Then & Now – Tim Wakefield

In 1993, there was a not particularly young pitcher (27 at the time) named Tim Wakefield.

1994 Topps - Tim Wakefield

Wakefield had burst onto the National League scene in 1992, but struggled mightily with the Pirates after that, to the point where he spent 1994 in Triple-A Buffalo.  He wasn’t very good there, either.

In April of 1995, the Pirates released the by then 28-year-old Wakefield, and he signed a deal with Boston.  He went on to pitch 17 pretty successful seasons with the Red Sox before finally retiring just a couple of days ago at the age of 45.

2011 Topps - Tim Wakefield

You can now find Wakefield somewhere in Florida with his grandkids, teaching them the ancient art of the knuckleball, something that he demonstrates for the young folk, above, on 2011 Topps.

Haircuts I Wish I Could Pull Off – Darren Daulton

1994 Topps - Darren Daulton

With mind-boggling flow like that, I believe that Darren Daulton was born to be a hockey player.  If he played during the hockey-style catcher’s mask era, he could have even challenged Kelly Hrudey for beneath mask mullet supremacy.  He probably could have worn a bandana and gotten away with it if he wanted to.

But, instead, he got into some different ways of thinking.  I won’t use the words “batshit crazy” or “insane,” because people are entitled to their own beliefs, but other people might like those words.  Check this out with a website called Google.com… Magical place.

High Tech – 1994 Topps, Bret Barberie

1994 Topps - Bret Barberie

Sometimes, we find some pretty high-tech stuff in sports cards.  Like, seriously high-tech stuff.  This new category will look at some of these innovations that change not only the sports memorabilia industry, but in fact change the world.

Leading us off is 1994 Topps, on a card featuring, for some reason, Bret Barberie clad heavily in early Florida Marlins teal.  Sliding into the bag at second is a young Jeff Bagwell.  And you will notice that there are multiple shots of the play being made, so that you can see how it went down.

It’s kind of like Sportflics, without having to tilt the card.

Technology!!!

Out of Place – Fernando Valenzuela

1994 Topps - Fernando Valenzuela

I know he also pitched for the better part of three seasons in San Diego, and also for a short time for the Angels, Philadelphia, and St. Louis, but there is something that just doesn’t look right with Fernando Valenzuela pitching for the Orioles.

Also, how did that body type withstand 424 big league starts?