In the Argument of Griffey Vs. Thomas, I Always Selected Thomas
Griffey has clearly ascended to a higher plane of baseball popularity, but Frank Thomas has always been my favorite of the two most popular sluggers of the mid-1990s.
1993 Finest All-Star Subset
King of the Firemen
The hobby never quite knew what to make of reliever Lee Smith. Opposing batters didn’t either.
There Once Was a Man Named Puckett…
It’s funny how you can have a mental image of a person that persists long after things have changed.
The Reigning AL MVP in ’93 Finest
Yep. MLB voters gave the 1992 American League MVP award to a relief pitcher, one who coined the term “walk-off” to describe homeruns he had personally given up.
The Mantle Figure of the ’90s
For some time I struggled trying to identify Griffey’s place in the hobby. It turns out he was the Mickey Mantle of my generation in multiple ways.
Boston’s Last .400 Hitter Isn’t Who You Think
No, this isn’t an article about Ted Williams hitting .406 in 1941. It’s not about his batting .400 and .407 in his war-shortened 1952 and 1953 seasons. Wade Boggs is the last .400 hitter since Ted Williams retired in 1960. But wasn’t Boggs’ highest single season batting average “just” .368? Aren’t the closest approaches to .400 George Brett’s .390 in 1980 and Tony Gwynn’s .394 from 1994?
Pat Listach and Topps’ Imaginary All-Star Card
Topps used a large dose of artistic license when selecting players for the All-Stars subset of 1993 Finest. Rookie sensation Pat Listach never appeared in an All-Star Game was selected ahead of the likes of Ozzie Smith and Alan Trammell for the ’93 Finest All-Star checklist.