What a card: Ron Hassey shows up on a card as a Chicago Cub as he came over to the Cubs in the deal that landed Chicago pitcher Rick Sutcliffe in June of 1984. Hassey played in just 19 games for the Cubs and was dealt to the Yankees in December 1984.
My observation on the front: Hassey looks like a catcher more than almost anyone else looks like a catcher.
More opinion from me: I will always remember Hassey as the guy who caught Dennis Eckersley when Kirk Gibson hit his home run to win Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. Happy times.
Something you might know: Hassey is the only player in MLB history to catch two perfect games in his career. He caught Len Barker's perfect game in 1981 with the Indians and he caught Dennis Martinez's perfect game in 1991 with the Expos.
Something you might not know: Hassey was traded so often between New York and Chicago (both the Cubs and White Sox) during a short period that writer Peter Gammons made a starting lineup out of the players he was traded for:
C - Joel Skinner; 1B - Brian Dayett; 2B - Wayne Tolleson; 3B - Scott Bradley; SS - Mike Soper; LF - Ron Kittle; CF - Joe Carter; RF - Mel Hall; P - Neil Allen, Don Schulze, Ray Fontenot, Britt Burns
My observation on the back: I like to think the trivia question is foreshadowing Hassey's trade to the White Sox. He'd be with the team one year after this card came out.
The blog wants to speak now: Not this time. It's been a crazy couple of days of work.
I went to an A's/Orioles game as a kid and after an Oriole strikeout to end the inning, Hassey tossed the ball into the crowd as he walked to the dugout. My dad caught it and my brother (an O's fan) and I fought over it forever. His logic was that it was from an Orioles game (despite being used to K an Oriole). My logic was that Hassey was a former Cub.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea where it ended up, probably used it to play catch eventually.
I remember Hassey getting injured that 1984 season while he has playing first base. I also seem to remember Hassey saying he didn't like playing for the Cubs.
ReplyDelete