#118 - Eric Show

What a card: Eric Show was in his third season as one of the Padres' top pitchers when this card was created. He had just helped San Diego into the World Series, although he didn't fare very well in his postseason starts.

My observation on the front: Here I go guessing stadiums again. Candlestick Park?

More opinion from me: Show has a tragic story that a lot of baseball fans know. Even during the time when his association with the John Birch Society was being publicized and criticized in the mid-1980s, I thought he was getting a bad rap. Show was definitely eccentric, but I think people jumped to conclusions with him a lot.

Something you might know: The very year this card came out, Show would give up hit No. 4,192 to Pete Rose, which broke Ty Cobb's all-time record. Show famously sat on the mound during the celebration after the hit.

Something you might not know: Another well-chronicled player with lots of well-known stories. You might know that Show was a musician. But did you know, he put out a record called "The Padres Win Again" during the 1984 pennant-winning season?

My observation on the back: Show's wife -- Cara Mia (that's her first name) -- stayed with Show through a lot. Show's abusive father, baseball ups-and-downs, a World Series loss, a major on-field and media flare-up when Show hit Andre Dawson in the face with a pitch, and countless battles with methamphetamine and cocaine. The two eventually got divorced during the final stages of Show's life, and the drugs finally killed Show at 37.

The blog wants to speak now: Just a quick update to the Ballgames tab.