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 ca...