Swing Sequences. Roberto Alomar and Carlos Baerga.

 

Two guys who came up with the Padres. In 1985 Robbie was drafted, while Carlos was signed as a free agent. Similar in size, and both played 2B for the bulk of their careers. They both played SS in the minors for at least one full season. 

Carlos was part of a trade for Joe Carter, Roberto was traded with Joe Carter.  

They each played for the Indians, Mets, Padres and Diamondbacks.

Robbie won 4 silver slugger awards, Carlos won 2.

Carlos was washed up at age 27, Robbie was effective until age 33. They both played their last season at age 36.

Two of my favorite players when they were active. I always wondered if Carlos was older than advertised. Or maybe Robbie's speed and better athleticism enabled him to avoid all of the collisions at 2B.

Swing sequences. Joe Carter.

The stats would say that out of these 9 different plate appearances,  Joe drove in about 0.16 of a run. Clearly the awesomeness of these cards would indicate that Joe in fact drove in 22 runs.

Guest star card. Roberto Alomar (Carlos Baerga)

I think about 95% of guest star cards are on or near 2nd base. Not surprising. Special bonus guest appearance by Mel Harder's number.

"Harder! Harder!"
Mel says "yes?"
"no stupid, do me harder"
Mel says "I am Harder and I'm doing you"
"ARRGH, do me harder Harder!!"

He'd have been a much better pitchman for Viagra.

Guest star card. Carlos Baerga. (Dan Gladden, Ellis Burks, Mo Vaughn)

 Unknown Brewer or Mariner.

 Dan Gladden

 Ellis Burks

 Unknown

Mo Vaughn

I wonder if the beating Carlos took at 2nd had anything to do with how his career fell apart? It's got to wear the legs and back down doing all that jumping and taking all those hits.

WTF card. Joe Charboneau

I think this card shows why he was a flash in the pan.

How he didn't break his arms swinging is beyond me.

Random cards. Barry Bonds and Albert Belle. Two of the meanest and surliest players in history.

Well shoot. Maybe these guys weren't that bad after all. Albert's got those sweet eye black sideburns. Barry's laughing at someone who claims that Sid Bream could score from 2nd on a single to LF. 

Old faces in strange places. Dave Winfield, Ted Williams, Andre Dawson.

Dave Winfield had possibly the best looking checklist card I've ever seen. In the 2nd photo he pretty much defines the "grizzled veteran".

I found it strange that Ted Williams had ever wanted to manage, let alone ending up with Washington.

And Andre just looked out of place in Boston and Florida. Even on those old knees, he certainly didn't embarrass himself though.

Recycled photos & guest star card. Carlos Baerga (Willie Wilson)

 Ok. The middle and right shot are clearly the same play, different angles. You might think the one on the left was from the same game, but he's wearing a different glove.

A nice pair of shots with Willie Wilson sliding in.

Random card. Dave Hoskins. First negro in the Texas League.

"Dave was signed as an OF, but switched to pitching. Hoskins is quoted about his switch to the mound after being hospitalized by a beanball. "I was tired of pitchers throwing at me and made up my mind to throw at other guys." "


"Hoskins made an auspicious start for Cleveland in his first major league appearance in early 1953. Coming into the game early in relief of Bob Feller and trailing 3-0, Hoskins gave up no runs while crashing a double and homer for four RBI that gave him and the Indians the victory. "

Dave only pitched in parts of 2 seasons for the Indians, racking up a solid 9-4 record with an ERA+ of 99. The interesting part of this card is the cartoon.

"When Dave was with Dallas on June 9, '52, he got 2 letters threatening his life if he pitched that day". "But Dave wouldn't be frightened. He hurled the game and won! And that year chalked up 22 wins".

What's interesting is that there's hardly any mention on the internet of the Dallas incident. I did finally find this.

"I received three letters that morning, one at a time. First one said I'd be shot if I sat in the dugout. Second one said I'd be shot if I went on the field, and the third one said I'd be shot if I took the mound. I figured all three were from the same person. Probably someone just trying to scare me. I didn't tell Dutch Meyer, the manager of our club, because I was afraid he wouldn't let me start. Dutch doesn't know about it to this day. Even though I thought the person who sent the letters was only bluffing, I was a little scared when I went out to the mound. Later on, I didn't even think about it and it was just another ball game. We won it without any trouble . . . . The people treated me very nice in Dallas and everywhere else, too. Once in a while a ballplayer or a fan would holler something at me, but you've got to expect that. All in all, I had no complaints . . . .' Dave Hoskins won nine games and lost three as a spot starter and reliever for the Cleveland Indians in 1953. He played sparingly the next season and then bounced around the minors for several years, never returning to the big leagues. He died in 1970."

Credit:  Brushing Back Jim Crow:
The Integration of Minor-League Baseball in the American South

by Bruce Adelson

288 pages, 20 b&w illus, 6 x 9 • Cloth $29.95 •

ISBN 0-8139-1884-7


So, his manager didn't know about it but Topps somehow found out? Weird. And very weird I think for Topps to print a real social message as a cartoon.A good weird.


There's more on Hoskins in the following book:  

Crossing the line: Black major leaguers, 1947-1959
 By Larry Moffi, Jonathan Kronstadt

Recycled photos and Guest star card.. Roberto Alomar (Sandy Alomar)

It's always a nice touch when the photographer pulls one of these off.