Tuesday, June 3, 2014

#297 - Gary Lucas


What a card: This is Gary Lucas' first base card as a Montreal Expo. He was dealt to Montreal in a three-team trade with San Diego and the Chicago Cubs at the end of 1983. He's in the 1984 Topps Traded set as an Expo.

My observation on the front: This photo is a little out of character for the 1985 set. Most of the posed or candid shots are close up. Even most of the action photos aren't as distant as this one.

More opinion from me: Lucas also has a distant photo in the 1984 Topps set. Maybe the photographers thought he wasn't an attractive guy?

Something you might know: Lucas is the relief pitcher that Donnie Moore replaced in the ninth inning before he surrendered the home run to the Red Sox's Dave Henderson that rallied Boston in Game 5 and turned the tide of the 1986 ALCS.

Something you might not know: Lucas still blames himself for the Red Sox's rally in that game. He was brought in to relieve Angels starter Mike Witt and face Rich Gedman. Lucas had struck out Gedman three times in three appearances against him. Instead, this time, Lucas hit Gedman with a pitch, putting a man on base ahead of Henderson with the Angels clinging to a 5-4 lead. "That still sticks in my craw and probably will for my whole life," he said three years ago.



 My observation on the back: Of course, now in the World Series, the DH is used only in the home park of the American League team. 1985 was the last year that the above question was correct.

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

1 comment:

Brian said...

Finally, the first trivia answer of false for the set.