#67 - Bill Swift

Decent shot during what looks like pre-inning warmup tosses. The apathetic look on Swift's face gives that away. The photo gives us a good look at those old Seattle unis with the blue and yellow stripes and a hint of that ugly "Mariners" typeface on the jersey. And wow, is that one blurry crowd or what?

On the back of the card, we're treated to the nugget, "[Bill] is one of 15 children." I assumed (probably stupidly) that he was from Utah, but nope, good ol' Maine. How many bathrooms do you think his childhood home had? Oh wait, he was from Maine. How many outhouses do you think his childhood home had?

Swift was a decent pitcher, who began his career as a starter without much success, then transitioned to the pen and was fantastic. In '92 he was traded to San Francisco and became a starter again. That ended up being a great decision as Swift led the league in ERA in '92 and finished second in the Cy Young Award voting in '93 (21-8, 2.82).

#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.

#19 - Matt Young

Yay! More stripes! At least we get a nice look at the Mariners old logo on Young's jersey and in the upper left corner. I actually liked that trident M. But what I don't like is that cheesy glove. Really? You're a starting pitcher for a Major League Baseball team and you're using a freakin' Velcro glove? OK, I know they were popular there for a little while, but come on, Matt.

As a rookie, Matt made the All Start team despite ending the season at 11-15. He did have a nice 3.27 ERA, which is exceptional for a rook. And I'm assuming he was the lone Seattle representative on the AL squad that year. But just for the hell of it, let's look at his splits to see how well he was doing when he was elected to the team, and how well he finished up the year.

Before the Break
W/L: 7-8
ERA: 2.86
IP: 116 1/3
GS: 17
CG: 3
SHO: 2

That's a nice first half for any pitcher, let alone a rookie, despite the fact that Seattle's anemic offense refused to help the guy out. Seriously, their best offensive player that year was Pat Putnam, who hit .269 with 19 homers. If you have any recollection of Pat Putnam, you're a better man than me.

After the Break
W/L: 4-7
ERA: 3.81
IP: 87 1/3
GS: 16
CG: 2
SHO: 0

He trailed off a bit, but that's still an impressive half season for a rookie starter. Unfortunately, it was downhill from there. Young was an ineffective starter for the rest of his career. Ironically, his best season came when he returned to the Mariners after a brief sojourn on the west coast (OAK, LA), when he had a 3.51 ERA...and went 8-18. That's criminal.