Fun With 95 SP: The Continuation

It started here and continued here, now the saga continues.

The great thing about 95 SP is that the oddities are at times of the routine variety, example below:

Jose Rijo examining some pictures that I can only pray are of him, but likely they are pictures of Dominican embryos that he plans on signing illegally once he becomes a part of the Nationals front office.

But the oddities aren't always so obvious, occasionally they don't register immediately, example below:

What's so odd about a player making a leaping grab at the wall? Let me count the ways.
1. It's Gary Sheffield. A man not always known for his great effort.
2. This is a spring training game as evidenced by the peculiar wall/fence.
3. That is Gary Sheffield putting out maximum effort in a meaningless spring training game. Cats and dogs living together!

95 SP actually had a couple of nice wall shots outside of the Sheffield miracle.

Rickey Henderson with gold chain flying. Does Rickey ever not look smooth?


Maybe the most expected player to have a wall catch card other than Kenny Lofton in 1995. Finley seemed to make these plays regularly during the mid to late 90s.

Maybe my favorite card of the set is Rod Beck.

What could be better than a card that shows Beck lacing up the gloves? I know when I think of Rod Beck I instantly flash to his off-season workout regimen which by glancing at his physique, you instantly can determine that it is filled with intense sessions. So I return to the original question of what could be better? Well, just check the back.

Yup. Beck has graduated from the lacing up the gloves to absolutely annihilating the heavy bag. You can instantly see why Beck is the finely tuned professional athlete that he is. An absolute cardio beast!

The madness continues with the hairline of Nuschler.

Oh Will. Why oh why did you continually insist on doffing your cap? I certainly understand that the Star Spangled Banner is a justified reason to take off the hat, but it seemed like your hat was always off. Could you have done us all the favor of shaving it off or at least going with a different hairdo than the one you had when you were 6? And shame on the photo editors who decided to torture us with this sight.

Finally, we will round out today's action with a look at one of the best second basemen of our generation, Ralph Macchio, I mean Daniel LaRusso.

The secret to Roberto's great success wasn't natural talent passed down from his father. It wasn't hours spent on little league fields honing his craft. Nope, Roberto's success is due to the teachings of an elderly Asian maintenance man who fled to America in order to escape the wrath of Sato. Early on he took Roberto under his wing and taught him the importance of wax on, wax off. Unfortunately, Roberto spent a brief time under the mesmerizing tutelage of the Cobra Kai who influenced him to spit on an umpire in an act of disrespect that was difficult to live down. Thankfully, he returned to the teachings of Miyagi and lived happily ever after.

Thank you for this reminder 95 SP. Only one more installment is left, I know you're on the edge of your seat.

Go Halos!

Fave 4: Milwaukee Brewers

Finally the day has come, the Brew Crew gets the recognition they have been waiting for all year. The Brewers are an oddity of a franchise. They go from perhaps the greatest logo of all-time, to a procession of average to below average logos. Me personally, I feel nothing but love for the old mb glove.

Befitting Milwaukee, their two greatest players are two of the whitest baseball stars of the past two decades, Paul Molitor and Robin Yount. Yet at the same time, they gave Gary Sheffield his start and now are a team known in large part for their African American stars. I don't know why this fascinates me, but it does. On to the list.

1. James Elmer Gantner

This man is the Milwaukee Brewers to me. Tekulve gets a lot of the love for his glasses, but Gantner deserves a little bit of respect in this regard. Gantner was not exactly the superstar of the franchise, in face he spent 17 seasons playing mostly mediocre baseball, but he had those glasses and that has always been enough for me. Bask in the Gantner.




2. Dale Sveum

From one awkward looking white guy to another. In making this list I realized why I think of Milwaukee as the geeky white guy capital of America and that's because my favorite Brewers are straight out of that mold. Or maybe I like these players because they seem like they're the epitome of Milwaukee. Chicken, egg. I have no idea. All it takes is one look at Dale Sveum's Baseball Reference page to realize it's nuts to like Dale Sveum. His stats are nothing to be proud of, but I like him. It's probably the goofy stache.

3. Dan Plesac

I have a soft spot for lefty closers. Couple that with the goofy white guy factor and the fact that Plesac was dominant for my Strat-o-matic baseball team, and you have a man that is more than worthy of the #3 spot. Somehow Plesac was still in the league in 2003 with Philadelphia. How I wish I could be reborn as a situational lefty. Do you realize the type of money guys are making these days because they're lefthanded and willing to pitch to lefty batters three times a week. It's a good life.

4. B.J. Surhoff

How is it that every player that comes through Milwaukee seems to play for 18 seasons? Surhoff was always a guy who was easy to root for. Surhoff is the perfect guy to be described as "gritty". Catcher, outfielder, one time all-star, goofy white guy from Milwaukee, member of the I Heart Halos Fave 4...the legacy of Surhoff is complete.

Honorable Mentions:
aka Bringing some Flava to Milwaukee

Gary Sheffield

Douche? Yes. However, as a kid during a time when there was only one ESPN network, we weren't inundated with all of the off the field information that we are now. I completely understand why any true Brewer fan would hate this guy, but I spent to many hours staring at his rookie cards not to have a soft spot for him.

I realize the 'roids would have made a career at shortstop a difficulty, but can you imagine this guy as a 500 home run shortstop? Sheff vs. Ernie Banks, quite a comparison.

Anthony Gwynn

I don't think Gwynn is ever going to make the impact with Milwaukee that I hoped he would, but I'm still holding out for him. Anthony was a really good outfielder for San Diego State and although I knew he probably wouldn't amount to much in the majors, I still keep holding my breath, waiting for the breakout. At least he destroyed Hoffman and the Pads a couple of years back.

Greg Vaughn

His best seasons were in Cincinnati and San Diego, but I like my Vaughn as a Brewer. Although his career started out slowly, you just always knew that this guy was going to be a beast whenever he made contact. Never a threat to hit .300 or .260 for that matter, Vaughn was the prototypical 80s power hitter, stuck in the 90s.

Teddy Higuera

Teodoro began his career as the new Fernando. A lefty Mexican pitcher who was absolutley dominating the league. Unfortunately injuries played a cruel joke on us all and kept us from experiencing Teddymania.

Bill Hall

Bill Hall hit 35 home runs in 2006. Look it up. Of course he hasn't approached those numbers again, which always worries you a little bit, but it's not like he morphed from stick figure to Incredible Hulk ala Barry.

Fatty McFatterson

The fattest vegetarian who ever lived.

Rickie Weeks

I keep waiting for this guy to break out and become a star. I don't think it's gonna happen. Almost makes you long for the days of Pat Listach.

Ryan Braun

This guy has the potential for a scary career. He's already off to one of the finest starts I can remember any player having. Normally you don't start thinking about guys hitting 500 home runs after two seasons, but it certainly seems like a strong possibility.

The Legends

Paul and Robin


I don't know how to justify my dislike for these two guys. They are certainly both deserving hall of famers and the greatest players in Milwaukee history, but I'm just not into these two. Making matters worse, I can't even blame it one their dorky whiteboyness, since clearly my list is populated by these fellas. I'm certainly a bitter Ruben Sierra fan as has been previously documented, so that somewhat explains the Yount exclusion, but I don't know what I have against Molitor. Let's just say he took my mom Dorothy Mantooth out for a nice seafood dinner and never called her back!

Go Halos!

Fave 4: Florida Marlins

When I wrote about the Padres, one of the problems I had was that they seem to always be a team of transition and outside of Tony Gwynn, it's hard to associate too many players with that franchise exclusively. If that's true of the Padres, it's even more so for the Marlins. A team known for "buying" its championships and then selling off the players that made it happen, the Marlins are the ultimate group of vagabonds.

Even so, I was able to think of a decent number of players that I really liked during their time as a Marlin. I feel like every season I'm hoping that the Marlins will topple the Mets or Braves, but often they seem to fade towards the end. This season they've jumped out to another hot start with a lot of good young talent, but I keep asking myself how it will fall apart this year.

1. Hanley Ramirez

I am thrilled that the Red Sox traded this guy to the Marlins so I can actually root for him. Can you imagine the kind of hype and ridiculous over the top talk we'd hear about this guy if he played in Boston. A Red Sox/Yankees game would cause my TV to explode with praise for Ramirez and Jeter. Instead, I get to flip over on the Extra Innings package and watch this guy play without worrying about all that. I can't think of another player that I'd choose to start a franchise with today other than Hanley Ramirez.

2. Mark Kotsay

When I moved out to California, we would often go down the street to Cal State Fullerton to watch Titans games. This became an event during the mid 90s when Mark Kotsay was college baseball's best player. Sure he could play a good center field and hit with the best of them, but then he'd trot in as the closer as well. As well-rounded a player as you could possibly be. I was certain that Kotsay would continue to star with the Marlins, and while he wasn't amazing, he was a pretty solid player for the Marlins, Padres, A's and more. So while Kotsay should probably be #1 on the Fave 4: Cal State Fullerton Titans, he'll have to settle for #2 with the Marlins.

3. Charles Johnson

CJ was one of the best defensive catchers in the game and I first remember him in a couple of uniforms other than the Marlins teal. Johnson starred for both Team USA, above, and the Miami Hurricanes. He was another guy who I had such high hopes for out of college, after watching him in the CWS, but Charles could just never seem to hit with any consistency. Even so, CJ was a great catcher and caught all but one of the Marlins no-hitters and I was actually in attendance for the one AJ Burnett threw against the Padres. Needless to say I was one of very few in attendance that night. Kotsay, incidentally, was playing center for the Pads that night.

4. Jeff Conine

If there's a Mr. MArlin, I'm pretty sure it has to be Conine. Twice he was an all-star for the Fish and he was just a likable guy. My memories of Conine are few, but I just always felt like he was the face of the Marlins in their early years since he began his career (rookie season, I know he played a handful of games with the Royals) with the Marlins as they were starting out as a franchise. I can still remember that Orestes Destrade was getting all the hyp to begin that season for the Marlins, but Conine was the true star.

Honorable Mentions:

Juan Pierre

Pierre has seen better days as he is currently stuck behind all the young talent in LA and is the butt of many jokes due to his contract, but I really liked Pierre in Florida. He was a huge part of the 2003 championship and I was constantly rooting for him to get on base and cause havoc against the Yanks.

Josh Beckett

Recent head throwing snafu aside, Beckett is one of the dominant pitchers of this era. He has proven to be amazingly clutch in the postseason and his starts seem to almost assure the Sox a win in the playoffs. The Marlins made out extremely well with Beckett, getting a championship out of him in 2003 and then being able to trade him for Hanley Ramirez who stars for them today. Well done.

Mike Lowell

I prefer a Marlin Lowell over a Red Sox Lowell, but even so he's tough to root against. Another guy who seems like a genuinely good person, not to mention a heck of a hitter. I was shocked that he was essentially a throw in as part of the Beckett trade.

Gary Sheffield

Sheff is definitely a man without a home as far as major league teams go, but I remember my best friend having a "Sheff" poster on his wall in which Gary was pictured wagging his bat for the Marlins. He's surly, he's almost certainly a roid-aided player, but he's also a lot of fun to watch up at bat.

The expansion teams are done and were left with only a few more teams to go. The
Brewers, Reds, Cubs, Dodgers and Angels. Let the anticipation ensue.

Go Halos!