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 #145: Paul Wilmet

Paul Wilmet

PHOTO: I've never heard of this guy before, but the first thing I thought when I saw the photo was that he looked awfully old to be a rookie. Indeed, as you can see from the card back, Wilmet was born in late 1958, making him 30 when this photo was taken.

STAT: It's kind of sad to look at this guy's career. He spent 8 years in the minors (missing 1983 for some reason), got bombed in the majors at the end of 1989 and after a lackluster year in the minors in 1990, was done in pro baseball.

ANAGRAM: Paul Wilmet = Will eat ump

CAREER: 1/10

15.43 ERA in 2.1 major league innings

1989 Topps Major League Debut #143: Dean Wilkins

Dean Wilkins

PHOTO: Don't confuse Dean Wilkins with Rick Wilkins, a catcher who came up (also with the Cubs) a couple of years later. Dean Wilkins is the guy who looks like a sullen alcoholic on his 1989 Topps Major League Debut baseball card.

STAT: Only two batters got more than 1 hit off Wilkins: Darryl Strawberry (3) and Ricky Jordan (2).

ANAGRAM: Dean Wilkins = Swindle a kin

Sorry, he doesn't look like an alcoholic--he looks like someone who would steal from his own brother.

CAREER: 1/10

31 innings and a 7.55 career ERA.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #142: Kevin Wickander

Kevin Wickander

PHOTO: Wow this is an almost identical photo to that on Russ Swan's card, absence of baseball and all.

STAT: Wickander didn't give up many home runs (even rate-based he was good.) However, his last 2 were doozies--both grand slams when his team was already down by 4 runs.

ANAGRAM: Kevin Wickander, Indians = Advanced in kinkier wins

CAREER: 3/10

Wickander was an above-average lefty who put together several nice seasons although, like a lot of lefty relievers, didn't pitch many innings. He also walked too many batters.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #141: Wally Whitehurst

Wally Whitehurst

PHOTO: Ugghhh....overexposed, blurry. Yuck.

STAT: Whitehurst pitched a lot against the Cubs. The two batters he faced the most in his career were Mark Grace and Ryne Sandberg. Grace got a few singles and not much else while Sandberg hit the ball all over the place (doubles and triples and homers, oh my!)

ANAGRAM: Wally Whitehurst = Hurl witty whales

CAREER: 3/10

Whitehurst was an average-ish pitcher who had a couple of nice seasons and a couple of dull seasons. He was part of two memorable trades, one I've mentioned at least 5 times on my various blogs.

December 11, 1987: Traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Oakland Athletics with Kevin Tapani to the New York Mets. The Los Angeles Dodgers sent Bob Welch and Matt Young to the Oakland Athletics. The Los Angeles Dodgers sent Jack Savage to the New York Mets. The Oakland Athletics sent Alfredo Griffin and Jay Howell to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The New York Mets sent Jesse Orosco to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

October 26, 1992: Traded by the New York Mets with a player to be named later and D.J. Dozier to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later and Tony Fernandez. The New York Mets sent Raul Casanova (December 7, 1992) to the San Diego Padres to complete the trade.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #139: John Wetteland

John Wetteland

PHOTO: Wetteland looks like he was just told that he has to wash the vets' jocks after practice. A love the glimpse of the batting cage behind him and what looks like a guy in a red jersey.

STAT: From 1992 to 2000, he had the most saves in baseball, by far.

ANAGRAM: John Wetteland = Handle jet town. Ironically, this suggests that he should have pitched well against Seattle, but we all remember the 1995 ALDS when he got absoluetly torched by the Mariners.

CAREER: 6/10

Wetteland really did have a great career. He walked away when he could still pitch, probably leaving 4-5 more good years on the table. His finale resume includes more than 300 saves, a stretch from 1992-2000 when he was one of the top closers in baseball, more than 1 strikeout per inning pitched with low hit and walk totals, one championship, and one World Series MVP award. Not too shabby.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #137: Mickey Weston

Mickey Weston

PHOTO: Weston's holding the ball out front in an unusual way...almost looks like he's taunting the batter.

STAT: Weston gave up homers to mostly very good players (including McGriff, Hrbek, Downings...) but his last one was to, umm, Ken Hill?

ANAGRAM: Mickey Weston = We come stinky

CAREER: 1/10

Just 45.1 innings pitched for Weston, compiling a 7.15 ERA.

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 #130: Randy Veres

Randy Veres

PHOTO: Another dull headshot like many Brewers in this set.

STAT: I guess Veres was basically a mop-up guy, judging by his leverage splits. He pitched more in low-leverage situations than he did in high- and medium-leverage combined.

ANAGRAM: Randy Veres = Nervy dares

CAREER: 3/10

Veres was a decent major-league reliever. Kudos to him for getting sent to the minors for the 1991 season and battling for 3 years until making it back to the show in 1994. He finished with a strong season for KC in 1997--not sure why he didn't pitch again after that.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #127: Stu Tate

Stu Tate

PHOTO: Wake up, Stu!

STAT: What do Shawn Abner, Joey Cora, and Mike Pagliarulo have in common? They were the only guys to get a hit off Tate.

ANAGRAM: Stu Tate = Statute.

CAREER: 1/10

Tate pitched just 2.2 innings in the majors, although he got 4 strikeouts and no walks with a league-average 3.38 ERA.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #126: Kevin Tapani

Kevin Tapani

PHOTO: The mesh pattern against his bare chest gives Tapani the appearances of having sizable man-boobs (which I do not believe he had.) Nice blue-unity, though, between the blue warm-up and blue seats.

STAT: Since 1975, Tapani's 1998 season ranks as 3rd-worst ERA+ for a guy with 19 or more wins.

ANAGRAM: Kevin Tapani = I eat pink van

CAREER: 5/10

Tapani was a very average pitcher who lucked himself into some high win seasons, such as the one mentioned above. He appeared in the post-season with 3 teams, including the Twins in 1991, but didn't pitch particularly well. He was a key component of three significant trades: the bob Welch/Afredo Griffin/Jesse Orosco deal in 1987, the Rick Aguilera/Frank Viola deal in 1989, and the Ron Coomer trade in 1995.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #125: Russ Swan

Russ Swan

PHOTO: Swan's jersey looks airbrushed to me, but that's probably overexposure. Swan was in the Giants' system since 1986, plus his hat doesn't look airbrushed so he was probably wearing a Giants jersey.

When I saw the name Russ Swan, I knew there was something unusual about this guy, but I couldn't remember what it was. I looked it up...turns out he died in 2006 after falling down a flight of stairs. That's sad. Two years later, almost to the day and quite oddly, another former major leaguer, John Marzano, died the same way.

STAT: Among pitchers with at least 100 carer walks in the last 50 years, Swan cracks the top 10 for worst K/BB ratio (see below for more.)

I'm skipping the anagram on Mr. Swan.

CAREER: 3/10

Swan put together 2 very good years as a reliever in 1990 and 1991 but didn't maintain long-term success in the big-leagues. His walk rate was fine, but his strikeout rate was alarmingly low.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #122: Mike Stanton

Mike Stanton

PHOTO: Nice photo of a rookie.

STAT: Stanton has appeared in the most games all-time for pitchers with fewer than 100 saves. (That's true up to 144 saves, which is Jesse Orosco's career total.)

ANAGRAM: Mike Stanton = Not mistaken (or Kitten moans...heh)

CAREER: 8/10

Wow, a middle reliever getting a score of 8? You bet your ass. Stanton had a better-than-average ERA almost every full season he pitched, was part of both the Braves and Yankees dynasties, appeared in 18 post-season series and 53 games with a 2.10 ERA, won 3 World Series championships, and pitched in the 2nd-most games all time.

Of course, he was also named in the Mitchell report. What that means for history will take a lot of time to unfold.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #118: Mike Smith

Mike Smith

PHOTO: Well, well, well. This is certainly one of the most interesting photos in the set, immediately reminding me at Al Leiter's 1988 Topps card (not that it's Leiter on that card.) I guess this was taken late in the day or something, although the black edges all around Smith does make this one look Photoshopped.

Four Mike Smiths have played MLB.

STAT: Interesting list--the 5 guys to homer off Mike Smith. One of them is Bam Bam.

ANAGRAM: Mike Smith = I skim them

CAREER: 1/10

Only 23 big-league innings for Mr. Smith, plus a 8.22 career ERA.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #115: Joe Skalski

Joe Skalski

PHOTO: Well, holy crap, this card looks almost identical to the previous one of Rudy Seanez. Two Indians hurlers in similar poses. In fact, the photos were taken just about right next to each other. The trees and parking barriers in the background match up. Here's a Photoshopped version:



Makes you almost feel like you're right there on the practice field, eh?

STAT: The only guy not playing for the Red Sox to get a hit off Skalski was HOFer Robin Yount.

CAREER: 1/10

He faced only 33 batters in the major leagues.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #114: Rudy Seanez

Rudy Seanez

PHOTO: One thing sucks about this card: the shadow across Seanez's face. Everything else about it, however, kicks ass. We've got a line of Indians trailing off into the distance, majestic light towers standing tall over the trees, an intriguing shadow coming in from the left, and miles and miles of green grass. Quite nearly a prefect photo.

STAT: Since 1901, 44 pitchers have pitched at least 500 innings without ever starting a game or amassing more than 200 saves. Among these guys, Seanez is in the top 5 for strikeout rate.

ANAGRAM: Rudy Seanez = Reused zany

CAREER: 5/10

Seanez has had a great career. He pitched really well in 2008 and I'm surprised nobody has picked him up in 2009. He's only 40. He has pitched well in 11 post-season games although he never made it to the World Series (and wasn't even on the Phillies' post-season roster last year, oddly.)

1989 Topps Major League Debut #113: Scott Scudder

Scott Scudder

PHOTO: Wow, this is a great photo. The Reds cards in this set look really good due to the red color of the borders. But also this is a very nice closeup, compacting Scudder's entire frame into the photo. I also like the slight blurriness on his right foot, probably due to the fact that it's so much further back and therefore out of focus (or maybe because it was moving quickly during his follow-through.)

STAT: A pretty impressive list of power hitters had multiple homers off Scudder. The only one who doesn't belong is Mike Fitzgerald, who himself hit multiple homers off just 5 pitchers. Scudder is the least impressive of that list.

ANAGRAM: Scott Scudder, Reds = Odd crested crusts

CAREER: 3/10

Scudder was a slightly below-average pitcher who walked too many guys and didn't strike out enough. He did face 10 batters in the 1990 postseason and didn't allow any earned runs. He was also traded away with Jack Armstrong to give the Reds one good year of Greg Swindell.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #111: Mike Schwabe

Mike Schwabe

PHOTO: Here's another in the long line of posed Tiger Stadium shots in this set. They are all a bit out of focus, too.

STAT: Schwabe had one of the worst WHIPs for 1989, minimum 40 IP.

ANAGRAM: Mike Schwabe = We skim beach

CAREER: 1/10

48.1 career IP

1989 Topps Major League Debut #107: Alex Sanchez

Alex Sanchez

PHOTO: Let's compare the photo above with Sanchez's 1988 O-Pee-Chee photo. In this one, his eyebrows, while still thick, are much less caterpillar-ish. However, he's damn near asleep.

STAT: You can go read that post I made about his 88 OPC card for details on his 4 major-league starts. The lone homer that Sanchez gave up in the majors was this 3-run job by Ellis Burks, coming in this game. After the homer, it was 5-0 Red Sox in the first inning and (if you read the play-by-play detail) the Blue Jays had only a 10% chance of winning the game at that point. Win they did, however, thanks in part to a grand slam by Ernie Whitt off Lee Smith in the 9th inning and a 2-run shot in the 12th inning by Junior Felix off Dennis Lamp.

ANAGRAM: Alex Sanchez = Can sex Hazel (Mae, of course.)

CAREER: 1/10

'nuff said.

1989 Topps Major League Debut #105: Kenny Rogers

Kenny Rogers

PHOTO: Not much to say about this photo, except that there appears to be a snow-covered log cabin behind Rogers on the left.

STAT: From 1989 to 2008, Rogers was 7th in baseball in wins, ahead of Curt Schilling, John Smoltz, and Jamie Moyer.

ANAGRAM: Kenny Rogers, P, Rangers = Angry sponger Ken errs...

CAREER: 6/10

Boy, it's tough to score Rogers. He's currently a free agent and his career is probably over, but he did a lot of good things. He is often maligned for his poor post-season performances with both the Yankees and Mets, especially given how well he pitched for the Tigers (including the playoffs) later in his career.

The fact of the matter is that this guy was a very good pitcher. He won 219 games with a .584 W-L% although he did benefit tremendously from playing for excellent offensive teams. (His neutralized pitching record is actually under .500, a remarkable drop.) Still, until his last season in 2008, ne never had a losing record in any full season with more than 22 starts.