#112 Bob Shirley - Cincinnati Reds

Card: This is lefthanded pitcher Bob Shirley’s 6th Topps card.

Pic:  A great action shot of Shirley getting ready to throw a forkball, a pitch he added to his repertoire in 1980.  I just wish the pic wasn’t so bright.

Player:  Bob Shirley joined the Padres after a distinguished career at the University of Oklahoma.  After he was drafted eighth overall in the January draft in '76, Shirley spent just one season in the minors.  The young lefty made the Padres rotation and began 1977 as their fourth starter.  By the end of the year he led the Padres in wins 12, ERA 3.70, innings 214, and strikeouts with 146.  Shirley started the '78 season in the rotation but was in and out of the pen all year.  He started 20 games and relieved in 30 others with a 3.69 ERA in 166 innings. 

In 1979 Shirley started 25 of his 49 games and pitched in 205 innings with a 3.38 ERA.  He pitched in relief in all but 12 games in 1980 earning 7 saves in 137 innings with another sub-4 ERA. 

Shirley was traded in the eleven player trade that sent Rollie Fingers and others to St. Louis.  Shirley changed teams but not roles, starting 11 of his 28 games with a 4.08 ERA. 
On the cusp of the '82 season he was dealt to the Reds for Jeff Lahti and a minor leaguer.  Shirley recorded a 3.60 ERA starting 20 games and relieving in 21 more in what would be his only year in Cincinnati.

Shirley was signed as a free-agent by the Yankees in '83 and started the year in the rotation.  Despite pitching his second career shutout on 4/27, it was a rough year as he finished with 5.08 ERA.  He started 17 games but spent a good chunk of the year as a rarely used mop-up man.  The next three years with New York he assumed the swingman role pretty which much defined his career. 

In '84 Shirley posted a 3.38 ERA in 114 innings.  In '85 he was even better with a career best 2.64 ERA in 109 innings.  He threw a lot of gopher balls in '86 and saw his ERA double.  In '87 he had a 4.50 ERA when he received his release from the Yankees in June (more on that later).  He signed with the Royals but pitched in only three games in KC after getting rocked for 12 runs in 7 innings.  He pitched in AAA through the '88 season and retired with a career 67-94 record, 18 saves and a 3.82 ERA.

Flipside: The April 25 highlight is an odd game to mention since he pitched just 0.2 of an inning.  They could have mentioned his complete game win on August 21 when he struckout 7.

Oddball:  Although Shirley and his ex-Yankee teammates deny it, Don Mattingly first hurt his back in 1987 when he and Shirley were rough-housing in the Yankee locker room.  Donnie Baseball never really hit with the same authority after the injury.  We'll never know for sure if a playful Shirley / Mattingly wrestling match impacted Mattingly's career but Shirley was released the same day.

History:  Shirley had a weird career in that he logged his most innings in his rookie year.  Although effective that year, he never again lasted an entire year in the rotation. Throughout his career he seemed to have a habit of getting shelled early in games when he didn't have his good stuff, but was reliable when used in spot starts.  If he would've been born twenty years later he probably would have been used as a situational lefty and perhaps had a longer career. 

#111 1982 Montreal Expos

Team Leaders:  Al Oliver is looking pretty cool here.  As you can see he led the Expos with his .331 average.  He also led the team with 109 RBI.  Four Expos hit 20+ HR, led by Gary Carter with 29.  Steve Rogers was the ace of the pitching staff, leading the team in ERA at 2.40, strikeouts 179, and 19 wins.

Record:  86-76, 3rd place, 6 games behind St.Louis.

Flipside:  The checklist counts 27 Expos, including Hall of Famers Gary Carter and Andre Dawson.  Tim Raines should join them someday.

Most Common Starters:
 

C             Gary Carter
1B           Al Oliver
2B           Doug Flynn
3B           Tim Wallach
SS           Chris Speier
LF            Tim Raines
CF           Andre Dawson
RF           Warren Cromartie

Montreal had a lot of talent on offense but second base was a black hole.  Flynn had a rotten .256 OB% in 58 games, Raines made 36 starts there, and while it was a good idea it just didn't work out.  Mike Gates started 30 games but was only marginally better than Flynn.  Four other Expos made at least five starts at second.  Terry Francona was the only solid bench player as he batted .321 in 131 at bats.

Pitching Staff:
 

Steve Rogers             35 GS
Bill Gullickson           34 GS
Scott Sanderson       32 GS
Charlie Lea                27 GS
Ray Burris                  15 GS
David Palmer            13 GS
 

Jeff Reardon             2.06 ERA, 26 saves

Bryn Smith                4.20 ERA, 3 saves

Woodie Fryman       3.75 ERA, 12 saves

The number five spot in the rotation was a sore spot all year.  Burris was 0-11 in that role before he was mercifully moved to the pen.  Palmer was effective when healthy.  Dan Schatzeder and Randy Lerch also contributed. 

Oddball:  Spaceman Bill Lee pitched in seven games before he was released for staging a walkout after the team released his friend Rodney Scott. 

 

#110 Ken Griffey - New York Yankees

Card:  You’re looking at Griffey’s 10th Topps card.

Pic:  I don't know what it is, but Griffey never looked right to me in a Yankee uniform.

Player:  Ken Griffey was drafted out of high school by the Reds in the 29th round in 1969.  He made his MLB debut on August 25th, 1973 and proceeded to tear up National League pitching, batting .384/.424/.570 in 86 at bats.  The rookie sensation had just one playoff hit as the Reds lost to the Mets in the NLCS. 

Griffey was the Reds starting rightfielder when the ’74 season started but he struggled at the plate and was sent down in May.  He returned in July, continued to scuffle, and at one point was batting .135.  He had a torrid finish to boost his average to .251 to go with two homers and nine steals.  Griffey was the everyday rightfielder in ’75, sitting out occasionally against some lefties.  With the Big Red machine, Griffey came into his own hitting .305/.391/.402 and added 16 steals.  Griffey had a strong postseason with 11 hits, 8 RBI, and 5 steals as the Reds won it all.  On a team full of stars, it was easy to overlook Griffey but he got his share of ink in ’76 as he batted .336 and stole 34 bases.  The Reds repeated as World Champs with Griffey hitting well in the NLCS (.385) but slumping (.059) in the World Series.

The Big Red Machine didn’t win any more titles, but Griffey kept on producing for Cincinnati.  Over the ’77-’81 seasons he batted between .288 and .318 and added a little power to his game averaging nine homers a season.  After the ’81 season, the Reds dealt Griffey to the Yankees for Freddie Toliver and a minor leaguer.

The Yankees platooned Griffey and played him all over the outfield as well as first base.  He hit in the .270s three times and hit .306 in ’83 and was good for about ten homers per year.  Halfway through the ’86 season he was traded in a four player deal to the Braves.  He enjoyed his best power year, blasting 21 homers to go with a .306 average.  Platooning in leftfield for the Braves, Griffey hit .286 with 14 homers in ’87.  He slumped to .249 in ’88 and was released in July. 

The Reds picked him up a few days later and he hit .280 down the stretch for his old team.  Playing a reserve role in ’89 he hit .263 in 236 at bats.   He was used as pinch-hitter for the Reds in 1990 and was hitting .206 when he was talked into retirement by the Reds who were in a roster crunch.  By retiring, Griffey stayed Reds property and there were rumors of them bringing him back if needed.  Meanwhile his son Ken Griffey Jr. was emerging as a star centerfielder for the Mariners. 

The Reds eventually agreed to release Griffey, which allowed him to join Ken Jr. in Seattle where he finished out the ’90 season.  The Griffeys became the first father-son tandem to play for the same team at the same time and they hit back to back homers on September 14th.  The elder Griffey hit .377 in 21 games to close out the season.  He was batting .285 two months into the ’91 season when he retired after he needed surgery to repair discs in his neck.  He had originally been injured in a car wreck during spring training.  In 19 seasons of play he won two championship rings, with 2,143 hits, 152 HR, 200 SB, and a .296 average.

Flipside:  Griffey was born in Donora, PA which despite being a small town, was the birthplace of Griffey, Griffey Jr, and Stan Musial.

Oddball:  Mariner teammate Henry Cotto was cleaning his ear with a Q-tip when Griffey bumped into him the bench, resulting in Cotto rupturing his eardrum.

History:  Griffey was a key part of the Reds back to back championships and had an excellent career.  He could be counted on to hit around .300 and steal about 20 bases with 8-12 homers.  He was selected to three All-Star games and was the AS game MVP in 1980.   When he was with the great Reds teams of the 70s he was often in the background.  By the time he retired all anyone talked about was his son, but the older Griffey was no slouch. 

Griffey coached with the Mariners, Rockies, and Reds for several years.  In 2006 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.  Having lost four uncles to the disease, he was wise to get checked often and had it successfully treated. Griffey currently manages in the Reds farm system.

#109 Luis Leal - Toronto Blue Jays

Card:  This is the third Topps card of Leal's career.

Pic:  It looks like Topps used a spring trianing shot of Leal warming up in the bullpen.

Player:  Luis Leal was 22 years old when he was signed out of Venezuela by the Blue Jays in '79.  He got Toronto's attention with his fine pitching in the PanAm Games the year before.

Leal didn't waste much time in the minors and was pitching in the majors by 1980.  He pitched in 13 games, starting 10, but was not very effective.  He walked more than he struck out and had a  4.53 ERA and 1.726 WHIP in 59 innings.  In '81 Leal spent the entire season with Toronto, making 19 starts and making 10 appearances out of the pen.  Leal had a decent ERA at 3.68 but ran into some tough luck as he had a 7-13 record.  He showed improved control but his 13 losses led the AL.

Leal was reliable and durable in '82.  He made 38 starts and logged 249 innings.  His 3.93 ERA was decent (114 ERA+) but he still has a losing record of 12-15.  Leal's ERA jumped up to 4.31 in '83 but he received better run support and finished with a winning record of 13-12.  He finished 13-8 in '84 with a 3.89 ERA and struck out a career best 134.

Leal's '85 season started out normal, but he was roughed up in May and June and sent down to the minors.  Leal missed out on the Jays playoff series against the Royals.  He spent the next two years at AAA and never returned to the big leagues.

Stuff:  Fastball, slider, curve, change



 

Flipside:  Those 38 starts Leal made didn't even lead his own team.  The Blue Jays employed a four man rotation for most of the year.  Jim Clancy started 40 games while Dave Stieb and Leal both started 38. 

Oddball:  Leal's '84 season was marred by a ten run outing in first game of a double header.  Not wanting to blow out his bullpen, Toronto manager Bobby Cox let Leal take one for the team, pitching 5.2 innings and allowing 13 hits, 4 walks, and 10 runs.

History:  Leal had a very solid three year run for the Blue Jays from '82-'84, averaging nearly 230 innings a season.  He quickly lost his effectiveness in '85 and disappeared.  He retired with 51 wins which at the time were the most by a Venezuelan pitcher.  

#108 Glenn Hoffman - Boston Red Sox

Card:  Hoffman shows up here on his third Topps card.

Pic:  This is a nice shot of Hoffman, a little closer than most of the action shots.  I don't know how Hoffman could wear his hat like that over his bangs.

Player:  Glenn Hoffman was a second round pick of the Red Sox in '76.   A highly touted shortstop in the minors, Hoffman made Boston squad in 1980 as a third base defensive sub for the error prone Butch Hobson. As Hobson struggled with his health, Hoffman earned more playing time and hit .285 with four homers in 312 at bats. 

Boston traded shortstop Rick Burleson which opened the door for Hoffman in '81.  Hoffman hit just .231/.271/.285 in 242 at bats.  Defensively he showed decent range and a strong arm.  He played in 150 games in '82 but did little at the plate, hitting just .209. 

Hoffman returned as Boston's shortstop in '83 and showed some improvement batting .260, but he sustained a serious season ending knee injury in September.

Hoffman struggled out of the gate in '84 and lost his job to Jackie Guttierez.  With his knee still not 100%, Hoffman played sparingly and batted .189 in 74 at bats.  With improved health and hitting, he earned more playing time in '85, batting 279 times.  He hit .276/.343/.416 with his on base and slugging percentages representing career highs. 

While his teammates were busy winning the AL East in '86, Hoffman dealt with numerous health issues.  First he had an ankle injury which limited him in April.  In May he was hampered by head aches and blurred vision.  Eventually he was diagnosed with mitral-valve prolapse a minor heart condition.  Hoffman returned in September but he only played in 12 games on the season.  The Sox had their roster set and he was on the outside looking in.

Hoffman was playing very little for the Red Sox in '87 when he was sent down to AAA Pawtucket.  He played there for a couple of months and was traded to the Dodgers.  He played in 40 games down the stretch and hit .220.  The Dodgers released Hoffman and he spent the '88 season in the minors.  He reappeared in the majors in '89 and played a utility role for the Angels hitting .212 in 104 at bats.

Hoffman was a player/asst. coach for AAA Albuquerque in 1990.  Following the season, he put to bed dreams of playing again in the majors, and concentrated on his coaching career.

Flipside:  The back mentions his HR in the April 17 game.  Hoffman also played a big part in Boston's win the following day.  In a tie game, he led off the bottom of the ninth with a triple and two batters later scored the game winning run on a wild pitch.

Oddball:  Usually you can count on a middle infielder to steal a few bases, but Hoffman was absolutely terrible in this department.  He was caught stealing 16 times in 21 career  attempts.

History:  Hoffman started his career as a hot prospect but his weak bat and some serious injuries hampered his career.  He never walked more than 30 times in a season and had very little extra-base power. 

Glenn is the older brother of retired ace closer Trevor Hoffman.  By the time Trevor reached the big leagues in '93, Glenn, nine years older, was already retired.

Hoffman managed in the Dodgers minor league system for a while and was promoted to run the team in L.A. when Bill Russell was axed.  Hoffman stuck around on Davey Johnson's staff when he took over and is currently the Padres third base coach.

 

#107 Mike Jorgensen - New York Mets

Card:  You’re looking at Jorgensen’s 14th Topps card. 

I dislike cards that are "diamond cut / offcenter" with a passion but my scanner took a dump and I'm using the one off of the Topps website.

Pic:  Not sure if Jorgensen just K'd or maybe he drew a walk on a pitch and is coming out of a crouch.  In the inset it looks like Jorgensen just spotted someone parking in his spring training parking spot.

Player:  Mike Jorgensen’s major league career started with his hometown Mets in September of 1968.  He was drafted in the 4th round of the 1966 draft and was only 20 years old when he made his debut.  Jorgensen had two hits in fourteen at bats in ’68 and missed out on the Mets magical ’69 season, spending the entire year in the minors.  He was the Mets backup first baseman in ‘70/’71 but struggled, hitting a meager .195 and .220.

Before the ’72 season began, the Mets traded Jorgensen, Ken Singleton, and Tim Foli to the Expos for Rusty Staub.  Jorgensen spent the next five years as the Expos left-handed platoon option at first base.  He batted .230 and .231 his first two seasons north of the border, but played good defense and won a Gold Glove in ’73.  He had his best year in ’74, batting .310/.444/.488.  Jorgensen hit 11 homers and walked 70 times in 366 plate appearances with a 156 OPS+.  He had a career high 18 HR and 67 RBI in ’74 to go along with a .261 average.  In addition to his usual first base duties, Jorgensen also played a lot of outfield but he didn’t hit for power or average posting a .254/.349/.344 line.

Early in the ’77 season, the Expos sent Jorgensen to Oakland in exchange for Stan Bahnsen.  Jorgensen batted .242 in 223 combined at bats.  Jorgensen signed with the Rangers in the off-season and backed up first base while in Texas, hitting just .196 and .223.  In ’79 he suffered a serious head injury after he was beaned by Andy Hassler.  The errant pitch caused a blood clot and a seizure which kept him out of action for a month.

After the ’79 season, the Rangers sent Jorgensen back to his original franchise where he would spend the next three and a half years.  Jorgensen batted .255 in a part time role in ’80, and batted .205 and .254 the next two years, mainly as a pinch-hitter.  When the Mets acquired Keith Hernandez in ’83, Jorgensen was sold to Atlanta. 

The Braves also used Jorgensen as a pinch hitter and he batted .250 in ’83 and continued in that role to start the ’84 season.  He was traded with Ken Dayley to the Cardinals for Ken Oberkfell on May 15.  He again batted exactly .250 with very little power in 124 at bats.  He had a very unusual year in ’85.  Jorgensen's average slid below .200 and he drew more walks (31) than hits (22) leading to a funky stat line of .196/.375/.250.   As the Cardinals advanced to the postseason, the 37 year-old veteran went hitless in five postseason at bats and he was on the losing end of his only World Series appearance.  After 17 big league seasons, Jorgensen retired with a career line of .243/.347/.373, with 95 HR in 1633 career games.



Flipside: That three run homer was on 7-2-82 not 6-2-82.  And that game winning double on 7-31...the Mets won 9-4.

Oddball:  Jorgensen played like an All-Star against the Giants.  In 210 career at bats he batted .338/.427/.529 with nine home runs.  Heck, he even stole nine bases against them too.

History:  Jorgensen was an effective platoon player for a few years in the 70's.  He drew a lot of walks to offset his average which usually sat between .230 - .260.  He never hit for much power and as he got older he lost what little pop he had in his bat.  He probably played too long as he performed at replacement level for the last five years of his career. 

After his playing days he managed in the minors for the Cardinals.  Leter he was the interim skipper in St. Louis between Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa.  Jorgensen is still with the team as a scout.

#106 Gene Nelson - Seattle Mariners

Card:  Nelson is pictured on his 2nd Topps card.  He appeared as a Yankee on his rookie card in the '82 set.

Pic:  Wow, this shot really stands out as this is the first night photo in the set.  The shot itself is cools as Nelson waits for the ball from the catcher.

Player:  Gene Nelson was originally drafted by the Rangers in 1978, and traded to the Yankees in the Mickey Rivers / Oscar Gamble trade.  Nelson had quite an amazing season while pitching at single-A Fort Lauderdale in 1980.  Nelson went 20-3 with a 1.97 ERA, pitching 196 innings and completing 16 of his 25 starts as a 19 year-old.   After starting ’81 in the minors, Nelson made his debut with the Yankees in May of ’81 and made seven starts before returning to the minors.  He also made one relief appearance in September.  Nelson’s major league stats for the year indicate how wild he was with 23 walks in 39 innings.  He finished 3-1 with a 4.81 ERA

Just before the start of the ’82 season, Nelson was traded with Bill Caudill and Bobby Brown to Seattle for Shane Rawley.  Nelson spent part of ’82 at AAA Salt Lake City, but made 19 starts for the Mariners with a 4.62 ERA.  He had all kinds of trouble in ’83, and spent most of the year getting knocked around at Salt Lake.  While in Seattle, Nelson gave up 29 runs in 32 innings of work.

Nelson was suffering through another rough year at Salt Lake, when he was traded with Jerry Don Gleaton to the White Sox for Salome Barojas.  Chicago put Nelson to work immediately and used the slim righty as both a starter and reliever.  Starting nine of his twenty games, Nelson had a 4.46 ERA in 74 innings.  Nelson began to find his control and walked only two batters per nine innings.  Nelson continued to improve with a 4.26 ERA in ’85 and a 3.85 ERA in ’86.  Although he would continue to make an occasional spot start, Nelson was settling into the set-up role that would eventually define his career. 

After the ’86 season Chicago, sent Nelson to the Oakland for infielder Donnie Hill.  He had a 3.93 ERA in 123 innings in ’87, and as manager Tony LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan sorted out the bullpen in Oakland, Nelson would become Dennis Eckersley’s 8th inning set-up man.  Nelson pitched very well in ’88 with a 3.06 ERA and pitched in the postseason for the first time.  Nelson earned two ALCS wins and gave up just one run in 11 postseason innings as the A’s lost to the Dodgers in the first of three consecutive series appearances by Oakland.  Nelson had a 3.26 ERA in ’89 and helped the A’s win the World Series over the Giants.  The 29 year-old enjoyed a brilliant campaign in 1990.  Pitching in 74.2 frames, he had a 1.57 ERA and allowed less than a runner per inning.   Oakland lost to Reds in the ’90 World Series but Nelson had pitched well, as he was unscored upon in 6.2 postseason innings.

The next two years were forgettable for Nelson as he posted ERAs over six.  Oakland released Nelson after the ’92 season and he signed with the Angels.  Nelson was hot and cold with California, effective most of the time, but getting hit hard in close games.  Nelson had a 3.08 ERA but a 0-5 record for the Halos.  They released him in September and he signed days later with the Rangers.  Nelson gave up three runs in eight innings for Texas as the season came to an end.  Nelson retired after 13 seasons in the majors.

Stuff:  Fastball, slider, forkball

Flipside:  That 20 win season really stands out.  Doubtful we will see any 19 year-olds throw 16 complete games or pile up 196 innings again.

Oddball:  Nelson was a good athlete and pinch ran six times and stole a base in '88 becoming the first AL pitcher to swipe a base since Blue Moon Odom pulled the trick in '73. 

Nelson also pinch hit for Greg Walker in '85 and grounded into a double play to end a blowout loss to the Indians.

History:  Nelson started his career as an unheralded 30th round pick.  He gained notoriety with his eye-popping stats in A-ball.  Nelson wasn't effective as a starting pitcher in the majors but found his groove with the A's during their World Series years.  He retired with a 4.13 ERA in 493 games with 28 saves.