#79T Dave Palmer

IMPACT FACTOR 2/10: Palmer came to and left Philly as a free agent, pitching one below-average season with them. I'm pretty sure he's the guy who tripped badly on third base for them--anybody remember?

#78T Joe Orsulak

IMPACT FACTOR 4/10: Orsulak played 5 mostly good seasons for the Orioles. He is well-remembered as an outfielder who made several memorable catches, including a big splashdown or two.

#77T Jesse Orosco

IMPACT FACTOR 2/10: Orosco, as we've already noted, pitched one great year for the Dodgers but was lousy in that post-season. He doesn't deserve much credit for their championship. Jesse pitched two more effective years for the Dodgers in his second stint with the team--12 years later!

Best 1988 Topps card, Poll #4

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Best 1988 Topps card, Poll #3

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#76T Russ Nixon

IMPACT FACTOR 2/10: Nixon managed the Braves during 3 last-place finishes from 1988 to 1990. He isn't remembered as a great manager. However, as we know, those Braves teams had terrible players (for the most part) and Bobby Cox was biding time as GM, building the club in the background. Cox stepped in as manager late in 1990, and we all know what happened in 1991.

#75T Al Nipper

IMPACT FACTOR 2/10: Nipper pitched one very nice season for the Cubs, but in order to get him and Calvin Schiraldi, they gave up Lee Smith, who pitched 10 more effective seasons after leaving Chicago.

Best 1988 Topps card, Poll #2

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1,000 posts

We just passed ONE THOUSAND POSTS on this blog.

Quite honestly, to have written all those posts by myself in less than a year feels pretty damn good. But I can't take all the credit. All of your funny and/or insightful comments have been a major contribution as well as a motivating factor for me.

We have just about 60 or so posts left here before we put this baby to bed.

Best 1988 Topps card, Poll #1

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#74T Charles Nagy

IMPACT FACTOR 6/10: Nagy pitched 13 seasons with the Indians, was an anchor for their starting rotation, and was one of the key players who turned the Indians into serious contenders in the mid 1990s. He made 14 post-season starts for the team from 1995 to 1999, which is tied for 4th-most in baseball over that period. There are two things that keep his score from being a little higher: he was injured a fair amount and he didn't pitch all that well in the playoffs.

#73T Mike Morgan

In 1988, 26 different pitchers had at least 1 complete game as well as 1 save. That high number surprised me. Morgan had the worst ERA+ of them all. The Orioles moved him around, obviously, try to get some effective pitching out of him.

IMPACT FACTOR 4/10: Morgan pitched one ineffective year with the Orioles, that same 1988 mentioned above. How, then, does he get an impact score of 4? Easy. The Orioles acquired him by trading Ken Dixon to the Mariners, and Dixon never played in the big leagues again after leaving the Orioles. However, when they ditched Morgan a year later, they shipped him to the Dodgers in exchange for Mike Devereaux, who became the Orioles' center fielder for a bunch of years and helped them climb back to prominence.

#72T Keith Moreland

IMPACT FACTOR 2/10: Moreland came and left San Diego in fairly low-impact trades (see also Goose Gossage) and had one relatively unproductive year for the team.