The Moment You've Been Waiting For: The Frankenset Recap (Page 72: Cards 641 to 649)

A couple of weeks ago, I revealed that my Frankenset was complete. I thought it would be fun to share the set page by page on this blog, and also provide some random commentary along with each page. I'll also occasionally share miscellaneous information about the set in its entirety. So here's your first one of those, a list of the top 10 categories featured most often in the set (half points if more than one category was represented on the card). 

The random number generator chose page 72 to kick things off, cards 641 to 649. Enjoy! 

1991 Score #641, Dave Anderson

Swing and a miss. How embarrassing.

1991 Upper Deck #642, Kent Mercker

Wonder if this fan got Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, and Avery, too?

1984 Topps #643, Mike Brown

It's all about the shades.

1986 Topps #644, Mark Gubicza

GUBICZA looks like something you'd see on an eye chart. So maybe it's fitting this card is so blurry.

1991 Upper Deck #645, Alex Fernandez

This card is all about Ozzie Guillen's two hats. And the fact that the backwards one says "You Can't Touch This." 1990 was prime Hammer Time after all.

1979 Topps #646, Rick Sweet

Sweet mustache.

1992 Donruss #647, Jim Campanis Jr.

Jim Jr. never made the majors. His dad reached MLB, but didn't make much of a splash there. The most famous family member was grandfather Al, who only played 7 MLB games, but was the longtime General Manager of the Dodgers. 

2002 Upper Deck #648, Tino Martinez

Tino had two somewhat productive years in St. Louis, but his time with the Yankees and Mariners is more notable. 

1989 Donruss #649, Rod Nichols

Maybe Rod needed better glasses. He went 1-7 in 1988 with a 5.06 ERA. He somehow had three complete games, however.

Do you have a favorite from this page? I'm torn between the Rick Sweet mustache and the Ozzie MC Hammer hat. 

Thanks for reading!

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.

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?

Abolish the DH: My Favorite Frankenset Card by Page; Page 5 (Cards 37-45)

I'm not a fan of the designated hitter. Most people either love it or hate it. I understand the arguments for each side, but land on the side of wanting the see the pitcher hit. I'm more of a baseball purist by nature, and I feel this is the way the game was intended to be played. I like the strategy involved. It's fun to see a guy who is talented enough to both pitch and hit at a high level. But I do understand the other side. More offense can be fun and it's nice to see some guys be able to squeeze a couple more years out of their careers by way of the DH (or a decade; see David Ortiz, Edgar Martinez). I feel like it's only a matter of time before the National League adopts the DH, and it sounds like it could come as soon as this season.

This is all a lead-in to my favorite Frankenset card from page five of the binder. As usual, I'll show you my top three, in reverse order. 

#3: 2013 Topps Heritage Minors #40, Mike Piazza (Arkansas Travelers, Double-A affiliate of the California Los Angeles Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles, California)

The pitcher version of Mike Piazza (a cousin of the Hall of Famer) topped out at Double-A in 2014.

#2: 1986 Donruss #42, Rick Surhoff

I've said before that when a card fits two separate categories of my Frankenset that it's hard to beat. But despite its greatness, this card finishes in second place. Richard Clifford Surhoff is so much of a lesser known compared to his brother, William James (better known as B.J.) that when you type in Rick Surhoff into baseball-reference.com, it yields no results. Apparently, he was known as Rich, not Rick. Or WAS it Rick? Who knows. What we do know is that his mustache is incredible. I had to research its name, and it is known as a horseshoe and is commonly confused with a Fu Manchu. 

#1: 1995 Upper Deck #37, Pat Hentgen

The winner this week is the reason I started this post by discussing the designated hitter. This card is a puzzling sight. 

I was confused. An AL pitcher batting in an age before interleague play? When would this have happened? Well, I first thought about the All-Star game. Pat Hentgen made the All-Star team in both 1993 and 1994. In 1994, the All-Star game was held at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, a National League park. This meant the DH was not in play. Hentgen pitched, but didn't bat in the All-Star game that season...

And then it hit me, the World Series! Of course! Sure enough, Hentgen pitched game three at Veterans Stadium against the Phillies, going six innings and allowing just one run as the Jays won 10 to 3. This gave Toronto a 2 to 1 series lead and they won the series in six with Joe Carter's walk-off homerun. In game three, Hentgen went hitless in three at-bats. Mystery solved, I think. So instead of a picture of Hentgen pitching from 1994, Upper Deck presumably went with a photo of him hitting from 1993. Makes sense. And depicting that kind of random on a baseball card wins you page five of the Frankenset. 

A Sitcom Throwback: My Favorite Frankenset Card by Page; Page 4 (Cards 28-36)

Picking a winner for page four was a tough call. Two pairs of glasses, a classic nickname, and a legendary mustache were involved.

Not being one to sport facial hair, I am not privy to the ins and outs of the practice. But I feel like even those who possess a beard or a mustache might have trouble explaining how it is possible to have this amount of volume above the lip. In third place this week:

1982 Topps Sticker #28, Tim Blackwell

Legendary.


The runner up this week is a card that immediately reminded me of a sitcom episode from the 90s. Maybe you've had this happen, where there are certain cards when you see them for the first time, your immediate thought is, "That looks like _____." I find that it's usually someone you know, but not always. (Hmm... that sounds like a future post.) In any event, fans of Seinfeld will remember an episode where Jerry ends up wearing a pair of thick glasses basically to avoid rattling the fragile psyche of a character named Lloyd Braun.

For Seinfeld fans, that will be enough introduction for this card. For others, do a quick Google search and see if you agree with me!

Here it is:

1985 Topps #36, Fred Breining

The pose makes it an even more perfect match to Jerry Seinfeld's borrowed glasses.

Alright, now the moment you have all been waiting for.

Usually when a card checks off two categories in the Frankenset, it is hard to beat. And that was the case with the final card, the Frankenset champion of page four. There's so much to love here: An unequaled pair of sunglasses, and embroidered button up sweater, and of course, perhaps the most memorable nickname of 80s baseball.

1986 Leaf #35, Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd

I'm grateful to the makers of Leaf for this gem. They were also very thoughtful to put "Oil Can" in quotations just to make sure we didn't think it was his real first name. The more I look at this card, the more I appreciate its brilliance. And with that, it is the king of page four.

My Favorite Frankenset Card by Page; Page 2 (Cards 10-18)

If you were here for the first installment of this series, welcome back. You must have enjoyed part one enough to return, so thanks! Page two of the Frankenset features card numbers 10 to 18. There are some great candidates:

• A guy with the first name Debs (named after early 20th Century American Socialist Eugene Debs),

• Nick Esasky not only with the Braves but with a mysterious mustache, and...

1990 Donruss Best NL #13, Nick Esasky

• David Cone looking like anything but a pitcher batting left-handed for the Mets.

1992 Stadium Club #17, David Cone

But when a card checks two Frankenset boxes, it becomes hard to beat. In this case, a picture of a guy bunting that makes you say "Why him?" and a wad of chew visible from the upper deck. I present to you another 1990 Donruss Best card, this one from the American League:

1990 Donruss Best AL #15, Mickey Tettleton

It is bewildering to me that you would ask Mickey Tettleton to bunt. Hopefully, he was just showing bunt. Perhaps only Frank Robinson knows (God rest his soul, as he passed in February of last year). Not sure about the technique displayed by ol' Fruit Loops either (apparently his nickname). Looks like his hand would get crushed. In any event, Tettleton is indeed in the bunt position, but you may have been distracted by this fact by the wad in Tettleton's left cheek. This card is just too much for me to handle. And it isn't the first time our Orange bird slugger appeared to be eating a golf ball on a baseball card.

1988 Donruss #103, Mickey Tettleton

In any event, this page goes to the Mickster.