25 Years of Baseball

1996 Topps Series 1:

1. #60 David Justice
2. #13 Todd Helton (Draft Pick)
3. #40 Orel Hershiser
4. #80 Gary Sheffield
5. #197 Roger Clemens
6. #70 Ron Gant
7. #150 Randy Johnson
8. #33 Mike Macfarlane
9. #181 Denny Martinez
10. #61 Royce Clayton
11. #91 Troy O’Leary
12. #91 Troy O’Leary

“Roger had a chance meeting with President Clinton — the third president he’s met — at Arlington Cemetery last June”

Since then, Clemens has also met President George W. Bush.  All of his presidential connections hasn’t helped him though, as Clemens is expected to stand federal trial for perjury next spring.

1989 Topps:

1. #749 Rafael Ramirez
2. #372 Craig Lefferts
3. #250 Cal Ripken
4. #70 Mark McGwire
5. #178 Mark Grant
6. #320 Lou Whitaker
7. #632 Bryan Harvey
8. #548 Bobby Witt
9. #437 Andy Benes (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
10. #681 Jeff Robinson
11. #526 Wes Gardner
12. #402 Mike Greenwell (All-Star)
13. #747 Wil Tejada
14. #197 Neal Heaton
15. #362 Jack Lazorko

Last January, McGwire finally decided to move on with his life and admitted to taking steroids.  He then took a job as the hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Alex Liddi – 3B

West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (AA affiliate of the Seattle Mariners)

Alex Liddi had a career season in 2009.  After struggling for three seasons at the single-A level as a teenager trying to make it at the professional level, Liddi finally found his swing in 2009 playing for the A+ High Desert Mavericks.  He hit .345 with 23 home runs, winning Pacific Coast League MVP honors and sharing the batting title with Roger Clemens’ son Koby Clemens.

He is the first Italian-born position player to play professional baseball in the United States.  So far this season, he is batting .260 with 14 home runs in his first season at the AA level.  He is still only 21 years old and it will probably take a couple more seasons in the minor leagues before his is ready to make his Major League debut.

1991 Topps Traded:

1. #105T Bob Scanlan (Rookie)
2. #21T Rick Cerone
3. #35T Kirk Dressendorfer (Rookie)
4. #51T Jeffrey Hammonds (Team USA) (Rookie)
5. #89T Dave Parker
6. #36T Jim Essian (Manager)
7. #106T Pete Schourek (Rookie)

This November we will hear the final verdict from the Baseball Writers Association of America on whether or not Dave Parker should be in the Hall of Fame.  The 7-time All-Star, 3-time Gold Glove winner, and 1-time MVP is in his final year of eligibility and last year he only received 15.2% of the vote.

Again, I don’t actually have jumbo packs of 2006 Topps Series 1, so instead here are 5 hobby packs of the stuff:

PACK 1

1. #153 Ray King
2. #305 Chuck James (Rookie Card)
3. #24 Jason Marquis
4. #302 Chris Denorfia (Rookie Card)
5. #262 Alex Rodriguez (MVP)
6. #172 Todd Greene
7. Barry Bonds Home Run History #BB682 Barry Bonds
8. #114 Travis Lee
9. #192 Larry Bigbie
10. #235 Cliff Floyd

PACK 2

1. #263 Albert Pujols (MVP)
2. #242 Felix Hernandez
3. #132 Russ Adams (Topps All-Star Rookie)
4. #238 Matt Morris
5. #279 Jim Tracy (Manager)
6. #161 Chris Shelton
7. Hobby Masters #HM14 Vladimir Guerrero
8. #211 Melvin Mora
9. #61 Eric Hinske
10. #216 Russell Branyan

PACK 3

1. #303 Anthony Reyes (Rookie Card)
2. #228 David Eckstein
3. #62 Damaso Marte
4. #249 Vernon Wells (Gold Glove)
5. #259 Bobby Abreu (Gold Glove)
6. #250 Ichiro (Gold Glove)
7. Barry Bonds Home Run History #BB681 Barry Bonds
8. #179 Deivi Cruz
9. #10 Clint Barmes
10. #200 Albert Pujols

PACK 4

1. #231 Chris Capuano
2. #209 Orlando Hudson
3. #204 Miguel Cairo
4. #220 Jason Bay
5. #94 Matt Stairs
6. #111 Erubiel Durazo
7. Mantle Home Run History #MHR1 Mickey Mantle
8. #155 Paul Lo Duca
9. #4 Scott Hatteberg
10. #53 Tomo Ohka

PACK 5

1. #169 Jhonny Peralta
2. #86 Brad Radke
3. #207 Billy Wagner
4. #21 Lance Berkman
5. #9 Damian Miller
6. #84 So Taguchi
7. Declaration of Independence #RTP Robert Treat Paine
8. #115 Adam Dunn
9. #92 Lance Cormier
10. #25 Chipper Jones

2004 Topps Series 2:

1. #497 Carl Crawford
2. #619 Sean Burroughs
3. #592 Jody Gerut (Topps All-Star Rookie)
4. #486 Roy Oswalt
5. #401 Troy Glaus
6. #725 Javy Lopez (Sporting News All-Stars)
7. #666 Texas Rangers (Team Card)
8. #655 Montreal Expos (Team Card)
9. #613 Aaron Guiel
10. #652 Los Angeles Dodgers (Team Card)

“Roy hails from a town of 533 folks.  As a high school senior, he was an unscouted 5-10, 150 wisp in a graduating class of 31.”

That town of 533 folks is Weir, Mississippi.  The second most famous Weirian is Cheryl Prewitt, who was Miss America in 1980.

2006 Topps Series 2:

1. #502 Morgan Ensberg
2. #421 Brad Halsey
3. #363 Jermaine Dye
4. #452 Jake Westbrook
5. #354 Grady Sizemore
6. #461 Placido Polanco
7. #548 Sean Burroughs
8. #472 Duaner Sanchez
9. #569 Mike Jacobs
10. #654 Travis Lee/Rocco Baldelli (Power Rays)

“A star was born in 2005, as 23-year-old Grady joined Robbie Alomar (’01) as the only Indians players with 20 2Bs, 10 3Bs, 20 HRs and 20 SBs in a season.”

In 2006, Grady did it again, but improved on it, hitting a league-leading 53 Doubles, and 11 Triples, 28 Home Runs, and 22 Stolen Bases.

A knee injury earlier this year will probably cause him to miss most of the 2010 season.

1986 Topps:

1. #521 Nate Snell
2. #222 Craig Gerber (Rookie)
3. #484 Donnie Hill
4. #144 Doug Sisk
5. #395 Scott Garrelts
6. #524 Darrell Miller
7. #321 Earl Weaver (Manager)
8. #710 John Tudor (All-Star)
9. #251 Rich Dauer
10. #609 Barbaro Garbey
11. #742 Frank Viola
12. #166 Dickie Thon
13. #410 Dave Kingman
14. #250 Dwight Gooden
15. #25 Willie Wilson

Dwight Gooden was one of the most dominant pitchers of the 80′s, but his injuries, drugs, and alcohol ended up ruining his career.  Between his debut as a 19-year-old in 1984 and a shoulder injury in 1989, he compiled a 100-39 record and 2.39 ERA, while averaging over 8 strikeouts per 9 innings.

Has Doc made amends and cleaned up his life today, 25 years later?  Well…

After retiring in 2001, Gooden was arrested several times for offenses ranging from battery, driving while intoxicated, driving on a suspended license, resisting arrest, cocaine possession… finally he was incarcerated in 2006 for several months.  Upon being released late 2006, Gooden appeared to turn his life around…

…that is, until this year.  On March 24, 2010, Dwight Gooden was arrested again, this time for driving while under the influence of cocaine and endangering the life of his 5-year-old son who was in his car.  A couple months later, he abandoned his family.

So 25 years later, Dwight Gooden is still a cocaine addict and his life is still a mess.  However, earlier this month he was honored in New York by being inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame.