What a card: This is the final card of John Candelaria featured with the Pirates. He spent the first 10 years of his career with the Pirates. But after 1985, he spent the next eight years with eight different teams.
My observation on the front: The "don't judge a book by its cover" saying just doesn't seem to work with Candelaria. He looks like an indifferent, "as long as I'm having fun" kind of a guy, and that's what he was during his career. Executives and managers thought he had a world of talent, but complained that he didn't apply himself enough.
More opinion from me: I hated Candelaria when I was growing up. Anybody who no-hits the Dodgers goes on The List. Plus, it seemed like every time that Candelaria faced the Dodgers, he came out on top.
Something you might know: Candelaria showed up for a Dodgers tryout wearing a marijuana T-shirt. Appalled Dodger officials decided not to sign him.
Something you might not know: Candelaria had a 2-year-old son, who fell into the family swimming pool on Christmas Day in 1984. He almost drowned, then fell into a coma, and died nearly a year later.
My observation on the back: Considering the time that this card was released and the timing of Candelaria's son's accident, the write-up on the bottom is kind of spooky.
The blog wants to speak now: This card accidentally popped up earlier on the blog, only because I had the card sorted out of order in my binder. Or maybe because I didn't want to believe that Candelaria received card No. 50, which is usually a prized number reserved for the likes of Brooks Robinson and Willie McCovey.
Why am I not surprised he showed up in a marijuana t-shirt? He looks pretty well baked in the picture.
ReplyDeleteIt is cards like this that remind of how much the athlete has changed in the last 20+ years. There is no way that a guy like Candelaria would make it in today's sport.
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