What a card: John Butcher completed his first season with the Twins in 1984. He was a full-time starter for the first time in his career and set career bests in innings pitched, victories and earned-run average.
My observation on the front: One of the more interesting cards in the set. Butcher's facial expression seems to indicate he's signing some official document, but he's actually signing autographs.
More opinion from me: I am dying to know what baseball card is being offered by the person above Butcher.
Something you might know: Butcher came to the Twins along with fellow pitcher Mike Smithson for former Twins all-star outfielder Gary Ward.
Something you might not know: Butcher received his first major league start when he was inserted as a replacement for the suspended Ferguson Jenkins for the Rangers' game against the A's on Sept. 9, 1980. Jenkins had been arrested on drug possession charges on Aug. 25 in Toronto and was later suspended by commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Butcher pitched a complete-game six-hitter as the Rangers beat the A's, 6-2.
My observation on the back: Other major leaguers to attend Yavapai College include Curt Schilling, Chad Curtis, Kole Calhoun, Billy Hatcher and Ken Giles.
The blog wants to speak now: The Pop Culture tab is updated.
It's always crazy to see a pitcher from 1985 with just 83 strikeouts in 225 innings (plus, have a very impressive 3.44 earned run average). If a pitcher had that kind of strikeout to innings pitched ratio today, he'd most like never make it to the majors.
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