What a card: Jesse Barfield was about to embark on the best three-year period of his career. The 1985, '86 and '87 seasons were his best by far. In fact, if you take those three years out of his 12-year career, there isn't very much left.
My observation on the front: Jesse's caught a glimpse of something lovely.
More opinion from me: When I ordered the 1982 Topps Traded set back in '82, I was thrilled to have the Cal Ripken rookie and Ozzie Smith's first Cardinals card. But there were other cards in that set that seemed to be just as big a deal at the time. Jesse Barfield's rookie card (not that stupid 3-player thing in the regular '82 set) was one of those cards. Oh, I really thought I had something great with that card.
Something you might know: Barfield's No. 1 asset was possibly the best arm in the major leagues. In fact, during the 1980s only Andre Dawson and Bo Jackson could come close to the strength and accuracy of Barfield's arm.
Something you might not know: Barfield's son, Josh, who also played in the major leagues, was born in Venezuela. Barfield's wife was visiting him during winter ball between the 1981 and 1982 season and had the baby then.
My observation on the back: Look at Barfield's stats. He hadn't even cracked 100 hits through four years. That was all about to change. But his offense declined again after 1987 and the Blue Jays suckered the Yankees into trading Al Leiter for Barfield in 1989.
The blog wants to speak now: Some minor updates to the Ballgames, TV, Pop Culture and News categories. Still running behind on scans.
3 comments:
In the late 80's, my dad took my brother and I to a Rangers game when the Blue Jays were in town. Back then little kids could still go down to the rail and get autographs. This also meant we were hooting and hollering to get players' attention to come over and sign. Often times folks would use player nicknames or shortened forms of their name. My brother made the unintentional mistake of yelling for Jesse, calling out, "Mr Barf!!!" Barfield didn't sign that day.
Jesse's arm was part of a wild play for the Jays in '85. In a game against the Brewers, he'd thrown out a runner at home and Buck Martinez asked him to make sure his throw was up the third base line as it would be an easier tag.
Later that game he did precisely that, and it put Buck in a position to get absolutely crushed by Phil Bradley. Buck ended up making a double play on a broken leg and dislocated ankle.
Ouch and double ouch on the previous two comments.
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