What a card: This is the 25th rookie card -- or "pre-rookie card" -- to appear in the Topps Update set. Mark Salas finished eighth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting after producing the best season of his eight-year major league career in 1985.
My observation on the front: I associate Salas with being a veteran catcher and that's what he looks like to me here. He doesn't look like a rookie.
More opinion from me: The red Twins helmets and caps -- always a good look.
Something you might know: Mark Salas is one of those major league players whose last name is a palindrome. Of the 10 players wikipedia lists as having palindromes for a last name, four of them are named "Salas."
Something you might not know: Salas hit a home run for the Twins after being traded to the Yankees. The home run tied the game in the ninth and sent the Twins and Rangers into extra innings. Minnesota won the game in 13 innings. During the game, the Twins and Yankees worked out a deal to send Salas to New York for pitcher Joe Niekro. In the 12th inning, Salas learned of the trade from home plate umpire Durwood Merrill.
My observation on the back: The Garv is still the NL record-holder for consecutive games played and still in fourth place overall. He could be there for some time. Only Miguel Tejada has come close to the big four (Ripken Jr.-Gehrig-Everett Scott-Garvey) in recent times.
The blog wants to speak now: The News category is updated.
This may be the first time the fact in the "Something You Might Not Know" section was something I did know! I did a blog post on him last November and learned that.
ReplyDeleteAs I commented on Matt's blog back in November, Mark played at our local Little League when he was a kid. In fact, his team was the Cubs who played against my little brother's team, the Dodgers. My Dad was the Dodgers manager while I was the scorekeeper. Mark and his older brother, Bobby, also went to my high school. I also went to a Dodgers vs. White Sox game back in 2012 and Mark was the bullpen coach for the White Sox. I think he's still with them.
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