An Unexpected PWE: Everyone's Dream

I recently received a PWE from Brendan, better known as Elliptical Man over at A View from the Third Floor. When I saw the envelope, I didn't think I had won a recent giveaway or anything, so I was intrigued. So, what was inside? It didn't take me long to see they were all candidates for my Frankenset, but if there was any doubt, Brendan included a little checklist guide to what he sent.

Eighteen cards in total made their way from beautiful San Diego to the less picturesque Fargo in a 70 cent envelope. Some were cards I already had in my Frankenset, but some were new to me, so I will need to see if they might find a home in the set. 

Dave Stewart the cameraman. Chuck Finley hugging a runner. The Gary Pettis is a great find. He missed the bunt! Hadn't noticed this one before. Some great glasses/sunglasses shots, too. Do you know the guy in the middle? Scroll down for the answer. And Steve Carlton with the White Sox? Just doesn't look right.

Chris Bosio signing some autos. Why is 40-something Carlton Fisk bunting? Tim Raines bunting - makes more sense. Pitcher running the bases. Two legendary nicknames. Love a good bubble gum card. And then you have the Rollie Fingers mustache battling the Justin Turner beard (sorry it's sideways). 

I appreciate Brendan going through my list and finding some awesome cards to fit my Frankenset categories. He's a loyal reader of the blog, too, so I owe him a double thanks! 

The man in the middle on page one was the one and only Jay Buhner. If you got it wrong, you owe me one Ken Phelps card.

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?

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?