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2009 Topps Jose Rijo

JT — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:32:49 +0000

This year, several from the 1990 World Champion Reds team will be appearing at the Redsfest. Eric Da

DVD “Sugar” Tries To Capture The Minor League Lifestyle

Devon Teeple — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:12:30 +0000

On September 1, the critically acclaimed “Sugar” will be released on DVD and Blu-ray. The film depi

Jose Rijo Finds a New Career Path

slanch — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:18:27 +0000

So, what path do you take if you are fired from your last job for suspected fraud and a series of irregularities? If you’re former major leaguer and then former Washington Nationals executive Jose Rijo, you turn to politics. Which, I suppose makes sense, if you’re already used to shaking down baseball prospects it’s a relatively easy step up to fleecing an entire city.

Formerly serving in the front-office of the Nationals, with responsibilities including over-seeing the team’s Dominican academy — out of which came a prospect with a forged identity and a series of questions regarding skimming of bonuses from player — Rijo was less than stellar and canned by the team in an attempt to avoid further (legal) problems.

Rijo is now running to become the mayor of his Dominican hometown, San Cristobal where he campaigns door-to door nearly every day. “Here [in the US], he’s been somewhat humiliated,” a source close to Rijo said, “but down there [in the Domincan] he’s still like the Godfather, larger than life.”

The competition to become mayor though will be tough as Rijo faces off against another former big leaguer, none other than Raul Mondesi!

God, I hope they hold dozens of debates and they are all televised. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. And, in case you were wondering, for his career, Mondesi went 3-9 against Rijo with a double and 3 punchados.

[Washington Post]

It's The Gift That Keeps On Ticking , Ticking And Just Keeps On Givin, Otherwise Known As Basball's Dirty Little Secret .........

tophatal — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:55:49 +0000

It’s The Gift That Keeps On Ticking , Ticking And Just Keeps On Giving , Otherwise Known As Baseball’s Dirty Little Secret .

Well now that the World Baseball Classic has past. And it has no doubt faded off long into the memories of most. Especially considering the United States’ team’s ever so disastrous efforts in the tournament. Now I’m not going to lament on what went wrong there. As it’s best left to the likes of Tommy LaSorda. He knows better than most how ineffectual the team actually was.

Sen. George Mitchell (foreground) and Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan 'Bud' Selig seen here announcing that the conducted investigation into steroid use within the game known as The Mitchell Report had reached its culmination . The contents of which haven't been readily made for public consumption. picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/ Patrick Rycroft ..............

It’s now coming more the fore as to how much of a conflict and corruption there now is when it comes to recruiting young players from the Caribbean and the South American continent into the major leagues. So much so that even when The Mitchell Report touched on the matter it was somewhat ignored. Those of who were interested as to the content of the report were primarily concerned as to what it have to say with regard to the players involved in the steroid abuse scandal.

That situation in of itself continues unabated and it hasn’t helped that the game’s biggest star Alex Rodriguez has admitted to using steroids. And whilst the player has offered what one would deem a contrite apology to the fans , public , his teammates and the New York Yankees’ organization. The latest rumors surrounding the player only exacerbates the situation even further . Added to the fact that he’s lost to the team before the regular season begins due injury and surgery.

Alex Rodriguez (right) seen here alongside Yankees' GM Brian Cashman (center) and team manager Joe Girardi. All three are there at George Stennbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida. Where the player made his public statement announcing his use of steroids. picture appears courtesy of getty images/ Al Messerschmidt .............

This has become nothing but an unmitigated disaster for Major League Baseball. Their effort to try and clean up the game has been about as effective as throwing a half empty kerosene gas can into fire thinking that nothing will actually happen. And with evidence now swirling around that young players in particularly from the Dominican Republic have been used as pawns in the deceptive practice of enticing big league teams to pay exorbitant sums of money in terms of a signing bonus to effectively have a player sign with them. It only adds further to a percolating pot of misdeed and plain ineptitude within the upper ranks of the game’s hierarchy. And it certainly hasn’t helped that officials from within some of the major organizations might well have been involved are infact implicated in payoffs to the buscones /agents (facilitators) who offer the players to the teams.

Esmailyn Gonzalez as he's known to the Washington Nationals. But whose given and birth name is actually Carlos Daniel Alvarez Lugo. The player seen here with then coach Frank Robinson was signed as a top prospect by the team. picture appears courtesy of ap/ Victor Matthews ..............

This all emanated from the Esmailyn Gonzalez scandal that exploded with the player having signed with the Washington Nationals. Not only had the player’s birth certificate been falsified with regards to his age. But a large amount of money exchanged hands between the team , the player in terms of his signing bonus. But also with the agent getting his cut. It’s believed that also several of the Nationals’ own staff profited from this by way of a cut from the money that was paid to the player. It’s not uncommon for this to happen within the lower echelons of organization if it’s deemed to be happening amongst a team’s scouting staff. But what makes this all so unpalatable is that it is believed that in the case of Gonzalez . It may have involved the team’s general manager at the time Jim Bowden and his special assistant Jose Rijo . And while both are no longer with the team with Rijo having been fired and Bowden re-signing while proclaiming his innocence as to any wrongdoing. The facts speak for themselves as very little was done to verify the player’s records. Much less they, themselves conducting their own internal investigation.

Washington Nationals' principal owner Stan Kasten. picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/ Paul Thornton ..................

While on appearance this may not seem a serious transgression. Consider the fact once money was pocketed by anyone within the organization who wasn’t entitled to it. It then becomes a federal offense and as such is indictable by law. And with the FBI now conducting its own investigation into what it is believed to now be a widespread practice throughout the league. One has to ask the question. What is going on behind the closed doors of Major League Baseball and its franchises ? If there’s now that much widespread corruption from the top down then surely the game’s own hierarchy ought to be looked at as well ?

Former Washington Nationals' GM Jim Bowden seen here holding up a player's jersey at a press conference to introduce the team's newly installed team manager Manny Acta. picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/ David Hurst .................

And most certainly this isn’t an isolated incident as far as a player lying about their age. As several of the game’s top stars. Who in this case happen to be from the Dominican Republic have either had their records falsified or actually lied to their respective team at the time in order to be signed at the same in order to obtain the signing bonus. What no one knows is the extent of the subterfuge that may or may not have taken place at the time to elicit the transaction that took place. Suffice to say that players such as Miguel Tejada , Vladimir Guerrero , Rafael Furcal, Bartolo Colon, Ervin Santana and Octavio Dotel have previously understated their age in order that were signed by their prospective teams when first entering the big leagues. One can surmise that had they not offer up that morsel of information then it would’ve gone undetected.

Former Special Assistant to GM Jim Bowden who has been implicated in the Esmailyn Gonzalez Affair. Rijo is no longer with the team having been relinquished of his duties and fired. picture appears courtesy of afp/ Tom Richards ..........

As to the practice itself and how it’s conducted in the Dominican Republic. One can understand that the facilitators themselves the lure of obtaining a player who they’ve groomed to play in The Big Leagues. It’s viewed as their meal ticket to prosperity. And with a never ending supply of young player all willing to be a part of it all. There’s no end to the willingness to make this all a profitable endeavor for those willing to participate on both sides of the bargaining table. For these young players it is their dream to escape the poverty on the island. And the dream of playing in the majors is indeed a hard thirst to quench. So should they actually make it there then it becomes all the more satisfactory that the thirst is quenched. In the Dominican Republic where its GDP (gross domestic product) USD45.8 billion and the earning per capita US$ 5132-00. A signing bonus for $1m is immeasurable and ensures a life of luxury for their extended family. What’s unfortunate however is the lengths to which some will go to ensure that many of these players are enticed to sell their souls so that other are able to profit. That’s not to say that they aren’t able to fully comprehend what’s happening. But all too often they’re often kept in the dark as to true extent of what’s going on. Either through naiveté or the fact the parties involved other than the player are only all too willing to make the deception on the surface above board and legal.

That web of deceit and lies as it now stands appears to be the gift that keeps on giving, giving and keeps on ticking. And the fact of the matter is baseball was only all too willing before it got caught with its hands in the cookie jar, to act as if nothing wrong had been going on. .

Angels' slugger and outfielder Vladimir Guerrero. picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/ Matthew J Hodges .................

Needless to say that the game’s hierarchy will once again deny that it knew anything as to what had been going on. But if the likes of the players named earlier in this piece were are able to get away with one subterfuge enacted under their very nose. Then who’s to say that they weren’t aware of it all to begin with ? The same stance has been taken with regard to the steroid issue. And we all know how much the game , the owners and the players profited from it all. Much to the dismay of the fans who stood by and were unable to do anything about it all. The same thing is now happening again we’re none the wiser. And so too it appears is Major League Baseball when it comes to acting responsibly and with any semblance of intelligence.

Starting Over in the DR?

teddysteam — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:42:40 +0000

The Nationals have dismissed Jose Rijo, as well as 9 other organizational employees, and have said they will no longer be using Rijo’s facility in the Dominican Republic. Was this move made in haste? I’m not defending Rijo…yet. I just don’t feel like we have more than a trickle of the facts at this point. The Post reported that MLB verified Alavarez’ age 3 separate times and could find no issues with him. If that is the case, the Nationals must have some concrete information that Rijo was involved in this scam, or at least had knowledge of it that he did not disclose to the team. If not, then firing him and turning their back on his Dominican academy looks to be a knee-jerk public relations reaction, one that could certainly backfire down the road. Where do they go from here in terms of their efforts in the DR? Would they have to start more or less from scratch? If so, I hope their swift action was justified, and not another move that they will regret.

DISGRACED NATIONALS SHORTSTOP PROSPECT SAYS HE'S SORRY: ASKS OBAMA FOR FORGIVENESS

Mike Responts — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:12:21 +0000

ESMAILYN GONZALEZ

CARLOS DANIEL ALVAREZ LUGO

The baby-faced Washington Nationals shortstop prospect formerly known as Esmailyn Gonzalez wants the world to know he’s sorry.

In an interview with the Washington Post today, Carlos Daniel Alvarez Lugo explains how he fled an impoverished background in the Dominican Republic by lying about his age. The Post even sent a reporter and photographer to the Dominican Republic where they got a picture of the one-room concrete home with a tin shack attached where Gonzalez Alvarez and his entire family lived:

WASHINGTON POST PHOTO OF ONE-ROOM HOUSE WHERE SHORTSTOP LIVED

The house is straight out of central casting and even featured chickens running through it.

Alvarez received a $1.4 million signing bonus from the Nationals. The ballclub thought they were getting a hotshot 16-year-old shortstop prospect with lots of upside. Instead, the infielder was actually nearly 21-years-old and was through growing physically.

Wednesday, Alvarez apologized for his deception,

“I feel bad, really bad. I want the president to forgive me for what I did.”

Honestly though, who could blame him? By shaving a few years off his birth certificate, Alvarez was literally able to hit the lottery. The Post describes interviewing the infielder in a ramshackle abode. With a Cadillac Escalade parked in front of it. Alvarez recieved the largest signing bonus of any international player in the Nationals brief history. With the money he received from Washington, Alvarez set up his entire family and rescued them from poverty. In fact, the Alvarez stimulus package rescued THREE families-his mother’s, his father’s and the “Gonzalez” family who took him in and claimed Alvarez as their own, allowing him to get a doctored birth certificate. Like the A-Rod scandal, this one also apparently involves a shady “cousin.”

Ordinarily a story about a Dominican shortstop lying about his age wouldn’t even BE much of a story. Players like Miguel Tejada have been doing it for decades. However, since 9/11, U.S. immigration policies have really tightened up. Not to mention in Alvarez’s case somebody might be going to jail.

The real bad guys in this situation may be Washington general manager Jim Bowden and his former assistant Jose Rijo. Both are reportedly under investigation by federal authorities for possibly scamming money from Latin American prospects in an elaborate kickback scheme. The club claims Rijo took a leave of absence from the Nats. He says he was fired. Bowden may be the next to go.

In a seperate Washington Post article, a federal investigator specifically DID NOT absolve Bowden of any wrongdoing, saying on the record that he is still being investigated. Rijo owned and operated his own training academy in the Dominican Republic while at the same time being employed by the Nationals-a clear conflict of interest. He was in a position to recommend which players the team signed (those who payed him money?) while at the same time profiting from those same players attending his academy.

As if it wasn’t shady enough that a big league GM is being investigated by the FBI, don’t forget Bowden and Rijo went to work for the Nationals when the club was OWNED BY Major League Baseball. So, it’s possible, that baseball executives were shaking down foreign players for money while they were employed by MLB. Not to mention (as we reported earlier this week) former White Sox executive David Wilder, the most visible person to lose his job in this scandal besides Rijo, reportedly used the money he scammed from Latin players to open a gay bar in Phoenix.

As if baseball didn’t already have enough scandals going on.

SEGWAY ENTHUSIAST JIM BOWDEN MAY BE GETTING READY TO SCOOTER OUT OF D.C.

Un fuetazo, botan a José Rijo de los Nacionales

vanessa0730 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:04:09 +0000

Fuente: Washington Post

Los Nacionales de Washington han tomado la decisión de cesantear a José Rijo, el miembro de su oficina central más estrechamente ligado al fraude de Esmailyn González, dijo este miércoles una fuente con conocimiento de la situación.

Rijo es dueño y opera una academia de beisbol en la República Dominicana, la cual los Nacionales han usado como su base de busca talentos en América Latina.

Rijo, quien ha trabajado para el equipo desde 2005 como un asistente especial del Gerente General Jim Bowden, ha tomado una forzada licencia de su trabajo este fin de semana y regresó a la República Dominicana. Ahora, esa licencia se ha hecho permanente.

Al cortar sus lazos con Rijo, los Nacionales también han cortado sus lazos con la academia de Rijo –el lugar donde la organizaciín y su ahora infame prospecto se encontraron. De acuerdo con una fuente, un miembro de la oficina central de Washington, el vicepresidente de operaciones de beisbol Mike Rizzo, está en la República Dominicana buscando información acerca de una nueva instalación. -Leer Más-

White Rabbits White Rabbits

bullpenbrian — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:35:47 +0000

Jim Bowden is lucky if he’s not cut from his own team by the end of Spring Training.

Allegedly, the Nats GM has partaken in illegal scouting practices – specifically, skimming signing bonus money intended for Latin American prospects.

Bowden can whistle ‘white rabbits, white rabbits” – an old wise tale rehearsed to clear smoke from a camp fire – all he wants, but there’s too much smoke around this fire for him to steer clear.

Besides, cutting ties with Bowden would serve as a blessing for Washington.

Under his guidance the Nats have averaged a meek 71 wins per year since 2005; and just 67 wins during the past three season.

Not to mention, Bowden has repeated his exact failures in Cincinnati (1992-2003) with Washington by hording a plethora of outfielders, ignoring starting pitching and depleting the farm system.

And in large part the Reds still haven’t recovered from Jim’s tenure…now Washington is clearly heading down the same losing road.

Don’t tell me there’s not a better GM available.

Washington can surely find one with a better winning-percentage and higher character than Bowden too.

The Nats need not sing white rabbits, just clear out Bowden’s office.

JOSE RIJO FIRED-BOWDEN NEXT?

Mike Responts — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:32:44 +0000

JIM BOWDEN

JOSE RIJO

The Washington Nationals have found a scapegoat for the Esmailyn Gonzalez fiasco. Assistant general manager Jose Rijo has been booted. The former Major League pitcher was a close confidant of general manager Jim Bowden, who had better watch his back as he may be the next to go.

SI.com just posted a story that says the Feds are looking at Bowden in their investigation of bonus skimming in Latin America.

Gonzalez was “discovered” by Rijo as a hotshot 16-year-old shortstop prospect in the Dominican Republic. The club gave Gonzalez a $1.4 million bonus and trumpeted his signing. Unfortunately, the Nationals later discovered that Gonzalez was the world’s oldest teenager and not even named Gonzalez. Last year Rijo was also interviewed by the FBI in connection to a kickback scandal involving players from the Dominican Republic.

THE PLAYER TO BE NAMED LATER: 16-YEAR-OLD ESMAILYN GONZALEZ (SHOWN HERE WITH BEAMING GM JIM BOWDEN) TURNED OUT NOT TO BE 16 AND NOT TO BE NAMED GONZALEZ

Searching Through A Pack Of 1989 Topps - pack 1

30-Year Old Cardboard — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:49:00 +0000

I received 2 packs of 1989 Topps in the contest I won on the Autographed Cards blog.

Here are the results from Pack #1

Moose Stubing, Jim Gantner, Jack Clark, Gerald Perry, Bobby Valentine, Rene Gonzalez, Les Lancaster, Dennis Eckersley, Houston Astros Team Leader, Ken Phelps, John Morris, Richard Dotson, Curt Young, Jose Rijo, and Mike Dunne.

Nothing too impressive here… a few manager cards, Gerald Perry, and ‘The Eck’!!!

JIM BOWDEN, JOSE RIJO MAY BE INVOLVED IN KICKBACK SCANDAL

mikeresponts — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:46:05 +0000

WASHINGTON NATIONALS GM JIM BOWDEN

Federal officials and MLB are looking into the possibility that Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden may be associated in a kickback scandal involving the signing of baseball players from the Dominican Republic. The feds are also reportedly investigating Bowden’s assistant former Major League pitcher Jose Rijo.

ESPN first had the story of Bowden’s possible involvement in the growing scandal on Friday. The piece was written by investigative reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and T.J. Quinn. Those two reporters were hired by ESPN away from major newspapers (The San Francisco Chronicle and The New York Daily News respectively) to cover baseball’s steroid scandal. This scandal may be worse. People could actually go to jail. The ESPN article states,

The investigation into Bowden and others stems from a tip MLB received several months ago alleging that then-White Sox senior personnel director Dave Wilder and two of his scouts were skimming bonus money paid to Dominican signees, according to the MLB source. Wilder was stopped while trying to re-enter the United States with roughly $40,000 in cash after a trip to the Dominican Republic, a source told ESPN, sparking a broader inquiry.

Wilder and two other scouts have been fired by the White Sox. There was a follow up article in today’s LA Times . If Bowden or Rijo are involved they could face felony fraud charges.

JOSE RIJO

SI.com updated the Bowden story on Saturday. They say Bowden (and Rijo) are being investigated over the 2006 signing of Dominican shortstop Esmailyn Gonzalez. Gonzalez received a reported $1.4 million bonus when he signed with the Nationals. Unfortnuately, according to SI, Gonzalez received almost none of the money. It was apparently skimmed and taken from him by a variety of people. This practice is not uncommon-thus the investigation by the Feds and MLB.

ESMAILYN GONZALEZ

Operation Topps - 1986 Topps (Pack 68)

chemgod — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:52:45 +0000

Well yesterday’s pack was not too bad. I am fully waiting for the hammer to drop and to serve me up a pack of doubles. Actually I am waiting for a few of those packs. We are at 133 cards left, and I am extrememly nervous that we won’t break the 100 card barrier. I think I will offer a one for one swap of 1986 cards. Completely picked at random, containing stars and I think I’ll throw in an insert or rookie card. I have had a lot of offers, I will post a need list on Sunday (with one pack left). Like I said though, hopefully we will average 7 cards per pack and get there, but who knows. So here we are with pack 68.

1. A’s Leaders – 216 – The Dean of the A’s was Dwayne Murphy. The offensive leaders were Alfredo Griffen and Dave Kingman. The pitching leaders were Chris Codiroli and Jay Howell.

2. Reds Leaders – 366 – Double, first reviewed in pack 52.

3. Eric Davis – OF – Reds – 28 – Double, first reviewed in pack 43.

4. Dick Ruthven – P – Cubs – 98 – Double, first reviewed in pack 18.

5. Mike Scioscia – C – Dodgers – 468 – Double, first reviewed in pack 18.

6. Danny Heep – OF/1B – Mets – 619 – Double, first reviewed in pack 4.

7. Dick Schofield – SS – Angels – 311 – Double, first reviewed in pack 25.

8. Doyle Alexander – P – Blue Jays – 196 – Double, first reviewed in pack 14.

9. Willie Hernandez – P – Tigers – 670 – Double, first reviewed in pack 43.

10. John Wathan – C/1B – Royals – 128 – Double, first reviewed in pack 43.

11. Chris Chambliss – 1B – Braves – 293 – Double, first reviewed in pack 22.

12. Darnell Coles – 3B – Mariners – 337 – Double, first reviewed in pack 40.

13. Twins Leaders – 786 – Double, first reviewed in pack pack 52.

14. Jose Rijo – P – A’s – 536 – Double, first reviewed in pack 43.

15. Dick Howser – MGR – Royals – 199 – Double, first reviewed in pack 43.

Bamm! Just like that I got hit with a pack of 14 doubles. I knew it was coming, but when the hammer falls it hurts. If these weren’t doubles, it would have been a pretty good pack. Eric Davis, Alexander, and Hernandez highlight the pack, but overall we are looking at 0.5 stars. It would have been 0.0, but I did have one non double. Hopefully tomorrow’s pack will be better, at least I hope so!

Operation Topps - Topps 1986 (Pack 43)

chemgod — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:50:36 +0000

So a new development in the case of the missing puzzle piece, it turns out it was under our puzzle mat, but we do indeed have a double as far as pieces to the puzzle. We are almost done, but right now we are stumped at how to finish it, since we have pieces that just don’t match up, I think somehow we put the frame together wrong because that is to only thing it could be. On another note, I am trying to get a fence installed at my house. It’s something my wife and I have saved for and all I have to do is get approval from the home owners association. All I can say is if you are thinking of buying a house in a subdivision that has a HOA, run away, fast, don’t stop until you find a house that isn’t. I have a fairly small lot (0.15 acres), my fence will be 134 feet total, my HOA is having a problem with it because my dingbat neighbor decided to put up a 4 foot scalloped picket fence, and because I’ll have to use part of his wall for my fence and I want a 6 ft. privacy fence, the HOA is up in arms because we won’t match. Even though in our covenant it says that what we are doing is allowed, the HOA is giving me a hard time. Anyways, enough boring stuff, let’s get to pack 43.

1. Frank Williams – P – Giants – 341 – Love this picture, I think the pictures of the players, showing chest hair are fantastic. What the hell were these guys thinking. Do they really think that women were buying these cards and were looking for some chest hair? Or maybe they were secretly gay and hoping to establish a solid man base in which to select from. 1986 was Franks single best year as a reliever, he was 3-1/1.20/1.07 in 36 appearances. Trust me when I say this, he never even got close to these numbers again.

2. Earnie Riles – SS – Brewers – 398 – This was Earnie’s rookie card. I seem to remember him as Earnest though and not Ernie. In 1985 he started for the Brewers at SS and come in 3rd for ROY voting. Big things were expected out of him for his sophomore season in 1986. His stat line was 0.252/9/47, which really wasn’t that bad considering that they had two future Hall of Famers on that team (Yount and Molitor) and a cast of very solid hitters.

3. Eric Davis – OF – Reds – 28 – I curse the presence of drugs at the major league level in the 80’s. It took away 3 of the brightest stars of baseball. Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis. If you look at their stats for 1985 and 1986 they were outstanding. Could you just imagine what they could have done if they weren’t on drugs? In 1986 Eric put up 0.277/27/71 during what would be his coming out year. Both he and Straw ran wtih the same people so it was no surprise when he and Straw ended up at rehab over and over and over again. If it weren’t for the coke and god knows what else, they could have been two HOFers.

4. Dick Howser – MGR – Royals – 199 – I can’t stand manager cards. I can’t think of anyone that I would get excited over who was a manager. Dick was one of the better ones too, but when I see his card my head slumps down. If they got rid of the manager cards in the Topps sets, I wouldn’t complain.

5. Pascual Perez – P – Braves – 491 – The best story about Pascual I ever heard was that in 1982, the first time he was supposed to start for the Braves, he got lost circling Atlanta’s I-285 looking for Fulton County Stadium and ended up missing his start because of this. His nickname after that was I-285. Since there is so much to say about Perez and he has more cards to come I’ll just let you know that in 1986 he missed the entire season due to shoulder surgery and the Braves would end up letting him go (in my opinion was a mistake).

6. John Wathan – C/1B – Royals – 128 – John although he did start for two years for the Royals, was essentially a back up catcher and first baseman for most of his career. 1985 would be his last season in the majors but he wasn’t really known for his playing days of baseball he was known more for his managing days. He coached Kansas City from 1987-1991 and California in 1992.

7. Jose Rijo – P – A’s – 536 – He could have become my favorite Yankee. I got his autograph in person at a Yankee game I attended in 1984. I was 13 at the time and he was so nice, he signed my baseball and one for my friend. Somewhere I also have a picture of me and Jose. Unfortunately he was part of the Rickey Henderson trade at the end of the 1984 season. In 1986 his numbers were 9-11/4.65/1.446 which were pretty bad. It wasn’t until he met Juan Marachial’s daughter and moved on to Cincinnati that he became the pitcher I remember him as.

8. Willie Hernandez – P – Tigers – 670 – Willie had what some people refer to as the perfect season for the Tigers in 1984. He won the Cy Young, the MVP and the World Series. Only three other pitchers have won both the Cy Young and the MVP awards in the same year, can you name them? In 1986 Willie put up a 8-7/3.55/1.218 with 24 saves season. Not bad at all, but definitely not even close to what he did in 1984.

9. Hal McRae – DH – Royals – 415 – I am not sure what people remember McRae as, a player or a coach. I remember him as both but I can see it from either way since I always thought of him as a so so manager. As a hitter though he was very good, usually hitting close to 0.300 with 15+ homers and 70+ RBIs. In 1986 he went 0.252/7/39 in what would be his second to last season. The funny thing about this card was that the photo was taken at Yankee stadium, the Royals arch enemy at the time.

10. Greg Gagne – 3B/SS – Twins – 162 – Come on, who didn’t like Gagne, Gaetti and Hrbek in the mid 80’s. They were so much fun to watch. 1986 would be the first year that he was anointed starter, he rewarded the Twins with a 0.250/12/54/12 season. Not bad for such a young player. He played for the Twins for 10 years before moving on, but was a great 10 years it was.

11. Doyle Alexander – P – Blue Jays – 196 – Double, first reviewed in pack 14.

12. Joe Orsulak – OF – Pirates – 102 – Double, first reviewed in pack 21.

13. Danny Heep – OF/1B – Mets – Double, first reviewed in pack pack 4.

14. Mike Scioscia – C – Dodgers – 468 – Double, first reviewed in pack 18.

15. Pat Corrales – MGR – Indians – 699 – Double, first reviewed in pack 21.

Overall, what a fun pack to review, there were lot’s of entertaining players and guys who go on to have some nice careers. I am going to give this pack a 4.5 star rating, simply because it was so much fun to rate. I have to admit when I was going through this pack, it stirred up a lot of old memories for me. I’m sure that aided in such a high rating but I do stand by it. I am in critical need of players for my yahoo fantasy league. Which drafts today at 3pm Eastern. Please sign up here:

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1/register/createjoin?.scrumb=

click join a private league, and here are what you need to know:

league ID :35439

Password: league

The draft is at 3pm. Thanks and good luck!

Where is the support?

JT — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:34:19 +0000

Yesterday I wrote about Jim Rice, Dale Murphy, and Dave Concepcion’s exclusion from the Hall o