a birthday salute to general soreness

mike marshall hits the big 5-1 today, so i thought i would recognize his birthday with some cards that he signed for me through the mail over the last couple of years.

this is the guy who, along with candy maldonado and greg brock, had me sort of ok with the idea of ron cey, reggie smith, and steve garvey leaving the dodgers.  don't get me wrong, i was really bummed when they didn't re-sign garvey, but i knew all about the numbers those three guys were putting up in the minor leagues.  marshall won the triple crown at albuquerque in 1981 with a line of .373/34/137 in 128 games.  slobber.  of course, i now know that the numbers coming out of new mexico and perhaps the pcl in general don't translate.

still, marshall made his mark with the dodgers.  he had a good 1985 season and had some big hits in the 1988 post season. it wasn't all good, though, as i also witnessed him badly misplay an 8th inning fly ball into a triple against the mets in the 1988 pennant race, allowing the tying run to get to third base in a game the dodgers would lose 2-1.  even though his nickname was 'bigfoot', i remember him as 'general soreness' as he once begged out of the lineup due to that malady.  on to the cards.

1982 donruss

a rookie card.  that's tommy just off of marshall's right hip.  it won't be the last time tommy lurks his way onto one of marshall's cards.  nor will it be the last time marshall obscures him with a pen.

1984 topps

standard issue photo for a mike marshall baseball card, as we will see

1985 donruss

this one is not like the others, in terms of signature.  i think it came to me in a trade or a lot of dodgers cards i bought on the bay.  the dodger stadium loge seats look nice, though, don't they?

1985 topps

another 'marshall at the bat photo'

1987 topps

in a pose usually reserved for pitchers

1988 topps

somewhere in between the 1984 and 1985 topps photos

1989 upper deck

yes, that's tommy to his left

1990 topps

the last of his dodger cards, and another swinging photo.  by the way, i think they were all taken in shea stadium, which is where marshall was sent by the dodgers in a deal for juan samuel.

happy birthday general, and thanks for the cards!