1986 Fleer – 84 & 85 AL Batting Champs

In 1984, Don Mattingly hit .343 as a 23-year old and won the AL batting title, also leading the league in hits and doubles.

In 1985, Wade Boggs hit .368 (!), which got him the AL batting title that year.  Only two players in the American League have hit higher than .368 since – Nomar Garciaparra in 2000 and Ichiro Suzuki in 2004.

In 1986, Fleer recognized that they both had spectacular mustaches, and made the baseball card you see above.

You see, there is value in the mustache.

1992 Topps – Craig Lefferts

By 1992, the mustache was becoming more and more a thing of the past in Major League Baseball.  Players everywhere were becoming significantly less masculine by shaving their facial hair and chopping off mullets left, right and centre.

However, clearly, Craig Lefferts would have none of it.  Instead of going Full Monty and removing the mustache completely, he went for a short-cropped haircut along with a perfectly manicured mustache – the kind of mustache you might possibly see on a highway patrolman, or maybe someone who spends a lot of time in front of the camera.

Interesting Craig Lefferts fact: He started five games in his rookie season, 1983.  Then, he pitched in 526 Major League Baseball games as a reliever, including an NL-leading 83 in 1986, before oddly starting all 32 games he appeared in during the 1992 campaign.  In 1993 and 1994, he was primarily back in the bullpen.

Craig Lefferts, we salute you for fighting the good fight when many had already accepted defeat and moved on.

1981 Topps – Buck Martinez

May 10: On this date in 1981, Buck Martinez was traded by the Milwaukee Brewers to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Gil Kubski.  This is what Buck Martinez looked like on his 1981 Topps baseball card.  I’d like to call for an immediate return of his mustache.

Martinez would play for the Jays from 1981-86, batting a cumulative .222 in 454 games.  Gil Kubski never played in the Majors after this trade.  Also, this trade started Buck’s long-standing connection to the Toronto Blue Jays.  He has played, managed and broadcasted, he even wrote books, all to varying degrees of success.  However, all of it led to this website, leading me to say, advantage to the Blue Jays on this one.  Another win for Pat Gillick.

2010 Topps Opening Day - Albert Pujols

1987 Topps - Mickey Hatcher

So, it would turn out that Albert Pujols is upset with Angels hitting coach Mickey Hatcher for revealing some pretty mundane details about a meeting Pujols had with other Angels hitters.  Probably something the hitting coach should avoid doing – what could he possibly gain from that?

However, did Albert Pujols have a card in 1987 Topps?  No, he did not, because he was seven years old in 1987.  Advantage, Hatcher.

There is some actual analysis of this situation and of Pujols’ season thus far over at Getting Blanked.

1993 Upper Deck - Big Apple Power Switch

See what Upper Deck did here?  The New York Mets had a bunch of players in 1993 that were switch hitters as well as being fairly big names, so they made a card entitled “Big Apple Power Switch.”

Along with Eddie Murray, Howard Johnson, and Bobby Bonilla, the Metropolitans that year also boasted in their starting lineup a switch-hitting catcher in Todd Hundley, and a switch-hitting left fielder in Vince Coleman.  Hundley and Coleman obviously weren’t cool enough to be featured, but can you blame anyone for that?  Look how graceful Murray, Johnson and Bobby Bo look here.

How did that end up, you ask?  Well, they finished 59-103 that season in the midst of six losing seasons in a row.  So, not great.

1991 Donruss - Lloyd Moseby

I don’t like the Detroit Tigers.  Like Sidney Crosby’s feelings about the Philadelphia Flyers, I just don’t like them.  They have a great history, a fantastic ballpark, and a pretty good team this year (although they do get to beat up on some shitty teams a lot to inflate their record), but that doesn’t mean I have to like them.

Maybe that’s why Lloyd Moseby looks so strange to me in a Tigers uniform.  It’s just not right.  He should be rocking the baby blue and ruining his knees on the plastic carpeting they used to call Astroturf at Exhibition Stadium.

1985 Topps - Lloyd Moseby

See, isn’t that better?

1984 Topps - AL Active Career Save Leaders

If you wanted to be one of the active career saves leaders in the American League in 1984, you had to have a mustache.  Let’s go through the top three at that time:

In third place with 136 saves, Dan Quisenberry made up for his basic, everyman mustache with an incredible submarine delivery.

In second place with 206 saves, Rich Gossage complemented a legendary ‘stache with a legendary nickname, “Goose.”

And, leading the way with 301 saves, Rollie Fingers redefined the baseball mustache during an era when there was a lot of competition – a great deal of mustachery, one might say.

2010 Topps Heritage - Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson Day is one of the things that Major League Baseball does really well.  Former MLB player Doug Glanville writes about it today on ESPN.com.  If there was still a team in Montreal, they’d probably also be talking about how it all started there.

1992 Score - Joe Carter

And today in horribly awkward looking swings, Joe Carter takes a hack on 1992 Score baseball.

Fortunately, a little while later, Carter took a better swing, which led to Coca-Cola producing this commercial, which makes me realize how long ago 1993 really is.

1993 Topps - Ozzie Guillen

We knew this was going to be interesting.  Ozzie Guillen managing in Miami with a new team name, a new ballpark, an exciting new outlook for the franchise… we all anticipated the entertainment value that the situation was sure to provide.  But this?  We didn’t expect this.  We didn’t expect the content – vocal support of Fidel Castro, in Miami, of all places – and we didn’t expect it so soon.

Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie… oy, oy, oy.