D.L. Smith played 9 pro seasons, saw AAA in 6, missed majors

Dale Sveum was injured in August 1991 and the Brewers needed a backup at shortstop.

One of the Brewers' options, The Milwaukee Sentinel wrote, was to call up a shortstop from AAA Denver. The Sentinel pegged the likely replacement in that option as infielder D.L. Smith.

"Let's see how Dale is (Tuesday)," Brewers manager Tom Trebelhorn told The Sentinel. "I'm anticipating more improvement. If not, we'll put something in motion."

Sveum didn't return for two more weeks. Smith didn't return at all. He actually never got there.

Smith's career began in 1984, taken by the Orioles in the sixth round of the draft. Smith played that first year at short-season Newark. He hit .240.

Smith moved to single-A Hagerstown in 1985, hitting .234, then AA Charlotte in 1986. He hit .241 in 89 games with Charlotte, getting added to the Orioles off-season roster in November.

By the end of the next spring, though, Smith was back to the minors. Smith returned to Charlotte for 1987, but he also saw 31 games at AAA Rochester. In May, he hit a two-run home run for Rochester.

Smith spent the next season entirely at AAA. He played most of it at Rochester, then moved to the Brewers and AAA Denver to close out the year. Between them, Smith hit .243.

Smith returned to AA for 1989, playing largely at AA El Paso. Then it was Denver again in 1990 and 1991.

In April 1990, Smith hit another two-run home run in a Denver win. It was one of five home runs he hit on the year. His average also increased in 1990 to .275.

But in 1991, Smith's average dipped back down, to .213. It was his last year with the Brewers. Smith played in just one more season, 1992, with 13 games at AAA Colorado Springs, ending his career.

• Milwaukee Sentinel, Aug. 13, 1991: Sveum may go on DL

More: The 1990 Denver Zephyrs

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Featured: 699/880 - 79.4%
Players/Coaches Featured: 710
Made the Majors: 477 - 67%
Never Made the Majors:233-33%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 208
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 143

Interview Part 2: Brian McRae, Added Pressure

The Royals bench at Kauffman Stadium, July 6, 1993. Brian McRae played in that day's game, going 1 for 4. (G21D Photo)

Part 1: Call Up | Part 2: Added Pressure | 
Part 3: Great Feeling

Brian McRae chose playing baseball over playing football. That decision also meant he signed with the Royals, the team his father had long played for and starred with.

Still just 17 years old, the younger McRae was a pro. The next spring, he was taking swings with the big league Royals, and his father, Brian McRae recalled recently.

"There was a lot of added pressure on me just being there at 17-18 years old," McRae recalled to The Greatest 21 Days. "It wasn't what your normal minor league kid gets to do."

Soon, though, McRae was doing what a normal minor league kid did: staying in a college dorm, working his way through the low minors.

McRae spoke with The Greatest 21 Days recently by phone from his Kansas City-area home. McRae eventually did make the big league Royals, playing in 10 big league seasons. He is now the general manager of the Kansas City Sluggers, a non-profit traveling youth baseball program.

Taken by Kansas City 17th overall, the teenager played that first season in the rookie Gulf Coast League. For McRae, it was actually home.

Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie in 2011. The stadium opened in 1988, the year Brian McRae left the Florida State League for good. (G21D Photo)

The Royals played in Sarasota and McRae spent much of his youth in nearby Bradenton, a half hour away. That meant he could easily go home to his family. "That made the transition easier off the field," McRae recalled.

It was during his second season, in 1986, that McRae got his first taste of really being away from home. McRae played at short-season Eugene, the team staying on the University of Oregon campus.

McRae recalled good crowds each night, and Eugene just being a good place to play.

"That was a fun summer," McRae recalled. "I experienced being away from home for the first time, living on your own, doing all things that you need to do to prepare yourself to play day in and day out as an 18 year old, without your parents around. Just learning how to survive take care of yourself."

McRae played 1987 back in Florida, at Fort Myers. He then went to Baseball City in 1988 and moved up that same year to AA Memphis for the first time.

AutoZone Park in Memphis in 2008. AutoZone Park is home to the AAA Memphis Redbirds. Brian McRae played in Memphis from 1988 to 1990 for the AA Memphis Chicks. (G21D Photo)

McRae recalled the living conditions at each stop, with four or five players to an apartment. Players frequently moved up or down.

Players also tried to cook, or learn how to cook. They ordered out and hung out together, McRae recalled.

"We kind of just relied on each other because the guys were all in the same predicimant," McRae said. "You didn't play minor league ball to make lot of money."

McRae recalled the most he made in the minors was in 1990 at Memphis, $1,200 a month.

"Money wasn't why we were paying," McRae recalled. "We were playing for the chance to get to the big leagues."

McRae got there. But it took him into his sixth season. Still, starting out at 17, he made it before his 23rd birthday.

Along the way, he had to adjust to new positions. He started out briefly at shortstop. He then moved to second base through 1988. In 1989, he moved to his final position, outfield.

"It took longer to get through minor leagues," McRae recalled, "but I think because I spent so much time in the minor leagues, once I got to the big leagues, I didn't have to go back to the minor leagues."

Once he got there, he also immediately made an impact.

Go to Part 3: Brian McRae, Great Feeling

Brad Bluestone was trainer in Louisville in pros, college

Brad Bluestone made the move in 2005 from being a trainer with the pros to being a trainer in college.

It was a move, he told the college paper for Bellarmine University in 2010, that he felt strongly he needed to make, at that point in his career.

Bluestone is still an assistant athletic trainer at Louisville's Bellarmine for 2012.

Bluestone's career as a trainer began in 1986, when he graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in athletic training, according to his CMC card.

He started out of college with the Cardinals organization. By 1990, Bluestone was in his first stint in Louisville, marking his first year serving as trainer at AAA.

In 1995, Bluestone was still with the Cardinals, named named the previous December as trainer for the high-A St. Petersburg Cardinals.

By 2005, Bluestone was back in the city where he debuted at AAA, Louisville, with Ballarmine.

• The Concord, Bellarmine University, Sept. 22, 2010: A Behind the Scenes Look

More: The 1990 Louisville Redbirds

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Featured: 698/880 - 79.3%
Players/Coaches Featured: 709
Made the Majors: 477 - 67%
Never Made the Majors:232-33%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 208
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 143

Interview Part 1: Brian McRae, Call Up

The Royals 25th anniversary logo at Kauffman Stadium in 1993. In 19 of those 25 years, the Royals roster included a McRae. (G21D Photo)

Part 1: Call Up | Part 2: Added Pressure | 
Part 3: Great Feeling

Brian McRae got the call in Huntsville. He just couldn't call anyone else.

McRae had to get to Kansas City. The 22-year-old son of Royals great Hal McRae was going to make his debut in the majors.

"I didn't know what to think," Brian McRae told The Greatest 21 Days recently, "everything was happening so fast. These were the days before cell phones. I didn't have a chance to call anybody."

"It was probably five to six hours before I was able to get a hold of anybody and let them know that I got called up."

Getting the call that morning, McRae made it to Kansas City that evening, getting into the lineup and getting a triple in his first big league at bat.

McRae spoke with The Greatest 21 Days recently by phone from his Kansas City-area home. McRae ended up playing a decade in the majors, amassing more than 1,300 big league hits.

He is now the general manager of the Kansas City Sluggers, a non-profit traveling youth baseball program. McRae is also readying to head up the Morehead City Marlins this summer in the collegiate Coastal Plain League in North Carolina.

In the telephone interview, McRae told of growing up in major league clubhouses, doing just about any job given to him and taking advice from his father's teammates.

He also told of the of the difficulties of having a father in the major leagues, the nights where he'd be in bed when his father got home from games, or the road trips when wouldn't be home.

Brian McRae teammate Greg Gagne batting at Kauffman Stadium July 6, 1993. McRae went 1 for 4 in the game. (G21D Photo)But McRae also told of the making the majors and, the next year, the family ending up all in the same place again, and on the same schedule. It was before McRae's second season in the majors that his father was named Royals manager.

McRae has always been around the game in some capacity, he recalled. McRae was born in August 1967, the year before his father made the majors with the Reds and three years before his father became a regular.

McRae recalled many of his early baseball lessons came from those Reds teams. Those lessons continued after his father was traded to the Royals in 1973, as the Royals were about to go on their run.

"All those were big influences because I was around winning ball clubs, a lot of great players," McRae said. "I learned my work ethic and habits of how to go about being a big league player from some of those good teams."

He also worked. McRae recalled doing a little bit of everything when he was around those teams. He was the ball boy. He was the bat boy. He worked in the clubhouse, helping shine shoes and do laundry.

The fountains at Kauffman Stadium in 1993. (G21D Photo)

McRae grew up Bradenton, Florida, but graduated from Blue Springs High School in Missouri. The Florida roots made springs that much better, he recalled, with the family together. It also helped is first year in the minors, in the Gulf Coast League, as McRae was only a short drive from home.

Growing up, though, his father spent much of the summer on the road playing and away from home.

"It wasn't your normal household," McRae recalled, "because my dad worked odd hours, playing all night games. During school we didn't to too many games."

"It wasn't the ideal setup, but that's all we knew because that's what the job demanded and that's what my father did."

Despite the background in baseball, McRae recalled that growing up, he was actually better at football, as a defensive back and receiver.

Coming out of high school, he had multiple scholarship offers to play football, he recalled. He even signed to attend the University of Kansas on scholarship.

But he was also good at baseball, good enough to be selected by the Royals 17th overall in the 1985 draft, as a 17-year-old.

The decision to choose baseball, though, was an easy one for McRae.

"I thought that baseball was the one where I had more longevity and a chance," McRae recalled. "I didn't think I was going to be an NFL football player, but I had a chance to play longer in baseball."

McRae did play longer in baseball. Fifteen years.

Go to Part 2: Brian McRae, Added Pressure

Colby Ward, Good Day - 454

It was a brief outing for Colby Ward, but an important one.

He came on in the eighth inning and faced a single batter, striking him out. With his Indians taking the lead and winning the game, Ward found himself with the win.

"My family came in today and I got my first major-league win," Ward told The AP afterward, "A good day."

He picked up that win in his fifth major-league appearance. It would be his only win. Ward's big league career consisted of 22 total outings, all that year with the Indians, his career shortened by an injury suffered three years earlier off the field.

Ward's career began in 1986, taken by the Angels in the 11th round out of Brigham Young University. At Brigham Young, Ward spent two summers in Alaska, playing in the collegiate league there.

His second season there, Ward returned to the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, one of four pitchers to return from the previous year, The Anchorage Daily News wrote.

"Last year a lot of guys had played together before," Ward told The Daily News in 1985. "This year a lot of the guys don't know each other."

Ward's career with the Angels began at short-season Salem. Ward got 27 outings in relief, posting a 3.21 ERA. He moved to single-A Palm Springs in 1987, getting 54 outings and a 2.64 ERA.

In 1988, he moved up to AA and then AAA, playing at Midland and at Edmonton. Between them, he went 9-4, with a 2.90 ERA.

Ward moved to the Indians in mid-1989 in a trade. He started the year at AAA Edmonton and ended it at AAA Colorado Springs.

He debuted in Cleveland in late July 1990. In 22 outings, he picked up three losses and that one win. He gave up 17 earned runs in 36 total innings worked.

Three of those earned runs came on one pitch in late August, a three-run home run. Earlier in August, he picked up his first and only save, going 2.1 innings without giving up a run.

Ward played just one more season, in 1991, spending it largely at Colorado Springs, ending his career.

Ward, though, argued it was an industrial accident, suffered in 1987, that shortened his career. He lost the nail from his right index finger in a book trimmer. In November 1994, he won a lawsuit he filed in the wake of the incident.

"The injury flattened his ball out and made it so it didn't sink," Ward's attorney Allen Young told The AP after the verdict. "It didn't fall."

• Anchorage Daily News, June 15, 1985: Pilots faithful prepared for season
  
• Youngstown Vindicator, Associated Press, Aug. 8, 1990: Tribe gets lucky on Rangers' errors
• Eugene Register-Guard, Nov. 19, 1994: Agreement not in sight for baseball

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Featured: 697/880 - 79.2%
Players/Coaches Featured: 708
Made the Majors: 477 - 67%-X
Never Made the Majors:231-33%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 208
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 143

1993 Royals and New Interview

The Royals bench at Kauffman Stadium on July 6, 1993.

My dad and I went to two Royals games in 1993, one in July and one in August. I still have the ticket stub from one. I have photos from the other.

The photos are of the first game we went to. Since I don't have the ticket stub, I'll have to rely on Baseball-Reference to provide the date. It was July 6, 1993, with the Orioles visiting the Royals, 8-0.

As can probably be seen from the pictures, we sat pretty high, and on the third-base side.

That's one of the pictures, of the scoreboard. Actually, there were several pictures of the scoreboard. And a couple of actual players. At least in the pictures that survived, there were no pictures of us, which was sometimes a problem in our vacation pictures.

But I've been waiting for a good spot to post some of these pictures and I found it. On that scoreboard picture is the lineups for the day. The occasion is that I've got the first part of an interview with one of those players set to go up tomorrow.

Actually, I've already interviewed another one on that list, Leo Gomez. I caught up with him last August, as he managed the short-season Aberdeen Ironbirds in Lowell, Mass. Gomez went 0 for 2 with an RBI in the 1993 game.

And I've done another related interview. In the ballpark that day, with the visiting Orioles, was the Orioles' second-year hitting coach, Greg Biagini. Biagini passed away in 2003. But I interviewed his longtime wife Vickie Biagini earlier this month.

Looking at the pictures, I can actually spot two different CMC set members, though not Gomez, Biagini or the player whose interview is going up Tuesday.

There's Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles, with Greg Gagne batting. Hoiles made the CMC set as a member of Biagini's Rochester Red Wings. Hoiles went 2 for 4 in this game, scoring two runs. He was featured here in August 2011.

The other player is in the group shot above, though there might be others. Sitting on the bench is No. 24, Brent Mayne. Mayne made the CMC set as a member of the AA Memphis Chicks. He didn't make it into this game. He has also yet to make it to a feature here.

The other CMC set member who did make it into the game, but who is not pictured: Brian McRae.

My interview going up tomorrow is with Brian McRae. I caught up with him by phone recently from Kansas City. McRae is currently the GM of the KC Sluggers in Overland Park. The interview focused on his youth, his run-up to the majors, as well as playing for his father.

So watch for that tomorrow.

Felipe Castillo played with Sosa, played at AAA, Taiwan

Joined by their roots, Rangers minor leaguers Sammy Sosa, Juan Gonzalez, Ray Sanchez and Felipe Castillo spent much time together in 1986 as players in the rookie Gulf Coast League, Sosa wrote in his autobiography.

They also spent time eating together, to the eventual dismay of a local restaurant owner, Sosa wrote.

"During extended spring training, Sunday was our only day off," Sosa wrote, according to John Morrison's book on the slugger, "so we would always go there ... I remember the owner couldn't believe how much we could eat. And after a while, he'd see us coming and yell, 'No, no! No ballplayers! You eat too much!"

Unlike the others at that restaurant table, who would make the majors, Castillo would not. In a career where he is recorded playing as late as 2001, Castillo made it to AAA, but never made the bigs.

Castillo's career began in 1986, signed by the Rangers as an undrafted free agent out of his native Dominican Republic.

Castillo spent that first year getting into 13 games in relief for the rookie league team. In 14.2 innings of work, he gave up 13 earned runs and picked up a loss.

He moved to single-A Gastonia in 1987, turning starter. He went 7-8, with a 4.36 ERA. He played the next season largely back at Gastonia, with four games in the Florida State League at Port Charlotte. In 27 total starts, he went 7-11, but had a 3.00 ERA.

Castillo made it to AA Tulsa for 1989, going 8-12, with a 4.42 ERA. It was back to Tulsa to start 1990, but Castillo eventually got promoted to AAA Oklahoma City. At Oklahoma City, Castillo got into 20 games, mostly in relief, posting a 3.45 ERA.

Castillo is not recorded playing in the U.S. again until 1995, but, in 1994, he spent time playing in Taiwan, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Castillo returned to Tulsa in 1995 for 14 games in relief. Castillo isn't recorded by Baseball Reference as playing again until 2001, with independent Fort Worth. He played five games there and five games with Cordoba, marking the extent of his recorded playing career.

• The Great Hispanic Heritage: Sammy Sosa, John Morrison, 2006: Page 32

More: The 1990 Tulsa Drillers

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Featured: 696/880 - 79.1%
Players/Coaches Featured: 707
Made the Majors: 476 - 67%
Never Made the Majors:231-33%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 208
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 143

1981 Fleer: Fastball Pitcher

Benny Ayala had batted against the Indians' Sid Monge twice the year before, Ayala told UPI in September 1981.

That gave Ayala the base to face Monge in that September game, and hit a three-run shot off him to win the game, Ayala still standing at home when the ball went out.

"He's a fastball pitcher and I was looking for fastballs and he threw me an off-speed pitch," Ayala told UPI. "I thought the ball would hook out and that's why I was standing at the plate when it hit the foul pole. With two strikes on me, I was swinging at anything close."

Monge threw that pitch the year his 1981 Fleer card came out. Monge's card came in a pack I purchased last year and opened recently.

Monge was in his seventh season in the majors in 1981. He would go on to pitch in 10 big league seasons.

Elsewhere in the pack was a card with a good action shot, or at least good for 1981 Fleer. A player with a nickname that fit and a CMC set member with gum stuck to his card.

The player with the nickname was Doc Medich. Medich played in 11 big league seasons. His season in 1981 with the Rangers was his second to last.

Medich's last name would see to have suggested his nickname. But, apparently, it wasn't. Medich was actually a doctor. In 1978, he even helped save fan in Baltimore from a heart attack, running into the stands before the game when a doctor was called for.

Medich then was a resident in general surgery in Pittsburgh, as well as a starting pitcher with Texas.

"This isn't the first time this has happened to me - it happened in 1976 in Philadelphia when I was with the Pirates," Medich told UPI after the incident in Baltimore. "It's tough to concentrate on baseball when something like that happend."

Here's the action shot. It's John Wathan blocking the plate from a kind-of sliding Angel. The Angel's number, 15, is clearly visible. According to Wikipedia, that's Dan Ford.

Ford played in 65 games for the Angels in 1980. Eleven of those were against Kansas City. Seven of those were in Anaheim. In only one of those was Ford tagged out at home by Royals catcher John Wathan. That was May 25, 1980.

Ford tried to score the second run on an fly ball dropped by Royals center fielder Amos Otis in the bottom of the first inning. Rod Carew scored the first run but Ford was out on the relay from Frank White.

If that wasn't cool enough. The player who set up that play at the plate, Otis, his card also came in this pack of 1981 Fleer. It's right there.

Here's Bob Bailor. He's the CMC set member that was in the pack. Bailor was coming off his sixth season with time in the majors going into 1981. He went on to play in 11 seasons, ending in 1985.

His playing career over, Bailor went on to a career as a manager and as a coach. He served as manager of Syracuse in the CMC set. After that, he served as first base coach for the Blue Jays from 1992 to 1995. Bailor has yet to be featured here.

About his Fleer card, if you notice, there's a big white spot over Bailor's hands. That's caused by 31-year-old Fleer gum adhering itself to the card front. I tried to gently pry it up, to no avail.

Here's the pre-pried card, with gum:

• Pittsburgh Press, UPI, July 18, 1978: Doc Medich Registers Big 'Save'
  
• Windsor Star, UPI, Sept. 16, 1981: Ayala's blast off Monge boosts birds

Tony Chance showed raw talent, saw 20 pro seasons, AAA

Pirates GM Syd Thrift knew Tony Chance had raw talent, he told The Associated Press. In July 1987, he was putting that talent together.

Thrift spoke to The AP as Chance was in the middle of a season for single-A Salem where he would hit .318, with 23 home runs.

"I won't be surprised at all if he's not playing for us soon," Thrift told The AP. "He can run and throw, and he's hitting for average and power. That's a pretty good combination."

Chance, though, never would play in Pittsburgh or anywhere else in the majors. But Chance would go on to play professionally over two decades, starting in 1983 and not ending until 2002.

Chance was originally signed by the Pirates in 1983, as an undrafted free agent. He was also signed as the son of a former major leaguer, the son of Bob Chance, who played in the 1960s.

The younger Chance started with the Pirates in the rookie Gulf Coast League as an 18-year-old. He moved to short-season Watertown in 1984. On the season in 1984, Chance hit just .171.

He hit single-A Gastonia and Macon in 1985, but stayed in single-A through 1987, when he had that season with Salem.

His first look at AA came in 1988, with 56 games at Harrisburg. He ended the year back at Salem. In August, his connection to his major league father came up in an article on sons of former major leaguers.

"My dad is much bigger, stronger than I am," Chance told The AP, comparing himself to his father. "I was blessed with a little more speed."

Chance's season, though, then came to a premature end later that month on a diving catch that separated his shoulder.

In 1989, Chance spent more time at AA. He also predicted to Baseball America that he'd be in Pittsburgh by the next season, according to The Washington Observer-Reporter. In June, though, made the move to the Orioles system in a trade.

While he didn't make the majors in 1990, Chance did make AAA, at Rochester. He played the season there, hitting .269. In late May, Chance hit a game-winning, bases-loaded single.

It was the first of six straight seasons for Chance at AAA. He returned to Rochester for for 191, moved to the Cubs and Iowa for 1992 and 1993. He then spent time at AAA Charlotte in 1994 with the Indians. He also played in Mexico.

In spring 1995, he spent time as a replacement Ranger. "It's just nice to have the opportunity to be in a big-league camp again," Chance told The AP of the experience that spring. "It beats digging ditch, working a real job."

Chance played at AAA Oklahoma City once the season started, his last time in affiliated ball. But he continued playing in the independent leagues and Mexico through 2002, last playing in the North Central League at Joliet.

• Washington Observer-Reporter, Associated Press, July 11, 1987: Chance looks good to Pirates' Thrift
• Wilmington Morning Star, Associated Press, Aug. 9, 1988: Carolina League Eight give credit to dads, Part 2
• Washington Observer-Reporter, Associated Press, March 9, 1995: Bucs show power but no pitching

More: 1990 Rochester Red Wings

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Featured: 695/880 - 79.0%
Players/Coaches Featured: 706
Made the Majors: 476 - 67%
Never Made the Majors:230-33%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 208
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 143-X

1992 Topps: Strikeout Record

Steve Whitaker was on a roll for one game in April 1991. For Cal State Long Beach, Whitaker tied a single-game school record, setting down 16 UC Irvine players on strikes, The Los Angeles Times wrote.

According to Topps, Whitaker had another roll that year for Long Beach, nearly getting another school record. He went 27.2 consecutive scoreless innings. The school record was 28.1. Topps also noted his tie for the strikeout record.

Whitaker's work at Long Beach was enough for transfer from Merced Junior College to get the notice of pro scouts, including scouts from the Giants. The Giants thought enough of Whitaker to take him in the first round of the 1991 draft, 33rd overall.

But Whitaker didn't fulfill the promise of his first round selection. He made it to AAA Phoenix in 1995. But he never made the majors.

Whitaker was included in the 1992 Topps set as a draft pick. His card was included in a pack I purchased sometime last year and opened recently.

Also included in the pack was another draft pick, and two CMC set members.

The other draft pick was Scott Stahoviak, who fared better than Whitaker. Stahoviak was selected by the Twins as the 27th overall pick in the 1991 draft. He debuted in the majors two years later, as a September call up.

Stahoviak went on to play in five major league seasons, his last coming in 1998.

Topps notes that he was a 1991 pre-season All-American for Creighton University. He also led the Missouri Valley Conference with 95 hits and a .417 average in 1990.

Donald Harris was coming off his first year with time in the majors when his 1992 card came out. He was also going into his fourth year as a pro. Harris played with the Rangers in 1992 and 1993, the extent of his big league career.

Harris made the CMC set as a member of the AA Tulsa Drillers. He was just featured here in February 2012.

Topps notes he was signed by the Rangers as a first-round draft pick by scout Doug Gassaway. Topps didn't mention his history in football.

Hensley Meulens made the CMC set as a member of the Columbus Clippers. He debuted with the Yankees in August 1989, getting into eight games. He got into 23 more in 1990.

In 1992, when his Topps card came out, Meulens played in just two games with the Yankees. He went on to play in seven major league seasons, 182 games.

The back of his card includes his complete major and minor league stats. Topps notes he was named an All-Star in the Carolina League in 1987, hitting 28 home runs at Prince William.

• Los Angeles Times, April 22, 1991: Whitaker Gets 16 Strikeouts as Long Beach Defeats Irvine

Terry Crowley, Infield Prospect - 762

In exchange for an outfielder with big league experience Joe Orsulak in November 1987, the Pirates received two young minor leaguers, one of them being Terry Crowley, Jr., the other being a player named Rico Rossy.

"We feel we've acquired two outstanding infield prospects," Pirates GM Syd Thrift told The Pittsburgh Press. "We followed Crowley in his free agent days and were very high on him. We were also impressed with his performance in the Carolina League this past season."

One of the two minor leaguers the Pirates acquired eventually made the majors. That player wasn't Crowley.

Crowley's career began in 1986, taken by the Orioles in the eighth round of the draft, out of Dulaney High in Maryland. He signed with Baltimore, choosing the pros over James Madison University.

He was taken by the same team where his father Terry Crowley, Sr., served as hitting coach. The elder Crowley played in 15 major league seasons, before going on to his long career as a coach.

The younger Crowley's brother Jim Crowley also played ball, playing five seasons coming out of Clemson University. He also didn't make the majors, but Jim Crowley credited his brother in 1991 with adjusting to playing as the son of a former major leaguer, how to ignore heckling, The Bangor Daily News wrote.

Terry Crowley, Jr., started his professional career at rookie league Bluefield, hitting .252 in 59 games. He moved to single-A Hagerstown for 1987, hitting .302 in 78 games. At one point in 1987, the 19-year-old Crowley was the youngest player in the league.

In 1988, with his new organization the Pirates, Crowley played between single-A Augusta and Salem. He also got a 10-game look at AA Harrisburg.

He returned to Salem for much of 1989, getting another 30-game look at Harrisburg. In August, he tripled and scored in a game against Reading. In September, Crowley used another triple to knock in two runs.

Crowley hit Harrisburg full time in 1990. He returned to AA with the Pirates in 1991, at Carolina. His final season came in 1992, with the Indians at AA Canton. Crowley never made AAA.

• Pittsburgh Press, Nov. 6, 1987: Pirates trade Joe Orsulak
  
• Bangor Daily News, May 24, 1991: Tigers' Crowley enjoys being son of major leaguer

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Featured: 694/880 - 78.9%
Players/Coaches Featured: 705
Made the Majors: 476 - 68%
Never Made the Majors:229-32%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 208
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 142

Chris Myers, Same Thing - 792

Chris Myers told Orioles director of player development in early April 1990 that he didn't want his age to hold him back, Melvin told The Baltimore Sun.

Myers, still just 21, needed more time at AA before being moved up, something that wasn't unusual for young pitchers in similar situations, Melvin told The Sun.

"We did the same thing with (Bob) Milacki two years ago," Melvin told The Sun, "and it worked out fine."

But, while Milacki made the majors, pitching in a total of eight seasons, Myers never did make the majors in seven seasons of pitching. Myers' big league resume consisted of only a September call-up, one where he was told not to report.

Myers' carer began with promise, taken by the Orioles in the first round, seventh overall, in the 1987 draft. The Orioles selected him out of Plant High School in Tampa, where he'd gained a reputation as one of the state's top prospects.

Myers started with the Orioles at rookie Bluefield, starting 10 games. He went 3-2, with a 2.32 ERA.

In 1988, he moved up to single-A, at Hagerstown, where he started only seven games. He gave up 12 earned runs in 39.2 innings.

He started 1989 with time in spring training, throwing a scoreless inning in one game. But he was sent back to single-A for the start of the season, at Frederick. He got 21 starts with a 3.99 ERA and a 8-10 record. But he also saw AA, moving up the year Hagerstown also moved up. He went 4-2 there in six starts, with a 2.56 ERA.

Back at Hagerstown for 1990, instead of Rochester, Myers went 6-11 in 21 starts. His ERA increased to 3.44. That ERA was pushed up in a late August start, where he gave up five earned runs in 4.1 innings of work against Albany.

That September, he got his call-up to Baltimore, but not really. According to The Sun, the Orioles called up Myers and two other players, but told them not to report.

Myers did make Rochester for 1991. He started 21 games for the AAA club, going 8-7 with a 4.49 ERA. By late August, though, Myers was traded to the Expos for Richie Lewis.

Myers, though, played just one more year in affiliated ball, 21 outings in 1992 across three Expos levels. He then is credited with returning for a final season in independent ball in 1995, with eight outings at Adirondack and Florence, ending his career.

• Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, April 6, 1990: Flamboyant Perez Wears His Millions
• Baltimore Sun, Sept. 16, 1990: Harnisch shows Robinson he's more than talk

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Featured: 693/880 - 78.8%
Players/Coaches Featured: 704
Made the Majors: 476 - 68%
Never Made the Majors:228-32%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 208
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 142

Andujar Cedeno got hits in 7 ML seasons, died in 2000 crash

When Andujar Cedeno was in a slump earlier in 1994, Cedeno believed he was swinging at too many high fastballs and was swinging too hard, he told The Associated Press.

"Now," he told The AP at the start of June, "I'm just trying to get base hits with whatever they throw me. Even though I was looking for the fastball, I was glad to see the curve."

The result, The AP wrote, was a two-run, bases-loaded single that proved the difference in a 5-3 Astros victory.

Cedeno was in his fifth season with time in the majors in 1994, ultimately hitting .263 that year. That was two seasons after he hit just .173 over 71 games with Houston.

Cedeno went on to play in two more seasons in the majors, for a total of seven. And he continued playing, in the minors, through 2000.

But Cedeno's playing days, and his life, were cut short that October, when he was killed in a car accident in his native Dominican Republic.

Cedeno's career began in 1986, signed by the Astros as an amateur free agent out of his homeland. He didn't start playing in the states, though, until 1988, with the Astros' team in the rookie Gulf Coast League. His brother Domingo Cedeno also made the majors.

He moved to single-A Asheville in 1989, then AA Columbus in 1990. That year in 1990, Cedeno also made Houston as a September call-up.

With Houston in 1990, Cedeno got into seven games, with eight plate appearances. He didn't get a hit.

But Cedeno returned in 1991 for 67 games. This time, he got 61 hits in 251 at bats, for a .243 average.

For 1992, Cedeno started in Houston, spending the first two months there. But he hit just .186 in those two months before being sent down to AAA Tucson.

He was back, though, by Aug. 25, just in time for him to hit for the cycle. In that game, Cedeno went 4 for 6, his double and single both coming in extra innings.

"I wasn't thinking about the cycle," Cedeno told The AP afterward. "I was just thinking about hitting the ball hard and making contact."

Cedeno, though, finished the year hitting .173. In 1993, he got his average up to that .283, playing in 149 games.

Going into that year, though, there was uncertainty about Cedeno's role with the team, with the Astros trying to draw in a big name free agent for shortstop, and, failing that, having another player ready to go, should Cedeno not work out.

''I can't worry about that,'' Cedeno told The Orlando Sentinel of the speculation. ''I can't worry about anything except me, the only thing I have control over."

And it was Cedeno who was the Astros shortstop for 1993. He was also the shortstop for much of 1994, getting into 98 games in the strike-shortened year.

For 1995, Cedeno was traded to the Padres in a massive 12-player deal. He became the Padres' shortstop that year, hitting .210.

He played in one more season in the majors, 1996, between the Padres, Tigers and Astros, ending his big league career.

Cedeno returned in 1999 to play with the Yankees at AAA Columbus. In 2000, he largely played in the Mexican League, but also played 12 games at independent Nashua.

It was in November 2000 that Cedeno was killed in the car crash. He was 31 years old.

• Victoria Advocate, Associated Press, Aug. 27, 1992: Cedeno latest Astro to bounce back, Part 2
• Orlando Sentinel, March 18, 1993: Cedeno: No Doubt Of The Task Ahead
• Milwaukee Journal, Associated Press, June 1, 1994: The other Sanders is a hit
• Beaver County Times, Nov. 1, 2000: Cedeno Dead

More: The 1990 Columbus Mudcats

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Featured: 692/880 - 78.6%
Players/Coaches Featured: 703
Made the Majors: 476 - 68%-X
Never Made the Majors:227-32%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 208-X
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 142

Scott Lusader, Took It - 396

In the thick of a pennant race, Scott Lusader came through for his Tigers, both at the plate and in the field, The Los Angeles Times wrote.

Late in the game, Lusader robbed the Blue Jay hitter of extra bases with a diving catch, his team up 4-3. Earlier, he'd cut a three-run Blue Jay lead to one, with his first major league home run that just cleared the fence, The Times wrote.

"You dream about hitting a home run in a big game," Lusader told The Times of the earlier home run. "And you dream of going upper deck or over the roof with it. This one, I'll take it."

Lusader took it, helping his Tigers to the 1987 American League East crown. Lusader would go on to play in four more major league seasons, before his career was out. He would also hit four more home runs, perhaps none, though, bigger than that first.

Lusader made the majors in 1987, in just his third season of professional ball. He turned pro in 1985, taken by the Tigers in the sixth round of the draft, out of the University of Florida.

In one run at Florida in 1984, Lusader got 13 hits in 23 at bats. In his final year at Florida, Lusader is credited with a .400 average. He also went 5 for 5 in a regional game, with a home run.

With the Tigers, Lusader played at single-A Lakeland, but als found himself that first year at AA Birmingham. Between the two, he hit .310 in 48 games.

He played 1986 back at AA, at Glens Falls, hitting .280. In 1987, he hit .269 at AAA Toledo. It was also in 1987, in September, that Lusader debuted in Detroit.

Lusader went on to get into 23 games for the Tigers that September and early October, picking up 15 hits in 47 at bats. He also picked up that one important home run.

Coming back for 1988, Lusader was thought to have a good shot at making the team out of spring training. But he didn't go to winter ball and had a poor spring, The Associated Press wrote. He ended up starting the year at Toledo.

"You have to figure you've got a chance when you're on the roster," Lusader told The AP after being demoted. "Now, you just have to go to Toledo and play hard and see what happens."

Lusader made it back to Detroit that year, but for only 16 games. He got just one hit in 16 at bats. In 1989, Lusader got into 40 games, getting 103 at bats. He hit .252. He also had a nightmare inning in the field in September, committing three errors.

Lusader played in two more seasons, 45 games for the Tigers in 1990 and 11 in 1991 for the Yankees, ending his career.

But, though it wasn't quite like that 1987 home run, in spring 1989, Lusader hit two home runs in one game. He hit them both off Orel Hershiser.

"I'm going to remember this day for a long, long time," Lusader told The AP after that spring performance. "Maybe forever."

• Los Angeles Times, Oct. 3, 1987: Detroit Wins, Ties for Lead
• Owosso Argus-Press, Associated Press, April 1, 1988: Lusader, Bean Sent to Toledo
• Schenectady Gazette, Associated Press, March 14, 1989: Ex-Glens Falls Player Rips Two Homers Off Hershiser
• Chicago Tribune, Sept. 10, 1989: Tiger Outfielder's Error Orgy In 1st Lets Sox Romp

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Featured: 691/880 - 78.5%
Players/Coaches Featured: 702
Made the Majors: 475 - 68%-X
Never Made the Majors:227-32%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 207-X
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 142