Okay, so lenticular cards don't scan too well. But in this case, it gives the image an ethereal sort of quality that I like. Besides, Sid Fernandez is the guy who, after racking up a 7.67 ERA to start the 1995 season and being demoted to the bullpen, was quoted as saying: "You just won't see me...I'll be gone with the wind, and that's it." Rather than retire, he hung around until the Birds released him in July, halfway through his three-year, $9 million contract (which was a hefty sum in those days). Naturally, he signed with the Phillies and went 6-1 with a 3.34 ERA the rest of the way. Feh.I look at El Sid's career numbers and try to figure out where the O's went wrong. He was flat unhittable for a full decade with the Mets, never allowing more than 7.4 hits per nine innings in a full season. He was switching to the American League, but there's no reason that the move should have turned him into a toad. Then again, he was pretty chunky, had missed big chunks of two of the previous three seasons with injuries, and was on the wrong side of thirty. Caveat emptor. I also just learned from The Bad Guys Won, Jeff Pearlman's book about the 1986 Mets, that the rotund Hawaiian apparently believed that professional wrestling was real. This absolutely dumbfounded me. How is this possible, even in the 1980s?! I realize that it's not the sort of thing that routinely comes up when a team meets with a free agent, but now I think that it should. If I'm about to sign a guy to a multi-year, seven-figure deal, I think I might like to know that he's afraid of being eaten by Kamala the Ugandan Giant. It's called doing your due diligence.
I am pretty sure El Sid was more afraid of Abdullah the Butcher.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I marveled about Sid Fernandez was, not just the fact that he was chunky, but he was practically a perfect cube. I wish I could find a photo of Keith Hernandez and Sid Fernandez standing next to each other from the back. On Hernandez's jersey, you would see the typical arc of the nine letters of his name, in fact because it was so long, it might have to curve a lot. Then, on Sid's jersey, you would have a bone straight "FERNANDEZ" with many inches before the arms. this is the best I could do for the back of el sid to prove my point:
http://images115.fotki.com/v664/photos/4/44184/241014/SidFernandez-vi.jpg?1051925352
this is the best i could do for the back of hernandez:
http://mybaseballcardcollection.com/d/8986-2/1984+Topps+Tiffany+Keith+Hernandez+%23120.JPG
anyway, I forgot what my point is. oh, yes, sid fernandez was a fatty.
Max - Fun fact: Abby (as he is called by fellow wrestlers) owns a rib joint.
ReplyDeleteSid did have a unique shape. You don't get a whole lot of ballplayers built like Weebles.
"Don't forget this man (Kamala) is basically still an animal. He is a savage."
ReplyDelete-- direct quote from that match's commentator
That doesn't sound racist, now does it?
William - Yeah, WWF/WWE has always been big on racial sensitivity. A few years ago they had a group of Mexican wrestlers named the "Mexicools" who rode "Juan Deere" riding mowers to the ring. I could not possibly make up something like this.
ReplyDelete