Wednesday, February 20, 2013

#148 - Steve Yeager


What a card: This is Steve Yeager's second-to-last Topps card as a Dodger. After 13 years with the club, he was getting pushed aside by Mike Scioscia.

My observation on the front: Yeager has the Hollywood-actor-shirt-open-in-the-front thing going.

More opinion from me: Yeager's 1986 Topps card features a photo that had to be taken a few frames before or after this shot.

Something you might know: One of three MVPs for the 1981 World Series, Yeager is probably most known for cheating death when wood shards off the broken bat of teammate Bill Russell pierced his throat while he waited in the on-deck circle. After Yeager returned to action, trainer Bob Buhler fashioned a throat protector that hung from the bottom of the catcher's mask. Catchers in MLB started wearing the device until the present masks, which cover a catcher's entire throat, were devised.

Something you might not know: Yeager helped train the actors in the movie "Major League." When actor Tom Berenger, who played catcher Jake Taylor in the movie, threw during scenes in the movie, that was actually Yeager performing the throws.


My observation on the back: The write-up made me curious as to how Steve Yeager stacked up with his famous uncle in terms of performance on October 14th. Steve played in four different World Series and twice played on October 14th. His combined totals are 3-for-7 with two doubles. It's not breaking the sound barrier, but it's pretty damn good.

The blog wants to speak now: The Ballgames and Pop Culture categories are updated.

1 comment:

Rob said...

I forgot that he's got a bit part as one of the coaches in that movie.