#66 - Marc Sullivan

No, that's not a stain running down Sullivan's leg, it's a stain on the card. So that's why I'm not commenting on it. Even though I just did. This is a pretty boring shot, as the five people in the stands clearly understand.

Sullivan did absolutely nothing in his career. The rumor was (completely justified) that he was only on the Sox because his father was Haywood Sullivan, who was a part owner of the team in those days. His stats bear that out completely. 397 career PAs with an OPS+ of 32.

#39 - Marty Barrett

This is an odd photo. How many times to see a second baseman throwing from second with his foot actually on the bag? Usually he's straddling the bag, but in this shot, Barrett has his foot squarely on the base. He also has a goofy look on his face that makes him look about 80 years old. I wonder if the guys ever got together after a day game to play basketball on the court in the background.

There's not much to say about Barrett's career, so I go with a story instead. When I was in college, Sean McDonough, former TV voice of the Sox and national voice of many CBS sporting events, was speaking for a sports psychology class I was taking. I remember very little of the speech, but I do recall his answer to a student who asked, "Did you ever say anything on air you regretted?" McDonough couldn't think of anything he said on air (which I find hard to believe), but he told the story of the time when Marty Barrett was nearing the end of his tenure with the Sox. Dealings between the team and player got a little nasty and Barrett had Jody Reed breathing down his neck, so the Sox had all the leverage.

Anyway, around that time, McDonough was an up and coming announcer, as some people were comparing him to Bob Costas, who was becoming a star play by play guy for NBC. McDonough had made some critical comments about Barrett recently, so one day when Barrett ran into McDonough in the hallway, Barrett said, "I hear all these people talking about you being the next Costas. That's bullshit. You're about as close to Costas as I am to Ryne Sandberg."

To which McDonough replied, "At least you know how far you are from Ryne Sandberg."

#12 - Jeff Sellers

According to the back, "Jeff and his wife have a son, Jeffrey Doyle, Jr." Here's a new rule. If you suck, you're not allowed to name your kid after yourself. I suppose that would eliminate nearly all legacy names as suckitude is really a prerequisite for having the stones to name your child that way.

Sellers started a few games for the Sox over a few years but didn't do...well...anything. So let's concentrate on the photo. First, we have another brand new Mizuno glove and a background that suggests spring training. It's a pretty bland card, and it's not helped by the squinty, confused look on Sellers' face. Maybe he just couldn't see! Yeah, that's it, he had lousy vision, but didn't realize it because Roger Dorn never played a trick on him that led to Lou Brown discovering Sellers' myopia. Dammit. He could have been the next Wild Thing. Not Mitch Williams, we'll get to him later.

#3 - Dwight Evans Record Breaker

Dewey! If you remember Dwight Evans at all, you remember his stance. He came up under the hitting tutelage of Walk Hriniak, who somehow managed to ruin the swing of about half of the Sox hitters in the 80s. But it did mean he looked nutty in the batter's box, putting all of his weight on his back foot, drooping the bat way back and basically breaking every rule of hitting, aesthetic and otherwise. There was a kid on one of my little league teams who use to stand in the dugout and stretch a piece of chewed gum into a long strand, then hold it back like a bat and pretend to be Dewey. I wonder where that kid is now.

Anyway, Evans homered on the first pitch of the SEASON in 1986. This has always confused me, because why on earth was Dwight Evans leading off? According to B-R, he led off for the first 34 games of 1986 and a good portion of '85. That makes no sense to me. Whatever speed he had was gone by the mid 80s, he struck out a ton, and he had the kind of power you'd want in the middle of the order. I guess he did walk a lot, but still. Not your typical leadoff guy.

#1 - Roger Clemens Record Breaker

And we're off! The first card of the 1987 Topps set is a Roger Clemens Record Breaker commemorating the game when the Rocket K'd 20 Mariners. It's funny seeing such a svelt Clemens after we've had the fat 'roided Roger shoved down our throats the last couple years. Growing up a Sox fan, I can't imagine any athlete going from loved to hated as much as this guy.

Overall, I like the Record Breaker cards, but you'll notice that on some of them, "Record Breaker" is red and others it's yellow. Not sure why Topps did that. Luckily, the record breakers don't diverge too much from the regular design, which is the now legendary wood backgrounds. Doesn't get more classic than that, and as far as I'm concerned, it hasn't been duplicated. More on that later.