ryan hancock had a game to be remembered

today is the 18th anniversary of a game that i watched on tv from my home in orange county.  it wasn't a dodger game - it was a game featuring the california angels.  living in the oc, i used to watch a fair amount of angels baseball, and most years even made it to the big a more often than i trekked up to chavez ravine thanks to the fact that interleague play was my friend, meaning the dodgers came to me for a few games each season.  besides, the company i worked for had season tickets that i got to use a few times each season.  back to the anniversary i mentioned at the start. the game that occurred on june 9, 1996 between the angels and indians has stuck with me (even if i need baseball reference to fill in some of the details), because of ryan hancock.

hancock was a former quarterback for byu, but was also a collegiate pitcher, and was taken in the second round of the 1993 draft by the angels.  three years later, he was in the big leagues.  he had made his major league debut on june 8, 1996, striking out the only batter he faced (carlos baerga) in a loss to the indians, but was again called on in relief during the game the next day.  troy percival had blown the save in the 9th sending the game into extra innings, and with one out in the 11th, in came hancock.

he got omar vizquel out and then struck out kenny lofton to end the inning.  hancock came out for the 12th inning as well with the score still tied.  this time, he struck out julio franco and albert belle (sandwiched around a baerga single), and then worked out of a bases loaded jam to retire the tribe without allowing a run. that was all well and good, but to be honest, i really only remember the 13th inning.

when the angels brought percival in to pitch the 9th, they did some defensive rearranging.  jack howell, the third baseman, was taken out of the game and replaced by percival.  randy velarde moved from second base to third, and rex hudler, who had been the dh, was put at second.  this meant that the angels no longer had a designated hitter.  percival was forced to bat in the 10th (he struck out), and in the top of the 13th, the pitcher's spot came around again.  with one out and no one on base, hancock was allowed to hit, and in his first (and what turned out to be his only) big league at bat, he singled off of julian tavarez.  that was pretty cool to see, especially after the announcers had fretted over the fact that the pitcher had to hit.  after a garret anderson strikeout, hancock came around to score the go ahead run on a jt snow homer.

the game wasn't over, however, as hancock came out to pitch the bottom of the 13th.  the first two guys got on base on a hit and a walk, and then lofton attempted a bunt.  hancock made a diving play to catch the bunt attempt in the air and then threw to second to double up the lead runner.  although he gave up another walk, he got baerga to ground out to end the game, and hancock had his first big league game.

i remember thinking about how this guy (who was about my age) was living the dream - a big hit and a big defensive play to help his team win in only his second game as a major leaguer.  what would he do for an encore?  actually, he did pretty well, for a few weeks anyway.  by the end of june, hancock had pitched in 8 games and was 4-0 with a 1.25 era.  he had been moved to the starting rotation, and won each of his first two starts heading into july.  he made two more starts that month with disastrous results (15 earned runs in 1.2 innings of work combined between the two appearances) and then made a relief appearance on july 18.  he never appeared in another big league game after that.

even though hancock's major league career was over, we didn't know that at the time, and he was included in pinnacle's 1997 set

so i have a card to remember his game by, too.  i lost track of hancock after the angels sent him to san diego in the 1997 trade that netted them rickey henderson, but it looks like he spent some time in japan in the late 1990's.  wherever he is now, i'm guessing he's not forgotten his second big league game either.

1997 double plays on the wall

double play cards keep seeping out of my collection and into my scanned folder.  today, i have a bunch from 1997 that haven't been previously seen here on the blog.

first up, 1997 upper deck derek jeter rock solid foundation subset card

it is weird to think that after this season, no yankee will ever wear a single-digit jersey again.  numbers 1-9 will all be retired (although they may wait to retire jeter's until next season).  number 8 is even retired twice - for bill dickey and yogi berra.

1997 best miguel tejada

a minor league dp!

1997 bowman felix martinez

martinez played in the majors for the royals and later the rays.  he spent about a month in the dodger organization during the 2002 season.

1997 bowman ryne sandberg

and 1997 bowman chrome ryne sandberg

both with craig biggio sliding in

1997 donruss shawon dunston

1997 fleer mark grudzielanek

here's biggio on a card of his own - 1997 fleer ultra (gold medallion edition)

and another shawon dunston card from the same set

fernando vina turns two on his 1997 pinnacle card

with a scott stahoviak sighting

here's another grudzielanek card - a 1997 upper deck sp card

i don't have too many cards from this set in my collection, but i'm happy to have this one.  more double play cards from 1997 coming soon...

the junior junkie takes over

i have waited long enough to show some of the cards that have come my way out of louisiana over the past few months.  a pwe here, an envelope there, all from the junior junkie.  today is officially junior junkie day here at the blog.

first up is a bona fide 1989 donruss rookie card of the kid himself.

that and this 1980 tcma don drysdale card

came my way after i submitted a haiku explaining my appreciation for the kid.  pretty nice to get a junior rookie and big d card for three lines.

an earlier mailing contained some very nice cards of its own, including a 1995 upper deck sp championship steve garvey die cut card

that lauds garvey's postseason heroics

there is so much to say that there is not even room to mention his two nlcs mvp awards.

orel hershiser had a card in the set, too, but this one is not the die cut parallel

the back is all about 1988

although the last line includes his 1985 nlcs appearance.  the card notes that he had appeared in the postseason 3 times, which would mean that they are counting his 1995 run with the indians.  however, he was 4-1 in the '95 postseason, losing for the first time against the braves in the world series.

here's a 1997 upper deck card of eddie murray that i had not seen before.

the back focuses on eddie's mlb best batting average in 1990 that did not earn him a batting title

to be honest, i am not altogether sure how mlb handles this sort of thing in the interleague play era.

also from 1997 upper deck, a capture the flag subset card of ramon martinez

unfortunately, the dodgers failed to capture the flag during ramon's career (aside from that year that he had a cup of coffee with the big club, 1988)

isn't it nice that the bakersfield dodgers could use the old brooklyn 'b' on their hats?  this is a 1994 upper deck minors card of karim garcia

who may have had more cards than any other dodger prospect ever.

certainly more than wilton guerrero, whose 1997 bowman card was sent with the black borders still nicely black

i guess if there were a dodger prospect to rival garcia in the number of cards, it might be todd hollandsworth.  these aren't prospect cards of his, but here are his 1997 pinnacle

and 1997 upper deck collector's choice 'the big show' insert of the 1996 nl roy anyway

thanks thomas!  more cards from the junior junkie coming throughout the day!

andre 1997 - the hawk had some final tributes

i am finishing up the final tribute cards of three hall of famers who called it quits after the 1996 season.  well, two hall of famers who did that and one who didn't play in '96.  i previously featured the trio's upper deck final tributes, and then showcased ozzie smith's other cards from 1997 earlier today.  and, just like ozzie, andre dawson got a 'tribute' designation on his 1997 upper deck collector's choice card

and, just like ozzie, the stats on the back only go back to 1982.

fleer ultra

has all the stats

while pinnacle

and donruss

used similar photos.  here is the pinnacle back

and the donruss back, which again only goes back to 1979

dawson also got a card in donruss elite

and regular ol' fleer

which again wins the stats on the back prize

i always thought it was strange that dawson finished up with two years in miami rather than going back to the al as a dh.

once again, there is no topps card to serve as a dawson final tribute.

kirby puckett and his final tributes are up next...

the wizard of oz final tributes

not too long ago, i featured a post with some 1997 upper deck final tributes.  included in that set were andre dawson, kirby puckett, and ozzie smith.  today i will show some (most) of their other final tribute cards.  first up is the wizard of oz.

1997 upper deck collector's choice

i like the 'tribute' designation on the front, even though not all of the career stats are included on the back.

1997 fleer ultra

double play action, with rickey sliding in!  fleer gets ozzie's entire career stats on the back, too

1997 leaf

with what might be a dp turn on the back, but only one year of stats

1997 donruss

with all but one of ozzie's seasons on the back.  got something against 1978 donruss?

1997 donruss elite

probably my least fave of the final ozzie cards.  the back is pretty uninspired

same goes for 1997 pinnacle

although we get a bit of a write-up regarding ozzie's final season on the back

1997 fleer

has the best back of the bunch - every year is covered, and it is easier to read than the ultra card.

fleer also included ozzie in the 'golden memories' insert set

with a photo from his number retirement ceremony held on 9/26/96.  here's the back.

topps failed to issue an ozzie smith card in 1997 which was too bad.  i think they could have done better than these cards.  if pressed, i would say that fleer is the winner here, but all of these are in my final tribute binder so it doesn't matter.

next up, the hawk.