Sunday, April 11, 2021

A Legendary Hat and Legendary Goggles: The Frankenset Recap (Page 55: Cards 488-496)

Welcome to third installment of an 89-part series (wow, that sounds daunting) covering my completed Frankenset. I thought it would be fun to share the set page by page on this blog, and also provide some random commentary with each page. More information on the Frankenset as well as links to the pages that have been revealed can be found here.

I'll also occasionally share miscellaneous information about the set in its entirety. This week, I am featuring a fun fact about the "unique team" category. There are 77 cards in the 800 card set depicting a player with a "unique team." This is defined as a team you normally wouldn't associate that player with (think Willie Mays on the Mets or John Smoltz on the Cardinals). Here are the top teams featured in this category:

  • Orioles - 7 (one of these is featured in this week's post, but the card only contributes a half point to this total, since it also fits another Frankenset category)
  • Giants - 7 
  • Athletics - 6 
  • Padres - 5 
  • Red Sox - 5 
  • Angels - 5 
  • Yankees - 5 
Today, we'll look at page 55 of the set, cards 488 to 496.

1993 Stadium Club #488, Scooter Tucker

The meaning of this nickname is not fully known, even by Scooter himself.



1992 Upper Deck #489, Paul Gibson























Probably Dubble Bubble, which means it lost its flavor after approximately 7 seconds.



1994 Pinnacle #490, Chris Sabo


Sabo's iconic goggles make an appearance with an added bonus of an unfamiliar uniform.


1982 Donruss #491, Billy Martin
It probably wasn't too hard to find an opportunity for this type of photo.


2013 Topps #492, Jose Molina



The middle Molina brother actually played 15 years in the majors, but is still lesser known than older brother Bengie and younger brother Yadier. 


1990 Score #493, Eric Show
If you only saw his face, I imagine you might think Eric was participating in an activity other than throwing a baseball.


2012 Topps #494, Darwin Barney





Airborne.


1984 Fleer #495, Jay Johnstone




Perhaps one of the most iconic cards of all time, from a quirkiness perspective. And Jay Johnstone was a quirky guy.


1987 Topps #496, Bruce Bochte
Bruce looks like a middle school science teacher from the early 90s. Does anyone wear glasses like that anymore?

What was your favorite card from the page? Mine would have to be the legendary Jay Johnstone. I've actually read a couple of his books, which are quick and entertaining reads. I'd say the Billy Martin would be my second choice and Chris Sabo would come in third. 

Thanks for reading!

6 comments:

  1. I'll go Billy Martin, because, let's face it, that's how we all think of Billy Martin.

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  2. Johnstone and Martin 1-2, either order. Next one for me would be the Scooter Tucker.

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  3. Darwin Barney is airborne in a high percentage of his cards.

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  4. The Billy Martin is one of my favorite cards from the decade... and the Johnstone is a classic. As for "unique team" that award would go to Sabo on the Orioles. Just learned about that today.

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  5. Ah these are all great. Impossible to pick a favourite.

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  6. Looks like Darwin is attempting a belly flop.

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