What a great run I've had lately in terms of TTM returns!Lance Parrish played the first ten years of his 19 year career with the Detroit Tigers, but this was his last card with them as the 1987 season would be his first in a different uniform, playing for the Philadelphia Phillies. The second half of his career was nowhere near as accomplished as the first, but all told, he put together quite a career. Parrish made the All Star team eight times, won the Silver Slugger six times, and was a three time Gold Glove winner.
I'm not exactly sure why I sent this card to Parrish without sending the All Star card that is also in the 1987 Topps set. Regardless, I did. Turns out there also is a Parrish card in that year's Traded set, so I guess we'll send those to him together.
My favorite team ever is the 1985 Cardinals. Perhaps more than any of the Whitey Herzog-led teams of the 1980s, they embodied what came to be know in St. Louis as "Whitey-Ball," relying on speed, pitching and defense. The team's only true power hitter was Jack Clark (and he only had 22 home runs). But as for speed, boy did they have speed! The team stole an amazing total of 314 bases, almost two per game. Three players (Ozzie Smith, Tom Herr & Andy Van Slyke) exceeded 30 stolen bases in addition to MVP Willie McGee, who had 56, and Rookie of the Year Vince Coleman, who stole 110! Defense-wise, Ozzie and Terry Pendleton gobbled up basically every ground ball hit on the left side of the infield, while Herr played a steady, if not spectacular second base. In the outfield, hardly anything dropped in as Coleman, McGee and Van Slyke comprised perhaps the fastest outfield ever. Pitching-wise, Danny Cox won 18 and Joaquin Andujar won 21 (topping 20 wins for the second straight year), but the star on the mound was first-year Cardinal left-hander, John Tudor. Tudor started out the season 1-7, but from June 1 on, he was virtually unhittable, going 20-1 with a 1.37 ERA. In his 26 starts over those four months, he averaged over eight innings pitched per start. Perhaps the most amazing stat that season was how successful he was pitching on three days rest. Going into the seventh game of the World Series, he had started on three days rest eight times. In those eight games he went 8-0 with a 0.66 ERA, while averaging 8.5 innings per start. Unfortunately, nothing went right in game seven, and the Cardinals fell to the Kansas City Royals. Tudor would never quite return to the level of success he had in 1985, but he was very good for the remainder of his career. In his five years pitching for the Cardinals, he went 62-26 with a 2.52 ERA, and he will forever be one of my favorites to don the Birds on the Bat.
When I first started collecting autographs through the mail a few months back, I noticed that NBA Hall of Famer and former US Senator, Bill Bradley sometimes signed through the mail. I didn't have any pictures or cards of his, but I decided to send a couple index cards his way in hopes that I might get them back. Over three months later, I was thrilled to open my mail and find the index cards signed and returned! Bradley is a native of Crystal City, Missouri, not far from St. Louis. The father of one of my high school friends/teammates actually played with him there. And my uncle Jay went to Princeton to play basketball with him as well
About ten years ago, I read the Roger Kahn classic, The Boys of Summer. Though my dad had grown up a New York Giants fan, I must admit that the book more than piqued my interest in the Dodgers of the 1950s. Of course there were the mong the Hall of Famers (Robinson, Campenella, Reese, Snider) as well as other greats (like Newcombe & Hodges), but for some reason, Carl Erskine grabbed my interest. A 20-game winner in 1953, Erskine started seven World Series games, including three in 1953, a season in which he went 20-6. I picked up this card at a card show in Fort Worth, and was thrilled to not only get it back signed from the 90-year old Erskine, but to receive it with a note thanking me for writing him!
Another member of the 1987 world champion Minnesota Twins was manager Tom Kelly. Along with his 1987 Topps card, I sent a Fleer team sticker to have him sign. I think it turned out nicely and was a kind of neat, unique item. Kelly twice won the World Series with the Twins (1987 & 1991).
For a ten year period from 1985-1994, Jimmy Key was one of the best lefties in baseball. For that decade, he averaged a 15-9 record with a 3.32 ERA. He played with the Blue Jays and went 2-0 in the 1992 World Series, starting game 4 and then picking up a win in relief in the 11-inning game 6 clincher. After the season, he signed a free agent deal with the Yankees, where he experienced continued success, and was ultimately a member of the 1996 world champs, before moving on to the Orioles for the final years of his career.
Jim Acker had a solid ten year career, spent mostly with the Atlanta and Toronto. He was drafted by the Braves with the 21st pick of the 1980 draft. Two years later, the Blue Jays acquired him in the Rule 5 draft. In 1986 they traded him back to the Braves, who three years later traded him back to the Blue Jays.
After bouncing back and forth between the two teams for more than a decade, Acker signed a free agent deal with the Seattle Mariners heading into the 1992 season. Ironically, that October the Blue Jays and Braves would meet in the World Series, thanks in part to the NLCS-clinching hit by Francisco Cabrera, who just happens to be one of the players for whom Acker was once traded.
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