Eric Parkinson, Up-and-Coming - 726

Eric Parkinson had just been converted from a starter to a reliever and, for someone who had never been above high-A Salem, what better way to test that than in a exhibition game against AAA hitters?

As it turned out, Parkinson held his own. In two innings, he gave up a hit, a walk and registered two strikeouts, according to The Pittsburgh Press.

"It was an incredible feeling," Parkinson told The Press afterward. "I thought I would be nervous, but I wasn't. (Salem manager) Stan (Cliburn) told me they swing and miss just like they do here and, by gosh, they do."

Parkinson's showing against AAA hitters would never be better. He would also never face AAA hitters again, his career ending after only a brief stint at AA and well short of the majors.

Parkinson's career began in 1989, when he was taken by the Pirates in the 22nd round of the draft out of Kellogg Community College.

He played that year at rookie league Princeton, starting eight games and posting a 4.35 ERA. He moved to single-A Augusta in 1990, and had similar results, starting 26 games with a 4.50 ERA.

But he started his time at Augusta well, according to The Sumter Item. By May 8, his ERA was just 1.21. On that day, he gave up one run in seven innings, winning a pitchers duel, The Item wrote.

It was for 1991 that the Pirates tried him as a reliever, according to The Press. By early May, his ERA was just 1.54, the paper wrote.

"We're thinking seriously about moving him back as a starter so he can get his innings," Pirates director of minor league operations Chet Montgomery told The Press. ""He needs to improve his off-speed pitches and his breaking stuff, but he has to be considered one of our up-and-coming pitchers."

Parkinson ended up starting 11 games for Salem that year, but his ERA returned to form, hitting 4.74. His efforts continued through 1993, but the results were the same.

In July 1992, Parkinson's Salem team was hammered, according to The Beaver County Times, by a score of 20-3. Parkinson took the loss. His final ERA that year was north of 6, at 6.06.

He pitched two games at AA Carolina in 1993, the rest back at Salem and Parkinson's days in affiliated ball were done.

Parkinson pitched briefly for the independent Northern League's Duluth team in 1994, then a longer stint with Aberdeen of the Prairie League in 1995 and Parkinson's time as a player ended.

• Sumter Item, May 9, 1990: Braves fall to Augusta
  
• Pittsburgh Press, May 12, 1991: Parkinson gets relief with switch to relief
• Beaver County Times, July 9, 1992: Farm Journal

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 181/880 - 20.6%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 184
Made the Majors: 125 - 68%
Never Made the Majors: 59 - 32%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 51
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 62

Tony Ochs, Missing Bat - 841

A native of Indiana, Tony Ochs went off to college in Illinois, at Southeastern Illinois College and he brought his bat with him.

The catcher batted a stunning .531 at Southeastern, earning the title of the nation's community college batting champ, according to Southeastern. He continued after moving on to Memphis State.

It was enough for Ochs to get noticed by the Cardinals, taken in the fifth round of the 1989 draft. But he never found his bat with St. Louis. He also never saw AA, let alone the majors.

With Memphis State, Ochs showed some power. In one April 1988 game, Ochs' single proved the difference in a 2-1 contest, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The next month, Ochs hit one out, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

In another game, a conference tournament game in May 1989, Ochs' home run was the only earned run off of Florida State's strong starter, according to the Orlando Sentinel. In all, he hit 13 home runs for Memphis State that year.

But with the Cardinals, Ochs played just three seasons. After being drafted, Ochs was sent to rookie league Johnson City. In Johnson City, Ochs hit five home runs and batted just .233.

With single-A Savannah, Ochs fared little better. He hit .248 with three home runs in 102 games. In an April game, Ochs' single and run scored helped Savannah to a 7-2 win. In a July game, Ochs hit a two-run single on an 0-2 count, helping Savannah to a 9-1 victory, according to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.

Ochs returned in 1991 to high-A St. Petersburg. In 84 games, he hit .241 with no home runs. It was his final year.

According to Southeastern Illinois College, Ochs returned home to Montgomery, Ind., to start a family. He remained there, as of 2007, as a coal miner and heavy equipment operator. It was that year that he was inducted into the Southeastern Illinois College Hall of Fame.

• Southeastern Illinois College, 2007: Tony Ochs

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 180/880 - 20.5%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 183
Made the Majors: 125 - 68%
Never Made the Majors: 58 - 32%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 51
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 62

Aubrey Waggoner, Mostly for Speed - 817

Aubrey Waggoner batted .292 with two home runs and six stolen bases for the Birmingham Barons in April 1991. It was enough for Waggoner, according to The Chicago Tribune, to be named the White Sox' minor league player of the month.

But, while Waggoner won the honor for the month, he was already in his fourth season playing for the AA Barons. Waggoners' was a career that would last for eleven seasons and one that would never reach the majors.

Waggoner's career began in 1985, taken by the White Sox in the fifth round of the draft. He made single-A Appleton in 1986 and he first made AA Birmingham in 1988. He raced home that July 31 with the winning run on a bunt.

But his batting average would rarely top .250, something The Tribune alluded to in April 1990, that he was noted mostly for his speed. That April he broke that mold, hitting a grand slam as part of an eight-run inning.

He stayed at Birmingham into 1991, when he first saw AAA at Vancouver. It was the month after his player of the month honors, with Vancouver, that Waggoner played a role in a memorable play, or accused of not playing a part in preventing it.

On May 27, 1991, Waggoner teammate Rodney McCray chased a fly ball and broke through the outfield fence. It was a play that would later be commemorated with its own bobblehead. But in spring 1992, McCray told The South Florida Sun Sentinel he had expected a yell from his center fielder, that he was nearing the wall.

"My center fielder, he never communicated with me," McCray told the paper. "Aubrey Waggoner, that was my center fielder, he didn't say a word. And that's dangerous."

That year was Waggoner's last with the White Sox, after eight years. He went on to the Braves system in 1992, Seattle in 1993 then the Braves and Expos in 1994. Waggoner's career ended in 1995 with 16 games at AAA Pawtucket. These days, Waggoner works giving lessons through Hitters Choice in California.

• Orlando Sentinel, May 14, 1989: Barons Rule With Authority, Down O-Twins, 7-2
• Chicago Tribune, April 15, 1990: Sox Double-a Farm Blanks Cubs' Affiliate
• South Florida Sun Sentinel, March 5, 1992: For McCray, It's A Whole New Wall Game
• Lewiston Sun-Journal, Associated Press, March 7, 1995: Winless Sox fall to Twins

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 179/880 - 20.3%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 182
Made the Majors: 125 - 69%
Never Made the Majors: 57 - 31%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 51
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 62

Jose Melendez, So Versatile - 449

The Mariners didn't have room for Jose Melendez and the Padres were happy to take him.

By 1992, his second year in San Diego, the right hander went 3-0 in April to begin a year with the Padres where he made 56 appearances and posted a sub-3 ERA.

"He's awesome," Padre Manager Greg Riddoch told The Los Angeles Times that May. "He can start, long-relieve, middle-relieve, be the set-up man, go short if we had to. ... That's what makes him so good. He's so versatile."

Melendez went on to a respectable career that spanned five seasons, but that year in 1992 was his best.

Melendez' career began almost a decade earlier, signed as a free agent by the Pirates in 1983. His first playing time came in 1984 at short-season Watertown.

He went 13-10 with a 2.61 ERA for single-A Prince William in 1986, earning him prospect status for 1987. He made it as high as AA Harrisburg with the Pirates before being taken by Seattle in the minor league draft.

With Seattle, Melendez began at AA Williamsport in 1989 before making AAA Calgary. He returned to Calgary for 1990, before making his major league debut that September. In three appearances, Melendez gave up seven earned runs.

Then came his move to the Padres for 1991. The Padres took him off the waiver wire. After he beat the Cubs that June, The Times was speculating that the Padres had gotten a bonanza from the Mariners. The only two runs that game came from solo-home runs from Mark Grace and pitcher Greg Maddux.

"I feel comfortable here," Melendez told The Times after the win. "I hope I can stay here the whole year."

Moved to the bullpen July 4, Melendez went on to reel off 18.2 scoreless innings over nine appearances, according to a wire account.

By the end of 1992, the Padres dealt the relief pitcher to the Red Sox, who sent Phil Plantier back in return. Melendez played nine games for the Red Sox in 1993, a jammed thumb on his pitching hand slowing his start. But in those nine games, Melendez' posted a 2.25 ERA.

Melendez saw another 10 appearances in 1994, with his ERA topping 6. His final appearance of the season, and what would be the final major-league appearance of his career, came Aug. 9, two days before the strike began.

Melendez held on in the minors for parts of two more seasons, pitching in three different systems, before Melendez was done for good.

• Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1991: Melendez Sails Past Chicago
• Spokane Spokesman-Review, Knight-Ridder, Aug. 11, 1991: Heat on Radar as Angels drop in pennant race
• Los Angeles Times, May 5, 1992: It's a Hot Spring for Melendez

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 178/880 - 20.2%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 181
Made the Majors: 125 - 69%
Never Made the Majors: 56 - 31%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 51
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 61

Mike Dyer, Opportunity to Pitch - 558

It took Mike Dyer four seasons to make the majors. It took him five to get back.

Dyer went 4-7 with a 4.82 ERA with the Twins in 1989, but nerve problems in his neck caused him to lose most of 1990 and 1991, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It took him until 1994 to make the majors again, with the Pirates.

"I'm very happy with the Pirates," Dyer told The Post-Gazette in 1995. "They've given me an opportunity to pitch. It's a nice town. It's a nice stadium. I'd like to play here.

"It's taken me a long time to get back."

Dyer was taken by the Twins in the fourth round of the 1986 January draft. He made AA Orlando in 1988 and AAA Portland and Minnesota in 1989.

With Orlando, Dyer went 11-13 with a 3.99 ERA. On June 22, Dyer pitched a complete game. But three first-inning runs sunk him and Orlando, they lost 3-1.

''I was throwing lousy in the bullpen before the game and I just brought it on the field with me,'' Dyer told The Orlando Sentinel. Two of the runs were unearned, but Dyer took the blame himself.
''What happens is what happens, you've got to pitch through it no matter what," he told The Sentinel. "I let them on base.''

Dyer got his first call-up in June 1989. After a rocky start, Dyer improved enough to impress manager Tom Kelly. He also just beat a young Randy Johnson.

"He was nervous, erratic," Kelly told UPI that August. "He's making a lot of progress and working hard."

His neck problems cut short that progress for 1990 and eliminated it for 1991. But Dyer returned for 1992, again with the Twins, but at AAA Portland. Dyer then went through the Indians, then the Cubs' system for 1993, then landed with the Pirates for 1994 and 1995.

Dyer pitched in 55 games for the Pirates in 1995 with a 4.34 ERA. He went on to his best year for 1996, with the Expos, pitching in 70 games with a 4.40 ERA, ending his major league career.

Dyer pitched 1996 at AAA Richmond for the Braves, then was reported for a turn in the Atlantic League in 2000 and Dyer was done.

Talking to The Post-Gazette in 1995, the reliever was ready for anything.

"I just want to make sure I stay in he big leagues," Dyer told the paper. "I'm ready to pitch from the second inning on."

• Orlando Sentinel, June 23, 1988: 1st Inning Enough To Drench O-Twins, 3-1
• Ellensburg Daily Record, UPI, Aug. 26, 1989: M's losing streak now at nine
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 2, 1994: Dyer making a pitch for full-time job in '95

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 177/880 - 20.1%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 180
Made the Majors: 124 - 69%
Never Made the Majors: 56 - 31%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 50
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 61

Roger LaFrancois made bigs in 1982 after long wait; Saw eight games

In the top of the 11th, Roger LaFrancois came to bat. His Boston Red Sox were tied with the hated Yankees 3-3.

With one out, LaFrancois hit one to second. He legged it out for an infield single. An error, a ground out and a single later and LaFrancois was across with the go-ahead run in a game the Red Sox won 5-3.

It was something anyone would wait a lifetime for. It was no different for LaFrancois. He had a lifetime for that moment, or at least 26 years. But he had also waited an entire season for that moment.

LaFrancois spent that year of 1982 on the Red Sox major league roster. This, the final game of the year, was only the eighth in which LaFrancois saw any playing time. He had spent the other 154 games on the bench, as Boston's third-string catcher.

Asked afterward by The Day of New London, Conn., if the season was, in fact, lost, LaFrancois said no, he believed it wasn't. He'd met a lot of good people. He'd learned a lot from the hitting coach. There was also one other thing.

The Greatest 21 Days caught up with Roger LaFrancois in July 2010, read the interview: Roger LaFrancois, Doors Opened

"I was a major league catcher," LaFrancois told The Day. "They didn't consider me an everyday catcher, but I was a major leaguer."

LaFrancois' path to that moment began in his native Norwich, Conn. He excelled in high school baseball, becoming the first high schooler to make the Alaska Baseball League's Anchorage Glacier Pilots in 1974.

By 1977, LaFrancois was in the Red Sox system, taken in the eighth round out of the University of Oklahoma. He started at short-season Elmira, then went to single-A Winston-Salem in 1978.

He jumped to AAA Pawtucket for 1979. Aside from 59 games at AA Bristol, LaFrancois stayed at AAA Pawtucket through 1981.

Then came spring 1982. It looked like he had a shot. There were just some other catchers ahead of him, Rich Gedman one of them.

"I need a real good spring training this season to show them I can do the job," LaFrancois told The Day in March. "You sometimes have to dive in the stands or do things like that to show them you want it."

LaFrancois did want it. And he made the team. But he didn't make his major league debut until nearly two months later. He didn't get his first at-bat until June. His first hit came June 30.

Six more games over the next three months and LaFrancois' season, and his major league career, were done. He never made it back. Two more seasons in the minors and his playing career was done.

LaFrancois has gone on to a career managing and coaching in the minors. He's managed at short-season, coached at AA and AAA and in independent baseball. For 2010, LaFrancois is still coaching. He's currently serving as hitting coach for the NY-Penn League's Batavia Muckdogs.

But speaking to the Associated Press after his first major league hit, LaFrancois said he was glad to get his first hit, he just didn't realize it would take so long. He was just waiting his chance.

"I come to the ballpark everyday thinking I'm going to be playing," LaFrancois told the AP. "But we're winning and everybody's happy, and I'm just thrilled to be a part of this team."

The Greatest 21 Days caught up with Roger LaFrancois in July 2010, read the interview: Roger LaFrancois, Doors Opened

• Anchorage Daily News, June 1, 1974: Prep catcher reliable hitter
• The Day of New London, March 6, 1982: The boys of summer... in winter
• The Day of New London, Associated Press, July 1, 1982: Playing no joke to Boston's LaFrancois
• Nashua Telegraph, Associated Press, Oct. 4, 1982: Red Sox whip Yankees in 11
• The Day of New London, Oct. 14, 1982: LaFrancois says season wasn't lost, Part 2
• Batavia Daily News, June 18, 2010: Muckdogs excited about 2010 season

More: The 1990 Vancouver Canadians

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 176/880 - 20.0%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 179
Made the Majors: 123 - 69%
Never Made the Majors: 56 - 31%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 50
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 61

Dann Bilardello's first majors home run came off Tom Seaver

In his seventh major league game, Dann Bilardello knew instantly this moment was big. But the rookie catcher was careful to show the proper respect.

He had just hit his first major league home run, off no less a pitcher than Tom Seaver.

"This was a great moment in my life; hitting one off a future Hall of Famer is another bonus for me," Bilardello told reporters after the game. "I knew it was out when I hit it, but I didn't stand there and watch it. I didn't want to show up Tom."

Bilardello was at the beginning of his rookie season with the Reds. The catcher played in 109 games that year, ending with nine home runs, but hit just .238. Bilardello would go on to play in parts of eight major league seasons, but never more than that year in 1983.

Bilardello made the majors that year, having been taken by the Reds out of the Dodgers system the previous December. Bilardello was drafted by the Dodgers in the first round of the 1978 June draft.

The Greatest 21 Days caught up with Dann Bilardello in June 2010, read the interview: Dann Bilardello, Respect the Game

With the Dodgers' system, Bilardello had some power. He hit 21 home runs for single-A Lodi in 1981, his 16th to tie a July game at one. He earned a promotion to AA San Antonio that year, but got no higher.

Taken by the Reds for 1983, Bilardello made an impact. On July 8, Bilardello was credited with hitting in the go-ahead run with an infield single. In an Aug. 26 game, Bilardello got three hits, one of them a home run in a 7-3 win over the Whitey Herzog's Cardinals.

Bilardello's August showing against St. Louis stood as proof for Herzog that Bilardello could hit, or at least hit fair. Stepping into the batters box as a pinch hitter June 1, 1983 against Herzog's Cardinals, Bilardello didn't step back out again until taking 13 pitches and sending them foul. He finally hit one fair, directly at the third baseman, who threw him out.

"Dear Whitey," Bilardello wrote to the Cardinals manager after the game, according to a wire account. "Please don't send me a bill for the balls. I don't make that much money."

After that year, Bilardello saw his playing time steadily decrease. By 1985, he played in 42 games for the Reds, hitting just .167. The team traded him to Montreal in a five-player deal that off-season, playing in 79 games for the Expos in 1986, hitting .194.

But it wasn't really his bat that teams were interested in, it was his glove. By 1989, Bilardello was with the Pirates system, having failed to make the majors in the previous two seasons. He played in 32 for the Pirates that year. He spent September as the Bucs' backup catcher, then was released. But he was upbeat.

"If they don't make a deal for a right-handed hitting catcher, I think I could make the Pirates next spring," Bilardello told the Beaver County Times that November. The Times also noted that the Santa Cruz, Calif., native and his family road out the San Francisco earthquake the previous month without injury.

Bilardello did return to the Pirates for 1990, spending most of the year at AAA Buffalo. But he did get 19 games in Pittsburgh. For 1991, he signed on with the Padres, playing in 15 games that year and 17 the next, his final year as a professional player.

That spring in 1992, Bilardello was fighting for a spot with the Padres. He was, by then, considered "an excellent handler of pitchers," according to The Los Angeles Times.

Almost 33, Bilardello's approach that spring was simple, according to The LA Times: Do what was asked of him and don't worry about things beyond his control.

"Whatever decision they make I'll be happy," Bilardello told The LA Times. "They know the job I did last year, they know what I can do."

His playing career done, the former catcher has gone on to a career as a manager and coordinator. From 2002 to 2004, he managed in the system of the team that drafted him, the Dodgers. After a season with the Red Sox system, Bilardello joined the Cardinals as minor league catching coordinator.

For 2010, he's helming the Cardinals' short-season affiliate in Batavia, NY, watching over his players and, presumably, the supply of baseballs.

• Lodi News-Sentinel, July 27, 1981: Dodgers sweep 3 from A's
• Reading Eagle, Wire Report, April 26, 1983: Reds 7, Mets 0
• Ocala Star-Banner, Associated Press, June 2, 1983: Reds' Rookie Fouls Off Pitches, Worries About Cost To Ballclub
• Palm Beach Post, Post Wire Services, July 9, 1983: Bilardello, Reds Defeat Phils 3-1
• Beaver County Times, Nov. 26, 1989: Opinion mixed on what Power's role might be
• Los Angeles Times, March 25, 1992: Catchers Bilardello, Lampkin in Battle for Same Roster Spot
• MinorLeagueBaseball.com, Nov. 16, 2009: Bilardello named Muckdogs skipper

More: The 1990 Buffalo Bisons

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 176/880 - 20.0%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 179
Made the Majors: 123 - 69%
Never Made the Majors: 56 - 31%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 50
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 61

Coming Road Trip: Batavia and Star Wars

Last Christmas, I asked for an received from my wife tickets to a minor league baseball game. To make it easy, I searched around and made a list of teams that offered packages geared toward Christmas, you know ticket coupons and maybe a cool extra or two.

The one she chose (maybe it was just the first on the list) was Batavia, the short-season NY-Penn League affiliate of the Cardinals. And it turned out to be a pretty cool gift. The package itself included four passes to a game and an extra, a Muckdogs Baseball t-shirt.

When I was looking through the Batavia schedule, with the promotions, I targeted this Saturday. How could we pass up Star Wars night?

But the real coolness of this gift could not be realized at the time, and through a different gift. Another gift I asked for and received from my wife last Christmas was another box of 1990 CMC cards. I had her get me one for my birthday in November. And I had so much fun opening it, I had her get me another one. It was a couple days later, as I burned off my last two vacation days from work, that I started this blog.

That brings me to the real coolness of the gift: Not one, but two 1990 CMC set members are on the Batavia coaching staff, the manager *and* the hitting coach are both there.

So, the Muckdogs manager, Dann Bilardello, was a catcher on the AAA Buffalo Bisons in 1990. And, a recent addition to the team, Roger LaFrancois is the hitting coach. He was a coach with AAA Vancouver in 1990. Both were right there in the set.

LaFrancois was also one of the first cards I reviewed from the set, my 10th overall. I'm redoing his for a Friday post. The reason is that then, in the early blog days, I had yet to learn the true coolness that is the Google News Archives.

But Bilardello hasn't been reviewed, because his card is still one of the ones I'm missing from the set. But that didn't stop me from going out and getting it, so I could review Bilardello before we went. I've bought individual cards before online before, but with shipping, that's expensive. I decided to finally have a look at one of the team sets offered on eBay. I purchased a still-sealed team set of Bilardello's Buffalo Bisons.

I had an idea that these might not be exactly like the cards from the packs. And I was correct. While the fronts are the same, the backs were different. The cards from packs have yellow backs with a picture that is a cropped version of the photo from the front. The cards from the team set have green backs and the team logo where the photo went on the pack cards. The yet-to-be-reviewed Tommy Shields as an example:

So, my purchase answered my question. And I got a Bilardello card from *a* 1990 CMC set. But I just didn't get Bilardello's card from *the* 1990 CMC set.

Regardless, I'm going for it. In preparation for our trip Saturday to Batavia, I'll still review Bilardello this evening, using the wrong card. And Bilardello's actual card will remain on my want list.

Now, for Star Wars night, where's that lightsaber.

Reggie Sanders, Already Confident - 655

Reggie Sanders only had nine major league games under his belt in spring 1992, but he was already confident.

"You see me, you're going to see an aggressive player, a player who truly loves the game," Sanders told The South Florida Sun-Sentinel that March. "You're going to see some speed, you're going to see me hit for average."

Sanders went on to back up most of what he said, going on to become an All Star and play in 17 major league seasons for eight clubs.

Sanders began his career taken in the seventh round of the 1987 draft by the Reds. He started at short-season Billings, then single-A Greensboro and Cedar Rapids in 1989 and 1990.

At Greensboro, Sanders hit .289 with nine home runs. He also played a role in an early season brawl with Greensboro. An opposing player slid hard into second, resulting in Sanders pushing back. The benches cleared, five were ejected, including Sanders, according to a wire account.

He also made the South Atlantic League All Star team as a late replacement, taking the game's MVP. With Cedar Rapids, Sanders hit .285 with 17 home runs, earning league MVP honors.

For 1991, Sanders earned a promotion to AA Chattanooga, then the jump directly to Cincinnati in August. He was even thought of as a replacement for Eric Davis in center field. Davis was soon traded.

Sander's rookie year in 1992 proved a successful one. He hit .270 with 12 home runs, coming in fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.

By 1994, Sanders was beginning his third full season in the majors. He also got into another brawl, one he was heavily criticized for. In the eighth inning, down by two, a young Pedro Martinez threw one inside, too far, hitting Sanders in the elbow. Sanders charged the mound.

What he was criticized for was the young Pedro was working on a perfect game. He couldn't have hit Sanders intentionally.

"There I am, no way am I trying to hit him," Martinez told reporters afterward. "I guess he took it the wrong way. I was surprised he charged out. Surprised, but not afraid."

Sanders played with the Reds through 1998, earning All-Star honors in 1995. He finished out his career with a succession of teams, including the Diamondbacks in 2001, helping his club win the World Series. He returned to the World Series again in 2002, with the Giants, and in 2004, with the Cardinals.

In 2006 with the Royals, Sanders joined the 300-300 club, finishing his career with 305 home runs and 304 stolen bases. He is one of only six players in that club.

But his final years were marred by injuries. In 2007, a torn hamstring limited his playing time to just 24 games. By January 2008, he was contemplating retirement. He had played his last game.

"I feel like I still want to play," Sanders told ESPN.com, "but this is about making the right decision for me and my family. That's where the holdup is."

• Wilmington Morning Star, Associated Press, April 29, 1989: SAL game suspended after brawl, rainstorm
• Rock Hill Herald, July 13, 1989: Tigers to grace the tube six times in 1989
• South Florida Sun Sentinel, March 22, 1992: Reds' Reggie Vision: Sanders Starts In Center
• Tuscaloosa News, Associated Press, April 12, 1994: Montreal's Pedro Martinez flirts with perfection
• ESPN.com, Jan. 17, 2008: Sanders mulls backup jobs or possible TV analyst job
• Wikipedia: Reggie Sanders

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 175/880 - 19.9%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 178
Made the Majors: 122 - 69%
Never Made the Majors: 56 - 31%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 49
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 61

Kevin Blankenship saw 3 ML seasons, became own worst enemy

The Cubs were fighting for the National League East, but rookie reliever Kevin Blankenship apparently couldn't get that excited. He also couldn't get to the ballpark on time.

With the Cubs heading down the stretch run of 1989, Blankenship overslept for a game. Then he was late for a physical. He also had just overstayed his welcome: There were apparently plenty of other marginal relievers who could at least show up on time.

"I overlooked it," Cubs manager Don Zimmer told The Chicago Tribune of Blankenship's first infraction. The club had to wake him in his hotel room at 11 that morning. "I'm thinking to myself, 'How the hell could somebody oversleep a day game and show up at a quarter to 12?'"

But, after the second infraction, showing up 15 minutes late for the physical, Blankenship was done. "I called him into my office and said, 'Go on home,'" Zimmer told The Tribune.

"I sent him home," Zimmer added later, speaking two days before the Cubs clinched the division. "That's it. I didn't ask for any explanation."

Blankenship had been with the Cubs system for a year, traded to Chicago the previous September as Cubs 80s stalwart Jody Davis was sent the other way to Atlanta.

Blankenship's professional career began in 1984, signed by the Braves as an amateur free agent. He made AA Greenville in 1986 and remained there in 1988. That year, he had a string of 24.2 shutout innings for the AA Braves, a string snapped in August with another win, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

With that show, Blankenship earned a September call-up directly to Atlanta. He made his major league debut Sept. 19 against the Giants. He pitched 3.2 innings, gave up three runs and took the loss.

One more appearance and it was off to the Cubs. Five innings, this time giving up four earned runs in the second-to-last game of the season and Blankenship got the win.

On to 1989 and Blankenship excelled at AAA Iowa. In August, he was seen as a leading candidate for September. He'd gone 13-7 for Iowa, with a 3.45 ERA. He'd also been selected for the AAA All-Star team, according to The Tribune.

He made two appearances that September, Sept. 2 and Sept. 19. In a total of 5.1 innings, he was effective, giving up just one earned run. Then he was sent home.

By 1990, all was forgotten, but his time left in the majors would be brief, and he would make another mistake.

Blankenship earned a late-May call-up and a May 29 start. He went seven innings, giving up three runs, only one of them earned. The two unearned runs were caused by Blankenship himself. He couldn't find first base while covering the bag, according to The Tribune.

"I threw the ball well," Blankenship told The Tribune after the game, "but I was my own worst enemy. I've covered first base a million times, and that's the first time I've missed it. I missed it by a mile."

Blankenship took the loss, the final score 6-2. Blankenship only had two more appearances for the Cubs that year. They were the last two of his career. He held on in the minors through 1992, stopping in the Pirate and Ranger systems. His playing career done, he signed on with the Mets as a scout.

But, after that May 1990 game, Blankenship knew he'd screwed up. In that game and, especially the previous September.

"This is the chance I've been waiting for," Blankenship told The Tribune. "I just have to take advantage of it."

• Orlando Sentinel, Aug. 24, 1988: O-Twins No Match For Bailey's Braves
• Chicago Tribune, Aug. 14, 1989: Cub Plans For Call-ups In The Stretch No Minor Matter
• Chicago Tribune, Sept. 25, 1989: Sutcliffe To Start Against Expos
• Chicago Tribune, May 30, 1990: Blankenship Fine, But Bats Sure Aren't

More: The 1990 Iowa Cubs

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 174/880 - 19.8%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 177
Made the Majors: 121 - 68%
Never Made the Majors: 56 - 32%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 48
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 61

Julio Peguero, Waiver Rules - 763

In spring training 1988, Pirates manager Jim Leyland liked what he saw in Pirates outfield prospect Julio Peguero.

Peguero'd batted .285 and stole 23 bases the previous year at single-A Salem, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted.

"That kid's going to be a player," Leyland told The Post Gazette after that March 28 game. "He has a quick, short stroke, and he can run."

Peguero's career didn't quite turn out as Leyland had hoped. His future in the organization didn't even turn out like the Pirates front-office had hoped, with a literal clerical error blamed for an early departure.

But Peguero did make the majors, appearing in a grand total of 14 games, not for the Pirates, but for the cross-state Phillies.

Peguero's professional career began in 1986, signed by the Pirates out of his native Dominican Republic. He made AA Harrisburg in 1989, returning to AA for 1990.

He hit .277 for Harrisburg in 1990 and the Pirates were still high on him, and another Pittsburgh prospect Wes Chamberlain. In June, Peguero was described by The Allegheny Times as leading the Harrisburg attack with a .277 average, 22 runs, 51 hits and five triples through

So the Pirates wanted to keep him. But the Phillies got him, and Chamberlain. It was a mistake, an irrevocable mistake. Pirates GM Larry Doughty asked for waivers on both to make room for September call-ups, according to The Pittsburgh Press. He didn't realize he couldn't take the waivers back. Years later, the incident is still brought up as a lesson in waiver rules.

With the Phillies, Peguero made AAA Scranton in 1991. Then, in 1992, Philadelphia. Lenny Dykstra had a broken wrist and the Phillies called on Peguero.

It was a quick call, too. The Phillies needed him that night and he only had a few hours to get there from Scranton. "I go ... five minutes ... meet somebody ... Hilton," a smiling Peguero told the Allentown Morning Call in broken English.

His time with the Phillies was brief, his playing time briefer. He played in 14 games, starting just two. Both his starts were against his old team. He went 2 for 7 with a walk. He scattered just six plate appearances over his other 12 games. And that was it.

Whether his two starts against Pittsburgh were coincidence, given the Pirates' waiver mistake, or not. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wasn't biting. The Phillies outfield in that series also included Chamberlain. A Post-Gazette columnist called the outfield of Peguero, Chamberlain and Jim Lindeman "an unearned run waiting to happen."

By July, the Phillies sent Peguero to the Dodgers. Also by July, Peguero's major league career was over.

Peguero held on in the minors through 1996, ending in the Seattle organization. He is also credited with playing in the Mexican League in 2000.

In 2007, he and his wife were in New Mexico, opening a batting cage business, with Peguero offering advice and instruction, according to The Mountain Mail.

His most important piece of advice, according to The Mail, is for batters to be ready for anything.

"Every pitch is different," he told the paper, his language skills improving with the passage of 15 years, "and you have to go with the pitch and keep watching the ball. Don't try so hard to make the ball go to left field or center field, because you don't know where the pitch will go. Look at the ball, then hit it hard."

• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 29, 1988: Pirates beat KC; pitching looks sharp, Part 2
• Allegheny Times, June 7, 1990: Holman demoted to double-A; Piatt promoted to double-A
• Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 4, 1990: Chamberlain happy he's with the Phillies
• Allentown Morning Call, April 9, 1992: ?donde Esta La Casa De Los Phillies?
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 20, 1992: Phils just what Pirates ordered
• The Mountain Mail, March 15, 2007: Former Pro Sets Up 'Batting Zone'

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 173/880 - 19.7%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 176
Made the Majors: 120 - 68%
Never Made the Majors: 56 - 32%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 48
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 61

Road Trip - Pittsfield Colonials With the Folks

My parents were in town a couple weeks ago and I always have to take them to a baseball game. I know this is father's day, but dad's never been the one into baseball. The baseball one's been my mom.

She's been a Cubs fan as long as I've been a Cubs fan. And she watches the games whenever they're on. And for her, they're on almost all the time. For me, out here in Upstate NY, they're not, so I don't.

So, anyway, we always try and take mom to a game. I had designs on going to Newark, to see the Newark Bears and CMC man Willie Banks. Nick over at Baseball Happenings alerted me that he's still playing. Banks is the only set member who I know is confirmed still playing. But that will have to wait. Banks, it seems, gets in games infrequently and it's difficult timing it right.

So we settled on the new Can-Am League team in Pittsfield, Mass. The Pittsfield Colonials are the old American Defenders of New Hampshire. You might recall them as the team that got locked out of their own stadium last year for not being able to pay their bills. They're also the former Nashua Pride.

So, needless to say, they moved from Nashua and landed in Pittsfield, once home to the AA Pittsfield Cubs. But Pittsfield has been without a team since shortly after the old short-season Pittsifled Astros left for Troy, NY after the 2001 season.

So Pittsfield has a team again, in the second version of the old Can-Am League. Pittsfield is actually now one of two of the six current cities to have had teams in the original Can-Am League of the 1940s. Quebec is the other. Quebec also happened to be the team we saw Pittsfield play.

And the cool thing is, the park the Colonials play in is the very same that the old 1940s Pittsfield team played in, Wahconah Park. Wahconah Park was built in 1919 and is credited as one of the last remaining ballparks with a wooden grandstand.
The park itself is simple, but in a cool way. You walk up the walkway and you're standing behind home plate. There's a cool bust of an Indian. I'm sure there was a plaque there, but with the parents, I didn't get a chance to identify who the bust was. The park itself is named for the Mahican maiden Wahconah, central to a Berkshires legend. U-S-History.com has the full Wahconah story.

The park is also unique, in that its home plate faces west, causing a 20-minute sun delay in the summer. We didn't experience this in our visit. But we do plan to go back.

It's nice that Pittsfield has a team back. The city itself claims the oldest reference to the game. In 1791, the city council passed a by-law prohibiting playing the game of baseball within 80 yards of a new meeting house. The discovery was made in 2004, after Pittsfield lost the Berkshire Black Bears of the Can-Am's predecessor league the Northeast League.

With that history, and the history of the field itself, the Colonials have tried to tap into that through their uniforms themselves. Players wear uniforms in the style of the late 19th century. The Colonials' Web site refers to it as a "Turn Back the Century" season. While initially interesting, the uniforms actually turned distracting. And they didn't look easy to play in.

One other thing. In case anyone was wondering, there's no spitting, cursing or gambling at Wahconah Park. The sign near the Pittsfield dugout says so. Odd to have the folks there. I seem to recall similar rules growing up, with them.

Jeff Kaiser frustrated Griffey for first save; Saw seven ML seasons

The Tigers' regular closer Mike Henneman injured, Jeff Kaiser found himself in line for his first major league save in August 1991.

All he had to do, was get through Ken Griffey Jr.

With Griffey representing the possible go-ahead run, this encounter would end with Griffey shattering his bat on his knee in frustration. A swing and a miss by the future Hall of Famer and Kaiser his first career save.

"This kind of thing has happened all season, really," Henneman told reporters days later after a second rookie picked up a save. "We've been picking one another up. That's what makes a true baseball team."

Kaiser was genuinely part of a major league team for his longest stint in years. He pitched in 10 games for the Tigers during that stretch run, as the Tigers fell seven games short of a division win.

In his sixth major league season, Kaiser once pitched in 15 games in 1985 for Oakland, but since the left-hand reliever had only enjoyed brief stints in the majors, some cut short by injury.

Kaiser's professional career began nearly a decade earlier, taken by Oakland in the 10th round of the 1982 draft out of Western Michigan University.

He played for short-season Medford in 1982, then single-A Modesto in 1983. He made AA Albany, then AAA Tacoma in 1984. Kaiser's promotion to Tacoma came after winning Player of the Week honors in the Eastern League.

He made Oakland to start 1985. He was promptly greeted by the Seattle, the team he would get his first save against six years later. But this first meeting would have different results. Kaiser gave up five earned runs over 3.1 innings.

Kaiser pitched in 15 games for Oakland that year, posting a ghastly 14.58 ERA. He spent 1986 back at AAA Tacoma, then was traded to the Indians for 1987. He made Cleveland in August, after the Indians traded Steve Carlton to the Twins.

With the Indians, Kaiser's ERA wasn't much better than Oakland. He pitched in just 3.1 innings in two games, giving up six earned runs. He then was injured, with a pulled muscle.

Kaiser stayed with the Indians system through 1990, getting short stints with the big club each year. In September 1989, Kaiser faced his old team the Athletics. Kaiser, according to the wire account, "was a little wild, just the way the A's remembered him." He gave up a bases-clearing triple.

After a short life as a Brewer, the Tigers signed Kaiser in June 1991, making Detroit by mid-August. He spent 1992 back at AAA Toledo. One more year split between the Reds and the Mets and the lefty was done, his career ERA in 50 appearances at 9.17.

• Schenectady Gazette, May 24, 1984: Arnold's Hit Caps A's Rally, Stops Sox
• Modesto Bee, McClatchy News Service, Sept. 21, 1989: A's feel better after sweeping Cleveland, Part 2
  
• Boca Raton News, Knight-Ridder Newspapers, Aug. 28, 1991: Reserve Tigers key climb

More: The 1990 Colorado Springs Sky Sox

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 172/880 - 19.6%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 175
Made the Majors: 119 - 68%
Never Made the Majors: 56 - 32%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 48
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 60