1989 Topps Major League Debut #149: Clint Zavaras

Clint Zavaras

PHOTO: Not a great photo, plus half bodies of two non-uniformed personnel in the background.

STAT: Zavaras didn't have great numbers but he allowed only 4 homers in more than 50 innings, plus only one of those homers wasn't a solo shot.

ANAGRAM: Clint Zavaras = Valiant czars

CAREER: 1/10

52 innings and a 5.19 ERA in his one major-league season

1989 Topps Major League Debut #132: Omar Vizquel

Omar Vizquel

PHOTO: If you're over the age of 30, I bet you smiled when you saw this card. To see an active player from a 20-year-old set is pretty cool, plus Vizquel looks exactly the same in that photo as he looks today.

STAT: As we near the end of this set, it's neat to think about how many players appeared in all 21 seasons from 1989 to 2009. I'll give you Vizquel and Ken Griffey, but the other 2 do not have cards in this set (having debuted earlier than 1989.) Can you get them? Answer here. (Hint: they both reached major career milestones this season.)

ANAGRAM: Omar Vizquel = Removal Quiz

CAREER: 6/10 7/10

Vizquel has had a very respectable career. When he started, he was a classic light-hitting but great-fielding shortstop. As the position took off offensively during the Steroids Era, Vizquel stayed behind, becoming below-average with the bat save for a few strong years in 1999-2002. He'll approach but not quite reach 3,000 hits before he's done, although he's making it more on longevity than good hitting, as his career .273 BA tells you.

Vizquel was a key member of the great Indians teams of the mid-to-late 1990s and is one of the greatest bunters the game has seen in the last 50 years.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #46: Ken Griffey Jr.

Ken Griffey Jr.

PHOTO: I like the photo except that his cap is washed out by the light.

STAT: Rather than including a stat I wanted to recall something amazing that happened. Back in this 1990 game, Griffey and his father hit back-to-back homers off Kirk McCaskill. I was watching the game on Friday Night Baseball on ESPN. It was completely astounding and incredible. The fact that a father and son could play together on the same team was amazing enough, but this feat is something that, odd are, we'll never see happen again. (For a brief period, it looked possible with Tim Raines and his son.)

This kind of event is the thing that makes fans fall in love with baseball.

CAREER: 10/10

Griffey might be the only surefire Hall of Famer in this set (not sure because I haven't looked ahead at the cards...)

This guy completely reenvigorated baseball when he came on the scene in 1989. His dad was a great player but everybody expected Jr. to be even better, and they were right. Injuries have hurt him for sure but he's currently 5th in career homers and has a (very slight) shot at passing Willie Mays.