#39 Jim Thome

SURPRISE : 

1 a: an attack made without warning 

b: a taking unawares 

2: something that surprises 

3: the state of being surprised : astonishment 

NONE of these make any sense for Jim Thome who by this point in his career (OK at this point I stopped typing and went to Thome's baseball-reference page to see what an awesome, established player and slugger he was by now.  Not so much.)

In Thome's first 3 seasons he hit 1, 2, and 7 home runs.  In his fourth season, before this card was produced, he hit 20. (He didn't hit less than 20 for the next 15 of 16 seasons.)

But in 1993 in the minors he hit 25 with 105 RBI.

I guess I can kinda see the use of SURPRISE, but I think it was a bad choice.

There were signs.

#38 Julian Tavarez

PRODIGY : a highly talented child or youth 

Lets see, Julian was 21 or so when this card was produced.

So can only a child or youth be a prodigy?

17 year career on 11 different teams.

JOURNEYMAN would be a more appropriate term.

In 1997 he appeared in a NL leading 89 games.

Hit 97 batters in his career, that's a lot.

Won a World Series with the Red Sox in 2007 although he did not play.