#300 Mike Schmidt - Philadelphia Phillies

Alright!  After a couple of obscure players we get baseball royalty at card number 300.  Michael. Jack. Schmidt.  Topps bestowed Pete Rose with card #100 and Rod Carew #200 so it makes sense to keep the long held pattern of issuing the round numbers to a star of Schmidt's caliber.  This a good action picture of Schmidt following through with his powerful swing but it looks like maybe he hit one on the ground to the right side.  He looks like a classic ballplayer with the eye black seen here on his 11th Topps card.

Player: Mike Schmidt was a second round pick by the Phillies out of Ohio University in 1971.  He played more shortstop and second base in the minors than third base.  But the hot corner would be his home in the majors and he first showed up in Philly at the tail end of the '72 season.  He hit a home run in his third game but was quite over matched striking out in nearly half of his 34 at bats.

Schmidt was still trying to solve major league pitching and struggled to keep his head above water in '73.  He batted just .196 and was still prone to strikeouts, something that unleashed the Philly boo birds, but he also showed bursts of power with 18 home runs. 

The young slugger came into his own in 1974 with 36 home runs and a .282/.398/.546 line.  Schmidt followed it up with three consecutive seasons with 38 homers.  In April of  '76 Schmidt was on fire, launching four dingers at Wrigley Field on the 17th, one more in each of the next three games, and 12 in the Phillies first 15 games.  The power stats paint only a part of the picture. Schmidt was getting on base a lot via base on balls and playing tremendous defense at third, winning the first of ten Gold Gloves in '76.  Despite his success, through the '77 season he had yet to finish higher than third in MVP voting.

Following an off year in '78, he led the NL in home runs four of the next five years, cranking out a Philly record 48 in 1980.  Finally MVP voters took notice as he won back to back awards in '80 and '81. 

Philadelphia had been bounced out of the NLCS each of the '76, '77, and '78 seasons with nary a home run from their star slugger.  Schmidt redeemed himself in 1980 with an 8 for 21 World Series with a pair of homers and seven RBI.  He was tabbed World Series MVP and the monkey was off his back.

The '85 through '87 seasons saw Schmidt average 35 homers while winning a third MVP award in '86.  A rotator cuff injury plagued him in '88 and he hit 12 HR in 390 at bats.  When the '89 began Schmidt wasn't the same and played his last game on May 28 and announced his retirement the next day.

 

Flipside:  The home run on May 7 was a walk off job against the Padres Luis DeLeon. 

 

Oddball:  Schmidt was voted to the National League All-Star team in 1989 despite being retired since May.  Although he participated in the pre-game ceremonies he did not play.

 

History:  Schmidt hit 548 HR in his 18 year career with a .267/.380/.527 stat line, a 147 OPS+, and 103 WAR.  A tremendous overall player he seems to be appreciated more now than during his playing days. Schmidt was great at charging the ball and he played deep on the artificial turf at Veterans Stadium allowing him to cover a lot of ground at third.  He was constantly among the leaders in both traditional and newer defensive metrics and he set the single season assist record with 404 assists from the hot corner in 1974.  It's often forgotten that he could steal bases too, ending his career with 174. 

If not the best, then Schmidt is certainly on the short list of the greatest third basemen in history.  A first ballot Hall of Famer, Schmidt received 96.5% of the vote and was elected in his first year of eligibility in 1995.

 

Schmidt's Super Veteran card is coming up next.

 

 

#299 George Wright - Texas Rangers

This is the second rookie card in a row.  Although George Wright had a slightly longer career than Floyd Chiffer, you can pick up both cards up for pennies.  The Wright I remember rocked the jheri-curl.  Nice mesh hat dude.

Player:  George Wright was the Rangers 4th round pick in 1977 and they converted him from a right handed batter to a switch hitter in the minor leagues.  He made the '82 Texas team as their starting centerfielder.  He played a shallow position but had the range to back it up, handling over three chances per nine innings.  Although he was rated as having an average arm his positioning helped him gun down 14 base runners.  The Rangers placed him in the leadoff spot based on his speed but he was ill-suited for the slot as he batted .264 with a .305 on base percentage.  Despite his swiftness he had just three steals in ten attempts.

 

Wright played all 162 games for the Rangers in '83.  He started the year batting in the number eight spot in the lineup and gradually moved up until he was batting fifth by mid-year. Before it was over he was in the three slot and finished the year with a .276/.321/.424 stat line with 18 home runs.

 

The future looked bright for the young outfielder in 1984 but he got off to a poor start and lost his starting job to Gary Ward.  He improved in the second half but hit just .243 with nine homers in 405 plate appearances.  He regained his starting job to start the '85 campaign but Wright was monumentally bad.  The Rangers gave him every chance to get his bat straightened out but he hit .190/.241/.242 in 363 at bats.  His negative 3.9 WAR represents one of the worst seasons ever.

 

The Rangers brought Wright back in '86 as a fourth outfielder but a defensive gaffe in left on June 16 would expedite the end of his tenure with the Rangers. Texas sold his contract to Montreal where he finished the year with a .202 average in 245 trips to the plate.  He played professional baseball for 11 more seasons for the White Sox, Royals, and Giants organizations, and also played in Mexico and Japan, but never appeared in the majors again.

 

Flipside:  These highlights are nice but they do not mention his walk-off RBI single on May16th.

Oddball:  Wright earned 4.3 WAR in his first two years then somehow "earned" -7.2 WAR over the next three years.

History:  Wright had a decent start to his career but it soon went to crap.  His similarity scores through age 24 list Bernie Williams as comparable but then he played more like the subject of "Weekend at Bernie's".  Wright might not have been destined for stardom but his decline was severe and shocking to Rangers fans.
Wright didn't last long on the MLB scene but he carved out a niche south of the border, playing many years in Mexico before retiring at age 38 in 1997.

#298 Floyd Chiffer - San Diego Padres

Enjoy Floyd Chiffer's rookie card, it is his only Topps card.  I can't tell what is behind Chiffer in the background of the inset picture.  It almost appears like the photo was taken in the stadium parking lot.

 

Player:  Floyd Chiffer was a 5th round pick of the San Diego Padres in 1978 and except for his first year in the minors he was used exclusively as a relief pitcher.  He broke camp with the Padres in '82 and appeared in 51 games, and was usually tasked with pitching the 6th or 7th inning or both.  He put in 79 innings with a 2.95 ERA and four saves.

 

As the '83 season unfolded Chiffer was pitching fairly well but wasn't getting much work, throwing just two innings over a 17 day stretch in May.  Sent down to AAA, he did not return until September and ended the year with a 3.18 ERA in just 22 innings. 

 

By 1984 the Padres staff was strong and Chiffer did not make the team.  Called up in May, he pitched in a dozen games with poor results and was returned to Las Vegas.  He was recalled in September and pitched in a few blowouts but was pretty much a forgotten man.  The Padres won the pennant but Chiffer and his 7.71ERA were nowhere near the playoff roster. 

 

After the '84 season San Diego swapped Chiffer for Minnesota's Ray Smith. Chiffer never made it back to the majors ending his career in 1987 after stints with the Twins, Expos, and Braves organizations.

 

 

Flipside:  I wonder how many kids flipped this card over and saw his 2.95 ERA and thought this Chiffer rookie card might be worth hanging on to?  I was one of those kids who a few years later fell into the rookie card craze and stuffed every rookie card into a binder regardless of the player's potential.  Turns out there isn't a big market for middle reliever rookie cards.   

 

Oddball:  Despite having not pitched in 19 days nor started a game in six years, Chiffer was given the start in game two of a double header at the tail end of '84.  The results were not surprising given the circumstances- five runs allowed in four frames.  The Pads won the game 8-6 but that would be that would be Chiffer's last game in the majors.

 

History:  Chiffer had just one full year in the majors and a couple of partial seasons.  His big hurdle was his control as he walked 60 in 130 innings. He ended his career with a 5-5 mark and 5 saves.  His LinkedIn profile indicates he is Sales Manager for an Opthalmics company.  It must be pretty darn cool to put "Professional Athlete" on your past work history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



#297 Ned Yost - Milwaukee Brewers

This is the second card in the last nine to feature a player bunting.  In fact the last seven positional players have been pictured in the batters box.
This is Ned Yost's fourth Topps card and it looks like he got the bunt down.  The guy in the dugout right behind Yost looks like he has on an Angels jacket.

 

Player: In 1974 the New York Mets picked catcher Ned Yost in the secondary June draft.  After three unimpressive years in the minors including two with sub-.200 batting averages he was picked up by Milwaukee in the minor league rule 5 draft.  He made the Brewers roster in 1980 but played in just three of the first 18 games and was sent back down to AAA.  He returned in September and received enough playing time to finish with an odious .161/.161/.161 stat line in 31 at bats.

 

Yost was regarded s a good defensive catcher and was on the '81 squad all year.  He served as Milwaukee's number three catcher behind Ted Simmons and Charlie Moore.  If you didn't have a program you probably didn't know Yost was on the team.  He only played in 18 games with 27 at bats but he did show some unexpected power hitting three homers in the limited time.  He was given more action in '82, coming to bat 107 times with a .276/.324/.429 line for the pennant winning Brewers.  He walked in his only postseason appearance in the lopsided Game 6 loss to the Cardinals.

 

When the Brewers moved Moore permanently to RF it opened the door for Yost to be the #2 catcher. He started 57 games in '83 but responded with an unimpressive .224 average and a 67 OPS+.  He was then traded to the Rangers with a minor leaguer for Jim Sundberg. Yost split catching duties with Donnie Scott in Texas.  Neither one was effective with Yost posting a meager .182/.201/.273 line in 251 plate appearances.  Released by the Rangers the next spring he caught on with the Expos organization.  He spent all but a handful of games in '85 at AAA and had two hits in eleven at bats.

 

Yost spent two years playing in the minors for the Braves organization before starting his coaching career.  He retired with a career .212/.237/.329 stat line in six seasons of play.

Flipside:  In 1974, the secondary June draft was for players from junior and community colleges.  Yost spent one year at Chabot College which has produced 14 major leaguers.

Oddball:  Yost was released on April Fools Day two years in a row-  Texas in '85 and Montreal in '86.  Seems like a cruel day to give somebody the pink slip.

History:  Yost made it to the big leagues on the strength of his defensive reputation.  He was agile and blessed with a strong arm but he struggled to get the ball off quickly.  For his career he threw out only 16% of would be base stealers.  Along with his poor bat, he was unable to stick in the majors long and he was done playing by age 30.
He managed the Brewers for six years and has been at the wheel for the Royals the last three seasons.

#296 Greg Harris - Cincinnati Reds

Maybe Topps felt badly about Greg Harris' rookie card.  On the '82 issue you could barely see his face. So perhaps they tried to make up for it by putting almost the same picture of the pitcher on this card twice.  The main photo shows Harris with a big grin or possibly in mid-sentence.  The inset looks like the photographer and Harris stood up and snapped one off from a different angle.
In case you are wondering, this is Greg A. Harris who is sometimes mixed up Greg W. Harris both pitchers with overlapping careers.

 

Player:  Greg Harris was signed by the Mets as a free agent in 1976.  In the minors he was used as both a starter and reliever.  He made his debut with the Mets in May of '81 and started 14 of his 16 games.  The curveballer took his lumps winning just three games with a 4.43 ERA.

 

In February of '82 the Mets made a big move trading Harris, Alex Trevino, and Jim Kern to the Reds for George Foster.  Harris began the year in AAA and was called up in late May.  He struggled with a 4.83 ERA as a spot starter / mop up man in 91 frames.  He was banished to the minors for all but one inning in '83, placed on waivers in September and was claimed by the Expos at the end of the year.

Harris pitched for both the Expos and Padres in '84 having been traded to the latter for Al Newman in July.  His combined stats include a 2.48 ERA in 54 innings, mostly in relief.  Although hit hard in the NLCS, his postseason highlight was pitching 5.1 shutout relief innings in a losing effort against the Tigers in Game 3 of the World Series.  After the '84 season Harris' contract was sold to the Texas Rangers.  He pitched exclusively out of the pen the next two years and did well.  He appeared in 131 games, earned 31 saves, with ERAs of 2.47 and 2.83 while racking up 224 innings pitched.

The 1987 season was a big let down as Harris blew a couple of games early in the year and was buried in the back of the pen.  He emerged in June as a starter but fared no better.  He ended the year with a 5-10 record and 4.83 ERA in 141 innings.  He was signed in the offseason by the Indians but was cut in spring training and picked up by the Phillies.  Harris was able to regain his form and provided valuable middle relief for the Phils with a 2.36 ERA in 107 innings.

Harris seemed to be pitching fairly well for the Phillies in '89, (3.58 ERA, .234 OBA) when he was placed on waivers and picked up by the Red Sox.  He did well for Boston in middle relief and ended the year with a combined 3.31 ERA in 103 innings.  The next year began as usual with Harris in middle relief for the first few weeks before injuries to the starting staff forced Harris to the rotation. He made 30 starts and while he didn't blow anyone away he didn't embarrass himself either finishing with a 4.00 ERA.  He set career bests with 13 wins and 184 innings with both marks third best on the staff behind Roger Clemens and Mike Boddicker.  Harris took the loss in Game 2 of the ALCS when he entered a tie game in the 7th inning and allowed the go ahead run, retiring just one of four A's batter he faced.

Harris jockeyed back and forth from the rotation to the pen as needed in '91 and pitched moderately well with a 3.84 ERA in 174 innings. He was trusted with a set up job in the BoSox pen in '92 and responded with a 2.51 ERA in 107 innings. The rubber-armed Harris pitched an AL best 80 games in '93 with 8 saves while holding batters to a .232 average.

The wheels came off for Harris in '94 as he was released after getting pummeled in June and July.  The Yankees gave him three games before they cut him loose.  He latched on with Montreal in '95 and performed well with a 2.61 ERA 48.1 innings.  After the season, Harris turned 40 and retired with a 74-90 record, 54 saves, 3.69 ERA, 112 ERA+, 1467 innings in 15 years of major league action.

 

Flipside:  Although Harris was signed by the Mets as a free-agent, he had been drafted three times earlier, twice by the Mets, but decided to stay in school.

Oddball:  Always an ambidextrous fellow, Harris longed for years to turn around and throw from the port side something that made Boston GM Lou Gorman nervous. In fact Gorman forbade it to which Harris responded by wearing a special glove that could be worn on either hand, giving hints that he could easily switch mid-game. Harris never got to do it in Boston but finally "switch-pitched" for Montreal in the second to last game of his career on 9/28/1995 against the Reds.  With the Expos down 9-3 in the top of the 9th, he got Reggie Sanders to ground out to short to start the inning.  Harris then turned southpaw and walked Hal Morris. He stayed with it and got Eddie Taubensee to ground out weakly.  He reverted to the right side and retired Bret Boone to end the inning.

Harris so far is the only modern pitcher to pull off switch pitching in the majors, although since then there have been others to do it in college and minor league ball.  It must be catching on though as there is an entire blog devoted to it.  In fact Little League instituted a rule mandating pitchers must declare what hand they will throw with to the batter. Is this the new rage or just a fad?

History: Harris was a versatile pitcher who is good to have on the team.  He could fill any role from starter to short relief but was best suited in the middle-relief role.  Maybe someday we will see a right-handed starter who works as a lefty reliever on his off days. Or perhaps a reliever capable of always having a platoon advantage.  Yankee switch-pitching farmhand Pat Venditte has had success and received some publicity for his talents.  But he is already 27 years old and hasn't made it to the show yet. Will he get a chance?

#294 Dave Engle - Minnesota Twins

Dave Engle is breaking out of the batters box after maybe hitting a fly ball.  I never noticed the "Twin Cities" logo on the stirrup socks before.  This is Engle's seconds Topps card.

Player:  Dave Engle was highly regarded prospect when he was drafted by the Angels in the 2nd round in 1978.  After a short season in the Angels' minors he was traded to the Twins in the Rod Carew trade.  A catcher at USC he was tried at thirdbase in the minors before he moved to the outfield.  He made the Twins roster in '81 after proving himself in the minors by hitting .300+ in two of three seasons.  He hit .258/.295/.407 in a semi-regular role in rightfield and was 5th in AL Rookie of the Year voting. 

 

Engle was expected to improve in '82 but regressed to a .226 average in 186 at bats.  With him struggling with fly balls in the Metrodome and not hitting like a corner outfielder they sent him to the instructional league to re-acquaint himself with the catcher position.  He responded with his best season in '83 hitting .305/.350/.449 with 8 HR in 408 plate appearances.    

 

The 1984 season started off well for Engle batting .310/.343/.408 in the first half.  He was rewarded by being selected to the AL All-Star squad but did not play.  Engle was plagued by several problems in the second half.  First of all he stopped hitting with runners on base driving in just four runs.  Second after a return throw to the mound clipped the L-screen, deflected and broke the batting practice pitcher's nose he developed a throwing problem.  This caused him to lob the ball on his return throws to the mound and when runners began taking advantage, it seemed to effect his overall game.  Third he injured his wrist and played just six games after August 30.  The second half swoon dropped his average to .266. 

 

The wrist problem lingered into the '85 season with Engle not returning to regular duty until late June.  The Twins used Engle a DH, pinch-hitter, and back up catcher and he showed a bit more power slugging .448 in 195 trips to the plate.  Minnesota traded Engle after the season to Detroit for Chris Pittaro and Alejandro Sanchez.  The Tigers tried Engle at first base but a hamstring injury caused him to lose the month of May.  When the Tigers acquired Mike Heath in August, Engle was released with a .256 average in 86 at bats.

 

Engle signed with Montreal in '87 and spent the next two years as little used reserve.  He batted .226 in '87 and was hitting .216 when he was cut loose on 7/14/88.  He signed with the Brewers thenext year but fared no better.  When they tried sending to him to AAA he refused the assignment and was released.  He kicked around the minors for a little while longer before retiring in '91. 

Flipside:  Engle's biggest hit of the '82 season was probably a pinch-hit double on 8/18.  Trailing 4-2 with two outs in the ninth he laced a double off Baltimore's Tippy Martinez.  The hit drove in two and tied the game which the Twins won the next inning. 

Oddball:  Engle's dad Roy was a high school teammate of Ted Williams and ran the Splendid Splinter's baseball camp from 1960 to 1973. 
Dave and Twins teammate Tom Brunansky are brothers-in-law having married sisters Cindy and Collen Schumann. 

History:  Great things were expected of Engle but he retired with only 3.3 WAR in nine seasons.  He had trouble staying healthy and really didn't have a position.  His career line .262/.311/.388 would be decent OK for a catcher but his defense was lacking behind the plate.  Conversely he didn't have enough power to DH or hold a job at first base regularly.

#293 Glenn Gulliver - Baltimore Orioles

This is Glenn Gulliver's one and only Topps card.  By the way he looks back at the bat as he leaves the batters box, I'd bet he probably just earned a base on balls.  Later you'll read why that seems like a safe bet. 
He looks kind of creepy in the inset pic. 

Player: Glenn Gulliver played college ball at Eastern Michigan and was an 8th round pick of his hometown Detroit Tigers in 1976.  He started at AA ball and shuttled between AA an AAA through the '79 seasons never hitting over .277 or over 12 home runs.  He moved up to AAA in '80 and '81 and although he wasn't able to hit over .265 Gulliver had one thing going for him though- he could draw a walk.  If Kevin Youkalis is the "Greek God of Walks" then maybe Gulliver was the "British Baron of Base on Balls". Gulliver walked in 20.5% of his plate appearances for Evansville in '80 and 19.2% in '81. 

When Gulliver failed to make the Tigers roster in '82 they sold him to the Orioles who sent him to Rochester where he walked with reckless abandon...if there is such a thing.  He walked 24.7% of the time racking up 90 freebies in 87 games while putting up a ridiculous .295/.468/.478 line.  Baltimore had Cal Ripken at thirdbase but when manager Earl Weaver, (who just passed away at age 82) moved Ripken to shortstop midyear, it created a void at the hot corner. 

"Honeybear" Floyd Rayford couldn't hold the job and veteran Rich Dauer played there some when he wasn't playing second base but he wasn't the answer either.  Gulliver was called up and made his debut on July 17.  He was an instant success getting a hit and at least one walk in his first five games.  His bat then went cold but he still walked at a high rate.  He finished the year with 37 walks in 185 plate appearances with a .200/.363/.269 line. 

Gulliver didn't make the O's opening day roster in '83 and spent most of the year back at Rochester frustrating hurlers with his refusal to swing at anything out of the zone.  He racked up 117 walks with a .936 OPS and earned a September call up.  Although Baltimore was in the midst of a 98 win season, thirdbase had been a black hole yet again.  Todd Cruz started there more than anyone and had great range but couldn't hit.  When Gulliver came up he started 16 of their last 32 games but finished only three of them, usually pulled in favor of Cruz by the 7th inning.  Gulliver found major league pitchers harder to square up and hit just .213/.333/.277. 

Gulliver wasn't eligible to play in the postseason as the Orioles went on and won the World Series.  Gulliver turned 29 in October and his window was closing.  He never made it back to the major leagues toiling in the minors for the Orioles, Cardinals, Braves, and back to the O's before calling it quits in '86.

 

Flipside: Considering how many pitches he must have seen, Gulliver had great contact skills never striking out more than 41 times in a minor league season.

 

Oddball: According to the website House of Names, the Gulliver surname evolved through the Old French word goulafre which means greedy or glutton.  Appropriate here since our subject hoarded base on balls. 

 

History: Gulliver had a short stay in the majors with a .203/.356/.271 line in parts of two seasons.  Injuries hurt his career path as he never played more than 123 games in a single season.  Had he been born a generation later he may have been promoted to the majors a little sooner as his on base skills would have been better appreciated.