Mail Call: Trade with Texas Rangers Cards

I got a box of about 400 Mets cards from Spiff of Texas Rangers Cards today. That’s far, far too many to list individually, so I’m just going to show off my favorite thing in box.

Among the hundreds of Mets cards Spiff sent, he included all seven Mets prospects from the 1989 South Atlantic League All-Star Set. I’d always pick up the minor league sets of the Mets’ affliates, but I never bought the All-Star or prospects sets. This is a pretty nice find. 🙂

Todd Hundley put up some nice numbers during his 14-year Major League career. He hit .234 with 202 home runs and 599 RBIs… not bad for a guy who had a “good glove / no bat” reputation when he first reached the big leagues. Hundley went from 7 home runs in 358 at-bats in 1992 to 16 home runs in 291 at-bats in 1994.

In 1996, Hundley made everyone take notice – he had the best season of his career, he hit .259 with 41 home runs and 112 RBIs. In retrospect, I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised to find Todd Hundley’s name in the Mitchell Report.

 

Anthony Young had a six year Major League career. He finished with a lifetime 15-48 record with 20 saves and a 3.89 ERA. He will forever be remembered for losing 27 consecutive decisions over 15 month in 1992 and 1993.

 

Kevin Baez had a brief Major League career, playing in 63 games for the Mets between 1990 and 1993. He played in the minors for 18 years, retiring in 2005 at the age of 38. He is now a coach for the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League.

 

Chris Hill spent 9 years in the minors, getting as far as AAA. He had a lifetime 64-47 record with a 3.67 ERA.

 

James Morrisette, a 1986 third round draft choice of the Mets, played for five seasons in the minor leagues. He never advanced past AA.

 

Bob Olah also spent five seasons in the minors, all in the Mets organization. He never got past A ball.

 

Andy Reich pitched in the minors for six seasons. He had a lifetime 29-20 record, with 20 saves and a 2.75 ERA, but he never made it past AA.

Kinda goes to show how big of a crapshoot that prospecting can be. 🙂

I’ll feature some of the other cards that were in the box as “Cards of the Day.” It’s a great package, and I’d guess there were around 75 cards that I didn’t have.