Thursday, February 8, 2018

#752 - Bob Owchinko


What a card: Bob Owchinko returned to a Topps set for the first time since 1983 after appearing in 49 games for the Reds in 1984.

My observation on the front: I'm hoping that Owchinko is sitting in the bullpen and not in the dugout in this photo. There aren't nearly enough bullpen shots, and all but four of Owchinko's appearances in 1984 were in relief.

More opinion from me: I can't think of Owchinko and not recall Roger Angell's New Yorker account of an Owchinko pitching performance while at Eastern Michigan. Bob Welch was also on that team and Angell wrote about him, too. I read about it in Angell's book "Five Seasons" when I was a teenager. That book left a major impression on me.

Something you might know: Owchinko was the No. 1 pick of the San Diego Padres (fifth overall) in the 1976 amateur draft.

Something you might not know: Owchinko is second all-time in career pitching appearances among players born on Jan. 1. Only Hall of Famer Tim Keefe has more (lots more, 600-275).


My observation on the back: The most recent player to steal home in a World Series here in 2018, I believe, is Angels designated hitter Brad Fullmer, who stole home on the front end of a double steal in the first inning of Game 2 of the 2002 World Series against the Giants. Records of steals of home aren't the greatest for some bizarre reason, but I think no one has done it in a WS since 2002.

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

2 comments:

Zippy Zappy said...

The best thing about Owchinko is that his last name is the Japanese word for penis.

Jason Foss said...

That is definitely the visiting Bullpen at Candlestick Park.