19 - Solomon Torres

Well, it was one Expo ago I picked up this set. And I'm just at the 19th card 6 months later. Sounds about right for me. Time to get 1 card closer to the end.

Front photo: I'd lean with spring training on this, but the extreme close-up makes it impossible to tell for sure.

 Back photo: N/A. One card to go for a long time without a photo on the back.

Ties to my personal collections: Played a portion of the 1997 season with the Expos after being claimed of waivers. 12 appearances and a 7.25 ERA then. He then retired, and coached the Expos Dominican League team, before returning to baseball and having a good mid 00's run with the Pirates.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 9.

Wiki-facts: How about a quote? On being razzed my fans still bitter over a bad performance in 1993 " "They come to the park and they pay my salary, so they have the right to heckle me. " Is from San Pedro de Macoris, which might be the most famous place in the Dominican Republic, at least in a baseball sense.

How was his strike-shortened 1994? Went 2-8 with an ERA over 5.

Birthday boy: March 11, 1972. Shares the date with former NFLer Carl Greenwood and Japanese singer Ua.

 Up next: 20 - Gabe White, wrapping up the first part of the Rookie Class subset

18 - Scott Stahoviak

Front photo: Definitely spring training, but not enough visible to determine if it is just practice or during an actual game.

Back photo: N/A.

Ties to my personal collections: Nothing direct as he spent his entire career with the Twins. Shares a birthday with former Toronto Raptor Dwight Buycks.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 3.

Wiki-facts: "He taught as a gym teacher at Saint Norbert School in Northbrook, IL. He resigned in 2008 to pursue a new career.  He now teaches Physical Education at Maple Middle School." That was one of the 3 paragraphs.

How was his strike-shortened 1994? Played exactly as many major league games as I did.

Birthday boy: March 6, 1970. Chris Broderick (Megadeth) was born on that date, as was former NFLer Robbie Tobeck.

Up next:  19 - Salomon Torres

17 - Johnny Ruffin

Front photo: Looks like an in-game photo, but it seems very spring-training.

Back photo: N/A.

Ties to my personal collections: Nothing direct. Baseball Reference lists former Expo and Blue Jay Randy St. Claire as the most similar pitcher.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 2.

Wiki-facts: He also played one season in Nippon Professional Baseball with the Kintetsu Buffaloes and one season in the Korea Baseball Organization for the SK Wyverns.

How was his strike-shortened 1994? Pretty good. He went 7-2, with an ERA just over 3.09 over 70 innings with 1 save.

Birthday boy: July 29, 1971. Outside the sporting world, he shares it with Bryan Dattilo from Days of Our Lives. Nobody else from the 4 major team sports was born that date.


Up Next: #18 Scott Stahoviak