Darrell Miller, Doing His Job - 324

The latest batch of graduates had just signed letters of intent in November 2008 to play college baseball and Darrell Miller was satisfied.

The youths were graduates of Major League Baseball's Urban Youth Academy in Compton, headed by the former Angel Miller.

"What we've said all along is that they won't all make the big leagues," Miller told MLB.com in November 2008 article, "but we can get them to focus on school. If we can get 60 percent of the kids to pass along to a university or junior college, we're doing our job."

Miller is now known as former Angel and current urban youth academy's director. He's been known by other names in the past, including two referencing more famous siblings.

Miller was drafted by the Angels in the ninth round of the 1979 draft, spending five full seasons in the minors before finally getting called up to California.

Miller primarily played catcher and outfield during his time in the majors. He had briefly left catching behind in college, forced out by vision problems. With contacts, however, catching was added back to his fielding options, according to The Miami News.

Miller lasted in the majors through 1988, the year he played the most, 70 games, hitting .221.

Signing with the Yankees in 1989, Miller spent that year at AAA Columbus. He spent 1990 with Baltimore's AAA team the Red Wings, then went to the Mariners' team in Calgary, ending his playing career.

By the time of his August 1984 call-up, Miller was already known. He was known as the brother of Cheryl Miller, the star of that year's U.S. women's basketball gold medal winning team. Within a few years, both Darrell Miller and sister Cheryl Miller would get their own new names, that of siblings of Indiana Pacer star Reggie Miller.

"I'm extremely proud of that girl," Darrell Miller told The Miami News after his call-up and just after the Olympics. Of his brother Reggie, then a UCLA sophomore: "He's going to be a great player; I really believe that."

His siblings' success was with basketball, Darrell's was with baseball. Now, heading an academy that according to ESPN.com has 15 instructors with major league experience, working with players age 8 to 18, Darrell Miller is trying to get more youth to follow his example, into baseball.

Speaking to ESPN.com in 2008, Miller said the academies could help with lagging African-American interest in the sport.

"I don't go by numbers or percentages," he told the site. "Society has changed. With the constant competition from football and basketball and the influx of the Latin player, I don't think we'll ever get back to [28 percent]. [Even] if it stays where it is I'll say fine. We've done all we can do to bring baseball to all the fans, including inner city youths and African-Americans."

• The Miami News, Aug. 24, 1984: Cheryl Miller's brother steps into the spotlight; Part 2
• The Riverside Press-Enterprise, May 13, 2007: Darrell Miller Still and Angel to Some
• ESPN.com, Feb. 27, 2008: Solomon strives to improve African-American connection with MLB
• MLB.com, Nov. 20, 2008: Five from Academy sign letters of intent

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 124/880 - 14.1%
Made the Majors: 80 - 65%
Never Made the Majors: 44 - 35%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 32
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 43

Paul Coleman, Looking for Power - 842

Check out the revisited Paul Coleman feature from November 2011: Paul Coleman, Impressed Enough

The St. Louis Cardinals had high hopes for Paul Coleman, taking Coleman in the first round of the 1989 draft.

He'd had a stellar senior year at Frankston High in his Texas hometown, eight home runs in 24 games. He also starred at his high school in football, making the comparisons obvious.

"We've been looking for a power hitter and we think Coleman is the type," Cardinals scouting director Fred McAlister told The Associated Press. "He's built along the lines of a Bo Jackson."

As it turned out, Coleman was hardly AA material, let alone Bo Jackson material.

Sent to rookie league Johnson City, Coleman hit just .233, hitting three home runs. At single-A Savannah, Coleman was worse, he increased his home run total to six, but hit a paltry .209.

Coleman played 45 games in 1991 at single A Springfield and 21 at high A St. Petersburg for 1992. He wouldn't play a full season until 1993 at AA Arkansas. Still, his average didn't get above .250. It was his final year in affiliated ball.

He returned for a season in the Texas-Louisiana League in 1996, and his trip from sixth overall pick, with his $160,000 signing bonus, to out of baseball was complete.

As with many drafts, picks are often judged by who else was available. While Coleman never made it above AA, the seventh overall pick made it further. With the seventh pick, the White Sox took Auburn University's Frank Thomas.

• Bangor Daily News, Associated Press, June 6, 1989: Orioles draft McDonald with 1st pick
  

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 123/880 - 14.0%
Made the Majors: 79 - 64%
Never Made the Majors: 44 - 36%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 32
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 43

Paul Noce worked hard, knew he could play; Paid off with time in two ML seasons

Paul Noce was ready with advice in July 1987. The utility infielder had spent six seasons in the minors, finally getting a call to the majors and an extended stay in Chicago with the Cubs.

"Work hard," Noce told The Spokane Spokesman-Review. Noce played his college ball in Spokane with Washington State. "Don't let anything get in your way. Don't let people say you can't play. It pays off."

Noce was in the middle of a year where he played in 70 games for the Cubs. He'd had a good spring, and was brought up June 1 to give Shawon Dunston a rest. As it turned out, Cubs Hall of Fame second basemen Ryne Sandberg sprained his ankle, extending Noce's playing opportunities.

Noce was originally taken in the 14th round of the 1981 draft by the Padres. He never made it above high A with San Diego, traded by the Padres in early 1984 to the Cubs. In the Chicago system, Noce went right to AA Midland. He made AAA Iowa in 1985 and Chicago in 1987.

Read the November 2011 interview: Paul Noce, The Deal

With the Cubs, Noce hit three home runs and stole five bases on eight attempts. Two of his caught stealings put him in the record books. In the third inning of the June 26 game against Pittsburgh, Noce was caught stealing twice - in one inning.

He singled and tried to steal second. He was ruled caught, though safe on an error by the shortstop. Then he tried for third, this time the throw was fielded cleanly. Noce made up for it a few days later in Montreal, belting four hits in a single game, never attempting a steal.

One of his three home runs came July 7, against Eric Show. Two batters later was Hall of Famer Andre Dawson, with Show throwing the infamous Show bean ball hitting Dawson in the face.

(Speaking of bean balls, how about getting one during your CMC baseball card photo shoot? In a set filled with standard portrait shots, Noce's card has to be the most interesting.)

Noce returned to AAA Iowa for 1988 before being traded mid-year to the Expos and sent to AAA Indianapolis. He signed with Seattle in 1989 and the Reds for 1990. It was with the Reds system that Noce got the call-up from AAA Nashville to play in one final major league contest.

Put into the game in the ninth, the Reds down 3-0, Noce got a clean single, but would be stranded. His 1990 major league line was one at bat, one hit. He returned in 1991 playing a few games with the Giants at AAA Phoenix and Noce's playing career was done.

Noce is currently the baseball coach at Hillsdale College in Michigan, a position he's served in since 1993.

Talking to The Spokesman-Review in 1987, Noce was asked what the highlight of that year had been.

"Just being called up, I guess," Noce told the paper. "Finally making it. That's been the highlight. It's nice that hard work finally paid off I feel good about that."

Read the November 2011 interview: Paul Noce, The Deal

• Spokane Chronicle, Associated Press, June 16, 1987: Sandberg may miss 3-5 weeks
• Schenectady Gazette, Associated Press, June 30, 1987: Cubs Pound Expos, 9-5
• The Spokane Spokesman-Review, July 25, 1987: For Noce, hard work has finally paid off, Part 2
• MLB.com, April 13, 2010: Dawson's '87 campaign one to remember
• Hillsdale Collegian, April 22, 2010: Baseball snags two in double-header for second time this year

More: 1990 Nashville Sounds

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 122/880 - 13.9%
Made the Majors: 79 - 65%
Never Made the Majors: 43 - 35%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 32
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 43

Jim Shellenback - Then and Then, Topps Million Edition

I've got a few other candidates for this series, but Jim Shellenback has jumped to the head of the line. He's jumped, because I've turned my only Topps Million code into this cool 1971 Topps Washington Senators Shellenback. (Check out that expression.)

It's also ahead of schedule because Shellenbeck's 1990 CMC entry, as the pitching coach for the Portland Beavers, is among the cards I don't yet have. It's number 573 on my want list below. It's also the CheckOutMyCards image below.

But Shellenback becomes my third entry into this Then and Then series, which started in January when I discovered a 1961 Topps Ray Rippelmeyer at a card show, a few days after reviewing his 1990 CMC Nashville Sounds coach card.

Shellenback's Then and Then entry comes by way of a Wal-Mart trip with my wife to get some of those gel shoe insoles. (Yes, she is gellin', exactly like Magellan.) I grabbed a Topps jumbo pack.

I'd picked up a few packs before, but only a handfull but none had a Topps Million code. This one did. I signed up for the site as soon as I pulled it, knowing to only enter the code when the recently unlocked section showed mostly older cards. Immediately, all but one were vintage. Entering my code, I got a nice 1971 Topps card, but not Shellenbeck, I got Expo Gary Sutherland, 434.

Sutherland played in parts of 13 major league seasons, three of those with Montreal. But I wanted something cooler, a card of a guy in the CMC set. There were several trade possibilities, even a couple in the 1971 set.

There was Jim Beauchamp, Richmond's manager in the CMC set, I could have tried for him. But Beauchamp was a Cardinal in the 1971 set. And I'm a Cubs fan, getting a Cardinal would have been fine, if there were no other options.

Fortunately, I found Shellenback, offering my '71 Sutherland for the '71 Shellenback. It was essentially a paralell trade that someone without a connection to Shellenback might do without thinking, though the Topps site helpfully pointed out that Sutherland was worth more. The trade was approved and I am now the owner of a 1971 Topps Jim Shellenback.

I'll get more into Shellenback when I ever get his CMC card, but for now, he spent parts of nine seasons with three clubs. He posted a career ERA of 3.81.

He went on to serve as pitching coach or manager with AAA Portland from 1987 to 1990. Since 1994, he has served as pitching coach for the rookie level Elizabethton Twins.

Elizabethton manager Ray Smith gave Shellenback high praise last year in an interview with MiLB.com.

"If there was a Mount Rushmore for pitching coaches, then Jim Shellenback would be on it," Smith told the site. "If I was a young pitcher, I'd stay as close to his back pocket as I could and hope to get some of that knowledge, maybe absorb it through osmosis."

Speaking of my want list, I still need about 173 of the 880 cards in the set. That's after breaking about five boxes of packs from eBay. Nick at BaseballHappenings.net has helped me out with one, and I'm working on a trade with Bo over at Baseball Cards Come to Life! for two more. My want list is down the right hand column. Anyone else who can help, leave me a note.

John Alva played seven pro seasons, made AAA in two

Life in minor league baseball, or even college ball can be fleeting. So perhaps George Arias, third basemen on tiny Pima Community College's entrant into the 1992 Junior College World Series, could be forgiven.

Asked by an Arizona Daily Star columnist about the previous series entrant, the 1985 Pima squad, and a particular player, John Alva, Arias drew a blank.

"John Alva?" Arias asked The Daily Star columnist. "No. I don't know who he is."

Alva helped Pima Community College to the championship game in 1985. He then promptly signed with the Braves, with a $45,000 signing bonus, according to The Daily Star. He had been drafted in the January draft, taken in the first round.

But his professional career would be undistinguished, playing in seven minor league seasons. His bat, though, never caught on and he never made the majors.

Alva played 1985 at rookie league Pulaski, 1986 at single A Sumter, hitting .227 at both. Despite his low average, Alva made the South Atlantic League All Star team as the starting shortstop.

He made AA Greenville in 1987, but didn't make AAA Richmond until 1990.

At Richmond, Alva helped his team to a 10th-inning April win with a sacrifice that resulted in a wild throw. He doubled in June to help the Richmond Braves to a 6-0 victory, one in which Kent Mercker fanned 12. But he also couldn't handle a May bounce that led to a Richmond loss to Louisville.

"You've got to have a little luck in this game sometimes," Louisville manager Gaylen Pitts said in a wire account of the May bounce.

By 1991, Alva was still between AA Greenville and AAA Richmond. He helped start a May rally to beat Scranton. But it was Alva's final year in pro baseball.

Alva was out by the time Arias' Pima team had its success. And Arias would end up having more professional success than Alva, spending parts of four seasons in the majors with the Angels and the Padres.

• Arizona Daily Star, May 21, 1992: Pima's World Series trip no minor feat (Accessed April 2010)

More: The 1990 Richmond Braves

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 121/880 - 13.8%
Made the Majors: 78 - 64%
Never Made the Majors: 43 - 36%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 32
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 42

Jose Garcia, Twins Tour - 714

A new team and a new position and Jose "Cheo" Garcia's prospects were looking up.

He had spent five seasons in the Twins organization, helping AA Orlando to the 1991 Southern League championship. But he'd only gotten a taste of AAA ball.

With the Red Sox organization in 1993 he'd gotten to spring training and played well enough to be assigned to AAA Pawtucket.

By August, the prospects were still there, but Garcia had been slowed by injury.

''Since he has come back from the disabled list, Cheo has done a good job for us,'' Pawtucket manager Buddy Bailey told The Orlando Sentinel, the paper checking up on its Orlando alum. ''Hopefully, he can stay healthy the rest of the way and help us get back in the pennant race.''

The Venezuelan native was originally signed by the Twins in 1988. He began his tour of the Twins system at rookie Elizabethton, hitting .259. The next year he was at Kenosha hitting .235, then it was high-A Visalia for 1990, where he hit .274.

He made AA Orlando in 1991, where he would return for 1992. He hit .282 in the Sun Rays championship year, .258 the next. In one June 1991 game, Garcia hit a bases loaded triple to help his team to a 5-1 win. He even made the AA All Star Team in 1991.

Garcia played in three games for the Twins AAA club in Portland in 1992. But it was also after that year that Garcia was given his release.

With Pawtucket in 1993, Garcia stayed healthy enough to play in 96 games, hitting .260. He didn't get called up to Boston. And he didn't get another year as a pro. His career ended after six seasons, without making the majors.

• The Orlando Sentinel, Aug. 22, 1993: Garcia Responding After 2nd Chance

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 120/880 - 13.6%
Made the Majors: 78 - 65%
Never Made the Majors: 42 - 35%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 32
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 42

Carlos Maldonado, Fifth Outing - 779

Carlos Maldonado's first four outings for the Royals in 1991 were serviceable, if not good. In 7.1 innings pitched, Maldonado struck out one, giving up two earned runs. His fifth, on July 19, however, would be different.

The Royals already down 8-0, Maldonado was brought in to just get some outs. Of the eight batters he faced, only one of them was out. That one out was only because the Tigers' Tony Phillips tried to stretch a double into a triple, according to the wire account.

Maldonado gave up seven runs, five of them earned in just a third of an inning. Over two seasons, Maldonado pitched in a total of nine games for Kansas City. July 19, 1991 was his last.

Maldonado had signed with the Royals in 1986, out of his native Panama. It took him through 1989 to do well enough at single-A to make the jump to AA Memphis for 1990.

Maldonado then made another, larger, jump, directly to the majors as a September 1990 call-up. In four outings, he posted a dismal ERA of 9.00.

It was back to the level he'd skipped for 1991 at AAA Omaha. He returned to Omaha after his disastrous seventh inning that July. After spending all of 1992 at AAA, the Royals traded Maldonado to the Brewers for another minor leaguer.

In spring training 1993, Maldonado was part of a group of pitchers vying for a spot in the Brewer bullpen, according to the Milwaukee Sentinel.

Four of the pitchers, among them Maldonado, were out of options, meaning they'd have to clear waivers he they were sent down again.

"We're moving them up in games to make sure they face the tough hitters," Brewers assistant general manager Bruce Manno told The Sentinel.

Maldonado made the team, pitching in 29 games that year with a slightly better ERA at 4.58. There was even talk in July of using him in save situations. He even recorded a save Aug. 15, against the same Tigers that pounded him two years earlier.

But his final game with the Brewers and his final game in the majors would come Oct. 3. He hung on one more year with the Athletics at AAA Tacoma and Maldonado's career was done.

• Owosso Argus-Press, Associated Press, July 20, 1991: Tigers pay back Royals ... royally, 17-0
• Milwaukee Sentinel, March 18, 1993: Manzanillo is making a big pitch
• Milwaukee Journal, July 24, 1993: Brewers notes

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 119/880 - 13.5%
Made the Majors: 78 - 66%
Never Made the Majors: 41 - 34%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 32
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 42

Josias Manzanillo, Career Injuries - 879

It's not often when a player has one moment in his career notable in the public's consciousness, let alone two. Especially two that could be used as examples to young ballplayers of how not to do things.

Yet that is the case for Josias Manzanillo, recipient of a cringe-worthy physical injury and an anger-worthy professional injury, both of which Manzanillo had the power to prevent.

Manzanillo started his in 1983 one of any number of players coming out of the Dominican Republic as a free agent. Sent to short-season Elmira, Manzanillo had difficulty learning English, and keeping onions out of his dinner, according to the Providence Journal.

"My goal was to play in the big leagues," Manzanillo told The Journal in 2005, "so I wanted to learn English and the American way, how you do things here. You need to be able to communicate."

Manzanillo stayed with the Red Sox organization for eight seasons, not making AA until 1987 and AAA until 1990. He made Boston in 1991, pitching in a single inning in a single game, giving up two runs. He made it back to the majors in 1993 with the Brewers and the Mets.

With the Mets in 1994 and eleven years after his pro debut, Manzanillo had the most success he'd had. He threw in a total of 37 games, posting a 2.66 ERA. The Mitchell Report, citing a man nicknamed Murdock, would later suggest a explanation for his 1994 success.

But three years, and a tour with the Yankees later, Manzanillo was with Seattle, in the Kingdome pitching against Manny Ramirez and the Indians. Then came the answer of why many athletes wear specific protection devices. Ramirez lined one directly back at Manzanillo, hitting him in the groin. Manzanillo wasn't wearing a cup.

After surgery, Manzanillo returned, but not for long.

"I came back and I wasn't the same guy," Manzanillo told the New York Daily News in 1999. "My confidence was tough because I was trying to protect myself before I threw the ball."

Manzanillo went on to pitch through 2004. His career included parts of 11 major league seasons, with his total pro career spanning more than 20. He pitched a career ERA of 4.71 in 267 total appearances.

Unable to make the Red Sox in 2005, Manzanillo retired.

It was in December 2007 that the baseball world learned a possible reason for his 1994 success: steroids.

Manzanillo was one of several players named in the Mitchell Report as having used steroids. Mitchell informant Kirk Radomski told George Mitchell he personally injected Manzanillo with the steroid Deca-Durabolin, the only instance where Radomski said he personally witnessed a player using steroids.

Manzanillo's lawyer responded to the allegations in the report, admitting his client purchased staroids, but saying his client never used them.

A clubhouse attendant nicknamed Murdock, Radomski's nickname, told Manzanillo the steroids would help him gain velocity on his fastball. Manzanillo purchased more than $200 worth, but "chickened out or thought better of it," the lawyer told Mitchell.

"Through his lawyer, Manzanillo denied ever using performance enhancing substances," Mitchell's report read.

• The New York Daily News, April 4, 1999: Mets get their Manz, hurler beats odds to make roster
• The Providence Journal, Feb. 26, 2005: Veteran righty Manzanillo seeks innings
• The Mitchell Report, Dec. 13, 2007: Page 161-162

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 118/880 - 13.4%
Made the Majors: 77 - 65%
Never Made the Majors: 41 - 35%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 32
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 42

Monty Fariss, Some Advantages - 799

While it might not have been as unusual as a left-handed second basemen, Monty Fariss still got some looks at his chosen position of shortstop, according to The South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Listed at up to 6 feet, 5 inches tall, Fariss was a rare tall fielder at short, something Fariss was unconcerned about talking to The Sun-Sentinel in 1991.

"Shortstop has felt like my natural position ever since I first started playing as a kid. Being big has never bothered me, or hurt my play," Fariss told The Sun-Sentinel. "Being a big shortstop gives me some advantages. I can cover as much or more ground than anyone going from side to side, and offensively I can hit with some power."

"A big shortstop has the ability to field and really produce at the plate," he told The Sun-Sentinel. "That's a great combination."

Fariss spoke to The Sun-Sentinel as he was fighting for a spot that spring on the Rangers' roster. He wouldn't make it that spring, but he did make Texas as a September call-up.

He never really produced at the plate. And he never made it as a shortstop.

Fariss was taken by the Rangers in the first round of the 1988 draft, the sixth pick overall. The Oklahoma State product was sent almost directly to AA Tulsa, where he stayed into 1990. He made AAA Oklahoma City that year.

He got the callup to Dallas in September 1991, playing in 19 games that month. He hit .258 and had one home run. He also played outfield and second base, no short.

He played 67 more games with Texas in 1992 posting just a .217 batting average before being selected by the Marlins in the expansion draft. Eighteen games with Florida in 1993 with a .173 batting average and Fariss' major league career was done.

Fariss stayed on with Florida at AAA for 1994 and returned briefly with the Cubs at AAA Iowa in 1995 and Fariss was done.

But in spring training 1992, the tall non-shortstop battled for a Rangers starting job. Julio Franco was injured, and there was talk of Fariss starting the opener.

"I don't know," Fariss told The Sarasota Herald-Tribune about starting. "I hope so. If he (Franco) is ready to go, then he'll be the second baseman. I think it's just a matter of me being ready to go in case he's not. I just want to take advantage of the opportunity."

• Lawrence Journal-World, Associated Press, June 7, 1988: Fariss eschews Olympics
• South Florida Sun-Sentinel, March 15, 1991: Standing Tall At Short
• Sarasota Herald-Tribune, April 1, 1992: Fariss (Who?) Has Spring's Hottest Bat

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 117/880 - 13.3%
Made the Majors: 76 - 65%
Never Made the Majors: 41 - 35%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 31
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 42

Darryl Kile, Announced Starter - 606

Darryl Kile's name appeared on the stadium scoreboard, announced as that day's starter, many times throughout his career.

It was there on April 25, 1991, for his first major league start, pressed into service by a teammate's injury. It was a start where he pitched six sterling innings, never giving up a hit.

It was there on Sept. 8, 1993, when he told his manager he would pitch a four-hit shutout, then gave up one run, but no hits, accomplishing the no-hitter he'd missed out on two years earlier.

It was there 331 times during his career, including each of his 20 wins for St. Louis in 2000.

It was also there June 26, 2002. Announced on the Busch Stadium scoreboard as that day's starter was Kile. This was his memorial service. Kile passed away four days earlier of a heart attack.

That day, former Astro teammate Pete Harnisch told of mobbing Kile on the mound after his no-hitter. It was Harnisch's personal greatest thrill as a player, playing in Kile's no-hitter, according to an MLB.com account.

But, Harnisch said, according to MLB.com, Kile was more than a teammate.

"I had a teammate, a golf partner, very soon a friend, a roommate and finally a brother," Harnisch said at the service. "That was the natural progression with Darryl: teammate to brother. I don't know if it was his good nature, sensitivity, dependability or caring. I'm sure it was all those things that made our relationship so strong."

Kile was taken by the Astros in 1987 out of high school, after each team passed on him through 29 rounds. He made AA Columbus, Ga., in 1989 and AAA Tucson that same year, the late draft pick becoming a top prospect.

He made Houston that April in 1991. His first start came as Mark Portugal was injured.

The 22-year-old right hander tossed 65 pitches over six innings. He never came close to giving up a hit before manager Art Howe pulled his young pitcher. The Astrodome crowed booed.

"I wanted to stay in the game and I wanted to win the game," Kile told reporters afterward in a wire account, "but I haven't thrown that much in a long time so he did what he thought was best for me and the team."

Howe wouldn't be so cautious two years later.

"It was the best control I've had," Kile told reporters after he no-hit the Mets in 1993. "When I did make a mistake, my teammates were there to make the out. A lot of luck goes into a no-hitter."

Kile stayed with Houston through 1997, winning 19 his final year. He signed with the Rockies that off season. He stayed two lackluster years in Colorado before being traded to St. Louis and regaining his old form. He won 20 his first year as a Cardinal, 16 the next.

He had five wins in 2002 when the Cardinals visited Chicago June 22. Two hours before gametime, Kile's teammates realized he wasn't there. Kile was soon found, passed away in his hotel room.

"Our club is just totally staggered, I mean, devastated,'' Cardinals manager Tony La Russa told reporters that day, wiping away tears. "You guys know what a pro he is.''

At the Busch Stadium memorial service, former Cardinals pitcher Rick Horton, of the St. Louis chapter of Baseball Chapel, described Kile, DK, according to the MLB.com account, as "a devoted husband, father, professional through and through."
"In the clubhouse and on this field, DK has impacted so many people in a powerful way," Horton said. "And that's why so many are gathered here this afternoon."

• The Fort Scott Tribine, Associated Press, April 26, 1991: Astros nip Reds in 13 innings
• Ludington Daily News, Associated Press, Sept. 9, 1993: Houston's Darryl Kile hurls no-hitter at Mets
• ESPN.com, Associated Press, June 22, 2002: Cardinals' hurler Kile dead at 33
• MLB.com, June 26, 2002: Memorial service for Darryl Kile held at Busch Stadium

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 116/880 - 13.2%
Made the Majors: 75 - 65%
Never Made the Majors: 41 - 35%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 31
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 42

Greg Walker, Warm Ups - 318

Warming up before a game against the Angels Greg Walker caught the ball, but his attention was instantly drawn elsewhere.

There was something wrong with his hip. Quickly, his right leg was numb.

His first reaction that day, July 30, 1988, was that he'd had a heart attack. What it was, was a seizure the threatened his life, the first of two.

"A lot worse things happen to people," Walker told reporters a month after the incident, according to a wire account. "I feel lucky to be here."

It was the most serious of a series of problems for the White Sox everyday first basemen. He had broke his wrist in 1986, underwent surgeries in 1989 and 1990, according to The Los Angeles Times, and he'd had a bad shoulder since high school.

Then there were the seizures, determined to be caused by a viral infection, according to media accounts, an infection that was controlled through medication.

"I've had a lot of things go wrong," Walker told The Times in 1991. "I've had a lot of things go right, too."

Walker was originally taken by the Phillies in the 20th round of the 1977 draft. He was picked up by Chicago two years later. He made AA Glens Falls in 1981 and AAA Edmonton and then the majors in 1982.

By 1983, he was in Chicago to stay. The everyday first baseman hit 24 home runs in each of 1984 and 1985. He hit another 27 in 1987, batting .256. In 1988, Walker's production slowed, hitting eight home runs and hitting just .247.

The seizures kept him out until 1989. With the surgery, he played in only 77 games and hit .210. Two early games with Chicago in 1990 and the White Sox gave him his release, though he would return later in a different capacity.

Picked up by Baltimore, Walker went to AAA Rochester. Called back up to Baltimore in June, Walker played his final major league game July 1. He spoke to The Times in 1991 as he tried to make the Angels squad, an attempt that was ultimately unsuccessful.

Returning to the White Sox organization in 2002 as hitting coach for AAA Charlotte, Walker became the big club's hitting coach the next year. It is a job he continues to hold today.

• Palm Beach Post, Associated Press, Aug. 11, 1988: White Sox's Walker will come back
• Deseret News, wire account, Sept. 1, 1988: Walker may return to White Sox lineup
• Los Angeles Times, March 7, 1991: Fresh Chance, Fresh Outlook
• Chicago Sun Times, Oct. 28, 2009: Inside the White Sox

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 115/880 - 13.1%
Made the Majors: 74 - 64%
Never Made the Majors: 41 - 36%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 30
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 42

Frigid Buffalo - Road Trip

We learned a few things on our trip to Buffalo to see the Bisons last weekend.

We learned where the safe and out umpire hand signals may have come from. We learned that fried pickles can be a good ballpark snack. We also learned that Buffalo's attendance totals are from ticket sales, not actual people in the ballpark. And, it's cool to snag a baseball.

What we knew going in: If you're planning a trip to Buffalo for a baseball game in April, be prepared to wear layers.

That's what we did Saturday, in 45-degree weather, dodging occasional sprinkles at Coca-Cola Field, to see a 2-0 Bisons victory over visiting Scranton.

My wife and I went to Buffalo for our first game of the year not only because her dad lives out that way and we had yet to see the stadium, but also because one of the visiting coaches, Scott Aldred was a member of the 1990 CMC set.

I had designs on getting my two CMC Aldred cards signed, as well an Upper Deck card Nick at BaseballHappenings.net sent along. But it didn't happen. The weather and a baseball movie got in the way.

The movie was a documentary called Signs of the Time. We saw a story on it that morning in The Buffalo News. The movie tried to answer the question of where umpire hand signals came from. The answer is either umpire Bill Klem, credited with the innovation at the Hall of Fame, or 19th century baseball player William "Dummy" Hoy, who was deaf. Interesting movie. That's the promo card above.

The movie got out at 3, the game started at 4. That left little time to track down Aldred at the park.

At the game, the weather was evident in the umbrellas and winter coats that dotted the sparsely populated seats. There couldn't have been 200 people there. The announced attendance? 5,022. Among the ticket holders who bailed due to the weather were my wife's dad and her stepmother.


What the stands looked like for the ninth.

But we saw a complete game, and, with the temperatures, a mercifully quick one.

We also had a couple extra players to root for: Scranton's Jon Weber (right) and Mike Cervenak (up top). It turned out they are both in their 12th season in professional baseball. They also have a total of 10 major league games between them, all Cervenak's from 2008 with Philadelphia.

Neither Weber, nor Cervenak have have gotten off to a good start, they're both hitting below .200. But they each got a hit Saturday. Cervenak's third-inning double put two in scoring position for Ike Davis to single in. They were the only two runs of the game. Davis, by the way, got a quick call-up to Citi Field, going 2-4 in his major league debut Monday.

Cervenak also played left field. Up top is a picture of Cervenak with the retired number of Jeff Manto, member of the 1990 CMC set.

A cold sprinkle prompted us to explore the concourse around the start of the seventh. We picked up a soft pretzel shaped like the Bisons' B. But what we really wanted was fried pickles. I'd read about Buffalo's park having them and we wanted them.

We were rewarded with some good fried pickle spears and returned to the game. It was the ninth inning and we stood in a walkway parallel to first base. Buffalo's Bobby Parnell walked the first batter in the 2-0 game.

In the middle of becoming the second walk, Kevin Russo fouled one back, off the upper deck. The ball landed in the walkway near where we were standing. My wife would have gotten it straight had the usher not gotten there first. But, with no kids around, or hardly anyone else for that matter, the usher handed the ball to her.
My gloved hand holding up our baseball
It was definitely cool. But I'm still waiting for the time when a ball comes racing at us in our assigned seats and we snag it. Hasn't happened yet. That would be cool.

Not wanting to press our luck any further (and wanting to warm up), we left it at that. We should be heading to another game next month. Not sure where yet, though. Maybe we'll get a CMC setter's autograph then.

Steve Kiefer, Everything Hit - 17

Check out the revisited Steve Kiefer feature from October 2012: Steve Kiefer, Everything Hit

One time, Steve Kiefer injured a tendon in batting practice, another time he caught his ankle rounding third on a triple, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Add to those the plain unlucky, a beer bottle to the head in a case of mistaken identity, and the plain awful, his wife having a miscarriage. All those were after after a pretty good 1987 season, making a stretch for Kiefer best forgotten, according to The Times.

"I was looking to be called up (to the Yankees)," Kiefer told The Times in 1989 while rehabbing the ankle injury at AAA Columbus. "It seemed like everything hit when I got to the major leagues to stay. I never had anything that kept me out more than a week."

By that time, July 11, 1989, Kiefer had already played in 100 major league games over four seasons. He would only play in five more, before turning his sights on another career involving those with injuries or ailments, making orthopedic braces.

Kiefer had been taken by Oakland in the first round of the 1981 January draft, having attended Cerritos College and Fullerton College.

He made AA Albany in 1983, hitting .246 and 19 home runs. The next year found Kiefer at AAA Tacoma and in the majors. He hit Oakland as a September call-up, playing in 23 games that year. He hit just .175 for the big club in 40 at bats.

Another 40 games for Oakland in 1985 weren't much better. In spring training 1986, Kiefer and three others were shipped to the Brewers for Moose Haas. Over the next three years, Kiefer only played 37 major league games. Becoming a free agent, Kiefer signed with the Yankees, working for a more permanent trip back to the majors, in the Bronx.

Kiefer rehabbed that ankle injury enough to get that call-up to New York a month later, debuting with the Yankees Aug. 11. It would be another short stay, his last in the majors. Eleven days and five games later, Kiefer got only one hit in eight at bats.

For 1990, Kiefer played at AAA Buffalo, the Pirates top farm team, then moved to the Mets organization at Tidewater and his pro career was done. His brother Mark Kiefer would later make the majors and pitch in parts of four seasons with Milwaukee.

• Los Angeles Times, July 11, 1989: Kiefer is Hoping for Better Breaks

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 114/880 - 13.0%
Made the Majors: 73 - 64%
Never Made the Majors: 41 - 36%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 29
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 42

Dave Walsh, Tough Decisions - 413

Spring training 1991 came to a close, and the Dodgers signed themselves a new catcher, future Hall of Famer Gary Carter.

That meant someone else had to go. That someone else was pitcher Dave Walsh.

"I am happy to still be a Dodger," Walsh told The Los Angeles Times after he was sent down. "I know everybody around here. I can still improve. Who knows what will happen?"

Walsh made Los Angeles the previous August, pitching in 20 games over two months. He posted a 3.76 ERA and even recorded a save.

It was Walsh's first call-up after eight seasons in the minors. He'd been drafted in 1982 by the Blue Jays in the ninth round out of UC Santa Barbara. He'd shown promise in high school, pitching at El Camino Real High in Woodland Hills, Ca. The Times recalled he was part of a "potent righty-lefty combination."

With the Blue Jays system, Walsh started at rookie league Medicine Hat. He made AA Knoxville, then got a taste of AAA Syracuse both in 1984. He got another taste of AAA at Syracuse in 1988, but never made Toronto. He was granted free agency. After pitching well in the Mexican League, Walsh signed with the Dodgers.

He spent 1989 at AA San Antonio and AAA Albuquerque, returning to Albuquerque for 1990. In 47 relief appearances, Walsh put up a 2.61 ERA, picked up six wins and picked up the call to Los Angeles.

Despite pitching well, Walsh didn't make it back to the majors in 1991 or ever. He pitched at Albuquerque for 1991, spent time with the Indians for spring training 1992, but that was it.

Before the Carter decision, Walsh was still being counted among the 1991 Dodgers team, noted in a San Francisco Chronicle story on the religious nature of that year's club.

But, in another wire account, Dodgers executive VP Fred Claire said in a wire account that it was a tough decision on who to cut due to the Carter signing, but a necessary one.

"It's not necessarily a move we want to make," Claire said in a wire account, "but it's a move we have to make."

• Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1990: El Camino Real Baseball Team Strikingly Similar to '78 Version
  
• Boca Raton News, wire reports, March 26, 1991: L.A. signs Carter today
• Milwaukee Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, March 26, 1991: God squad: Christians fill Dodgers' lineup

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 113/880 - 12.8%
Made the Majors: 72 - 64%
Never Made the Majors: 41 - 36%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 29
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 41

Danny Boone saw 3 ML seasons, his 3rd 8 years after his 2nd

As much as a pitcher doesn't want to hang a curve, a pitcher certainly doesn't want to hang drywall.

But after his pro career was seemingly over, that's what former Padres and Astros pitcher Danny Boone did. He did that for nearly six years, until, that is, the Orioles came calling.

Out of professional baseball since 1984, Boone heard about a new senior league in Florida. With the support of his wife, he went. And he did well enough for the Orioles to hand the 36-year-old a AAA contract.

"Deep down inside, every athlete wishes he could play until he's 100," Boone told a Washington Post columnist that spring, adding he was amazed his wife had been so supportive. "She realizes that now is the time."

Boone spent the summer at AAA Rochester before, improbably, returning to the majors that September - eight years after throwing his last major league pitch.

Boone entered pro ball, taken in the second round of the 1976 draft by the Angels. It had actually been the fifth time Boone had been drafted, the previous times he opted to stay at Cal State Fullerton.

He quickly made it to AAA Salt Lake City, but never cracked the California pitching staff. The Angels released him in spring 1980. Quickly signing him was the Padres, one of the teams who had drafted him earlier. He made it to San Diego the next year, pitching 37 games for the Padres.

Boone pitched 10 more in 1982, before being traded to Houston and playing in another 10 games, his last Sept. 30, 1982.

Then came two years at AAA, first with Houston's Tucson team, then with the Brewers at Vancouver. The baseball offers soon dried up and the construction jobs began.

But he kept working on his game, and perfecting a difficult pitch, the knuckleball.

It was in fall 1989 that he signed on with the fledgling Senior Professional Baseball Association. The 35-and-over league was in its first season, it would fold in its second. It was the same league that Ron Washington played in.

Boone, and his knuckleball, were soon spotted by the 77-year-old Oriole scout Birdie Tebbetts.

"He's lucky he got an old scout with a big imagination," Tebbetts told Sports Illustrated that July. "Normally you don't dare suggest signing a 36-year-old guy, because somebody's liable to think you're senile."

The magazine also noted Boone's story was improbable enough, even without Boone's name. And, yes, he is related to that Daniel Boone, a seventh-generation Daniel Boone nephew. He'd also heard it all before.

"That's stuck with me since elementary school, when everybody would be singing songs about Daniel Boone," Boone told the Associated Press after signing that February. "I've had a lot to overcome in my life."

His greater concern for 1990 was his fingernails, requirements for throwing his knuckleball. He told SI they'd become badly chipped. He'd borrowed nail-strengthener from his wife.

Whatever he did, it worked. He played in four games that September, giving up his first runs in his fourth outing, his first-ever start. In all, he posted a 2.79 ERA. It was enough for the 36-year-old to be tagged a "rookie prospect" by one baseball card company.

He returned for 1991, his fingernail problems still getting in the way. He returned to AAA, this time with the Rangers, finally ending his career.

But, according to an interview with The Associated Press that September in Baltimore, Boone was satisfied.

"When you start back at something like this at my age," Boone told The AP, "your only desire is to get back to the big leagues."

• Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Feb. 27, 1990: Daniel Boone Not a Frontiersman; He's a Left-Hander for Baltimore
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Washington Post Writers Group, March 31, 1990: Daniel Boone's kin pitching for Orioles
• Sports Illustrated, July 23, 1990: Chip Off An Old Block
• Spokane Spokesman-Review, Associated Press, Sept. 26, 1990: Boone blazing comeback trail
• Sarasota Herald-Tribune, March 6, 1991: Boone's Tough as Nails
• Boone's 1991 Rookie Prospect card, courtesy of GemMintTen

More: 1990 Rochester Red Wings

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 112/880 - 12.7%
Made the Majors: 71 - 63%
Never Made the Majors: 41 - 37%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 29
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 40

Curt Schilling proved a promising player; Starred in bigs over 20 seasons

Their starter knocked out with a line drive off his leg, the Yavapai College Roughriders turned to their ailing ace, Curt Schilling, according to an account in The Prescott Daily Courier.

Schilling who had just come off a turn with the flu, took to the mound.

It was a situation reminiscent of the Curt Schilling of 18 years later, taking the mound with another physical ailment, an injured ankle. In an effort that instantly became the Legend of Schilling and his Bloody Sock, Schilling helped pitch the Red Sox to the World Series and their first championship in 86 years.

While the stakes weren't as high on this day, April 3, 1986, it was still an important non-conference game for tiny Yavapai College.

From the first batter, it was apparent: there would be no Legend of Curt Schilling and Anything Flu-Related. A single, two doubles and a home run later and Yavapai College was on its way to a 7-4 loss.

It was one of only a handful of setbacks for the Yavapai star, he was taken in the second round of the draft that year by Boston, the very team he would help pitch out of the baseball wilderness some 18 years later.

But, of course, his route to the Bloody Sock would not be a direct one. While Schilling impressed, the Red Sox had their eye on another pitcher they believed could do the same thing, in 1988. They sent Schilling, fellow prospect Brady Anderson to the Orioles for 30-year-old Iowa-born pitcher Mike Boddicker.

"There's no doubt we gave up promising players for Mike," Red Sox GM Lou Gorman told reporters in a year Boston won the division, but nothing else, "but (Boddicker)'s a quality pitcher, the kind of pitcher who can win a pennant for you."

The Red Sox can't be blamed for letting Schilling get away. The Orioles, and then the Astros did the same thing. The Orioles got 44 appearances over three seasons, five of them starts, before shipping Schilling and two others to Houston for a past-his-prime Glenn Davis.

Houston then flipped Schilling, a player who would become a vocal steroids opponent, to Philadelphia. In return, Houston got Jason Grimsley, a player who in 2006 would become the face of HGH use.

It was the Phillies who became the beneficiaries of the others' short-sightedness. In 1992, his first with Philadelphia, Schilling won 14 games and posted a sterling 2.35 ERA. The next year, he won 16 and got his first taste of the World Series.

From 1997 to 1999, Schilling won 47 games. Mid-season 2000, the Phillies dealt him to the Diamondbacks. Of course, by 2001, Arizona was winning its World Series with Schilling's help.

Traded again for 2004, Schilling arrived where he started, with Boston, helping bring the phrase "bloody sock" into the baseball lexicon.

Eighteen years earlier, the flu game notwithstanding, Schilling helped keep his Yavapai team in the hunt for a national championship with a last-inning relief-appearance strikeout to preserve a Yavapai win, according to The Courier.

He even admitted to The Courier he'd lost track of the score, believing on his last strike out the game was tied and heading to extras.

"I didn't realize until everybody came out after me that we had won," Schilling admitted to The Courier.

• Prescott Daily Courier, April 4, 1986: Roughriders pound Devils for 19 hits
• Prescott Daily Courier, May 28, 1986: Schilling's relief keeps YC alive
• Prescott Daily Courier, Sept. 5, 1986: Schilling impresses Boston organization
• Nashua Telegraph, Patriot Ledger News Service, July 30, 1988: Sox decide to re-arm, deal for Boddicker
• NBCSports.com, Feb. 11, 2005: Hall enshrines Schilling's bloody sock
• Boston Globe, March 12, 2005: Schilling to testify at steroid hearing
• ABCNews.com, June 8, 2006: Pitcher Grimsley's Steroid Controversy a Wake-Up Call

More: 1990 Rochester Red Wings 

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 111/880 - 12.6%
Made the Majors: 70 - 63%
Never Made the Majors: 41 - 37%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 29
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 40