Then & Now – All-Star Managers

2013 Topps Heritage – Jim Leyland

2013 Topps Heritage – Bruce Bochy

Tonight, Jim Leyland of the Detroit Tigers led his American League All-Stars to a 3-0 win over Bruce Bochy of the San Francisco Giants and his National League All-Stars in New York.  This leads us to a quick look back at 1987, the first time they appeared in a baseball card set together:

1987 Topps – Jim Leyland

1987 Topps – Bruce Bochy

Jim Leyland was only 74 years old in 1987, still had a dark mustache, and was just entering his second year of an 11-year tenure as the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  This, of course, was before he moved to Florida (as all old men do), Colorado (remember that? No?) and Detroit (because he thought it was still booming like it was 1955.  It is not.).

Bruce Bochy was entering his final season as a player in 1987.  Over 358 games with three teams, Bochy retired with a .239 batting average, a hit in his only World Series at-bat, and an excellent mustache, which later became a very boring old man goatee… which you can do when you’ve just won two World Series in three years.

Obvious edge here: Leyland

Newsworthy – 2012 MLB Home Run Derby

2012 Topps – Prince Fielder

As it turns out, Prince Fielder is a hitter, not a quitter (see Terry Tate, Office Linebacker), as he won the Home Run Derby at the MLB All-Star festivities in Kansas City tonight.  He certainly deserved it, hitting two that traveled 476 feet and several into the fountains at Kauffman Stadium (insert your own wet balls joke here).  As you can see in the image above, he also plays first base, although I think his body type is better suited to shortstop or centre field.

Toronto’s Jose Bautista finished second, putting on a good show as countless people across America asked themselves where exactly Toronto was and why the SkyDome/Rogers Centre kind of looks like an igloo, when Canadians are always making such a big deal of the fact that they do not, in fact, live in igloos.

1991 Donruss – George Brett

1992 O-Pee-Chee – John Kruk

The best moments of the evening, however, were provided by George Brett, for showing up on live television drunk, and John Kruk, for crushing a pile of Kansas City barbecue ribs as if he still had a mullet.  Now, that said, I am merely commenting, not judging.  If I was George Brett, I’d get drunk at an All-Star Game in Kansas City too, and KC makes some of the best barbecue out there, so I can’t blame Kruk for not waiting until the post-event spread.

All in all, a pretty entertaining evening.  Good on you, Major League Baseball.