the-year Traded set. If you notice, the borders on the 1990 Topps set change from red to yellow (with orange in the middle there). Which, in hindsight, actually makes sense. Can you imagine if the entire card had yellow borders (or yellow to white borders?) You'd need sunglasses to look at the cards they'd be so bright. The blurb on the back acknowledges the scout who signed Blair (Don Welke). Blair ended up with a very decent career as a spot starter/middle reliever for a number of teams. His best year would have been in 1997 as a Detroit Tiger (16-8, 90 K's). He played for the first edition of the Arizona Diamondbacks, if only for half the season. And after his two-team season in 1998, returned to the Tigers, finishing his career with them after the 2001 season.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 7 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1994 Topps #101. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps #453 Jody Davis

We reset the Topps Card Randomizer to come up with seven new cards to present for this week. Introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, March 29, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #453.
• Player Name, position, team: Jody Davis, catcher, Atlanta Braves.
• Major League Debut: April 21, 1981.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Braves): 78 G, 231 AB, 12 R, 39 H, 5 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 0 SB, .242 SLG, 23 BB, 61 SO, .169 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by Mets #3rd, January 1976. Traded by the Cubs to the Braves 09/29/1988. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Davis' tenth (and final) regular Topps card (total includes both regular and traded cards). It was a sad day in Cubdom when Jo-Dee was traded to the Braves...AT THE EXTREME TAIL END OF THE SEASON!!! What was the thinking there guys??? And for who...Kevins Blankenship and Coffman??? Yeah, that was a great deal!!! Granted, he was hurt most of the year (which led to the rise of Damon Berryhill), but you couldn't have waited until AFTER THE SEASON WAS OVER??! Okay, rant over. Printed with the dark blue/indigo borders, Davis' card actually matches the team colors (kinda...at least the shade of blue). It's a great looking card, with Jody swinging for the fences (against the Dodgers it looks like based on the player near the dugout). The blurb on the back recalls Jody's heroics in the 1984 NLCS against the Padres, his .389 (7-18) batting average pacing the Cubs and .833 slugging marks setting records for a 5-game series.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 12 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1994 Topps #52. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. See you then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps #436 Mel Hall

We reset the Topps Card Randomizer to come up with seven new cards to present for this week. Introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, March 8, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #436.
• Player Name, position, team: Mel Hall, outfielder, New York Yankees.
• Major League Debut: September 3, 1981.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Yankees): 113 G, 361 AB, 54 R, 94 H, 9 2B, 0 3B, 17 HR, 58 RBI, 0 SB, .427 SLG, 21 BB, 37 SO, .260 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by Cubs #2nd, June 1978. Bats: left, Throws: left.
• Any special information about this specific card: Hall's tenth regular Topps card (total includes both regular and traded cards). Mel's card comes from sheet "*E", or the indigo/blue-violet borders. Did you ever look at the back of the card and see "*A," "*B," and so forth and so on? Well, that was the label for the sheet the card was printed on and cut from. Now, with most sets, it's hard to figure out, without seeing an actual sheet, whre each card appeared on said sheet. Now, cards in factory sets are sorted by what sheet the card was printed on, and in order of where they appeared on the sheet? How do I know? Because when I opened by 1990 Topps factory set, you could see a literal rainbow of colors when all the cards are on their side. And taking each series of 132 cards out, you could literally place each card side by side, and eventually you can see exactly how each card appeared on the sheet (the borders, with the two corners, really helped. And after putting all 132 cards together, you can see that each of the l-shaped corners are actually part of a square and that each "square," unless the cards are at the edge of the sheet, holds the corners of four different cards. Anyway, sheets A-F follow the colors of a rainbow. Sheet *A is red, sheet *B is orange, *C is green, *D is blue, *E is the aformentioned indigo, and *F is violet. The blurb on the back of Hall's card says that "he has become interested in the art of barbering (is barbering even a word???) and has given haircuts to teammates before games. Whether or not Mr. Hall gained his barber's license is not known.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 16 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1980 Topps #31. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. See you then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps Traded #13T Glenn Braggs

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, February 11, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps Traded #13T.
• Player Name, position, team: Glenn Braggs, outfielder, Cincinnati Reds.
• Major League Debut: July 18, 1986.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Brewers): 144 G, 514 AB, 77 R, 127 H, 12 2B, 3 3B, 15 HR, 66 RBI, 17 SB, .370 SLG, 42 BB, 111 SO, .247 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by Brewers 2nd, June 1983. Traded by Brewers to the Reds 06/09/1990. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Bragg's fifth regular Topps card. I always wondered before it came out what color would be used for the borders for Topps Traded. I mean, the regular set used six colors (red, orange, green, blue, indigo?, purple), and even the MLB debut set used a sort of crimson color for its border. Realizing that the only color in the rainbow not used for any 1990 color was yellow, I figured that they would use it for the Traded set. And sure enough, they did. Although it does change to red on almost every card, yellow does make it's appearance as a border color. Sure they could have used yellow without the conversion, but it would have led collectors to want to pull their eyes out of thir socket. The blurb on the back highlights three games he played in: his first 2-HR MLB game, his first 4-RBI MLB game, and his first 4-hit MLB game.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 10 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1992 Topps Traded #76T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 1990 End of Year All-Star Teams Simulated Games Results

I have finally finished simulating the All-Star Games using my 1990 End of Year All-Star Teams. And the results are pretty surprising.

Just like the first three times, I simulated seven games (six series between starters, and one series where the lineups, starting rotations changed on a daily basis), by playing each one 10,000 times.

The first six games I simulated used each starting pitcher on both sides at least once, and all position players started a minimum of two games each. Here are the results:

• Game 1: NL vs. AL, Jack Armstrong vs. Bob Welch. The NL wins 5,138 games out of 10,000 simulations (using a DH).
• Game 2: NL vs. AL, Neal Heaton vs. Dave Steib. The AL wins 5,806 games (using a DH). Big highlight was a game where Rob Dibble struck out 21 batters pitching 12 innings of relief (only in a simulation can this happen...I don't understand why...)
• Game 3: AL vs. NL, Bret Saberhagen vs. Ramon Martinez. The NL wins 5,216 games. Martinez pitched 14 no-hitters.
• Game 4: AL vs, NL, Roger Clemens vs. Dennis Martinez. The AL wins 5,375 games.
• Game 5: AL vs. NL, Chuck Finley vs. Frank Viola. The NL wins 5,029 games in a very close series.
• Game 6: NL vs. AL, Jack Armstrong vs. Randy Johnson. The NL wins 5,450 games (using a DH). The reason why Armstrong started this series was that I only had five starters in the NL rotation while the AL had six.
• Game 7: NL vs. AL, anything goes. The AL wins 5,207 games (using a DH).

So the NL wins the regular series 4 games to 3. For the official All-Star Game, I decided to just simulate one game and one game only. The starting pitchers were Armstrong and Welch and I let them pitch two innings (unless they struggled badly). The rest of the pitchers would get one inning each (unless they struggled badly). The position players were replaced every three innings. No pinch hitters here, (as in previous tries, the pinch hitter is taken out of the game). The DH's (Ron Gant of the NL and Dave Parker of the AL) were never replaced.

The starting lineups, first for the National League (I'm using 1991 Topps cards because these are the cards I used to imagine my All-Star teams):


Now the American League starting lineup:


Here is the result:


The 1990 NL All-Stars beat the 1990 AL All-Stars by a final score of 9-5.

The box score is below (Just click on the picture to take a closer look.


The scoring plays were like this:

Bottom 3: Ramon Martinez pitching. Ken Griffey, Jr. grounds out to Chris Sabo (5-3). Rickey Henderson singles. Steve Sax strikes out. Mark McGwire walks, Henderson advances to second. Dave Parker hits a home run, Henderson scoring, McGwire scoring.

Top 4: Dave Steib pitching. Ryne Sandberg walks. Will Clark doubles, Sandberg advances to third. Andre Dawson singles, Sandberg scoring, Clark advances to third.

Top 6: Chuck Finley pitching. Tony Gwynn reaches first on an error by Brook Jacoby (E5). Ron Gant doubles, Gwynn advances to third. Bobby Bonilla doubles, Gwynn scoring, Gant scoring. Tim Wallach grounds out to Julio Franco (4-3), Bonilla advances to third. Barry Larkin singles, Bonilla scoring. Gregg Olson pitching. Benito Santiago reaches first on an error by Gregg Olson (E1), Larkin advances to second. Lonnie Smith hits a home run, Larkin scoring, Santiago scoring. Doug Jones pitching. Roberto Alomar grounds out to Alan Trammell (6-3). Eddie Muray hits a home run.

Bottom 6: Jeff Brantley pitching. Ivan Calderon walks. Alan Trammell singles, Calderon advances to second. Brook Jacoby walks, loading the bases. Carlton Fisk hits into a double play (5-4-3), Calderon scoring, Trammell advances to third, Jacoby out at second on the force out. Ellis Burks singles, Trammell scoring.

Top 7: Dennis Eckersley pitching. Tim Wallach hits a home run.

Your starters, Jack Armstrong and Bob Welch. Lonnie Smith is the MVP.
In the actual All-Star game using many of the players who participated in this simulation, the scoring was held to a minimum (helped by the rain). This was not the case in the simulation. If this game actually existed, the MVP would have definitely been Lonnie Smith (1-3, 1 hr, 3 rbi's to put the game away for good). Dennis Martinez earns the win, Chuck Finley suffers the loss, and this is the first simulation that I was able to get all 68 players in the game.

If you want to see the .DAT files that I used (I still don't know how to download these onto the blog , so please just take a look at the screen caps below). If anyone can e-mail me instructions, please do so at bdj610@hotmail.com. Below is the NL .DAT file, then the AL .DAT file:




Now that the 1990 All-Star Games are officially over, at noon today, I will introduce the 1991 End of Year All-Star teams. Simulations for games with those rosters to come hopefully by Sunday night.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's End of Year MLB All-Star Teams: 1990 Edition

We're finally into the 1990's. By the time I named my 1990 End of the Year All-Star Teams, I was balancing high school homework and working as a lackey in the theater department. I followed baseball a bit more closely over the summer, and watched as the defending NL East champs wrote in their season. But the real All-Star Game was at Wrigley, and while I wasn't at the actual game, my aunt who lives on Addison allowed us to watch the game from her place. And we all know what happened at the game that night, right???

While I am still learning more about the game (I started picking up books about the history of baseball at this time too), when it came to picking teams in the early 90's, all it involved was using the players from the actual All-Star Game, and plugging in the holes as needed to fill out the rest of the positions. So while it was not yet picking the best of the best yet, the players chosen for my 1990 teams deserved to be there. There are 10 pitchers on each team (six starters, four closers), and because the 1991 ASG would be in Toronto, each team included a DH. So the rosters expanded to 35 players per team.

Let's cut to the chase. Without further ado, for the first time online, I am proud to introduce my 1990 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

(Lots of space here when I added the table. On feeds and on other blog sites like Sculu, it all looks normal, but on Blogger, the space remains...)

American League First Basemen Cecil Fielder, Tigers* Mark McGwire, Athletics Rafael Palmeiro, Rangers Second Basemen Julio Franco, Rangers Steve Sax, Yankees Lou Whitaker, Tigers Third Basemen Wade Boggs, Red Sox Brook Jacoby, Indians* Kelly Gruber, Blue Jays Shortstops Ozzie Guillen, White Sox Cal Ripken, Orioles Alan Trammell, Tigers Outfielders George Bell, Blue Jays Ellis Burks, Red Sox* Ivan Calderon, White Sox* Jose Canseco, Athletics Ken Griffey, Jr., Mariners* Rickey Henderson, Athletics Bo Jackson, Royals Kirby Puckett, Twins Robin Yount, Brewers Catchers Sandy Alomar, Indians* Carlton Fisk, White Sox Lance Parrish, Angels* Designated Hitter: Dave Parker, Brewers* Pitchers Roger Clemens, Red Sox Dennis Eckersley, Athletics Chuck Finley, Angels Randy Johnson, Mariners* Doug Jones, Indians Gregg Olson, Orioles* Bret Saberhagen, Royals Dave Steib, Blue Jays* Bobby Thigpen, White Sox Bob Welch, Athletics* Manager: Jeff Torborg, White Sox The Starters: 1B: McGwire 2B: Sax 3B: Boggs SS: Ripken OF: Canseco OF: Griffey, Jr. OF: Henderson C: Alomar DH: Parker P: Welch *First-Time All-Star

National League First Basemen Will Clark, Giants Mark Grace, Cubs* Eddie Murray, Dodgers* Second Basemen Roberto Alomar, Padres* Tommy Herr, Mets Ryne Sandberg, Cubs Third Basemen Chris Sabo, Reds* Tim Wallach, Expos Matt Williams, Giants* Shortstops Shawon Dunston, Cubs Barry Larkin, Reds Ozzie Smith, Cardinals Outfielders Barry Bonds, Pirates Bobby Bonilla, Pirates Kal Daniels, Dodgers* Andre Dawson, Cubs Lenny Dykstra, Phillies* Tony Gwynn, Padres Kevin Mitchell, Giants Lonnie Smith, Braves* Darryl Strawberry, Mets Catchers Greg Olson, Braves* Benito Santiago, Padres Mike Scioscia, Dodgers Designated Hitter: Ron Gant, Braves* Pitchers Jack Armstrong, Reds* Jeff Brantley, Giants* Rob Dibble, Reds* John Franco, Mets Neal Heaton, Pirates* Dennis Martinez, Expos* Ramon Martinez, Dodgers* Randy Myers, Reds Dave Smith, Astros* Frank Viola, Mets Manager: Jim Leyland, Pirates The Starters: 1B: Clark 2B: Sandberg 3B: Sabo SS: Smith OF: Dawson OF: Dykstra OF: Mitchell C: Scioscia DH: Gant P: Armstrong

Twenty-nine new players are first-time all-stars (12 for the American League, 17 for the Nationals). One-person teams on my 1990 rosters include the Twins (Puckett), Yankees (Sax...this would be unheard of today), Astros (DSmith), Cardinals (OSmith), and Phillies (Dykstra). Both the Athletics and Reds send five representatives on the AL and NL rosters respectively, leading both leagues (figures, since both teams went to the World Series that year). The White Sox, Cubs (Chicago bias rules!!!), Dodgers, Giants, and Mets each send four players to their respective squads.

As always, seven regular games (10,000 simulations each, six with the same starting pitchers, one where lineups and starting pitchers change), and one All-Star Game will be simulated during the course of the week. I hope to have the results of all the games by the end of the week.

Now it's time for me to create the .DAT files before getting the games set. You know, putting my imagined All-Star Teams to the 'net, and the added fun of simulating games with them, is really rejuvinating. And a whole lot of fun. I'm actually enjoying this.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 1989 End of Year All-Star Teams Simulated Games Results

I have finally finished simulating the All-Star Games using my 1989 End of Year All-Star Teams. I'm getting a whole let better now that I kinda know what I'm doing (I'm sure by the time I'm done, I'll be an expert...wishful thinking).

Just like the first two times I ran these, I simulated seven games (five series between starters, one series with the full rotation but one regular lineup, and one series where the lineups, starting rotations changed on a daily basis), by playing each one 10,000 times.

The first five games I simulated used each starting pitcher on both sides at least once, and all position players started a minimum of two games each. Here are the results:

• Game 1: AL vs. NL, Dave Stewart vs. Mike Scott. The NL wins 5,939 games out of 10,000 simulations.
• Game 2: AL vs. NL, Chuck Finley vs. Orel Hershiser. The NL wins 5,806 games.
• Game 3: NL vs. AL, Joe Magrane vs. Nolan Ryan. The AL wins 5,498 games (using a DH). Nolan Ryan pitched 16 no-hitters.
• Game 4: NL vs, AL, Rick Reuschel vs. Mark Gubicza. The AL wins 5,453 games (using a DH). Tony Gwynn had hitting streaks of 30, 32, 41, and 42 games.
• Game 5: NL vs. AL, John Smoltz vs. Greg Swindell. The NL wins 5,661 games (using a DH).
• Game 6: AL vs. NL, each SP started 2,000 games. The AL wins 5,197 games.
• Game 7: AL vs. NL, anything goes. The NL wins 5,190 games.

So the NL wins the regular series 4 games to 3. For the official All-Star Game, I decided to just simulate one game and one game only. The starting pitchers were Stewart and Scott and I let them pitch two innings (unless they struggled badly). The rest of the pitchers would get one inning each (unless they struggled badly). The position players were replaced every three innings. No pinch hitters here, (as in previous tries, the pinch hitter is taken out of the game...I couldn't figure out how to double switch here), but the game did ask me if I wanted to make double switches (to which the response was YES!!!)

The starting lineups, first for the American League (I'm using 1990 Topps cards because these are the cards I used to imagine my All-Star teams):


Now the National League starting lineup:


Here is the result:


The 1989 NL All-Stars beat the 1989 AL All-Stars by a final score of 9-3.

The box score is below (Just click on the picture to take a closer look.


The scoring plays:

Bottom 1: Dave Stewart pitching. Eric Davis triples. Ryne Sandberg grounds out to Wade Boggs (5-3). Will Clark singles, EDavis scoring. Tony Gwynn reaches on an error by Boggs, Clark advancing to second. Howard Johnson reaches on an error by Cal Ripken, Clark scoring, Gwynn advancing to third. Kevin Mitchell hits a home run, Gwynn scoring, Johnson scoring.

Top 2: Mike Scott pitching. Mark McGwire walks. Wade Boggs grounds into a double play to Ryne Sandberg (4-6-3), McGwire out. Ruben Sierra hits a home run.

Top 5: John Smoltz pitching. Steve Sax singles, reaches second on an error by Tim Raines (E8). Bo Jackson strikes out. Rickey Henderson singles, Sax advancing to third. Tony Fernandez singles, Sax scores, Henderson advancing to second.

Bottom 5: Mark Gubicza pitching. Larking flies out to Rickey Henderson (7). Von Hayes singles. Bobby Bonilla grounds out to Gubicza (1-3), Hayes advancing to second. Pedro Guerrero doubles, Hayes scoring.

Bottom 6: Doug Jones pitching. Craig Biggio reaches on an error by Don Mattingly (4-E3). Tim Burke strikes out. Tim Raines singles, Biggio advancing to second. Both runners advance via passed ball by Terry Steinbach. Tom Herr singles, Biggio scoring, Raines advancing to third. Mike Henneman pitching. Barry Larkin grounds into a fielders choice to Steve Sax (4-6), Raines scoring, Herr out at second.

Bottom 8: Jeff Russell pitching. Darryl Strawberry walks. Shawon Dunston strikes out. Mike Scioscia reaches on an error by Joe Carter, advancing to second, Strawberry advancing to third. Willie Randolph grounds out to Lou Whitaker (4-3), Strawberry scoring, Scioscia advancing to third.

Top 9: Mark Davis pitching. Jeffrey Leonard strikes out. Joe Carter singles to right, reaches second on an error by Andre Dawson. Ozzie Guillen singles, Carter advancing to third. Jeff Russell singles, Carter scoring, Guillen advancing to second.

Kevin Mitchell is the MVP, thanks to his 3-run homer in the first.
After the drubbing at the hands of the AL the year before, the NL comes back with a vengeance in this game. If this game actually existed, the MVP would have definitely been Kevin Mitchell (1-2, 1 home run, 3 rbi's). Orel Hershiser earns the win, Dave Stewart suffers the loss, and the only players who didn't get in the game were pitchers Bobby Thigpen from the AL and Joe Magrane from the NL.
If you want to see the .DAT files that I used (I still don't know how to download these onto the blog , so please just take a look at the screen caps below). If anyone can e-mail me instructions, please do so at bdj610@hotmail.com. Below is the AL .DAT file, then the NL .DAT file:




Now that the 1989 All-Star Games are officially over, on Wednesday, I will introduce the 1990 End of Year All-Star teams. Simulations for games with those rosters to come hopefully by Sunday night.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama