#55 - Tim Wallach

Hey, stripes that don't bother me! I like the red and blue up the side. They have a way of emphasizing motion as they turn and twist the player's movement. Plus, the stripes coordinate with pretty much everything else on the card. Wallach looks like he went to right with this swing.

Wallach is the first good player we've seen in awhile in this set. He was an OK offensive player, made 5 all star teams, won 3 gold gloves as a 3B, received MVP votes 3 times...that's an excellent career. He didn't walk enough, struck out too much and didn't hit for a very high average, but he was an important part of a bunch of decent Expos teams.

#45 - Jim Presley

What in the world is going on here. Presley looks as if he's about to check his swing and/or jackknife out of the way of an inside pitch. But what is all that stuff getting kicked up at the bottom of the photo? It doesn't look like it can be the ball hitting the ground and stirring up dirt. Nor does it look like Presley's feet can have been the cause. So unless this was taken in Cleveland during the '08 ALDS, I have no explanation for it.

Primarily a third baseman, Jim Presley showed some good pop in his short career. He spent the bulk of his time for some awful Seattle teams (as you can see here) and was out of the league before he was 30. As I mentioned, he did have power (consecutive seasons of 28 and 27 homers) but he had hardly any plat discipline. As a full timer, he never amassed more than 44 walks or fewer than 100 Ks. I flipped down his B-R page to see if Russell Branyan appeared in his most similar batters list, but nope. Regardless, that's the guy to whom I'd liken him offensive ability.

#22 - Doug DeCinces

Another boring, stripey photo with a bat boy checking out DeCinces from behind. That bat boy looks like he's doing some crazy form of yoga. It almost appears as if his right knee is behind is back!

Doug was a pretty solid player for the O's, then the Halos in the '70s and '80s. He was one of those steady, not spectacular, kinda guys who was a fixture in the lineup and occasionally went on season-long tear (3rd in MVP voting in '82). Most notably, he was a part of two Angels teams whose seasons ended in heartbreaking fashion. In '82, the Angels won the AL West and took a 2-0 lead over the Brewers (who had that year's MVP, Robin Yount) in the ALCS. They then proceeded to drop games 3 and 4, blowing a 1-run lead in the 7th inning of game 5 thanks to a Cecil Cooper 2-RBI single. But you can't blame Dougie, he went 3-4 in that game.

Then we all know what happened in '86. The Angels had a 3-1 ALCS lead over the Red Sox and a 5-2 lead in the 5th game going into the 9th. Mike Witt gave up a 2-run shot to Don Baylor (who was on the '82 Angels team). Gary Lucas hit Rich Gedman. Then Donnie Moore (with one out away from an AL crown) gave up another 2-run homer to Dave Henderson, giving the Sox a 6-5 lead. Amazingly California tied it up in the 9th, but even more amazingly, Hendu again victimized Moore (WHO WAS STILL IN THE GAME) in the 11th inning with a Sac fly that ultimately gave the Sox the game 5 win. But you can't blame Dougie, he went 2-5. Boston would go on to win games 6 and 7 by a combined score of 18-5.

#8 - Terry Pendleton

We all remember the MVP for Atlanta version of Pendleton, but here's a shot of the crappy .240 hitter with ZERO power version of TP. But this is actually a nice card. There's some nice symmetry between the catcher (gotta be Gary Carter, right?) and batter, and come to think of it, the fuzzy guy on deck, too. It's also another good example of the ridiculously stripey Cards' unis of the 80s. I hated those stupid striped waistbands, thank god they got rid of those.

I also just noticed something. In the Cards' jersey graphic/logo there are two cardinals. Which, when you think about it makes sense because the team is the St. Louis Cardinals (plural). Are there any other teams who used this strategy? The Red Sox have a secondary logo with two socks, but since the name is spelled with an "x" I don't think that counts. Anyone?