Anthony Telford, 1992 Fleer #29

Looking for more information on pitcher Anthony Telford, I came to his Baseball Reference Bullpen page. It didn't have much to offer, except for a scan of one of his cards, which he had signed with his name and the Bible verse "Rev 3:20". Lots of professional athletes have been known to quote scripture along with their autographs, but I haven't seen many of them who have borrowed from the Book of Revelations. For those who are curious, the verse reads as follows:

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

While only Telford knows what significance those words have in his own life, I can see how he might have done a little soul-searching in the mid-90s, when he bounced from the Orioles to the Braves to the Athletics to the Indians to the Expos. By the time the 1997 season rolled around, Anthony was 31 years old and had pitched only 20 major league games, the last of them with Baltimore in 1993. Incredibly, he made Montreal's roster in 1997 and went on to pitch 285 games of relief for the team over the next four seasons, fashioning a 3.71 ERA in that span. Telford's career didn't last much longer after that, but considering his late-in-the-game renaissance, he certainly seems to have been blessed by somebody or something.