Rookies 3 of 10 Marty Cordova

 

Cordova won A.L. Rookie of the year in 1995 and went on to a 9-year career with the Twins, Blue Jays, Indians and Orioles.

He once fell asleep in a tanning bed, which caused him to miss several day games with the Orioles.

Rookies 2 of 10 Jason Bates

Bates spent his four-year career with the Rockies.

He didn't have as much "pop" as expected hitting only 12 home runs over 319 games.

Rookies 1 of 10 Edgardo Alfonzo

 

Alfonzo went on to have a decent eleven-year career in MLB, getting an All-Star nod and winning a Silver Slugger.

#200 Checklist 3

Last five teams and the four different insert sets.

I prefer when a set has the checklists together at the end of the set and not scattered throughout.

 

#199 Checklist 2

 

This second checklist card transitions from the American League teams (#1-98) to the National League.

The Astros would later jump to the American League in 2013.

Interesting that the Expos (9) got more cards that the Dodgers (7). 

Emotion Recap - Page 22

#190 Scott Sanders - SLIDER

#191 Rod Beck - TORCH

#192 Barry Bonds - CONFIDENT

#193 Royce Clayton - ANTICIPATING

#194 Glenallen Hill - CLOBBERING

#195 Darren Lewis - SILK

#196 Mark Portugal - STRAINING

#197 Matt Williams - POWERBASE

#198 Checklist 1

That ends all the team cards. 

Next up is the rest of the checklists and the inserts.

 

#198 Checklist 1

Since the set is organized by teams, it only makes sense that the checklists are as well. I like this format because then I get to include one with my Angels team set and they lucked out with the center square, the column doesn't break their list of cards.

Interesting to note that the Twins got dissed by only getting three players in the set, while the Yankees of course, get ten. The Indians get ten because they were loaded with vets.

 

#197 Matt Williams

 

POWERBASE : noun : 
: a base of political support

Elected 5 times...to the All-Star Game.

Batting average .268

Home runs 378

Runs batted in 1,218

Managerial record 179–145

Winning % .552

As player

San Francisco Giants (1987–1996)

Cleveland Indians (1997)

Arizona Diamondbacks (1998–2003)

As manager

Washington Nationals (2014–2015)

Kia Tigers (2020–2021)

As coach

Arizona Diamondbacks (2010–2013, 2016)

Oakland Athletics (2018–2019)

San Diego Padres (2022-2023)

San Francisco Giants (2024)

5× All-Star (1990, 1994–1996, 1999)

World Series champion (2001)

4× Gold Glove Award (1991, 1993, 1994, 1997)

4× Silver Slugger Award (1990, 1993, 1994, 1997)

NL home run leader (1994)

NL RBI leader (1990)

NL Manager of the Year (2014)

San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame

#196 Mark Portugal

STRAINING : intransitive verb : \ˈstrān
: to contract the muscles forcefully in attempting to defecate

He must have wasted a lot of energy between innings.

Won a Silver Slugger as a pitcher!

Win–loss record 109–95

Earned run average 4.03

Strikeouts 1,134

Minnesota Twins (1985–1988)

Houston Astros (1989–1993)

San Francisco Giants (1994–1995)

Cincinnati Reds (1995–1996)

Philadelphia Phillies (1997–1998)

Boston Red Sox (1999)

Silver Slugger Award (1994)

#195 Darren Lewis

 

SILK : noun : \ silk
: a fine continuous protein fiber produced by various insect larvae usually for cocoons.

Or, um, maybe in reference to his undergarments?

Dusty Baker named his own son after Darren Lewis.

Batting average .250

Home runs 27

Runs batted in 342

Stolen bases 247

Oakland Athletics (1990)

San Francisco Giants (1991–1995)

Cincinnati Reds (1995)

Chicago White Sox (1996–1997)

Los Angeles Dodgers (1997)

Boston Red Sox (1998–2001)

Chicago Cubs (2002)

Gold Glove Award (1994)

#194 Glenallen Hill

 

CLOBBERING: transitive verb: \ ˈklä-b(ə-)riŋ
:  to pound mercilessly.
: to hit with force.

Named in the Mitchell Report, which alleged that he had used performance-enhancing drugs.

(Maybe because he was hitting with an unusually high amount of force?)

Batting average .271

Home runs 186

Runs batted in 586

Toronto Blue Jays (1989–1991)

Cleveland Indians (1991–1993)

Chicago Cubs (1993–1994)

San Francisco Giants (1995–1997)

Seattle Mariners (1998)

Chicago Cubs (1998–2000)

New York Yankees (2000)

Anaheim Angels (2001)

#193 Royce Clayton

ANTICIPATING : transitive verb : \ an-ˈti-sə-ˌpāt 

: to give advance thought, discussion, or treatment to

Royce was often found deep in thought, anticipating which team he would be on next (see below).

Batting average .258

Home runs 110

Runs batted in 723

San Francisco Giants (1991–1995)

St. Louis Cardinals (1996–1998)

Texas Rangers (1998–2000)

Chicago White Sox (2001–2002)

Milwaukee Brewers (2003)

Colorado Rockies (2004)

Arizona Diamondbacks (2005)

Washington Nationals (2006)

Cincinnati Reds (2006)

Toronto Blue Jays (2007)

Boston Red Sox (2007)

All-Star (1997)

Started entertainment companies that worked to develop walk up music for batters and theme songs for players.

First player struck out by Jim Morris, as portrayed in the move The Rookie.

Portrayed Miguel Tejada in the 2011 film Moneyball.

 

#192 Barry Bonds

CONFIDENT : adjective : \  ˈkän-fə-dənt  
: full of conviction : CERTAIN
confident of success
confident that conditions will improve

Barry was confident his use of steroids would never be found out.

Batting average .298

Home runs 762

Hits 2,935

Runs batted in 1,996

Stolen bases 514

Pittsburgh Pirates (1986–1992)

San Francisco Giants (1993–2007)

14× All-Star (1990, 1992–1998, 2000–2004, 2007)

7× NL MVP (1990, 1992, 1993, 2001–2004)

8× Gold Glove Award (1990–1994, 1996–1998)

12× Silver Slugger Award (1990–1994, 1996, 1997, 2000–2004)

3× NL Hank Aaron Award (2001, 2002, 2004)

2× NL batting champion (2002, 2004)

2× NL home run leader (1993, 2001)

NL RBI leader (1993)

San Francisco Giants No. 25 retired

San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame