Feb 7, 2022
If you’re a fan of Michael
Unger’s 1990 Upper Deck baseball card project, then it doesn’t get
better than this episode of The K.P. Wee Podcast – which features a
non-stop stream of sports history, trivia, game deconstructions and
remembrances. Enjoy this return visit from a fan favorite known to
baseball card collectors through his social media handles
udeck1990@Twitter or upperdeck1990@Insta. Michael and K.P. do a deep dive into some of
the exciting (if sometimes forgotten or obscure) players that
Michael has been posting about daily as he works his way
systematically through each of his 1990 Upper Deck baseball cards.
His social media posts have created a community through which he
and K.P. initially connected and became friends.
In this episode, K.P. invites
Michael to highlight fascinating nuggets about some of the players
he has featured and the progress he’s making – now halfway through
the 800-card set. Among the stories they swap are memorable
national championship and World Series appearances plus fun facts
about trades and backstories on players like Felix Fernin, Larry
Andersen, Lloyd McClendon, Rick Cerone, Jeff Blauser, Craig
Lefferts, and many, many more. The histories of some players are
vivid and jump to mind instantly and then there are others whose
unsung or meandering paths are equally compelling.
If you’d like to jog your memory
or pick up some new bits of sports trivia, then join these two
educators, Vancouverites, and sports and stats enthusiasts. You’ll
quickly understand why so many serious baseball card collectors
look forward daily to the fascinating profiles Michael posts. Join
the #UpperDeck1990 community at either udeck1990@Twitter or upperdeck1990@Insta.
And if you’re interested in
learning more about two of the online reference sites Michael
regularly consults, visit the Society for
American Baseball Research or the Baseball Reference website.
Click here if you would like to hear previous episodes of
The K.P. Wee Podcast.
If you’re a fan of this
podcast’s intro music, please follow Roger Chong: Twitter
@chongroger and Instagram @chongroger
KEY TOPICS:
- (2:10): Michael revisits the story of how he
became widely known among baseball card collectors by the
handles udeck1990@Twitter or upperdeck1990@Insta.
- (03:57): The fun of “aha” moments: Sometimes
Michael posts about a card that unleashes a whole montage of
memories, like recently when he posted about Dennis Martinez, who
had a perfect game playing for the Montreal Expos against the
Dodgers. He was also a key team member with the Baltimore Orioles
until a struggle with alcohol took his career off-track. It’s a
rich narrative and memorable come-back career!
- (07:42): Why Michael has a special fondness for
the Montreal Expos logo, with its French flair and
associations.
- (10:25): Old disappointments – and grudges –
can die hard among sports loyalists. Michael has mostly positive
memories, like when the Mets won the World Series in 1986. But he
was a young fan and less invested than he was a couple of years
later, when the arguably stronger Mets inexplicably went down to
the Dodgers in 1988 NLCS. That was a heartbreaker that’s still
fresh today!
- (12:50): Felix “The Cat” Fermin has been
somewhat lost to history, but Michael recently posted about him and
what’s considered possibly one of the worst trades in baseball
history. The Cleveland Indians traded Fermin to the Mariners for
Omar Vizquel, which in hindsight was short-sighted and puzzling. By
the mid-1990s, with an additional new shortstop named Alex
Rodriguez, the Mariners started shopping Fermin around and nearly
triggered a cascade of personnel swaps that could have changed the
course of multiple teams, and perhaps the future of up-and-coming
Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter.
- (19:50): Cleveland Connections: K.P. asks about
both Rick Cerone (card #405) and Larry Andersen. Both were with the
Indians at various junctures in their careers.
- (21:00): Michael shares tidbits (including some
play-by-play World Series history) about Rick Cerone as well as
Rich Gedman, both of whom at some point replaced iconic Yankees and
Red Sox catchers, respectively. Don’t miss the anecdote about how
(when the hot 1980s actress/model Bo Derek was unavailable, Rick
Cerone became the unlikely spokesmodel for Ten Jeans
and a country singer whose
fundraiser for earthquake relief in Italy turned into a bit of a
fiasco.
- (27:15): K.P. recalls the 1992 Expos, who had
two 38-year-old pitchers (Rick Cerone and Gary Carter). Michael
explains the push-and-pull somewhat unique to the catcher position,
which makes physical demands best suited to younger players but
experiential wisdom usually only possessed by older
players.
- (29:15): K.P. highlights that Rick Cerone was
also part of Blue Jays history at a memorable opening day under
snowy conditions in which he was the starting catcher at the team’s
inaugural game.
- (30:23): All about two-time all-star Jeff
Blauser’s successful stint with the Atlanta Braves. Michael has
noticed that shortstops seem to be “over-valued a bit” in the 1990
Upper Deck, but Blauser was indeed a stand-out for his power
hitting.
- (32:53): What happened once Jeff Blauser got to
the Chicago Cubs – where he tanked for his last two seasons in the
majors before retirement.
- (33:42): K.P. chimes in with thoughts about the
1992 Atlanta Braves when they faced the Toronto Blue Jays, losing
four one-run games. How many RBIs did Jeff Blauser have in that
series? Yep. Zero. He was among a few underperforming Braves
hitters – any one of whom could have changed the outcome of that
series.
- (37:42): About Andre Thomas, who in 1988-89 was
the main shortstop (along with Jeff Blauser) for the Braves and hit
13 home runs “which back then for a shortstop was a pretty good
amount,” says Michael. They were offered Barry Bonds and turned it
down; then had a handshake deal that fell apart at the last minute
when the Pittsburgh Pirates GM refused to let Bonds
go.
- (39:53): The story of Greg Maddux, who fully
expected to sign with the Yankees but wasn’t ultimately invited
because of back-office disarray that created an opening for Atlanta
to make an offer, which Maddux immediately accepted.
- (41:43): K.P. (who wrote
this book about Barry
Bonds) recalls the 1992 Pittsburgh-Atlanta trade that didn’t come
to pass and musings from would-be Braves teammates about the impact
the player could have had.
(43:00): Recalling the 1992 NLCS series that
pitted fields of left-handed and right-handed players in ways that
invite speculation!
- (46:38): Lloyd McClendon is among the players
Michael has enjoyed writing about recently – including an anecdote
about how the player first acquired the nickname “Legendary Lloyd”
back in his Little League days in Gary, Indiana. His was the first
all-black team ever to make the Little League World Series and
McClendon had only five at-bats – all of which were home runs (when
the other teams didn’t intentionally walk him).
- (49:45): Larry Andersen was the only player on
both the 1983 and 1993 Phillies teams but wasn’t quite such a
figure of esteem in Boston, where his run with the Red Sox was less
auspicious. These were pre-wild card days, when the dynamics were
different both with regard to trades and in the bullpen come July
and August.
- (52:54): Craig Lefferts was a closer for the
San Diego Padres in 1991 (in the same bullpen as Larry Andersen,
who by then had been traded by Boston). Then in 1992 Randy
Myers was brought in as a closer and moved Lefferts – then in his
mid-30s – into the starting rotation, where he stepped
up.
- (54:08): Michael’s tidbits about Craig
Lefferts, a versatile player who still holds the record for number
of Padres games pitched in a season (83 games in 1986). He’s also
the last pitcher to hit a walk-off home run, which he did in 1986.
Side note: K.P. wrote and asked him for an interview when he was a
pitching coach for the Oakland A’s minor-league affiliate in
Vancouver but never heard back. “I don’t hold that against him,”
jokes K.P.
- (56:10): K.P. and Michael wrap by agreeing to
meet up again as the 1990 Upper Deck project progresses to share
more tidbits, nuggets and remembrances of seasons – and players –
past!
KEY QUOTES:
- (11:28):
“When the Dodgers beat the Mets in the NLCS, that was probably my
most heartbreaking moment in baseball. For anyone from the ’88
Dodgers team, that sticks in the craw a bit.”
(Michael)
- (28:04): “The
thing with catchers is you need to have a veteran presence because
they’re calling the game for the pitcher … It’s also the most
grueling position out there. So it’s a tradeoff. You want a younger
body in there, but you also want to have some experience as well.”
(Michael)
- (50:31): “Fans
forget that in (the 1980s and 1990s) you had to win your division
to make the playoffs. There was no wild card.” (K.P.)
- (53:23): “(Craig
Lefferts in his mid-30s) did pretty well as a starter (for the San
Diego Padres) and it just blows me away that you can go from being
a closer to a starter that late in your career.” (K.P.)
- (54:40): “I
notice how much celebrations have changed. Now in sports when
something happens – especially something rare or momentous … It
doesn’t matter what player you are, if you hit a home run, all the
players are out there throwing water, ripping off your jersey.”
(Michael)
Michael Unger’s Bio:
In addition to his
#upperdeck1990 and #udeck1990 social media following, Michael is
also a fan favorite at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in
Vancouver, where he organizes programs across cultural and
scientific disciplines. He’s a fixture at Nerd Nite Vancouver, a
bar lecture series that offers an alternative to traditional
learning environments, and he manages SCI-CATs (a team of science
communicators that have created open source teaching modules that
span a range of science communication topics). Michael is most
passionate about finding new ways to connect with audiences,
sharing the diversity of humanity looking into the cosmos with a
sense of wonder and curiosity about the universe and our place
in it.
Follow Michael Unger @Twitter or @Insta
About K.P. Wee:
K.P. Wee is the author of
multiple books and a regular contributor to sports radio programs
and websites. In addition to hosting The K.P. Wee Podcast, he also
enjoys writing sports and psychological fiction with a twist of
romance. He spent a decade working as a program developer and
instructor for a private school before joining the Vancouver
Canadians baseball club’s media relations
department.
You can find out more about books by K.P. Wee
here.
Follow K.P. Wee:
K.P. @Twitter
Additional episodes of The K.P.
Wee Podcast are available here.