1991 Donruss, Willie Blair

#267 Willie Blair

This is the second of two '91 Donruss cards that were sent to me by Rod. The first one was posted yesterday.

This one features the much traveled pitcher, Willie Blair. Willie pitched in the Majors for parts of twelve seasons and he spent time with the Blue Jays, Indians, Astros, Rockies, Padres, Tigers, Diamondbacks, and Mets. Wow, did Willie get around or what? He played for four different teams in his first four seasons in the big leagues. There cannot be too many people out there that can make that claim.

Willie bounced back and forth from starting to relieving and he got most of his appearances out of the bullpen. He had a career high of 16 wins for the Tigers in 1997 and he recorded a career high of 3 saves for the Rockies in 1994. He finished his career after the 2001 season with a record of 60-86 with 4 saves and a 5.04 ERA.

I was happy to get this card for a couple of reasons. The main reason is because I tried to get his autograph last year at a Kansas City T-Bones game, but I failed. Willie was the pitching coach for the visiting Joliet Jackhammers. I tried to get to the game early, but I got stuck on I-70 for an hour and a half after there were two accidents in a single work zone. So, I didn't get to the park early enough for that and I missed him again after the game when he snuck by in the dark while the Bones were getting ready for fireworks. But, I got his autograph now.

The second reason I was glad to get this card is because Willie holds a special distinction in my game log. Willie is one of six pitchers that I have seen pitch that has an infinite ERA at games I attended. I saw him pitch one time and it was for the Padres in 1996 at a game in Denver. Willie came in to pitch after a rain delay and he gave up two hits, a walk, and four earned runs without recording an out. He also took the loss that night. Since he is now retired, he will not be able to come off of that list.

1991 Donruss, Shawn Boskie

#241 Shawn Boskie

Here is a card of Shawn Boskie that was given to me by Rod.

Shawn pitched in the Majors for nine seasons and he saw time with the Cubs, Phillies, Mariners, Angels, Orioles, and Expos. He spent about half of his career in Chicago before he started to bounce frequently in the second half.

Shawn started and relieved during his career and he started 132 of the 216 games he pitched in. He reached double-digit wins one time and it was in 1996 as a member of the Angels. He recorded one save in his career and it was the following season while he was playing for the Orioles. He finished his big league career in 1998 with a record of 49-63 and a 5.14 ERA. Shawn continued to pitch at the AAA level through the 2001 season, but was never called up again.

Shawn has one Major League home run and it was hit off of Norm Charlton.

Out of all the teams that Shawn pitched for in his career, I only remember him from his Cubs days. The only reason I remember him as a Cub is because WGN used to televise 100+ games a year. I've never been a Cubs fan, but it was always fun to watch a ballgame on the tube on a summer afternoon.

1990 Topps, Dennis Boyd

#544 Dennis Boyd

Here is another card from the lot of non-Padre Padrographs that were sent to me a few weeks ago by Rod. This one features the former Red Sock, Expo, and Ranger, Dennis Boyd.

If you are not familiar with Dennis Boyd, then maybe you might remember him by another name- Oil Can Boyd. I first heard about the Oil Can during the 1986 World Series. I was an impressionable seven-year old kid at the time and I thought that he had the coolest name ever. At that age, the only concept I had of an oil can was what the Tin Man used to lube himself up with in the "Wizard of Oz" and that probably just made his name that much cooler. I figured that you had to be one of the best pitchers around to get a name like that. Boy, was I wrong.

While Boyd wasn't one of the best pitchers around (he never made an all star team), he did have a very solid 1986 season. He went 16-10 that year with a 3.78 ERA in 214.1 innings. That 214.1 innings might seem like a lot until you notice that he threw 272.1 innings the previous year. Without looking, I am going to guess that he got the Oil Can moniker from that season.

Those two seasons must have took their toll on his arm as he only made seven starts in 1987. But, he was able to come back in 1988 and by 1990, he was pitching 190 innings. While that is a far cry from 272 innings, you can't get on a pitcher for giving you only 190 innings.

Dennis finished his career after the 1991 season. He has a 78-77 record for his career and a 4.04 ERA. I seem to remember him wanting to make a comeback recently, even though he was around 50-years old. I would look it up, but then I might stumble upon how he got his nickname and that would just ruin everything.

I must admit that I was a little disappointed that Dennis does not sign "Oil Can Boyd".

1990 Topps, Marty Pevey

#137 Marty Pevey

Earlier this week, I posted a signed card of Paul Zuvella and I referred to Paul as "somewhat obscure". Well, if Paul was only somewhat obscure, I would call Marty full-blown obscure. The reason for that is because Marty's Major League career lasted all of thirteen games.

Marty was drafted in the 19th round of the 1982 draft by the Twins. He appeared in 24 games for their Appalachian League team and was hitting .284 when he got released. He sat out the rest of the year before getting picked up by the Cardinals for the '83 season. He stayed in the Card's organization through 1987 before getting traded to Montreal prior to the '88 season. He split his first season in the Expos system between AA and AAA before getting his lone call-up early in the '89 season.

At the Major League level, Marty hit .220 with two extra-base hits and three RBI. He had nine hits, eight strikeouts, and no walks.

For some reason, he missed the 1990 season. But, he was back in '91 and he went on to play in the minors until 1995.

Since his playing career has been over, Marty has spent a good amount of time coaching. He was a base coach for a few years for the Blue Jays and he is currently the manager of the Cubs Midwest League team, the Peoria Chiefs.

This card was given to me by Rod, of Padrographs.

1990 Leaf, Jeff Montgomery

#520 Jeff Montgomery

Here is the first of three cards that I got signed by Jeff Montgomery at Fanfest last weekend. I have no idea how many Montgomery autographs I have now, but maybe I will tally them up after I post the third card and then give one of them away.

I took this card with me to get signed by Jeff because I had thought that I did not have any 1990 Leaf cards signed yet. Well, it turns out that my dad got a Danny Jackson card from the set signed for me last summer and I had forgot about it. So, I now officially have two 1990 Leaf cards that are autographed.

I had a unique interaction with Jeff when I first went through the line where he was signing. I got to him and asked how he was doing and he looked up and paused for a second. He then said "you know, you kind of have a Sean O'Sullivan look going on". I didn't know what to say for a second and I gave him an "oh yeah?". He then replied "yeah, you should sit down somewhere and start charging people ten dollars a pop for your autograph". I don't know how well that would have worked out since everyone else was signing for free, but I still thought that it was funny. I was going to ask Billy Butler what his thoughts were on the matter when I went through his line during the final autograph station, but Billy was in the first and final two autograph sessions and I could tell that he was ready to get out of there. So, I didn't bother. Besides, I have a little more hair on my head than Sean O'Sullivan.

If you are not familiar with Sean, he is a Royals pitcher that was acquired in the Alberto Callaspo trade.


(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

1989 Topps, Tim Birtsas

#103 Tim Birtsas

Here is another non-Padre that Rod sent me. Rod must have been cleaning out his 1989 binder or something because it seems like about half of the cards he sent me were from 1989.

This one features Tim Birtsas. Tim played in the Majors for parts of five seasons for the A's and Reds. He started his big league career as a starter for the A's in 1985. He went a respectable 10-6 in his rookie year with a 4.01 ERA. It is kind of surprising that he didn't have more losses and a higher ERA since he walked 91 batters that season in 141.1 innings.

After that season, Tim worked mostly out of he bullpen. He made two appearances for the A's in 1986 and he walked four batters in two innings while allowing five earned runs. His 1985 luck was not on his side that season.

Tim spent all of 1987 playing for the A's AAA team before he was dealt to the Reds after the season. He played for the Reds for three seasons and, in 1989, he recorded his lone Major League save and had a career best ERA of 3.75. He also recorded his only Major League hit that year when he hit a 1-2 pitch from Sid Fernandez into the right field bleachers at Riverfront Stadium. That is a cool stat to have.

Tim was involved in a couple of big trades. He was originally drafted by the Yankees, but he was packaged in the deal that took Rickey Henderson to New York. Three years later, he and Jose Rijo were shipped to the Reds for Dave Parker. Rijo was an integral part to the Reds 1990 World Championship. Birtsas, on the other hand, ended up getting sent to AAA in July of that season, only to get recalled when the rosters expanded in September. He did not play in the playoffs that season and was probably not even on the roster.

Tim was released after the season was over and he pitched in Japan in 1991.

Win This Card

All you have to do to win this card of Hall of Fame manager, Earl Weaver, is to head over to the Great Orioles Autograph Project's Hall of Fame contest and leave a simple comment. It is that easy.

If you have already entered that contest and you want something new to check out, check out the job that the USPS did on this card I got back today. This card was 100% wrinkle-free when I sent it out a couple of weeks ago and now look at it. This picture doesn't even do the damage much justice. This is by far the worst TTM I have ever received. I know it happened on the return trip home because the creases match up with the creases in the return envelope. The photo is obviously a crappy picture, but I was trying to make the creases stand out more.