Tuesday, January 21, 2014

#254 - Pete Vuckovich


What a card: Pete Vuckovich spent the entire 1984 season on the disabled list after tearing his rotator cuff early in the 1983 season. It's a little surprising he had a card in the set, although he'd come back to pitch 22 games in 1985.

My observation on the front: Vuckovich is not wearing a cap in the final two Topps cards of his career (1985 and 1986). He's also pictured cap-less in the inset photo on his 1984 Topps card. I guess that's what happens when you're injured for the end of your career. Pictures on the bench without your cap.

More opinion from me: Vuck was a scary-looking dude out there on the mound.

Something you might know: Vuckovich won the AL Cy Young Award in 1982, helping the Brewers to the World Series that year against the Cardinals.

Something you might not know: Vuckovich had no less than five brushes with death before he was 22 years old. He was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. At age 1 1/2, he suffered peritonitis due to undiagnosed appendicitis. Not more than a year later, he underwent an eight-hour operation to have a tumor removed from his head. At age 21, he rolled his Camaro down an 80-foot embankment. And finally, he was nearly electrocuted while installing a reactor while working as an electrical contractor.


My observation on the back: "Pete is married." That's an odd way to start out. Why not just say, "Pete's wife is named Anna'? "Pete is married" makes it seem like everyone is shocked that he is.

The blog wants to speak now: The Movies category is updated.

2 comments:

Jeff said...

And "he leads the league in most offensive categories, including nose hair."

Jamie Meyers said...

He's a scout now, still looks scary. Refuses to sign autographs.