What a card: Luis Leal had reached double-figure victories for the third straight year when this card was issued. He won 13 games for the Blue Jays in 1984, but he was entering his final major league season in '85.
My observation on the front: The windbreaker under the uniform is not something you see all that often on '80s cards. It's more of a '60s and '70s look. It's a little strange here.
More opinion from me: Leal has been forgotten by time, but he was considered one of the up-and-coming pitchers on the Jays, just a few steps below Dave Stieb, for a period in the early 1980s.
Something you might know: Leal was the starting pitcher for the Blue Jays against the Indians when Len Barker pitched his perfect game in May, 1981. Leal pitched a complete game, allowing three runs and seven hits.
Something you might not know: During the Tigers' torrid early season run in 1984 in which it went 35-5 to begin the year, the Blue Jays were almost as hot and kept pace through June. On June 6, 1984, the Blue Jays beat the Tigers 6-3 to climb within 3 1/2 games of the 39-13 Tigers. Leal pitched the win and improved his record to 6-0. However, that was close as the Blue Jays would get the rest of the season.
My observation on the back: I wonder if a reference to a major league strike would appear on a baseball card these days. There's quite a bit of a censorship with the MLB/Topps exclusive license, and I bet they wouldn't want to see that messiness on cards these days.
The blog wants to speak now: The News category is updated.
I'm replaying the 1984 season with Statis Pro and through May 24 the Blue Jays are actually up three games on the Tigers. Their offense and starting pitching that season were tremendous, though their bullpen was shaky at best.
ReplyDeleteLuis Leal rocking the Guillermo Hernandez hair. Guess he thought that was an "MVP" look in '84.
ReplyDeleteI'll show myself out.