More Frankenset and Lots of Mail

Four more Frankenset pages are posted. Do you agree with my favorite from each page?

Page 6: Cards 46-54 - Favorite: Pat Kelly error

Page 7: Cards 55-63 - Favorite: Rickey Henderson brushback

Page 8: Cards 64-72 - Favorite: Fun at the Ballpark

Page 9: Cards 73-81 - Favorite: Roger McDowell with the umpires

I've been working on getting signed baseball cards and index cards for players who played in Fargo. I've gotten some cards, and the index cards, on eBay and through trades on SportCollectors.net. Others I've gotten through some requests through the mail. For these, I always ask if they have any memories of their time playing in Fargo. I've gotten a few that have responded to the question, which has been fun. Someday I might get some of that posted here, but as you can see above, I have a few more pages of my Frankenset to post first. But here's a sampling:

I found an old Fargo-Moorhead Twins program image online and printed it on cardstock. I've sent and received five replies from former players: Womack, Hal Stowe, Bill Dailey, Bud Zipfel, and Jim Perry. All of these guys made the majors. I've sent out five more to players who never made the majors, but since they are all in their mid-80s, I'm not sure if I'll get any replies. I'm already working on sending to players who played in Grand Forks (about an hour north of Fargo). We'll see how that goes. 

My Favorite Frankenset Card by Page; Page 8 (Cards 73 - 81)

It's time for another installment of my favorite Frankenset card (by page), where I show off my Frankenset by giving you my top three favorite cards from each page of the set. Let's jump right in.

3) 1993 Donruss #78, Damon Berryhill

I have what I suppose is a perverse love of cards showing failure and pain. This is one of them. My guess is this photo captures a moment right after a strikeout. 

2) 1992 Donruss Triple Play #80, Roger McDowell

Legendary jokester Roger McDowell has several unique cards, and this is one of them. Here, McDowell is shown bringing the lineup card out to the umpires while wearing a tool belt and a conspicuously large piece of sandpaper in his back pocket. Also note the sandpaper wrapped around his socks. By all accounts, the guy kept things interesting.

1) 2001 Fleer Futures #81, Tom Glavine

There are at least a few cards featuring Tom Glavine batting, which shouldn't be too surprising considering he played 22 seasons in the major leagues. I really like this one, courtesy of a nice set called Fleer Futures. Any guesses on Tom Glavine's career batting average? (Answer below.) 

With page eight now in the books, I thought I would start a standings section at the end of these posts tracking the Frankenset categories these cards fit into. For this post, we have an "Field Action Fail" with the Berryhill, a "Field Action - Awkward" with the McDowell, and a pitcher hitting with the Glavine. If a card happens to fit more than one category, I take the top two categories that made it qualify for the Frankenset, then split it into half points. I went back and calculated the previous seven pages, so after eight pages, here's what we've seen:

Category	Points
Lesser Known:	3.5
Glasses:	3
Mustache:	3
Odd Team:	3
Pitcher Hitting:	3
Field Action - Awkward:	2
Equipment Oddity:	1
Facial Expression - In Action:	1
Field Action Fail:	1
Pitcher Running Bases:	1
Position Player Pitching:	1
Why is he bunting?:	0.5
Chew:	0.5
Funny Name/Nickname:	0.5

Tom Glavine's career batting line:

• 1323 at-bats
• .186 BA
• 1 HR
• 90 RBI
• .454 OPS

What was your favorite card from page 8? The Berryhill fail? The McDowell shenanigans? Or the Glavine follow-through?

Role-Reversal: My Favorite Frankenset Card by Page; Page 6 (Cards 55-63)

It's time for another installment of my favorite Frankenset card (by page), where I show off my Frankenset by giving you my top three favorite cards from each page of the Frankenset. Let's jump right in.

3) 1981 Topps #62, Joe Pettini

This card is a beautiful convergence of the 1970s and 1980s.

2) 1992 Donruss Triple Play #63, Rickey Henderson

The 1992 Donruss Triple Play set has some great Frankenset material. The makers of the set clearly were trying to be a little bit off the wall in an attempt to cater to a young audience. I'm a little torn about what I think about their approach, but I think I'm ok with it. One of the main reasons why is the fact that this was the middle of the overproduction era and this was kind of a fringe set, so why not do something a little different. I mean, you had both Upper Deck and Leaf in 1992 basically copy their 1991 design, and none of the other card makers really did anything too exciting in my opinion that year. So Triple Play's strange pictures and odd subsets work for me in that context. 

On page five of the Frankenset, we saw an entry from the Triple Play set, and now have another. It's a bit puzzling, though, to use an odd photo for a player of the caliber of Rickey Henderson. For Pat Kelly, sure. But Rickey had just broken the career stolen base record the season prior, so you'd think there would have been an opportunity there.

1) 1994 Score #61, Jose Canseco

The scene was Fenway Park, May 29, 1993. With shadows overtaking the field and the Rangers desperately behind in their game against the Red Sox, slugger Jose Canseco asks his manager Kevin Kennedy for a chance to pitch. In his first and only major league pitching appearance, Canseco pitches the 8th inning, allowing three hits, three runs, and three walks as the Rangers fall 15 to 1. 

This game was just three days after what was perhaps Canseco's most famous (or infamous) highlight. On May 26, Carlos Martinez of the Indians hit a deep fly ball to right field that Canseco misplayed. The ball hit him on the top of the head and bounced over the fence for a home run. It was quite a stretch of three days for Mr. Canseco. 

Remarkably, after the pitching appearance on the 29th, Canseco began having elbow trouble and would have Tommy John surgery six weeks later. He missed the remainder of the 1993 season. 

In fact, as I learned from the back of this card and confirmed with some additional research, Jose's career was considered to be in jeopardy as a result of the injury. Of course, he made it back to have several more solid seasons in MLB.

Here's a look at Jose Canseco's mound performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iufXBbwtUk

Which of these was your favorite from page six?

A Really Tall Guy, an Error, and a Frightening Delivery: My Favorite Frankenset Card by Page; Page 5 (Cards 46-54)

Page five of the Frankenset is missing card #50, the first time we've explored a page with a missing card. Just waiting for the right #50 to come along. Let's jump right into the fun. As usual, I will give you my top three from the page, in reverse order.

3) 1995 Fleer Ultra #49, Mike Moore

Card #3 in the countdown brought to my mind the sports term "game face." Bob Knight expressed his annoyance about the term in one of his famous interviews. As Knight mimics a series of overexaggerated facial expressions, you could rightly conclude that he just doesn't buy into the notion of the game face. But what about an "accidental game face," as I am calling it. A look that just happens naturally in the course of competition. The Michael Jordan tongue wag comes to mind. So do Mike Moore's crazy eyes, right? They might now after this picture, which cannot be unseen:

The look didn't catch on, for obvious reasons. But what if Moore hadn't posted a 5.42 ERA in 1994 or a 7.53 ERA in 1995? Maybe it could have become the game face to end all game faces.

2) 1992 Donruss Triple Play #46, Pat Kelly

The 1992 Triple Play set is quirky. There are odd "Awesome Action" cards, an awkward "Little Hotshots" subset showing a picture of a player when he was a kid, and some strange photo choices. It makes for an entertaining set in some ways, but you have to feel for a guy like Pat Kelly. Did they really have to do this to him?

I suppose it's not the first card to show a player misplaying a ball. But I say give the guy a break! 

1) 2001 Topps HD #51, Randy Johnson

If you recall the last installment of the Frankenset by Page series, you would remember Blue Jays pitcher Pat Hentgen taking the crown for page 4. A card showing an AL pitcher batting in the DH era but before Interleague play is tough to beat. Well you know what? So is a really tall pitcher batting:

Johnson had a good year in 2001, winning his third straight Cy Young Award and leading the Diamondbacks to their first and only World Series title. Johnson would win the Cy Young for a fourth straight year in 2002. In the 2001, World Series, the Big Unit won three of the four games in the series for the Diamondbacks, posting a super stingy 1.04 ERA. With that kind of pitching dominance, of course you'd show him batting on his baseball card, right?