105 - Carlos Garcia

Front photo: Bunting! Retro uniform! Holy Amazing!

Back photo: Some infield play.

Better photo?: No contest. The front.

Ties to my personal collections: Would go on to play for the Blue Jays.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 8

Wiki-facts: "In 2018, he became manager of the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League."

Google it: Google seems to think I'm more interested in the former mayor of Pico Rivera, California, than the baseball player.

How was his strike shortened 1994? He was the Pirates lone representative at the All-Star game, batting .277 with 6 HR and 28 RBI.

Birthday boy: October 15, 1967. He's the only MLBer born that date, but former NFLer Greg McMurtry was born that day as well. As was the

current lieutenant governor of North Carolina.

Up Next: #106 - Jeff Gardner

95 - Doug Drabek

Front photo: Happy about something.

Back photo: Pitching at Wrigley.

Better photo?: While the ivy doesn't look to be out in full force, I have to vote for the Wrigley photo.

Ties to my personal collections: Not directly, but his son Kyle would play for the Jays at one point.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 8. Seems low.

Wiki-facts: "He is the pitching coach for the Double A Jackson Generals."

Google it: Punked!

How was his strike shortened 1994? 12-6 with an ERA of 2.84. Was an all-star.

Birthday boy: July 25, 1962. Longtime Indianapolis Colts kicker Dean Biasucci shares a birthday with Drabek.

Up Next: Scott Erickson

83 - Steve Cooke

83 - Steve Cooke

Front photo: Pitching, but with a throwback uniform.

Back photo: The same, but with a regular uniform.

Better photo?: No contest. Throwback uniforms easily win this one.

Ties to my personal collections: None.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 2.

Wiki-facts: "He was named as the LHP in the Topps All-Star Rookie Team in 1993."

Google it: With the front page taken up by biologists and professors, this Steve Cooke shows up on the second page.

How was his stike shortened 1994? Not good. Went 4-11 with an ERA over 5.

Birthday boy:  January 14, 1970. Former NFL kick returner Tyrone Hughes was also born that date. The date is also shared with a pair of former NHLers, Tom Pederson and Eric Charron.

Up Next: 84 - Scott Cooper

78 - Dave Clark

Front photo: Sliding.

Back photo: He's safe!

Better photo?: I hate to call it a draw, but the photos are obviously from the same play. Since they flow together so well, I have to call it even.

Ties to my personal collections: None.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 10

Wiki-facts: His brother, Louis, is a former wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers.

Google it: Takes 5 pages to get to the first reference to this Dave Clark. Most on the earlier pages are about the Dave Clark 5.

How was his stike shortened 1994? Batted .296 with 10 HR and 46 RBI.

Birthday boy: September 3, 1962. None of his fellow MLB alumni were born that date, but former Jet/Eagle/Falcon Rich Miano was. Outside the sporting world, David De Roure, an English computer scientist is also a 9/3/62 baby. Poet E.E. Cummings (or e e cummings if you prefer) died on that date.

Up Next: 78 - Jerald Clark

#42 - Rich Audé

Front photo: Playing the infield.

Back photo: Ditto.

Better photo?: This one is a draw. And in the dullest way imaginable.

Parallel: I recently picked up a lot of about 50 of the silver signature parallels. Of them, 2 have already been posted (Luis Ortiz and Kurt Abbott). Rich Aude is the first one to get posted, and he, at least in facsimile form, has pretty good penmanship. Plus, look for the accent on the 'E' to get the proper pronunciation of his name. This also means I have to use ALT+233 for two straight players to get their names right.

Ties to my personal collections: None.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 1

Wiki-facts: "He is the brother of acclaimed producer, house DJ and remixer Dave Audé."

Google it: He auto completed as "Rich Audé bat flip".

Not quite Joey Bats, but still pretty impressive flip, especially considering its walk-off status.

How was his strike-shortened 1994? Spent it in AAA with the Buffalo Bisons. 15HR, 79 RBi with a .281 average.

Birthday boy: July 13, 1971. The only person on any of the other *-reference sites is 3 game NHLer Brian Wiseman. Although one of my frequent trade partners would note that Wiseman is a U of Michigan alum, and his only cards have him pictured with the Wolverines.

Up next: #43 - Brad Ausmus

#3 - Midre Cummings

Front photo: An actual game shot or posed in front of a backdrop? Only UD employees at the time know for sure.

Back photo: N/A.

Ties to my personal collections: Baseball wise, he played for 7 teams, but never was a Met or a Blue Jay. Although a Top Prospects card I pulled from a repack did feature one of the more pathetic attempts at facial hair ever featured on a card.  But to go several degrees of separation, he was born in the Virgin Islands, as was 2-14 baby Callix Crabbe. More V. Islands stuff in the Wiki-facts. And one more under birthday boy.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 3

Wiki-facts: Middle name is Almeric. Was born in the Virgin Islands. Cross referencing that with baseball-reference, he was one of 11 players to reach the majors that were born there. With 460 games, he is more than 800 games behind leader Horace Clarke.

How was his strike-shortened 1994?: Batted .244 over 92 AB. But, he also hit his first big league home run.

Birthday boy: Born October 14, 1971. Portuguese soccer player Jorge Costa was also born that date. As was former Ottawa Senator Dmitri Filimonov. That's another connection to my PCs. Also, NFLers Frank Wycheck and Derrick Rodgers.

Next up: #4 - Carlos Delgado