Von Joshua, Physics of the Swing - 658

Asked by The Los Angeles Times whether he believed race had played a role in his Dodger coaching career, AA hitting coach Von Joshua, who was black, said he believed it did.

The question came only a few days after Dodger General Manager Al Campanis' infamous appearance on Nightline where the GM said he believed blacks "may not have some of the necessities" to be a manager.

"You can see the writing on the wall," Joshua told The Times in a story that appeared three days after the Nightline broadcast. "I'm not stupid. I see myself getting caught up in the shuffle. I haven't heard one thing about moving up. Not one peep."

Joshua had been an instructor with the Dodgers since 1984, having spent parts of six seasons in Los Angeles as a player. He was also the first full-time black minor league coach for the organization, The Times wrote. But he had never been asked to go to winter instructional ball.

Joshua went on in 1988 to get that promotion, to hitting coach at AAA Albuquerque. He would also later join the White Sox system and spend parts of four seasons as their major league hitting coach before joining the Cubs and serving part of 2009 as hitting coach for the North Siders.

For 2010, Joshua has returned to AAA Iowa, serving as hitting coach under Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg.

Joshua stayed with the Dodger system through 1992, serving the rest of his time at Albuquerque. He was later credited with developing 62nd round draft pick Mike Piazza into the player he became. Joshua worked with Piazza directly for much of 1992.

It was for 1993 that Joshua joined the White Sox system, first at single-A South Bend, then making it to AAA Nashville in 1997. It was in 1998 that he made the White Sox as the major league hitting coach.

"I know this is a proving ground for me," Joshua told The Chicago Tribune when he was hired that May. "But I've been preparing 15 years and I'm ready. I might not know much about physics, but I know the physics of the swing."

By May 2001, Joshua was out on the South Side. His White Sox weren't hitting and he was the fall guy. Joshua later called himself the scapegoat.

"I was hurt for a long time," Joshua told The Tribune in 2004, then hitting coach at the Cubs' AA team in West Tennessee. "Somebody has to be the scapegoat when things don't go right. It's just, how can you go from being the best thing since sliced bread, and two or three months later, you're stupid? I was hurt."

Joshua made AAA Iowa in 2006. In June 2009, Joshua was promoted to the Cubs' hitting coach. He managed to improve the Cubs' team batting average over the second half, but not by much, from .246 to .255. It was back to AAA Iowa for Joshua in 2010.

"I told him that it wasn't anything that I was upset with him, he didn't do anything wrong," Cubs' GM Jim Hendry told the AP in October. "But when you come up from the system in the middle of the year, if things don't make significant difference in improvement, then obviously in my opinion we need to try something different."

• Los Angeles Times, April 9, 1987: Blacks In Major League Baseball Management: Absence or Malice?
• Chicago Tribune, May 27, 1998: They're Both Here To Work
• Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2001: Joshua Speaks Loudly About Weak Sticks
• Chicago Tribune, June 14, 2004: Joshua: I was a scapegoat
• ABCNews.com, April 12, 2007: 'Nightline' Classic: Al Campanis
• ESPN.com, Associated Press, June 15, 2009: Perry fired in third season with Cubs
• SWXRightNow.com, Associated Press, Oct. 4, 2009: Cubs demote hitting coach Von Joshua

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 210.6/880 - 23.9%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 215
Made the Majors: 148 - 69%
Never Made the Majors: 67 - 31%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 65
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 68

The Guy in the Dawson Jersey

This is a little late, I know, but I've been keeping up with other things, so here goes. Last weekend, my wife and I had the greatest time in Cooperstown, there for the induction of The Hawk Andre Dawson into the Hall of Fame.

I also picked up some cards, too, but more on those later.

Since I'm about a week late, I'll try and spare most of the details. We had great seats, off to the right of the stage and in prime spot for the MLB Network cameras. I recorded the ceremony on the DVR and we actually got on TV a couple times. For those wondering, I was the guy with the Dawson jersey, the wife was the one next to the guy with the Dawson jersey. My wife got me the jersey a few years ago.

But it was something I'd waited for since I was a kid. I was a huge Dawson fan growing up in Iowa. I even got to meet him in 1988, when I was 9. He was so great, he signed every one of the cards I brought, all nine of them. They're among the coolest things I have.

Anyway, I always vowed I'd be there when he was inducted. We were there and it was worth every second of the wait.

Old Expos fans were there, too. There was even a guy with a really old Lethbridge Expos shirt, the rookie league team that Dawson played for in Alberta in 1975.

It was nice to hear the old Expos chant "Lets Go Expos." My wife and I met in 2003 and started going to games in 2004. If I have a regret, it's not getting her up to Olympic Stadium in time. I got there in 2002. I thought they'd be back for 2005, but they weren't.

Dawson's speech was great. We both got a little misty-eyed when he spoke of his mother and grandmother. The comments on steroids were great. And he paid it forward, where Ryne Sandburg advocated for him, he advocated for Lee Smith and Tim Raines to get to the Hall.

Afterward, we headed directly to the museum for the installation of the new plaques in the hall. Waiting, we stopped by the gift shop and, among other items, I picked up a pack of 2010 Topps Series 2. I knew there was a Dawson in the Legendary Lineage line, so I thought it would be cool if I could try and pull one while waiting for his plaque to go up.

I didn't get that card, but I did get a code card, my third overall. Maybe that would be a Dawson to bring everything together? Well, I didn't get a Dawson, but the endevour was brought together. When I entered the code a couple days later, I got the 1986 Cubs Leaders card. On the front? Lee Smith, one of the two players Dawson advocated for, from a code card I'd pulled at the Hall of Fame. I know, my wife was thoroughly blown away, too. (Well, maybe she wasn't.)

By the way, after a couple moves by security, we managed to be in the right spot at the end of the Hall ceremony. I ended up being the first member of the general public to stand in front of the installed plaque and have his picture taken.

Anyway, to bring this home in a semi-topical way, I was on the lookout, as always, for 1990 CMC connections. There were the more obvious ones, through the inductees themselves.

Whitey Herzog was the man CMC set member Dann Bilardello wrote to in 1983, hoping the manager wouldn't charge him for all his foul balls he'd hit.

Another CMC member's home run in 1987 came two batters before the infamous beanball thrown at Dawson in his MVP year that cost him two games. CMC set member Paul Noce hit it out July 7 off Eric Show. Two batters later, Show hit Dawson in the face.

As far as direct CMC connections, I did spot a random Curt Schilling Red Sox jersey. I know Dawson played two seasons with the Red Sox, but a Schilling jersey at the Dawson induction? Schilling, of course was a direct member of the CMC set, as a player on the 1990 Rochester Red Wings.

We stopped in to a few of the many baseball stores during the trip. In one, I picked up three grab bags. They're kind of fun, when mixed up properly. These three were dominated by 1992 Fleer.
My favorite store, one was almost like a museum with it's vintage memorabilia, is no longer there. We went looking for it, didn't see it, then finally realized it was replaced by a candy shop.
On the way out, we stopped by one more shop, one that had a ton of old wax at reasonable junk prices. Fifty cents for packs of 1988 and 1992 Donruss, and 1990-1992 Upper Deck. They also had 1984 Topps packs, for three bucks. I couldn't pass any of them up. I grabbed one of each, along with another 2010 Series 2.

I haven't opened any of them yet, but I will soon. I'm most curious about the 1984 Topps. I've never opened one of those. I started collecting in 1987. But I will, of course, be looking for Dawsons, and players that would be or were in the CMC set. I will report back on my findings later.

Claude Osteen, So Many Scenarios - 658

After more than two decades as a pitching coach in the majors and the minors, Claude Osteen mid-year 1999 became a pitching coach for a team he played the longest for, the Dodgers.

And he wanted to come back for another.

"The only control I have is the type of job I've done, and I think I've done a good job under the circumstances," Osteen told The Los Angeles Times that September.

"It took a while to start to get [the pitchers] to believe in some things," Osteen added later. "But it hasn't been frustrating for me because, as a pitching coach, you're constantly presented with so many scenarios. You just have to always figure things out as best you can. Period."

Osteen began his pitching career in 1976 at Reading, shortly after being cut by the White Sox. Osteen had just completed a playing career that included nine seasons with the Dodgers.

He made it back to the majors in 1977, accepting the job as pitching coach of the Cardinals. He also accepted the job of reigning in The Mad Hungarian Al Hrabosky, without having the pitcher lose his edge.

"We felt perhaps he was overusing it in the past," Cardinals manager Vern Rapp told The Chicago Sun-Times of what he and Osteen told Hrabosky about the pitchers unusual intimidation techniques, "but we told him to use it to his advantage."

Osteen stayed in St. Louis through 1980, when an incoming Whitey Herzog let him and others go. He returned to coaching in 1982, with the Phillies, watching over such pitchers as Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. He stayed in Philadelphia for seven seasons and saw his pitching staff into the 1983 World Series.

Speaking to the Reading Eagle after he was hired in Philadelphia, Osteen said his long playing career helped him with his coaching.

"I've made a thorough study of the entire pitching delivery," Osteen told The Eagle. "I've developed a series of check points, so if something goes wrong you can track the problem down. And I'm a great believer in film."

By the late 1980s, Osteen saw two other Osteens join the playing world, his two sons. Sons Dave Osteen and Gavin Osteen both played in the minors in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but never made the majors.

By 1992, Osteen was back with the Dodgers, serving as pitching coach for AAA Albuquerque and overseeing the development of such pitchers as Pedro Martinez. Osteen had a hand in delaying Martinez' debut, over sore shoulder concerns, according to The LA Times.
"Pedro is still an outstanding prospect," Fred Claire, Dodger vice president, told The LA Times that July. "But we have talked to Claude Osteen and we think he needs to keep working through coming back from his sore shoulder."

After spending two seasons as pitching coach for the Rangers, the successor to one of Osteen's other playing days teams, it was back to Albuquerque in 1996 and to Los Angeles in 1999. He did get his second year with the Dodgers in 2000, after which he became a scout.

In 2003, Osteen returned to coaching, with the Diamondbacks at AA El Paso.

"Anytime you bring in a staff member with Claude Osteen's outstanding experience, tremendous knowledge and genuine passion for the game," Tommy Jones, Diamondbacks director of minor league operations told MLB.com as Osteen was hired, "you are making your organization stronger."

To read about Claude Osteen's long playing career, go to: Claude Osteen, Good Control

• Miami News, Chicago Sun-Times, May 10, 1977: Al Hrabosky still mad and Hungarian but he says Card manager killed Mad Hungarian
• Reading Eagle, Dec. 4, 1981: Osteen Fulfills Goal in Taking Philadelphia Job
• Los Angeles Times, July 7, 1992: Pedro Martinez Will Stay in Minors
• Los Angeles Times, Sept. 28, 1999: Osteen Wants to Come Back
• MLB.com, Jan. 28, 2003: D-Backs fill minors coaching jobs

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 210.3/880 - 23.9%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 214
Made the Majors: 147 - 69%
Never Made the Majors: 67 - 31%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 64
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 68

Greg Booker saw eight majors seasons, seven with Padres

Speaking to The Los Angeles Times in 1988, Greg Booker found that year to be the worst.

It was Booker's sixth straight season with time in the majors and he'd had mixed results. His play, though not always the best or most frequent, by itself was not enough to catch anyone's eye, or ire.

No, that came from who he knew, or who he was married to. Booker's wife, someone he'd known since he was a child, was the daughter of none other than the his general manager and then manager, Jack McKeon.

"They yell when I'm down in the bullpen, where it's real quiet and everybody can hear them," Booker told The Times. "People will actually stop watching the game just so they can mess with me."

It was enough for the Padres to finally trade him away the next year.

Booker's familial relationships aside, he went on to a major league career that totaled time in eight seasons. And Booker's career in baseball is one that has continued over the past two decades, as coach for various teams, major league and minor league.

It also continues this year as the pitching coach for the Syracuse Chiefs, seeing Washington Nationals pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg through his stint at AAA and on to the majors.

Booker's professional career began in 1981, when he was taken by the Padres in the 10th round out of Elon University. A first baseman-turned pitcher, Booker started at short-season Walla Walla, posting a 5.26 ERA.

His second season was worse, at single-A Reno, Booker started 27 games and had an ERA of 6.35. Still, Booker made AAA Las Vegas in 1983 and then, late in the year, San Diego.

With the Padres that first September, Booker appeared in six games, 11.2 innings and gave up 10 earned runs. But he returned for much of 1984 and the reliever appeared in 32 contests, with an ERA of 3.30. He also got ejected from an August game after throwing tight on a batter.

It was that year that Booker also went with his team to the World Series. He got in only two games and three innings. One of those innings came early in Game 3 of the World Series, a San Diego loss. He walked in one run, and walked four in total before being lifted.

Booker went on to just nine appearances for 1985, but returned to 44 in 1987 and 34 in 1988. The 1988 numbers, however, included long stints without an appearance, stints contributing to fan anger, according to The Times.

Out of San Diego after pitching 11 games in 1989, Booker landed with the Twins. He pitched in six more that year for Minnesota. Signing with the Cubs for spring 1990, Booker was released and joined the Giants, where he had his final two unsuccessful major league games.

After several seasons as a minor league pitching coach, Booker returned to the majors in 1997, first as the Padres' bullpen coach, then as the club's pitching coach. He was let go in 2003.

The San Diego Union-Tribune speculated that the departure was for the best, with San Diego constantly reminding him in the 1980s that he was McKeon's son-in-law and, in the 1990s, he was friends with the Padres' manager Bruce Bochy.

More recently, Booker caught on with the Nationals, serving as pitching coach for AAA Syracuse. About his most famous former pitcher, Booker had high praise, according to the Burlington Times News.

"It was exciting the way the kid goes about his business," Booker told The Times News. "He was beyond his years. It was neat working with him and having a small part in it. There’s no doubt about it, he's something."

• Lodi News-Sentinel, UPI, Oct. 13, 1984: Detroit gets to San Diego bullpen
  
• Los Angeles Times, March 20, 1985: Booker Is Forced to Prove Himself Despite Relation
  
• Los Angeles Times, Sept. 16, 1988: For Padres' Greg Booker, 1988 'Has Been the Worst'
• Los Angeles Times, March 15, 1989: Booker Seems Bound to Draw Criticism for Padre Family Ties
• Los Angeles Times, June 29, 1989: Padres Trade McKeon's Son-in-Law
• CBSSports.com, May 18, 2003: Booker takes fall, but Padres have Moores problems
• San Diego Union-Tribune, May 19, 2003: Coach had critics here since his playing days
• Burlington Times News, July 25, 2010: Work with phenom Strasburg part of class AAA experience for Booker

More: The 1990 Phoenix Firebirds

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 210/880 - 23.9%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 213
Made the Majors: 146 - 69%
Never Made the Majors: 67 - 31%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 63
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 68

Mark Huismann saw 9 ML campaigns, car issues headed to first

Called-up from AAA Omaha for the first time, Mark Huismann hopped in his parents' car, and, after stopping three times as the car overheated, Huismann finally made it to Kansas City in August 1983, just in time for that night's game, The Associated Press wrote.

Huismann not only got in the game that night, according The AP account, he helped preserve an early Royals one-run lead. He also got the win.

"I just said 'Welcome to the big leagues,'" Royals manager Dick Howser told reporters. "I was impressed with him. He has a good live arm. He went right after them and challenged them. I liked that. It's a nice way to break in."

Huismann had been signed by the Royals three years earlier, as a free agent. He'd made AA in 1982 and made a brief stop at AAA Omaha in 1983 before being called up to Kansas City.

Huismann got into 13 games for the Royals that year and 38 the next. He was credited with three saves for 1984, but had a 4.20 ERA.

In 1985 he saw his major league playing time reduced, to only eight late-season appearances. He didn't make the post-season roster, but he also posted 34 saves at AAA Omaha, then a league record.

The Royals wanted to cut his salary by 20 percent. Huismann responded by saying he'd rather be traded. ''I don't think there's any reason I should have to take a pay cut after the year I had,'' Huismann told reporters.

He soon got his wish. In May, the Royals shipped Huismann to the Mariners. In Seattle, Huismann got into 36 games, with a 3.71 ERA and getting four saves.

Huismann went on to play for a different team each year through 1989, Cleveland, Detroit and then Baltimore, seeing the majors each year. Landing with the Pirates for 1990, Huismann was referred to by one account as a retread.

Huismann got back to the majors for only two games that year, in June. Pirates manager Jim Leyland sent him back down that month, saying Huismann needed some work to get back to form.

"Huismann needs to get his breaking pitch back," Leyland told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It's tough to be a one-pitch pitcher against the clubs we face."

Huismann pitched in five more games for the Pirates in 1991 and his major league career was done. But he would return four years later, in spring 1995 for a shot at replacement ball.

He had been in a management training program when the Royals called him to play that spring, according to an AP story. The strike ended and Huismann wasn't sure what he would do next. But it wouldn't be baseball.

"I'll go home," Huismann told the AP, "be Mr. Mom for a while and look for a job."

• Fort Scott Tribune, Associated Press, Aug. 17, 1983: Royals coast to win behind nine-run seventh 18-7
• Orlando sentinel, March 9, 1986: Saturday's Notebook
• Tri City Herald, Associated Press, May 22, 1986: M's trade Bell for Huismann
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 15, 1990: Bucs recall Bair, return Huismann to Buffalo
• Lawrence Journal-World, AP, April 4, 1995: It's back to reality for KC replacements

More: The 1990 Buffalo Bisons

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 209/880 - 23.8%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 212
Made the Majors: 145 - 68%
Never Made the Majors: 67 - 32%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 62
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 68

Francisco de la Rosa provided ML bullpen relief, saw two career ML appearances; Passed in 2011

Updated January 2011
The Orioles bullpen needed some relief and Francisco de la Rosa was the called up to fill the gap, according to The Baltimore Sun.

The move didn't go as intended for the Orioles, or de la Rosa. It got de la Rosa to the majors. But back problems would limit his appearances to two, what would turn out to be the the only two appearances of his major league career.

De la Rosa began his career with the Blue Jays system, signed as a free agent out of his native Dominican Republic. He played part of one season for the Blue Jays' rookie league team, with a 5.52 ERA, and was released.

It wasn't until late 1987 that de la Rosa caught on with the Orioles, playing 1988 at single-A Hagerstown. He returned to single-A Frederick in 1988, while posting a 2.38 ERA and getting promoted back to AA Hagerstown. In 18 appearances at AA, de la Rosa's ERA expanded to 4.55. Among his problems was a three-run double given up in August against Albany.

De la Rosa returned to Hagerstown for 1990, bettering his ERA to a more-than-acceptable 2.05, and getting a taste of AAA Rochester. He also got a look at starting. In one July game, de la Rosa threw a complete-game, three-hitter, according to the Reading Eagle.

Back to mainly relief for 1991, de la Rosa spent the year at Rochester and had a still-good 2.67 ERA. Then he got the September call-up.

De la Rosa debuted with the Orioles Sept. 7. In 1.1 innings, he gave up two hits and one walk. Then his back got sore, suffering spasms after his debut, according to The Sun.

His back was well enough by October to get back in a game. That game came Oct. 3 and it didn't go well. He pitched in another 2.2 innings, de la Rosa gave up four hits and two earned runs in a blow-out loss to the Yankees.

Whatever de la Rosa did in that outing, the Yankees saw something, other than extra runs. By the start of the 1992 season, the Yankees traded for him. As he went, de la Rosa gave up five runs in one inning of an Orioles intersquad game.

De la Rosa spent the next two seasons at AAA Columbus. In spring 1993, his spring training was delayed with visa problems, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

De la Rosa signed on with the Cardinals for 1995, playing at AAA Louisville. His career ended in 1996, with four appearances with the independent Northern League.

De la Rosa, though, passed away in January 2011 after several years of failing health. He was 44.

• Baltimore Sun, Sept. 4, 1991: De la Rosa called up early to plug hole in bullpen
• Baltimore Sun, Sept. 18, 1991: At least 4 players headed to Instructional League
• Baltimore Sun, March 5, 1992: De la Rosa, who might be on way out, is hit hard
• Baltimore Sun, March 6, 1992: De la Rosa to Yankees Mesa next?

More: 1990 Hagerstown Suns

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 208/880 - 23.6%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 211
Made the Majors: 144 - 68%
Never Made the Majors: 67 - 32%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 61
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 68

Rodney Lofton, Bunt The Ball - 765

Rodney Lofton had speed. But he was reluctant to fully take advantage of it. That was essentially what the sentiment of his manager at AAA Rochester in 1992, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Rochester manager Jerry Nerron wanted Lofton to bunt more. Lofton wasn't so sure, The Sun wrote.

"If he gets on base," Narron told The Sun, "he'll play in the big leagues because of his ability to play defense and run the bases."

Whether it was Lofton's reluctance to bunt, or some other reason, Lofton never made it to the big leagues.

Lofton was playing in his fifth year of professional ball. He was drafted by the Orioles in the 13th round of the 1988 draft.

Beginning at short-season Erie, Lofton went on to play at single-A Frederick in 1989, making the Carolina League All-Star team that year.

Lofton made AA Hagerstown in 1990, getting his first taste of AAA Rochester that same year. Lofton was credited with stealing 27 bases that year. In May, The Schenectady Gazette noted Hagerstown's speed, citing Lofton and two other team members topping the stolen base list.

In 1991, that speed shined. Lofton, returning to Hagerstown, stole 56 bases for the Suns, making the Eastern League All-Star team. By early August, Lofton had 48 steals, 13 of those third base, according to The Sun. The previous team record was 38.

Lofton also hit a home run in August, notable in that he hadn't hit one before, in 1.385 at-bats since 1988, according to The Sun.

Lofton split 1992 between Hagerstown and Rochester, slowing down to 21 total steals. He also hit just .235 with Rochester and had an on-base percentage of .279.

It was enough for the Orioles to trade Lofton to the Reds. After a brief stay, Lofton moved on to the Brewers system, where he would end his career. His final year was 1995, with AAA New Orleans. He hit just .217 and stole only nine bases.

• Baltimore Sun, July 19, 1992: Despite managerial pleas, Lofton is reluctant to bunt

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 207/880 - 23.5%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 210
Made the Majors: 143 - 68%
Never Made the Majors: 67 - 32%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 61
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 68

Jim Bowie saw 6 ML games with Athletics over 12 pro seasons

Oakland's Geronimo Berroa went down in early August and Jim Bowie got his chance, this would be his major league debut. Called up by the Athletics, Bowie stayed up for the rest of the season.

Unfortunately for Bowie, the rest of the season meant appearances in six games, including the season finale, Aug. 11.

The 1994 strike came, ending the season for Bowie and the rest of the major league players. Those six games - he got to swing the bat in five of them - would be the extent of Bowie's major league career.

Bowie made the majors in his ninth season of professional ball. He began, taken in the 12th round out of Louisiana State by the Mariners in the 1986 draft.

He began at short-season Bellingham, where he hit .277 with five home runs. A reporter for the Eugene Register-Guard played on Bowie's name while reporting on one July game. Bowie, the reporter wrote, "provided the most unkind cuts of all - three hits, two RBI and two runs scored."

The Register-Guard also noted a Bowie relative, not the knife's namesake, but Sam Bowie, the basketball draft pick known for being the guy taken ahead of Michael Jordan. Sam Bowie was Jim Bowie's cousin.

Jim Bowie went on to make AA Williamsport in 1989, playing most of the year at AAA Calgary. He returned to Williamsport for 1990. He didn't return to AAA full time until 1994, with the Oakland system. He'd joined the Athletics as a free agent the previous year.

After his brief stint with Oakland that August, Bowie returned to AAA in 1995, his last year as a full-time player. In 1997, he served as a coach and player for AA Mobile, his last year in the field.

Bowie went on to a career as a hitting coach and a minor league coordinator. From 2005 to 2008, Bowie served as hitting coach for AAA Fresno, coaching Eugenio Velez in 2008.

Velez had gotten into a slump earlier that year, but came out of it. He credited Bowie, according to MLB.com.

"The hitting coach (Jim Bowie) told me, 'If you keep swinging the bat, everything's going to be fine," Velez told MLB.com. "When you go to the plate, don't think. If you see something white, just swing (at) it."

• Eugene Register-Guard, July 13, 1986: Mariners have bloodlines, and the win
  
• Lawrence Journal-World, Associated Press, Aug. 4, 1994: A's shelve Berroa
• MLB.com, July 8, 2008: Speedster Velez returns to Giants

More: The 1990 Harrisburg Senators

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 206/880 - 23.4%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 209
Made the Majors: 143 - 68%
Never Made the Majors: 66 - 32%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 61
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 68

Nelson Rood, Got To Relax - 491

Nelson Rood wasn't a player to concern himself with whether he'd make the major leagues, according to The Lakeland Ledger.

"I'm not worried. You've got to relax to play this game," Rood, then playing at single-A Daytona Beach told The Ledger in July 1984. Aiming to impress, makes a player press, he added.

"I'm a Christian, it ties strongly with my game," he told the paper. "My definition of success is not necessarily defeating my opponent. It transcends that."

Rood successfully played in eight professional seasons, six of those at the AAA level. But he wouldn't succeed at making the majors.

Rood was selected by the Astros in the 13th round of the 1983 draft, taken out of Florida Southern. In college, Rood had some speed. He had 37 stolen bases by late April his final season. His 38th came on a daring steal of home, according to the St. Petersburg Evening Independent.

Sent later that year to short-season Auburn, Rood hit .233, but stole another 16 bases.

He started his second campaign at Daytona Beach, earning a slot in the Florida State League All-Star Game. He hit a bases loaded triple in one May game. It was shortly after his All-Star honors that Rood won a mid-year promotion to AA Columbus. He made AAA Tucson in 1985, where he would remain for the remainder of his minor league career.

He hit .245 in 1985 and .242 in 1986. Despite the average, the coach at Rood's old college had Rood pegged as having a good chance at the majors.

"They all have the ability to get there, but will need a break," coach Chuck Anderson told The Ledger, speaking of several graduates. "Luck has so much to do with it. Nelson Rood is playing Triple A ball and has a good shot."

Rood stayed with the Astros system and at Tucson through 1988. He joined the Brewers at AAA Denver for 1989. For 1990, he joined the Angels system, but played in just 18 games for AAA Edmonton, ending his career.

Rood went on to manage a year with the Arizona League Giants in 1991 and coach with the Clinton Giants in 1992. He then scouted for the Astros through 1996, the joined the Devil Rays.

The scouting business wasn't on his mind back in 1984, speaking to The Ledger. Asked what would happen if he didn't make it to the majors, Rood suggested he'd go back home and continue what he'd been doing in the off-season: selling cemetery property.

• St. Petersburg Evening Independent, April 23, 1983: Eckerd's debts may be more than can be paid off
  
• Lakeland Ledger, July 14, 1984: Former Moc Rood doesn't let tomorrow bother him
• Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal, July 11, 1984: Rood Moves Up To Columbus

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 205/880 - 23.3%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 208
Made the Majors: 142 - 68%
Never Made the Majors: 66 - 32%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 61
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 67

Edwin Marquez, Visa Problems - 62

Going into spring training 1989, Edwin Marquez was coming off a year where been described as a top Angels catching prospect, but one where he'd only played 13 games.

So, when players returned to camp that year, but Marquez couldn't. That couldn't have been of much help to the backstop. It was Visa problems for the Venezuelan native that stalled his return, according to the Los Angeles Times.

His arrival was stalled the year before, as well. He finally arrived in 1989 a month late, according to The Daily News of Los Angeles.

Unfortunately for Marquez, he would only have to worry about visa problems for another year. His last year in professional baseball would come in 1990, his career ending short of the majors.

Marquez' career began in 1983, signed as a free agent by the Angels out of Venezuela. Sent to short-season Salem, Marquez did poorly.

For the Salem Angels of the Northwest League that year, Marquez got just 33 at-bats, hitting .091. He returned for 1984 and part of 1985, hitting .250 in 48 at-bats in 1984 and then just .215 in 79 at-bats in 1985.

He made it up to single-A Quad City for the rest of 1985 and all of 1986, finding his bat in 1986. That year, he hit .280 with five home runs for the QC Angels. That also earned him a promotion to AA Midland.

At Midland, Marquez continued his tear, hitting .286 for the Texas League team. Then came 1988, a hint at Visa problems and injury. He earned a promotion that year to AAA Edmonton, after his early visa problems were solved. But he only got in 13 games. A sore hand in mid-July put him on the disabled list, according to The Times.

When he finally got into camp in 1989, he started his season. But he would split the year between Edmonton and single-A Palm Springs. He hit .260 at Palm Springs, including a July double that gave Palm Springs the lead against Modesto, according to the Modesto Bee.

Back at Edmonton, Marquez hit .293 in 32 games, but it was his final year with the Angels system. For 1990, Marquez started with the Montreal system, then jumped to Houston. He played at AAA Indianapolis and AA Jacksonville, briefly both places. He hit .163 at Indianapolis.

With the Houston system, Marquez played 18 games at AAA Tucson, hitting markedly better, at .339. But Marquez was done. He wouldn't return for 1991.

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 204/880 - 23.2%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 207
Made the Majors: 142 - 69%
Never Made the Majors: 65 - 31%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 61
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 67

John Marzano, Watch Him Hit - 263

Working as an instructor for young Red Sox in spring 1985, Carl Yastrzemski had some high praise to hand out.

"I'll tell you there's one kid here who really looks good to me," Yastrzemski told UPI in March. "There he is now over there now, getting ready to hit. His name is John Marzano and he was catcher on our Olympic team. Watch him hit. He's got a quick bat and a nice short stride."

Yastrzemski's praise aside, Marzano went on to a career that included playing time in 10 seasons. His career would continue after his playing days as a broadcaster, doing that up until is death in 2008 from a fall.

He was taken by the Red Sox in the first round of the 1984 draft, a year after the Olympics. And he made a quick ascent up the Red Sox ladder. He made AA New Britain in 1985 and Pawtucket and then the majors in 1987.

That year, he got into 52 games for the Red Sox, the most appearances he would have in a single season. He made his first appearance for Boston July 31, an 0-3 outing in a win.

But a few days later, Marzano paid dividends. He went 2 for 4 on Aug. 3, then got at least one hit in eight of his next 10 contests. The streak culminated Aug. 16 when he went 3 for 4 with three runs scored, two of them on home runs.

"I have to remember not to get too high," Marzano told the Associated Press, "but this is still really exciting - getting a home run yesterday and then two today. Hopefully, I'll have a few more games like this."

Marzano went on to hit a total of five home runs that year, three of them in those two games. For his career, he would hit a total of 11. Those 11 came out of 191 career base hits.

While he got his hits from the batter's box, the native of South Philadelphia also got his hits in elsewhere. In August 1996, playing for the Mariners, Marzano got in a shoving match with the Yankees' Paul O'Neill as the benches cleared, according to an account in the New York Times. Earlier that year, in March, Barry Bonds took a swing at Marzano as the catcher tried to keep Bonds from charging the mound.

Marzano stayed with Boston through 1992. Going through the Indians and Phillies minor league systems, Marzano returned to the majors for two games in 1995 with Texas. But he found a new home in 1996, with Seattle, staying with them until the end of his major league career in 1998.

That final year, Marzano wasn't sure he would get it, according to The Seattle Times. He had to wait until a meeting with manager Lou Pinella.

"I'm just so happy," Marzano told reporters as he came out of the meeting, job in hand. "I don't know, can you tell?"

Marzano died in 2008 after a fall at his home.

"He was a baseball guy and he loved life," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel told The AP after Marzano's death. Manuel managed Marzano in the Indians system in 1993. "He had a personality. He was kind of a pepper-pot player. He was a go-getting kind of guy. That's what he had to do and it worked for him."

• Lodi News-Sentinel, UPI, March 19, 1985: Two pretty good Red Sox hitting instructors
• Schenectady Gazette, Associated Press, Aug. 17, 1987: Marzano-Led Bosox Rout Rangers
• New York Times, March 25, 1996: Bonds Takes a Swing at Marzano
• Spokane Spokesman-Review, Seattle Times, March 27, 1998: So, who says Marzano doesn't have a prayer?, Part 2
• Boston.com, Associated Press, April 19, 2008: Former major leaguer John Marzano dies at 45 in Philadelphia

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 203/880 - 23.1%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 206
Made the Majors: 142 - 69%
Never Made the Majors: 64 - 31%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 61
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 67

Terrel Hansen, Wrong Time - 690

Talking to a columnist in 2009, Terrel Hansen's assessment of his career was succinct.

"I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time or behind somebody," Hansen told The Kitsap Sun of Bremerton, Wa.. "But when you are a $100,000 guy and there are $6 million guys ahead of you, those guys have to play. That is just a part of the game."

Hansen was speaking of a professional playing career that spanned 13 minor league seasons and two major league days.

That's two major league days.

Hansen's career began with the Expos, taken in the 14th round of the 1987 draft out of the University of Washington.

He started at short-season Jamestown, then made West Palm Beach in 1988 and Rockford in 1989. It was AA Jacksonville in 1990. Hansen never hit better than .269 in those four seasons. But he did become a home run hitter. He hit 16 for Rockford and 24 for Jacksonville.

It was enough for the Expos to ship him to the Mets in a four-player deal, getting Alex Diaz and Darren Reed in return.

With the Mets, Hansen found a home at AAA. He would play the next two seasons there, at Tidewater. Then it was back with the Expos at AAA Ottawa. His final three years in affiliated ball were spent largely at AA Jacksonville.

In 1994, Hansen hit .317 and made the Southern League All-Star Team. In 1996, Jansen hit the most home runs he'd hit in a year, 26, 25 of those at Jacksonville. Two of them came in one June game. His four seasons at Jacksonville, for three different organizations, earned him a spot on the all-time Jacksonville Suns team from The Jacksonville News.

His time in affiliated ball over with 1996, Hansen held on three more years with independent Chico. He hit 46 home runs over three seasons, earning a spot in the Chico Pro Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005. He's since moved into teaching baseball, as an instructor.

Back to those two days in the majors. Those came in 1992, with the Mets. Called up in late April when infielder Kevin Baez went down. He was sent back down two days later, as Vince Coleman came off the DL.

He never got an at-bat, or in a game. At one point, according to The Sun, he was going to pinch-hit, but was told to put the bat back down. The starter was going to stay in.

To make the situation worse, just after Hansen was sent back down, the player who prompted it, Coleman, got hurt again. But Hansen couldn't be brought back up, not for 10 days due to a rule about recalling players, The Sun wrote.

His replacement, according to The Sun, stayed up for a month. Hansen never got back.

• Moscow-Pullman Daily News, March 14, 1995: Ex-Coug Hansen paces Mariners
• Chico Outlaws, Dec. 25, 2005: Outlaws to honor latest 'Legends of the Diamond'
• Kitsap Sun, June 2, 2009: Hansen's MLB Career: 2 Games, 0 At-Bats
• Kitsap Sun, June 10, 2010: Terrel Hansen One of Brightest Suns in Jacksonville History

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 202/880 - 23.0%
Players/Coaches Reviewed: 205
Made the Majors: 141 - 69%
Never Made the Majors: 64 - 31%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 60
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 67

Fun Fest and Museum Trailer

The Principal Family Fun Fest at Bruno Stadium in Troy, NY

This is the Principal Family Fun Fest, on its visit to the Tri-City ValleyCats Saturday night. The event is a mass of games and activities, mostly geared toward kids. But the cool thing is it has this traveling minor league baseball museum trailer.

That's basically what it is, a trailer. You enter at one end and exit the other. Museum pieces, like bats, gloves, baseball cards are all on display.

My wife and I had seen the fun fest before, four years ago before a game in Syracuse. I remember it because we saw it the day I proposed.

No, I didn't propose at the game. That all happened earlier in the day, on a boat. (There are multiple exits at a game, few on a boat) And we've been happily married for three years now. So, newly engaged, we went to see the Syracuse Chiefs, and wandered into the Fun Fest and Museum Trailer.

Signed Field of Dreams movie script

Inside the trailer is a bunch of minor league and baseball memorabilia. Among the pieces was a signed copy of a script for Field of Dreams, though maybe Bull Durham might had been a better choice for a minor league museum trailer. My wife and I went to the Field of Dreams movie site with my parents back in 2004. I also went there as a kid. Great place to have a catch. Though I hear it's being sold.

There was a Joe DiMaggio San Francisco Seals jersey and a bunch of playing figures with major league in their minor league uniforms. I took my wife's picture next to the Pudge Rodriguez one. She loves Pudge.

There was also a Bo Jackson autographed Birmingham Barons jersey, the signature faded, and a signed Derek Jeter Columbus Clippers jersey. The Buck O'Neil autographed glove was cool.
The Nolan Ryan autographed ball with unworthy 1991 Classic card

There were also autographed baseballs paired with cards. The Phil Niekro autographed was with a worthy 1967 card. The Nolan Ryan autograph, however, was paired with a decidedly unworthy 1991 Classic card. Though maybe it fits, I think that card was included in the minor league set.

The Visalia Oaks jerseys prompted my comment that I heard there was an opening in Visalia next year. When I prompted my wife that the line was from a movie, it took her a couple tries to guess it. She appeared to have forgotten her decision to guess "Bull Durham" whenever I asked what movie a line was from.
The CMC cards
That brings me to the 1990 CMC references. I saw a couple, one of them direct, the other not so direct. The direct one was the inclusion of three actual cards from the set in an array of minor league cards. I suppose any array of minor league cards has to include the CMC set. Two of the players chosen for inclusion were obvious ones, David Justice and Moises Alou, both players yet to be reviewed here. The other one, seemingly thrown in, was Mel Stottlemyre.
Baseball's Longest Game, Roger LaFrancois is not mentioned

The other reference was more subtle. In my interview with Batavia Muckdogs hitting coach Roger LaFrancois, he spoke of taking part in the longest game in professional baseball history. There it was in the museum trailer, a reference to that game, played in 1981 between Rochester and Pawtucket. LaFrancois caught a good 25 innings of the 33 innings played.

The Principal site has a schedule for the rest of the season, the last date is Aug. 21 at Shreveport.