Random cards. Cal Eldred & Mike Mussina.

In a couple of years the talk will start about whether Mike Mussina belongs in the Hall of Fame. I think he's got a good shot, and probably will get in after 4-5 ballots. Not getting a ring might work against him a bit, but I don't think it'll stop him.

Remember the 1997 ALCS vs Cleveland? Mussina gets 2 no decisions despite these stats.
15 IP, 4 hits, 1 run (earned), 4 walks and 25 K's.  Unreal. And the Orioles lost both those games.

Cal Eldred debuted the same season as the Moose. I though he was going to be the next big thing. I saw him pitch on TV a couple of times, and he just had "it", whatever "it" is.

Unfortunately, arm problems derailed Cal's potentially brilliant career. He did a nice job of reinventing himself as a reliever with the Cardinals later on, but I guess that 258 innings at age 25 was a bit much.

I requested autographs from both these guys through the mail back in the day, and they both replied. I would usually send doubles of the cards if I had them, and I'd let the player know in my little letter that they should keep the doubles for their own collection or to send out to others that maybe hadn't sent a card. Cal signed all 6 I sent him and sent them all back, which was a pretty nice thing to do.

That 1993 Flair set was one of the best ever for signatures. It had the perfect finish and never had any problems with beading like some other cards would.