Eric Bell, 1988 Score #101

Well, my work had a two hour delayed opening today, so you get an uncommonly early post. It should be a nice change from the usual uncommonly late post.

I may have been a little snarky in my treatment of Eric Bell in last night's entry. After all, one of the things that I enjoy about writing this blog is finding the interesting little stories that define even the obscure players. There are a couple of tidbits on Eric's career stat line that grab my attention, and it would be impolite to keep them to myself.

In 1987, his first full season in the majors, he started 29 games for the Orioles. Only Mike Boddicker (33 GS) had more starts for the team. Aside from that rookie season, Bell had only five starts in the big leagues. Though he had a pretty lousy year, the youngster also scraped out ten wins. He tied for the team lead with Boddicker and Dave Schmidt. Sure, it took him 29 starts to eke out double-digit wins, but when you look at his 5.45 ERA (80 ERA+), 1.53 WHIP, and 1.42 strikeout-to-walk ratio, it's a wonder that he made it.

Bell debuted with the O's in 1985 at age 21, meaning that he was only 23 during that 1987 season. But even with the Baltimore roster in practical shambles in 1988, he started that season at AAA Rochester. He went 3-1 with a 1.98 ERA through seven games before getting injured. Elbow surgery cost him the rest of his season, and he languished in the minors for two more seasons before signing with the Indians as a free agent for 1991.

In September of 1991, the Tribe brought him up after the rosters expanded and he had an improbable hot streak. Four years after throwing his last major league pitch, Eric came out of the Cleveland bullpen and tossed 15 and 2/3 innings spanning eight games without allowing a single earned run. After the only batter he faced in his ninth appearance scored, he added another scoreless 2 and 1/3 innings in his final game of the year to wind up with a 0.50 ERA and 0.56 WHIP. Even more improbable, he played the vulture role, posting a 4-0 record in relief. In doing so he set a major league record for the most wins without a loss while pitching on a 100-loss team. As you might imagine, that was the peak of Bell's career. He began the 1992 season on the Indians' roster, but struggled and was shipped out in May. His 1993 season with the Astros mirrored the 1992 campaign, and he pitched his final big league game on May 8. The southpaw clung to his livelihood for three-plus more seasons at AAA, until a 4-14 season at Tucson in 1996 brought his pro career to a close at age 32.

Well, now I feel better. I hope for your sake and mine that there's a pub trivia quiz somewhere out there that has an Eric Bell Round.

Mike Young, 1988 Score #393

In their inaugural baseball card set, Score really did it right. I think these bright green borders might have been the best of the six colors they used; they really pop, and nothing says baseball like green. Each card back had a full-color headshot and paragraphs full of biographical details about the player, giving you insight that you just didn't get from the other cards out there. And some of these photos are fantastic.

Here we see power-hitting outfielder Mike Young during a road game, most likely on AstroTurf (Toronto? Minnesota?), running the bases. Though he's contorted in sort of an odd and ungraceful position, you still get the impression that he's turning on the afterburners because his batting helmet has been left behind. It's shades of Willie Mays, who reportedly wore his cap one size too big so that it would fly loose while he was on the move and make it look like he was even faster than he actually was. After I read about that, I used to knock my own hat loose when I played kickball at recess in middle school. Considering my lack of coordination, I probably should have paid more attention to the intricacies of the game.

This card is already great because of the sort of midair moment that some of my fellow bloggers appreciate so greatly. But it's made even better because while Mike Young's attention is fixed off-camera and on the next base (and possibly his base coach), his helmet is facing the camera, straight ahead. It's almost as if one of the ghosts of the diamond has inhabited the inanimate piece of equipment and has begun to slide into the upcoming base.

Can you think of any other cards that capture a disembodied batting helmet? How about a regular cap? For some reason, I imagine the latter is more prevalent.

Tom Niedenfuer, 1988 Score #261

This one is a quickie. Last summer I was flipping through an Orioles game-day program from 1989 (with an artist's conception of Camden Yards on the front) and found an advertisement that was just too funny. See for yourself:


Um, I'll take their word for it. How many Orioles do you think could actually spell Niedenfuer? It's tricky, with the i before e and u before e as well. I bet the Rolaids folks wished that Doug Sisk had led the Birds in saves in 1988.