136 - Phil Hiatt

 

136 - Phil Hiatt

Front: Sliding (and it looks like he's failing to break up a double play)

Back: Swinging away 

Better side: It will take a lot to defeat a horizontal photo, and that generic at-the-plate photo isn't going to do it.

Ties to my personal collections: None.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 6, although half of them are one sentence.

Wiki-facts: Was named in the Mitchell report.

Google it: There is a professor named Phil Hiatt in one of The Sims games.

How was his strike-shortened 1994?  Was not in the majors.

Birthday boy: May 1, 1969 (nice). Former NBA veteran Billy Owens, who would play in exactly 600 NBA games, mainly with Golden State, was born that day. NHLer Ben Hankinson, who played in 557 fewer NHL games, and is now an agent, is another 5/1/69 baby in the *-reference world. Filmmaker Wes Anderson is the most famous member of that specific date's babies.

Next up: 137 - Glenallen Hill

121 - Chris Gwynn

 

121 - Chris Gwynn 

Front: An infield play. Looks like a race to the bag with the winner yet to be determined.

Back: The batting cage.

Better side: While I'd normally pick the action shot, the batting cage photo seems rarer, so I'd pick that.

Ties to my personal collections: None.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 6 making back-to-back 6 paragraph wikis! That streak ends next time.

Wiki-facts: "While with the Dodgers, Gwynn made the final out in Dennis Martínez's perfect game on July 28, 1991"

Google it: Related searches: "Tony Gwynn". It even has 'Tony Gwynn's brother' on the pull down menu when searching.  

How was his strike-shortened 1994? After a two year stint in KC, he'd be back with the Dodgers. Went .268 with 3 HR and 13 RBI, but had only 71 AB.

Birthday boy: October 13, 1964. Nobody in the *-reference world was born that date. Wiki lists Jamaican writer Colin Channer as born that date, as well as TV host Chip Foose.s

Next up: 122 - Tony Gwynn 

112 - Tom Gordon

Front photo: Pitching.

Back photo: Pitching. Heck, this might be the exact same pitch photographed from different angles.

Better photo?: I like the angle on the back photo more.

Ties to my personal collections: None.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 15

Wiki-facts: "Gordon is mentioned by name in the title, and frequently referred to in the Stephen King novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon."

Google it: "Stephen King’s ‘The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon’ Is Being Made Into A Movie"

How was his strike shortened 1994? Went 11-7 with an ERA of 4.35

Birthday boy: November 18, 1967. He matches up with former NHLer Jocelyn Lemieux. Pretty bland, but all the Stephen King makes up for that.

Up Next: 113 - Jim Gott

81 - David Cone

Front photo: Pitching

Back photo: Holding the ball

Better photo?: I love the front photo. Great usage of the horizontal design to show the full stretch.

Silver Signature:

Ties to my personal collections: Played for both the Jays and Mets, having two separate stints with both teams.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 30 (his perfect game is a separate article)

Wiki-facts: "He attended Rockhurst High School, a Jesuit school, where he played quarterback on the football team, leading them to the district championship."

Google it: On the first page is a link that alludes to some of his 80s hijinx.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1077670-david-cone-cocaine-and-sexual-accusations-with-the-new-york-mets-kc-royals

How was his stike shortened 1994? Went 16-5 with a 2.94 ERA, picking up the Cy Young.

Birthday boy:  January 2, 1963. He shares it with another really good player in Edgar Martinez. The only other person across the *-reference world is Neal Coulter, who played a handful of games for the Islanders in the 80s.

Up Next: 82 - Jeff Conine

65 - George Brett

65- George Brett

Front photo: Standard batting photo, but a nice view of a 25th anniversary patch.

Back photo: N/A. Full stats!

Better photo?: N/A.

Parallel: Silver Signature

Ties to my personal collections: George owns the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League. I have several hits of one of their alumni, Jared Cowan, in my Senators collection.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 35.

Wiki-facts: "George Brett is credited with making the term The Mendoza Line popular."

Google it: I was expecting references to the Lorde song, but those don't show up until the second page. There are several references to the pine tar game on page 1.

How was his stike shortened 1994? N/A. He retired in 1993. This was his farewell card. While this is nice, it isn't quite as nice as his 1994 Topps farewell card.

Birthday boy: May 15, 1953. No baseball birthdays, but the next May 15th birthday boy would join George in the Hall of Fame (1967, John Smoltz). NHLer Pat Hickey was born that date, and outside the sporting world, musician Mike Oldfield was also born 5/15/53.

Up Next: Steve Buechele

23 - Jeff Granger

Front photo: Despite the fact he debuted with the Royals in 1993, it is still a posed shot. But, that debut consisted of one inning and an ERA of 27.00.

Back photo: And another one.

Better photo?: A bland draw.

Ties to my personal collections: None that I can see.

Paragraphs in wikipedia entry: 2

Wiki-facts: If I ever get a wikipedia page, I don't want the words "cautionary tale" to appear on it. Unfortunately for Jeff, those words do appear in relation to his being rushed to the majors. On a better note, he was also a quarterback at high school and at Texas A&M.

Google it: There is another Jeff Granger that shows up in two other links prior to this Granger. No matter how bad the cautionary tale is for the baseball Jeff Granger, at least the first three words in an article about him don't contain the phrase "Corrupt tax auditor".

How was his strike-shortened 1994? Had two games in the bigs, both starts. Went 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA.

Birthday boy: December 16, 1971. Both the Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani Wars of 1971 ended on that date. Michael McCary of Boyz II Men was born that date. Nobody else on other sports reference sites has that exact birthdate.

Up next: 24 - Steve Soderstrom