Scott Erickson = 4 points
In '91 he was 23 years old and had a 20-8/3.18/1.275 season. He made the All-Star team and finished second in the Cy Young voting. It looked like the start of a long and stellar career. Turns out it was long: he pitched until 2006, a total of 2360 IP. Stellar, though, it was not. That '91 season was the best he'd have. He finished with a career ERA+ of 98.
Keith Foulke = 1 point
This is a typical example of a shoddy work by Topps for the base set. A posed studio portrait for the big image and the EXACT. SAME. IMAGE. for the smaller inset? That's just horrible. Foulke received Cy Young votes twice, but never cracked the top three. He made an All-Star team in 2003. He logged 31 IP for the A's last year, and is currently a free agent.
Curt Schilling = 15 points
Finally a stud pitcher from these packs. Schill is a six-time all-star, and finished second in Cy Young voting three times. He's a 42-year-old free agent coming off of a season missed due to shoulder surgery.
Brad Ausmus - Award Winner - 2002 NL Gold Glove = 1 point
Yes! A double! I love doubles! Maybe if I say it enough it will become true.
Bill Mueller = 0 points
A decent hitter; career OPS+ of 109. Received MVP votes in 2003, finishing 12th.
Vance Wilson = 0 points
Wilson was a backup catcher for the Mets and then the Tigers.
J.D. Drew = 4 points
Just 4 points. He made his first All-Star team in '08. He finished sixth in MVP voting in 2004. He's one of those guys that we will always wonder what could have been had he been able to stay healthy.
Fernando Tatis = 0 points
Came out of nowhere to hit 34 bombs in '99. Promptly returned to the nowhere he came from, though he showed up again last year to post a 123 OPS+ in 273AB for the Mets. This card can go in the Topps Calisthenics Cards binder. Seems like there are a lot of those.
Esteban Loaiza = 5 points
Who would have thought this guy has more points than J.D. Drew? Finished second in Cy voting in '03, and made an All-Star team that year and the following.
Chipper Jones = 24 points
Larry Wayne shows 'em how it's done. Six All-Star teams, six MVP top-tens. Interestingly, he won the hardware in 1999 but was not on the All-Star team. Anyone know if that's been done other times?
Fifty-four points is a big number, thanks to Schill and Chipper. The contest total bumps to 246. If you haven't gotten a guess in yet, send it in before noon tomorrow, when the final pack will be posted. Good luck, all!
311.
ReplyDeleteI'm saying you pull a roger clemens or Barry Bonds and the meter blows up.
Send those guesses to my Blogger name (timrooks) AT gmail dotcom. Include your Blogger name with your guess.
ReplyDeleteYes, Clemens or Barry would certainly crank the points way up there.
Rollins and Morneau both won the MVP without making the All Star team. There are others, but they are the most recent
ReplyDeleteWell that makes perfect sense. Morneau wasn't even the most valuable player on his team, and he certainly was not likely to crack the AL team at 1B, where Big Papi roams. Ditto for Rollins and the NL SS role--Hanley and Reyes. I suppose the list of non-All-Star MVP winners coincides to a large extent with the list of the least-deserving MVP winners.
ReplyDeleteKirk Gibson won an MVP and was NEVER an All-Star.
ReplyDelete