#50-Glenn Davis

The big slugging first baseman was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 1st round of the 1981 draft and made his debut three years later in September of 1984. 

After a split season in 1985 he had his break out season in 86 hitting .265 with 31 homeruns and 101 RBI's with a WAR of 4.2. Unusually for a power hitter he only struck out 72 times and finished 2nd in the MVP voting. However, his defense was blow average recording a -0.7. dWar. In the classic 1986 NLCS his hit .269 with a homer and 3 RBI's but the Astros lost to the eventual World Champ Mets. 

For the next three years he hit .263 and averaged 30 home runs 94 RBI's while playing half his season in the massive Astrodome. In 1990 injuries limited him to only 93 games. After that season Davis was sent to the Orioles in a classic one-sided deal as the Astros received Steve Finley, Pete Harnisch and Curt Schilling. Three bad season with Baltimore lead to his release in September of 1993 and after several attempts to revive his career in the minors the injuries proved too much and he retired in 1996. 

In his 1990 card Davis is seen in the on-deck circle at what is probably Candlestick Park. 

#49-Tom Lawless

Tom Lawless could be considered the 1980's equal to Charlie Williams. In 1972 Williams was traded to the Giants and in return the Mets received Willie Mays.  In August of 1984 Lawless was sent to the Expos for Reds legend (and should be Hall of Famer) Pete Rose. Like Williams he would never reach the heights of fame of the player they were traded for but in Lawless' case he had some notable moments in his career. 

After one year in Montreal he was off to the Cardinals where he appeared in the 85 and 87 World Series. Though they were both losing efforts Lawless, who hit 2 homeruns over the eight years he spent in the majors hit a homer for the Cards. 

Released by St. Louis after the 1988 season he signed with the Blue Jays, who's uniform he appears in on his 1990 card which would also be his last season after his release by the Jays. During his career Lawless was more often than not the 25th man on a teams roster getting no more 50 at-bats more often than not-his career high coming in his rookie season of 1982 when he had 165. Over those eight years he had only 531 at-bats making over those years the equal of one full season of appearances while playing in 343 games. His glove carried his bat which could only hit at a .207 clip and had a career WAR of -2.2 while his dWAR was -0.5. 

#48-Zane Smith

A 3rd round pick of the Braves in the 1982 draft Zane Smith made it to Atlanta by 1984 and was a mainstay of their pitching staff in 85. Horrible, awful soul crushing 1985. The year of, the late, 1-13 Pascual Perez  and his 6.14 ERA, Steve Bedrosian in the rotation and going 7-15 and what was really the end of Len Barker's career with his 2-9 and 6.35. 

In 87 he won 15 though his ERA was a high 4.09 and the Braves were still awful. Two years later the losing caught up with Smith as he started the season 1-12 with his career worst WAR of -1.3. Traded in July he went to Montreal, who's uniform we see him in on this card and responded with a 1.5 WAR to finish out his season. Speaking of this card, it was outdated on August 8, when he was traded to the Pirates for two players and a player to be named later who turned out to be Moises Alou. That season he went 0-2 in his first postseason. The next year he faced his old team in the NLCS and went 1-1 with a superb 0.61 ERA, however the Pirates lost again. 

Smith stayed with the Pirates until 1995 when he joined the Red Sox but arm injuries lead to a miserable year there and in 96 he was back in Pittsburgh when another bad year made that his last season. 

#47-Brian Harper

Drafted by the then California Angels in the 4th Round of the draft out of San Pedro High School Brian Harper hit so well that just two years after being drafted he was called up to the Angels and debuted in September of 1979 at the age of 19. After a couple more years of hitting well in the minors he was recalled again in 81. In December he was sent to the Pirates for shortstop Tim Foli and Harper began his long sojourn around the majors that would last until 1988. In Pittsburgh he served as a pinch-hitter and reserve outfielder. In 85 he was sent to St. Louis, 86, Detroit, 87 Oakland and in 1988, after being released by the A's signed with Minnesota. Up to this point he was a career .233 hitter with 11 homers and 50 RBI's over 205 games and 390 AB's. His career WAR was a meager -0.9. At this point he was less than a journeyman who had bounced around the majors and at the age of 28 was probably at his last stop. 

In 1988 he set career highs in games and at-bats along with avg. of .295 and tied his best RBI total of 20. Harper who had mostly played as a corner outfielder was now making more appearances behind the plate and in 1989 would become the Twins' regular catcher. The next six season saw Harper at his peak and win a World Series ring in 1991 hitting .381 in the series against Atlanta with an RBI and 2 runs scored. 92 and 93 continued on with his excellent seasons until 94 when injuries and the strike limited his playing time. The injuries carried over when he signed with Oakland in 95 where he only appeared in 2 games before ending his career. 

Modesto Bee Article

Here is my latest article in the Bee. Without a doubt this is the goriest article I've written. Its an article so bloody that if Eli Roth read it he would hurl. :) 

http://www.modbee.com/2013/02/17/2583231/gruesome-tales-from-the-farm.html

#46-Rob Dibble

Rob Dibble is shown here in his Reds road uniform and with the blue background its probably a shot taken at Shea Stadium durning an afternoon game.  It could have been taken on July 8 or 9, 1989 during the two weekend afternoon games in New York. He went 1.3 innings and gave up 4 runs in his two appearances there. He also was fined $400 by the league for his involvement in a fight between the teams during the Saturday game. He also aggravated his elbow in the fight and several days later was put on the disabled list. 

Drafted by the Reds in the First Round (20th pick) in the June amateur draft (secondary phase) the 6'4 230 Ib right-hander came out of Florida Southern College he was sent to Billings, Montana minor league team. Pitching poorly as a starter by 85 he was sent to the bullpen where he back his climb through the minors and in 88 made his major league debut. In 87 while at Nashville he threw a pitch close to a batter and in what would become a common occurrence in his career lost his temper and charged the umpire for which he was fined.

1989 and 90 were Dibble's his best seasons going 10-5 with a 2.09 ERA in 89 and earning a WAR of 3.9 which he would equal the next season with a 8-3 record and a 1.74 ERA along with 11 saves. He was also striking out batters at a tremendous rate. 12.8 per 9 in 89 and 12.5 in 90. Dibble went on to a 13.6 in 91, 14.1 in 92 before dropping back to a 10.6 in 93. Pitching for the World Series winning Reds in 1990 saved a game in the NLCS against the Pirates. He also struck out 10 batters of the 16 batters he faced giving up no hits and only walking one. In the Series he picked up a win in the Reds sweep of the A's. 

While he was a great striker out pitcher he still had his displays of temper. In the spring of 89 he gave up a home run and after his work on the mound was done went an smashed up a picnic table and threw several chairs into a pond. During the regular season in another fit of rage he threw a bat against the back stop and was ejected for that. Manager Pete Rose didn't mind "that's one reason why he's a good pitcher-his temper and his temperament." 

By June of 1991 Dibble had accumulated a total of seven days of suspensions and $2,000 of fines after abusive language towards a fan, throwing a ball into the stands at Riverfront Stadium and hitting a fan and he also threw a ball behind Eric Yelding of the Houston Astros. After serving a three game suspension Dibble, on a throw to first base on a bunt attempt, hit Cubs batter Doug Dascenzo and the pitcher was thrown out by plate umpire Joe West. 

In 1992 he was involved in a wrestling match with Reds' manager Lou Piniella "after the reliever suggested Piniella had misled reporters about the condition of his pitching shoulder." 91 and 92 were good season but not to the level of his previous years and shoulder trouble reduced him to a 6.48 ERA and a WAR -1.6. Missing all of 94 to rehab after surgery on the troublesome shoulder he pitched for the White Sox in 95 but was suspended during spring training for referring to the replacement players-the regular players were being locked out by the owners-as  people who "would be stuck with the label [replacement player]for life "like child molesters." For those comments Dibble was suspended for conduct unbecoming to a White Sox player. He also said the replacement players were "beer league" and Chicago's minor-leaguers could beat them. It was Dibble's ninth suspension. He would make the White Sox roster but wasn't effective and pitched just one more season in the majors with the Brewers before finally retiring. 

Rob Dibble's time as an announcer with the Washington Nationals was a sadly a short living experience since I enjoyed listening to the Nats game when he was with them. After his firing over comments regarding Stephen Starsbrug's injury I now listen to the other team's announcers since the replacement announcers are just too bland. 

#45-Dave Parker

What else does one need to say about Dave Parker other than provide a link to one of the greatest defensive plays I've ever seen! Going into the 1979 All-Star Game Parker was one of my favorite players but those two throws only confirmed it.  I know things didn't end well in Pittsburgh but I just prefer to remember that game and forget about the Pittsburgh drug trials and his spat with Willie Stargell. 

As an A's fan his coming to Oakland via a trade that sent Jose Rijo to the Reds would come back to haunt us the year this set was released and Parker was by then playing for the Brewers. Nevertheless, we did get a ring in 1989, earthquake and all. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IXLrHV-DyI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkCE6JHUb00