The Secret is Out!

Let me start by saying that (Secret) Santa Claus is a Super cool dude. Jared of Cards My Mom Didn't Throw Out sent over these cards, stuffing the stocking to overflowing proportions! Jack Morris was just inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and Tony Oliva has not. No disrespect intended to Morris, but Tony O is overdue, and this big Topps card should remind everyone that it's Tony's turn.

Johan is on the ballot for the first (and quite likely the last), and that too seems like a mistake in judgement. Santana didn't have the lengthy careers of many of the all-time great lefties, and doesn't have the post season resumes of his contemporaries like Pedro and Schilling. What he does have is a stretch of 5 straight 200 K seasons, a pair of Cy Young awards, and a career ERA+ of 136. He easily could have won the Cy Young the year Colon won it, making it 3 straight, but it was not meant to be. He's destined for the Hall of Very Good, not the worst place a guy can end up. Would have enjoyed the debate on his candidacy to continue a few years longer, but it's an overcrowded ballot.

I love Bert Blyleven's expressions during his windup. These 4 cards were all parallels of one form or another, with Corey Koskie being numbered to just 99 copies.

Hrbek was still just watching wrestling in 1982 instead of executing his best moves in the 1991 World Series - Big Dave was still bringing the aggressive swing in 1994, 21 years into his MLB career.

Another Hall of Famer, this time with a sweet tooth!

A nice round of Pucketts, and one big surprise...

Probably should have used a camera instead of the scanner, but this is a very cool piece. The pin packaging has career stats on the back, almost like a baseball card, along with mentioning a few of Kirby's more notable career highlights through the 1991 season.

Thanks so much, Jared!