Saturday, September 2, 2017

Frankenset Redux, Page 11: Numbers 91-99


(I've changed things up a bit this week in order to trim the fat on these posts a bit going forward. Hope you enjoy this week's frankenset page on this late-summer Saturday.)

Page #11 (Numbers 91-99):

Completion Status: 9/9

Numbers Needed: None.



The Players

1991 Upper Deck #91 Tom Pagnozzi

Tom Pagnozzi, seen here either in the moments after laying down a bunt or the moments before choosing a laughably bad pitch to bunt at.



2017 Topps #92 Derek Norris

Somewhere beneath that catcher's gear and menacing stare is a '90s Padres throwback.



2017 Stadium Club #93 Brad Miller

One of many masterpieces from this year's Stadium Club I've added to the frankenset as of late.



1992 Upper Deck Minors #94 Chris Seelbach

Shopping carts and baseball crates are about as minor league as it gets.



1997 Pinnacle #95 Delino Deshields

A rather uncomfortable double play turn for both parties.



1998 Fleer Tradition #96 Jaime Navarro

Throwing it back to the days of the Black Sox.



1998 Fleer Tradition #97 Dennis Reyes

Two straight from '98 Fleer Tradition, and a rare curtain call for a pitcher.



1994 Bowman #98 Chan Ho Park

Don't try this windup at home, folks.



1993 Upper Deck #99 Mark Portugal

The elusive autograph/shades/lollipop triumvirate.



Stats

Cards By Decade:

1990's -- 7 (Running total: 54)
2010's -- 2 (Running total: 23)

Mini-collection Hits:

Throwbacks -- 2 (Running total: 13)
Double Dips -- 1 (Running total: 17)
Autographs -- 1 (Running total: 2)



Lessons in Card Backs


This week, I learned that Derek Norris was the first and only Padre to hit a grand slam as part of a five-hit game, and that Norris has a Twitter account, the former factoid being much more interesting to me.



Three Things


I've said before that my frankensets are exclusive to guys who aren't included in my team binders -- part of the reason I love frankensets are that they provide a use for cards I would've previously cast off -- so, in this new theme, I'm trying to educate myself by providing three quick facts about these previously ignored players: in this case, Chris Seelbach.

1) Though this card was released in 1992, it would take Seelbach another eight years to reach the majors, debuting with the Braves in 2000.

2) Seelbach played two seasons with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan from 2002-03.

3) Seelbach's brush with fame was a painful one: he was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Astros star Lance Berkman during his brief stint in the majors (though he did make a full recovery).



This Magic Moment


At first, I didn't think I had a chance to try and date this card, but something in the background helped narrow down the possibilities.

Behind Brad Miller, on the Fenway scoreboard, you can see what appears to be an avatar of David Ortiz, which leads me to believe he's the one who hit the foul pop that resulted in this five-star grab from Miller. The only play I could find that would possibly result in something like what we see here is a foulout David Ortiz made in the bottom of the 7th inning of a Rays-Red Sox contest on August 29th, 2016.

Miller, playing first in that game, made the catch for the first out of the frame, though the Red Sox would ultimately win, 9-4.



Best of the Rest

2013 Topps Update #US-97 Alexi Amarista

Always picking on the little guy.



Toughest Draw


1973 Topps #97 Willie Montanez

The Reyes is a great card, but few can defeat the off-center beauty of '73 Topps, the Willie Montanez being a classic example of that set at its finest.



Second Guessing


2016 Stadium Club #93 CJ Wilson

It was a battle of the Stadium Clubs for slot #93 in my Inagural Frankenset, and for now I decided to keep CJ Wilson there for the sheer overloaded fun of it all (I don't know whether I should look at the glove, the shoe, or the player).

But the more I look at that Miller -- the great grab, the serenity of Fenway at night, the neon advertisements -- the more I wonder if I made a mistake.



Favorite Card


Tough call this week, but I have to go with Dennis Reyes since I don't think I've ever seen another pitcher get a curtain call on a baseball card (just another reason late '90s Fleer Tradition deserves more of our love).

That just about does it for this week's frankenset page.

Thanks for reading!

3 comments:

Fuji said...

That Reyes is cool... but that Park is the coolest. I don't ever recall seeing that particular leg kick. Gonna have to head over to YouTube and check out some of his highlights.

shoeboxlegends said...

Somehow hadn't seen that Brad Miller card yet, just fantastic!

Adam Kaningher said...

Love that Amarista card. I got a nice chuckle out of that one.