Card #90: Carlos Baerga Softball Tournament

Wow! It's been a long time since I posted on this blog.

With the lack of current baseball games I have been watching older games from the 90s.  One team that I am shocked that didn't win a World Series Championship was the Cleveland Indians teams from the mid 90s, specifically the team from 1995. 

There is a case to be made that the team had 6 Hall of Famers in the batting lineup every day or the first option off the bench.  Three are already in the Hall of Fame (Eddie Murray, Dave Winfield, Jim Thome).  There is a strong case that could be made for Omar Vizquel.  Manny Ramirez would have been an automatic Hall of Famer if not for failing a PED test.  Kenny Lofton should be considered one of the best centerfielders of the 90s with a 68.4 career WAR, .299 batting average, 4 gold gloves, 6 All-Star appearances, and 622 stolen bases (15th All Time). 

With that kind of thump I haven't even mentioned Albert Belle who is the only player in MLB history to hit 50HR and 50 doubles in a single season.

How about the catching tandem of Sandy Alomar Jr. and Tony Pena?  Talk about a couple of great defensive backdrops.

And.....
I still haven't mentioned Carlos Baerga.

Before Baerga's 25th birthday, the Puerto Rican native had done something no other second baseman had done in MLB history.  He collected over 200 hits, drove in over 100 RBI, and smashed 20 homers. 

Baerga was on the path to superstar before a series of injuries ultimately derailed his career and made him a bench bat for many years.

Baerga often cited Roberto Clemente as his hero growing up and in 1999 fans who attended his charity softball event could receive a card of "The Great One".

This is the kind of Clemente cards I really want to add to my collection as I get back to updating this blog on a more regular basis.

My goal is to post three times a week on this blog while also maintaining Collecting Cutch to daily posts as often as possible.