This is a pretty silly card. Despite that fact (or maybe because of it), I just had to have it. I placed it on the Covetous Cluster, or most-wanted, list on the left sidebar. Ed, who spends more time working on my various want lists than I do, tracked it down and put it in my hands yesterday afternoon. So why was it so necessary for me to own?
I didn't have a single Orioles card of Doug Drabek, whose 13-year big league career sputtered to a halt with a 6-11 record and a 7.29 ERA for the Birds in 1998. I couldn't do without a reminder that Pat Gillick and/or Ray Miller thought it was a good idea to acquire a 35-year-old who had gone 29-29 with a 5.01 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP over the most recent 3 seasons. Once I got a look at the actual card, which features a silver-haired Drabek trying to leg out a grounder while batting in a spring training, I knew that it would hold a place of honor in my collection. The icing on the cake is Doug's intense, tongue-showing facial expression and his conspicuously-advertised Reebok batting gloves. The logo on the gloves almost looks like lightning bolts shooting out of his fingers.
He was the man with the Pirates in the early 90's. Good find.
ReplyDeleteNot a single memory of Drabek in an O's uniform. Yes, he was a stud with the Pirates.
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