#153 - Frank LaCorte

What a card: This is the final card of Frank LaCorte's career. I'm a bit surprised he appeared in the set as he pitched in only 13 games in 1984 with a 7.06 ERA and never played in the majors again, retiring after the season.

My observation on the front: The way LaCorte is wearing his jacket, it looks like he plays for "Anggel"

More opinion from me: This is LaCorte's only Topps base card in anything other than an Astros uniform (he appears as an Angel in the 1984 Traded set). Whenever a player spends a number of years with the same team and then shows up with a different team at the end of his career, that makes me sad. The player doesn't look right in the new uniform and has a "just hanging on" kind of look. Like Willie Mays as a Met.

Something you might know: Known early in his career as a terrible pitcher for some terrible Braves teams, LaCorte became a key part of the vaunted Houston Astros bullpen of the early 1980s, which included Joe Sambito and Dave Smith.

Something you might not know: After his career, LaCorte took over a towing business and apparently displayed all of his big-game hunting prizes in his office.

My observation on the back: It's aways fun when a former major league great is mentioned out of the blue on a card back. "Kids, today we're going to learn about Johnny Sain."

The blog wants to speak now: The Music and News categories are updated. There really was nothing cooler than Miami Vice in 1985.