Here it finally is...the first actual rookie card in the Rookie & Traded set. That's right...the first 29 guys were all veterans (although Kurt Stillwell was a pretty young guy at the time.)
Anyway, it's rarely a good thing to see the bottom of a guy's shoe on his baseball card. I'm willing to bet Sasser's hitting coach wasn't too thrilled with the photo.
Sasser was all over the place in 1987, in both the big leagues and minor leagues with both the Giants, Pirates, and their affiliates. And his rookie card shows him on the Mets. Go Figure.
Aside from the picture and the red text about the trade, the text on the back of this card is identical to his base release card. The base card has a bit more text about his minor league days though.
ReplyDeleteOne of the more coveted cards in my collection is a '88 D-Russ of Sasser in his first go-round as a Pirate. Of course, everyone remembers Sasser for the mental block that led to throwing problems that developed latter in his career. I remember watching a Mets game on WWOR and he couldn't get the ball back to the pitcher. It was like it was crazy glued to his hand. They had to take him out. It was painful to watch.
ReplyDeleteI remember thinking, as a Cardinal fan, how unfair it was that the Mets could come up with the next up and coming catcher that would take over for Carter. The Mets seemed to have the future locked up with stars such as Sasser, Dave Magadan, Mark Carreon and Gregg Jeffries to move in.
ReplyDeleteJust goes to show that "prospects" don't always pan out.