Jeff Ballard, 1992 Donruss #74

I've been listening to Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan's Effectively Wild podcast for the past year, but today was the first time that I'd heard Jeff Ballard's name mentioned on the show. With Sullivan on vacation, Lindbergh was interviewing Forbes contributor David Seideman about his experiences reporting on baseball memorabilia. Seideman offered some details on his latest article, recounting Ballard's recent reunion with a memento from his big league career.

The lefty had long prided himself on his hitting prowess, having eschewed the DH in his college days at Stanford. Obviously he never got to show off his offensive chops during his five seasons in Baltimore, but he never lost the knack. When he joined the Pirates in 1993, Jeff took batting practice reps with the position players instead of joining up with his fellow pitchers. Working primarily in relief during his two years in Pittsburgh, he didn't get many in-game chances to hit, but still made the most of them. Thanks to five hits in thirteen tries, Ballard owns a .385 batting average for his MLB career.

On September 16, 1993, he even struck a ground-rule double off of Marlins reliever David Weathers for his first (and only, as it happened) big league extra-base hit. An unknown fan in Miami caught the ball after it popped over the wall, and for some reason happened to inscribe it with the date and other relevant details. Years later, it was obtained by Gary Stilinovich, a devoted Pirates collector from Texas. He decided that it might mean more to Ballard, and managed to track down the ex-pitcher's home address in Billings, Montana. As you can imagine, Jeff was pleased to have the physical proof of his lone two-base knock, and to share it with his eight-year-old son Kyren and his five-year-old daughter Kennley, both of whom were born well after his playing days.

Chito Martinez, 1992 Donruss #558

Admit it, you haven't thought about Chito Martinez in a while. You didn't even know that today was his 47th birthday. It's okay, that's why you're here. So here are some other fun facts about every Oriole fan's third-favorite Martinez:

1. His full name is Reyenaldo Ignacio Martinez.

2. He is the only player in MLB history born in Belize, but played high school baseball in Metairie, Louisiana.

3. Chito was drafted by the Royals in 1984, and signed with the O's as a minor league free agent prior to the 1991 season.

4. In 1991, he made his big league debut after hitting .322/.393/.654 with 20 homers and 50 RBI in only 60 games at AAA Rochester.

5. As a 25-year-old rookie, Martinez more than held his own, batting .269 and slugging .564 for the Birds in 67 games.

6. The first of his 13 home runs in his first major league season was a pinch-hit solo shot against Oakland's Gene Nelson on July 11, 1991. With the Orioles trailing 8-0 in the eighth, he batted in place of Billy Ripken.

7. Chito fell out of favor with the O's after an 0-for-15 start to the 1993 season. He spent the rest of that year in the minors, and never returned to the big leagues.

Gregg Olson, 1992 Donruss #110

Gregg Olson was one of the goofiest-looking guys to ever put on an Oriole uniform, and that's before you get to talking about what he looked like in action. Have you ever seen another pitcher whose delivery left him bow-legged?

Arthur Rhodes, 1992 Donruss #727

I'm hoping it isn't so, but Arthur Rhodes may have thrown his last pitch in the major leagues. The 41-year-old southpaw was cut loose by the Rangers to make room for new reliever Mike Adams. In 24.1 innings this year, Arthur was touched up for a 4.81 ERA. Of course, he was quite effective for the three seasons prior, so there's still a chance that someone takes a late-season flier on him as a lefty specialist.

Now if Rhodes really has reached the end of the line, he leaves behind a 20-year resume in the bigs. For giggles, let's look at the box score from his major league debut: August 21, 1991 vs. the Rangers at Arlington Stadium.

	Baltimore Orioles				Texas Rangers
1	Mike Devereaux	CF		1	Gary Pettis	CF
2	Joe Orsulak	LF		2	Julio Franco	2B
3	Cal Ripken	SS		3	Ruben Sierra	RF
4	Glenn Davis	DH		4	Juan Gonzalez	LF
5	Randy Milligan	1B		5	Brian Downing	DH
6	Chito Martinez	RF		6	Dean Palmer	3B
7	Leo Gomez	3B		7	Mike Stanley	1B
8	Bob Melvin	C		8	Ivan Rodriguez	C
9	Billy Ripken	2B		9	Jose Hernandez	SS
	Arthur Rhodes P				Kevin Brown P

Incredibly, Ivan Rodriguez is still playing, grinding along as the Nationals' second catcher; he's collected 2,793 hits in 2,486 games since that one. Cal Ripken, Jr. has been in the Hall of Fame since 2007. Bob Melvin is now in his eighth season as a manager. Practically everyone in that Rangers lineup played until they were 50 years old, including Brian Downing, who debuted with the White Sox in 1973 and hung 'em up in 1992 at age 41. So between Rhodes and Downing, you've got nearly 40 years of continuous baseball history represented in a single game. And of course, the late Johnny Oates was managing the O's. They've had nine other skippers since. Eight of them have never managed a winning Orioles team.

Juan Bell, 1992 Donruss #479

The above is a great action shot of Juan Bell leaping over Carlos Quintana as the Red Sox first baseman barrels into second base to attempt to break up the double play by interrupting Bell's throw to first. But it gets even better. Below is Quintana's card (#609) from this set, with a photo taken mere seconds later at a different angle. I first learned of this phenomenon in an issue of Beckett Baseball Card Monthly over a dozen years ago. I carried that pointless knowledge somewhere in the recesses of my brain until the day that I came into possession of both cards, the pair representing one of the neat little quirks that make collecting small rectangles of cardboard a reward unto itself.

Luis Mercedes, 1992 Donruss #6

I wonder what the protocol is for embarrassing baseball card action shots. I've seen players looking straight up into the sky, having clearly popped the ball up. There have been photos where the batter is clearly swinging and missing the pitch. I believe this card, however, is the first time I've seen a hitter look so completely flummoxed. He's holding the bat in an excuse-me position, having either squared around to bunt before pulling back or freezing with the bat on his shoulder before unfreezing again and dropping the bat in a relaxed position. He's looking back, trying to locate the ball that just fooled him and meekly asking the umpire if it was a strike. This indecisiveness seems to have been the norm for Luis Mercedes, who lasted just three seasons in the major leagues and batted .190 in 70 total games. It's too late, Luis. That was strike three.

What interests me is that you never see a baseball card with a pitcher or fielder in an obvious moment of failure. There are no cards where Sidney Ponson turns to watch a meatball soar over the center field wall, no action shots of Manny Alexander booting a slow roller. To stretch it further, no one immortalized Jack Cust's stumble toward home plate in cardboard form; Sam Perlozzo's manager cards didn't showcase the skipper futilely throwing up his hands as another late-inning lead evaporated. Somehow, only hitters are allowed to be exposed as fallible.

Can you imagine how humiliating that might be for a player? Take a guy like Luis Mercedes. He didn't have that many baseball cards, and one of the few that exists shows him not in the midst of a mighty swing or a heroic dash around the bases, but standing limply in the batters' box, an opportunity having passed him by. It's roughly equivalent to Donruss distributing your sixth-grade yearbook photo in one of their sets.

I'm wondering if the guy who selected the photos for these cards was himself a former pitcher, hell-bent on making an example of any batter he could. He was a die-hard competitor, the kind of guy who never joked around with the other team, not even before a game, because they were his sworn enemies. There's enough oversight at the card company to keep him in check most of the time, but occasionally he slips one through the cracks. Strike three, Luis. Have a seat.